Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Amber Hoopengarner in her words:

I want to share my story because I believe God gives us all stories to help others along their journey. As a mixed-race woman, I have faced various challenges socially and within myself and my own identity.

I want to be the change I wish to see by loving people how Jesus loved the church while educating them on the differences we all share that make us beautiful and unique the way God intended. I want to raise awareness by speaking up for BIPOC women who have been silenced for so long and bring voice and light to their truths.

For too long they have had to apologize and dim their shine to feel loved worthy and valuable.

It is my goal and desire to write words that remind women of all races that God has made them fearfully and wonderfully, while pointing out that others have not always treated us as the queens that God created us and all of His Daughters (regardless of race) to be.

I will continue to work with minority and mental health groups and minority groups in all areas to eliminate stigma and bring hope to the battles that have been fought in silence for too long.

We are all made by God and need to embrace our differences culturally, historically, physically, emotionally and eliminate the one size fits all approach to the things we do in our everyday lives.

I aim to bring about cultural sensitivity and education within my small community with the love of Jesus Christ and the understanding and wisdom that the Holy Spirit brings as I seek to do his work.

~*~
Author Bio:

Amber Hoopengarner is a writer and self-published author who is also a Certified Life Coach working with women who suffer from PMADs and children who suffer from mental health disorders.

She is a Maternal Mental Health Advocate and works to help raise awareness within the church of mental health disorders especially among BIPOC women.

Amber graduated in 2016 from the University of Phoenix with an Associates in Human Services Management and is currently in the process of obtaining her bachelor’s in psychology. She also has certificates in Mental Health Coaching, Bibliotherapy and CBT as well as in Perinatal Mood Anxiety Disorders.

Amber loves God and people! She enjoys making a difference through bringing up issues and challenges that sometimes would not otherwise be addressed. Amber believes that God wants His people to be loved where right where they are while they are working on who He has called them to become.

~*~
Connect with Amber:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amberwha35/

Sharing Our Stories: Why Racism is Wrong

Racism Against People of Color
A guest post by Sherrinda Ketchersid

Since George Floyd’s death, I’ve been educating myself about racism and White privilege. Most of the books, magazines, and online articles have focused on Black voices, but as I have friends and family members who are married to Latinxs, I’ve begun to investigate the issues that this and other underrepresented groups face. My findings have been eye-opening. As people of God, we cannot close our eyes to the mistreatment of God-created human beings.

Let’s talk about the Latinx group. I did not know this, but Latinx is the biggest minority group in the United States—not by much, with Blacks coming in close behind. I also learned that Latinx are the second most discriminated ethnic group after Blacks. Like Black people, the darkness or lightness of their skin contributes to the level of discrimination.

From a survey done by pewresearch.org, four in ten Latinx say they have recently experienced one of the following incidents—called offensive names, told to go back to their home country, disparaged for speaking Spanish, and given harsh treatment because of their ethnicity.

Let’s not forget the issues with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Centers—families separated, poor living conditions, poor medical treatment, etc. There is a history of abuse and neglect dating back to the early 1900s. Allegations of rape and unauthorized sterilizations abound. Even for those Latinx born in the U.S., many of them live in fear for family members and friends.

Now let’s turn our attention on Indigenous Americans. We all have heard about how colonization of North America forced Indigenous Americans from their homes and their sacred lands, many slaughtered in the process. They were told untruths, endured broken treaties, and forced into segregation on reservations. Today, Indigenous Americans face discrimination across a variety of areas such as medical treatment, interaction with police, educational processes, microaggressions, and racial slurs.

Statistics show that Indigenous Americans who live in a heavily populated Native area are more likely to experience institutional discrimination than those in a less populated Native area. In regard to housing, a few years ago in North Dakota, a law was passed that made having a photo ID with a street address a requirement to vote. This targeted the Indigenous Americans, many of whom used P.O. Boxes. Voter repression is still happening, just as it is for the Black community, where the war on drugs and mass incarceration makes voting impossible.

Now let’s look at Asian Americans. Some of you may have seen on the news this year instances where some have been told to “go home”, all because COVID-19 was first reported in China. The virus has been called the “China Flu” by some, which in and of itself is racist. But this is not a new thing, according to history.

Discrimination against Asians goes back a long way. Back around the 1850s, Chinese workers began to come over to U.S., fleeing from wars and economic hardship. At first they were welcomed, but soon were seen as competition from lower-class whites. In 1870, The Naturalization Act gave naturalization rights to those of African descent, but not those of Asian descent.

