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thekryptkreeper · 4 months ago

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Queen Latifah RULE BREAKER

We all know this beautiful woman, the woman that set the record and stereotypes straight, starred in our favorite movies, TV shows, and hosted for the best award ceremonies.

Queen Latifah: A Legacy of Empowerment, Art, and Resilience

Queen Latifah—born Dana Elaine Owens on March 18, 1970, in Newark, New Jersey—has been a defining force in music, film, and television for decades. With her powerful voice, trailblazing career, and unwavering sense of self, she has inspired millions across generations. Today, we take a deeper look at her journey from a young girl with a dream to an international icon.

The Origins of the Queen Latifah Name

Queen Latifah’s name tells a story of strength, cultural influence, and self-discovery. Her real name, Dana Owens, was transformed when she was just eight years old. Inspired by a book her cousin brought her that contained Arabic names, Dana chose "Latifah," which means "delicate, sensitive, kind, and nice" in Arabic. But it was the addition of “Queen” that truly shaped her public persona. "Queen" was a deliberate choice that reflected her desire to embrace a strong, proud, and unapologetically Black identity, one that was reinforced by her mother, Rita Owens, who laid the foundation for Latifah's self-empowerment.

As Latifah herself has said, her name represents both her personal growth and her cultural heritage, as well as her wish to project strength and dignity in all that she did. Little did the world know at the time, this name would become synonymous with talent, authenticity, and advocacy.

From Rap to Stardom

Latifah’s rise to prominence began in the late 1980s, during a time when hip-hop was still an emerging genre. A pivotal moment came when DJ King Gemini recorded a demo of her rap song, Princess of the Posse, and shared it with Fab 5 Freddy, the host of Yo! MTV Raps. This moment set the stage for Latifah’s breakthrough, which came when Tommy Boy Records signed her at just 18 years old. In 1989, she released her first single, Wrath of My Madness, marking the beginning of a legendary career in hip-hop.

Her 1993 album Black Reign further solidified her status in the rap world, with the groundbreaking track “U.N.I.T.Y.” becoming an anthem for women’s empowerment. The song addressed issues of street harassment, domestic violence, and disrespect towards women in hip-hop culture, earning her a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1995. U.N.I.T.Y. remains one of her most iconic tracks, resonating deeply with fans worldwide and sparking conversations about respect and equality.

Breaking Barriers in Hollywood

While her rap career set the foundation for her fame, Queen Latifah’s star power only expanded as she ventured into acting. With standout performances in films like Set It Off (1996), Bringing Down the House (2003), Beauty Shop (2005), and Last Holiday (2006), Latifah proved she was a versatile and powerhouse performer. Her voice also found a home in the animated Ice Age franchise, further demonstrating her ability to conquer multiple entertainment mediums.

Her versatility didn’t stop there. Latifah also made history as the host of her own talk show, The Queen Latifah Show, showcasing her charisma and giving a platform to diverse voices. In every role she took on—whether it was acting, singing, or hosting—Latifah brought a sense of authenticity and confidence that resonated deeply with her audience.

A Role Model for Empowerment

Beyond her success in music and film, Queen Latifah has consistently used her platform to promote social justice and support communities in need. She’s been vocal about the importance of self-love, body positivity, and the representation of African Americans in the media. In her 2010 book, Put on Your Crown: Life-Changing Moments on the Path to Queendom, she opened up about her own struggles with self-doubt, body image issues, and the challenges of navigating a male-dominated music industry. Despite these obstacles, Latifah emerged stronger, becoming a role model for countless women and people of color around the world.

Her activism was also evident in the themes of her music, especially in U.N.I.T.Y., which challenged the toxic masculinity and misogyny that often-plagued hip-hop culture. Through her art, Queen Latifah became a champion for respect and equality, and she has remained committed to elevating marginalized voices throughout her career.

Queen Latifah’s Legacy

Queen Latifah’s influence transcends the worlds of music and film. She redefined what it means to be a woman in hip-hop, proving that success and authenticity could coexist. Her contributions to the genre paved the way for countless other female rappers who followed in her footsteps, helping to reshape the traditionally male-dominated landscape.

Her legacy is one of resilience, creativity, and purpose. From her chart-topping rap albums to her memorable performances in films and television, Latifah has shown that true queens do not simply exist—they create legacies that inspire generations. Her authenticity, passion for her craft, and dedication to social change continue to make her one of the most influential cultural icons of our time.

My Gratitude for Queen Latifah

Growing up watching Queen Latifah, I was always inspired by her energy, confidence, and versatility. Whether she was rapping about unity or taking on a powerful role in a movie, she always commanded the screen. What stands out to me most is her unwavering ability to remain true to herself while breaking barriers in every industry she touched. In a world that often tries to limit people based on stereotypes, Latifah showed us that we could be more than what society expects us to be. She has always been unapologetically herself, and that authenticity is what makes her a true icon.

As I reflect on Queen Latifah’s journey, I am grateful for the legacy she continues to build. She’s not just a rapper, actress, or TV host; she’s a trailblazer who has left an indelible mark on the world.

And to close with one of her most iconic lines: “Now everybody knows there’s exceptions to this rule, now don’t be getting mad, when we playing, it’s cool, but don’t you be calling me out my name, I bring wrath to those who disrespect me like a dame.”

Latifah’s words continue to resonate and inspire—long may she reign as the queen she is!

!*THIS IS RESEARCH I SEARCHED AND WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE CELEBRITY OR MAIN FACTS THAT STOOD OUT TO ME. FEEL FREE TO INFORM, CORRECT, SHARE, AND/OR ADD MORE KNOWLEDGE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CELEBRITY.*!

#queen latifah #hip hop #january 2025 #rap artist #music artists #U.N.I.T.Y #ebony queen #music community

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neworleansvoudou · 2 years ago

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Who's Who in Hoodoo History: High John the Conqueror

John the Conqueror is known in Hoodoo folklore as a trickster spirit, always making a way out of no way at all, “hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick. Winning the jackpot with no other stake than a laugh” (Hurston 1943, 452). Slaves saw him as emerging from a whisper, finding laughter in sorrow, irony in tragedy, and triumph in despair. He was the bringer of hope, “the source and soul of our laughter and song.” He provided much-needed comedic relief in everyday life. He was a resistance figure whose weapons were laughter, cunning, and trickery.

They say that John was a prince who came from Africa, walking on the winds that filled the sails of ships through the Middle Passage. There are no photographs or drawings of the actual John the Conqueror. However, some say he resembled big John Henry, the “steel-driving man” of African American folklore. Or maybe he was “a little, hammered down, low-built man like the Devil’s doll-baby” (Hurston 1943, 452). Some say you can’t draw a spirit, so quit trying. Others say no one ever talked about what he looked like because it wasn’t necessary. White people never knew of his existence, which was by design; they weren’t supposed to know about him. He was the slaves�� biggest advocate on the downlow, and they lived for the tales of his putting one over on ole Massa.

They say that the spirit of John the Conqueror was around in the form of Brer Rabbit before John came on the scene. That wily mammal had already made the rounds on the plantations for a year and a day by the time John came along. Because he was in the form of an entertaining bunny, his tales spread far and wide. In reality, Brer Rabbit and John the Conqueror are two different spirits, but their functions are similar. Both are tricksters; both gain the edge through cunning, audacity, and intelligence. Both are empowering resistance figures.

John the Conqueror’s renown comes from the abundance of folktales describing his exploits. The most significant tales involve his role in procuring freedom through comedic relief and trickery. Freedom was of primary concern to John, and it governed near about all of his decisions. But he wasn’t the same kind of resistance figure as San Malo, Bras Coupe, or Annie Christmas. He was good at playing dumb when he needed to, and he excelled at the art of gaslighting. He played ole Massa like a fiddle.

He could make you think yellow was green and green was yellow. He would make you believe that what he did was your doing, and he was a master at leaving ole Massa standing in his place, mouth agape. He was just that cunning.

John the Conqueror was most popular during slavery days because he served an express purpose. People needed the kind of resilience and inspiration he could bring. They needed the hope he dispensed. They needed a vision for the future, one that involved their complete liberation. And when he went back to Africa, they say he left his spirit right here in the United States in the root of a special flower, a variety of morning glory bearing purple flowers. In this way, John the Conqueror never actually left. Whenever anyone needs him, they can access him by communing with the root bearing his namesake.

*Excerpt from Witch Queens Voodoo Spirits and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magickal New Orleans.

Learn more about the OGs of Hoodoo: https://www.crossroadsuniversity.com/courses/who-s-who-in-hoodoo-history

#hoodoo #conjure #rootwork #neworleansvoodoo #crossroadsuniversity #creolemoon #HighJohntheConqueror #JohnnyConker

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magazinewankersworld · 11 months ago

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Heather Hunter

Born in October 1969 in the Bronx, New York City, USA, Heather left home at 16 and supported herself by working as a clerk at the Latin Quarter, which was a well known hip hop club. At the age of 18, she answered an ad in The Village Voice for striptease artists and soon appeared in pictorials for Players and Swank. While working at the Latin Quarter, she met adult film actress Hyapatia Lee, who suggested she enter the world of adult movies. Starting in 1988, she appeared in a few movies for New York based Vidway before moving to Los Angeles and eventually becoming the first African-American woman to be a Vivid Entertainment contract girl. From 1989 through to 1999, she appeared in just over 50 videos before leaving the industry. At the same time as her adult career, she worked on a music career, initially with Island Records with the house track I Want It All Night Long, then signing with Tommy Boy Records, who didn't know how to market her. Eventually she managed to release a hip hop album under the name Double H in 2005 called the Unexpected. In addition she was a dancer on the TV show Soul Train at the same time as her adult actress career in the early 1990's. She also played the role of a hooker in the black comedy horror film Frankenhooker in 1990. In the mid 2000's, she turned to the art world and opened her own gallery in New York.

