Sheroes and heroes

The indoor track at the North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center has become my go to location for walking when hiking or other cardio exercise does not happen outside. Many of the same people gather each evening to run, walk, jog, or otherwise move around the track.

Some people intimidate me. Some run. Some walk. Some jog. Some do all three. Each person laps me again and again and again. They are nice, but they move far faster than I ever have or will.

Some people inspire me to gratitude. We walk at a similar pace. They challenge me to do better, Keeping up with them leads me to increase my speed and enhance my workout.

Some people elicit awe and absolute respect. They are my sheroes and heroes.

The older man who makes his way slowly and steadily around the track using forearm crutches. His partner who accompanies him every trip around the track.

The younger woman who pushes a walker with a seat as she completes lap after lap. Her partner who follows a step behind her, allowing her to make the journey on her own but always at hand if the need arises.

So far, I have managed to restrain myself from cheering when my sheroes and heroes arrive. But always I tear up at their courage and grace. And always I give thanks for them.

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5 February 2025

Walking, North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center. Walking around neighborhood. Morning movement. Hand Weights. Chair Stretching.
Black History Month. Trayvon Martin birthday.
Trayvon Martin – Watoto from the Nile
Proud to Be Black – Run-DMC
Stand Your Ground – Pharoahe Monch
Super Life – Chaka Khan
Rest in Power – Black Thought
Don’t Tread On Trayvon Martin – Truth On Earth
Everyday I Pray – Kreepa Lights
Trayvon Martin Tribute – Big Poppa & BMayneBeatz
Throw On My Hoodie – Cecil Morris feat. NSane Segall
A Change Is Gonna Come The Neville Brothers
Let’s Make a Better World – The Blind Boys of Alabama
I Am a Human – Ziggy Marley
Let It Be – Aretha Franklin
Let Us All Come Together – Sweet Honey In the Rock
That Day Will Come – Capleton
Walk With Me – Fannie Lou Hamer
I Am A Woman – Ruby Hunter
BLACK PARADE – Beyoncé
Definition – Black Star
Yearnin’ Learnin’ – Earth, Wind & Fire
Give It Up Or Turn It Loose – James Brown
Just Like A Woman – Richie Havens
Finish Line – Ruthie Foster

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4 February 2025

Hiking. Petroglyph National Monument. Boca Negra Canyon Mesa Point Trail. Boca Negra Canyon Cliff Base Trail. Walking. Neighborhood.
Mrs. Rosa Parks birthday. Mr. Amadou Diallo death.
Sister Rosa – The Neville Brothers
Rosa Sat – Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir
Rosa Parks – Outkast
Diallo – Wyclef Jean
American Skin (41 Shots) – Bruce Springsteen
A.D. 2000 – Erykah Badu
I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel) – Lauryn Hill
I Know Where I’ve Been – Queen Latifah
Freedom (Celebration Mix) – Joi
That’s Who I Am – Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’
Woke Up This Morning – Fannie Lou Hamer
We’ll Never Turn Back – Sweet Honey In the Rock, James Horner, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Ysaye M. Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Carol Maillard & Michael Fisher
Eyes on the Prize – Mavis Staples

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3 February 2025

Hike. Rio Grande Nature Center State Park. Morning movement. Chair stretching.
Black History Month.
I Want You Back – Yuna
New Life – Black Violin
Spirit of Place – Archie Roach
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child – Paul Robeson
Reason to Love – The Staple Singers
Dancing In the Street – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Am I Black Enough for You? – Billy Paul
I’ve Got To Use My Imagination – Gladys Knight & The Pips
I’m Crying (Mother’s Tears) – Grace Jones
Many Rivers To Cross – Jimmy Cliff
Rhythym Child – Carlos Jones and the PLUS Band
Patriot Act – Heems
Baby I Love You – Aretha Franklin
Rockin’ Daddy – Howlin’ Wolf
I Would Die 4 U – Prince

