#Latino Task Force

[makingcontact]

But Next Time Part 2: Language Justice and the Road to Recovery After Disaster (Encore)

But Next Time hosts Rose and Chrishelle pose for a photo with members of indigenous language radio show, Radio Autóctona Indigenista on KBBF.Credit: Leah Mahan This week we continue delving into community-rooted disaster relief in California, from wildfires to the pandemic. From building mutual aid networks, to translating emergency messages in common local languages, we see in action the…

[gothamstodd]

he aengry

[oconswrld]

You guys gave good feedback so what about...

The soldiers of task force 141 with a reader with thick, and dark body hair. (NSFW!!)

I mean, like, it's everywhere. Legs, stomach, arms, pubic area, on their head, eyebrows, small sideburns, and mate, even the back of their neck is covered in thick, dark hair.

Be it an Arabic, Latina/Latino, Indian, Persian or even just a random nationality (Hungarian in my case), the boys love their thick hair.

Lieutenant Simon 'Ghost' Riley, and his pretty little partner..

Loves, loves, loves tugging their hair! It fits so nicely in his hands, being thick enough that it fills his fist. Or that pretty snail trail down their belly, and the small hairs all over their bellybutton, and the sides of their tummy that he loves licking, and kissing slowly as he travels his way down their body with his mouth.

Captain John Price, and pubic hair (his addiction)

I just know he likes when his facial hair doesn't irritate their pussy lips, or their clit, cause of the hair there. Makes it easier to shake his head like a wet dog to get them off. And those pretty legs covered with dark hair? Makes his go feral honestly.. (May or may not have a body hair kink)

Sergeant Johnny 'Soap' MacTavish and.. (idk even know anymore???)

He's probably jealous, not gonna lie, but he likes tugging on the hair on the back of their neck to make them swallow his cock more. Thinks it's cool that he can style their hair so easily, and probably (honestly) likes how the musk of their sweat gets stuck in their armpit hair.. WAITT!! WHO SAID THAT??

Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick and pussy hair (😼)

The moment they wax, or shave it, he'll be the first to finger you out of punishment. Probably saying things like 'Baby.. They ruined you, didn't they?.. Your pretty, pretty hair, baby' (Talking to their pussy). Doesn't mind the body hair, but doesn't necessarily have a thing for it. It's just comfortable, and stimulating when he's balls deep in them, and he can feel their pubic hair on his pubic area.

(Today, it was fuelled by lidl bakery cheese and bacon bun. Praise the lidl bakery)

[headlessdino]

batfam hcs

really mundane headcanons about the batfam if they were a Normal, non-vigilante family with some sibling stuff

dick:

always calls shotgun before anyone else (jason) can and they all (jason) get really dramatic over it, esp when they're younger

liked to play mermaids as a kid

had a really bad rebellious phase and would go to parties every week and bruce could Not keep him in check

decorates his room with band posters and other stuff like that. a lot of photographs too.

weirdly competitive about board games

insanely bisexual

late night snacker

used to sleep walk

whistles while doing random tasks like they do in shows

jason:

really likes orange juice

has tattoos

probably got a good couple of shitty stick n pokes as a teenager that bruce only found out about years later

had a photography phase

decorates his room but not as hardcore about it as dick

reads a lot

hates going to bed hungry

really good at math

latino (chilean maybe)

tim:

"would you look at that! someone came out of his cave" (first time seeing his family in the past three days)

doesn't know how to swim (his parents forgot that was a Thing he had to lean at some point) and just tries his best when he's in the water because he doesn't want to admit he doesn't know how

stoner

is insane about chess

really messy room but he still knows exactly where everything is

picks up hobbies for like 2 weeks and then drops them

has a blog with movie reviews

his socks never match

conspiracy theorist

damian:

when he was younger and short he couldn't reach a lot of the kitchen cupboards so bruce bought a stepstool. he would only ever use it when he was by himself or with dick because of his pride

hates mint toothpaste

weirdly good speller

oil paints and makes sculpture

likes puzzles

goes on a lot of walks

plays tennis for his school team

bruce:

naturally wakes up really early

has mini drawer things on his desk

always wears long socks

has a pair of lucky socks

plays tennis with damian

old useless key collection

had a genuine emo phase as a kid and denies it whenever alfred tries to bring it up

got forced to work at a mcdonalds by alfred so the money wouldn't get to his head too much

extra:

all the kids have their names on their doors with the wooden letters

[frankcastleonlyfans]

𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐑, 𝐌.𝐐

pairing: recom!quaritch x latina!recom!reader

summary: miles is not holding himself anymore around you.

author's note: so, i know reader speaks spanish but there's one reference to brazilian culture because we're still latino.

warnings: cussing, reader is a tease, miles is a thirst trap, he gets a boner in this one.

reblogs, feedbacks and likes are appreciated. support your content creators 💓 please leave a comment if you like my work, and enjoy your reading.

gif by @vluminial

part 1

· ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · ୨♡୧ · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·

"You know he's playing favorites, right?" Z-dog complained.

Rolling your eyes, you scoffed and bit on your bottom lip. Since she returned from the forest task she couldn't stop complaining about how the Colonel did her dirty.

"Chica, stop. You know he send you on the task because you whined" You murmured, staring at yourself in the mirror while braiding your hair, "Besides, why would he play favorites with me?"

"C'mon, you have to admit it was a little unfair," Walker said behind you, while her fingers worked on braiding your queue, "Since we woke up as recombinants, how many times did he bother to give you a task?"

You frowned, "I'm always by his side being Ardmore's bitch and trying to get us permission to hunt Sully!"

With Walker's help, your long hair was styled on boxer braids, divided into six equal parts, plus your queue braid in the middle of your head.

"Girl, you're a lieutenant. Being the Colonel's assistant isn't the same as being on a task force" Z-dog grinned teasingly. 

“Aye, vete a la mierda.” You chuckled. 

But they were right. Kind of, you told yourself. Quaritch did have enough reasons to send you to the forest task, but he didn't. He chose to be unfair to Z-dog, knowing it was the wrong thing to do. Why would he do that?

You and the girls were going to the hangout room inside the recom's quarters, where the team would be reunited to celebrate Lopez's birthday. You had made a little more effort than everybody else trying to make it a special occasion for your friend since you were the only one who could cook latinoamerican food. And you wouldn’t complain, you felt thankful for that. You missed your country so much, and you wouldn't miss the chance to cook something that for seconds could bring you back home. And Wainfleet was in charge of the cake, and he did a very good job as well. The rest of the team decorated the room with blue balloons to match the huge blue cake.

