#I’ve consistently been saying I want the venue and promoter to be held accountable and that doesn’t really involve Taylor

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

it feels really pointless to send another ask, because it is clear to me now that we really have different perspectives on this. just wanted to point out that I never said that you said that her mother was lying, all the things that you said that I disagree with are in quotes in that ask.

the point was: i’ve seen lots of post arguing that we don’t know the whole story, therefore we shouldn’t talk about it - when that is obviously not the case, we know that her team hasn’t reached out. people can have opinions and talk about it. I’m brazilian, the same age as Ana and i’m also traveling to see Taylor - i can assure you i’m considering the person that they were, what her death means and who is responsible for this. that’s the reason why we are trying to bring attention to what happened and give support to her family. to choose to focus primarily on how this affects Taylor (and Taylor’s image, stan wars, whatever) is sad, in my opinion. and, again, these themes have dominated the posts here today.

we know she cares, but people are allowed to want action and acknowledgement (from t4f and Taylor’s team) and voice their opinions without being labeled as people who just want to criticize her. but like I said, we have different views and I don’t want to cause any harm - I just disagreed with what you said on that comment and decided to comment on it

I get what you’re saying anon and I’m not criticizing people like you. I’m more upset at people that are choosing to not give the situation just a little bit of time and let things play out and are instead adamantly demanding that Taylor or her team speak immediately on the situation and are trying to use it as a way to blame or “drag” her. And that shouldn’t be the focus, it should be on getting accountability from the venue and promoter, but so much of what I’ve seen on various social media sites is using Ana’s death not to remember or honor her, but to try to go after an artist she enjoyed. I personally feel that when Ana is mentioned in that way it is abhorrent and shouldn’t be done so that’s why I said I felt it would be disrespectful to her and her family. Not about people being like “I wish Taylor/her team would reach out/say something” because that’s a completely valid thing to want! We know historically how Taylor is when it comes to helping out fans and it’s okay to feel like her silence isn’t matching up with her past actions. I’m sure she so very much wants to provide some aid to Ana’s family, but is most likely unable to do so right now because there’s legal stuff involved. People are jumping to conclusions and acting like it is the end all be all when we literally don’t have all of the information. All we know is that Ana’s family and friends are grieving her loss and should be given time and space to do so.

We’ve already seen how people’s rightful anger has been turned into action with fans donating water for the shows and money to Ana’s family, things that they shouldn’t have had to do in the first place. I would love to see that anger and energy channeled into getting justice for Ana and her family and holding the venue and promoter accountable for her death and not squabbling over whether or not Taylor or her team has done something which is what I’ve seen a lot of it being put to.

I hope you have safe travels to your show and you have a wonderful time💗

[vmfx]

FINALE, 2020.

You all can agree with me that this year was like no other…and not in a good way.

At the turn of the new year, I was about to live it like the others. It’s been the first without my old man who’s left us and it’s been such a sobering experience. You can’t help but to think you’re the next one up to go after all is said and done. But with him gone, so did the stress and the toxicity. I took my first-ever two-week vacation, caught up with friend’s bands I haven’t seen in ages, and was gearing up to visit the city for Modern Pinball and Sunshine Laundromat. I did manage to visit Central Park once and attempt to make plans to see my family in Coney Island. That was until everything stopped dead in its’ tracks.

Pandemics, mandated quarantines, and shutdowns put the full-speed taurus to a total screetching halt. Venues, restaurants, and record stores were out of commission. Some we’ll never experience again. Musicians, promoters, and artists had their livelihood cut short and had to rethink their strategies to even stay sane. My store had an emergency surge of clients who cleaned us all out of hardware before experiencing the surreal sight of shortened hours, limited capacity, and altered operations before shutting down for two months. I’ve seen the slight fright of meat and paper shortages for a furloughed pause of life that had me change up my diet, relax and re-assess my direction, and spend quality time with a feisty five-year old nephew over Uno and Monopoly. Some experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event of staying home and reserving their daily commutes. Others either fought to keep their housing with no influx of income or assistance, or weighed risk versus reward as ‘essentials’ with their lives on the line to support themselves.

We faced a sickness which all but single-handedly defined the year. We’ve seen our families, friends, and co-workers die left and right as they became victims of the curve whilst we sat on edge wondering when things would become better. And if you were an industrialist (as I am), it was not your year. We lost Genesis, Gabi Delgado-López, Florian Schneider, and most shockingly and unexpectedly Bill Rieflin; all in close proximity of each other. John Prine left us, and so did Fountains Of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger. Too many to mention.

But 2020 wasn’t finished with any of you. Not yet. The unjust murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd practically threw gasoline into the fire. Never had I felt so sick to my stomach with all the childish stupidity from the unwashed filth, the outright lies, neglect, and carelessness from what we had as an administration and from my neighbors. You had the feeling that our country was going to teeter into the point of no return and end up into an burning authoritative hell which we wouldn’t escape from. Imagine no more reason, no more logic, or no more humanity. Thankfully, we redeemed ourselves to perhaps sleep better at night like we used to.