In the 1960s, during the anti-black discrimination uprising, Asian-Americans became the poster child for the new term “model-minority”, stating they were better at abiding by the law and being hard workers. While this may have looked good on the outside, it constituted the idea that Asian Americans did not need government assistance.

Asian Americans face discrimination today. In one study at the University of Toronto, it was found that those of East Asian descent were thought of as extremely competent, but lacking leadership and dominance, making them overlooked for leadership positions. This is alluded to as the “bamboo ceiling”—and why Asian Americans don’t consider advanced degrees as profitable as for whites.

Black people have been discriminated against more openly and ruthlessly. The injustices they have been dealt with have been reprehensible and violent. From slavery, to segregation, to voter suppression, to lynching, to mass incarceration, to police brutality, Black people in America have been dealt a heavy blow.

I know I am excluding other underrepresented groups like Middle Eastern, South Asian, and others, which I know experience discrimination as well, but to be mindful of the length of this post, I am focusing on other people of color at this time.

The discrimination and racial injustices against people of color … all colors … is perpetrated by people of white skin. This was true even before American colonization. It is pervasive and though we try to make things better, other structures of suppression pop up.

As believers in Christ, we cannot stand by and be silent any longer. Scripture clearly tells us of God’s heart for all people. Each one of us are His creation, made in His image (Genesis 1:27). We are to treat every person with respect and love.

We should not favor whites over people of color because, as Christ’s followers, we follow His example and teachings. It was Jesus Christ’s disciple Peter who said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:34-35 NIV)

In the book of Revelation 7:9-10 (NIV), we see that in heaven “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Everyone, no matter their nationality, their ethnicity, or their skin color will be excluded from God’s kingdom. If God does not exclude, why would we?

As we move forward in 2021, I am challenging myself—and others—to examine our lives to see we show favoritism. Do we watch TV and movies that only feature white leads? Do we read books that are white centered? Does our friend circle all have the same color skin? Do we initiate conversations with others who look different from us? Do we seek to befriend and truly know and understand others of different backgrounds? Are we calling out racism when we see it…in ourselves and in others? These are questions I am asking myself this year.

I pray that my heart grows in bravery in the face of injustice, and that I will expand my circle of friends to include more diversity. What about you? How will you work on your heart in regard to racial justice?

~*~
Author Bio:

Sherrinda Ketchersid is an author of historical romance and a minister’s wife who loves to paint in her Bible.

She loves to read, spend time in her flower garden, and try her hand at new crafts. She likes to blog and is part of a group called The Writers Alley. 

Sherrinda lives in north-central Texas with her husband of 35 years. With four grown children, three guys and a gal, she has more time and energy to spin tales of faith, fun, and forever love.

~*~
Connect with Sherrinda:
Website: www.sherrinda.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SherrindaKetchersidAuthor/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sherrinda
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherrinda
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sherrinda/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19022507.Sherrinda_Ketchersid
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sherrinda-ketchersid
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sherrinda-Ketchersid/e/B07Q5Y8QHF/

Sharing Our Stories: The power of telling your story to the world

Tell Me Your Story
A guest post by Roseanna M. White

In the tumultuous spring of 2020, when the world was shut down with COVID and there was rioting in the streets and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests all across America, I was sitting at my computer with edits for a book called Dreams of Savannah. 

I had to turn these edits back in to my publisher soon…and I was scared. Because this story, as you might be able to guess, was set in Savannah, Georgia. The heart of the South. During the Civil War. With a heroine who was from a slave-holding family. Yes, there were themes of racial reconciliation in the book already…but were they strong enough? Had I handled them well? Would I be able to adequately share my heart through this story? Was my heart where God needed it to be?

In the tumultuous spring of 2020, my family did a lot of soul-searching. We did a lot of talking about what was going on around us and why. We did a lot of evaluating of our own biases, prejudices, passions, and actions. And we changed. We changed some of our opinions, previously never thought about too deeply. We changed our conversations with others. We changed our approach to a lot of things.

And I worked on this story. In it, my heroine has to do what we did—reevaluate what she thought she knew. She has to learn to see the people around her as people. To love them not for the roles they played in her life, but to see them as worthy of stories of their own. And that was the crux of the matter for my characters, who always wanted to be a heroine in one of her beloved tales. She had to realize that she gets to write her own story—she has to make choices that will let her live the story she wants to tell. And she has to see the stories of those around her to recognize that the same is true of them. Because while she’s so focused on being her own heroine, what if she ends up a villain in their story?