The whole squad was waiting inside the room as the lights were off, waiting for the birthday boy to come any minute now. Lopez came in with Miles right behind him. Looking around throughout the darkness, the corporal frowned with a confused face, but his features lightened up as soon the smell of Ropa Vieja reached his nostrils.

“Sorpresa!” Everyone screamed the moment Quaritch switched the lights on. You could remember how funny it was to teach them to roll their R's to pronunciate the word.

"Guys! I can't believe you did this all for me..." Lopez smiled.

"Our lovely Y/N did most of it" Colonel Quaritch blurted out, tapping Lopez's back but looking directly at you. You blushed at his words.

Cleaning your throat, you opened a large smile and pointed to the table; "But they decorated the room. And guess what? Lyle made this beautiful delicioso cake for you! We should leave it for dessert." 

You weren't so surprised when they ate it all. Not to be cocky about it, but not only you were a great cook, the food was also amazing. And in the end, it did bring you home.

Unfortunately, your efforts to teach them Spanish had their limits, and the team sang happy birthday in english. After Lopez gave you the first slice of cake, you played reggaeton to dance and celebrate.

"So, who's gonna dance with me?" You called out.

The eyes around the room watched your hips moving from side to side as you swayed through the floor. You called Lopez with your index. Walking to you, the corporal moved to the rhythm of the song. He placed a hand above your ass and you followed his lead, your hips meeting his, your tail entwined his leg.

Across the room, Quaritch enjoyed a glass of tequila and watched that scene. His eyes followed every step you took, as you swung in Lopez's arms, being caught in Mansk's embrace. Lyle hurried to dance with you as soon as he caught an opening to do so. 

"So cute," He thought. 

Those men were there, practically throwing themselves at your feet, but none of them could have you. At the end of the day, they weren't what you were looking for.

When your body met Lopez's again, your gaze met Miles'. As your friend's hand traveled through your body, the colonel's stare made you hot. You moved your hips slowly and seductively against Lopez's crotch, and you could see Quaritch's hand going to his own. Did I just give the colonel a boner? Yes, you did. And now you teased him on purpose, which aroused you even more.

Quaritch's upper lip twitched as his blood boiled. You rubbed your body to the others, but your eyes never left his. You were teasing him, wickedly and intentionally. His mind was running with dozens of ways he could teach you a lesson, while his cock was growing inside his trousers. 

And then you called for him. 

"Coronel," that sexy accent shouted, "won't you dance with me?" You pouted, innocently. He almost snarled at your audacity.

Miles smirked before taking a sip from his neat tequila, "Thanks sweet pie, but I'm good,"

"Then I won't dance anymore." You shrugged, leaving the center of the room where everyone was dancing.

You passed by the table and grabbed a couple of sweets along with a glass of tequila. You sat beside him, placing a gentle hand on his thigh to get balance. You crossed eyes again, and Miles squinted as you slightly squeezed his thigh.

You took a sip from your drink and a bite from the brown candy. The Colonel's eyes went from your hand to your lips as you chewed. You offered him the bonbon.

"Prove it," You cooed, "I made it myself."

Miles raised a curious brow, "What's this?"

"It's brigadeiro. Just eat, you'll like it." And he let you feed him. The tip of your thumb entered his mouth and touched his warm wet tongue. You pulled your hand back, quickly.

Miles' licked his lips clean, staring at you. You flushed but didn't let yourself be intimidated by him.

"How does it taste?" You asked, licking your thumb.

"Sweet," he replied, "just like you."

You snorted, "Careful, sir. I might start thinking you're flirting with me"

"Would you like that?" Quaritch questioned.

You looked around to see if someone was paying attention to your proximity to the Colonel. Fortunately, everyone was too drunk and entertained by the music to see something other than the drinks in their hands.

His huge blue hand gripped your thigh, squeezing it to call your eyes back to him.

"I asked you a question, Y/N" Miles smirked, "What's wrong? The gato got your tongue?"

You snickered, "You suck at spanish, Coronel."

"I could suck at other things, Teniente." He muttered under his breath. 

Miles was taking a blind shot. You could either turn your back and leave, or fall for his games and give yourself to him. It was a shot in the dark. But Miles is a well-trained marine, and even if he shot in the dark he would hit the target.

"You like to tease, don't you? Flirting all the time, teasing the corporals until they're all at your feet begging for your attention, just so you can deny them and do it all over again."

His thumb caressed your thigh softly. You could feel the tenderness in his touch. His other hand met your cheek, where his blue fingers traced lines through your features. 

"Don't start something you won't finish" You held back a whine when the tip of his finger brushed against your bottom lip.

"Oh, I could finish it..." Miles taunted, wickedly "But what would be the fun innit, sugar?"

[reasoningdaily]

A Black couple have sued the city of Beverly Hills, alleging their arrest was part of a campaign by its police to arrest Black people for trivial reasons and at disproportionate rates.

The couple’s lawyers, Bradley Gage and Benjamin Crump, said the Beverly Hills police last year set up a task force — dubbed Operation Safe Streets and the Rodeo Drive Task Force — that arrested 106 people, 105 of whom were Black and one of whom was Latino. Gage said the sources of the arrest figures were unidentified retired Beverly Hills police officers who were appalled by the task force’s actions and so shared with him the alleged racial breakdown of who had been arrested.

The impetus for the task force, Gage said, was both the protests over the death of George Floyd and what Beverly Hills police believed were transactions at retail stores using suspected proceeds of unemployment benefit fraud. Gage described the Police Department’s approach to rooting out suspected fraud as, “Gee, that’s suspicious — Black people shopping in Beverly Hills.”

Gage and Crump, who has represented the families of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others killed by police, raised their allegations Wednesday on the steps of Beverly Hills City Hall. “There is something terribly wrong here,” Gage said, citing what he called the city’s legacy of biased policing.

Gage and Crump are seeking class-action status for their lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The only named plaintiffs are the couple, who were arrested on suspicion of riding scooters on a sidewalk and resisting arrest; it does not appear that Gage or Crump has identified the 104 other people who they contend were arrested.

In a statement, Police Chief Dominick Rivetti said his department created a “Rodeo Drive Team” in response to complaints by businesses and a rise in burglaries, shoplifting, “street gambling, public intoxication, marijuana smoking and more.” The team seized 13 firearms carried by people on Rodeo Drive, said Rivetti, who called this “unprecedented in the history of Beverly Hills.”

