I went back home...

...to Chicago this past week to say goodbye to my beloved Aunt. My family is a real life example that proves the adage about it taking a village. She was an integral part of that network. Who knew that it would seem as if even in passing, she had one more family doing up her sleeve. My family is guilty of being mired in separation due to pointless years of quibbling. Some still refuse to bury hatchets lest it be in the skulls of their perceived nemesis. But my aunt's funeral (or home going, as it is sometimes called) there were some who decided to let bygones be. We cried, prayed, ate, and laughed together. Those who strayed came back, those who drifted were back together. It even moved my wife and I to decide to come to Chicago once our time in Charlotte is up next summer.

This picture was taken on the lakefront. I snapped four, two in black and white and two in color. The black and white gave a better contrast thanks to seagulls and I picked this one as being the better of the bunch. It was sights like this that really made me take seriously the possibility of Chicago being home again. Charlotte has been great. It's given rise to things inside of my wife and I that we never knew were there. But now it's time to tie up some ends and move on. We're like fish that need a bigger bowl in order to grow. Each new post from here on out will move us closer to closing out one chapter and starting a new. To life, opportunities, and possibilities.

The great thing about Mississipi is...

...that history is so alive in its most raw form. From old money families to antebellum architecture, there is no escaping the historical snapshot that is the Magnolia State. The downside is that those in charge are often guilty of white-washing said history. You may be from out of state and want to tour a plantation home and get everything on the home, when it was built, the historical occupants, their means of earning income and not once hear a mention of their slave ownership or how brutal a master they may have been. In a lot of cases, the plantation lands have completely done away with the slave quarters on their land and have done so with an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. But there is no running from or hiding the past. It's always there in the open and a hidden in plain sight if you know how to look.

This picture is more about the story...

...than the image. This shot was taken in my mother-in-law's living room. It's not hard to see that she has an affinity for the First Family. Her support, however, rests in a different world of reasoning than most 50+ African Americans. It's easy to say that she witnessed the Civil Rights Movement first hand and that is the reason she gravitated towards Barack Obama. It's easy to say that she voted simply because she was Black and supporting a Black candidate. It's easy to assume that she is one of the many silver-aged African Americans who claim credit for the tireless and persistent work of the few who constantly marched, protested, and risked their well-being for equality. The truth is, her connection to this historical moment runs deeper. Here's a quick history lesson:

Herbert Lee was a farmer in the small town of Liberty, Mississippi, the seat of Amite County. He was not a very literate man but did well enough to support a wife and nine children. Herbert was a stand up citizen and a stand out African American. He was the only man in town with a car and an active member of the NAACP. During the height of the voters' rights movement in Mississippi, Herbert would drive from house to house with other activists in an effort to convince other African Americans in Amite county to register and vote. Not known as a state of tolerance, White citizens warned Herbert to cease with what they deemed to be his "agitating." Herbert was not easily intimidated and continued to fight the good fight until he was murdered by E.H. Hurst, a white member of the state legislature. Herbert Lee was Irma Lee Robinson's fathers, my wife's mother. She voted because her father died giving her the right to do so. She voted for Obama because he encompassed a significant milestone in the ongoing fight that her father made the ultimate sacrifice for.