#heather hunter

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inspofromancientworld · 2 months ago

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Dolls and Their Ancient Origins

Dolls have a very long history, going back archaeologically to at lease the 21st century BCE, but probably longer. They're most likely the oldest toy and have been found throughout Afro-Eurasia and the Americas, including island nations such as Japan and Greenland.

By Jason210 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40901830 and By This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egypt has the oldest dolls that have been found. Tombs there hold what are known as 'paddle dolls', which are wood pieces that depict the torso and truncated arms of a woman, with no legs. They often have decorations that resemble necklaces or collars and patterns resembling decorated textiles. They often have breads and a pubic triangle painted on and their head hair is made of beads of black mud. Egyptologists determined they represent the female members of dancing and singing troupes, especially those dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of the sky, as they've been found in the graves of troupe members.

Source: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1905-1021-13

From at least 200 BCE, dolls with clothing that could be changed began to show up in the archaeological record. In Greece, these dolls also had articulated hips and shoulders. The Greeks called dolls κόρη kóri, which means 'girl' or 'daughter'. It's highly likely that they also had rag dolls, though only those made of more durable materials have survived farther back that 300 BCE. Among the Greeks and Romans, boys dedicated their toys, which could also include dolls, to the gods at puberty and girls dedicated their toys to Artemis, for the Greeks, or Venus, for the Romans, at marriage. If they died before either of these milestones, the child's toys were buried with them.

By Uptownnow - Own work, transfered from en.wikipedia.

In Africa, dolls were used for both education and entertainment. Their shape and costume varied per culture, but they were often passed from mother to daughter. Akua'ba are particularly associated with the Fanti people from around modern-day Ghana and others, associated with fertility. Those of the Ashanti people have large, disk-like heads.

By World Imaging - Own work, photographed at Ueno Museum Tokyo, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11976021 and By Daderot - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31441340

In Japan, dolls go back as far as Doguu, clay figures from as far back as 8000 BCE-400 BCE, and the Haniwa figures terracotta figures, which were funerary dolls dating to around 300 CE. The doguu seem to have been used for sympathetic magic, or to take illness and misfortune from people. The Haniwa were found on funeral mounds, and later found outside this context, thought to mark the boundaries of a gravesite.

In many African, Native American, and European cultures, dolls were sometimes used as an effigy to place some type of spell on a person, known as a poppet in Europe, a nkisi or bocia in West and Central Africa. These dolls were meant to receive the intentions meant for a person they were crafted to represent.

By Museum Expedition 1904, Museum Collection Fund - Brooklyn Museum, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34008942

In the Americas, the Hopi crafted Kachina dolls, those that represent masked spirits, out of cottonwood. These figures were meant to be treasured and studied with the goal of learning more about the spirits. The Inuit made dolls of soapstone and bone, materials they had, and were often clothes with fur and leather in traditional styles. Corn husk dolls were common among Native American peoples as many of them had close ties with corn. These dolls were made of corncobs and husks, without of a face.

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-ancient-clay-puppets-with-open-mouths-and-detachable-heads-that-resemble-modern-toy-dolls-180986173/

In modern-day El Salvador, clay dolls with articulated heads have been found that date to about 400 BCE. These figures are between 10 and 30cm high with heads that were tied to their necks with a string that passed through two holes in the top of the head. Researching El Salvador's past has been difficult because it is densely populated and volcanically active, both of which tend to destroy the archaeological past, so the exact purpose of these dolls is uncertain. It's thought they were used in a ritual or recreation of events, whether real or mystical.

#dolls #human history #ancient history #toys

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oxford-garments · 11 months ago

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Fallen angel - Wikipedia

Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels who sinned. Such angels often tempt humans to sin.

SIN OF THE ANGELS

Lesson: The sin of the angels has been traditionally spoken of as a sin of rebellion. “I will not serve” is the statement attributed to satan and the other fallen angels. “I will not serve God or obey His will.” Recall also the statement that the serpent spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden when he seduced them to act in disobedience to God by eating the forbidden fruit. The serpent convinced them to eat the forbidden fruit by saying, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5, RSV-CE). This line also reveals the hidden first sin of the angels. They wanted to be gods. They did not want to serve the one God. They did not want to obey. They rebelled. They wanted to be the masters of their own destiny rather than to humbly submit to the plan of God for their lives.

BELMÔNT'S SIN: STREET IDENTITY MURAL CROWN APOTHEOSIS

In religion, apotheosis was a feature of many religions in the ancient world, and some that are active today. It requires a belief that there is a possibility of newly-created gods, so a polytheistic belief system. The major modern religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism do not allow for this. In Hellenistic culture, a mural crown identified tutelary deities such as the goddess Tyche (the embodiment of the fortunes of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna), and Hestia (the embodiment of the protection of a city, familiar to Romans as Vesta). The high cylindrical polos of Rhea/Cybele too could be rendered as a mural crown in Hellenistic times, specifically designating the mother goddess as patron of a city. Nightlife entertainment is often more adult-oriented than daytime entertainment. Location theory has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics.

Example; Mt. Pleasant Road Pluto Effect Invocation Wing Transfer

NOCTU [PLUTO ANGEL/NOCTURNALIS]

(Left-handed Path Apotheosis Pluto-Mural Crown Wing Transfer) Angelology Acrostics Treatise Text: Material World Angels: Spiritual Angelology not Religious (Bible Influence: De Coelesti Hierarchia and Summa Theologica), Left Handed Path Apotheosis, Illusions, Dionysian Mysteries, Black Angel Wings, Sagittarius-Scorpio Sensory Overload Asperger's (Fetus Alcohol Consumption and Prenatal Hormones Vitamin) Birth, Virtue Heavenly Host, Pluto Evening Star Astral Body Planetary Intelligence, Self-Defication Mural Crown Horcrux Oversoul (STREGA), Change Oversoul to New Title (Salesian), Cardinal-Mutable Human Form with Fixed Spirit, Invocation Possession, Angelology Students, and Angel Philosopher), Mural Crown (Tutlery Deity, Civil Heraldy, Heraldy), Salesian Church Enterprises (Real Estate; Liberal Arts Immersion Schools; Gold; Athletics; Fine Arts), Philosophy (CAAB: Culture, Art, Aesthetic, Bohemian; 5 Senses City, Selective Sensory Development, Distorted Sensory Play, Sensory Overload Asperger's, Culture Antagonist Liberal Arts)

RUSSE NOIR (À MA SAUCE) FOOTBALL

À ma sauce Literally: To my sauce, True meaning: Suit my style

VEDETTE: 3-4-1-2 has 4 Pivot Formations so 5 Total: Transition to a 4-4-2 Diamond, Transition to a 4-4-2, Transition to a 4-2-3-1, Transition to a 3-3-1-3

Central African Republic 4-4-2 Diamond Variant: 1-3-4-2 (1) À ma sauce (Sweeper Deep-lying Playmaker Wingback) (4) Diamant (À ma sauce: Counterpressing Pivot Pressing Triggers, Sweeper-Winger Pivots, Overlapping Runs, W; V; I Box Keeping Formations) [Key Stats: Front Foot, Pressing Triggers, Clearance, Aerial Duel, Interceptions, Blocked Shots, Tackles, Final Ball, Key Dribbles, Overlapping Runs, Set Piece Taker] Spacing, Possession, Pass Completion, and Counter Pressing with Pursuit and Ambush Predation One Team Box Touches and Capture the Flag with Analytics-Geometry Total Football Trixie Bet on CNS Drugs (Xanax and Modafinil)

Define a run in one of two ways: (i) as a set of consecutive goals scored by one team, without the other team scoring a goal; (ii) as a set of consecutive scoring events by one team, each event being either a goal or one or more Set Piece. Play aggressive and with counter pressing and run it up on the score board in the first half and after halftime play defense. You get a break at half and it's easier to win when someone plays defense and looks for opportunities instead of Attacking.

Posterior Chain Super Compensation and Speed-Endurance (Elastic-Connective Tissue) Force-Velocity Curve; Crescent Moon Horizontal Plane Vertical Force Sprinting Mechanics.

WM or Diamond Rover Futsal Pivot Formation

Set Piece Stylistic Biomechanics: Shooting Knee at Wall for Curve and Placement Knee for Corner. Follow through with Shot with proper Body Alignment

W, I, M, V; Box Keeping Formation with 3 Centre-Backs

Knee to Feet or Shoulder to Feet Cradling for Touch/Entertainment

UEFA Front Office Curriculum

Museum d'histoire: Broken down into three major section — “A Lineage of Coaches Players and Places,” “Proving Grounds” and “Cultures of Basketball” — City/Game documents how basketball first found its origins in the neighborhoods of NYC and then went on to produce a roster of local legends who played everywhere from Rucker Park and the Cage on West 4th Street to Christ the King High School and St. John’s University.

Agility Ladder Eyes Pocket: Eyes Between Defenders Feet and Ball, Numbered Footwork V-Step (Shifting Defenders with Momentum) et L-Step (Explosive First Step), All moves should form a Triangle or an Incomplete Triangle (Coup de Pied)

*Push-Pull Sprint/Shooting Cycle: Pull Glutes et Hamstring; Push Calf et Quads for Sprints.