Rivetti said the Rodeo Drive unit rooted out fraudulently obtained state unemployment benefits, seizing $250,000 in cash and ill-gotten debit cards. Most of the people arrested by the unit were not California residents, Rivetti said, but they nonetheless possessed debit cards loaded with state funds.

The Times asked the Beverly Hills police for a total number and breakdown by race of the people arrested by the Rodeo Drive unit. Capt. Max Subin, a department spokesman, said officials were gathering the figures Wednesday and would provide them once they had finished.

Gage and Crump on Wednesday highlighted the experience of the Black couple, Khalil White and Jasmine Williams of Philadelphia, who said they were visiting Beverly Hills on vacation in September when they were stopped, arrested and eventually jailed by police.

As five officers handcuffed White, Williams said, she asked an officer for her purse to retrieve their hotel key. Two officers pushed her to a police car, handcuffed her and took her to jail, she said.

“I was scared,” Williams said. “I’ve never been to jail in my life.”

White, who said he was jailed overnight and forced to post a $25,000 bond, was charged in Los Angeles County Superior Court with resisting arrest and falsely identifying himself to police. Williams was charged with falsely identifying herself to police. The charges were dismissed in February, records show.

Crump and Gage alleged that White and Williams’ arrests were part of a campaign to target Black people in the city through its recently formed task force.

The Beverly Hills police “had made up their mind that this Black man was going to jail because this is Operation Safe Streets,” Crump said.

In his statement, Rivetti said police had warned White and Williams earlier the day of their arrest that it was illegal to ride a scooter on the sidewalk, without taking action against the couple. In their second encounter with police, White and Williams provided officers with false information, Rivetti said.

“Our department’s practice is to contact and question individuals when we believe they may be involved in criminal activity or another violation of the law,” he said.

Beverly Hills officials faced criticism last summer for insisting on charging protesters with misdemeanor curfew violations; by comparison, prosecutors for the city and county of Los Angeles declined to charge similarly minor violations of curfews and dispersal orders.

In a summary of the Beverly Hills protests, a police sergeant wrote that for residents who survived the Holocaust and Iranian revolution, the demonstrations over Floyd’s death were “not merely an intrusion of their peace” but “a terrifying reminder of their past.”

The department’s previous chief, Sandra Spagnoli, retired in 2020, beset by allegations that she made racist comments and had sex with subordinates who were later promoted. Spagnoli denied the claims, which she said were raised by disgruntled employees, but the city paid out millions of dollars to settle many of the lawsuits. Gage, who represented several officers who sued Spagnoli, estimated at the time that the city paid about $8 million in settlements, attorney fees and other costs.

[html-nae]

T O O F A S T

42!Miles x fem!OC

COLLEGE!AU

(Miles is aged up to be around 21 just to fit the scenario…. THERE IS NO SMUT!!!!!)

WC: 979

The bass of the music vibrated through the floors and the multitude of people made the room hot and humid. Everyone was either dancing against someone or drinking and partaking in the smoke session going on in the house.

The building was crowded and lively, seeing as it was a party to kick off the new school year.

The purple LED lights set a different tone for the night and the choice of music only made it more clearer. It looked something straight out of a music video, almost as if everything was going in slow motion.

Smoke was high in the air making everything look clouded and the loud music drowned out any screaming or noise going on around the party goers.

Red solo cups, random bottles, and half eaten bags of chips littered the counters in the kitchen as Armani looked for a bottle of water to cool down. The short sheer black one piece she wore was rising a little bit and she made no effort to pull it down, too focused on the task at hand.

Crew blasted through the speakers as couples pressed against each other and rocked to the beat of the song. Armani checked the time on her phone while walking out the kitchen, deciding to give up on her mission. She bumped into someone causing her to take a step back.

“I’m sorry.”

She said while looking up at the guy. He was taller than her, even with her heels on. His hair was in two braids that reached his shoulders and he sported a crisp white shirt with camo cargo pants and all white forces. The silver chain and rings glowed under the purple LED lights.

“It’s all good, Ma. Just be careful. I’m Miles.”

He said while he held out his hand. Armani looked at it before placing her hand in his.

“Armani.”

Miles grabbed her hand and raised it above her hand, spinning her around in a circle slowly.

Armani looked up at the boy, his eyes were already on hers. They were almost a hazel color and his lashes were thick.

“Nice to meet you Mani.”

Miles said with a small smile.

“You have a pretty smile Miles.”

She said, keeping her eyes on him. His smile turned into a smirk and his eyes lowered.

“Thank you Ma. You’re really beautiful, you know that?”

Armani smiled and Miles took in her features. They were highlighted by the lights and enhanced her face.

“I’ve heard it a few times.”

Miles chuckled under his breath and grabbed her waist.

“You trynna dance?”

The Afro-latino nodded towards the living room. His eyes never leaving hers. The brown haired nodded and interlocked their hands together, leading the way.

Sonder’s Too Fast started playing.The party goers grabbed whoever was closest to them and pulled them closer, Miles doing the same as the vibe of the party started getting more sensual.

He held Armani by the waist and stared down at her. Miles’ eyes were lidded and his gaze was almost intimidating. Armani felt flustered but kept her composer as he lowered himself and spoke into her ear.

“So what’s up with you, Ma?”

“Whatchu mean?”

She shot back. He turned her around so her back was pushed against his front and wrapped his arms around her waist with his head on her shoulder.

“I can get your number?”

Miles asked, his braids brushed over her exposed shoulder as he angled his head and placed it in the crook of her neck. His breath tickled her neck and she jerked slightly at the feeling.

Armani turned around and moved her arms around his neck looking up at him.

“I thought that was a given.”

His hands ghosted the small of her back as he watched her move to the rhythm of the music. Miles hummed and rocked to the beat of the song.

The electric guitar started playing as the second part of the song began.

Instead of the calm purple color the lights changed to a deep red.

Armani unwrapped one of her arms from around Miles’ neck and hooked her finger under his chain, pulling him closer to her.

His breath ghosted her lips and Armani could taste the mint on his breath.

“Whatchu want, Ma?”

His voice was low as he licked his lips and flickered his eyes down to her lips.

They were slightly parted and shiny from the lip gloss.

“I think you know.”

Armani said. It came out like a whisper, and he almost didn’t hear her over the music. He could smell the vanilla perfume she sprayed on herself and he was certain she could smell his cologne.

