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Why I Vote: A Reflection from the Deep South
I grew up in the Deep South, where my very existence was a protest. I remember when the right to vote wasn’t just a line on a poster — it was a battleground. Our elders faced down hate, humiliation, and violence just to cast a ballot. They weren’t voting for candidates; they were voting for dignity, freedom, and the right to shape the world their children would inherit. So when someone asks me, “Why do you vote?” , I don’t hesitate. I vote because my ancestors fought, bled,

William Mathis
Nov 22 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM CUBA (HAVANA)
The more we pull together toward a new day, the less it matters what pushed us apart in the past. Johnnetta B. Cole I’m interested in...

William Mathis
Oct 16, 20229 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM BRAZIL (SLAVADOR, BARREIRAS, ITAPARICA, MADRE DE DEUS)
I”m for the Negro. I’m not anti anything. Stokely Carmichael Black women are not here to compete or fight with you, brothers. If we have...

William Mathis
Oct 4, 20229 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM COLOMBIA (CALI, BUENAVENTURA, PACIFIC COAST, CARTAGENA)
We must adhere staunchly to the basic principle that anything less than full equality is not enough. If we comprise on that principle,...

William Mathis
Aug 5, 20228 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA (JOHANNESBURG, SOWETO, SUN CITY, CAPE TOWN)
Life is a bitch, and if it’s not one damn thing, it’s going to be something else. . . . You don’t let that stop you. Count Basie If...

William Mathis
Jul 17, 202211 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM ACCRA/TAMALE/WA/CAPE COAST GHANA
To be born in a free society and not be born free is to be born into a lie. James Baldwin Know whence you came. If you know whence you...

William Mathis
Jun 24, 20227 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM DAKAR/GOREE ISLAND, SENEGAL
No one can figure out your worth but you. Pearl Bailey They saw themselves as others had seen them. They have been formed by the images...

William Mathis
Feb 10, 20226 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM PORT-AU-PRINCE/CAP HAITIEN, HAITI
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise, I rise, I rise. Maya Angelou We all do “Do,...

William Mathis
Nov 16, 20217 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM WILLEMSTAD, CURAÇAO
Understand the energy more than the words . . . our spirit serves as instruments in which the outflow is not only the pain and suffering...

William Mathis
Oct 7, 20216 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM MONMARTE/CHATEAU ROUGE, PARIS, FRANCE
Racism systematically verifies itself anytime the slave can only be free by intimating his master. Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin I am a person...

William Mathis
Sep 28, 20216 min read


GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS - NOTES FROM BRIXTON, LONDON, UK
I learned early on that there’s a place inside oneself that no one else can violate, that no one else can enter, and that we have a right...

William Mathis
Jul 12, 20213 min read


Sabbatical!
Details coming soon

William Mathis
Jun 27, 20211 min read
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