I’m sharing an excerpt of my forthcoming book (only eight more days!), A Sojourner’s Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided World today thanks to Evangelicals for Social Action.
From Chapter 2:
She gently touched my shoulder, then took my hand to lift me from the brown folding chair under the funeral-home tent. My eyes had been fixed on the steel silver bars as I watched strangers lower my mother’s body into the ground. My Aunt Janet said to me, “Come on inside the church, Tasha. There are some things you just don’t need to see.”
I don’t remember eating the meal provided at the church that day. I don’t remember what I did before or after the service. I don’t remember whether I wore my midshipman service dress blue uniform or a traditional black dress—it wasn’t exactly a day for taking pictures. I do remember entering the old Baptist church, filled with family and friends, as songs of praise rang out from a full choir loft where my mother used to sing. Those black people, my mother’s friends, stomped, rocked, and clapped their hands as they sang praises to Jesus. As I walked down the aisle, I worried about my immediate family: How would we make it without my mother? Who would love and lead us now?
Continue reading at Evangelicals for Social Action.
I am also pleased to announce the ESA is hosting a book event launch event with me and Kathy Khang, author of Raise Your Voice, in Washington DC on Monday, October 22, 2018 at Bus Boys and Poets on 14th and V. Register here.
It’s stop number three on the #ASojournersTruth book tour. Don’t miss an event or book Natasha today!
…when I thought I would emotionally die, God was gracious.