I faced the intense pressure of under-staffing, over-performing, entitled selfish bit players, and crazy general managers throwing me under the bus to the point where I truly considered quitting for good. Instead, I’ve handled everything heading my way. I came out as one of the top five performers in the district for the summer and am projected to win the store in revenue for the second year in a row (and third overall). It’s tested me like no other.

2020 had shown me a lot. It’s shown me in such grotesque clarity the signs of toxicity that the ugliest of friends, family, and co-workers had exhibited in the past; the lack of accountability, selective privilege, and arrogance that seems to be the backbone of human nature. It’s taught me to trust what’s around me and take everything in face value instead of negotiating what I wanted to see. It’s also challenged me mentally in how I perceived people and learned a new awareness of mental health issues suffered by my co-workers and potentials. I’ve also seen the amount of pouring support my family and co-workers had for me, and there’s even a few times where some of my best friends had saved me from strike-out holidays.

For the past few months, I’ve considered deading Ω+ and Omega WUSB for good. There were many reasons why. Struggling to keep up. Feeling like I don’t belong. Not having it in me. Too busy struggling with depression, and trying my damnedest in refusing to come to terms and swallow hard pills. It had returned and exacerbated in no thanks to a specific self-proclaimed neighborhood “mayor” I met this past summer. That’s a story that’s kept me from posting here consistently because it’s one of the toughest things I’ve been writing so far. Because of it, I seriously thought about where I was ultimately going, what I was feeling, and if I was truly exiting where I used to be as I felt it all shifting around me.

But I made a decision: I’m staying. I’ll keep on going. I have lots of ideas and praise that’s waiting to come out, and I’m still interested in seeing the interest this project draws. Though I also have issues coming to terms with how and what Omega WUSB is and should be from time to time, that’s continuing as well. Our Lady Omega isn’t going away, either. I only hope all followers of Ω appreciate the random fanfare, ideas, and interests I post. At home, I realized that all the discoveries I listened to gave me new visions, images, feelings, and perceptions to experience. I have to say that some of the qualities I listened to in dream-pop, shoegaze, indie, post-punk / d.i.y., and even pop made for memorable vibes. Cleaners From Venus, The Mountain Goats, Widowspeak, A Dramatic Gesture, Miserable, Girl In Red, Emma Ruth Rundle, Grimes, The Weeknd, Eddie Russ, and too many others to mention have given me distinct (quarantining era) vibes that won’t shake off of me for ages to come.

2021 is on its’ way. I want to have fun again. I know I can. I miss having it, too. I want to stay connected and keep in touch with myself. I also miss having days feeling euphoric and not having to worry constantly.  I’ll be thinking about changing up how I do things artistically and ultimately pursue a new career path.  There’s a backlog of train rides to New York City to visit family and take pictures in Coney Island, experience Greenpoint again, seeing if Sunshine Laundromat is open for pinball, and finally giving Rough Trade a visit. On that note, you can put all your money down that another record-store tour is going to happen again. I’ll also be making another major t-shirt order, and maybe I can finally deliver on my ‘T-Shirt Nirvana’ promise I’ve been making for years.

It’s a clean slate come January 1st. Helping hardcore hands will pull you up from the floor and push you back in the pit swinging. For all of you who survived the year whether you’re on your feet or on the verge of collapse: congratulations. I’m sure the last twelve months have made you stronger in ways you never knew capable, and you’ll now have the means to come out better for it. Let’s see how you held up and what you have for yourself coming in to the new year.

On to 2021…

[dalovelee1]

Black people are one of the least likely groups of Americans to get professional mental health services but remain some of the most resilient people in the world.

I’ve been trying to figure out how it happens my entire life. Generations of oppression, racism, poverty and community violence should have wiped our community out centuries ago. Yet here we are alive and well in 2018, just to realize that the hate and injustice toward our community is still as strong as ever. The stereotypes of the angry black man and woman, lazy black people, and the least intelligent race remain etched in the back of most people’s conscious, whether they recognize it or not. Racial tensions are so strong that a gubernatorial candidate in Florida named Ron DeSantis had the nerve to say he hopes the voters “don’t monkey it up” by voting for Andrew Gilliam, his black opponent. The problem with all this racial tension is that it has an adverse impact on the physical and mental health of those at the receiving end of racism, discrimination, bigotry, implicit biases, prejudices or whatever you want to call it.

According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (2018), “African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population.” We are watching our people be unnecessarily brutalized by law enforcement and our complaints dismissed in the judicial system. We watch our sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, be unnecessarily slaughtered in our own streets due to inner-city violence. Our children are not receiving adequate education in our pubic schools and can be terrorized when we attempt to do so, like what happened to 11-year old Faith Fennidy in Terrytown, Louisana. There are social indicators of health for black people are concerning. As a community, we are traumatized over and over again. We have mass PTSD that goes diagnosed and more often ignored. We don’t typically get treated for it either. Those symptoms include hypervigilance, sleep disturbances, intrusive thoughts and/or memories, depression, distrust of others, paranoia and an increasingly negative world view. This contributes to physical health conditions like hypertension, diabetes and even cancer. We even make dealing with that look pretty easy. How are we able to do it without the help of social workers, therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists?

