Ebony on Everything

For this week’s Black Fact, I am going local again. I currently am staying in Bluffton, SC which is close to Hilton Head Island. Hilton Head Island has a population of black people, Gullah, who have been here for generations. Actually, the Gullah people are descendents of enslaved Africans who stayed in the area after the end of slavery. Ben Green, a Gullah resident of Hilton Head Island, uses his gifts to teach others how to take advantage of the area they live in. Mr. Green provides a weekly, instructional lesson to children and adults on fishing and crabbing.

Ben Green is a veteran and was also a police man. He started Fishing and Crabbing with Ben Green, about 8 years ago, to help keep children out of trouble. He has been featured in multiple local magazines where he shares his history and speaks of his program. You can read about Mr. Green in Pink Magazine,

https://www.onthehookwithben.com/

and The Hilton Head Sun,

https://www.hiltonheadsun.com/saturdays-on-the-dock-a-treasured-tradition-thanks-to-green/.

Fishing and Crabbing with Ben Green is held every Saturday in the Spring, Summer and Fall from 4 pm – 6 pm. A team of volunteers help teach the children and adults and the lessons are free of charge. Gear and bait is provided, but donations are accepted and welcomed. You can find all the information for Fishing and Crabbing with Ben Green at his website On The Hook,

https://www.onthehookwithben.com.

The suggestion of highlighting Mr. Ben Green came from my coworker, Carrie. I am always looking for suggestions of little known individuals to cover for the weekly Black Fact. If you know of anyone that is making a difference in this world, on a small or grand scale, feel free to share their name with me. I would love to highlight them.

For all the moms, Happy Mother’s Day. For everyone, be well and whole. Much Love 🧡💚

Today is the last day of Autism Awareness Month. I hope that I have honored the individuals that I covered this month and that I will continue to do so on this post. The autism spectrum contains geniuses of math, science, music, art, history and even race car driving. Armani Williams, a race car driver with NASCAR, is one of those geniuses.

Del Williams and Irena Politano, parents of Armani Williams, did not know exactly what autism was when he was diagnosed at 2 years old. As most parents, they started to do their research and found out there wasn’t a lot of therapy or education for children on the spectrum. Of course, that did not stop Armani’s parents. Armani was introduced to go-kart racing at the age of 8 and as they say, the rest is history.

Armani participated in his first race car series, Canadian Tire, at the age of 17. Armani qualified for his NASCAR speedway license after placing 21st in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Gateway in 2021. He will return to NASCAR racing on May 23rd in the Texas Motor Speedway.

As always, I don’t want to regurgitate what someone else has written. I just give a tidbit. Here are a few articles I gleaned information from:

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/2020/08/09/nascar-armani-williams-autism-michigan-international-speedway/3326567001/

https://www.teamarmaniracing.com/

https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/nascar-truck-series-news/69065-armani-williams-returns-to-reaume-brothers-racing-in-2022

Thank you for reading my blog posts this Autism Awareness Month. I learned about amazing individuals living on the spectrum that I never knew about and was able to share a small portion of the community with you all. May we continue to educate ourselves and stay aware throughout the rest of the year. Be well and whole. Much Love 💙 🧩

Lately, every time I start to write, I dont want to. I still love writing, but I try to live by the saying, If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say nothing at all. I don’t have much good to say right now. Nothing really bad either. I’m just blah. I don’t know what it is about Spring, but I realize every year that is when my life takes a turn. A turn that sets the tone for the rest of my year and it usually isn’t a good tone. A tone that leaves me grasping for placement while hanging off a cliff with no one else around to save me but myself. Do you know what I mean?

So here I am trying to figure out how to change the tone. How not to go down the rabbit hole. How to reclaim my hopeful, happy mindset. That has been my focus for the last month or so. This year has to be different. This year will be different! I got shit to accomplish. This state of doing and being is not conducive to the life I say I want to live. The life that I am meant to live.

I always find when I talk about my struggles, there are others who feel the same way. Living a life that feels wrong and yearning for the life of our dreams. How do we find the path that will lead us to the life we are meant to live? I am trying to find it for us. When I do, I will make sure I share it. And if you find it first, I need you to share it with me.

At times, I feel so ungrateful because I have a good life. I do not have a need, or many wants, that are unfulfilled. Yet, something just ain’t right. How many of you can relate? I don’t know if my perspective is skewed or if I am in a state of cognitive dissonance. I just know I don’t like it. Under all this, is the me I know. The me I want to be. The me that writes. The me that has something to say, … well a lot of things actually. Be well and whole. Much Love 💙 🧩