I Have The Light of Freedom: Tell Me How Did You Feel When You Came Out of the Wilderness

This program combines two titles of African American spirituals. It represents the long struggle of African Americans which began with the community of enslaved Africans whose longing and struggle for freedom resulted in a radical notion of freedom as a socio-spiritual redemption, where we all engage in a process of recapitulation and reparation.

In short, we are called upon to free ourselves from the imprints, yearnings and appetites socialized into us by the ruling elites who use all of their power and resources to strip us of our authentic selves who are born with the spirit of God in us, to recreate us in their own image.

Within this context, freedom is a contested territory for which we all must struggle. However history determines nature and dimension of struggle to come out the wilderness. None of us are exempt from the toxins.

Ruby Sales, born in Jemison, Alabama, on July 8, 1948, suffered many hardships during the civil rights movement but was not discouraged. She has spent her adult life working in philanthropic endeavors.