Miles hummed once more and gripped her side tighter as he kissed her.

‘I hope you're hurting’

The guitar riff filled the room as Armani and Miles kissed. The red lights made it hard to know where one body ended and the other one started. It was a slow and sensual kiss and made it all the more addicting to the two college students.

Miles brought his ring clad hand up to cradle the back of her head as Armani brought her hands up to his hair, her manicured nails scraped the back of his neck.

Armani pulled away first and giggled when Miles followed her, trying to kiss her again.

“Whatchu doing after this, ma?”

Miles questioned rocking her back and forth.

“Going with you.”

Miles smiled and grabbed her hand pulling her towards the door.

“You like Waffle House?”

Armani nodded as Miles led her towards his car and opened the door for her.

The smell of his cologne engulfed her as she sat down while Miles shut the door and hurried towards the drivers side of the car.

“To Waffle House we go.”

He said as he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

10+ Good Things Biden has Done: Education & Immigration Edition

Just a list of 10+ good things Biden has done in the last 4 years because I’ve been hearing too much rhetoric that it doesn’t matter who you vote for. It does make a difference. 

Find more good things here, here, and here.

Canceled over $140B of student debt for nearly 40 million borrowers. (x)

Strengthened protections for sexual assault survivors, pregnant and parenting students, and LGBTQ+ students in schools through an updated Title IX rule. This updated rule strengthens sexual assault survivors rights to investigation– something that had been gutted under the Trump administration, strengthens requirements that schools provide modifications for students based on pregnancy, prohibits harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and more. (x) 

Revoked an order that limited diversity and inclusion training. (x)

Cracked down on for profit colleges. (x)

Reaffirmed students’ federal civil rights protections for non-discrimination based on race, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender in schools. Specifically, the Department of Education made clear students with disabilities’ right to school, limiting the use of out of school suspensions and expulsions against them. (x) (x) 

Enhanced the Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey that captures data on students’ equal access to educational opportunities. These changes will improve the tracking of civil rights violations for students, critical for advocates to respond to instances of discrimination. 

Provided guidance on how colleges and universities can still uphold racial diversity in higher education following the Supreme Court decision overturning affirmative action. (x)

Designated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) status for immigrants from Cameroon, Haiti, ​​El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, and more. (x) 

Ended the discriminatory Muslim and African bans (x). 

Provided a pathway to citizenship for spouses of U.S. citizens that have been living in the country without documentation. (x) 

Expanded healthcare to DACA recipients (x) 

This one is… barely a win but not by fault of the Biden Administration. The Department of Homeland Security as of Feb 2023 has reunited nearly 700 immigrant children that were separated from their families under Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy. From 2017-2021, 3,881 children were separated from their families. About 74% of those have been reunited with their families: 2,176 before the task force was created and 689 afterward. But that still leaves nearly 1,000 children who remain tragically separated from their families from under the Trump Administration. (x)

(okay this one is maybe only exciting for me who’s a census nerd) Revised federal standards for the collection of race and ethnicity data, allowing for federal data that better reflect the country’s diversity. Now, government forms will include a Middle Eastern/ North African category (when previously those individuals would check “white”). Additionally, forms will now have combined the race & ethnicity question allowing for individuals to check “Latino/a” as their race (previously Latine individuals would be encouraged to check “Latino” for ethnicity and “white” for race… which doesn’t really resonate with many folks). (x) (I know this sounds boring but let me tell you this is BIG when it comes to better data collection– and better advocacy!).

Rescinded a Trump order that would have excluded undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census which would have taken away critical funds from those communities.

Has proposed investments in a lot of programs including universal pre-k, childcare, mental health programs in schools, a national medical leave program for all workers and more. (x) 

Last… let’s also not forget all the truly terrible things Trump did when he was in office. If you need a reminder, scroll this list, this one mostly for giggles + horror, for actual horror about what a Trump presidency has in store, learn about ‘Project 2025’ from the Heritage Foundation. I know this post is about reasons to vote FOR Biden but let’s not forget the many, many reasons to vote for him over Trump.

Looking for more?

10+ good things Biden has done in climate and labor

10+ good things Biden has done in healthcare and housing

10+ good things Biden has done in the justice and courts system

A few other notes

Voting for Biden or Trump shouldn’t be the only reason you vote. You know what elections have more power over your life? LOCAL elections. If you’re not feeling jazzed about Biden… vote for someone really cool running for mayor, or your rep, or on your school board and then begrudgingly vote for Biden. 

A reminder that if someone online is trying to discourage you to vote there’s a good chance they are a paid actor to do so. Voter suppression was a well-documented tactic during the 2016 election and I’m sure the trolls are out in force again. 

Check your voter registration here, make a plan to vote, and encourage your friends to vote as well. 

All in all, yeah… there’s a lot of shitty things still happening. There’s always going to be shit but things aren’t going to change on their own. And that change starts (it certainly doesn’t end) with voting. 

Go vote in November.

[ao3feed-newsies]

Five Miserable Stages (and one good one)

by, MoreSonorous by MoreSonorous David Jacobs was not in love with Jack Kelly. Except he was absolutely in love with Jack Kelly, which was very unfortunate, because Jack Kelly was officially his brother-in-law. David is forced to grapple with what exactly this love entails as he takes on the gargantuan task of hiding his affections from everyone he holds close. There's only so much a man can take before he snaps. Words: 6755, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Newsies: The Broadway Musical! (2017), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken, Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Characters: David Jacobs, Jack Kelly (Newsies), Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, Sarah Jacobs (Newsies), Les Jacobs, Racetrack Higgins Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Sarah Jacobs/Jack Kelly (Newsies), Sarah Jacobs/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Canon Era, Period-Typical Homophobia, Vomiting, Jewish David Jacobs, Latino Jack Kelly (Newsies), Jewish Jacobs Family (Newsies), Marriage, Infidelity, Complicated Relationships, more tags to come :) read : https://ift.tt/lUY7QHA - October 29, 2024 at 09:13PM

[allthecanadianpolitics]

An American bank owned by the Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to pay more than $31 million US for systematically avoiding mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Justice Department accused Los Angeles-based City National Bank on Thursday of discrimination by refusing to underwrite mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities, requiring it to pay the fine — the largest redlining settlement in the department's history.

City National — which has been a subsidiary of Toronto-based RBC since 2015 — is the latest bank in the past several years to be found systematically avoiding lending to racial and ethnic minorities, a practice known as "redlining" which the Biden administration has set up its own task force to combat.

