crystalwilkinson - Tumblr blog

[crystalwilkinson]

[crystalwilkinson]

“I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed.”

-Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

[crystalwilkinson]

“The difference, for many, was poetry itself. The difference is in those lines, the way they come to mind at moments of worry, or of beauty, or of heartache and of sorrow; today they come to mind like prayers learned in childhood, his lines, so many of them, rushing in as breath is caught, as mind reels and whirls.” Belinda McKeon remembers Seamus Heaney.

[crystalwilkinson]

Love!

[crystalwilkinson]

[crystalwilkinson]

My very talented husband!

ayg!!! #8 in the series…

[crystalwilkinson]

How Hollywood is attempting to erase dark-skinned black women with African features and their legacies.

[crystalwilkinson]

[crystalwilkinson]

Koi pond - Rachel Bellinski

[crystalwilkinson]

“For so long everyone has wanted to hold on to the belief that the United States is a class-free society - that anyone who works hard enough can make it to the top. Few people stop to think that in a class- free society there would be no top.

bell hooks (via dead-dog-fred)

[crystalwilkinson]

Thanks for posting this. And my people talk like this too (from Casey and Lincoln counties in Kentucky) I miss the sound of country and Appalachian black folk talking like this. You don't see it much any more unless they are older. Thanks for sharing.

My wife frequently wonders why I speak the way I do. Watch this video, I learned how to talk from these people. Also, how I cross and make up words? That is just how it works. 

My family is from Appalachia, my mom was from West Virginia and my dad was from Kentucky. I understood about 90% of the “made up” words. Appalachian is a wonderful tongue and dialect, it is a mix of Scottish, Irish, English, African, and Native Indian. My family were all dirt poor Irish and Scottish immigrants who grew up in the mountains, my parents were the first generation to leave the region. 

It warms my heart to see stuff like this, reminds me so much of my family. I love it.

[crystalwilkinson]

I repost this everytime I see it. I Dig this photo.

pat evans and isaac hayes. let it all sink in.

[crystalwilkinson]

Languages are best learned young, when there’s the chance you’ll mean what you say later in life.

Yannick Murphy, Here They Come (via murmurandshout)

[crystalwilkinson]

Loved this book!

[crystalwilkinson]

Mutt: What do blues do for you? Ursa: It helps me to explain what I can’t explain.

Corregidora by Gayl Jones (via ibik23)

[crystalwilkinson]

We all create stories to protect ourselves.

Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (via pavorst)