What Ever Happened to Our Blackness? Our 'Wokeness' is Under Woeful Siege and We are Clapping Out Loud and Proud

The era of Black wokeness and stardom has never been as dimmed with its pretentious dysfunction and destruction of sensibility, nobility, and pride.  Our ancestors became free from mental and bodily bondage,  and for and by their sacrifices, they paved the way for ours and future generations to be free and lit and woke,  to be our full unapologetic authentic selves.   

Asking for my friends, the parents of small children, teens, and young adults, when did our collective "wokeness" become skewed in the fallacy of leading social media influencers and their abject disregard for the societal, moral, and behavioral norms or considerations?

When Lil Nas X was a practical unknown, his hit song Ole Town Road, won him millions of audience streams from toddlers to young adults.  He skyrocketed to orbital reach capturing the hearts and pockets of children and adults with a ravishing appetite for more of his music.

As Lil Nas X climbed the pinnacle of fame and stardom, he climaxed his torpedic rise in the music industry, with his flaming sexual agenda of  'out and proud' and being his authentic self.

Is it his musical talent or his prized openly gay sexuality that makes the artistry so evocative and themed in the armor of his pleasure palette?  Should we question or criticize, we may have a Twitter tsunami of followers exhaling hate expletives to anyone daring to contest the hard-core exploitation of its younger school-aged generational audience. No, parents were blindsided. Lil Nas X became more prolific as his music catalog became more X-rated. 

Can we present the Nicki Minaj viral award for maleficence? Minions of barbs and many public international media houses provided exhaustive forums and unsubstantiated discussions on rabid mistruths about the pro and cons of vaccination. All the nonsensical pontificating, because Ms. Minaj with her millions of followers,  spoke to her truth with the unlikely cousin, uncle, swollen testicles tale of  C19 vaccine inertia.

Cardi B has created a bible of song scripts describing actualized definitions of sexual prowess.  That WAP is treated as conjecture for young girls of every age,  up through teen to adults is the public education in sexual exploration. Every erotic fantasy in lyrics conjured is poetically enunciated and articulated verbatim verse for a verse like pros by young listening ears.

In the new social etiquette dictionary search, where being obscured from any form of reality is a remedy for viral reach, the words large or fat are labeled as truth shaming.  Lizzo is Queen of the debacle of the monstrous notoriety of excessive and visually over self-infatuated BIG. She is the anointed woke glamor example.

Lizzo Bares Almost All in See-Through Mesh Gown for Cardi B's Birthday Party
All the rumors are true: Lizzo showed up to Cardi B's 29th-birthday party in a completely see-through dress. See the "Good as Hell" singer's bold look below.

A picture paints a thousand words.  I see naked over the top with a sheer sheet covering. Do you see what I see? 

For Pop culture readers,  the last paragraph in the article glowingly sums up this iconic spectacle

There was also no shortage of love for the rapper as fans, friends and other celebs, including Halle Berry, showered her with birthday wishes. "Happy birthday to this sweet sweet soul," Berry tweeted. "Hope you have the most beautiful day @iamcardib." The actress' message did not go unnoticed by Cardi.

"Thank you soooo much," she tweeted in response. "Like imagine Halle Berry wishing you a happy birthday? Like omgg."

From the 2nd verse of the Black Nation Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

When Cecilia Salazar Rhapso on the Steelpan of Trinidad 🇹🇹 and Tobago

On This Night 🌙An original poem by GraceCaroline Walker

https://youtu.be/roT-7OR7jws

On this night

More than a day, a year, this is the Now, We are Infinity

Our lives were paused, Silence Boomed like thunder
Tragedy visited and no one was spared

Not She, not He Not even Who


On this night, we gather, with our masks, our shields
Face curtains of insecurity, fear, despair
and Death.. the great Equalizer un masked

Was it that Force, A Presence, An Energy, beyond Words,
that poisoned Invisible
that COVID spared no one Continent, Countries, Mankind white black brown yellow
WE Our Humanity were Sacrifice
Death lived in the air, graveyard to millions

On this night,
the most precious Present is the gift of breath
So Breathe

Breathe because the Ancestors are in our hair, in our eyes, in our skin, in the invisible Silence
We are no more We are No less
We Are

On this night
Hear, See, and Breathe,
the Dance, the Song, the Music
Reveal, beyond the Mask
That We Are, One in Spirit, One in Hope and One Forever Becoming

We are Alive in this Presence.. We are Here
On this Night

Our Mothers ..the Sun, the Earth the Moon the Stars

Here
On this Night

Michael Manswell Artistic Director Something Positive Inc talks to Rally Round the West Indies Virtual Fundraiser Benefit