The Justice Department says that between 2017 and 2020, City National avoided marketing and underwriting mortgages in majority Black and Latino neighbourhoods in Los Angeles County. Other banks operating in those neighbourhoods received six times the number of mortgage applications that City National did, according to federal officials.

The term "redlining" is derived from the notion that certain neighbourhoods have symbolic "red lines" drawn around them by companies who then avoid offering services in those areas "because of the race, colour, or national origin of the residents in those communities," the Department of Justice says. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[ausetkmt]

https://x.com/GRE8TBLACKSHARK/status/1701210980087136399?s=20

The Blue family, Sacramento

Les Robinson had to leave a family cookout to compose himself. A cousin told him to look up an ancestor on his phone — Daniel Blue. Robinson had never heard of him, but a search revealed the longtime pastor in the Sacramento area, who was integral to the region’s Black community. Robinson learned that his great-great-grandfather was brought to Sacramento in 1849 as an enslaved man from Kentucky by John Daugherty, the son of his enslaver.

Blue, 53 at the time, worked as a gold miner and discovered enough gold to buy his freedom and become an entrepreneur, opening a dry cleaners and starting a church in his home and later a stand-alone structure. That church — St. Andrews AME Church — was founded in 1850, and it remains the West Coast’s oldest continuous African Methodist Episcopal congregation. Blue also started a school for Black, Latino, Asian American and Native American children.

And he bought property. Lots of it — 60 acres, according to Robinson, including nine blocks in Sacramento, California’s capital, documents show.

On that property today, Robinson said, stands the California Railroad Museum, the Amtrak Station, Sacramento RailYard, the courthouse and the Sacramento County jail. 

“I’ve been told that it was taken because the railroad needed that land to complete the transcontinental connection,” Robinson said. “So he basically was booted out.”

And burned out, as intimidation by whites who did not welcome freed Blacks turned violent. Part of the school was burned down and rebuilt before eventually it closed years later. Blue’s house was burned in 1869. There was a failed attempt to burn down the church, too, Robinson said. 

Mitchell said the seizing of property — by citizens, law enforcement or the government — comes with an additional injustice beyond stunting generational wealth: It destroys culture and history.

“Whether you’re talking about Harlem or southwest Georgia, there’s often an erasure of important culture and history,” Mitchell said.

Much of what Robinson and others in his family have discovered is documented in newspaper articles and other periodicals, which makes it frustrating for Robinson that he cannot locate deeds or ownership documentation. They have not yet presented their findings to state or local officials yet, preferring to do more research and hear what the reparations task force has to say about seized land. But they are clear about what happened.

“It was obviously taken,” Robinson said. “He was a smart man. He wouldn’t give away 60-plus acres of land.” Robinson is working on a book about his ancestor that sums up what having the land returned to him and his family would mean. Yes, he wants the land for its financial value, but also for its sentimental value. Robinson, who founded a church in 1999, said the revelations about his ancestor resonate in a tangible way. Looking back and seeing what his ancestor accomplished, “I see parallels in our life — even not having ever known him,” he said. “When I found him, I met him — and we have the same spirit. I am doing what he would want me to do.”

The Burgess family, Coloma, California

It was “exhausting” for Jon Burgess when he learned that an ancestor had been the hangman in the 1800s in Coloma, a small community about 55 miles northeast of Sacramento, where his family lineage traces.

“That’s not something you want to see, and it floored me for two days,” Burgess said.

Using eminent domain, the city seized much of the 420 acres, Burgess said. Much of the land he wants to reclaim is Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma. 

Burgess has testified before the California reparations task force, posted short videos on Instagram about his family findings to educate followers and connected with Gov. Gavin Newsom about the subject. “I’m just trying to get people to empathize with the fact that we had an inheritance that was supposed to remain in our family for years per those deeds. And yet it was stripped away,” he said.

Burgess possesses the deed to the land, documentation he believes that when it is properly reviewed will stand up in court, particularly because there is no record of his ancestor’s selling the land, he said.

“If we didn’t have the deed, it would just be another story,” said Burgess, a firefighter. “But we do. And the deeds can certainly tell a very different story.”

What’s next for reparations

The story for all these families is unfinished. They hope their gathered documentation will yield a result similar to that of Bruce’s Beach in Southern California, where Los Angeles County seized land in Manhattan Beach purchased in 1912 by a Black couple, Charles and Willa Bruce. White residents led a petition to have their resort for Black people condemned in 1927 and turned into a park. It was returned to the Bruce family last year. The family sold it back to the county for $20 million.

The cases are not parallel to that of Bruce’s Beach, but it elicits hope for these descendants, especially as California considers reparations in such an aggressive manner.

Burgess’ case has been acknowledged by the California task force as similarly valid to that of Bruce’s Beach, and may be included in its final report and list of recommendations, which will be issued to the Legislature at the end of June.

“Land and property are things that my pioneer ancestors did not sell or take for granted, because they knew the value, coming from slave plantations’ making others wealthy for generations — all behind land,” Burgess said. “Generational wealth means my family and descendants would have the same if not more than the Bogle family, Veercamp family, Gallagher family, Del Monte family and a host of others who came here with nothing prior to 1870 and were left to prosper — but also allowed equal protection by the laws.”

[irregularincidents]

Los Angeles restaurateur Clifford Clinton was a surprising man in a lot of respects. Born 3rd August 1900, Clifford spent much of his childhood in China as his parents did missionary work, and after witnessing the starvation and violence following the 1898 to 1900 Boxer Rebellion, he supposedly made a vow to never let people go hungry.

As such, when he started his first cafeteria in 1931 (named Cliftons after smashing together his first and last name), he published his business policy on his cheques,

"Regardless of the amount of this check, our cashier will cheerfully accept whatever you wish to pay or you may dine for free."

This proved to be good timing, as when thousands of people fleeing to California out of desperation caused by the Great Depression, many found they were able to get a decent meal at Clifford's restaurants at a time when many Californians were actively hostile to the newcomers.

Additionally, Clifford bucked racist trends of the time by staunchly refusing to segregate his businesses, in a time when many restaurants refused to serve African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans. When racist customers would complain about this in customer feedback forms, Clinton would publish their comments in the restaurants' newsletter and admonish them, at length.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Clifford being very loud about his views lead to his drifting into the world of local LA politics, which at the time was a haven of corruption and vice under Mayor Frank Shaw, a man with the dubious claim to fame of possibly being the most corrupt mayor in the city's history.

