Life From the Start and The Civil Rights Movement

My journey and path begin sixty years ago when I was born to my parents, Ethel and Robert Zachary, in Anniston, Alabama.

Our home was one of the community sites for civil rights activists where heated dialogue and discussions amongst ministers, teachers and people of the segregated South would be held.

In 1965, when I was only fifteen, I met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during one of his visits to Anniston.  This monumental meeting set the tone for what would be my life's work.

In 1975, PRAE (People's Revolutionary Art Ensemble) was organized by myself and Jabari Sumamu who became an Atlanta city councilman. 

We were a group of artists, musicians and poets who performed at schools, churches, universities and community centers in Georgia and Alabama.  We also worked in different communities, establishing organic gardens and other workshops.  I performed at a summer poetry workshop at Spellman College with over a thousand people in attendance for the closing event.

 Consulting, Counseling and Ministry

Between the years of 1977 and 2002, I worked with a number of psychiatrists providing counseling and therapy for their clients.  I began with Fulton County Mental Health in a crisis counselor role.  I performed psychiatric evaluations, offered telephone counseling, and provided community-wide assistance in crisis situations; including The Missing and Murdered Children in Atlanta, Columbine, and T.J. Solomon incidents.

I was a common presence at the NAACP office providing scholarships for young people.  After this section of the NAACP was closed, I continued to provide services for friends and family.  This became more of a professional venue, as I have served for over a decade as an  Independent Education Consultant with ADHD youth and others impacted by spectrum behaviors.  I am not a member of the IECA (Independent Education Consultant Association) but work closely with many of its members.

Became an ordained in the ministry in 1989 and pastored a church in Athens, Georgia for a number of years.

Was elected to the Board of Elders of the church in 1991.  I was both humbled and elated to have been the youngest member who had ever served.

Coordinated and facilitated all the administrative functions for conventions, ministers’ meetings around the country and youth services.

Antiques became a hobby in the eighties and I remained a dealer and appraiser for twenty years.  I would oversee estates such as The Atlanta Antique Museum, The Georgia Archives Building, Muse's Men’s Store established 1879 and many others.  My warehouse was frequented by dealers who sold complete sets to the movie industry.

In the early nineties, began to supply the movie industry sets from my antique warehouse.  The first was a film on Hank Aaron's life in Alabama and my last of my numerous projects involved providing the set for Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington.

I moved fifty miles out of Atlanta in order to start a retreat center in Carrollton, Georgia.  In seeking a more suitable atmosphere to start a retreat center, I moved to the Asheville area in 2005 with its change of climate and holistic lifestyle. Since then, I have worked diligently to build the Healing Love Foundation and Institute with others of like mind.  We are individuals from all walks of life, working to together in our respective fields to create a more holistic and sustainable life and planet.