#Oakland Church

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Mose and Onni Durst – their legacy

I remember when the Dursts were a big deal, what with her being the notorious Onni, and him becoming the UC president in the U.S.

Dr. Durst used to be seen a lot on TV, and even when I was still in the church in the mid 80’s, I thought his TV manner was just a little too inauthentic to be believed by a lot of folks who might watch him. For example, his oft-repeated “If our eyes are glazed, they are glazed because we are crying for the world”, just came across as practiced and obvious. After the Oakland church was no longer the recruiting powerhouse it had been in the 70’s, it seems like its time had just sort of passed. It had been sort of a cult within a cult, with some of the older members, especially women, speaking in near-worshipful terms about “Omma and Oppa”. I always thought it was kind of weird, the level of admiration those members held, with the Dursts (and Kristina Morrison/Seher) being regarded as infallible. I wonder how the Dursts got along with all the later changes: becoming rather marginalized, the loony stuff like Black Heung Jin and the Hyo Jin revelations, the fractures in the so-called “True Family”, and the developments of the last year or so. I wonder what they think now? What is their relationship with the present and recent UC leadership really like? Do they (or Dr. Durst, anyway) see the deficiency of the Korean and Japanese leadership’s understanding of how to reach Americans? I wonder what they really think of the (ahem) “True Children”. They brought a lot of people into the church. They must know how many longtime members have left, and why. Do they ever wonder how it is that all their grand ideas for an “ideal city”, all the pie-in-the-sky they promised the members, all the statements of how things would be by now, have come to naught? Do they ever lie awake at night and wonder if drawing people in with big ideas and big words (and all the deception, dissembling, and subterfuge they used to retain recruits), was a mistake? That their lives have produced little of lasting substance? That they hurt people?

________________________________

“Onni Durst is a woman of guts. While she was at a slot machine in Las Vegas, she completely ran out of coins; she went to the next person, smiled, and borrowed some coins.”

Sun Myung Moon (May 19, 1980, New York City)

________________________________

Onni Durst’s trips to Las Vegas casinos, New York, and Seoul – and her luxurious lifestyle.

Childcare in the Unification Church of Oakland

$27,000 Mercedes for Onni Durst – “Take it back”, she said, “It’s the wrong color.”

Onni Durst lied under oath

Onni Durst is a supporter of the Woo group – led by another illegitimate son of Moon

The “sophisticated honey of 1960’s counterculture jargon” by Mose Durst

Boonville – “It was a very complex set of manipulations”

UC/FFWPU Recruitment – The Boonville Chicken Palace

Barbara Underwood and the Oakland Moonies

Ford Greene – the former Moonie became an attorney

Inside Look at a Boonville Moonie Training Session

Papasan Choi and Boonville’s Japanese origins

Moonwebs by Josh Freed (the book was made into a movie)

Crazy for God: The nightmare of cult life by Christopher Edwards

Camp K, aka Maacama Hill, Unification Church recruitment camp

The Social Organization of Recruitment in the Unification Church PDF  by David Frank Taylor, M.A., July 1978, Sociology

[caldrive]

The Beautiful Gate Church, Oakland, California, back in 2010. What it looks like now (2023): https://goo.gl/maps/gUiUdSxkkdzg7A4E8

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ry Cooder, Jai Courtney, David Cronenberg, Terence Trent D’Arby, Bunny DeBarge, Howard Devoto, Fabio, Hughie Flint (Bonzo Dog Band), DJ Fontana, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, bandleader-guitarist-singer Sam Haun, Judd Hirsch, Lightin’ Hopkins, The Iron Sheik حسین خسرو علی وزیری, Harry James, microtonalist Ben Johnston, Phil Lesh, producer Steve Lillywhite, Eva Longoria, (God bless) Mike Love, Cody Lundin, Ralph MacDonald, Arif Mardin, Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Bret Michaels, the 1956 musical MY FAIR LADY, songwriter Scott Newiger, J. Pat O’Malley, the 1970 musical PURLIE, Rockwell, Joe E. Ross, St. Nicholas, Howard Scott (War), Tatiana Shmailyuk (of Jinjer, a Ukrainian band), Carl Smith, Dee Snider, Jimmy Swaggart, tough guy Lawrence Tierney, Justin Timberlake’s 2013 album THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE, will.i.am, the great Stomu Yamash'ta, bassist-guitarist Olivier Zyngier, and “renaissance man,” multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer-songwriter, and lion of musical fusions, Sly Stone.