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1 February 2025

Hike. Aldo Leopold Trail, Rio Grande Nature Center. Walk. Wyoming Blvd. Morning movement. Hand weights. Chair stretching.
Black History Month.
Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes – James Earl Jones
Lift Every Voice and Sing – The Boys Choir of Harlem
Rise Up – Andra Day
Ain’t I a Woman – Avery Sharpe, feat. Jeri Brown, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Craig Handy, Duane Eubanks & Yoron Israel
You Don’t Have to Ride Jim Crow! – Bayard Rustin
Fight for Your Mind – Ben Harper
AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM – Beyoncé
That’s the Way God Planned It – Billy Preston 6
If I Could Help Somebody – The Blind Boys of Alabama
Hands Up – Blood Orange
History Repeats – Brittany Howard
Prayer for New Orleans – Charlie Miller
Young, Gifted and Black – Aretha Franklin
This Is America – Childish Gambino
Black America Again – Common, feat. Stevie Wonder
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) – Marvin Gaye
Woke Up This Morning – Fannie Lou Hamer
Wade In the Water – The Fisk Jubilee Singers
Everytime I Feel the Spirit -The Florida A&M University Concert Choir
Ain’t No New Thing – Gil Scott-Heron
Deep River – The Howard University Chamber Choir
Sloganize, Patronize, Realize, Revolutionize (Black Lives Matters) – Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra & Wynton Marsalis
People Gotta Be Free – Keb’ Mo’
Keep Your Hand On the Plow – Mahalia Jackson
Blood Done Sign My Name – Mary D Williams
Eyes on the Prize – Mavis Staples
Strange Fruit – Nina Simone
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child – Odetta
Go Down, Moses – Paul Robeson
We March – Prince
Oh Freedom – The Princely Players
We Rise – Rhiannon Giddens
The Klan – Richie Havens
Precious Lord – Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Beautiful Struggle – Talib Kweli
Changes – 2Pac & Talent
You’re Not Alone – Our Native Daughters
Step By Step – Sweet Honey In The Rock
A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
God Bless the Child – Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra
I Know Where I’ve Been – Queen Latifah
Grandma’s Hands -Bill Withers
Respect – Otis Redding
Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry
Jambalaya (On the Bayou) – Fats Domino
We Are Each Others Angels – African Children’s Choir
I’ve Got Dreams To Remember – Angélique Kidjo
Prayers To the Ancestors – Afro Drums
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

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30 January 2025

Morning movement. Walking to Cherry Hills library and some other places.
Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland in 1972.
Sunday Bloody Sunday – John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Domhnach Na Fola – T With The Maggies
Minds Locked Shut – Christy Moore
Bloody Sunday – Cruachan
Sunday Bloody Sunday – The Wolfe Tones
Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
Sweetheart Like You – Bob Dylan
All My Loving – Paul McCartney
Rabbit Jim – Si Kahn
Wide Open Spaces – The Chicks
Everything You Need 5:43 Indigenous, feat. Mato Nanji
This Little Light – Mavis Staples
Don’t Stop Lovin’ Me – Eliza Gilkyson
Goodbye Goodnight – Andra Day
Mr. Bojangles – Nina Simone

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28 January 2025

Most days no introduction to the playlist is provided. Today, as does every January 28, marks an exception.

About today’s playlist.
Fifty-one years ago today, my father, William H. Koenig, died in a plane crash. A private pilot, he was flying with a colleague to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to advocate for funds for the Grove City school district where they were working. My father served as the assistant superintendent.

They did not make it to the state capital. The plane went down. Both men died.

Prior to becoming a school administrator he had been a high school band director. He kept his hands in music as he career moved in a different direction. He played string bass in the pit orchestra for high school musicals and he was the first director of the hand bell choir at our church.

He also directed a community band for several years. For two years, I played baritone horn in that band.

One or another of the bands my father directed, played almost all of the songs on this playlist at some point. Many of them I played under my father’s direction.

Dad – since it fell unto your lot
That you should rise and I should not
I’ll gently rise and I’ll softly call
Good night and joy be with you

Walking. North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center.
Unless otherwise noted, the artist performing the songs is the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein.
Light Calvary Overture – London Festival Orchestra
Semper Fidelis
The Thunderer
Washington Post
Hands Across the Sea
Radetsky March, Op. 228
Under the Double Eagle
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Stars and Stripes Forever
The British Grenadiers
Rule Bittania
The National Emblem
Rakoczy March/Hungarian March
March of the Toreadors from Carmen, Suite No. 1
Coronation March from Le Prophete
March from the Love for Three Oranges, Op. 33a
War March of the Priests from Athalie, Op, 74
Grand March from Aida
Procession of the Sardar from Two Caucasian Sketches, Op. 10
March from Symphonic Metamorphoses
Pomp and Circumstance
Scotland the Brave – The Pipes & Drums of the Royal Tank Regiment
Anchors Aweigh
Le Marseillaise
Fest March from Tanhauser
Colonel Bogey

