Are We Making This Too Hard

Are We Making This Too Hard?

If I Could Take It, I Will Make It

I know that to see the truth in myself and the things to work on myself are the most important. The sooner we see the things, the better person we can become. This is to show how we can all come through the tough times. We battle with a smile. Even though we might not see it right away, we all have this inside of ourselves. I try to show with my personality and smiles to others, even on the tough days, to try and help people through their tough times, to have the self-awareness to constantly try and be the best version of myself possible. It's about who we become and what we can give back.

My Black Country

Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author with a “lively, engaging, and often wise” (The New York Times Book Review) voice, offers a lyrical, introspective, and unforgettable account of her past and her search for the first family of Black country music. Country music had brought Randall and her activist mother together and even gave Randall a singular distinction in American music history: she is the first Black woman to cowrite a number one country hit, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s”. Randall found inspiration and comfort in the sounds and history of the first family of Black country music: DeFord Bailey, Lil Hardin, Ray Charles, Charley Pride, and Herb Jeffries who, together, made up a community of Black Americans rising through hard times to create simple beauty, true joy, and sometimes profound eccentricity. What emerges in My Black Country is a celebration of the most American of music genres and the radical joy in realizing the power of Black influence on American culture. As country music goes through a fresh renaissance today, with a new wave of Black artists enjoying success, My Black Country is the perfect gift for longtime country fans and a vibrant introduction to a new generation of listeners who previously were not invited to give the genre a chance.