Tonya Freedom

Starting back the True Freedom Stories 2021 editions.
This one is in honor of my Sister Barbara who is one of my Biggest inspirations & my very first & bestest friend. I rarely share my sister with non-family because I'm jealous... Yeah I said it. That's my Barb... Not yours... Hahahahhahahahhaha
So, here's my "Praying while Standing up for All Hoes" Story.

My older sister is one of the most honest individual's I know. She's so bout that life, that she'll basically tell on herself. We moved her & her then 4 + 1 on the way children to Milwaukee in the early 90's. Being new to the North Side community, we mostly kept to ourselves until the babies wanted to go outside to play. This opened the door for us to start interacting with neighbors, & to possibly make new friends. Well suffice it to say we did make friends with the children's friends aunt who lived across the street. How? How most parents of kids meet, a fight. When the aunt came to talk she was all in a huff. Our oldest roughed up her nephew after being bitten by him. Now, you have to KNOW my sister to really get it.
She's kind, she's peaceful, she's generous, a complete bible thumpin', loving, Jesus' Homie, Quiet, Scorpio Sista, who don't take NO s**t. More importantly she's a FREE SPIRIT ONLY BOUND BY THE MOST HIGH. However, what she does not do, is get in the middle of kid s**t. If kids are arguing or fighting, when it's over... It's over. So, when the Auntie came by to let my sister have it, my sister politely informed her that she does not get involved with kids bs, but if Michael got ahold of her nephew then it must have been because he was tired of the little boy biting him. The Auntie couldn't deny that her bad a*z nephew indeed has bitten our baby, but that maybe his a*z-whoopin was warranted as well. As the lady, we'll call her Ella, tried to say more, my sister signaled her chin to the boys playing & having fun. Ella laughed while my sister repeated herself "That's why I don't get in the middle of kids stuff". Ella & I became fast friends & my sister... Being the quiet, recluse that she was, was kind to Ella... She just didn't vibe with her lifestyle. You see, Ella worked in one of the oldest trades in the world, Ella was a Call Girl. While we lived in Milwaukee, my lil family was a very important world of it's own. My saved sister & I lived in a house where men never stayed over or rarely ever visited. My debauchery was done in complete ignorance of my family. At home I was just Auntie, my personal life was my own. The only people who frequented our house were religious folk, it used to make me so angry. I'd come downstairs in my pajamas, only to see 1 or 2 people having coffee &/or breakfast with my sister's attention solely on them... I started to feel like they targeted our house because my sister invited them. Later on I learned that the reason that ALL OF THE RELIGIOUS FOLK OF THE WORLD CAME TO OUR 🏠 was BECAUSE THAT LADY DID INVITE THEM. They had these red felt praying hands that she got from somewhere that ya hang outside your house that signaled missionaries to come one come all to Barb's house for church & food & charity & any thing she could give. Man, that lady could give...
Anyway...
My erotic friend lived a pretty normal life, considering her career choice. She had a few children of her own, who didn't really know what their mother did. They knew she travelled &/or spent days away from home to work but that was just about it. Ella had to go out of town to see a client for a week & she asked my sister to pray for her to keep her safe. Barb did... I know she did. While Ella was in the small town in another midwest county that didn't really like dark brown skin, she made some townsfolk really uncomfortable. You see, she was escorting a fairly older rich, Caucasian man about town & he was gifting her along the way. Some calls were made to his "Concerned non-dark brown tolerating" son who was not happy. The son called the Authorities & accused Ella of
Racketeering & Conspiracy. She was really just being a pr******te & the client really liked her so he starting spending... I guess he felt like, it wasn't trickin' cause he had it.
When the police apprehended her, in the man's home, they found her $6000 cash fee & all the gifts he purchased for her. The son was so mad that he pressed charges, & at his urging the state charged her with the harshest of charges. Ella was always calling us collect to check on her babies, for moral support, to ask advice, & asking Barb & I to pray for her. We did indeed pray & even fasted for her. By her having court appointed council, she didn't feel confident with the outcome of a trial. The stress, fear and loneliness started to get heavy on her & Ella was ready to take a plea. That was one of the funniest yet saddest phone calls we would get from her. When my sister heard the decision she was prepared to make, she got very.... Hmmmm I want to say angry, but mmmmm Urgent... She told Ella...
"Look lady, you did not Racketeer or Conspire on any body. You are a Pr******te. You went down there to Hoe. Now don't you dare cop to no crap like that... You a Hoe, & YOU GOTTA STAND UP FOR DA ALL HOES IN THE WORLD ON THIS ONE. Now let's pray." The prayer was riddled with a lot of LORD you know yo child was hoe-ing & not that other stuff, & some please cover her & wash her clean & all the right prayer stuff. Then when she told that girl to wipe her face & start rejoicing because of what GOD was gonna do in her situation, Ella calmed a bit. When we hung up the phone the yell that left my throat, & the enormous laughter that I had was at first lost on Barb. She actually looked a little perplexed at first, then I said "You have to stand up for ALL da HOES IN THE WORLD?" She responded " Yeah." Then we both laughed soooo hard. Don't get it twisted... My sister meant every word, & her entire prayer. Ella stood on her not guilty, & eventually got charged accordingly, but she came home & you know what she said? "Barbara's prayer got me home Tee, Hoe-ing is not Racketeering or Conspiracy. I'm so glad to have Barb's prayers... They work". I had to concede... I still do.

Earlier this year, when the pandemic was announced, I needed unemployment security. I had issues applying, getting help, certifying, or just anyone on the phone. Seeing that the state (Hell, the country) was overwhelmed & struggling with this as well, I knew that I had to advocate for myself. I didn't go to social media to complain... I minimally moaned to family & close friends about the toll it was taking on me. I am a proud voting single 50 year old brown woman who's been overlooked often ( no commas, I said it, the way ya read it... A rant). I reached out to the people voted into office who were there at my disposal...
Voting is just one part of Democracy. The other part is to engage with the folks set in place for OUR COLLECTIVE BENEFIT. You may not subscribe to this concept, but I do. I vote... So yes... I do.
I wrote & called several entities on my behalf...
I e-mailed, called, &/or wrote the...
Aldermen's Office
Mayor's Office
Dept. Of Employment Security
Governor's Office
White House...
3 replied with a generic we got ya missive (yeah yeah yeah), we are terribly busy & will respond asap (blah blah blah)...
2 reached back out personally to not only assist me, but to follow up & apologize & make sure I was ok...
1 of them asked was there anything they could do personally to help because they wanted to help, after hearing my story...
Who do you go to when you have a problem?
I know who I am not voting for because of this & countless times I've reached out to the people in office, on my behalf...
Do you just complain or do you advocate for yourself? Guess what? Even if you don't vote, they work for you too...
Reach out to see if they deserve your vote... Try it...

Tell em what ya really think....
Photo Credit: Emanuel Love