 

Sly’s career whirled out of playing gospel organ in churches, being a hipster DJ, and producing artists (The Beau Brummels, Bobby Freemen), but Sly is best known for Sly & the Family Stone—the ground-breaking multi-racial band who hit the charts with their mix of funk, pop, soul, and psychedelic rock. Their appearance at Woodstock was like going to church! In the late 70s Sly emerged from the shadows to do soundtracks, production, and periodic solo works. I’ve performed several of his songs in concert and in my current solo set I do “Thank You Felletinme Be Myself.” My recording of Sly’s “Everyday People” was blessed with the talents of my brethren in Williamsport PA as well as drum work by the legendary Jab’O Starks (James Brown), percussion by Pistol Allen (Motown), and Sir Henry Gibson (Curtis Mayfield). It’s a celebration of our differences working together to form a wholeness. Meanwhile HB Sly and thank you for your vision...

 

https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/people-medley-everyday-people-fishers-of-men-one-for-the-pastor-2

 

#slyandthefamilystone #slystone #sylvesterstewart #gospel #funk #soul #psychedelic #rock #pop #everydaypeople #jabostarks #pistolallen #henrygibson #jamesbrown #curtismayfield #motown #williamsport #pennsylvania #church #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #sanfrancisco #oakland #birthday

[sadinitials]

[avonlady44]

[newtownpentacle]

Heinz Chapel

Thursday – photo by Mitch Waxman That’s the Heinz Memorial Chapel pictured above, which offers 57 varieties of interdenominational religious services and… Actually, it’s a ‘sacred space’ dedicated to and built by the Heinz family of Pittsburgh. The Heinz Chapel opened in 1938, at a ceremony led by the son of Henry John Heinz, founder of the H.J. Heinz Company. Now simply branded as ‘Heinz,’…

[serious2020]

(via Mme. Mildred Aristide is coming to the Bay Area!)

[dot-gov]

obsessed w vantana row rn

[arinzechukwuture]

In January, 1969, the Free Breakfast for School Children Program was initiated at St. Augustine's Church in Oakland by the Black Panther Party. The Panthers would cook and serve food to the poor inner city youth of the area. Initially run out of a St. Augustine's (Episcopal) Church in Oakland, the Program became so popular that by the end of the year, the Panthers set up kitchens in cities across the nation, feeding over 10,000 children every day before they went to school

Photo: Nancy Thompson ,Black Panthers' Free Breakfast for Children' program (Oakland, 1971)

[photoarchive]

Kenneth P. Green Sr., Multiple woman dressed attending West Oakland Methodist Church, 1967

[fenharel-is-so-swell]

While I’m on my ✨Race in Thedas✨ rant let me just explain why the blending of Dalish and City Elves bothers me personally.

As I said previously, I’m mixed. I’m specifically black in the ‘descendants of enslaved people’ way. I grew up in a predominantly white area but finished out highschool in a diverse school with a high number of first gen African immigrants.

(I promise this is pertinent) My relationship with race has always been complex. I benefit from a proximity to whiteness due to being mixed, but I of course still experienced rampant racism and an identity crisis.

In elementary school we had to do a yearly genealogy project. In some ways, mine was easier than the few other black kids in my class. While their families were nearly untraceable past 2-3 generations, I could just focus my effort on my mother’s side. Though, I faced ridicule because OBVIOUSLY I wasn’t white, so obviously I couldn’t be German. While I may have shared DNA, I felt much less experientially connected to the ‘family tree’ I did my reports on because their lives could look nothing like mine. They walked through world without the color of their skin first. So, of course the next year when a culture week came up and we were encouraged to wear clothing representative of our heritage I went the other way—I asked my dad to buy me a dashiki. I still I faced ridicule and still it felt foreign. I had no cultural ties to the patterns, my family never wore them, I’d never heard of the foods we looked up that were mainstays on the Ivory Coast. I may have shared DNA, I may have shared racial trauma, but my culture was different. I was black I wasn’t African.

Playing dragon age origins as a City elf I saw myself for the first time. I saw a woman divorced from her original culture, ripped from her roots by an imperial force but still incredibly steeped in a rich world created by survival and painstaking effort to hold onto oral tradition and what blended history the alienages could. I saw my grandmother singing gospel on the weekends, the church ladies in their outfits, the greens, the pecan pie, the stories of struggle the community shared, the village it took to raise all my cousins and get our older family and friends through chemo and childloss and hard financial times. In hearing about different alienages I saw the distinct cultural differences between Harlem, Oakland, Birmingham, Houston, Atlanta.

