Lauryn Hill Remixes, "Nice For What"



So happy to have found this gem.

I'd go with Runaway. How about you? Which song do you think best describes Trumplethinskin?

"So let's hear it for the douche bags. Let's hear it for the a$$holes" .......

Spicybrotha and I were married.

I saw your smile, clear across the room and above all others, that day. Now, that's partially because you're super tall (well, mostly), but it's also because your smile is absolutely stunning. It flows freely, without any hesitency, and it just beams from the inside out.

I don't remember the music. I mean, I know what was playing, but I do not remember hearing it. All I remember is hearing and feeling my own heartbeat and wondering if THIS was normal.

I know there were bell ringers lining the aisles. There were 40 women in white surrounding us. Beautiful decorations, beautifully dressed attendants, everyone whom we love, mentors and spectators were all there and I saw none of it.

Then, I saw your smile. I don't think I even breathed until that moment. And once I gave you my hand......everything seemed real, again.

I love you, spicybrotha.

So you go to cash your check at the bank. You make sure to provide all requested forms of identification with no issues. You're probably in a great mood anyways because it's payday! Instead of getting your hard earned coin, they call your employers...


Okay....Since they can not make contact with your employers, they refuse to honour the check. You leave, without a fuss or scene, and they then call the police...... for YOU?!?


What. The. Hell.

From Essence.com

Pioneer Ballerina Raven Wilkinson Has Passed Away At 83






by: Rachaell Davis Dec, 19, 2018


The dance world is mourning the loss of pioneer Ballerina Raven Wilkinson.

A New York native who fell in love with ballet at the age of 5, Wilkinson is credited with being one of the first African-American women to dance for a major ballet company. She began studying at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1955 when she was just 20 years old. According to PBS, Wilkinson eventually left the prestigious dance theater after six years, during many of which she was subject to continued racial discrimination.

Original article here: https://www.essence.com/entertainment/ballerina-raven-wilkenson-dead-at-83/


One trailblazer, to another....


A mentor to fellow ballerina Misty Copeland, Wilkinson is credited as one of the first Black women to dance for a major ballet company.

We must tackle misinformation, to be sure. We must be sure to inform the ill or partially informed (I mean why would one choose to blame a first lady for her husband's policy and not the co-sponsor ,Joe Biden, or a person that actually voted for the same policy ,Bernie Sanders...right?).
Here's the thing, though.... there will always be tensions to exploit, folks manipulated by bad actors, last minute campaign surprises, and floods of misinformation. You're talking about thousands, Dream Girl. I'm talking about millions. Millions of American citizens were purged from voting rolls. Check some of the links in my responses. Take a few minutes and search it out at your leisure. The gutting of the Voting Right's Act has been devastating. Restricting access to the ballot, that's the game of our political opponents. And it is working.
Look at the state of Wisconsin. More than 200,000 people were purged from the voting rolls. tRump won that state by just over 22,000. That's what I'm talking about, Dream Girl.
Propaganda is going to be around. It's going to touch who it will. But our fundamental right to vote.....that's the prize.

The links posted show how hundreds of thousands were blocked from accessing the ballot. In Wisconsin, alone, more than 200,00 (mostly black and poor whites) were removed from the voting rolls. tRump only won the state by just over 22,000.
There will always be racial tensions to exploit (George Wallace us vs them populism), misinformation to spread (Hello, Faux News!), October surprises (Thanks, Comey!), and random idiots used by bad actors (Hello, Jill Stein!). The real prize has always been in restricting access to the ballot. Shaving a few thousand votes is small potatoes, bob. They successfully restricted millions of people from even voting! Measurably!

Check it! https://thinkprogress.org/states-purged-16-million-voters-from-the-rolls-before-the-2016-election-1c5688dcaad7/

We can not take our eyes off the ball. We need to look those Republicons in the face and say," I Know Your Game". Meet them and beat them.

No, DUers, Russia did not cause an outsized number of black folks to stay home in 2016. Yes, there was a drop off in the number of black voters in 2016. However, there are a number of other measurable factors that did have a very real impact on black voter turnout. In short, no matter how you shake it, we did not give you #45!

There were many articles written to explain the impact of voter suppression, lack of access (thank you Justice Roberts), and fewer protections (again, thank you Justice Roberts) on the 2016 Election. I was sickened at all the "allies" whom seemed more upset about the few black people that sat out of the election than they were at the tons of white people that affirmatively voted FOR tRump.

I keep a few articles handy. Feel free to use them!

https://www.salon.com/2016/11/10/the-real-reason-black-voters-didnt-turn-out-for-hillary-clinton-and-how-to-fix-it/

From the article:
The low turnout for Clinton had little to do with her black support and everything to do with the effective campaign of voter suppression run by Republicans, one that has decimated accessible options for people of color. This election illustrates the importance of alternatives to the current voting system, which continues to actively disenfranchise marginalized populations subject to numerous barriers to entry. It’s time to update the ballot box to make sure everyone’s voice is being heard.

