POETICS: 360 Degrees

360 DEGREES

Walter L. Hilliard III

In search of something seemingly elusive, fleeing, free– something that cannot, shall Not, will not be captured because “it,” or thy “Being,” is deep within the soul, the Spirit– a spirit that also demands we, first and foremost, be comfortable with the Deepness and Attractiveness of our Blackness, preparing us for a journey that leads To our discovering our very own uniqueness, far away from the Shamelessness of Sameness or being nameless, not knowing who we are because we’re not reaching For the Stars, thus, we really RE-gress when we don’t PRO-gress, so move we will, Backward or Forward, 360 Degrees around the horn, following our Higher Power’s “Form,” pattern, a right of way to Our destiny or backwards, reversing and rehearsing A life indelibly tied to the monotony of yesterday, The past, what was, or even worse, What never was– 360 degrees around the horn, back and forth and Forth and back, Again and again we lose, we Win, but the journey is always unique, sometimes Discreet; other times we compete against others or our “Selves”– and every arrival leads To a Departure, for there is no Place for complacency, a place to sit and wait and see– no, we will Move Away from whence we came, 360 degrees, Eventually discovering our humanness, happily or Unhappily, depending on our direction, Which equals our destiny: to Become one with our mission, Or lack there of, and so our Higher Power, despite the fact that our Blackness may be a Distraction to Others but, still, we cannot let it distract us, subtract from us, lessen us, demean us, prevent us from Traveling 360 degrees, hopefully, in the right direction, living and giving, learning our lessons, Again and again, living our lives 360 Degrees . . .  And counting.

Walter L. Hilliard III

About admin 173 Articles
My name is Walter Hilliard III. I have a B.S. degree in Public Administration and a Masters in Psychology (specialty in Media Psychology). I’m currently seeking publishers for a book focusing on Black Self-Destruction and two inspirational eBooks, having already published a multitude of articles in several different newspapers and magazines over the years. I’ve been a head basketball coach on the high school and college level, and taught success classes at a private college, created numerous community and college programs focusing on leadership, mentoring, college awareness (for inner-city kids), and employment and training. And I have worked as an employment and training manager, family therapist, behavior specialist, college retention specialist, juvenile detention center treatment supervisor, and a contractor, facilitating relationship and marriage education groups for couples. The purpose of Universal Soul Power is to confront negative media messages about African Americans, proliferate positive messages about the Black community, and inspire all those who are part of the universe, but especially African Americans, through my inspirational writings. The truth is that most African Americans haven’t lost their Spiritual Souls, yet (although some of us behave like we’ve lost our minds), but we have lost our “Soul” — that NewRhythmandBluesyContemporaryHipHopSoul that allows us to be compassionate, productive leaders who recognize what really matters in life and live our lives beyond fad terms like “Swag,” instead embracing more fulfilling concepts like being Calm, Cool, and Collected, and knowing what they are all about: being your “growing self,” dancing to your own Life Drum, in tune, on beat, unfazed by fear, and leaving the world a better place when they move on. Now dat’s Real Soul, and dat’s whatum talkin’ ’bout! Walter L. Hilliard III

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