Sprint Size Up: A series of feint Karaoké dribble moves with Eye Tricks (Fake Pass) but Sprint Position Finish

Triangle Philosophy: All Dribbling Moves should form a Triangle or an Incomplete Triangle while using V-Step (Shifting Defenders with Momentum) et L-Step (Explosive First Step).

Thé Crescent: In Close Dribbling; Crescent Footwork with L Shapes (Paul Pogba)

On the Run Dribbling Moves: Letters and Shapes; Still Play 1 on 1: Numbered Footwork

Piedi Felici Courts: Drills Side/Box Play with 1 Net; Design Vaporwave Action Painting Angels; Knee for Direction and Sole Drags for Dribbling Touch and Crescent Moon Sprint Mechanics

Gambling Games: 5 Roll (Captain, Ship, Crew); Live-Pool Betting Monopoly

Stylistic Biomechanics: Dribbling Foot To Ball Contact (Balls of Feet and Arch of Feet); Knee for Direction; Foot Drags; & Hip Angle, Crescent Moon Running Mechanics, and Laces Kick.

Diamond Football (15 mins)

Set Up

-Lay out two overlapping sets of 4 flat markers in the positions shown above.

-Ask the players to stand on a flat marker for their teams colour (Red on Red, Yellow on Yellow).

Instruction

-Whenever the ball goes out for a kick in or for the defenders ball, the players must stand on their markers before play begins.

-As soon as the ball has been played in, players are free to move.

-Reset everytime the ball goes out.

Coaching Points, Progressions Ect.

-Ask players to shout out what each position on the park is to devlop understanding of their roles.

-If you decide to go to a normal game , leave the markers out for a visual aid for the players.

-If more than 8 players, Add in Goalkeepers who would then play the ball out to the DF,LM,RM.

-Rotate Positions, Ask Players to stand on a marker they haven't been on before

BELMÔNT'S ACCENT

Full Lips Endings with Vertical Narrow Mouth and Soft Rs

BELMÔNT'S SIN INDEX FUND PORTFOLIO

Sin stock sectors usually include alcohol, tobacco, gambling, sex-related industries (Cabaret and Burlesque), and weapons manufacturers.

Diageo

Phillip Morris

Sports Betting Investment Trust

Pharmaceuticals

Business Clusters with Scrum Management and Accelerators to produce Festivals.

Example: Create a Index Fund Portfolio of 15-20 Stocks and using Supply Side Economics to create Decentralized Gambling Economy.

BELMÔNT'S DECENTRALIZED GAMBLING ECONOMY

Corporate-Capital Gains Tax Haven

High Stakes Minimum Buy In

Card Gambling (Signal and President): Top 2 highest bids fight for the Coup d'état and the other two are lesser men, the lesser men are subordinates that aid in playing cards for the warlord, the winning team splits the money, the warlords switches based on the 13 cards dealt and bets placed, the first team to shed all of their cards win.

Domestic Gambling: Boxing

Retirement Gambling: Boat Racing

Residency Program for Tax Benefits

BELMÔNT'S TURF ACCOUNTING MODEL

+EV

Python Programming Gaussian Distribution

Exotic Options Trading Live Betting

Parlays Minimum for Round Robins

Daily Fantasy Sports Rakes

NOUCHI PALACE

Definitions of ballroom. noun. large room used mainly for dancing. synonyms: dance hall, dance palace**. types: disco, discotheque.

Go Go Music Influenced, Eurphoric Trance Chord Progression Melody, Progressive House and Drum n' Bass Percussion-808 Call and Response Staccato Polyrhythm or Layered Kick and Punch 808.

In his 1972 study of French lute music, scholar Wallace Rave compiled a list of features he believed to be characteristic of style brisé. Rave's list included the following: the avoidance of textural pattern and regularity in part writing; arpeggiated chord textures with irregular distribution of individual notes of the chord; ambiguous melodic lines; rhythmic displacement of notes within a melodic line; octave changes within melodic line; irregular phrase lengths.

Have the Snare and Kick say, "Hi, How are you?" And the 808 say, "I am good thanks for asking.”

Use progressive House to push the Drums Conversation to either Fast and Punchy for Happy or Slow and Deep for Sad.

In technical terms, "go-go's essential beat is characterized by a five through four syncopated rhythm that is underscored prominently by the bass drum and snare drum, and the hi-hat... [and] is ornamented by the other percussion instruments, especially by the conga drums, rototoms, and hand-held cowbells."[5]

Polyrhythm: In music, a cross-beat or cross-rhythm is a specific form of polyrhythm. The term cross rhythm was introduced in 1934 by the musicologist Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980). It refers to a situation where the rhythmic conflict found in polyrhythms is the basis of an entire musical piece.[1]

Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4. 4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4).[1] This was popularized in the disco music of the 1970s[2] and the term four-on-the-floor was widely used in that era, since the beat was played with the pedal-operated, drum-kit bass drum.[3][4] (Punch 808-Kick)

Polyrhythm 4 on the Floor examples 2:4 or 5:4

Hard trance is often characterized by strong, hard (or even downpitch) kicks, fully resonant basses and an increased amount of reverberation applied to the main beat. Melodies vary from 140 to 180 BPMs and it can feature plain instrumental sound in early compositions, with the latter ones tending to implement side-chaining techniques of progressive on digital synthesizers.

Singles Only Email Raves Blogger then Multi Market Distribution Deal: A distribution deal is a contract to release the music to platforms, but not own the publishing or exclusively lock the artist in. Record Artist Producer Label: Have Polyrhythm Artist earn Streaming Percentage under a Recording Artist Deal. Label has Distribution Above Me and I have Manufacturing over Polyrhythm Artist. Have a end of the Year Album for New Year's Raves!

"ALWAYS WELCOMED" by POPCAAN

No jezebel can't enter di Heaven gates

Angels only

She wan pull up a long time she ah wait

Guyanese girl dem ah heavyweight

Pretty girl always welcomed (Trouble)

Tight pussy gyal always welcome

Gyal yuh body hotter than Kingston

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Love when yuh bubble up, mi wan lock you down

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Bend it over for me slowly

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Baby yuh thick like phone ah

Wan you sit down pon di throne yah

Love when you bend it over

Jump on the first flight to Arizona

Fuck you pon di dresser top slowly

Get yuh pussy wet rub yuh clit, hold me

Sink it in deep dat mi kno yuh love

Mek yuh draws fly weh like a likkle dove

Tight freaky girl wha me singin bout

Love when you put di cocky inna yuh mouth

Turn yuh back way and fuck it up right

Gyal yuh pussy tight, me will pay down

Mek yuh wine pon di body pon di head pon di pine

Underneath yuh nuh big like stadium

Wine fast a way now

Bite up di K now

Skinout and lay down, yeah

Pretty girl always welcome

Big pussy gyal always welcomed (Woioi)

Gyal yuh body hotter than Kingston

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Love when yuh bubble up, mi wan lock you down

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Bend it over for me slowly

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Cock up yuh pussy mi wan see it

Sit down pon di body like ah issa van seat

Pon yuffi gwarn badder although you conceit

Hot gyal ah George Town, hot gyal a Berbice (Trouble)

Love gyaldem freaky an bad yeah

Wine up and den turn it back weh

Open yuh legs dem fi Poppy

Hammer yuh body like Rodney

I'm giving you a rough ride

Love when you ride on me

I'm giving you a rough ride

Love when you ride on me

Baby

Love when you ride on me

Pretty girl always welcomed (Trouble)

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Gyal yuh body hotter than Kingston

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Love when yuh bubble up, mi wan lock you down

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Bend it over for me slowly

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Pretty girl always welcomed (Trouble)

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Gyal yuh body hotter than Kingston

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Love when yuh bubble up, mi wan lock you down

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

Bend it over for me slowly

Tight pussy gyal always welcomed

BELMÔNT'S SYSTEM: CAPÔI RETAINER AGREEMENT WITH ASSET PROTECTION TRUST

Capo: Describes a ranking made member of a family who leads a crew of soldiers. A capo is similar to a military captain who commands soldiers. Soldier: Also known as a “made man,” soldiers are the lowest members of the crime family but still command respect in the organization.

A capo is a "made member" of an Italian crime family who heads a regime or "crew" of soldiers and has major status and influence in the organization.

Consigliere: Defense and Corporate Lawyers

Head Boss: Ministry of Medicine

Underboss: Pharmaceutical Industry

Capo: CAPÔI RETAINER AGREEMENT

Soliders: Artisans

Commercialism is the application of both manufacturing and consumption towards personal usage, or the practices, methods, aims, and distribution of products in a free market geared toward generating a profit.

Commercial art is art created for advertising or marketing purposes. Commercial artists are hired by clients to create images and logos that sell products. Unlike works of fine art that convey an artist's personal expression, commercial art must address the client's goals.

The word 'Commercial' is defined as follows: Concerned with or engaged in commerce. Commerce is the exchange of goods or services among two or more parties.

Craftsmen are committed to the medium, not to self-expression. Artists are committed to their self-expression, not the medium.

A medium of exchange is an intermediary instrument and system used to facilitate the purchase and sale of goods and services between parties.

