As a writer, there are times when you have something to say, and yet no particular 'hook' upon which to hang the missive you are burning to release.

Sadly, whites are rarely open to what black and brown folks have to say regarding their ongoing experiences with racist mistreatment. And we are especially reluctant to discuss what that mistreatment means for us as whites: namely that we end up with more and better opportunities as the flipside of discrimination.

Sadly, if President Obama is willing to ignore the pain of race-based discrimination and injustice so as to make whites comfortable - and this, after he has already been elected and the campaign is long over - then the likelihood he will ever speak the truth about these matters, let alone address them, shrinks to nearly zero.

Being asked to describe what 'post-racial' means is a bit like being asked to describe a leprechaun, cold fusion or unicorns: we know what is meant, but, if we are willing to be honest, we also know that none of the four describe something real, something tangible, something true.

I'm not a big fan of religion for that reason. But I am a true believer in God, and I have great faith, and I think that a spiritual connection with something is a really important part of our experience. That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the church.

I believed in God my whole life, and then strayed away from it in my teen-age years, until recently.

God wills to be displayed and known and loved and cherished and worshiped.

Little by little, I get to see my music reach people's hearts. There was a time when it was all part of a dream that others didn't believe in, but I had all my faith and trust that one day it was going to be a reality.