Clifford first drew the ire of Shaw after he was hired to look at the state of the kitchens at the LA County General Hospital, where Clinton found significant amounts and of favouritism and waste, leading to his giving a list of recommendations of how to fix the budget and improve the quality of food being served. This unfortunately put him in Shaw's firing line, as he had once overseen the hospital, and he retaliated by siccing health inspectors on Clinton's establishments.

In turn, Clifford became an increasingly vocal critic of the corruption both in City Hall and in the LAPD, the latter of which (in addition to its own institutional problems) served as the enforcement arm of Shaw's administration. As such, he was hired to join Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee (CIVIC), an organisation aiming to eliminate organised crime within Los Angeles city governments.

To this effect, CIVIC hired a former cop by the name of Harry Raymond, a private investigator fired from the LAPD 90 days after being made Chief of Police due to his publicly saying he wanted to get rid of corruption, and set to work.

Shaw was accused of of influence peddling of city jobs, including police positions, and winking at brothels and gambling dens. The LAPD, meanwhile, began wiretapping Clinton's phones and in 1937 "someone" blew up Clifford's house with a bomb that had been placed in the kitchen.

This wasn't the only "mysterious" explosion, however, as three months later in January 1938, a car bomb grievously injured Raymond filling him with 186 pieces of shrapnel. In the subsequent trial, due to expert witness testimony by rocket scientist and Aleister Crowley devotee Jack Parsons, LAPD Captain Earle Kynette and two assistants, were convicted on four counts of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, assault with intent to murder, and malicious use of explosives.

As Kynette was a member of the "Spy Squad" tasked with, well, spying on Clinton and his family, a line could firmly be drawn from the work of CIVIC and the attempted murders of Clinton and his family and that of Harry Raymond.

In the subsequent fallout from the trial, Chief of Police James Davis was forced to resign, while a Grand Jury investigation that finally linked Shaw with multiple vice rackets led to his being removed from office by a special recall election. The judge that oversaw the Grand Jury, Judge Fletcher Bowron, replaced him as mayor.

In 1944, Clifford funded a Caltech scientist Dr. Henry Borsook $5000 of his own money to produce a food additive that could be used to provide proper nutritional values for less than 5 cents a meal. Surprisingly, Borsook (in collaboration with French chef Mme. Soulange Berzceller) created Multi-Purpose Food (MPF), a flavourless high-protein food supplement that can be added to meals.

The profits from this invention, in addition to money gained from selling the restaurants to his children, led to Clinton and his wife founding the non-profit Meals for Millions in 1946, which distributed meals across the world to starving and malnourished people.

Clinton would eventually pass away in 1969, leaving the world somewhat better off than before. ...And that's not even getting into the sex aid business he was reportedly tangentially involved in with his mistress Terri Richmond, with whom Clifford's wife was allegedly aware of and supposedly fine with...

[diamondkrusader]

Claudia Kingsman and Leo "Rena" Kingsman

A four main characters of a Dragon Kingsman who's named Claudia Kingsman, Leo Kingsman, Natasha Fangmeyer and Joshua "William" Fangmeyer. But it's like Twokinds and Zootopia meets Star Fox, Team Fortress 2 and Clive Barker's Jericho (including adult rpg Wildlife) but with action/adventure to action/horror.

The edit images is in the bottom or HD images in the link— https://www.deviantart.com/diamondkrusader/art/Claudia-and-Leo-Reference-Sheet-993149363

Or this— https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s0yo3ywttdun3v0mktwe4/mr-and-mrs-kingsman.jpg?rlkey=1t2gi76m8ppudb7ffn0ejxs6m&dl=0

————————————————————————

Name: Claudia Kingsman

Gender: Female

Age: 24 years

Species: Snow Leopard

Race: British Taija

Nationally: English Beastman

Rank: Commander

Occupation: Dragon Kingsman Commander/

Nurse Medic / Surgeon

Class: Medic

Relations:

• Leo "Rena" Kingsman (husband)

• Three Mayu Snow Leopard sons

• Seven Mayu Snow Leopard Daughters

Personally- kindness, softness, funny, smart, loving, overprotective, and vicious serious scientist

Shocking Secret Facts: Claudia is an huge fan of Medic from the tf2 game. When she decided to bring her dream fantasy to reality, Claudia first came up and invited herself a HPRG 10000.

Bio: Claudia made be main Commander leader of Dragon Kingsman, a Nurse Medic and the most extremely vicious mad scientist. But no Human and Beastman cannot survive without a real life adventurer healer. Claudia first met Leo at the age of fifteen in a middle of DKTF (Diamond Kingsman Task Force) and IAM (Iron Arms Marine) meeting war against the Dark Brotherhood of deathbloods. Well it depends on how the family of Kingsman keeps their bloodlines passing on through generations, they decided to get Claudia and Leo married in the age of seventeen and started a family. When Claudia watches tf2 meet the medic, she always dreamed of owning a Medi Gun from medic himself. So she built her own Healing Pulses Ray Beam 10000 (HPRG 10000), so that both DKTF and IAM mercenary will be unstoppable just to ensure that she was ready. But life is created there own military force Called Dragon Kingsman is kinda pointless without a team of mercenaries, so they recruit the best of the best.

———————————————

Name: Leo "Rena" Kingsman

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Species: Mayu Human

Race: Mexican

Nationally: Latino Mankind

Rank: Special Force

Occupation:

Dragon Kingsman Special Force (DKSF) / Formal Iron Arms Marines (IAM)

Class: Soldier

Mayu powers: fast strong healing factor - telepathic psyche

Relations:

• Claudia Kingsman (wife)

• Three Mayu Snow Leopard sons

• Seven Mayu Snow Leopard Daughters

Personally- kind, funny being boys, troublemaker, and vicious super soldier

Shocking Secret Fact: Leo spending most of his time reading his favorite webcomic book called Furkinds with his friend Joshua.

Bio: Leo was elite psychic telepathic and a strong healing factor Mayu soldier in IAM. Leo got recruited and started IAM military training in the age of ten. During surviving the war against Dark Brotherhood of Deathbloods, Leo and his good friend named Joshua are among those who have won the battle for their freedom, but when comes to friendship he found out that Joshua had a secret relationship with the unknown girlfriend. Leo first met Claudia and got married to start a family on their own. When Claudia got themselves a new military called Dragon Kingsman, Leo finally got to recruit one of his good old friend Joshua. But it turns out that Joshua has a wife who is an Russian Siberian Tigress named Natasha.

