First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who patern ..read more

The Fool card from Manzel’s Tarot A note about series structure: The blog posts about the first three cards, the Fool, Magician, and High Priestess are centered around preparation, and then we’ll dive into specific topics and additional exercises with the Empress. Even though this series has a “beginning” and an “end,” your work will be supported by thinking of the Major Arcana as a circle rather than a line, where the end is the beginning. Or better yet, a thing with no prescribed form but the one that makes sense for change. “Radical simply means "grasping things at the root.” ―Angela ..read more

The Magician card from Apparition: A Spirit Speak Tarot Deck A note about series structure: The blog posts about the first three cards, the Fool, Magician, and High Priestess are centered around mindset preparation, and then we’ll dive into specific topics and additional exercises with the Empress. Even though this series has a “beginning” and an “end,” your work will be supported by thinking of the Major Arcana as a circle rather than a line, where the end is the beginning. Or better yet, a thing with no prescribed form but the one that makes sense for change. “A man who stands for nothing w ..read more

The Four of Cups from the Small Spells tarot deck What feels luxurious to you, truly? I’ve never really wrangled with that question until recently. I’d always accepted “luxury” in association with its common nominal partners: luxury cars, luxury homes, luxury clothes, luxury vacations. Maybe these associations were automatic, without a second thought. Yet, a part of me wonders whether I subconsciously distanced my own life away from the concept of luxury because I’ve never thought of it as something I was supposed to have. Well, at least not until I did a zillion things until I felt secure en ..read more

The World card from the Apparition Tarot Deck Please note that my perspectives focus on the elevation of Black people, as I am a Black woman in America and can only speak from my perspective. Please note, though, that you can apply the broader concepts in this series to help dismantle racism of all kinds. “What's in your soul is in your soul.” —Whitney Houston Even though we’ve been working with the Major Arcana with a focused lens, the World reminds us to avoid getting married to that lens. We can’t afford for folks to refuse flexibility in a world that is continually shifting. At this point ..read more

The Judgement card from the Thoth deck Please note that my perspectives focus on the elevation of Black people, as I am a Black woman in America and can only speak from my perspective. Please note, though, that you can apply the broader concepts in this series to help dismantle racism of all kinds. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” —Desmond Tutu Hark! The Judgement card arrives, calling us to wake up—to heed the call instead of the convenience of ignoring it. In reducing to the number 2, key 20 can remind us of our High Priestess, the one who goes into the ..read more

The Sun card from the Our Tarot deck Please note that my perspectives focus on the elevation of Black people, as I am a Black woman in America and can only speak from my perspective. Please note, though, that you can apply the broader concepts in this series to help dismantle racism of all kinds. “...there is more to Blackness than our struggle.” —Angela Shanté In 78 Degrees of Tarot, Rachel Pollack writes of the Sun: “By accepting the Moon’s fearful images, we bring the energy outside ourselves giving all of life a radiance.” A new day is born and shines its light and warmth on us all—yes, a ..read more

The Moon card from the Thoth tarot deck Please note that my perspectives focus on the elevation of Black people, as I am a Black woman in America and can only speak from my perspective. Please note, though, that you can apply the broader concepts in this series to help dismantle racism of all kinds. “... momma help me turn the face of history to your face.” —June Jordan The darkness of a new day’s birth can bring healing, fear, or both. Here we can reach the parts of ourselves that are obscured under the sun’s bright rays. Out in the open, the rings of a tree stump remind us of our spiralic l ..read more

The Star card from the Apparition Tarot Deck Please note that my perspectives focus on the elevation of Black people, as I am a Black woman in America and can only speak from my perspective. Please note, though, that you can apply the broader concepts in this series to help dismantle racism of all kinds. “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” ―Malcolm X When we turn toward the Star, we might choose to embody the Mizuta Masahide quote, “Barn’s burnt down—now I can see the moon.” Well, we can see the stars too. Their radiance lights our ..read more

The Tower card from the Lioness Oracle Tarot deck Please note that my perspectives focus on the elevation of Black people, as I am a Black woman in America and can only speak from my perspective. Please note, though, that you can apply the broader concepts in this series to help dismantle racism of all kinds. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ―Maya Angelou After moving past, integrating, or otherwise transforming our devils, nothing is in the way of tearing down what requires total demolition or repair. What does that expose now?Hark! The ever ..read more