OLV Remembered by Shirley H. Slaughter

This week, please join me in giving a warm welcome to my friend, Shirley H. Slaughter. Shirley is the author of Our Lady Of Victory The Saga of an African-American Catholic Community.

She is a founding member of Rave Reviews Book Club and this week's SPOTLIGHT Author. 

OLV REMEMBERED

FINDING OUR FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE

That was the headline that stared out at me from the “Opinion” section of the Oakland Press in my local community. As I started to read it I was struck by the content…explaining how one can be rooted in the sameness of everyday life. Going to a restaurant and always sitting at the exact same booth or table. Attending church and always sitting in the same seat week after week. If someone takes your spot you become territorial and protective of it. I talked about this same phenomenon at my church in the following…

Excerpt:

Vondie Curtis Hall…He had a sister and a brother and they always came to church together, well dressed, and they always sat in the front row. Everyone always had a particular seat that they claimed every Sunday and so you were known by where you chose to sit—not necessarily by your name.

Gong to work every day, eating and sleeping, cleaning our surroundings…this is our Fortress of Solitude. It’s funny how habits can shape your life and how much we are creatures of habit. And we do become territorial in our routines. Just like the earth goes round and round the sun each day and night, we live by a routine and balance. If the balance is ever upset we become ill or off balance. This world of ours is so profound that we must protect it. If the balance is off just slightly, it could be catastrophic. That might explain why we become creatures of habit and rituals.

Bio

Shirley Harris-Slaughter is a Michigan native. She is a community activist having been a school board trustee in the Oak Park School District and mentored four freshmen girls in the Winning Futures Program.  Shirley loves trains, vintage clothes, and old buildings with historic significance. So it was a natural that she would write about growing up in historic Royal Oak Twp. and keep alive a catholic community that was about to lose its history and identity. It seems that everything she loved closed down and she was not about to let any of it be forgotten. Shirley joined Rave Reviews Book Club because she recognized the need to support fellow authors in order to move forward in her own endeavors. She already had a thriving relationship with like twitter followers. “We all had the same goals so it was a natural fit.”


Question:  What is your Fortress of Solitude?

SHIRLEY HARRIS-SLAUGHTER, AUTHOR

Book title:  Our Lady of Victory, the Saga of an African-American Catholic Community
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Twitter Handle: @sharrislaughter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharrislaughter3
Email:   sharrislaughter@gmail.com
Website: http://shirleyslaughterblog.wordpress.com/

***SPOTLIGHT GIVEAWAY***

To celebrate being the spotlight author for Rave Reviews Book Club, I am giving away an autographed, Limited Edition Hardcover Copy of “OUR LADY OF VICTORY:  THE SAGA OF AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY.”  All you need to do is visit my blog and leave a comment there, and stop by each leg of my tour with your comments, as well.  The more stops you visit and the more you comment, the more chances you have to win. If you leave a comment on each day of my tour this week, then your name will be entered into my drawing 7 times which increases your chances of winning! (Only 1 comment allowed per stop/per day).  The person whose name is pulled via a random draw, will be the winner. It’s that simple! Restricted to US residents only. Thanks again for the support and good luck in winning!!!