1. Marvin Gaye was such an empowering, soulful, and talented human being. The above quote is one of my favorites from him. He left a legacy–this cannot be denied. He had a voice that could tap into your heart and make you release every emotion simultaneously. I don’t think there will ever be another entertainer/musician-magician quite like him.
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite movies! I love the characters, plot, and overall theme of the story. Above is one of the scenes I can watch repeatedly and never tire of it. Ash, Mr. Fox’s (or Foxie) son faces his bully and gets a muddied face. His cousin, Kristofferson, is there to right the wrong of this bully and it is EVERYTHING to me.
1. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a powerful book. So far, the author has pulled me in and captured me as his faithful guest–a part of his audience while he tells his tale and reveals his whole heart. It is full of pain and patience and resilience and stories from his past that I can relate to. In the book, the author has written . . . is writing a letter to his teenage son about the ways of our nation.
Based on the author’s background, his words tiptoe into my presence and slap me on my face. I love the language he uses, the imagery he creates, and his soulful way of getting his thoughts across.
Here is a summary of the book:
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. —
If you enjoy having your mind rattled and learning a thing or two about America’s history, I recommend this book.
2 “Univited” by Alanis Morissette is such an incredible song. The lyrics are captivating and her voice is even more so. She has a way of pulling her listeners in and shaking them gently, but releasing us into the wild as we bathe ourselves in those same lyrics for years to come. It is a timeless classic and is ten times better when she performs it live.
The above YouTube video is one of my favorite performances of the song by her. I hope you enjoy it.
she black like blue beauty trapped in a lion’s soul–pulling her out would be death
she’ll come for you in your dreams and remind you to call out to our ancestors–to ululate in celebration of their resurrections
you must be out your raggedy mind to believe what society feeds you, love–we can’t get fat off of crumbs
we can’t get rich off of pennies they’ll spoon-feed you lies then tell you you’re crazy
but chaotic beauty sits in her rockin’ chair on her wrap-around porch in the devil heat of summer sipping iced tea
she has no ears for gossip only time for what matters most
and that’s the stories of our lives–the stories of our deaths
bring her wine and flowers and the blood of angels as payment for the newness of self you’ll receive after your first meeting with her
you’ll thank me later
A good friend of mine published her second book–the one you see above, and it is beyond words for me to express what I think about it. I read it in one sitting and even then, I wished there was more. I am over-the-moon proud of her, and if you see fit, support this woman. I wouldn’t steer you wrong. Wine Flowers & Blood: Or, what the ancestors say when I’m not listening.
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