Playing as a Dalish elf I saw a facet of the African-Immigrant experience I came to know in high school from my friends who immigrated. I saw the culture more closely connected to the various countries they came from, but still scared by the vestiges of imperialism and colonialism. They were all unique, just as Dalish clans are. My Nigerian friends ate different food, had different rules, wore different clothes, had different cultural practices than my Kenyan or Nigerian friends. I had a couple of North African friends from Morrocco and Egypt that still felt grounded in the history of Africa but were so different. I saw the physical differences in them like I saw them in further DA entires in the Dalish from Antiva or elves from Tevinter.

(And better yet to see this dichotomy in culture I didn’t have to face more trauma porn on black bodies)

As I continued digging into elven cultures in southern Thedas I saw even more complexities of the diaspora that matched my experience. They way both city and Dalish elves looked down upon each other one for ‘assimilation’ and being ‘weak’. The other for holding on to ‘strange’ cultural practices and being ‘primitive’.

Growing up at a crossroads of many racial and cultural experiences I relished in the nuance, the way both cultures were painted as a people just trying to survive and hold onto themselves. A people distinct and resilient, a people not too unlike from each other and while aloof still marginally less wary in solidarity. They were both full of individuals that interacted so vibrantly with the world and life they lived in.

Flattening that in Veilguard initially devastated me, then enraged me. That’s not just poor writing, that’s borderline racist. It indicates that the differences don’t matter, the pain, the struggle, the culture, the history none of it matters because ‘an elf is just an elf’ at the end of the day. And that’s fucking gross.

[kaijuno]

In January, 1969, the Free Breakfast for School Children Program was initiated at St. Augustine's Church in Oakland by the Black Panther Party. The Panthers would cook and serve food to the poor inner city youth of the area. Initially run out of a St. Augustine's Church in Oakland, the Program became so popular that by the end of the year, the Panthers set up kitchens in cities across the nation, feeding over 10,000 children every day before they went to school

Photo: Nancy Thompson ,Black Panthers' Free Breakfast for Children' program (Oakland, 1971)

[caldrive]

St. Paul Primitive Baptist Church, 63rd Street, Oakland, California, back in 2008. What it looks like now(ish): https://goo.gl/maps/c1U3HR2hrPCp6uKD (I couldn't get a better pic because there was a van parked in front of the place last week).

[singeratlarge]

SUNDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO: “Blessed Assurance” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuzWLy_4sjc ...This well-known hymn was written by blind songwriter Fanny Crosby with music by Phoebe Knapp. Originally published in 1873, it’s still sung around the world in hundreds of churches at a time. It’s been covered many times, usually with the familiar arrangement, which I learned years ago. One day I was tinkering in the studio and developed my own arrangement, wrapping new chords around the standard melody and giving it a Philly Soul feel. Here I am in Oakland CA, playing it at a memorial service for a remarkable family friend (who is described in the video). Jimmy Touzel was at the mixing board and Uma Robin Mackey captured this video. Be blessed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuzWLy_4sjc

#blessedassurance #hymn #singersongwriter #FannyCrosby #PhoebeKnapp #church #phillysoul #oakland #california #jimmytouzel #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge

[madameaug]

Good Kisser ||

Pairing: Erik x Lola

Synopsis: A performance to remember. (part 1)

R&B's sweetheart Dolores 'Lola' Montez walked elegantly on the carpet. Her motions were timid as she waved and smiled at the paparazzi. Lola was dressed by a rising designer, her good friend, who she lovingly called 'Mookie'. Mookie tailored the perfect dress for the annual Grammys. Her bust was pushed up to the rim but tastefully covered by a bedazzled flower arrangement. Her thigh peaked out from the high slit.

It was moments like these that she found herself reminiscing of her humble Baptist roots. Less than a year ago she was singing 'Joyful, Joyful' in a stuffy wool lined robe during Sunday service. She was blissfully unaware that a music representative from EMPIRE was attending the service. The agent would waste no time getting Lola and her parents over to the label to talk business. Getting in the studio for the first time she wasted no time writing an R&B track. Tonight she was joining the stage with Teyana Taylor, Summer Walker, and Muni Long for a musical contribution to Usher.

Her manager, with a winded lecture explained that this was the time to shed the 'innocent' look. Rnb was about melodies and sensuality. Heartbreaks and emotions. She had the vocals down pack, and a dedicated fanbase to take her far. Her manager and label wanted to shed this church girl image. Lola needed to look confident, and more importantly feel it. It was only right for her to bring the source of her confidence, Erik Stevens.

