The Woman Of Courage! #CelebratingMothers💖

The Woman Of Courage!  #CelebratingMothers💖

 Beautiful People, 

I was nurtured in the womb with compassion and birthed by a Woman of Courage in times of Great Change. 

As a child I made mudpies filled with hope; picked blueberries with joy, learn to swim in the ocean and tried to climb trees of wisdom that offered acorns or apples. When I fell, the Woman of Courage hugged me and nurtured my cuts and bruises.

I was a wild child dancing through fields of grass and flowers, chasing butterflies in the morning and fireflies at night. 

I learned to read and traveled the World when I was a child through books. In darkness, I imagined what life would be like if I could ride on the moon and share my toys with other children in the sparkling stars. 

The Woman of Courage laughed and taught me to write stories and use my imagination. She told me I was a special gift and would help make the World better.  She taught me to Pray and say Thank You for my good life. 

 As I grew, the World kept Changing. The Woman of Courage taught me to use my voice and speak out for Justice and to Serve All with Love. She taught me to respect others and shared her dreams for Peace in the World.  We marched and sang and prayed that all children could be free to grow in Love. 

I Am Thankful for Her, My Mother!  She is the Woman of Courage that Taught Me to Dream!

Let's Celebrate Mothers Always!

Live & Love...

Always, Melony 💖

Peace Is Possible through Compassion, Cooperation, Courage, Creativity, Deep Listening, Faith,Forgivenes, Good Purpose, Healing, Hope, Humilty, Integrity, Joy, Kindness, Mercy, Patience, Respect, Understanding and the Gift of Love!

Dr. Glory Van Scott in Conversation with Dr. Ann Klaeysen at the New York Society for Ethical Culture May 16th, 6:30pm at 2 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023

Dr. Glory Van Scott in Conversation with Dr. Ann Klaeysen at the New York Society for Ethical Culture

May 16th, 6:30pm at  2 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023

The 1950s was a tumultuous time for race relations in the U.S. There was the high of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, but also the devastating low that was the murder of Emmett Till. While we have come far in the nearly 60 years since, we find ourselves facing similar strife and hatred today.

Whether it’s Trump’s incitement of violence against people of color or the rash of racially motivated mass shootings, this decade in some ways resembles the 1950s. Dr. Glory Van Scott was just coming of age when her cousin Emmett was murdered in 1955, and she translated her anger and grief into her passion for dance, theater and education. Come listen and speak with Dr. Van Scott about her thoughts on the current state of race relations and how her background with Ethical Culture helped inspire her world view.

Dr. Scott’s long career has taken her from the screen, where she appeared alongside Michael Jackson and Diana Ross in The Wiz to Broadway in productions of House of Flowers and The Great White Hope.

Even before her cousin’s brutal murder, social justice was a big part of her life thanks to her family. That was cemented further when she traveled from Chicago to New York at 17 to be a part of the Encampment for Citizenship, a summer camp founded by Ethical NYC. Emmet was murdered after her time at the Encampment and it not only galvanized the country, it spurred Dr. Van Scott to fuse her passion for art and education to affect change.

It was at the Encampment where Dr. Van Scott met her best friend David Rothenberg, the founder of the Fortune Society. Understanding that education is the best way to combat hate, she volunteered to teach incarcerated young boys at David’s urging. That experience led to a career of teaching, including forming Dr. Glory’s Children’s Theater at Ethical NYC in the 1980s, which still runs today.

Please Click Eventbrite Link Below to RSVP: 
Glory: A Life Among Legends w/ Dr. Glory Van Scott

Glory: A Life Among Legends w/ Dr. Glory Van Scott Join us to hear Dr. Glory Van Scott talk about her new memoir, GLORY: A Life Among Legends with Ethical NYC's Leader Dr. Anne Klaeysen! Free! Reception at 6:30pm with refreshments. A portion of proceeds from donations and book sales go to The Encampm

Please Join Us...

May 16th, 6:30pm at  2 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023

Doors Open  at 6:30 

Copies of GLORY:A Life Among Legends will be available for sale and signing.

A portion of the proceeds from donations and book sales go to The Encampment for Citizenship.

This is Earth School.

This is Earth School.  

Beautiful People, 

This is Earth School.

No matter the challenges and struggles, we must find Peace within our hearts and walk with Loving Tenderness. 

This is Earth School. 

Some come to learn, others to teach. Some are warriors. Others are Peacemakers. 

