As I began writing this, I thought of many black women I've known whose picture I could use to illustrate the piece.  One you might know, is Della Reese who took my hand one morning almost twenty years ago,  looked right in my eyes and said, "Bert, always remember this; don't take anything for granted. Just as soon as you hit the top they'll run a Whitney Houston in on you." Then she laughed, and it was so contagious she instantly had everyone on the far side of the room laughing though she and I were the only ones who knew what she was laughing at.

A second example I thought of was Rev. Dr. Johnnie Coleman, the founding minster of Christ Universal Temple in Chicago.  Johnnie came from Mississippi with an innate understanding of the oneness of all things and a desire to share that understanding with others; and she did.  She spent fifty years building a ministry that was her vehicle for sharing universal love.  She is regarded as the first lady of new age but she is way more than that – Johnnie Coleman is love walking the earth.

Then I thought of Rev. Ruth Mosley, who founded a Unity Church in downtown Detroit, and refused to leave the neighborhood, even when most people felt it was unsafe.  The last time I spoke in her church, Rev. Ruth met me in the parking lot when I arrived.  As we walked toward the church, she said, “Bert, you’re going to have to speak up today.  Can you do that?”  We stopped walking and she turned toward as she said softly, “Last night one of the neighbor children broke in the church and took our new sound system.”

I said, “Rev. Ruth, if my voice starts failing everybody can move to the front.”

As I write this, I can see what happened next like it happened yesterday.  Smiling, and with her eyes sparkling, she looked into my heart and said, “Lord, I know that’s right.”  Then she patted my back.  I’d have shouted for four hours if that’s what it took.

And I thought of Mrs. Lillie Hoskins  who has run a day care center in Batesville, Mississippi for twenty-five years and goes through life trailed by clouds of love yet doesn't even know it.  At last count, twelve valedictorians of South Panola High School are graduates of Hoskins Learning Center.  Lillie Hoskins has dedicated herself to making sure that “her children” don’t take a back seat to anyone, and her love and dedication have paid off.

And I thought of Louise (there is no one left in my family who remembers her last name) who took care of me every afternoon from the second grade through the fifth.  One day, I told her that I could always see a halo around her head.  She stopped ironing, chuckled, patted my head, and said, “I wouldn’t tell anyone else that, if I was you,” and we laughed.

Finally I thought of my new Twitter friend, Ni’cola Mitchell (@MsNicola) who is responsible for this post.  I tweeted something to her and she replied, “Thank you, Sweetie,” and a whole lot of wonderful memories filled my mind.   In seconds, I renewed my commitment to finish and post this blog because it’s important. 

My list goes on and on but I’ll stop there. I didn't use Della's picture, or Johnnie Coleman’s, or Ms Lillie's, or Ni’cola’s – I used them all and one of Norma Jean Anderson, who I’ve not told you about yet.  When I think of black women and unconditional love she is the one that first comes into my mind. Norma Jean is gone now.  She left an amazing list of accomplishments - too many to even begin to note in this posting.  But, as far as I'm concerned, the most memorable of them occurred one night, twenty odd years ago, in her home, when I blurted out, "Norma Jean, would you be my mother?" She didn't laugh or pretend that she hadn't heard. She looked into my eyes and my heart and my soul and then she smiled and said, "Bert, it would be an honor." Norma Jean passed away almost four years ago but she will be with me forever, as will Della, Louise, Lillie, Ruth, Ni’cola, and a growing host of others.

I am a white man, not something I had anything to do with, and certainly not something I'm proud of.  From a conventional point of view, white men are the most powerful group on the planet.  However, I'll be the first to own up to the fact that a white man’s power is second rate when compared to the power of the unconditional love of a black woman. In fact that's the point of this posting. I've done a lot of things in this life and to be honest, everything being the same, I'd do them all over again. Do I have any regrets? Well, sort of - but it's not about anything I've done or failed to do. My regret is that I didn't spend this life as a black woman rather than a white man.

I know that black women are the masters of unconditional love. It's in their eyes, their hearts, and their every breath. No matter what you've done or who you've done it to, they'll still love you. When a black woman looks in your eyes and says, "Honey, it's going to be all right." You know that it is.

I'm stuck with being a white man for the rest of this trip but I do have a consolation - I have the friendship and love of a long list of black women and that list grows longer every week.

“Thank you, Sweetie.”