GirlTREK

Precious Lord, take my hand. Be with me this week as I walk in my purpose. Show me where I’ve lost expectancy. Deal with the places in my life where I’ve settled, gotten off track, or completely lost my way. Help me to trust your promises. Teach me to walk with wisdom and discernment. I am an heir. Teach me to act like one, pray like one, and believe like one. Give me holy gumption. Give me the presence of mind to be a witness through all of my words and actions. Let me never be blinded by the limitations of my physical circumstances. Help me to see beyond. Put a song in my heart as I walk through the day, welcoming and receiving with open arms the goodness that I know you have in store for me.  Spiritual Warrior of the Day: “There is no music like that music, no drama like the drama of the saints rejoicing, the sinners moaning, the tambourines racing, and all those voices coming together and crying holy unto the Lord. I have never seen anything to equal the fire and excitement that sometimes without warning, fills a church, causing the church … to rock. – James Baldwin This is a story about the father of gospel music. This is a story about a man who carried the rhythm and blues of southern pain all the way north to Chicago and combined it with the scripture of God to create a new sound that would express the joys and sorrows, hopes and despairs, and most of all - the collective faith -  of Black people. This is a celebration of the spiritual warrior, Thomas Dorsey.Thomas Dorsey introduced the world to a new genre of music that would forever play as the soundtrack to the worship experience of Black people. His legendary life included authoring one of the most celebrated songs in the history of music, Precious Lord, written after losing both his wife and newborn son during childbirth. In that dark moment, this man called out to God in anger and God answered back, pouring into him a love song that would forever soothe the world. That’s how powerfully God can transform your pain into purpose. Today’s walk will be a timely reminder for anyone who had forgotten. You might be in your darkest hour right now, but Thomas Dorsey’s story teaches us to keep holding on. There is life after death and in each day, always, a possibility of goodness. Come get everything that you need today. We will be on the virtual sidewalk ready to walk and talk it all out.Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:He Brought Us - Delois Barrett Campbell and the Barrett Sisters:https://open.spotify.com/track/03xqTwXIQ8l1dhFK9GmbUQ?si=KJ-g77Y0R12H1L915ExerQPrecious Lord - Thomas A Dorsey:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlmCflPD2s8Precious Lord - Aretha Franklin:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpFq9gxBxhk

You have to see yourself winning.Everybody's got that cousin... a cousin who is funnier than Eddie Murphy, one who can jump higher than Michael Jordan or that one who - with just a little coaching and education - could be the next Obama. Let’s agree to agree, we're blessed. Genius abounds at Black family reunions.So, when I look at Jesse Owens, it cracks me up because he looks like everybody’s cousin who can run fast. Jesse Owens was ours.  He was familiar. He was our chance to prove it. Settle the score. Win. He was the punchline to the joke of injustice. He was our graceful entrance.  And our “Hi Haters!” Jesse-Owens-was-redemption.  And, like so many of us who fight poverty, generational trauma, and thick-thick racism, Hitler didn't have anything for Jesse Owens - because he could already see victory before the race even began.  Call it survival.  Call it evolution.  What the enemy planned for his downfall became the greatest victory of his life.  Cue Koryn Hawthorne.  Won't He Do it!Spiritual Warrior of the DayIn 1939, Jesse Owens was the most famous man on the planet.  He "single-handedly crushed Hitler's myth of Aryan superiority" by pushing the limits of human capability and smashing world records.  But today, we won't talk about gold medals.  No. Instead, we will explore three very-real moral dilemmas in Owens' life that just may help us out in 2020.  His life was complex. Rich with irony.  Hard fought and often misguided. Scrappy. Not always honorable.  And yet, we celebrate him - as a spiritual warrior - because he stayed in the race until the day he died.  Through decades of shifting definitions of Blackness, he kept his eyes on doing his personal best.  And for that, we draw a gritty brand of inspiration. Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:Won't He Do It - Koryn Hawthorne:https://open.spotify.com/track/5Vr9WTLcbpKRkQGvVen13W?si=0sJUEo3uQlm7brR-628xlwSoldiers In The Army - Rev. James Cleveland:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnudHcR_34M&feature=youtu.beWe're Blessed - Fred Hammond:https://open.spotify.com/track/0ZD5LFsk2PMHicGH8MWRN8?si=ZKc8cUMiS6WesytoRpTo6Q