[frankcastleonlyfans]

Pregunta genuina: ¿Por qué no pusiste la "ñ" en tu fanfic de Quaritch? El que se llama Enseñame a bailar. Digo, como hablas español, se me hizo raro. Y estás cometiendo un error que Hollywood comete desde hace años representando a los latinos en tus fanfics. No metemos frases o palabras en español de la nada, es combinar un idioma "cálido" con otro que... no lo es. Hablo de cosas como:

-"Chica, stop" -"Girl, you're a lieutenant. Being the Colonel's assistant isn't the same as being on a task force" Z-dog grinned teasingly. 

“Aye, vete a la mierda.” You chuckled.  -"Lyle made this beautiful delicioso cake for you!" (que debería ser un "and" antes de "delicioso", así suena raro. En español no decimos "Un pastel hermoso delicioso", sería "Un pastel hermoso y delicioso.") -"I could suck at other things, Teniente" -"I asked you a question, Y/N" Miles smirked, "What's wrong? The gato got your tongue?" -"Aye, I meant viejos" -"Geez, good morning, Sir." You smiled, sitting between Wainfleet and Lopez, "Hola, papi" You smiled, kissing your friend's cheek. 

"¿Qué pasa, mami?" Lopez took a sip from his cup. "Took you guys long enough. We started without you."

No sé si haces esto con otras historias, pero creo que está un poco mal. Sufrimos de racismo, xenofobia y representaciones erróneas. Y tú, siendo latina, creo que deberías de saber mejor que nadie que estas cosas, estos estereotipos, solo nos dañan. De verdad que no lo hago con mala intención.

Hola!!! Primero, quiero aclarar que hablo español pero no con fluidez (lo puedo entender leyendo y escuchando muy bien, pero mis habilidades para escribir y hablar son muy limitadas).

En el título del fanfic, "Enséñame a bailar", dejé el ~ faltante de la letra n (ñ) por la fuente utilizada. Letras acentuadas no funcionan en las fuentes.

En algunas de las citas que mencionaste, como en la que uso la palabra "delicioso", usé la colocación gramatical en portugués. Sé que puede parecerte extraño, pero tenía sentido para mí.

Mientras escribía la historia, sabía que era una fórmula, pero en ningún momento quise que fuera ofensiva. Lo siento si te ofendí de alguna manera.

Sé que la visión que los gringos tienen de Latinoamérica es completamente diferente a la realidad, y nada que los grandes estudios muestran nos puede representar, y por eso traté de hacer algo donde nos pudiéramos ver representadas. Lo siento si lo hice mal, y reconociendo mi error por eso decidí no continuar con la historia. 🩷

[jashim6356]

Unlocking the Mysteries of HIV: Do You Have a Basic Understanding? Basic Understanding of HIV

The virus, HIV, was first observed in the United States in 1981 by a cluster of injection drug users and gay men with no known cause of impaired immunity who showed symptoms of Pneumococcus Carina pneumonia (PCP), a rare opportunistic infection that was known to occur in people with very compromised immune systems. Soon thereafter, additional gay men developed a previously rare skin cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Many more cases of PCP and KS emerged, alerting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and forming a task force to monitor the outbreak.

In 1983, two separate research groups led by Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier independently declared that a novel retrovirus may have been infecting AIDS patients, and published their findings in the same issue of the journal Science. Gallo claimed that a virus his group had isolated from an AIDS patient was strikingly similar in shape to other human T-phototropic viruses (HTLVs) they had been the first to isolate. They named their newly isolated virus HTLV-III. At the same time, Montagnier's group isolated a virus from a patient presenting with swelling of the lymph nodes of the neck and physical weakness, two classic symptoms of AIDS. Contradicting the report from Gallo's group, Montagnier and his colleagues showed that core proteins of this virus were immunologically different from those of HTLV-I. Montagnier's group named their isolated virus lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV). As these two viruses

turned out to be the same, in 1986, LAV and HTLV-III were renamed HIV.

·

Basic Statistics OF HIV........

HIV and AIDS remain a persistent problem for the United States and countries around the world. While great progress has been made in preventing and treating HIV, there is still much to do. The questions in this section provide a broad overview of the effects of HIV and AIDS in the United States and globally.

About 50,000 people get infected with HIV each year. In 2010, there were around 47,500 new HIV infections in the United States.

About 1.1 million people in the United States were living with HIV at the end of 2010, the most recent year this information was available. Of those people, about 16% do not know they are infected.

CDC estimates the number of people living with HIV (called prevalence) by using a scientific model. This model helps CDC estimate the number of new HIV infections and how many people are infected but don’t know it. HIV prevalence is the number of people living with HIV infection at a given time, such as at the end of a given year.

There are different ways to answer this question.

If we look at HIV infection by race and ethnicity, we see that African Americans are most affected by HIV. In 2010, African Americans made up only 12% of the US population, but had 44% of all new HIV infections. Additionally, Hispanic/Latinos are also strongly affected. They make up 17% of the US population, but had 21% of all new HIV infections.

Pie chart title: New HIV Infections by Race/Ethnicity, 2010. Of the 47,500 new HIV infections in 2010: 44% were in African Americans; 31% were in Whites; 21% were in Hispanic/Latinos; 2% were in Asians; 1% were in those of multiple races; Less than 1% were in American Indians/Alaska Natives; Less than 1% were in Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders

If we look at HIV infections by how people got the virus (transmission category), we see that men who have sex with men (MSM) are most at risk. In 2010, MSM had 63% of all new HIV infections, even though they made up only around 2% of the population. Individuals infected through heterosexual sex made up 25% of all new HIV infections in 2010.

Pie chart title: New HIV Infections by Transmission Category, 2010. Of the 47,400 new HIV infections in 2010: 63% were due to male to male sex; 25% were due to heterosexual contact; 8% were due to injection drug use; 3% were due to male to male sex and injection drug use

Combining those two views allows us to see the most affected populations, by race and by risk factor.

Figure1: Estimated New HIV Infections in the United States, 2010, for the Most Affected Subpopulations

This bar chart shows the number of new HIV infections in 2010 for the most-affected sub-populations. The most new infections occurred among white men who have sex with men, or MSM, (11,200) followed by black MSM (10,600), Hispanic MSM (6,700), black heterosexual women (5,300), black heterosexual men (2,700), white heterosexual women (1,300), Hispanic heterosexual women (1,200), black male injection drug users, or IDU, (1,100) and black female IDU (850).

