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Caroline James
Greetings!
My name is Caroline James.
​
And I
am a soul
that will not negotiate ​
anyone
in humanity.
​
I will not negotiate
you,
me,
my oppressed
ancestors,
​
or even those
in humanity,
who are yet to come.
​
When I say everyone,
I mean everyone.
​
At first blush,
these words
may seem
flowery and sweet,
​
but my "talk"
is anything but cheap.
​
To live
by such convictions,
is terribly expensive. ​
​​
I'll never forget
when I turned 30;
I was faced with a set
of scary new crossroads
on the journey
towards living my convictions.
​
And to this day,
I still cannot believe
how my life
immediately
and irrevocably
changed.
Bill and Melinda Gates
were funding
my graduate education
at the University of Cambridge.
​
And everything
was included,
down to the flight
to England.
​
With this,
I'd made history
at ​​The University
of Alabama;
​
There'd only been
two students
to win this
prestigious scholarship.
And I
was the first one to win
who wasn't a white man.
Yes, indeed,
this was the peak
of my academic career:
​
a massive achievement,
for a kid
who'd taught herself
to read.
But this peak,
like all others,
was also a descent.
I graduated
with a distinguished award
for my dissertation.
​
And from there,
I embarked
on a multi-year journey
of hospitalization;
I was trying to kill myself.
​
And thus began my newest journey:
​
a journey towards
addressing the suffering
of my inner world,
while still committing
to addressing the suffering
in the outer world.
​
​
As a passionate activist,
​
I was carrying the unresolved
ancestral traumas of humanity.
As a member
of a dysfunctional
family,
​
I was carrying the unresolved
generational traumas
of my kin-folk.
And as
the cherry on top,
​
I was carrying
a whole host
of my own unresolved
and complex traumas;
​
the types of traumas
that cause a child,
born in a rich country,
to need to teach
themselves how to read.
So when I say,
​
I believe
in humanity's capacity
to face trauma
with truth and love,
​
my words are expensive
and my convictions
are hard earned.
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To save
and love my life,
​
I have gone
into the dark night;
​
I have fought every demon
hell sent my way.
And for
the Garden of Eden,
​
that is my
mind,
body,
heart
and soul,​
​
it has all been worth it.
I've fucked the storm
and birthed a refuge.
​
I'm da' mammy
and da' pappy,
of my own R(evolution)s.
​​
Welcome, to
"The Notes Of A Sojourner:"
​
the creative world
of my heart, mind and soul.
​
You are entering
sacred grounds;
​ ​
my art faces
the traumas of humanity
with indestructible,
love, faith, and truth.
​
Because I believe in our capacity
to heal and transform:
​
​ over and over again.
​​​​​​
Ever in Love and Solidarity,
Caroline James
The Sojourner
​​
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