Well, instead of going to counseling, we get our hair done.

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It doesn’t matter if we’re male or female, hair is our therapy. It doesn’t matter how old we are either. Hair is one of the strategies we’ve been able to be so resilient. Our barbers and beauticians are more than stylists. They are often confidants. We have regular appointments with the same hair barber and stylist for years to make sure we “look” presentable to the world. We spend almost $8 billion each year on hair care products and services because hair care services are therapeutic. According to researchers, “New research from Mintel reveals that sales of styling products have increased 26.8 percent from 2013 to estimated 2015, reaching $946 million, now comprising 35 percent of Black haircare sales, a significant increase from the 16 percent it represents in the total haircare market” (Mintel). The study also showed that “Nearly two in five (38 percent) Black consumers report that they are constantly looking for ways to improve their appearance, and in the quest to look their best, they are open to trying various hairstyles.”

That’s because black people have learned that the old saying, “If you look good, you feel good” is true. It’s been proven in studies so much that the American Cancer Society started a Look Good Feel Better program to help cancer patients with their recovery. We feel worthy when our hair looks nice. It boosts our self esteem and builds the confidence we need to endure the everyday challenges of being black in America. We get depressed when our hair doesn’t meet our expectations. We can’t function because we think other people perceive us as dysfunctional if our appears is not the way we want it. It cause a tremendous amount of anxiety that prevents us from performing our best. We cover it with scarves and hats to hide it from the world. Sometimes we won’t even leave our homes until our hair is satisfactory.

The very act of getting our hair done is self-care. It helps us relax. It feels wonderful to have our hair scrubbed. We enjoy having oil massaged into our scalps. Brothas love having a crisp lineup (haircut, beard and mustache). Sistahs relish in receiving royal treatment (wash and style). It is a healthy practice that brings peace and tranquility. We take pride in the images revealed from the services rendered. Taking care of our hair is a sign of health boosts our mood. In fact, hair that is not consistently maintained (washed, cut and styled regularly) could be a sign of a mental health concern is present or approaching. The person my often make comments like “I’m tired of being tired” or “it’s always something”.

HAIR is what you need to do if you find yourself in that predicament.

Build yourself a tribe where you can vent about current events and private issues that are bothering you. “The Shop” is a place where we can go to socialize. Regulars get to know each other and will become homies. We run into our friends and family. Barbers and cosmetologists provide space for the community to plan for change or celebrate milestones. (Interesting fact – I read somewhere that slaves would braid maps in each other’s hair to aid with an escape to the Underground Railroad. I don’t recall where I read that.) Neighborhood picnics, free haircuts for back-to-school, and other events are often successful because barbers and beauticians a notorious for giving back to the community. It’s amazing how people are coming together and hosting events strictly for the sake of celebrating our unique and textured hair. We create an enormous social network in hair community. The natural hair community in particular provides support to one another. We have meetups, workshops and festivals for the sake of our hair. We develop businesses together, teach one another, as well support and encourage each other.

Black people can go to the shop for advice and encouragement. Most are safe spaces to discuss taboo topics and rumors. (Some may be a bit rowdy but most are quit pleasant.) People get clarification about things going on in the community through conversations. People also discuss career and business opportunities in the hair shops. Partnerships are formed. Goods are exchanged. People share success stories and failures. Some people get help with relationships. Others vent about their frustrations with their children. Friends sometimes call each other out on their behavior in the beauty and barbershops. Values are exchanged. Community standards are communicated. Coping skills are even shared and modeled through the affirmation of feelings and disclosure of personal experiences.

Another reason the venue has therapeutic qualities is people are held accountable for doing what you say. Patrons will follow up with you at the next appointment to see if you followed their advice and how it worked. They help you unpack some of the baggage that comes with being black in the US. They will let you know, in a direct manner, if you are making wise or foolish decisions. Most of the time, they will laugh with you about your problems to help you realize you need to change your patterns of thinking and behaving. Other times, they laugh at you and your problems. It’s all in good fun. Just remember, being apart of the hair community ensures that we aren’t isolated. It gives us a place to seek resources and to promote ourselves. Hair is exactly how black people cope.

I want to give a shout out and show some love to all of the barbers and beauticians of the world. Thank you for using your talents and hard work to render a service that cleanses and heals the eyes as well as the soul. Special shout out to Cecil “CJ the Barber Artist” Jackson for keeping my entire family cut up right! You can find him at Executive Cuts in Reflections Salon & Suites on the Beltline. You won’t be disappointed.

Do you agree or disagree? Talk to me. I really wanna know what you think. Black people are one of the least likely groups of Americans to get professional mental health services but remain some of the most resilient people in the world.