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Brian Thomas

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Praise Song for the Day: In Praise of Elizabeth Alexander

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Jan 20, 2021

Praise Song for the Day: In Praise of Elizabeth Alexander

Jan 20, 2021

Praise Song for the Day: On Gratitude in Dark Times

There are moments when the world feels heavy, when the sheer weight of its troubles demands that we stop and breathe. It was in one of…

Mar 5

Praise Song for the Day: On Gratitude in Dark Times

Mar 5

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A Praise Song for the Day: Follow the Creative Spark

Earlier today, I met with one of my former students, now a senior at the college I attended. The meeting was unplanned, unscripted, but…

Feb 28

A Praise Song for the Day: Follow the Creative Spark

Feb 28

Praise Song for the Day: Stevie Wonder and His Gifts

Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to a Stevie Wonder session as he was recording one of my many favorite songs, All I Do. In that…

Feb 26

Praise Song for the Day: Stevie Wonder and His Gifts

Feb 26

Praise Song for the Day: Roberta Flack and The First Time

We now know something that few of our parents’ generation truly understood: even kids get the blues sometimes. We may not have listened to…

Feb 24

Praise Song for the Day: Roberta Flack and The First Time

Feb 24

Praise Song for the Day: The Questions of the Ancestors

Whenever I meet someone new, I have a few go-to questions. Asking where someone is from can be tricky — it can feel like putting them on…

Feb 21

Praise Song for the Day: The Questions of the Ancestors

Feb 21

Praise Song for the Day: Urban Nature Centers

Growing up in the urban landscape of Robbins, Illinois, just outside Chicago, my interactions with nature were limited. The concrete…

Feb 19

Praise Song for the Day: Urban Nature Centers

Feb 19

Praise Song of the Day: Everything at Your Fingertips, World Book Encyclopedias

Once upon a time, before the endless scroll of the internet and the instant gratification of search engines, knowledge sat neatly bound in…

Feb 17

Praise Song of the Day: Everything at Your Fingertips, World Book Encyclopedias

Feb 17

Praise Song for the Day: Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen

Some things are more than what they seem. More than just objects, more than products sitting on a shelf. Some things hold history in their…

Feb 14

Praise Song for the Day: Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen

Feb 14

Praise Song of the Day: Debbie Allen, a Tour de Force

Debbie Allen. A name that carries rhythm in its syllables, a name that commands the stage before she ever steps upon it. I first met Debbie…

Feb 12

Praise Song of the Day: Debbie Allen, a Tour de Force

Feb 12

Praise Song of the Day: Phylicia Rashad, A Tribute

Most people know Phylicia Rashad as the matriarch of The Cosby Show, Claire Huxtable. But Phylicia has been around — working on and off…

Feb 10

Praise Song of the Day: Phylicia Rashad, A Tribute

Feb 10

Praise Song of the Day: Duke Ellington

“I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline.” — Duke Ellington, jazz pianist, composer, and conductor (29 Apr 1899–1974)

Feb 7

Praise Song of the Day: Duke Ellington

Feb 7

Praise Song of the Day: Maxine Hong Kingston

“In a time of destruction, CREATE something.” ~Maxine Hong Kingston

Feb 6

Praise Song of the Day: Maxine Hong Kingston

Feb 6

Praise Song of the Day: The Quilters of Gee’s Bend

For a time about twenty years ago, women from a small peninsula in the middle of the Alabama River became cultural icons. Their collective…

Feb 5

Praise Song of the Day: The Quilters of Gee’s Bend

Feb 5

Praise Song of the Day: Young Michael Jackson

I want you to listen closely — really listen — to something today. It’s an interview from 1973, a conversation between a young Michael…

Feb 4

Praise Song of the Day: Young Michael Jackson

Feb 4

Praise Song for the Day: Faith Ringgold, For the People

Doing the semi-circular walk to look at every angle and detail around the master artist and quilter Faith Ringgold’s work is like marching…

Feb 3

Praise Song for the Day: Faith Ringgold, For the People

Feb 3

Praise Song for the Day: The Transformative Value of Hidden Courage

Courage is often misunderstood. It is not always a grand gesture, a bold proclamation, or a heroic act in front of an audience. Sometimes…

Jan 31

Praise Song for the Day: The Transformative Value of Hidden Courage

Jan 31

Praise Song for the Day: Old School Snow Days

Once again, in my corner of the Northeast, it snowed. Now that I work from home, snow days no longer impact me the way they once did. After…

Jan 30

Praise Song for the Day: Old School Snow Days

Jan 30

Praise Song for the Day: Five Reasons Why Writing in Cafés Nourishes the Soul

I’ve been reflecting on the places where I feel most at ease, where my thoughts seem to expand effortlessly, and where I can tap into…

Jan 29

Praise Song for the Day: Five Reasons Why Writing in Cafés Nourishes the Soul

Jan 29

Praise Song for the Day: The Five Things A Chorus Line Taught Me

Since yesterday’s blog celebrated the legendary André De Shields, it feels fitting to stay in the realm of Broadway’s greatest influences…

Jan 28

(From Playbill.com)

Jan 28

Brian Thomas

Brian Thomas

Writer. Educator. Doer.

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