Sounds like a strange title why would I or anyone lose the Color Red? People lose certain colors in a lot of Urban Communities which we call da Hood. You lose certain colors usually Red, Blue, or Black depending on what Gang is in the neighborhood you live in. The CRIPS controlled my area since 1986. The CRIPS wear blue. Their enemy is the BlOODS who wear Red. The gangs used to strictly enforce the No Red Rule but that stopped about 20 years ago. This affected everyone.
Now for me a former member of the CRIPS the BLOODS were my enemies and we called them SLOBS and they called us CRABS. Wearing the Color Red in the Hood meant you were Set Tripping and that was disrespectful and could cost you your life.
I retired in the 90s but those attitudes remained. Once a CRIP always a CRIP was my attitude.
Then Jesus came into my life in the form of City reach Braddock and Swisvale and another woman who became my mentor, an artist and a strong woman of God. I began working on my anger and grew in bounds but continued to hold on to my dislike of the color red. My best friend Jennifer knows not to buy me red.
On September 8 I got baptised and although I
continued to fall short in the sight of God Daily I was growing in my faith.
Last Tuesday while shopping at the Free Store I found a beautiful red sweater with Bling Bling on it. I picked it up without thinking and wore it to a conference on Thursday.
On Friday, I went to The Hollander Project, run by my friend and the 2nd Lady of PA Gisele Fetterman, for a Coat Drive. I looked through several coats but they either wasn't warm enough or they didn't fit me. I finally found my coat it was warm and it fit but it was RED. I got it anyway.
The next day I realized that two times that week I wore Red and didn't think about that life I lived. I had moved on to being the daughter of God and the BLOODS were no longer my enemy.