Stretch and Micro Goals

Music Medium System: Distribution and Retailers Contract Theory (System) for Music (Instrument)

Football Medium System: Analytics and Geometry for Free Role (System) Trixies (Instrument)

Age 16-19

Bond Funds

Farmland REITS

CFDS

Real Estate Brokerage Trust Account

Age 20-30

Farmland Recession Proof Stocks (Cosmetics, AgTech, Ag ETFS, AgETN)

Incubator and Startup Accelerators

Real Estate Joint Ventures

Age 30-40

Farmland Blue Chip Indexes w/ Credit Spread Options

TUNNEL STRATEGY (OFFSHORE BANKING)

Purpose: Permanent Residency Card

$250k Deposit

$125k: 60/40 portfolio, 60% Fixed Income & REITs and 40% Blue Chip Stocks

$50k: Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) and term deposits are secured investments. This means that you get back the amount you invest at the end of your term. The key difference between a GIC and a term deposit is the length of the term. Term deposits generally have shorter terms than GICs.

$75k: Spending Cash

SIN STOCKS PORTFOLIO

Sin stock sectors usually include alcohol, tobacco, gambling, sex-related industries, and weapons manufacturers.

Sports Betting Investment Trust

Pharmaceuticals

Example: Create a Index Fund Portfolio of 15-20 Stocks and using Supply Side Economics to create Decentralized Gambling Economy.

FESTIVALS DEAL

NEUROPLASTICITY DRUG-CRIME NEXUS BASED ON TRAFFICKING

CPP, CNS Depressants, et FENTALOGS: Cul-de-sac

Defensive Penalty Capture The Flag Raiding Warfare

Grey-Decentralized Markets

Bastilles: Cul-de-sac Artist Résidences Penthouse Complexes

Polyrhythm Raves

Acid House Art Gallery

International Film Festival

Hôtel Chefs

Seigneurial System/Tableau Economique Raw Material Économics Production Spot

Surautomatism

Discount Networking Acid House Party

Opium Dens and Fragrance Festivals

Pill Pressers

CNS depressants

Upper-tier County System

Defense Lawyers are Traplords (Trafficking P4P and Malicious Prosecution)

Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC)

Brain Receptor Dealing

Neuroplasticity Drug-Crime Nexus

Religious Ecstasy

Entheogens are psychedelic drugs—and sometimes certain other psychoactive substances—used for engendering spiritual development or otherwise in sacred contexts

Live-Pool Betting Monopoly Board Game

Summary Sentencing

Urban Level: Street Culture Art Gallery (Street culture may refer to: Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities, Street market, Children's street culture, Street carnival, Block party, Street identity, Street food, Café culture, Several youth subculture or counterculture topics pertaining to outdoors of urban centers. These can include: Street art, Street photography, Street racing, Street wear, Hip-hop culture, Urban fiction, Street sports, Streetball, Flatland BMX, Freestyling), Art Pedagogy, Artist Residency, Art Schools, and Art Plugs

Art Pedagogy: Arts-based pedagogy is a teaching methodology in which an art form is integrated with another subject matter to impact student learning. 28-30. Arts-based pedagogy results in arts-based learning (ABL),11 which is when a student learns about a subject through arts processes including creating, responding or performing. Aesthetic Teaching: Seeking a Balance between Teaching Arts and Teaching through the Arts. In aesthetic education, learning must be developed especially with the inclusion of sensations and with the help of feelings. Sensations and feelings should lead to movement, representation, and expression. Aesthetic learning often entails learning to distinguish certain qualities or objects aesthetically in different ways depending on the situation and the purpose. Certain things can be experienced in negative ways in one activity and in positive ways in another.

A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests

Patchwork tattoos are a collection of tattoos collaged together to create an overall design. Each individual 'patch' of the tattoo can be a different design, symbol or element with a little space in between. Patchwork tattoos are a collection of tattoos collaged together to create an overall design. In short, the gun-toting angel was a multifaceted metaphor. “It undoubtedly also reflected the Catholic Counter-Reformation militaristic rhetoric,” wrote Donahue-Wallace, “which promoted the church as an army and heavenly beings as its soldiers.”

DECADENCE AESTHETICS THEORIES

Slogan

J'Cartier, Je cours après les vœux de champagne,

Subjective

Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions

Gastronomy

Precarious Balance

Precariously: If something is happening or positioned precariously, it's in danger. A glass could be precariously balanced on the edge of a table. If something is on the verge of danger, then the word precariously fits.

Grey & Decentralized Markets

Tableau Économique

Semblance

Semblance is generally used to suggest a contrast between outward appearance and inner reality.

High Socioeconomic Status & Tattoos

Phantasmagorical

Having a fantastic or deceptive appearance

adjective. having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination. having the appearance of an optical illusion, especially one produced by a magic lantern.

Socioeconomic Status Development Immigration Multilingual Sensory Play

Law of Polarity in Relationships

In any successful relationship that has an intimate connection and sexual attraction, there is polarity. What does this mean exactly? Polarity in relationships is the spark that occurs between two opposing energies: masculine and feminine. Gender does not affect whether you have masculine or feminine energy.

Second Reflection

Burden Aesthetics with Intentions

The Second Reflection lays hold of the Technical Procedures

Tattoos

NOCTU

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outsidethebeautybox · 5 months ago

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How It Started (Part 2): The Mermaid

How black is “too black”?

Right when you thought the stress was over, new and improved kinds of stress and anxiety spring out at you like a jump scare. I love a good jump scare but, in my arrogant opinion, they’re a lot less entertaining when they worm their way into your irl existence.

A few months ago, I started writing an action-fantasy novel called “Crystal Blue,” which happens to be my first EVER action fantasy novel. There was a lot about the genre that I still had to learn, but, as is typical of my stories, one of the first notable elements of this story was its highly diverse cast.

The main character is a biracial (Welsh and Cameroonian) mermaid trying to keep the general populace from knowing she’s a mermaid. (I promise it’s not as cheesy as it sounds.)

Tropes aside, it’s a major part of this mermaid’s character design that she has VERY dark skin. Like, her skin is literally black.

Reason being: her grandfather was a pretty dark-skinned guy already, the mermaids are kind of magical, and dark skin is gorgeous.

Here’s the hiccup: I was not very good at drawing, and I wanted to make promotional art for my story.

I’m a much better artist now than I was a few months ago thanks to the magic of practice and boring (but useful) art lessons. But back then I was just starting my digital art journey and I had no idea how to draw someone with really dark skin without their features (drawn with black lines) looking washed out.

I’m half Hispanic (Dominican on my dad’s side) and half African-American, so I’m not ignorant of things like blackface, sambo dolls, and other racist caricatures of black people. I just wasn’t prepared for people to bring up Mr. Popo when I asked a forum full of artists for some advice on how to make my character’s features more visible.

When I say things got wild, I mean things got WILD.

People posted comments (or…rants?) claiming that my character was not “representing” anyone and looked “lazy.”

Some folks boldly assumed that I didn’t know any black people because of my struggle to draw this mermaid. Others claimed that the mermaid’s skin was “just too dark for it’s context” - POC readers wouldn’t care that I gave the character the darkest skin I possibly could, just whether or not the character looked good.

I can’t speak for the entirety of my diaspora, but as a POC myself, I respectfully disagree.

As a black woman, and a black female writer at that, I’m sick and tired of black characters being restricted to a highly limited range of colors, especially black characters that are supposed to be pretty.

For some inexplicable reason, it’s only the racist caricatures that are allowed to have very dark skin, and that idea in itself is wrong and harmful.

There are thousands of shades in the black diaspora, and all of them are beautiful. Whether your complexion is molasses black or cashew-colored or anything in between, you are lovely. So why are some “black” complexions deemed more acceptable than others while other (real) complexions are dubbed lazy or racist.

For those who don’t know, and are curious to learn, there really are people in the world whose complexions appear ‘exceptionally’ dark or almost literally black. I know some personally, and when I was a child, I literally thought their skin was black.

Do these women not deserve to be represented?

Personally, even if my readers will only care how pretty my mermaid looks, I would much rather see an ‘average’ looking character who strayed away from the norm than one more “pretty black girl” cliche.

To the unkind commenter’s credit, they did say that there were other characters with very dark skin who still looked beautiful, but since I hadn’t done much rendering, my character looked “lazy” and I needed to use a different color.

The thing is, I didn’t know HOW to do the rendering. That’s why I was trying to get help.

Unfortunately, asking for advice led to cyberbullying in the form of passive-aggressive (or just plain aggressive) comments.

The most well intentioned artists who replied often just didn’t understand my point. They thought I just wanted to make a character look “black” (african/african american) and again and again the suggestion was to give them a chocolate brown complexion.

But that’s the problem. This is a character- a PERSON - not a concept. I wasn’t trying to just make a character who could “represent” a black girl like some sort of avatar for the entire diaspora. I was writing about one specific individual, who was a-typical, but still important.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with chocolate brown. I love chocolate. Chocolate is a beautiful color. But it’s not the ONLY color that black people come in.

The problem with lightening my character’s skin, even to a shade that was still (relatively) dark, is that it continues to turn us into tokens.

Writers and artists keep recreating the same black character and inserting them into different books, shows, and movies. More often than not, black characters in shows that don’t revolve around the black diaspora have extremely similar hair, facial features, and complexions, and that complexion is usually chocolate brown. That’s when we’re lucky.

Sometimes black characters are given the exact same facial structure as the white characters, and the only difference between them and the other characters is their skin tone.

Again, it’s very often chocolate brown or lighter.

But there is so much more to us than that.

So many faces, complexions, and hair textures fall under the umbrella term of “black” and those people deserve a moment in the spotlight too.

There are people in South Sudan who wear complexions every bit as “unrealistically” black as the complexion that I gave my character. So even if other artists fail to see the value of my creative decision, that doesn’t invalidate it.

Deep dark/black skin does NOT turn a character into a caricature. The very fact that particularly dark skin brings to mind racist caricatures is because of prevailing racist mindsets.