There are also variations by age. Young people, aged 13-24 are especially affected by HIV. They comprised 16% of the US population, but accounted for 26% of all new HIV infections in 2010. All young people are not equally at risk, however. Young MSM, for example, accounted for 72% of all new infections in people aged 13-24, and young, African American MSM are even more severely affected.

explain the impact of HIV on various populations in the United States.

HIV is largely an urban disease, with most cases occurring in metropolitan areas with 500,000 or more people. The South has the highest number of individuals living with HIV, but when you take population size into account, the Northeast has the highest rate of persons living with new HIV infections. (Rates are the number of cases of disease per 100,000 people. Rates allow comparisons between two groups of different sizes.)

HIV and AIDS in the United States by Geographic Distribution is a fact sheet that explains the geography of HIV in the United States.

[thegirlwiththestrangereality]

It All Began With the Backwards Hat

The day started like any day I've had recently. I didn't sleep well, I was asleep but my mind wandered all night to different timelines and different realities and yet none that were memorable. The only memorable aspect was feeling how complicated those worlds actually were, complicated for no other reason than the fact that *I* made them complicated. I woke up later than I really needed and I decided I would just throw a hat on. Normally when I throw my hat on at work it is for the sole purpose of remaining incognito; however, this was solely because I didn't wash my hair and it was looking oily. I left the house, ate my captain crunch while driving to work, and began my work day.

Work is very slow right now. There is no freight, and when there is no freight, it means overstaff. When we send the kids (associates, but I refer to them as my kids) to overstaff, it costs the building anyways, so there isn't a real need to care about hours, volume, nothing. They make us do pointless tasks that don't matter but it keeps them occupied. Now that I think about it, if you let the busy bees *think* long enough, they might realize they're NPCs. ANYWHO, so the day was already expected to be slow, and on these days I try to keep myself occupied so as to avoid thinking about how long my day actually is. Luckily for me I had to take an HR call regarding my sweet assistant manager, Kirstin. She has been bullied by several people for over a year now and finally took it upon herself to go to HR and make SHIT happen. They called to ask for my input as a witness and I shared the whole truth about her misfortune. Without a doubt he will be getting fired. Having such a birds eye view of the situation, I can see this is God's way of forcing him out, because I know he has settled, given up on life, and made Amazon his forever. And that is not where his story ends. He will think it's a bad thing, as we all do, but hopefully he sees it is for his benefit.

Right before this I got an email that I had won a scholarship to go to Washington D.C. for Latino Advocacy Week. I had applied a few weeks back not giving it much thought and would you look at God! It's an all expense paid trip, and fingers crossed this is the door into my new career.

After the first hour and a half of my day, my hat started to bother me. It often does because it makes my forehead itchy, but I can generally get through 3/4 of my day before this starts to really bother me. It started at 9:00am and I really was not about it. I couldn't see everything, my forehead itched, and I just wanted to cover my oily hair, so I did something I have never done at work, I put my hat backwards. I am not sure what this did or even why it did but it feels as though I entered a different reality.

Brandon came up to me and I believe we were continuing the conversation about NPCs and who they are and what they do. Brandon talked about the different layers of characters: main character, main side character, side character, non-killable NPCs, and NPCs. As we started talking, it became very apparent how much of a simulation we are actually in. It seemed as though I was on the verge of exiting the matrix. But what is on the other side? Is there another side?

Our conversation was interrupted and I went up to the front of the building for unimportant work stuff, when my sister called me. I went into the new 2 person zen booth my building had installed and took her call. She told me about the dream she had of a woman who was brutally killing everything and everyone after she had been sexually abused. We talked for about an hour and basically came to the realization Alyssa had traveled through the timelines and came to the source of her trauma in a dream. We discovered that she is the creator of her own trauma, but aren't we all? I could go into detail of how that realization came to be but that is a story for another time. I talked to her for about an hour, bouncing from her, to my dad, to my mom, to my papa and then to me and back to her. After my conversation with my sister, I walked back to the floor and continued my conversation about the hierarchy of characters with Brandon and suprisingly Joe.

As Brandon and I started talking again, Joe also happened to be there. I have always been the type to only discuss in deep conversations with those I've felt comfortable with. And by comfortable I mean allowing my intuition to decide who's drinking the spiritual juice and who isn't. However, Joe has always been a special one. I knew when he first got to my job, I would have to be his friend. He desperately craved companionship and yet the desperation completely turned me off from him. And yet, there was something special about him. I did not know what, but there were moments I found myself thinking about him differently.

As the conversation developed, Joe talked about how he was a side character, but a side character that knew exactly who he was. He lived out of the matrix in a way that allowed him to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He lived in such a way that allowed him to fly under the radar and yet also exist in a brilliant way. So to the world he was just Joe, and yet all of a sudden i could see Joe. I kid you not, I saw exactly what I knew always existed, this confidence, this authenticity, this knowing of self. And THAT right there people is what lights me up. Joe talked about life as a side character and how it allowed him to exist so freely. We talked about how his life is better that he is not the main character because he is able to get so much more done. We talked about how he is everywhere and he is nowhere and how he can enjoy life without having to be so involved. He said he doesn't mind being a side character because he finds other things to keep him busy. But the moral of the story is he is aware but not disconnected. So basically, Joe is Joe.

The day continues and by this point 2 people have said, Alexa I didn't recognize you, I thought we got a new manager. This made me question how this was possible but it made me wonder, if I challenge the perception people have of me just enough, does this allow me to challenge the matrix and see people differently and reach those I wouldn't normally have these discussions with? Or could it just be something in the air the Universe was carrying throughout the collective?

I found myself everywhere and nowhere all day but it wasn't until I entered back into the 2 person zen booth for my 1:1 with Mona that I finally entered back into the matrix. I took care of some more work stuff and was brought back to reality. As much as I tried to go back in, it was as though God had said that is enough for one day. I challenged it time and time again, but the conversation continued to be interrupted for anything other than work talk. LOL I guess if you spend your day high you have to come back down at some point. For the record I was high on life. :)

By the time my day was complete 5 people had no clue who I was with my backwards hat and it was the most fun I had had at work in a while. I think what this is trying to teach me is that in my next career journey, the matrix will be even stronger but it is up to me to live within the timelines and recognize where I end and where the work begins. I don't share this depth with many people, mostly out of fear of looking strange, but that is what I am here for: to sound strange, to challenge the collective, and help them see the world as it is for me, and how it could be for you. Until next time.