On the night that Gwendolyn Brooks learned that she would become the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, she was sitting in her living room on the Southside of Chicago with her nine-year-old son in the dark because the light bill hadn't been paid. By morning word had spread. A 32-year-old Black girl genius had secured the highest literary award in the land. Reporters descended on Gwendolyn's home and as they came, she sat petrified, not wanting to reveal to the journalist and cameramen that they would have no place to plug in their equipment.  But God!  When one of them came into the house and flipped on the switch without her knowing. The lights came on. Someone had gone down to the light company and paid the bill.  Somebody out there today needs this exact story.  Somebody needs to be reminded that its darkest right before dawn. Somebody needs to be reminded that there is still hope all around us.  “We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.”Today’s walk is a story of celebration. Of what survived. A reminder that we are the #daughtersof praying Black women and that their prayers are what keeps the lights on. Through Gwendolyn’s story we will discover the stories of our great-great-grandmothers, women who fled the terrors of the Jim Crow South, with nothing but the traditions, faiths, and beliefs of their mamas, packed in their suitcases. Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:God's Got a Blessing (with My Name on It!) - Norman Hutchins:https://open.spotify.com/track/208coS3K4leplVIBvrY6Pu?si=l1DCCZP-QLyYpHAV0LhpQgPrayer Will Fix It For You - LaShun Pace:https://open.spotify.com/track/5Li3n4gKfeQ5KKWggmUpom?si=bf-p4MmZRdSwuMFO8FUN3A

"When I try to describe myself to God I say, 'Lord, remember me? Black? Female? Six-foot tall? The writer?' And I almost always get God's attention."God gave Maya Angelou more than attention. God gave her a voice - a voice to break the silence, to sing calypso, to demand justice, to define excellence, to announce our peoples' rising up -- as a phenom.  Her voice blanketed an entire generation of Black girls with love.  ...and her boundlessness whispered into every girl's imagination. And for that, we thank God.Spiritual Warrior of the Day:Dr. Angelou's story is brilliantly blazed in the psyche of every Black woman.  Trust-you-me, we know about Stamps, Arkansas.  We know about her mother and her Momma.   We know the intimate truths of her darkest days.  And we watched her phoenix rise.  Her love affairs and protests created a rhythm for all of us to strut. And her lilts of "sister" gave us a daily doctrine for spiritual warriorship.  Maya Angelou is everyone's foremother and she commands us all to embody 1 Corinthians 16:14.  “Do everything in love."  Today, we honor The People's Poet.Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:Optimistic - Sounds of Blackness:https://open.spotify.com/track/7Mb7jOst43wPQELas93ARE?si=9jnGA_5STCG2An2Q7ZpMtgMaya Angelou "Love Liberates" Courtesy of OWN:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Gv7PwyeCk&feature=youtu.beDr. Maya Angelou on the Power of Words | Oprah's Master Class | OWN:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKv65MdlV-cDr. Maya Angelou Recites Her Poem "Phenomenal Woman" | SuperSoul Sunday | OWN:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeFfhH83_RE&feature=youtu.beMaya Angelou on the Noble Story of Black Womanhood:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4MucoOQz0c&feature=youtu.beI Hope You Dance - LeeAnn Womack:https://open.spotify.com/track/65B1tEOv5W294uCKbmEcFV?si=6TMqL9WWQ6SJYy2RHNKFmg

