Soul Force: Seven Pivots toward Courage, Community, and Change – NEW BOOK ALERT!!!

Hello World,

Speaking of Father’s Day this Sunday, this will be the first Father’s Day that my father is celebrating as a retired pastor! As my father retired last December, sometimes I get worried that my father won’t have enough to do in his retirement. He says that I need not worry since he has always wanted to devote more time to his writing projects. Still, I asked him if he wouldn’t mind reviewing a book Soul Force: Seven Pivots toward Courage, Community, and Change by Reesheda Graham-Washington and Shawn Casselberry that I received Herald Press earlier this year. He obliged. So below is a brief book review by my father Dr. Denzil D. Holness.

If you are a community leader, a change-agent or an activist Soul Force is a book you must read, mark, study and digest. For in its pages, Reesheda Graham-Washington and Shawn Casselberry, drawing on their discoveries and rich experiences, have given you a timely resource on how to bring about positive changes both in yourself and in your community in seven key areas.

You will undoubtedly find this book very enlightening as it gives you a critical knowledge and understanding of the following seven key areas you will have to move from and pivot to: from fear to freedom, from barriers to bridge-building, from self-centeredness to solidarity, from hurt to hope, from consuming to creating, from charity to change and from maintenance to movement. Additionally, it will open your eyes to see what it implies to use your soul force to bring about positive changes both in yourself and in your community in the seven key areas you must pivot to.

Futhermore, you will find this book empowering. For it assures you that by tapping into your “soul force” – that creative power or energy within all of us – you can indeed overcome negative messages or lies that you are powerless to affect such personal and social changes.

Moreover, you will find this book challenging. By its “indicator of growth” and set of searching questions under each pivot area, this book is a serious call to self-examination and reflection. So it is an invitation to enter into an honest dialogue with yourself and others.

Finally, you will find this book inspiring. In addition to the growth indicators and set of searching questions, each pivot area also includes inspiring stories from the experiences of the authors and from several people who have tapped into their creative power to affect positive personal and societal changes. You too will be inspired by their honesty, vulnerability and courage to affect such changes.

Well-written and well-organized, Soul Force is indeed a timely and valuable resource for personal and social changes to community leaders, change agents and activists.

Below is more information about the authors:

New Book ‘Sex and the City and Us’ Celebrates 20th Anniversary of the Debut of ‘Sex and the City!’

Hello World,

Do you know what today is? It’s their anniversary…the 20th anniversary of the debut of the now iconic television show Sex and the City…yes, when we first met Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha! My love for the show has been documented in many posts on this blog since the show debuted on HBO Jun 6, 1998! And on today, its 20th anniversary, I must again pay homage to the show that was referred to as a “personal love letter to single women everywhere” and certainly helped me navigate my singlehood days…

Me on Carrie’s stoop when I visited NYC back in 2009!

As it turns out, I’m not the only one who wants to pay homage to the institution that was Sex and the City, journalist and author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is also doing so in her new book Sex and the City and Us: How Four Single Women Changed the Way We Think, Live, and Love.”

By the bestselling author of Seinfeldia, a fascinating retrospective of the iconic and award-winning television series, Sex and the City, to coincide with the show’s twentieth anniversary.

When Candace Bushnell started writing her “Sex and the City” column for the New York Observer, she didn’t think anyone beyond the Upper East Side would care about her adventures among the Hamptons-hopping media elite. But her struggles with singlehood struck a chord, making her a citywide—and soon nationwide—sensation.

Beverly Hills, 90210 creator Darren Star brought Bushnell’s vision to an even wider audience when he adapted the column for an HBO series. His four main characters: Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha, forever branded the actresses that took on the roles, redefined women’s relationship to sex, and elevated the perception of singlehood. With their fashion-forward lifestyle, they launched a barrage of trends, from fabric flower accessories to Manolo Blahnik shoes to Cosmopolitan cocktails.

Read the rest of the description at Amazon.com…

And if you want to support Miranda, I mean Cynthia Nixon (the actress who portrayed Miranda) as she runs for governor of New York (yes, GOVERNOR) particularly as it is SATC’s 20th anniversary, head on over to store.cynthiafornewyork.com!  