Healing with Horses Tobago WELLCOME EASTER EXTRAVAGANZA sat Apr 10 2021

TATIANA SINDASS From CAFE Student to CAFE Board Secretary

Using Tiktok for Education, Building Your Brand, and Research Information

Watch Kamilla Salandy Diego Martin Trinidad to NYC RN MSc

SKIN CARE TIPS FROM DRS OF TIKTOK

The Gift of Surrender..When my Sister Vicky Died

Lesson learned  The Gift of Surrender

it is the hardest most painful experience one can imagine
when you have been blessed with a large family like ours
we get to see ourselves in each other

we were blessed.. there are so many who have siblings and often find themselves trying to learn each other as unique and very different individuals

i have always had siblings that i looked up to for my soon to be 65 years because of being the last of this family of 10 or 11.. because my youngest brother died at 5

losing our oldest sister is like losing part of the air I breathe since day one

i grew up with my nephew Curtis Martinez and nieces as if they were the extended siblings all my life

all my life memories are shaped by what this family of characters, that can often get on each others nerves, that can be ever so theatrical, that are very different in each of our personalities, that share a devotion and reverence for each other, in spite of our ups and downs and even our quarrels.  

Daddy was that happy provider and gave us all an anchor of love, joy, jubilation, laughter, music, dance, theatre, and proud legacy of protection to and for each other.

Mammy was the fierce, stern, strict and the most courageous family cornerstone, moral compass, rule of law, and showed us that nothing or no one could or would try to come between her love and her children.  She was that... she did not allow anyone the right to disrespect her children.  

And after Daddy died, she was that fortress that each one of us had to come home to, to know that her love was her lifetime sacrifice for us.

To say the least, when Vicky was diagnosed with final stage terminal pancreatic cancer less than 2 months ago, none of us was ready.    I was in denial.   My friend Chantal had just died.  This is not happening.  This couldnt be.  Not to Vicky.  

Vicky was to me that good girl all her life.  She just wasnt wayward like me  or the rest of us.  She was to us this paragon on virtue.  She was always demure.  As a matter of fact,  she had only lately started to wear red  and loved it  even though, she would see me in all my flamboyance, and remark under her breadth,  how coskell i could be.  But somewhere along the way, she got used to it, and would actually, enjoy it 

She loved her, some Sonny.  Her dearly departed husband.  Both she and Sonny were my godparents.  And she so loved her children Curt, his wife Dianne, Lisa Gylla,  and her grans and her great grans with a knowing that was so intimate.  She knew each one to her soul.

More than most she loved to pray. We grew up in tradition and faith. She was so devout in her faith journey.  

I knew she prayed unceasingly for me,  and each of my loved ones, just like she did for her children, her grandchildren and great grans.  

Without overt demonstration, she was there to take care of us,  of me.  With a call ever so often,  Grace how are you,  how is Daryean,  how is,  and she'll list all the names of our brood.  and say I'm praying for each of you in my thoughts.

And that is how I just know... love is prayer.. someone holding you up, wishing only for your wellbeing,  sharing kindness, blessings and always present.. just a prayer away , and  a visit.

And in her own intimate and unobtrusive way,  she gifted me the meaning of Surrender.

It was not about how,  whether I was a religious, or not, whether I chose to or not to practice tradition, whether i might not or choose to attend Church.   In her own simplistic way,   she was a source of peace, comfort, respite, hospitality, feeding the hungry, teaching, sharing, caring, and giving to each and everyone she loved and met along the way.

In the end, her wishes were to make things as simple as possible. 

Nothing grand.  Nothing too obvious.  Her privacy was particularly important to her, because she did not want to be a worry to others.

And what a gift to me, and to all of us, is How to Surrender.

None of our presumed fixations with what is conceived, perceived or believed,  just Let go and Let God.

One of the last songs she enjoyed was one our Mother Rosie would sing at our family gatherings.  I so dedicate to our Queen,  Vicky,  Victoria Clare ... Love Continues

Ill be loving you Always
With a love that true Always
When the things you plan 
Need a helping hand
I will understand Always, Always
And when things arent clear Always
That's when Ill be there Always
Not for just an hour
Not for just a day
Not for just a year
But AlwaysNot for just an hour
Not for just a day
Not for just a year
But Always

Cuba, a vacation exploration for the curious traveller to discover hospitality and fresh culinary cuisine , Salsa, Afro Cuban Jazz and the best Cuban cigars for unbeatable prices

Welcome to Cuba!  a local  vendor cheerfully poses

 "What I know deep in my bones is that when you have done the same thing for 50 years and nothing has changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome," Obama said during a televised news conference. "And this gives us an opportunity for a different outcome."

The Cuban Capitol 

With this announcement from President Obama in December 2014, the tides of change for Americans to court friendship with an exiled neighbor after 50 years of defiant discord sent waves of excitement, anticipation, suspicion and mystery to curious travel seekers within the US and its outlying hemispheres.

For me it was enough to hasten travel plans to get to the picturesque antiquity of Cuban life before the influx of curious tourists  scour its native surroundings.
 My visit to Havana, Cuba is a dream fulfilled.