“I was missing somethingsomething so importantsomething promiseda laying on of handsfingers near my foreheadstrongcoolmovingmaking me wholesense pureall the gods coming into melaying me open to myselfI was missing somethingsomething promisedsomething freea laying on of handsI know bout/laying on bodies/laying outta manbringing him all of my fleshy self & some of my pleasurebeing taken full eager wet like I get sometimesI was missing somethinga laying on of handsnot a manlaying onnot my mama/holding me tight/sayingI’m always gonna be her girlnot a laying on of bosom and womba laying on of handsthe holiness of myself releasedI sat up one nite walking a boarding housescreaming/crying/the ghost of another womanwho was missing what I was missingI wanted to jump up outta my bones& be done with myselfleave me alone& go on in the windit was too muchI fell into a numbnesstil the only tree I could seetook me up in her branchesheld me in the breezemade me dawn dewthat chill at daybreakthe sun wrapped me up swinging rose light everywherethe sky laid over me like a million menI was cold/I was burning up/a child& endlessly weaving garments for the moonwith my tearsI found god in myself& I loved her/I loved her fiercely”  Spiritual Warrior Ntozake Shange. She invited us to find God in ourselves. She ushered entire generations of Black women into liberation. She wrote for those of us who didn’t yet exist. “So, we could have something here when we arrived.” That something was a vision for our lives that was bigger than our trauma. A vision that stitched together the words that had been snatched from our grandmothers’ tongues. She brought them back to life with vivid colorful detail and pain searing truth that forced the world to look our humanity in the face. Through her words, she said all the things that needed to be said. She wrote a Pslam and sang a Black girl blues. She resurrected the weary souls of Black women by breathing holy life into them, one stanza at a time and for this, we celebrate Ntozake Shange as the Patron Saint of Black Girl Healing. Thank you for serving us with such fierceness, dear sister. Today we tell your story. Let each step on today’s walk bring forth more of your powerful works into this world.Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:I Am Light - India Arie:https://open.spotify.com/track/6XgtZdXJN7R9Myu80BGebR?si=PGjMQ99pRXarW-70Gc_8SAA Laying On Of Hands (I Found God In Myself):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0ksLhou1mg&feature=youtu.be

What if you stopped performing?  What would that look like?  What would it feel like? ...to live your creed, to walk your walk, to sing your song - not for others, not for their applause or approval. Not to avoid pain or earn love - but because you were following your bliss.  What if you stopped performing and started living?  On deep purpose? With integrity.  Joy.  Who would stop loving you? What exactly would change?The greatest privilege of this lifetime is being exactly who you are.  So inhale... say "I am here."  Exhale...."Joy is here."Spiritual Warrior of the Day:Tina Turner's life defines the hero's journey and we will talk all about it on today's call. But the most heart-wrenching scene in What's Love Got to Do with It had nothing to do with Ike. No. The single, most heart-wrenching scene happened just after Tina Turner chose to die.  She took a lethal dose of pills. Then it happened.  Something too familiar.  Even in her darkest moment, she rallied herself to perform.  It was at that moment.  When she was tracing a heavy eyeliner and lost control - that we saw ourselves.  Even as we are dying inside, we are showing up, putting on face. We are standing at the ready to serve, give, earn, rally, stoke, protect, soothe, nurture, build, and love.  For so many of us, our attachment to needing to feel loved is the source of our suffering.  For Tina Turner, it nearly took her life.And then it happened. "Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō ...Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō ....Namu Myōhō Renge Kyōooo." She decided to rally for herself.  For her life!  This is the Lotus Sutra.  Perfect because like the lotus flower, born out of the darkest scum of a pond, we have the power to transform our own lives into pure brilliance - every single moment.  What a privilege.  It is the greatest journey - and it starts with a single step toward what satisfies your soul. Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:Tina Turner - Proud Mary - Live Wembley:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2T5_seDNZEThich Nhat Hanh - Walking Meditation:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdO1vZJgUu0Tina Turner: Interview with Gayle King:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWHaONa1mWIWhat's Love Got to Do with It - Tina Turner:https://open.spotify.com/track/4kOfxxnW1ukZdsNbCKY9br?si=9VLaxChhRVWX_KQawC8X0A

