Life is bliss. ✨

Ludacris (Chris Bridges) receives a Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ludacris is also a part of the Fast & Furious movie series.

🧙🏾‍♂️ 🐍

thinking about ye

since it's the 21st night of September and i keep seeing all of the memes and gifs including my own, it's in my leftist nature to jump in with a bit of learning & essay material, so let's go ahead and get it out of the way.

to appreciate "September," you must appreciate the group who performed it: Earth, Wind & Fire.

Earth, Wind & Fire was headed by the legendary Maurice White, who wasn't just the heart and soul of the group, but he was also its driving force in so many ways, both literally & metaphorically. Maurice White wasn't just making music; he was making social statements, negotiating and navigating race relations, and tackling the music industry's problematic nature back in the 70s.

Mistah White (sorry, i had to), with his killer jazz drumming background, brought Earth, Wind & Fire into the spotlight at a time when music was getting pigeonholed by race. and they dominated both the R&B and pop charts. but the impact goes a little further than charts and accolades. no Maurice White? probably no "Thriller", no Outkast, no Pharrell, no Drake.

in the 70s, the big music labels that dominated the industry were just targeting white, middle-class youth. Maurice White looked at this scene and thought, "ok den bet" with Earth, Wind & Fire. he blended everything from Jazz in "Caribou" to Latin vibes in "Brazilian Rhyme.” the type of borrowed influence you hear in modern Pop, rap, and Hip Hop music is built mainly on the backs of artists like Maurice White. and he fought for his vision, pushing for his music to be promoted across the board, believing it had universal appeal.

you also can throw in the showmanship that Earth, Wind & Fire had; massive sets, fireworks, magic tricks (yes fucking magic tricks), and super iconic Afrocentric costumes. in a time when Black musicians were very much under pressure from the music industry, White used Earth, Wind & Fire's popularity to push for a deeper dialogue on race. bands like Earth, Wind & Fire also provided the soundtrack to the Black Power movement, which was in full swing around this time. another famous track they released, "Evil,” contains lyrics that hint toward Black musicians’ struggles in the 70s - the choice that wasn't a choice - to either be upbeat or stay silent.

Evil, runnin' through our brain We and evil's just about the same Bad blood through our body flows Where's the love nobody knows Nobody knows, nobody knows, nobody knows Beauty in our face you see Tryin' to hide all our misery Our misery, our misery, our misery

if you listen a bit closer with a racial context in mind, there’s an acute call for change in Earth, Wind & Fire's art, and a plea to make the world a better place. Maurice White's legacy is that he helped drive forward the progress of a cold, hard music industry and spin it into something more like gold.

thas' all. thanks for reading.

Okay what the heck is Iwaju because it looks so cool but also seems like the commercials are mostly trying to sell it by vibes (like Afrocentric sci-fi) more than any kind of plot. Does it have a plot???

I refuse to follow kemetic orthodoxy fully (mostly because of their refusal to take an Afrocentric approach as they literally worship African deities and attempt to reconstruct an African religion) but some of their points I really agree with

Like the belief in one God (Netjer) that can be divided into the Netjeru really aligns with my belief in the Universe as a God and the aspects of it divided into other deities

And the belief in beloveds I sorta vibe with. I know a lot of pagans have one or a few pateon deities, but I do vibe with this feeling of there being multiple netjeru that care and watch and protect me. I don't know if I ascribe to the belief in them being my parents, but like. Nut? Anuket? Bast? Hathor? That's my little posse

This sounds like such a pointlessly petty complaint, which wouldn't be a problem bc this confession blog is filled with them, but I wish it would at least give an example because what does this even mean? Afrocentric features in pale dolls is bad because they're pale? Is that the entire issue? What is the white girl make-up? What kind of "white girl" make-up is popular enough to be notable and would seemingly look good on Asia/Eurocentric features, but would make Afrocentric features look ugly and uncanny like the MC from the White chicks movie????

Not to mention that a pale doll could also be representing a mixed character or albino. Especially P0povy has done several of their Afrocentric dolls as albinos. I think the reason this kinda seems unreasonably petty is because the sculpt literally doesn't change, it's still the exact same sculpt just in a different shade. And this confessions gives a kinda weird vibe of "Afrocentric features are ugly when they are featured on a figure with a pale/r complexion."

~Anonymous

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fleurdelis ⚜️

Baltimore, Maryland

MP3 Download: "Not A Man" from Funmi Praise

Gospel music minister Funmi Praise is out with an outstanding new effort which features sensational singer EmmaOhMaGod (EmmaOMG). The song is titled “Not A Man” The beautiful rendition with Afrocentric vibe laced on Funmi Praise’s familiar turf of Contemporary Christian Praise and Worship, is reassuring and speaks of the writer’s confidence in who God is. This assurance reflects on the writer’s…

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