Finally, if you’ve never experienced Sex and the City, the vault of treasure that is this show will be opened up on Friday, June 8 on E! Following a special Sex and the City episode at 7 p.m., hold on for the Sex and the City 20th anniversary marathon of every episode ever starting at 7:30 p.m.!

And here is a scene from the last episode of SATC (Spoiler Alert. Don’t watch if you don’t want to know how it all ends…):

Any thoughts?

Season 3 of OWN’s Hit Megachurch Drama ‘Greenleaf’ Set for Two-Night Premiere Tues., August 28 & Wed.,August 29!!!

Guest stars this season include Beau Bridges, Iyanla Vanzant and Patti LaBelle!

Hello World,

I’ve got GOOD NEWS! It’s not the gospel, but it’s good nevertheless! LOL!

The Oprah Winfrey Network aka OWN announced that the third season of its hit megachurch drama “Greenleaf”  will premiere on Tuesday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 29 at 10 p.m. each night!!!

In Season 3 of “Greenleaf,” all the turbulent forces that Grace’s (Merle Dandridge) return to Memphis unleashed threaten to destroy not just the church her family built, but the family itself. Fallout from last season’s shocking revelation of Bishop’s (Keith David) infidelities with Lady Mae’s (Lynn Whitfield) sister Mavis (Oprah Winfrey), as well as reverberations from his current dalliance with that insidious Jezebel, Rochelle Cross (LeToya Luckett) lead to all-out war in the Greenleaf home, setting the Bishop and Lady Mae on a collision course that, unless God or Grace intervenes, can only end one way: divorce. In the wake of the marital mayhem, Lady Mae rushes to reconnect with Maxine Patterson (Patti LaBelle), an old friend and now a world-famous Christian motivational speaker, in an attempt to reclaim her forsaken call to preach and thus do what no First Lady has done before – survive as the sole head pastor of a megachurch after a major rift between its founding couple.

Grace, meanwhile, works undercover in the company of Rochelle, hoping to discover Rochelle’s motives and true identity before the Bishop is swept away on a raging river of vanity and desire. Across town at Triumph, Jacob (Lamman Rucker) and Kerissa (Kim Hawthorne) try not to make the same mistakes Bishop and Lady Mae made as they work to build their own evangelical empire and manage parenting their teenage daughter Zora (Lovie Simone), but the roots of sin delve deep and old habits die hard. Sophia’s (Desiree Ross) faith is tested when an unforeseen medical issue arises; Charity (Deborah Joy Winans) struggles to make peace with Kevin (Tye White) and find her place in the world; and Grace works to keep an abused woman from death row for the crime of defending her own life. Meanwhile, Darius (Rick Fox) finds himself in conflict due to being entangled in an increasingly strained relationship with Grace.

The drama-filled season will feature guest stars including multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy Award-winning actor Beau Bridges (“Homeland”), who plays Bob Whitmore, the folksy and charming founder of Harmony of Hope Ministries – a massive denomination with churches all over the world – who will use any unsavory tool at his disposal to win. Iyanla Vanzant, six-time New York Times’ best-selling author, acclaimed spiritual life coach and star of OWN’s popular “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” portrays herself helping Charity (Deborah Joy Winans) finally find her place in the Greenleaf family. Multiple Grammy Award-winning recording artist, actress, and entrepreneur Patti LaBelle (“American Horror Story,” “Daytime Divas”) guest stars in the recurring role of Maxine Patterson – a famous Christian motivational speaker and the CEO of a global Christian self-help empire; an old friend of Lady Mae’s (Lynn Whitfield) from college days, Maxine will be Lady Mae’s sounding board and greatest ally as Lady Mae attempts to consolidate her power at Calvary.

Check out the trailer below!

Also, Lionsgate Music will release the “Greenleaf” Season 3 Soundtrack on all digital music platforms including Spotify and Apple Music on Friday, August 24!

If you need to refresh yourself on Season 1 and 2, just search (the search bar is on the top right) my blog for Greenleaf recaps! Here is a link to Season 2  finale’s episode Greenleaf Finale Recap, Season 2 Episode 16: The Pearl…

Any thoughts?