As I wrote this character who learned to see the stories of those around her, I realized that it was a real passion of mine too. I’ve always believed that stories are powerful things—that stories touch our hearts and minds and souls in ways that simple facts don’t. But before, I always focused on how fiction does that. I began to realize the same power is held by any story—any sharing of experience and insight. Through stories, we can come to know each other. Understand each other. Love each other.

I want to know your story. I want to know what makes you tick, what factors into your reasoning. I want to see your experiences through your eyes to help me open my own wider to the life you live. I want to understand the trials of the immigrant; the burden of the person of color; the fears of the marginalized. I want to know you, so I can love you like the Father loves you.

It was driving home from church one day just a couple months ago that this desire, and our continued talk of racial reconciliation, and the final edits on Dreams of Savannah, all coalesced in my mind. I looked over at my husband and said, “We need to collect people’s stories. And create a site where they can share them. Where anyone can.”

And so we did. We created a site called SeeingtheStory.com that is a place for story-seekers, story-tellers, and story-collectors to gather. To share, to read, to watch, to listen. To get to know people who are nothing like them…yet just like them. To learn what it is to walk in each other’s shoes. To love each other.

If you’re reading this post on this blog, then chances are you have a flame in your heart for understanding others and loving them. You want to learn better how to do that. So I’d love to invite you to come take a peek at Seeing the Story. 

Read some of the stories up already—it’s just launched as of when I’m writing this, so there aren’t many yet. But you can help with that. We’d love it if you would share your story. Maybe the one about how your family came to live where they have. Maybe a story of hardship overcome or joy found where you least expected it. Maybe the story of what set your feet on this path toward racial reconciliation, or one you’ve lived out while traveling it.

Stories really do change the world—because they change the hearts of the people who fill it. And we get to choose what story we live, what story we tell.

I’d love to hear yours.

~*~
Author Bio:

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes.

When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing for WhiteFire Publishing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself.

Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books … to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 

You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

~*~
Connect with Roseanna:
Blog: https://roseannamwhite.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite

Sharing Our Stories: My lens and their world

Changing Our Lens
A personal essay by Roseanna M. White

As a novelist, something I’ve been thinking about a lot in recent years, as people ask me how I create my characters, is the lens through which we view the world. 

It’s easy to talk about in terms of these fictional people—after all, I’m the one creating them. I get to decide what their lens is and whether or not it shifts throughout the course of the story. I define it as “how they view their world and all their experiences.” A mathematician is going to see things differently than a musician, a biologist differently than a fairy tale enthusiast.

This is an understanding that I have about my made-up world because of my awareness of how I view the world always through the lens of “writer.” I’m always trying to put words to everything, trying to capture each experience through a turn of phrase.

We all have a thicker lens than our profession or even our calling, though. And I’m just beginning to understand what all truly makes up that glass through which we each see our world.

A lot of it is informed by our culture, our personal history. My lens is that of a white, middle-class woman. A West Virginian. A girl who prefers rural settings to urban ones. My lens comes from being raised in a Protestant church. In a school without much diversity. Going to a college that had people from a lot of countries, but most of whom still looked “like me.” 

But learning, there, to talk about everything with everyone, to view conversation as a way to bridge any gap. My lens comes from realizing, thanks to my fiction writing and reading, that we can always remove our own lens and put on someone else’s long enough to glimpse their world and come to new understandings.

As racial tensions continue to mount and a light is shone on systemic biases and injustices, sometimes our first reaction is to hide behind our own tinted glasses. “That’s not our world. That’s not how we experience it.” It’s easy to call it exaggeration or political or even flat-out mistaken.

But let’s take off our own lens. It’s a challenge—we’re so used to it that everything might look a little myopic when we make an effort to check our usual outlook at the door. But the best things in the life are the most difficult, and it’s an exercise worth the effort. Take off your lens. Put aside how you experience things. And really ask yourself how others do.

I’ve encountered prejudice here and there because of being from West Virginia. But it’s one I can counter by the way I present myself. When I take off that lens, I see that others don’t have the same ability—no matter what they do, people will make assumptions based on outward appearances that they cannot—and should not have to—change.

I’ve made plenty of friends with people of color, never seeing them as different. But when I take off my lens of “equality,” I see that there are differences, and that by ignoring the continued inequalities, I don’t make them disappear—I just don’t help solve them. In order to truly love and respect those friends, I need to take active steps, not just make assumptions.