 God give us a boldness that allows us to risk it all for the things we believe in. Let us walk with a spirit of courage. Let your love cast out the fear that has held us hostage for too long. Build our confidence so that in this season of reckoning, we can show up and do the good work that you have called us to do. Mighty is your name and mighty is the spirit that lives within us. Spiritual Warrior of the Day:Colin Kaepernick’s tattoos are a roadmap to his faith. On his right shoulder, Psalm 18:39, “You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.”  On his left bicep, Psalm 27:3, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.”  On his left upper arm, “God will guide me.” And above his elbow, praying hands clasped with the proclamation, “To God Be the Glory.”  In case you didn’t know, this is a man of faith. And a man with this much faith is someone who is willing to risk it all. For that, we celebrate and uplift our dear brother Colin Kaepernick. Fist in the air. Knee to the ground. The story that we’re going to tell you is far beyond anything you’ve heard about this man, his work, or the Black men he represents. Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:Shackles (Praise You) - Mary Mary:https://open.spotify.com/track/7JKEA8xYDoFp4q0QBW2PGg?si=xGieY0edQW2Vt-f7gYLO8wZion (Zion is Calling) - Stephen Hurd:https://open.spotify.com/track/0VrI2SmESlXMVlxdGk1Ver?si=umV5TDXQSkmfgAKs7FQ6JwLet Your Power Fall - James Fortune, Zacardi Cortez:https://open.spotify.com/track/065WC0FgiI4zX3VkpqCpDF?si=S2_X8yAVRzS-nCBpRZW9OQ

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1:7I saw a beautiful photo story about Diamond. The artist said that cinema has to do a better job showing the tenderness of Black lives. I thought about it and remembered the single best moment in cinematic history is when Denzel Washington looked wickedness in the face, flexed his back, and braced his heart for an act of terrorism. You remember.  His "ally", Matthew Broderick, ordered the use of violence to inject fear into the heart of this free Black man. Denzel resisted. And with a single tear of defiance, he became fearless. Fear is the greatest tool of white supremacy. So today, we honor a real spiritual warrior. A woman named Diamond Reynolds, who refused to be paralyzed by fear and found a way to speak.Spiritual Warrior of the Day:On July 6, 2016, Diamond Reynolds watched the murder of her boyfriend Philando Castille. The officer's gun was still drawn. Pointing in the car at her and her 4-year-old daughter. At that moment, Diamond got snatched up by a spirit of love and became fearless. She pressed record to tell the world what was happening to her family. It was an act of raw and radical love."There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear." - 1 John 4:18Once it was over, Diamond folded into soft tears.  Unafraid, once again to show us a Black woman. Vulnerable. Real. Soft.That is spiritual warriorship.Do not give them your humanity. Don't stop crying. Don't stop loving. In fact, love harder.  ...your children, your neighbors, your soul mates, your self, your God. Your love is perfect. Black women, don't fold into darkness. Your love is our light. Rock with it. Roll with it. Wail if you have to. Tell the world what is happening to us. Shout it out. Don't hold it in.  That's what Diamond taught us.  It's no wonder she calls herself Lavish Reynolds. She IS lavish. Thick with humanity. Thick with loving-kindness. Thick with inextinguishable joy. With radical vulnerability. With supreme love and light. And at point-blank range, fear could not win over her love. Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:Speak to My Heart - Donnie McClurkin:https://open.spotify.com/track/3nAwU0F5Tb3wdeSa2mAMe5?si=DOFURVDgQIer2L35tkbJVgEverlasting God - William Murphy:https://open.spotify.com/track/3ypSY1hp9s6k1xzZ6OSCTH?si=Wk1Q72-uR0-O6zz0PiEilADiamond Reynolds | Iyanla: Fix My Life | OWN:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZ5VdRQ10s