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20 January 2025

Morning movement. Pacing in apartment. Stretching.
We The People – Brulé
We the People…. – A Tribe Called Quest
People Have The Power – Patti Smith
This Land Is Your Land – Chicano Batman
One Small Voice – Carole King
Fly On Your Wall – Angel Olsen
HEAVEN – Troye Sivan, feat. Betty Who
Revolution 9 01 – Danbert Nobacon & The Axis of Dissent
Not Gonna Say Your Name – Entrance
Erupt & Matter – Moby & The Void Pacific Choir
Love Makes the World – Sateen
Troubled Times – Green Day
One Man Revolution – Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
LAND OF THE FREE – Joey Bada$$
I Give You Power – Arcade Fire I feat. Mavis Staples
Fight the Power – Public Enemy
Which Side Are You On – Natalie Merchant
Get Up Stand Up -Bob Marley & The Wailers
Ella’s Song – Sweet Honey
Singing For Our Lives – Holly Near
This Is America – Childish Gambino
Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream – Simon & Garfunkel
We Shall Not Be Moved – Marchers from Selma, Alabama
Siyahamba – Morgan State University Choir & James Abbington
I Am a Patriot (And the River Opens For the Righteous) – Little Steven V
Oh Freedom – Mary D Williams
Step By Step – John McCutcheon
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
Solidarity Forever – Pete Seeger
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round -The Freedom Singers
Imagine – John Lennon
There’ll Be Sunshine In The Morning – Jim And Jean Strathdee

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Know your rights – Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago

While this alert is focused on Chicago, the information applies anywhere.

We are taking a moment to advise all of our members and supporters to be vigilant this week, especially those who are immigrants or non-citizens. 

Tomorrow, a new presidential administration will take office. We expect heightened immigration enforcement activity throughout the next four years, possibly beginning this week. Some members of the Trump administration have claimed they will target Chicago with immigration raids and patrols. While it is impossible to know whether these plans will materialize, we urge community members to be alert, prepare, and know their rights. 

If you are stopped by an immigration officer (from ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement): 

  • You have the right to remain silent. 
  • Remain calm and keep your hands where officers can see them. 
  • Do not discuss your immigrant or citizenship status with police, immigration agents, or any other officials. 
  • Do not sign anything you do not understand. Ask to speak with an attorney. 

If immigration officers knock on your door at home:

  • DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Teach your children or other household members not to open the door. 
  • ICE officers must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. Many ICE “warrants” are not signed by judges; they are ICE forms signed by ICE officers and they do NOT grant authority to enter your home without your consent. Ask the officer to slide the “warrant” under the door for you to review. 

In solidarity, 

Grace and the Advancing Justice | Chicago team

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Immigration Resources

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) information related to refugees and asylum seekers

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17 January 2025

Walking. By car dealer twice and once in La Cueva neighborhood. Morning movement. Chair stretching.
Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali.
I Am the Greatest – Muhammad Ali
Doin’ the Ali Shuffle – Alvin Cash
Ali (Take 3) -Miles Davis
Float Like a Butterfly Sting Like a Bee – Teo Macero
Ali (Take 4) – Miles Davis
The Louisville Lip – PRGMAT
Muhammad Ali – Big Head Todd & The Monsters
Black Superman (Muhammad Ali) 3- Johnny Wakelin
Muhammad Ali – Faithless
The World’s Greatest – Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Muhammad Ali – Tom Russell
Stand by Me – Muhammad Ali
Someone Else Decide – John McCutcheon
My Cape Breton Home – James Galway
1993 – Manila Killa
The Earl of March’s Daughter – Aoife Clancy
Kite – U2
Paper and Ink – Tracy Chapman
This Hard Land – Bruce Springsteen
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K.525 – Erich Leinsdorf & Boston Symphony Orchestra
Nowhere To Go – Melissa Etheridge
Troubadours – Van Morrison
Still Remember – Indigenous
We Are the Children – Nobuko Miyamoto, feat. Derek Nakamoto
All Along the Watchtower – Playing for Change, feat. Warren Haynes, Cyril Neville, Ivan Neville & John Cruz
A Song For You – Leon Russell
Goin’ Back to New Orleans – Dr. John

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