I have opinions on right ways and wrong ways to handle problems. But we tend to define “right” and “wrong” by what works and what doesn’t. When I take off my lens, I see that what works for me does not work for others—and so, when is taking different action the only possible recourse?

This is something I have to keep practicing every day. But I should, every day. Because Jesus called us to look outside ourselves. To be radical with our love. To seek out those who are different. He calls us to see everyone through the lens of the only true equality to be found—His love.

What defines your lens? And how can you shift it to see the world in new ways?

~*~
Author Bio:

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes.

When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing for WhiteFire Publishing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself.

Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.

You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

~*~
Connect with Roseanna:
Blog: https://roseannamwhite.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite
Website: https://www.roseannamwhite.com

Sharing Our Stories: Introducing the writers

Introducing Roseanna M. White, in her words:

I love to explore ideas. 

Having come out of a college that focuses on philosophy and conversation and the foundational writings of Western civilization, I spend a lot of time thinking about the big questions (some might say too much time, ha ha). I’ve always thought “equality” was important…and that because I wanted it, that meant it was a finished process. I always assumed, in some part of my mind, that the work had been done and we could just walk in it, if only we’d stop focusing on our differences. 

In the last year or so, though, I’ve begun to see that the process of equality is far from complete, and that wanting a thing doesn’t make it so. We have to do the work—continually, tirelessly, without fail, day in and day out. I’ve come to see that it’s not enough to not be something bad—a racist or a bigot or judgmental—we have to actively work against racism or bigotry or prejudice.

I come from an interesting part of the country. West Virginia exists as a state because it remained in the Union (or rejoined it, actually) when Virginia seceded with the Confederacy. But this decision was more political—and the seizing of a loophole that would allow for statehood—than cultural or moral. We’re an interesting jumble of Northern and Southern sentiments and traditions. And we have a bit of a reputation of our own. 

Let’s be honest—when most people hear “West Virginia,” they make a few snap judgments about hillbillies and rednecks and twangs and family feuds. I’ve found, however, that these are judgments I can overcome easily by speaking in a certain way, dressing in a certain way, and behaving in a certain way.

It took me a long time to realize that not all prejudice is equal. Because it can’t all be overcome so easily.

It took me a long time to realize that trying to be “color blind” isn’t in fact helpful, because it doesn’t acknowledge the very real experiences of my neighbors.

My heart was, I think, in the right place. But I regret that, by not seeing the scope of the problem, I may have played into it. That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do. And so, now I’m trying to put aside the mere philosophy and live out the action of actually loving my neighbors, in all our differences. Of walking beside people in their experiences, in their pain, in their joys.

I don’t pretend to have the answers. But I’m eager to be on the journey toward a God-inspired reconciliation. Between different races, different cultures, different churches, all made in the image of God. And when we focus on Him, I have a feeling He’ll show us things about ourselves and each other that we never could have dreamed.

~*~
Author Bio:

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. 

When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing for WhiteFire Publishing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. 

Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 

You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

~*~
Connect with Roseanna:
Blog: https://roseannamwhite.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite
Website: https://www.roseannamwhite.com

A Must-See Movie that May Change Your Mindset...for the better! :)

This movie, ya'll, breathed LIFE into me tonight! You need to watch it. Turn OFF the NEWS on TV, put down the newspaper, take a break from social media and watch this movie!

Zootopia is a movie made by Disney and I do believe it is their most genius, culture-changing, call-to-action, creative and clever production! Seriously, this one needs to go down in the history books!

The acting, music, storyboarding, plot and voice overs in this animated film were second to none. The comedic timing of the lines was perfect and best of all, this film's power to galvanize generations of old and new is just...brilliant!

We're living in crazy, unpredictable times and people are on edge. People are scared of each other, they're judging each other unfairly, they're taking in all of the news that's negative and not digesting enough positivity and hope is feeling like a foreign concept.

But this movie, Zootopia, will remind you that we all belong to ONE race...the HUMAN RACE and We are ALL better TOGETHER.

This movie will encourage you to NOT judge people based on their skin color, beliefs and style. It will inspire you to live out The Golden Rule which is to simply "Treat others how you want to be treated."

It will make you laugh out loud, cry (happy tears), touch your heart and make your mind believe that despite our hostile times, there still are good people in this world and together we can fight for justice and together, we can make the world a better place.

So what are you waiting for? Go watch the movie! It's available on Netflix. :)