I think about it like this. If someone drew a white character with a 9H pencil and their features were hard to see, most people would just blame the mistake on the artist's inexperience. They wouldn’t assume that the character design was racist.

The only reason why it doesn’t go both ways is because we’re all still associating dark skin with sambo dolls.

That’s unfair. It’s unfair to artists and it’s unfair to all the people who really have this complexion who will never be represented because people are afraid to represent them, or are told not to.

A few months after this experience centering around my mermaid character, I met an asian artist who told me they hadn’t practiced drawing dark-skinned characters very much because they were worried about being offensive.

This isn’t the life we should be living.

For once and for all, black skin is not a problem. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We NEED to keep fighting to make this world a place where no one is afraid of the dark. No one should have to worry that giving a character dark skin or broad noses will make them “racist.” Racism is based in our intentions, not in our mistakes or even in our ignorance.

After 4 months of practice, I (defiantly) continue to draw characters with (literally) black skin tones. It isn’t lazy, in fact, it takes infinitely more work than it does to render my light and medium brown-skinned characters whose complexions never wash out their facial features. I’ve gotten better at art as a whole, and I can now draw these black characters in a way where their features remain visible and their designs remain distinct.

I am proud to be the creator of these lovely people.

We are all defiantly beautiful.

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hangelbel · 6 months ago

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Exploring Manhattan: The Heart of New York City

Manhattan, the vibrant heart of New York City, is a place where history, art, culture, and commerce converge. With its iconic skyline, diverse neighborhoods, and endless entertainment options, Manhattan offers an experience like no other. Whether you’re visiting for the first time or rediscovering the city as a local, here’s everything you need to know about exploring Manhattan.

1. Iconic Landmarks

No visit to Manhattan is complete without exploring its famous landmarks. The Statue of Liberty stands proudly in New York Harbor, symbolizing freedom and hope. Nearby, Ellis Island shares the stories of millions of immigrants who helped shape the city’s history. Another must-see is the Empire State Building, offering breathtaking panoramic views of the skyline from its observation deck.

Other landmarks include Times Square, known as "The Crossroads of the World," where bright lights and billboards dazzle visitors day and night. Central Park, an oasis in the city's midst, provides a natural escape with walking trails, ponds, and beautiful scenery. For art lovers, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are must-visit destinations.

2. Diverse Neighborhoods

Each neighborhood in Manhattan has a unique personality, offering something for everyone. SoHo, known for its cobblestone streets and trendy boutiques, is a haven for art enthusiasts and fashionistas. The Lower East Side showcases the city’s immigrant history with vibrant eateries and cultural sites. For a taste of luxury, visit the Upper East Side, home to upscale shops, fine dining, and classic brownstones.

Head to Greenwich Village for a bohemian vibe with live music venues, quirky coffee shops, and the birthplace of the Beat movement. Meanwhile, Harlem offers rich African American culture, from soul food to jazz clubs and historic churches. Chinatown and Little Italy are other highlights, each offering unique flavors, cultural landmarks, and annual festivals.

3. Entertainment and Nightlife

Manhattan is famous for its Broadway district, where world-class musicals and plays entertain millions. Be sure to catch a show in one of the historic theaters, or, for a unique experience, see an off-Broadway production. The nightlife scene is also thriving, with rooftop bars offering stunning skyline views, jazz clubs in the West Village, and dance clubs in Chelsea.

If you prefer a more relaxed evening, consider a dinner cruise along the Hudson River. You’ll enjoy beautiful views of Manhattan’s illuminated skyline, including landmarks like the One World Trade Center, Chrysler Building, and Brooklyn Bridge.

4. Foodie’s Paradise

Manhattan is a culinary haven, offering everything from food trucks to Michelin-starred restaurants. For street food, try a New York-style hot dog, a classic slice of pizza, or a bagel with lox and cream cheese. Food halls like Chelsea Market and the Essex Market offer international cuisine, artisanal groceries, and unique dining experiences.

If you’re in the mood for fine dining, Manhattan boasts some of the world’s best restaurants. Jean-Georges, Eleven Madison Park, and Nobu offer exceptional experiences for food lovers. And don’t forget the borough's dessert scene: Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes and Levain Bakery’s cookies are must-tries.

5. Shopping Extravaganza

For shopping, Fifth Avenue is a dream destination, offering high-end brands like Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. For unique finds, head to the markets in Hell’s Kitchen or the boutiques in NoLIta. And if you’re looking for budget-friendly options, the Garment District has plenty of sample sales and outlet stores.

Manhattan truly has it all—from world-renowned landmarks and diverse neighborhoods to mouth-watering cuisine and unparalleled entertainment. Whether you’re strolling through Central Park, dining in Little Italy, or exploring the art galleries in Chelsea, Manhattan will capture your heart and inspire memories that last a lifetime.

#manhattan #hangelbel #new york #time square #broadway #nyc

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dailyanarchistposts · 1 month ago

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Footnotes Part I

[1] John Ralston Saul, Voltaire’s Bastards (New York: Vintage, 1992), 460.

[2] The World Wrestling Entertainment phenomenon is immense, both internationally and within the United States. WWE is consistently in the top ten daily searches globally on Yahoo’s Buzz Index and other search engines. The official site of World Wrestling Entertainment, http://www.wwe.com, receives within the United States alone a monthly average of 7.7 million unique visitors and a daily average of 517,000 unique visitors, according to a six-month survey done by Omniture SiteCatalyst from October 2006 to March 2007. Within the United States it had a monthly average of 214.4 million page views, a daily average of 7 million page views, a monthly average of 16.2 million video streams, and an average of 524,000 video streams per day. The WWE audience, according to a study conducted in May 2006 by Forrester Consulting, is 86 percent male, with an average age of twenty-four. Thirty-six percent are ages twelve to seventeen, and 40 percent are ages eighteen to thirty-four. Forty-one percent are students. Sixty-two percent of the males eighteen to thirty-four are employed full time. According to http://www.quantcast.com, 81 percent access wwe.com daily or several times a week. Fifty-seven percent have no college education. Twenty-six percent have an annual income of $30,000 or less, and another 30 percent make between $30,000 and $60,000. Fifty-one percent have children aged six to seventeen. Sixty-four percent are Caucasian, 14 percent African American, and 16 percent Hispanic.

[3] Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality (New York Vintage, 2000), 238.

[4] Paul A. Cantor, “Pro Wrestling and the End of History,” The Weekly Standard 5:3 (4 Oct. 1999): 17–22.

[5] Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York: Atheneum, 1961), 240.

[6] Ibid., 198.

[7] Gabler, Life: The Movie, 4.

[8] James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers (New York: Bantam Books, 2000), 518–519.

[9] Antonino D’Ambrosio, A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears (New York: Nation Books, 2009).

[10] William Deresiewicz, “The End of Solitude,” The Chronicle of Higher Education 55:21 (30 Jan. 2009): B6.

[11] Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm.

[12] C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956), 74.

[13] Richard Hoggart, The Uses of Literacy (Transactions Publishers, London, 1957), 151.

[14] Chris Rojek, Celebrity (London: Reaktion Books, 2001), 33–34.

[15] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (New York: Penguin, 1985), 80.

[16] Emily Eakin, “Greeting Big Brother with Open Arms,” New York Times, Jan. 17, 2004: B9.

[17] Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (New York: Vintage, 2001), 200–202.

[18] Ibid., 209.

[19] Ibid., 214.

[20] Ibid., 235–237.

[21] Cited in Gordon Burn, “Have I Broken Your Heart?” The Guardian, March 7 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/07/gordon-burn.

[22] My account of Jade Goody is informed by Burn, “Have I Broken Your Heart?” http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/07/gordon-burn.

[23] Hannah Arendt, “The Crisis in Culture,” in Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought (New York: Penguin, 1993), 207.

[24] ABC News, Living in the Shadows: Illiteracy in America, Feb. 25, 2008.

[25] Statistics were obtained from the following sources: National Institute for Literacy, National Center for Adult Literacy, The Literacy Company, U.S. Census Bureau.

[26] “Canada’s Shame,” The National, Canadian Broadcasting Company, May 24, 2006.

[27] Cited in Frank Füredi, Where Have all the Intellectuals Gone? (New York: Continuum, 2004), 73.

[28] Benjamin DeMott, “Junk Politics: A Voter’s Guide to the Post-Literate Election,” Harper’s Magazine (November 2003): 36.

[29] Boorstin, The Image, 61.

[30] Ibid., 255.

[31] Gabler, Life: The Movie, 205.

[32] Boorstin, The Image, 36.

[33] Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (New York: Free Press, 1997), 59.

[34] Cited in Gabler, Life: The Movie, 197.

[35] Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture (San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1977), 24.

[36] “The Directors,” Adult Video News (2005), 54.

[37] Gag Factor. http://www.gagfactor.com/gagfactordotcom.html, accessed, April 5, 2009.

[38] Postman, Amusing Ourselves, 3–4.

[39] Marc Cooper, The Last Honest Place in America (New York: Nation Books, 2004), 42.

[40] Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity (Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2007), 126.

[41] Bill Margold, quoted in Robert J. Stoller and I.S. Levin, Coming Attractions: The Making of an X-Rated Video (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993), 31.

[42] Gail Dines, “The White Man’s Burden: Gonzo Pornography and the Construction of Black Masculinity,” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 18 (2006), 296–297.

[43] Ibid., 297.

[44] Scott Simon, host. “Promoting Healthcare for the Porn Industry,” Weekend Edition. National Public Radio, Dec. 8, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17044239.

