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game changers
people know: God created us all equal, but not alike,” Ma said. “God loves you even if you’re laying on the ground. He still loves you.” It’s not hard with Ma to understand that to her, every person – not just convicts – needs a second chance. “Incarceration doesn’t just come from out here. It’s in here,” she pointed to her heart. “Each one of us, 99 and a half percent of every person living on earth, has something that has happened to them in their life that they have not been able to release. That’s incarceration. Cause you’re not free. Incarceration doesn’t just come from prison. It comes from any hurt that you aren’t able to tell somebody else.” At Ma’s, it doesn’t matter where you come from or what has happened in your life. She’ll smile, welcome you with a hug, and quickly tell you there’s love and forgiveness readily available. It’s obvious in the joy on her employee’s faces that they’ve experienced it firsthand. We talked to Ma for almost two hours, although time slipped by quickly, as it always does. As we wrapped up, Ma started talking about her food. She’s the undisputed Creole queen of San Antonio, and for good reason. Her gumbo, which she says is “imitated by many but duplicated by none,” is a favorite among local customers. When we mentioned our love of fried pork chops, Ma wasted no time in requesting a to-go order for both of us. As she said, she loves feeding people. “That’s my life, y’all,” she said. “I walked into the 24 | sawoman.com
doctor’s office at 7:15 this morning with two dozen doughnuts. They needed something.” Yet another prime example of Ma Harper taking care of people.