NOT FOR SALE

In the realization of this curse of seeing parts of my life experiences depicted in Dustin Hoffman and Barry Levinson’s movie Rain Man it’s important for me to document everything that has happened in my life especially in the past 34-years of working my way up from minimum wage. It does not bother me that my images and titles might be offensive or insulting to some, but it’s important for me to hold on to some type of hope for a better end to preserve my faith and confidence. For Native Black Americans coming out of slavery they did not master the written or artistic disciplines to unfold or document their stories, however, the oral tradition, spiritual song, and dance was a way to record what happened to them as a people to never forget their history.Therefore, always remember wherever they crawled out of they cannot go back. As stated by Malcolm X: “It’s not in them to want for you what they have for themselves.” How easily they forgot how President Franklin D. Roosevelt dropped his crutches to put his right foot in the door to drag them out of the gas ovens! And how President John F. Kennedy brought the subject of People with Intellectual Disabilities “out of the shadows” and into the public light in America with the help of his sister. So it is you who opened a door for them in your country.When you have a work ethic and you’re limited in what you can do and your work life has been stolen for entertainment it’s a terrible adjustment to find some meaning in your life. Therefore, the premise of this collection NOT FOR SALE: Stay Well, Stay Safe, Stay Alive! is to preserve my spiritual heritage coming out of the Pentecostal church experience and to give a voice to the voiceless Women with Mental Disabilities and American youth and to remember and document all of the circumstances and struggles that I overcame in 34-years. To the mental health community even through your provider sits in front of their computer monitor as an authority figure if you can find the courage to say or write it down on a piece of paper, and if you have to just close your eyes and just say to your provider the words, “What about me? I am not an immigrant.” Then you can just pull your pants up, straighten your back, hold your head high, and just walk straight out of the door.  3