Some walk with great Faith 

and become personifications 

of Loving Hope. 

Others are learning about the 

material world and mistakenly 

embrace greed, hate and power. 

They have forgotten Love. 

No matter who we are, our time here is finite but our Spiritual existence is Infinite and Eternal. 

While we are here we must honor and celebrate eachother, Love eachother and cherish eachother as beings connected in Love. 

Today honor family, friends and strangers. 

Share Compassion. Forgive with Humilty. 

Make Peace with All. 

Our time to be here may be short but in leaving we are never alone. 

Those who return before us to the Heaven Realm, our Angel Ancestors await us...

Just as they live always in our hearts and soar through the MultiVerse unlimited or restricted by physical bodies assisting us. 

Divine Spirit lives through them and through us. 

There is nothing but Love. 

Love is Grace in Action.  

This is Earth School.  Share Your Gifts. Use Your Genius and Your Voice.

Please Re-Member Love...

Ten Times Breathe! 

Breathe In Love.  Exhale Love.

Together We Are Strong.

Together We Must Believe that Right Will Win!

Be Love...and Live Only with Love In Your Hearts Today!

Always, Melony 

Peace Is Possible through Compassion, Cooperation, Courage, Creativity, Deep Listening, Faith, Forgiveness Good Purpose, Healing, Hope, Integrity, Joy, Kindness, Mercy, Patience, Respect, Understanding and the Gift of Love!

#Breathe #Courage #DeepListening #EarthSchool #GoodPurpose #GraceInAction #Inspiration #Integrity #Joy #Love #Meditation #Motivation #PeaceMaker #Spirituality 

---

@Common:New Book LET LOVE HAVE THE LAST WORD!

Common: a Son, a Father, an Artist, a Friend,  an Activist, a Humanitarian, and a Spiritual Teacher Bringing Love Mainstream in his new book, LET LOVE HAVE THE LAST WORD.!

Beautiful People, 

No matter what it looks like, through the everyday struggles, the injustice,  the ego, the greed and the hate; there is an energy moving through the UniVerse that offers Undeniable Hope.  That energy is Love; for what are we but stardust?  

I Believe that we come to this Earth and are born as humans with free will.  Encoded within us is a seed of Love.  

Yesterday,  I saw the Goodness and felt the energy of many spirits connecting in Love.  From the security, maintenance team, Ken Cummings, Esq and staff at Riverside Church to Rashid (who facilitated me having access to Common so I could share a copy of GLORY: A Life Among Legends by one of my important mentors, Dr. Glory Van Scott) and all of the members of Common's support team, his magnificent band and at least a thousand audience members including Cynthia Robinson-Bioh, Gwendolyn Black, Cherise Myers, Katrina, Nicole O'Connor, author/activist and scholar, Darnell L. Moore and artist Taj Brayboy; there was a tenderness rarely acknowledged but identifiable to me as Love.  

I knew when a gracious, humble Common invited me to come on stage at Riverside Church to discuss my challenges around healing, forgiveness and Love; I was being Blessed by the Fruits of Spirit.

And Common may not say it, but He Is an Awakened Spirit and a Master Teacher who is using his own life to remind us that each and every day, we have the option to be better and do better each and every day.

In his courageous new book LET LOVE HAVE THE LAST WORD (which I spent the night reading), we are privy to his personal journey, his relationships with his Mother, his Father and his precious daughter  Amoye.  We also see his creative brilliance, his commitment to humanity,  his compassionate heart, his pain and his strong resolve to forgive and work to bring good change. Though he is a troubadour of Love,  Common shares his vulnerability and uncertainty with resolve to Love.

"... I can't lie.  I feel foolish for offering love as a weapon; there is, I admit doubt in my heart about loves effectiveness among so much horror, so much suffering." says Common.

And I personally identify with, and understand his hesitation and occasional frustration but know that his bravery, compassionate nature, his vulnerability and his quest for Justice and ongoing success is an Urgent Call for All of Us to look deeply into our own hearts, so that we too can discover the Love within. Because Ultimately, Love is an adjective, an energy, a noun and a verb.  

I am so very grateful that Common is a Brave Earth Angel in these perilous times.  Like many of the Great Masters throughout time, his Awakening Call to Love Is Vibrating throughout the UniVerse.  

"Matters of the spirit rise above the world, the physical world being just one part of our reality; the spiritual is the other, and to exist in any meaningful way in life, both should be engaged.  Love is the way, the conduit from the spiritual to the physical,  from soul to mind and body; to speak of love is to speak on a spiritual plane." says Common. 

