“I am like my father. He believed in his heritage.
So do I, and my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I connect through my ancestors by worship.”

“My family and I had this ritual that, every Sunday before church, we would all sing hymns together, while my mother would sew and patch clothes. The service would be at 9 in the night, otherwise, the police might catch us. Being a Spiritual Baptist was illegal at the time. My father was the leader of the church that we went to. He qualified because he could preach, and he could also sing beautifully. They called him Leader George.

When I was about eight years old, my father encouraged me to start preaching on the pavements as a wayside preacher. That is one of our main practices – as Baptists, we are encouraged to spread the message and visions we have received and understand to be true, even if it is in a public area. We follow the practices of John the Baptist in this way. And we are very vocal in singing, praying, and preaching, and I would stand on a box on the pavement and sing and preach and shout as my father did.

I liked it.”

“Before this moment, we had always been scared.
I remember being run down by the police as a child.”

“You have to pray all through the day, and if you cannot, sing hymns instead.
Keep yourself in tune. Only then can you call upon the Holy Spirit.
And by doing so, you will allow your children to learn your principles, your ground rules, by watching you.
When they grow up and face a problem, they will know to sing a hymn to keep themselves in tune.”