Hood Movement 21 Neighborhood Block Party

This past Saturday, the place to be was the wonderful Neighborhood Block Party that was held in the Willie Wilkins park in deep East Oakland. It was the place to be, not because there was a huge crowd of folks there, rubbing elbows and hob nobbing with big shots.


East Oakland Block Party from Matt Beardsley on Vimeo.




Just to be close to you by the Commodores was playing.  Enough said

This Block Party was the place to be because it was a call for peace in the streets of Oakland. Dedicated community organizers and interrupters came out to preach and teach the message of love and ending the gun violence  that plagues East Oakland.  There has been so many people shot down in our neighborhoods - so much random and not so random violence happening that our city has just shut down. Not too much good times are being had in the affected areas, and a whole lot of fear is the rule rather than the exception. We are just hiding out in our houses, hoping to avoid the madness of incessant gunfire.

The problem is we can't avoid it. It's everywhere and it's making victims of everybody. It's destroying our city. Everyone in our beloved city of Oakland is a victim, whether we know someone who has been shot or not. We have reached that "do or die" place where we have to stand up and fight this battle against gun violence. We have been forced into the proverbial corner, and there's nothing left to do but fight.

Matt Beardsley and Rev Harry

So how will this battle be waged? What is it that needs to happen? Love and care. It seems too simple to be the answer, but that's where it starts. With this in mind, the Reverend Harry Williams of Hood Movement 21 and a number of his friends endeavored to go to the 'hood and bring some love. Good music, good food and good times, along with the love of God was brought to the Willie Wilkins Park this past October 13, 2012, and the community was uplifted because of it.

Brenda Grisham and Rev Harry Williams



A shy little girl enjoying the festivities

Many were invited to speak and give their testimonies. It was a beautiful time of sharing and caring and showing love one to another. People were smiling, singing, dancing and being friendly with each other. All of this is the true meaning of community.

Pastor Mustafa Muhyee

dancing and enjoying

community organizers chopping it up

Community Organizer Cesar Cruz

 

Our Sisters Only Gathering

A.T. Streets Disciples getting the Word out!  Hood Internet in action

The Gathering was held in our J. Alfred Smith Fellowship Hall, and there was a full house of beautiful Sisters attending.  God smiled beautiful sunshine down on us, and the ladies' spirits were high and smiling sunshine back up at God.  The minute I stepped through the doors I could feel the warmth and beauty of the Sisters.

I went right to work at the clothing table setting it up, and our sister organization and co-laborers, Love Never Fails lived up to their name and came in with bag after bag of clothing and shoes for the ladies.  I dug into the huge pile of goodies trying to sort and fold and organize.  The Sisters came and started buzzing busily around me, looking through and choosing from the large assortment of shoes, baby clothes, T-Shirts, jeans, skirts and other clothing.  It was beautiful for me to listen to the ladies as they sorting through the things and asked each other if so-and so would like this one or that one.

Then our ministers Anne and Barbara started the gathering off in prayer and with the Biblical story of Tamar.  Even though Tamar had a tough life, and was negatively used by men, God used her for a higher purpose.  And we all, no matter what our circumstances, are valuable to God and are made according to His plan and purpose.  Sister Barbara reminded us that even the so-called prostitute is of value to God.  After all, Tamar became a part of the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The story of Tamar teaches us that no matter what we have done in the past, we are redeemable by God.  We simply put our life in God's hands and watch Him bring forth beauty out of ashes.

We served the food, and the sisters ate as they listened to the sermon.  Then sister Barbara blessed the ladies. She told them about the situation the Streets Disciples endured, where the toiletries we gathered for them were stolen right from the church itself.  A fews gasps went up from the ladies when they heard this, but they were reminded of how much the community loved them.  Within a short notice, calls were made and more toiletries gifts poured in.  Praise God!  It's a shame that someone was moved to steal the gifts dedicated to those in dire need, but it happens. 

As we were talking about these things, I watched as a few women remained focused like hawks on the clothing.  One or two of them remained at the table sorting through on the fly, even as Minister Barbara asked them to take their seats because, "the clothing would be there".  I didn't try to stop those sisters.  I understand that kind of focus, and could only smile inside my heart.  If those sisters' circumstances were different, they'd be the CEO's of top earning businesses!  Laser focus on the bottom line! 

A.T. Streets Disciples and Love Never Fails

God creates beauty out of ashes.  Our Sisters are an example of it.  They come to get a free meal, free clothing and shoes and toiletries.  But they also get love and upliftment, caring, comeraderie and fellowship.  As Sister Barbara J made the alter call, and the call for prayer, the sisters came forth.  They got up and acknowledged their need for Jesus' love in their lives.  The Sisters came and formed a circle and held hands.  We Streets Disciples formed a second circle of prayer and love behind and around them.  We had their backs in love.  Sister B. J. prayed love and protection and peace and help from on high, blessing and touching each sister's head.   And then tears of healing started flowing.  The living waters of God's healing flowed in the tears of the women, and it was a beautiful sight in my eyes. 