I highly recommend LET LOVE HAVE THE LAST WORD.  Like  Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin, John Coltrane, Angela Davis, Khalil Gibran, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Zora Neale Hurston, Bell Hooks, Nikki Giovanni, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Marianne Williamson, the man on death row who told him that he had a responsibility to give back and the many others that he has studied or learned from....

Common Brings a Powerful, Truthful Message of Hope and Love in Action!  I  will be reading  and using LET LOVE  HAVE THE LAST WORD as a reference over, and over again...  

Live & Love...

Rev. Melony McGant 

#Common #Son #Fatherhood #Activist #HipHop #Actor #Producer #OscarWinner #GoldenGlobeWinner

#EmmyAndGrammyAwardWinner #LETLOVEHAVETHELASTWORD #AtriaBooks #NewBooks#MindBodySpirit

#RiversideChurch #BarnesAndNoble #Amazon

#BooksellersEverwhere

An Affirmation of Gratitude

An Affirmation  of Gratitude! 

Beautiful People, 

Take a Moment to Clear Your Mind and Your Heart. 

Breathe Deeply and Exhale Slowly Ten Times. 

With Each Breath,  Allow Gratitude to Fill Your Heart with Awareness! 

Re-Member that you have the flexibility of a monkey, the courage of an elephant and the gentleness of a dove.  

Now, draw upon the wisdom of the lotus flower, trees and dolphins just as you honor the luminosity of our Mother Earth-Heart. 

Today walk simply with clear focus, determination, good purpose, hope, integrity, respect and appreciation of your self and all others.  

In this way, You Too will blossom just as a beautiful lotus flower even in the mud of confusion and uncertainty!

Say to Yourself...

 "I am a vessel open;  ready to share and receive.  I honor life's mystery and allow Love to pour through Me and out into the World. Compassion, Deep Listening and Gratitude Fill My Heart!"

 And So It Is With Love!

Live & Love...

Always, Melony 

Peace Is Possible through Compassion, Cooperation, Courage, Creativity, Deep Listening, Faith, Forgiveness, Good Purpose, Hope, Integrity, Joy, Kindness, Mercy, Patience, Respect,Understanding and the Gift of Love! 

#Breathe #Compassion #Courage #DeepListening #Gratitude #Joy #Inspiration #Meditation #Motivation 

A May Love Note from Melony!

A May Love Note from Melony!

Beautiful People,  

Can you imagine, it’s already May? 

Please Join Me and take a moment to let our MotherEarthHeart feel our Loving resolve to Accept, Respect, and Nurture Each Other.

I ask that  you Breathe and Exhale Deeply Ten Times.  

Let Love be felt throughout every organ of the body, and let us open our total beings so that we become Love’s essence.

Now, let us honor the beauty of our entire sentient family including the birds, the dolphins, the  horses, the lions, the elephants and all sentients across the planet.

Let us rejoice as the clouds burst with rain, and we feel the impact of  monumental oceans, rivers and mountains.

Let us Mourn and Honor All Those Precious Beings Who Have Been Lost Due to Earth's Imbalance Through Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Human Violence or Illness.   

We Hold All These Precious Beings Forever In Our Hearts and Know They Have Ascended Into the Heart of Love.

Right now feel Mother Earth’s  rejuvenation through flowers, fruits, vegetables, plants, trees, the sparkling sun, the glistening moon, twinkling stars, and the magical sky.

Right now let us forgive ourselves, and each other as we learn to release any vestiges of pain, and fear we have of each other.

Let us each take time to embrace Goodness, then let us share it with each other. Let us diligently work to create  better  economic, educational, social, political and justice systems  so that Every Child can dream, achieve and live their Good Destiny.

Let us commit to work to cure dis-ease, create Equity in every community and promote Harmony.

Today we walk with Truth and Reconciliation. We honor our Elders, and embrace our Children. 

We acknowledge ALL as beings of Love, and strive for the best outcome in every situation.

We understand that we must always  move to honor the potential and joy of a Loving Peace on our planet.

Right now, as we Breathe Deeply and Exhale Slowly---Let us together imagine a World where all people, all religions, and cultural traditions embrace a Universal Consciousness of  Compassion, Kindness and Love.

