In the Cab with Dream Queen

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 5, "On Giving.” In this poem Gibran explains the common motivations behind charity, and the ultimate rewards. We are all deserving givers and receivers, through which we are witness and tools of the Divine. “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 4, "On Children.” Gibran’s famous words: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for Itself…” lead this piece and frame the discussion. What doe this mean? Things get quite personal, and I offer a plea for elders to support the next generation of marginalized youth, even as we remember that we, too, are someone’s child longing for freedom and protection. I weave in bits of bell hooks's “all about love: new visions” chapter 2 on justice, as she reminds us that children are individuals entitled to rights and freedom from oppression.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 3, "On Marriage.” The seer Almitra asks the prophet to speak on marriage, to which he replies, “Love one another, but make not a bond of love...” I explore the idea that one plus one equals three when it comes to relationship math. Trust, and the commitment to the “spiritual growth” of one’s self and the other are among topics discussed here.

I hope you will join me on the journey with this stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

ITC Book Club continues with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 2, "On Love." We learn Gibran's description of the Desires and Works of Divine Love. We receive his advice about our own desires. I also revisit bell hooks' "all about love: new visions," tying in her insights on living by a "love ethic."

I hope you will join me on the journey with the stirring text. "The Prophet" is in public domain and widely available online. Download the free book here:

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

ITC Book Club begins Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," Chapter 1, "The Coming of the Ship." I talk about the setting, who the prophet is, and Gibran's own spiritual and philosophical background, in relation to the parable. Gibran's illustrative style of writing guilds themes of divinity, immigration, wisdom, sorrow, and loss. I hope you will join me on the journey with the stirring text.

https://www.kahlilgibran.com/the-prophet/about-book.html

This is probably THE most fun conversation two people can have about Confederate monuments, religion, patriotism, and reconciliation! Wendy Young is a documentarian who uses photography and film mediums to tell stories. She joins me to talk about her photography exhibit called “A Long and Slow Surrender.” It is collection focused on Confederate monuments and ideology across contemporary Southeastern United States. Wendy tells her personal stories: growing up in Mississippi and Florida in the 60’s and 70’s, the people she’s met on the road while building the project, her spiritual and ideological transformations. We also tackle white supremacy and religious fundamentalism with levity while dreaming a more tolerant world.

“A Long and Slow Surrender” is showing now through December 7 at Appalachian State University’s Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone, North Carolina. You can see many of the photos in the collection on her website: wendyyoung.net.

The musical selections mentioned in this show were removed for broadcast on this platform due to copyright restrictions. Find the whole interview with the music at https://www.mixcloud.com/InTheCabRadio/

I am very excited about the ITC Book Club's new selection, "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran. This month marks 101 years in publication. "The Prophet" is one of the most influential books of all time. It has reached 188 consecutive print runs, the longest run of all time according to Glen Kalem, film maker and Kahlil Gibran research historian. In addition to reading from the book, which is now in public domain (full copies can be downloaded for free across the internet), I talk about Gibran's life, and the overall influence of the book. I refer to "End of the Copyright Road for the Prophet," written by Kalem, which is published here: https://www.kahlilgibran.com/45-the-prophet-enters-the-public-domain.html

In this episode we conclude our series on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, with a look at his Nobel Lecture, delivered at the University of Oslo on December 11, 1964. King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of not only himself, but "... for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so courageously against the ramparts of racial injustice and who in the process have acquired a new estimate of their own human worth." I share what I call MLK’s prophesy for the world we live in, and the current global nuclear stockpile.

Dr. King's Nobel lecture is available in full at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/lecture/

In The Cab Book Club wraps up with the final sermon in "A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration From The Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.," called "Remaining Awake During A Great Revolution." This is Dr. King's final sermon, delivered on March 31, 1968, just 4 days before his assassination. King uses Washington Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle, who slept through a great societal change. In a time when multiple revolutions are happening concurrently, then as now, King's words remind us: " ... nothing will be done until people of goodwill put their bodies and their souls in motion. And it will be the kind of soul force brought into being as a result of this confrontation that I believe will make the difference." He presses upon us "Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation." Take a listen.

Reflections on my week, the power of storytelling, the growing number of people becoming unhoused and impoverished, and why we may fear and/or resent them.