Standing directly behind her Erik had a calm presence she loved. He too was styled by Mookie. He looked polished from head to toe. Lola would never admit this outloud but Erik had a good sense of fashion. He never looked about of place, and new what colors suited his complexion best. And he was never afraid to change his hair do. His locs that had had all throughout his 8 years in the military were substituted for waves. His scruffy beard was clipped into a goatee. Standing firm at 6'1 he was a magnet for the paparazzi.

Lola held her hand out for him, he grasped it with no hesitation. He could feel the unease through her clammy hands. He offered a reassuring squeeze. A silent promise he wasn't going anywhere. He was here for her.

Erik looked at the antsy journalist setting up along the carpet. Hollering for the passing celebrities attention. Compared to watching these award ceremonies on tv, it was alot more chaotic in person. It was a constant buzz surrounding him. One of the many traits he could thank his ruthless training for. He could sort out bullshit.

"Lola darling. You look absolutely stunning!"

"Thank you, " Lola sincerely accepted the compliment. "I had to step out of my comfort zone."

"I can see that." Her comment was directed at Erik. He smiled, quickly redirecting the conversation back to Lola. Curiosity taking over, the journalist asked foundational questions to Erik.

"I'm an Oakland kid. Humble beginnings."

"Please tell me you have a single older brother." Her eyes screamed attraction. Her hips popped over to one side.

"I'm an only child." His voice was firm. Lola's smile didn't falter as she watched the journalist flirt. She wasn't the jealous type- at least she had a good way of hiding it. Her hand trailed to Erik's chest. An unmistakable display of their relationship. Her French nails, lovingly rubbed his body, Erik chuckled.

Taking her hand, Erik looked down at Lola. Brining her hand to his lips. He kissed her knuckle admiring the beauty in front of him. The flashing lights reflected off her dress. She was glowing, and her almond eyes were luring Erik in. So much so he forgot he was standing in front of the journalist and her camera man.

"Let's move along." Lola whispered so that only Erik could hear. She waved goodbye to the journalist guiding Erik down the carpet yet again.

<3

The countdown was on as Lola got the final touches to her stage makeup. She could hear the final beats of 'Confessions' fading. Hopping out of the chair, she whistled. A breathing technique her vocal coach taught her. The stage manager led her to her entrance spot, and she heard the metronome start to tick.

Erik sat in the audience. He was thoroughly impressed with the previous song selections. Teyana Taylor sung Confessions, Summer Walker did My Boo, and Muni Long did Love in This Club. Now to close out the dedication was Lola with Good Kisser.

The transition was smooth as the lights dimmed and the crowd got quiet. The stage was glowing red as Good Kisser played. Lola appeared at the stop of the staircase. She was posed as her back was to the audience. Her elegant gown she wore on the carpet was gone. She was in a skin tight body suit. Although the suit covered more skin than her gown, her body left nothing to the imagination. Every curve she had was fit snuggly into the outfit. She swung her hips before turning around to face the audience. The chair in the center of the stage was illuminated as she walked over to it. Each movement was deliberate and hypnotic.

Erik hadn't even realized he was now leaning in his seat. As Lola sat in the chair she hiked one leg on the chair. Her fingers tracing over her thigh. She sung beautifully as her eyes followed the camera on the stage. Male dancers joined her. Each were tall and fit. There shirts were off with plain black slacks.

The performance reached a new level of intensity as one dancer got close to Lola. The choreography was sensual. Bodies were barely apart as Lola leaned her back against his chest. His hands rocked her hips to the rythm, and on cue he spun her around. His face dipped into the crevise of her neck. Giving the illusion that he was kissing up on her.

Erik's posture became more tense. Sure he knew about the choreogh being intimate, but it was different seeing it in person. The entire audience was in a trance, Usher himself standing up giving his approval. Erik could only hope that his less than enthusiastic expression was not captured from the several cameras.

"Man, she's killing it." A voice behind Erik stated.

"She is." Erik smiled looking at the stage again. The choreography growing more provocative. More male dancers surrounded her as she slid down in the middle. Hands running down their abdomen. Her hands crossed in front of her as she crawled on the stage. Each movement her body grooved to the rhythm.

"What a show."