[45] Lubben, Shelley, and Jersey Jaxin. “Jersey Jaxin on Why She Quit Porn,” YouTube. Accessed Aug. 12, 2007. Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACLK5ccKfM and Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1NObcJV8r0&feature=related.

[46] Theodor Adorno, “Education after Auschwitz” (http://grace.evergreen.edu/~arunc/texts/frankfurt/auschwitz/AdornoEducation.pdf), 10.

[47] Ibid., 6.

[48] Charles Ting, “The Dormitories at U.C. Berkeley.” in Nader, Laura, et al., Controlling Processes: Selected Essays, 1994–2005. The Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers 92/93 (2005): 197–229.

[49] Charles Schwartz, Home page. http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~schwrtz/.

[50] Schwartz, “Good Morning, Regents.” UniversityProbe.org. http://uni- versityprobe.org/2009/02/good-morning-regents/.

[51] Josh Keller, “For Berkeley’s Sports Endowment, a Goal of $1 Billion.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 23, 2009. http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i20/20a01301.htm.

[52] Saul, Voltaire’s Bastards, 110.

[53] Saul, The Unconscious Civilization (New York: The Free Press, 1995), 47.

[54] Mills, The Power Elite, 321.

[55] Joseph A. Soares, The Power of Privilege: Yale and America’s Elite Universities (Stanford, Calf.: Stanford University Press, 2007), http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/11/soares; Daniel Golden, The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Colleges—and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates (New York: Random House, 2006), http://insidehigh- ered.com/news/2006/09/05/admit.

[56] Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961). This is the last line of the book. The original publication was in the Annalen der Naturphilosophie, 1921: “Woven man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.”

[57] William Deresiewicz, “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education,” The American Scholar (Summer 2008). http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages of-an-elite-education.

[58] Richard Hoggart, The Uses of Literacy (London: Transaction Publishers, 1957), 229.

[59] Ibid., 230.

[60] Saul, Voltaire’s Bastards, 121.

[61] Cited in Hoggart, The Uses of Literacy, 230.

[62] Deresiewicz, “Disadvantages.”

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lboogie1906 · 1 month ago

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Nate Long (April 6, 1930 - November 14, 2002) was a filmmaker, television producer, director, stuntman, actor, and teacher who worked both in Hollywood and the Pacific Northwest. He was born in Philadelphia. He joined the Air Force, became a military policeman, and completed his service at Paine Field. While in the Air Force, he earned a black belt in judo. He taught judo and karate to children through Seattle’s Central Area Motivation Project.

His interest turned to mass media and he created Oscar Productions, a Seattle-based photography, cinematography, and television production training program for inner-city high school and college students. He and his students produced a weekly public affairs program, Action Inner City, and a monthly show titled Aggin News.

He produced two award-winning television series videotaped in the Pacific Northwest. The first was South by Northwest, produced, and the sequel was The Second Time Around. Both series, funded by the US government, chronicled the lives of African American settlers in the Pacific Northwest. South by Northwest was one of the first productions to use videotape to record exterior scenes.

It earned the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award and the New York Film Festival Award. He became one of the early African American second unit directors in the motion picture industry. His second unit director credits included The Slams, Mr. Billion (aka The Windfall), and Over the Edge. He worked on the feature film Tex, thus becoming the first African American selected to be a second unit director for a Walt Disney film.

He performed stunts in Tex, Mr. Billion, and The Slams, as well as Hit Man, Truck Turner, and White Line Fever. He was the stunt coordinator for Tex and White Line Fever. He was a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Association of Black Motion Picture and Television Producers, and the Alliance of Black Entertainment Technicians.

He designed and implemented the first two-year film program at Seattle Central Community College. He established and managed similar media programs at TSU and Texas A&M University. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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brookstonalmanac · 2 months ago

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Holidays 3.29

Holidays

Alchemy Day

Boganda Day (a.k.a. Barthélemy Boganda Day; Central African Republic)

Borrowed Days begin (Calendar legend held that March stole 3 days from April; England, Ireland, Scotland)

Britney Day (San Francisco)

Commemoration of the 1947 Rebellion (a.k.a. Martyrs’ Day; Madagascar)

Day of the Young Combatant (Chile)

Declaw Awareness Day

Food Chain Day

Good Deeds Day

International Day of Solidarity with Haiti

International Day of the Landless

International Mermaid Day

Juenger Day (Germany)

Knights of Columbus Day

Love the Children Day (Texas)

Martyrs’ Day (Madagascar)

Memorial Day (Malagasy Republic)

National Governance Professionals Day

National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day

National Nevada Day

National Vietnam War Veterans Day

Niagara Falls Runs Dry Day

PayDay It Forward Day

Phagwah (Suriname)

Piano Day [88th Day of the Year]

Smoke and Mirrors Day (a.k.a. Festival of Smoke and Mirrors)

Swedish Colonial Day (Delaware)

23rd Amendment Day (US)

Vesta Asteroid Day

World Marbles Day

Youth Day (Taiwan)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Coca-Cola Day

Gnocchi Day (Argentina)

Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

National Pita Day

Nature Celebrations

Alder Day (French Republic)

Burdock Day (Don’t Touch Me; Korean Birth Flowers)

Mule Day (Columbia, Tennessee)

Independence, Flag & Related Days

Barotseland (Declared; 2012) [unrecognized]

Helvetian Republic (Proclaimed; 1798)

Punjab Annexation (by the British; 1849)

New Year’s Days

Hindu New Year (Indonesia)

5th & Last Saturday in March

Brothers’ and Sisters’ Day [Last Saturday]

Earth Hour (turn off your lights for 1 hour @8:30 pm local time) [Last Saturday]

Global Sisterhood Day [Last Saturday]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Start That Book [Last Saturday]

Support Women Artists Now Day [Last Saturday]

World Day for the End of Fishing [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning March 29 (4th Week of March)

Nano Days (thru 4.6) [Last Saturday/Weekend thru 1st April Weekend]

Festivals On or Beginning March 29, 2025

Atlantic City Beer & Music Fest (Atlantic City, New Jersey)

Bradford County Strawberry Festival (Starke, Florida) [thru 3.30]

Carnival of Stavelot (Stavelot, Belgium) [thru 3.31]

Cherry Blossom Festival (Virginia Beach, Virginia) [thru 3.30]

The Chocolate Expo (Edison, New Jersey) [thru 3.30]

Elberta German Sausage Festival (Elberta, Alabama)

Maple Syrup Festival (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) [thru 3.30]

St. Augustine Lions Seafood Festival (St. Augustine, Florida) [thru 3.30]

Taste of Rums (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum, Day 3 (Pagan)

Altoona Rooney (Muppetism)

Armogastes, Archinimus, and Saturnus (Christian; Martyrs)

Artemis Soteira (Goddess Artemis Festival; Ancient Greece)

Berthold (Christian; Saint)

Celsus (Positivist; Saint)

Cocktail Hour Every Hour Day (Pastafarian)

Cyril of Heliopolis (Christian; Martyr)

A Day of Redress (Shamanism)

The Delphinaia (Festival to Apollo; Ancient Greece)

Egg Lore Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Erik Satie Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Eustace of Luxeuil (Christian; Saint)

Expulsion of the Demons of Bad Luck (Pagan)

Festival of Ishtar (Babylonia)

Festival of Smoke and Mirrors

Gundleus, a Welsh King (Christian; Saint)

Gwladys (Christian; Saint)

Gwynllyw (Christian; Saint)

Hans Nielsen Hauge (Lutheran)

Imam Mahdi Day (Iran)

Jonas, Barachisus, and companions (Christian; Martyrs)

John Keble (commemoration, Anglicanism)

Ludolf (Christian; Saint)

Mark of Arethusa, in Syria (Christian; Saint)

Masquerade Ritual Day (Bobo People of Africa; Everyday Wicca)

Rupert of Salzburg (Christian; Saint)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Chinese: Month 3 (Geng-Chen), Day 1 (Ding-You)

Day Pillar: Fire Rooster

12-Day Officers/12 Gods: Destruction Day (破 Po) [Inauspicious]

Holidays: Youth Day (Taiwan)

Secular Saints Days

Michael Brecker (Music)

Roberto Chabet (Art)

Bud Cort (Entertainment)

Astrid Gilerto (Music)

Judith Guest (Literature)

Raymond Hood (Architecture)

Eric Idle (Entertainment)

Christopher Lambert (Entertainment)

Oscar Mayer (Science)

Adolfo Müller-Ury (Art)

Jo Nesbø (Literature)

Johann Moritz Rugendas (Art)

John Russell (Art)

Amy Sedaris (Entertainment)

Vangelis (Music)

Cy Young (Sports)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [22 of 57]

Premieres

All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (Animated Film; 1996)

Around the World in Ten Minutes (Univ Film Co Cartoon; 1915)

The Birthday Party (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1937)

Black Magic Woman, by Santana (Song; 1968)

Blow by Blow, by Jeff Beck (Album; 1975)

Breakfast in America, by Supertramp (Album; 1979)

Bunnies and Bonnets (Krazy Kat Cartoon; 1933)

Career Opportunities (Film; 1991)

A Cat’s Tale (Blue Ribbon Hit Parade Cartoon; 1947)

Death on the Riviera, by John Bude (Novel; 1952)

Death to Smoochy (Film; 2002)

Desperately Seeking Susan (Film; 1985)

Eugene Onegin, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Opera; 1879)

The Fishing Fool (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1929)

Fishing Tackler (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Fistic Mystic (WB LT Cartoon; 1969)

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Film; 2024)

