Wanted to take a second to pay tribute on the last day of National American Indian Heritage month to my father Willie Lowery. The pic of him is one of my favorites. The other, him with two of my amazing aunts that have passed away as well. My dad was a music man, he wasn’t always around, fell short on few things like ALL of us do. The older I get the more I understand his own challenges. He couldn’t read well, he was a man of color, he was chasing an obsession for music. He did his best. He loved me and all my siblings, I know that. He had charm for days, he did a lot for the Lumbee people. He adored his heritage and the community where he was from. At his funeral I held my Aunt Alice’s hand(one of the beautiful ladies in pic) and was blown away by the respect of everyone that expressed their condolences and shared stories of his impact. That’s all we can do, leave people better than we found them. He battled Parkinson’s disease for years and hardly if ever complained. He was able to play guitar till the end and sing. I’m the musician I am today because of the bar he set, which I never reached. I want to pay my respects to this entire side of my heritage. I take pride in being of his bloodline and always tell my children of the relatives they have and significance they had on my childhood. The other lady in pic is of my Aunt Margieree who recently passed. She was alway so kind to me. All my Aunts are strong, brave, kind and amazing women. I don’t get to see this side of my family much at all these days but I speak of them most days and think of them everyday. Today especially. #lumbee #chickenandpastry #buddyisatellinya #proudtobealumbee