I accepted and invitation from Soulsistah4real to the Facebook event, “Women Call to Prayer” on May 1st, the day it began. The call to prayer is a dedication to “prayer for the praise and demand of justice, respect and unity within the Black Community” for 30 minutes a day every evening until May 6th.

I was unable to do it on the first day because I was out that same evening but for the last three days, I’ve set my alarm to remind me to pray for half an hour straight and also set a timer for those 30 minutes.

It’s only been three days but it’s been intense.

I praise the memory of those of us who have been slain by the relentless fear and brutality of the police force and other agents of racism all over this country now and in the past. I pray for the mothers, friends and families of those men.

For me it’s been a lot like meditation at times because I don’t have a specific prayer prepared as yet so often I’m just focusing on sending out as much love, light and positive energy as I can as I sit still.

Here’s one thing I’ve started to notice.

This is something I should probably be doing every day no matter what. Over this wonderful and relaxing weekend I have have experienced stillness in simple and profound ways that have made me realize how necessary it is to access this kind of centerdness on a daily basis. The Women Call to Prayer has been more than just a a way to be unified with other women all over the world as we pray for justice, but also a way for us to connect to ourselves and our powers of manifestation for 30 minutes a day.

It’s funny, i’ve attempted several time in the past to dedicate sacred time to stillness, prayer and meditation  and it’s never stuck. But for some reason, being invited to do it for others has made it something that I feel is my my undoubted responsibility. Prayer is something people have done for decades as a part of organized religion and spiritual belief. Any one of us can do it and participate collectively anywhere in the world! It makes me think of the daily Muslim prayers and how when I lived in Harlem i would see vendors of the Muslim faith on 125th Street kneeling and praying on their mats  five times a day no matter no what was happening around them. My mother who believes very much in the power of prayer, would gather my brother and I together every night to pray in front of a lit candle. We made up our own prayer which I still remember to this day. Prayer and candles and the dressing of candles and the lighting of candles, the significance of their colors have always been a part of my life because of my mother.

No matter what may be happening around us and especially inside us, the dedication to any period of time where we can be still, meditate,  pray and reconnect to the place in ourselves that remains steady and secure in any situation each day and at the very least every week, feels more and more urgent to me lately. I am so grateful to have had the sense of that importance reach me through a form of prayer that is dedicated to justice, respect and unity in the Black community which of course is also about justice, respect and unity within us all.