Give and Tyke (Spike & Tyke MGM Cartoon; 1957)

Godzilla x. Kong: The New Empire (Film; 2024)

Goofy Groceries (WB MM Cartoon; 1941)

Hare-Way to the Stars (WB LT Cartoon; 1958)

He Wants What He Wants When He Wants It (The Newlyweds Cartoon; 1913)

Hot Dog (Fleischer Talkartoons Cartoon; 1930)

The King and I (Broadway Musical; 1951)

Little Beau Pepe (WB MM Cartoon; 1952)

Lust for Life, by Irving Stone (Biography; 1934)

Male Bags or Homely Are the Brave (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 358; 1965)

Mother Hub-Hubba-Hubbard (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1947)

My Old Kentucky Home (Mighty Mouse Cartoon; 1946)

Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb, by Ludwig van Beethoven (Piano Concerto; 1795)

Please Don't Eat the Daisies, by Jean Kerr (Novel; 1957)

Porky’s Bear Facts (WB LT Cartoon; 1941)

Ready Player One (Film; 2018)

Rogues’ Gallery or Hole That Line-Up (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 357; 1965)

The Rookie (Film; 2003)

Room 237 (Documentary Film; 2013)

Sheep Skinned (Krazy Kat Cartoon; 1929)

Some Like It Hot (Film; 1959)

Stage Stunts (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1929)

Stealin’ Ain’t Honest (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (Film; 1939)

Umbrella, by Rihanna (Song; 2007)

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, by Billie Eilish (Album; 2019)

Today’s Name Days

Berthold, Helmut, Ludolf (Austria)

Bertold, Eustazije, Jona (Croatia)

Taťána (Czech Republic)

Jonas (Denmark)

Joakim, Joonas, Kimmo (Estonia)

Joni, Jonne, Jonni, Joona, Joonas, Jouni (Finland)

Gladys, Gwladys (France)

Berthold, Helmut, Ludolf (Germany)

Auguszta (Hungary)

Secondo (Italy)

Agija, Aldonis, Ilma, Ranta (Latvia)

Almantė, Bertoldas, Manvydas (Lithuania)

Jonas, Jonatan (Norway)

Cyryl, Czcirad, Eustachiusz, Eustachy, Ostap, Wiktoryn (Poland)

Denia, Marcu (Romania)

Miroslav (Slovakia)

Eustasio (Spain)

Jens, Jonas (Sweden)

Berthold, Fletcher, Pearl, Pearle, Pearlie, Pearline, Perla (USA)

Today’s National Name Days

National Bud Day

National Jo Day

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 88 of 2025; 277 days remaining in the year

ISO Week: Day 6 of Week 13 of 2025

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Geng-Chen), Day 1 (Ding-You)

Chinese Year of the: Snake 4723 (until February 17, 2026) [Ding-Chou]

Coptic: 20 Baramhat 1741

Druid Tree Calendar: Hazel (Mar 21-31) [Day 9 of 11]

Hebrew: 29 Adar 5785

Islamic: 29 Ramadan 1446

Julian: 16 March 2025

Moon: 0%: New Moon

Positivist: 4 Archimedes (4th Month) [Celsus]

Runic Half Month: Beore (Birch Tree) [Day 16 of 16] (thru 3.29)

Season: Spring (Day 9 of 92)

SUn Calendar: 29 Green; Eighthday [29 of 30]

Week: 4th Week of March

Zodiac:

Tropical (Typical) Zodiac: Aries (Day 9 of 30)

Sidereal Zodiac: Pisces (Day 15 of 30)

Schmidt Zodiac: Pisces (Day 9 of 26)

IAU Boundaries (Current) Zodiac: Pisces (Day 18 of 38)

IAU Boundaries (1977) Zodiac: Pisces (Day 18 of 38)

Calendar Changes

桃月 [Táoyuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (Peach Month) [Earthly Branch: Dragon Month] (Sānyuè; Third Month)

#Holidays

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 1 year ago

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By: Thomas Chatterton Williams

Published: May 19, 2024

We’d gathered that day at the cafeteria’s “Black” table, cracking jokes and philosophizing during the free period that was our perk as upperclassmen. We came in different shades: bone white, tan and brownish, dark as a silhouette. One of my classmates, who fancied himself a lyricist, was insisting that Redman, a witty emcee from nearby Newark, New Jersey, was the greatest rapper ever. This was the late ’90s, and for my money, no one could compete with Jay-Z. I said so, and the debate, good-natured at first, soon escalated in intensity, touching on feelings and resentments that ran far deeper than diverging claims about artistic merit.

“How can you even weigh in?” I still remember the kid fuming. “You ain’t even the pure breed!”

With that, there was nothing left to say. Friends separated us, the bell rang, and I headed home. A short time later, I went off to college, where I would meet a wider assortment of Americans than I had realized existed. But over the years, I have been reminded of that boy’s slicing racism, the lazy habit of mind that required no white people to be present but would nonetheless please the most virulent white supremacist.

Recently, two public controversies spirited me back to the suspicion and confusion of my high-school cafeteria. All spring long, an unusually nasty feud between the rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has been captivating audiences, both for the quality of the music it has engendered and for the personal and malicious dimensions of the attacks it has countenanced. Much has been written about the fight, in particular about the two men’s treatment of women, which I won’t rehash here except to point out that it’s a little funny that they both portray themselves as enlightened allies while also acting as if the ultimate disparagement is to call another man feminine. Less has been said about the potency of the racial dimension, which feels like a throwback to a time before Drake’s pop-culture dominance—indeed, to a time before the historic hybridity of the Obama era—and like a distillation of the skin-deep racialism of the current social-justice movement.

Drake, who grew up in Toronto, is the son of a white Jewish mother from Canada and a Black father from Memphis. Since the release of his 2009 mixtape, So Far Gone, he has been not only the most successful visibly mixed-race rapper—and arguably pop star—but also the most visible Black male musician for some time now. Anyone at the top will attract criticism. But not even a white rapper like Eminem has been subject to the kind of racial derogation that has been hurled at Drake.

Back in 2018, the rapper Pusha T released a diss track about him for which the cover art was an old photograph of Drake performing in a cartoonish blackface. The image makes you cringe, but—as Drake explained—that was the point. Drake began his career as an actor, and he wrote that the photograph was part of a “project that was about young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and typecast … The photos represented how African Americans were once wrongfully portrayed in entertainment.” But presented without context, it appeared to be a self-evident statement of inauthenticity.

Another rapper, Rick Ross, calls Drake “white boy” again and again in his song “Champagne Moments,” released in April. In an op-ed for The Grio, the music journalist Touré explains why the insult is so effective: “We know Drake is biracial. He’s never hidden that, but many of us think of him as Black or at least as a part of the culture … On this record, Ross is out to change that.” Touré calls this “hyperproblematic,” but his tone is approving—he admires the track. “We shouldn’t be excluding biracial people from the Black community, but in a rap beef where all is fair as a way of attacking someone and undermining their credibility and their identity, it’s a powerful message.”

In a series of more high-profile records, Lamar has built on Ross’s theme, both implying and stating directly that racial categories are real, that behaviors and circumstances (like Drake’s suburban upbringing) correlate with race, and that the very mixedness of Drake’s background renders him suspect. It is an anachronistic line of ad hominem attack that is depressing to encounter a quarter of the way into the 21st century.

Lamar’s most recent Drake diss is called “Not Like Us,” and reached No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100. It goes after Drake’s cultural affiliations with the American South. “No, you not a colleague,” Lamar taunts. “You a fucking colonizer!”

It’s hard to hear that and not remember that Drake’s mother is Jewish, and that this is the same invective used to undermine Jews’ sense of belonging in Israel. Such racist habits of thought have become potent rhetorical weapons in the progressive arsenal.

The second (if smaller) controversy followed an essay on language and protest published in The New Yorker earlier this month. The novelist Zadie Smith, who is of European and African descent, argued—carefully—that it is too simplistic to regard the world as sortable into categories of oppressor and oppressed. “Practicing our ethics in the real world involves a constant testing of them,” she writes, “a recognition that our zones of ethical interest have no fixed boundaries and may need to widen and shrink moment by moment as the situation demands.” This was an attempt to take seriously the tangible fate of Hamas’s victims on October 7, the broader implications of anti-Semitism that can at times be found in criticism of Israel’s response, and the ongoing tragic loss of Palestinian life.

Despite praising the protests that have engulfed college campuses and describing a cease-fire in Gaza as “an ethical necessity,” Smith was derided on more than intellectual grounds. One widely shared tweet, accompanied by a photo of Smith, stated the criticism plainly: “I feel like Zadie Smith uses black aesthetics to conceal her deeply pedestrian white middle-class politics. People see the head wrap and the earrings made of kente cloth and confuse that for something more substantive.”

This was not the first time Smith had been regarded as a racial interloper. The author Morgan Jerkins once wrote of the emotional “hurt” she felt reading another thoughtful essay Smith published in Harper’s asking “Who owns black pain?” Smith’s transgression here, according to Jerkins, was “intellectualizing blackness” from a distance instead of feeling it. “Do not be surprised,” Jerkins warned, “if a chunk of that essay is used in discussions as to why biracial people need to take a backseat in the movement.”

The retrograde notion that thought and action necessarily flow from racial identities whose borders are definable and whose authority is heritable is both fictitious and counterproductive. “Something is afoot that is the business of every citizen who thought that the racist concepts of a century ago were gone—and good riddance!” Barbara and Karen Fields write in their 2012 masterpiece, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life. “The continued vitality of those concepts stands as a reminder that, however important a historical watershed the election of an African-American president may be, America’s post-racial era has not been born.”