We acknowledge that We Are One Heart, and through that One Heart each of us is able to develop a new awareness of Mother:

Maybe

Only

The

Heart=Earth

Explains

Reason for Love…

Live & Love...

Always, Melony

Letter to Oprah and Gayle King: Remembering Katherine Dunham, May 1, 2006

Letter to Oprah and Gayle King: Remembering Katherine Dunham, May 1, 2006

Dear Oprah, Gayle and JJ...

I am writing this letter of Gratitude because I once told Katherine Dunham that it was never too late to say Thank You!  

Looking back into times long past, Miss Dunham's letter to you Oprah, opened a mystical pathway that gave us all the opportunity to honor an elder and exceed her dreams.  

Thank You, each of you...For your beautiful hearts and your generous spirits!

Oprah, when you named Miss Dunham one of your LEGENDS, it was one of the happiest days of my life.  Miss Dunham shared the elegant invitation with unmitigated joy and asked me to call Dr. Glory Van Scott.   She too was thrilled!  We both knew that if Miss Dunham had One Wish, it was to meet You face to face. 

Unfortunately due to unforseen complications, Miss Dunham was not permitted to make the journey to California.   She was very disappointed and lamented that she had been so close, but that a great opportunity had been thwarted.

And then Oprah, something shifted in the Universe.  Dr. Glory asked me to reach out to You and Gayle in 2006 and invite you to La Boule Blanche at Riverside Church in celebration of the publication of the collected writings of Katherine Dunham, KAISO! edited by Veve Clark and Sara E. Johnson. 

I personally delivered packages to O Magazine and followed up with you, JJ.  I will always remember your constant kindness and patience!

And when JJ let me know that Gayle would be attending La Boule Blanche on May 1st, 2006,  my heart sang with joy!  

But Gayle, you were unable to attend and sent a messenger with a personal note to give to Dr. Glory Van Scott.

It said that you were hoping to see Miss Dunham on May 11th.  Neither Dr. Glory or I knew anything about an invitation for Miss Dunham but there was JJ to the rescue to explain it was the private viewing of the LEGENDS Weekend.  

Dr. Glory was scheduled to travel with her beloved, George Wein and was unable to accompany Miss Dunham but she arranged for  Leonard Buggs to drive her.  In attendance were Madeline Preston and Eloise Anderson who both had been Dunham Company Members.

What a Miracle that Miss Dunham got her Wish before she Ascended on May 21st, 2006.  I remember that it was bittersweet watching the show on May 22nd.

Gayle, we reached out to to help us commemorate Miss Dunham 's 100 birthday celebration produced by Dr. Glory at Symphony Space in NYC,  and received a heartfelt quote for program booklet.  It is in the enclosed press kit.

Ladies, I have struggled with writing this letter of Gratitude for some time but, last Saturday, I attended the 45th Anniversary Concert of Sweet Honey In The Rock with Dr. Glory and I felt Miss Dunham somehow speaking to me from the Heavens.

When I got home I turned on the computer and looked for a photo of Oprah and Miss Dunham.  I had  searched unsuccessfully for years but now there it was before me!

The last photos before Miss Dunham Ascended! WOW!  What a Beautiful Blessing! What a Remarkable Memory!  

 Enclosed is a signed copy of GLORY: A Life Among Legends by Dr. Glory Van Scott.  I am so happy to have journeyed with her as she wrote this book.  Before he Ascended,  Gil Noble told Dr. Glory that it ought to be a movie.  I'm holding that vision too.

Sandra Bookman recently interviewed her on ABC7's Here and Now in NYC.  It is available online.

Like you, Oprah, Gayle and JJ...  

Dr. Glory Van Scott is a woman of compassion and integrity.  She wrote GLORY so that many would be acknowledged and remembered. It is a tapestry of her life. 

I am doing my best to share her story with many and am open to your suggestions!

With Gratitude and Respect, 

Melony 

Melony McGant 

Coordinating Director 

Dr. Glory Van Scott Productions 

drgloryvanscottproductions@yahoo.com 

Photo Collage:

May 11, 2006

#Oprah and #KatheringDunham 

May 1, 2006, La Boule Blanche (produced by Dr. Glory Van Scott) Photo by Tyrone Rasheed 

DUNHAM COMPANY MEMBERS

Standing (L-R)

#CamilleYarbrough, #JeanLeonDestine

#DrGloryVanScott 

#JulieBelafonte 

Sitting

#EloiseAnderson

#KatherineDunham 

#MadelinePreston