As women, we often are beaten down emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually.  The hardships of life are right out there, and often people will heap their hatred, fear or disdain upon us.  The black woman is the mule of the world as "Janie" of Zora Neale Hurston's great novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God has said.  And it's true.  Often, the pain, burden, disdain, neglect and hatred of the world is heaped upon our shoulders.  We try to stand up under the weight and pretend that it's not there and we are OK.   But we are not OK.   In despair, we try to deal with it.  We might get a little help from alcohol, or cigarettes.  We may overeat or do drugs or jump from bed to bed.   Sometimes what we use as a crutch ends up being a trap in our lives.  We all make mistakes.  But God is there for us.  He is able to break down the pain and refashion it into a beautiful testimony that is filled with His healing Balm.  God does this, but only if we allow him to do it.  If we take the first step towards God and His healing, He meets us the rest of the way. 
The tears flowed.  They flowed, tracing healing paths down beautiful cheeks.  They flowed down long fluffy lash extensions, gently sliding to the tips and falling.  The tears flowed and puddled on the sunlit floor, reflecting love into my own heart for our Sisters.  We laid on hands of healing. We called on the name of Jesus, We stood in the presence of the Lord's blessed Spirit of healing.  Then we sang!  We sang songs of freedom, redemption and love.

The Spirit was high!  Sister Anne called on the ladies to bring forth their testimonies, and they did.  They spoke of how God's grace saved them from drug addiction, from the streets, from the track, that's still out there, not even 3 blocks away.  God did it!  And the Sisters praised Him for it.  They praised and sang the house down and lifted up beautiful praises to our most high God.  Jesus!

For Sisters Only 4-21-12

For Sisters Only Gathering for April 21, 2012. 
Today was a beautiful day!  Sun is shining, weather is sweet.  A perfect day for holding our For Sisters Only gathering. 

So today we were in the J. Alfred Smith Fellowship Hall, a smaller, more intimate room, rather than the large gymnasium. Another gathering was taking place there. We had a few new ministering faces  as Dr. Eunice Shaw joined us today and preached a motivating sermon of self help and self esteem to our Sisters.  She talked about making decisions to do better in life, in spite of hardships.  It's not always easy but it is necessary.  The pain of staying stuck in a bad lifestyle is much more strident than the pain necessary to get moving toward self improvement.  What's so beautiful is that once we make the decision to move forward, God will make ways out of no way.  Things will shift in your favor once you have the faith to start the shifting.  We are co-creators with God, and our imput is important.

So the food was set up, and again we had the favorites of fried and baked chicken, sweet potato salad, greens and soft drinks.  We also had home made chow mein as well.  It was quite delicious!  In addition we had our free clothing give away as usual and our friends who do the fantastic manicures for the ladies. 

Last month we had a small number of ladies, but this month we probably had about 25 to 30 ladies.  More and more they are starting to trust and have faith that they are loved.  I personally spoke with one sister who was surprised that she hadn't heard about our For Sisters Only.  She said there was a point when she really could have used our services, so I told her to make sure to come back next month and bring her friends as well. She said she would.

I was so happy to have my friend of 35 years join the Streets Disciples.  The ministry is growing and let us continue to hold it in prayer, that we can reach more and more ladies in need.

For Sisters Only #4: 3-18-12

The week leading up to Saturday, 3-18-2012, was a stormy one.  It rained off and on.  I started visualizing our For Sisters Only posters sliding off the places they had been strategically posted.  On the day of our fourth gathering, we Streets Disciples were hard at work setting up the various stations for the event:  in the gymnasium, we had a large clothing area that the ladies could browse, which included shoes and handbags.  There also was our jewelry area as well set up with beautiful pieces.

 

There was Rev. Barbara's sacred prayer area, which was beautifully appointed with dramatic African artwork and woven kinte cloth.  Surround the sacred space were plants and set upon one of the tables was a beautiful cascading waterfall artwork. Many sisters went over to the place to receive prayers and love, and to unburden themselves of their troubles - to have an open ear to bear witness to their trials and tribulations.

On the opposite side, was an area stocked with toiletry filled goodie bags - shampoo, soap, lotion, and other necessities.  Then there was a station for doing the ladies' hair, with a hair dryer and many magazines to read, making it a nice salon style setting.  As an added perk, we had our manicurists on site and ready to give the ladies beautifully painted and manicured hands.  I saw one sister unable to stop looking at how beautiful her simple manicure was.  She was so pleased.

Not to leave out the children, there was the section just for them with coloring books and games.  Children were free to play and run in the space of the gymnasium. Right in the midst of their mothers' watchful eyes. Children ranging from babies to 11 or 12 years old. They ran, they jumped they tussled and tossed balls, they tackled and played in safety and peace in the large space of the gymnasium.  

Then the manicurists, doing a wonderful job by painting the Sisters' nails and making them pretty.  Allen Temple has a full shower area, which we also made available to our Sisters, and quite a few of them took advantage of the opportunity for a hot shower.

Then the centerpiece of the meeting:  A wonderful meal was prepared by Minister Lana's mother - succulent fried chicken, tamale pie oozing with cheese, green salad, and other goodies as well as a variety of cakes.  There were also refreshments and water.  I wasn't able to serve this time, since I had a horrible cold.   But a cold was not enough to keep me from coming out and supporting this wonderful outreach and connecting with our Sisters!  I stayed off to the side to avoid infecting anyone though.

This day, there were not as many sisters present as the previous event.  Yet many of us noticed that this time, the Sisters were more open and free with us.  We can see the connections being set.  The relationships are coming together and the love is starting to flow.  The ladies felt more relaxed and so did we.  We can see their beautiful spirits starting to emerge.  Their personalities are starting to shine through.

Glory to God!