Voting in the U.S. isn’t equal for all groups. Black voters, who are often concentrated heavily in inner-city areas, are forced to endure the nation’s longest lines, ones that may discourage them from voting altogether. A study from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies showed that black voters wait twice as long as white people to cast a ballot, with the longest wait times being in South Carolina, Florida and Maryland. Harvard researcher Stephen Pettigrew found that African-Americans were six times more likely than members of demographic groups to spend more than an hour in line in order to vote.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2016/11/11/292322/voter-suppression-laws-cost-americans-their-voices-at-the-polls/

From the article:
States have gone on a spree restricting voting rights and voter access since 2010, when Republican-controlled state legislatures began passing voter ID laws and other provisions making it more difficult to vote. Once the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, even more states made it harder to vote in ways that were targeted at and fell disproportionately on people of color, young people, and low-income people. Even after major legal victories for voting rights this year—rulings that showed voter suppression tactics presented a grave danger and would prevent eligible Americans from casting their ballots—14 states had new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. These included cutting back early voting, restricting voter registration, and imposing strict voter ID requirements. It is difficult to say definitively how voter suppression laws affect voter participation and exactly how many citizens were prevented from voting. But one analysis in 2014 found a decline in voter participation of 2 percentage points to 3 percentage points that was attributable to changes in voter ID requirements.

https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200000-votes-trump-won-by-23000/

From the article:
According to federal court records, 300,000 registered voters, 9 percent of the electorate, lacked strict forms of voter ID in Wisconsin. A new study by Priorities USA, shared exclusively with The Nation, shows that strict voter-ID laws, in Wisconsin and other states, led to a significant reduction in voter turnout in 2016, with a disproportionate impact on African-American and Democratic-leaning voters. Wisconsin’s voter-ID law reduced turnout by 200,000 votes, according to the new analysis. Donald Trump won the state by only 22,748 votes.



And just because this thread is a little salty, I thought I'd close with something sweet from Ms. Sam Bee! Enjoy!

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/samantha-bee-voter-turnout-election_us_58248486e4b0aac624894bca

From Essence.com

Mom Who Had Baby Snatched Away By NYPD Released From Jail




However, Jazmine Headley's legal battles are not quite over yet as she is still being held on a warrant out of New Jersey.

by: Breanna Edwards Dec, 11, 2018

According to Scott Hechinger, Dir. of Policy at Brooklyn Defender Services, a judge has ordered Jazmine Headley to be released from jail without a bond.

Hechinger live tweeted the court proceedings Tuesday afternoon:

https://twitter.com/ScottHech/status/1072590438375321604

Full article can be found at Essence.com or by clicking on the following link: https://www.essence.com/news/charges-dropped-against-black-mom/

According to the article, Ms. Headley's child is currently with family members.

Barbados Crop Over Festival is a liberating space for women of all shapes and sizes
Noel Walker
,
Yahoo Lifestyle•August 21, 2018





“Oh, she’s scandalous,” a friend said aloud, referring to me, after one would-be carnivalista asked me what to expect on our trip to Barbados Crop Over Festival — the Caribbean island’s annual six-week festival, which consists of parties booming with calypso and soca music and street fairs flowing with flavorful food and arts to celebrate a 200-year tradition honoring the end of the sugar cane season.

“It’s … fun.” The words gradually rolled off my tongue as I stood there baffled about why she would say such a thing. Was it the costume she’d seen me don in the past? Was it the way my wined [danced] like a snake in Instagram Story videos filmed during carnival in Jamaica months ago? Was it the dancing with both women and men?? Was it because a lot of skin was openly shown in public? Or was it the mere fact that she just didn’t understand Caribbean culture?



It was hard to believe she didn’t get it. It was even tougher to accept her comments as humorous rather than backhanded. I felt as if she had put me in the “scandalous” box, where one is also labeled as shameful, dishonorable, and sinful. But Caribbean women — and people from all backgrounds who participate in carnival festivals — are often subjected to this cruel judgment.

?w=768

“The perception the U.S. has of Caribbean carnivals shows their ignorance and disdain of African-derived culture and festivals,” says Kai Barratt, a lecturer and carnival scholar at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

More amazing pictures and full article, here: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/barbados-crop-over-festival-liberating-slideshow-wp-215145872.html

The pictures posted here are ones that I've found from previous festivals. Check out the amazing folks who choose to celebrate in their current skin. Learn to celebrate life in your skin, as you are, right now!