Celebrate World Free Your Mind Day – June 19th.

I spent this Juneteenth thinking about what my family would have been like if my great-great-granddaddy Griffin Henry Belk hadn’t walked off that plantation when he did. I expect it would have made a huge difference, because when Griffin Henry Belk left, he was able to travel (searching for his parents), purchase land (160 acres for $11 in Ozan, Arkansas), and generally prepare to provide for his wife and five children to come.

So I woke up Juneteenth morning and told my daughter about her great-great-great-granddaddy. Even though she’s only two, I expect it resonated with her, or will soon. But when I wished Kwadjo a Happy Juneteenth, I thought, “How is this holiday - my favorite one - relevant to him?” But thinking about Griffin Henry Belk made me realize how Juneteenth is relevant to each of us.

See, Griffin Henry Belk was enslaved, but he didn’t need the Emancipation Proclamation to know that he was free. He was already free in his mind. and since it’s most important to recognize and cultivate your own freedom, in honor of all those everywhere who struggle to be free, I declare June 19th World Free Your Mind Day! Now that’s something we can all celebrate with pride!

O happy day!

"There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton

Join the Carnival for Change - Booth 6.

Welcome to the Carnival for Change where we explore the web for interesting items relating to social justice, health, education, and opportunity. Happy Juneteenth!

* The World Resources Institute recently released The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid. The publication, which is available for print purchase or free download, is useful for those developing for-profit businesses that focus on the 4 billion poorest people. Those folks may not have a lot of money, but they make up the majority of the world's population and they need goods and services too. This is the approach that has made Mohammad Yunus' Grameen Bank so successful.

* The Greater Good blog highlights a great way to contribute to academic knowledge about heroism and altruism. People are needed to participate in a scientific study by the Heroism Research Group. It takes about 20 minutes to answer the survey-type questions, and, who knows, you might learn something about yourself. I did.

* Riches for Good has a great post listing social entrepreneurship fellowships and training programs. Check it out, and use the comments to add others to the list. These are a great way to jump start your socially-responsible business or business idea. I'm forwarding this info to Jules Walter of Bagazo in case they're interested in these opportunities.

* If social entrepreneurship isn't your thing, how about social marketing? Social Butterfly lists numerous social marketing events, conferences, and opportunities. This is a growing field and there are lots of ways to get involved in it.

* Like the idea behind So What Can I Do? Check out similar blogs (along with SWCID) at good.alltop.com. Thanks Neenz! Want to listen instead of read? Check out Julie Zauzmer's weekly podcast 52 Ways to Change the World. It's also available on iTunes. Thanks Julie! Also, So What Can I Do was also recently featured in Social Butterfly's Blogger Neighborhood. Thanks Alex!


* I go through phases where I just read nonfiction, or just fiction. My favorite writer of either class is Octavia Butler. Her writing helps me recognize that we are all always already invincible. Three of my favorites are Wild Seed, Bloodchild, and Kindred.


Thanks for visiting the Carnival for Change! If you'd like space at the next booth, send your items to me with "Carnival for Change" in the subject. See you next time!

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

Free your mind.

Happy Juneteenth! My favorite holiday, Juneteenth, celebrates the 19th of June, 1965, when enslaved black folks in Arkansas and Texas finally found out about the Emancipation Proclamation, even though the document had theoretically taken effect more than two years earlier on January 1, 1863. I wrote before about my great-great-granddaddy, Griffin Henry Belk, and how he responded to the news of his freedom. His actions - immediately walking off the plantation, freeing the mule, and going to search for his parents - suggest he was, in fact, already free. He needed no official Proclamation to free his mind. Neither do we. We too can live our lives striving to be free.

* Free yourself from fear.
* Free yourself from guilt.
* Free yourself from anger.
* Free yourself from worry.
* Free yourself from shame.
* Free yourself from blame.
* Free yourself from jealousy.
* Free yourself from insecurity.
* Free yourself from frustration.
* Free yourself from oppression.
* Free yourself from judgmentalism.
* Free yourself from other people's expectations.
* Free yourself from other people's issues and baggage.

And if you need some help, check out these resources on

* Faith and spiritual health
* Mental health
* Addiction
* Love

On this Juneteenth, free your mind. Who knows what wonderful things you'll be able to accomplish! Happy Juneteenth!

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." - Johann Wolfgang van Goethe
"Free your mind, and the rest will follow." - En Vogue, paraphrasing George Clinton of Funkadelic

Take someone with you.

Spring 1865, Southwest Arkansas (Hempstead County?)

Griffin Henry Belk wiped his brow as he looked up at the hot Arkansas sun. That stubborn mule he's driving (or trying to drive) simply refuses to pull the plow. Finally, the mule decided to move. "Good," Griffin thought. "Maybe I'll be able to finish up before sundown." Just then, a white man on horseback approached. The man slowed and Griffin stopped the mule. The stranger spoke, "You know, you don't have to plow like that." Griffin looked at the man with confusion. "You're free," he said, "All y'all are free!" Ahh. The words Griffin had always wanted to hear. As the white man rode off, Griffin unleashed the mule and told the mule, "You go your way, and I'll go mine". And with that, he and the mule went free.

On this, the 19th of June, I remember, among others, Griffin Henry Belk, my great-great-granddaddy. This day is Juneteenth, my favorite holiday. Juneteenth started in Galveston, Texas in 1865, and is the African American Emancipation Day, commemorating the end of legalized enslavement in the US. My grandmother, Fanilla Suttles Cobb (Griffin's granddaughter) told this story often, but my father, Olly Neal, pointed out an important fact: not only did Griffin Belk free himself, he freed the mule! He went above the call of duty and took someone (albeit a mule) with him on his road to freedom. On this Juneteenth consider the ways you can take someone with you as you work to improve your life.

Today is an excellent day to consider the ways you can improve your life and help others:

* Be a volunteer.
* Live ethically.
* Work for economic justice.

Celebrate Juneteenth and the end of enslavement in this country. And as you rise, don't forget to take someone with you. Happy Juneteenth!