Of course, the first African American president was, like our nation and culture, himself both Black and white. One of the most disappointing—and, I have come to realize—enduring reasons the “post-racial era” continues to elude us is that it is not only the avowed racists who would hold that biographical fact against him.

This is why we call it neoracism, not "antiracism."

#Thomas Chatterton Williams #biracial #mixed race #racial identity #neoracism #antiracism #antiracism as religion #racialism #Drake #Kendrick Lamar #religion is a mental illness

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film-classics · 1 year ago

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Fredi Washington - The Dark Duse of Hollywood

Fredericka "Fredi" Washington (born on December 23, 1903 in Savannah, Georgia) was an American actress who refused to live by racial stereotypes. She is one of the first Black Americans to gain recognition for her work on film and on the stage, earning her the nickname of "The Dark Duse of Hollywood."

The daughter of parents who were both of mixed African and European ancestry, Washington had green eyes and light skin that belied the era’s common expectations of what an African-American “looked like.” She moved to Harlem along with her family during the Great Migration.

Washington's entertainment career began in 1921 as a chorus girl on Broadway. She was hired by dancer Josephine Baker as a member of a cabaret group. She quickly became a popular, featured dancer, and toured internationally.

Washington turned to acting and moved to Hollywood in 1928. She made her movie debut the year after. Her best-known movie roles were in Imitation of Life (1934) and One Mile from Heaven (1937); both films were social commentaries of the era's views on race.

Despite receiving critical acclaim for her performance, studio heads had no idea what to do with a biracial woman. Considered too beautiful to play servant roles (the only mainstream opportunities for Black actresses in the 1930s) and since the film production code prohibited suggestions of miscegenation, she wore dark, heavy makeup in race films.

After turning down several roles requiring her to pass for White, she quit movies, moving back to New York City. Her experiences in the film industry and theater led her to become a civil rights activist and a writer. Washington died, aged 90, from pneumonia following a series of strokes while living in Stamford.

Legacy:

Co-founded the Negro Actors Guild of America in 1936 and served as its first executive secretary

Served in the American Women's Voluntary Service during World War II

Actively involved with and lobbied for social activist groups, such as the Cultural Division of the National Negro Congress, the Committee for the Negro in the Arts, the Actors' Equity Committee on Hotel Accommodations for Negro Actors throughout the United States, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People since 1937

Served as the entertainment editor for The People's Voice from 1943 to 1948

Gifted a collection of her personal papers to the Connecticut Historical Society in 1958, the Amistad Research Center in Tulane University in 1975 and 1979, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at The New York Public Library in 1982

Inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975

Received the CIRCA Award for lifetime achievement from the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1979

Received an award from the Audience Development Company (AUDELCO), a New York-based nonprofit group devoted to preserving and promoting African-American theater, in 1981

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transparentcomputertidalwave · 2 months ago

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CHINA CRISIS

Autumn in the Neighbourhood 2015

Smile (What Kind Of Love Is This) 3:31 Down Here On Earth 3:18 Autumn In The Neighbourhood 3:48 Because My Heart 3:21 Bernard 3:59 Joy And The Spark 3:16 Being In Love 3:19 Fool 3:50 My Sweet Delight 3:09 Tell Tale Signs 3:45 Wonderful New World

youtube

Gruppo synth-rock artistico formatosi a Liverpool, nel Regno Unito, nel 1979 e composto da Gary Daly (voce), Eddie Lundon (chitarra), Brian McNeill (tastiere), Gazza Johnson (basso) e Kevin Wilkinson (batteria). Primi anni e influenze Gary Daly (nato il 5 maggio 1962, Kirkby, Knowsley, Merseyside)[3] ed Eddie Lundon (nato il 9 giugno 1962, Kirkby, Knowsley, Merseyside)[4] sono cresciuti in famiglie della classe operaia a Kirkby e si sono incontrati alla scuola cattolica romana St Kevin's School for Boys.[5][6] Condividendo un affetto per Steely Dan, David Bowie e Brian Eno,[5] hanno iniziato a suonare insieme nella loro adolescenza con Lundon alla chitarra e Daly al basso.[6] Hanno poi suonato con vari gruppi post-punk di Knowsley tra cui diverse formazioni della band Glass Torpedoes prima che Daly e Lundon continuassero per conto proprio.[5] Intorno al 1980 ottennero un sintetizzatore e una drum machine e iniziarono a scrivere canzoni;[7] i paesaggi sonori ambientali di Eno influenzarono la traiettoria musicale del gruppo, così come gruppi synth-pop come Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) e Depeche Mode.[8][9] Inizialmente, Daly e Lundon si divisero i compiti di sintetizzatore negli album del gruppo, ma Daly iniziò a fare la parte del leone delle parti di sintetizzatore/tastiera mentre la popolarità del gruppo continuava a crescere.

Daly cita anche i Talking Heads e la band post-punk Magazine come prime influenze.[5] Alla fine, raggiunti dal batterista e percussionista Dave Reilly, pubblicarono il loro singolo di debutto "African and White" come China Crisis sull'etichetta discografica indipendente Inevitable nel 1981.[2] Inizialmente l'interesse principale della band era nella registrazione in studio,[10] ma si esibirono anche in alcuni concerti dal vivo.[11] Il 31 dicembre 1981 si esibirono all'Institute of Contemporary Arts di Londra insieme agli Haircut One Hundred.[12] Nel marzo 1982 registrarono una sessione Peel di quattro canzoni per la BBC.[13] Nell'aprile-maggio 1982 fecero il loro primo tour nel Regno Unito.[14] Nel giugno 1982 suonarono con Tom Verlaine dei Television al The Venue di Londra.[15] A settembre si esibirono al Futurama 4 Festival,[16] seguito da un tour nel Regno Unito alla fine del 1982.[14]

Primi successi La band firmò un contratto discografico con la Virgin Records nell'aprile 1982,[17] e pubblicò un singolo, "Scream Down at Me", a maggio.[18] Una riedizione della Virgin di "African and White" fu il loro primo successo, raggiungendo il n. 45 nella UK Singles Chart in agosto,[19] seguito dal meno riuscito "No More Blue Horizons (Fool, Fool, Fool)" in ottobre. Registrato per un lungo periodo di tempo con diversi produttori, pubblicarono il loro album di debutto in studio, Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain nel novembre 1982.[2] Da questo, il singolo "Christian", raggiunse il n. 12 nel Regno Unito all'inizio del 1983 e li portò alla ribalta nazionale.[2][20] Al momento di questo successo, Reilly aveva lasciato la band, ma era rimasto con la band abbastanza a lungo da co-scrivere ed esibirsi in "Christian", insieme al turnista Steve Levy che suonava l'oboe e il sassofono. L'album raggiunse il n. 21 nella UK Albums Chart.[20] Durante questo periodo la band fece un tour di supporto ai Simple Minds nel loro tour New Gold Dream, con l'aggiunta del bassista Gary "Gazza" Johnson e Steve Levy.[10][7][21]

Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two Ancora con l'aggiunta di Gary Johnson (basso), Steve Levy (oboe) e il batterista dei Waterboys Kevin Wilkinson, nel gennaio 1983 la band presentò tre nuove canzoni, tra cui "Wishful Thinking", in una sessione della BBC Peel.[22] Aggiungendo Johnson e Levy come membri effettivi della formazione,[10] i China Crisis registrarono un secondo album in studio a Liverpool e al The Manor Studio, Oxfordshire con il produttore Mike Howlett e Kevin Wilkinson alla batteria. A maggio, uscì il singolo "Tragedy and Mystery" che raggiunse il numero 46 nella UK Singles Chart.[19] L'arrangiamento della canzone con l'uso prominente dell'oboe e del flicorno di Levy ha segnato un cambiamento notevole rispetto al precedente sound synth-pop della band.

Preceduto dalla traccia del titolo "Working with Fire and Steel", che ha raggiunto il numero 48 nel Regno Unito,[19] ed è stato un successo nella classifica US Dance Club Songs al numero 27,[23] l'album intitolato Working with Fire and Steel - Possible Pop Songs Volume Two, è stato pubblicato nell'ottobre 1983.[24] L'arrivo di Steve Levy e del batterista Kevin Wilkinson nella formazione della band, insieme all'introduzione di più musicisti di sessione, ha dato all'album un suono decisamente meno sintetico rispetto al suo predecessore. Mentre la band ha fatto uso delle ultime tecnologie all'epoca come l'emulatore,[10] hanno notevolmente incorporato ottoni, fiati e strumenti a corda nel loro sound.[25]

All'inizio del 1984, il singolo "Wishful Thinking" raggiunse il numero 9 nella UK Singles Chart, diventando il loro primo e unico singolo di successo nella top 10 del Regno Unito.[2][20] La canzone fu anche una hit nella top 10 in Irlanda, una hit nella top 20 in diversi paesi europei e raggiunse il numero uno nella classifica radiofonica svedese Poporama.[26] Nel marzo 1984, il singolo successivo "Hanna Hanna" raggiunse il numero 44 nella UK Singles Chart.[19]

L'album stesso fu un successo nella top 20 nel Regno Unito, raggiungendo anche la top 40 in diversi altri paesi (tra cui Spagna, Australia, Canada, ecc.), e i China Crisis trascorsero il 1984 e il 1985 realizzando la loro più grande corsa in classifica. Nella primavera del 1984, i China Crisis fecero un tour in Europa con il loro Working with Fire

#Youtube #china crisis

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