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit."  - Proverbs 18: 21 Let today’s walk give you the courage that you need to say the hard things that need to be said. To whoever it needs to be said to. Even if it’s not popular. Even if no one believes you. Your truth is your truth. No more muted tongue. Let it be what it will be. No more pleading through pursed lips. Stand firm sisters. We have for generations kept secrets, swallowed lies, tolerated the intolerable for fear of what would come should we simply speak. Well, let the words come. Let them flow like the Jordan River. Spit fire with each syllable. Let the phrases burn down the walls that have caged you. Be free. Be healed. And then promise to never betray yourself with silence again. Spiritual Warrior of the Day Anita Faye Hill. Black woman genius. Law Professor. Born to a family of farmers in Oklahoma. The youngest of 13 children. What had she already endured before she decided, enough is enough? More than 30 years before the #MeToo movement broke through to the conscience of America, Anita Hill stood before an all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee and the blaring lights of the world and spoke in graphic detail about the harassment that she had experienced in the workplace from Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas. The attacks against her character were scathing. The campaign mounted to discredit her used tactics from a playbook that has long been used to demean and diminish the experiences of Black women. But Anita Hill refused to whither. She stood tall and remained steadfast. She exhibited a level of conviction that could only come from a woman who grew up in Antioch Baptist Church, and who showed up on the first day of the trail with a personal bible in her hand that she brought from home. Oh, they thought it was going to be a game. They thought they would break her. But her calling was bigger than that moment and Anita Hill’s courage to speak her truth has inspired generations of new women to do the same. Join us on today’s walk as we lean into the lessons that come from Anita’s story while praying to find our collective and individual voices. #TrustBlackWomen#BelieveBlackWomenJoin GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:Wade in the Water - Mavis Staples:https://open.spotify.com/track/5xFHuLeUPXee8YEn1r8FDM?si=qtETHIa0TMGwXop0lN9N5gWholy Holy - Aretha Franklin:https://open.spotify.com/track/3hwbKoXWK5eAdHsaCXpJhq?si=a-k8zWpgSqaZ2LNzD0XkQA

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”  - Galatians 6:9Someone right now is thinking about giving up. Don’t. Today’s walk is for you. A reminder that you may suffer many defeats, but you are not defeated. It’s time to trust that what is for you is already making its way to you. Walk in expectation. You have sowed, prayed, and waited and we’re here to tell you that victory is in sight. The type of victory that will have folks scratching their heads because they just couldn’t have imagined that it would be you who was chosen. But it will be. Your harvest season is here. Let’s get aggressive about collecting your bounty!Spiritual Warrior of the Day:Two unsuccessful campaigns. Two defeats. One in 2016 and one in 2018. A woman who lacked faith might have given up. But not Cori Bush. Her calling was too big. Her work - to bring justice to the streets of St. Louis in the wake of Michael Brown’s murder - too important for her to give up. So she didn’t! Instead, she rallied 2,000 volunteers, they went and knocked on 25,000 doors and made more than half a million phone calls, and this summer she did what no other Black woman in the state of Missouri has done, defeated the incumbent in a historic race for congress.Today’s walk is for every Black girl who was ever counted out. This is history in the making. The story of Cori Bush, an activist from St. Louis who battled back from homelessness, domestic violence, and sexual abuse to become one of the rising stars of the political arena. From Cori, we learn about the art of tenacity, about the divine timing of God's blessings, and about the spirit of fearlessness that comes from walking in faith. Lace-up and lean in. This is going to be a beautiful conversation.Join GirlTrek’s Black History Bootcamp - The Prayer Edition at blackhistorybootcamp.com to receive specially curated emails with prayers, survival tips, speeches + dedicated songs to listen to for each episode. Together we will discover the stories of 21 spiritual warriors.Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music or interview excerpt played during this broadcast. Original content can be found here:I've Got the Victory LIVE - Ricky Dillard:https://open.spotify.com/track/0UwI6BXZVlJRjqrZKMmLtk?si=2yLt0ce4SbSi1e5GhGtbpwDraw Me Close/Thy Will Be Done - Marvin L. Winans:https://open.spotify.com/track/6nwCQqMyCjeYVtByOtkZq1?si=l91DVlVqSGKQl22GfqoNlg