Sitting back in the chair Lola's feet hung off the side. Not a single note faltered as she danced. The same dancer from earlier came up to her. Holding her heel. Face riding up her thigh. With her finger Lola motioned for the man to get closer, Lola swung her leg. Shooing the dancer away. The song was almost over as she swished her hips. Erik could see the camera aimed directly at her behind. Catching every subtle sway of her butt. To conclude the song with a raspy run. She then did the final four-eight count with her backup dancers. She whined her hips. Embracing every moment of having the attention in the room.

Going into her final pose she remained still as the lights dimmed ot black. Not a second later the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

Erik was escorted behind the stage. Everyone he passed just spoke in praises about Lola's performance. His heart swelled hearing the compliments. Once he reached her dressing room he knocked, waiting for her sweet voice to respond.

"Erik! What did you think?" She engulfed the man.

"You were amazing."

"You think so." She rested her head on his shoulder. Careful not to get her foundation on his shirt.

"I almost had to snatch ole boy up." His tone was playful, with an edge of seriousness.

"Jealous much?"

"Not at all." In a swift motion, he lifted Lola underneath her thighs. He didn’t walk far before putting her down. The couple enjoyed each others company outside from the many eyes on the other side of the door.

“Do you want to go out tonight?” Lola asked, she got a text from Summer with an address to the official Grammy after party.

“If you want to.”

“Are you sure, I know parties can be overstimulating for you.”

“Yeah I’ll be good. Let’s go.”

[3rdeyeblaque]

On August 30th we venerate Young King Brother Fred Hampton on his 75th birthday 🎉

Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton was the one of THE greatest orators, leaders, and visionaries to join the Black Panther Party Of Self-Defense 🖤✊🏾

Fred Hampton was born & raised in the Chicago suburbs of Illinois. Civil liberties, rights, and laws were always of great interest to him. After graduating high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College in River Grove, Illinois. He joined his local NAACP branch to get involved in the civil rights movement. He rose to the position of Youth Council President for his strong leadership and organization skills. In this position, Brother Hampton mobilized a racially diverse group of 500 young men/women who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities for Black American youth.

In 1968, he joined the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, headquartered in Oakland, CA. Shortly thereafter, he was selected to head the Chicago Chapter. Here, he created strong personal and political ties with his mentor & chaplain, Father George Clements at the [then] Holy Angels Catholic Church; which served as a safe haven for the Panthers targeted for police surveillance or harassment.

Brother Hampton accomplished a great many things as a young, prolific leader of the BPP Chicago Chapter. He successfully negotiated a gang truce on live television.One of his greatest successes was an unprecedentedly integrated approach to sociopolitical unity; he formed a “Rainbow Coalition”, which included: the Students for a Democratic Society, the Blackstone Rangers, a street gang and the National Young Lords, a local Puerto Rican organization. He was the first leading Panther to achieve this. This alliance is what truly struck the cord of fear in the Chicago P.D. & the FBI. In an effort to neutralize the Chicago Chapter of the BPP, the Black Panthers were placed under heavy surveillance & were subjected to several harassment campaigns.

By 1969, several Black Panthers and Chicago cops either suffered injury or were killed in shootouts across the city, which resulted in the arrest of over 100 members. On Dec 4th of that same year, under the FBI's initiative, the County PD & Chicago PD conducted heinous, unlawful, and unnecessary raid on the Black Panther Party's HQ in the early morning hours while Brother Hampton, leader Mark Clark, and other Panthers slept. They fired over 100 rounds into the apartment without warning. Twelve officers executed Brother Hampton as he slept, drugged by a sedative slipped into his drink by "Panther"/FBI informant O'Neal. Naturally, in Jan 1970, the County Coroner's office ruled the Black Panther leaders' deaths as "justifiable homicide".

Over 5,000 souls attended Brother Hampton’s funeral. Many civil rights activates eulogized him, including his good friend and mentor Father George, who also held a Requem Mass for him at his church.

After many years of coverups, internal investigations, lawsuits, raids, and conspiracies confirmed, the FBI, County PD, & Chicago PD finally admitted to the wrongful deaths of Brother Hampton and Mark Clark. In 1990, and again in 2004, the Chicago City Council passed resolutions commemorating December 4th as Fred Hampton Day. Today, Brother Hampton rests at the Bethel Cemetery in Haynesville, LA where his parents are from - which continues to endure violent desecration from White Supremacist vigilantes/supporters.

" You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution. People have to be armed to have power" - Young King Fred Hampton

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his love of our people, his relentless dedication to the BPP cause, and his young yet wise spirit that lives on. May be the find restful peace in spirit that he was/is denied in the physical.

Offering suggestions: flower offerings at his grave, libations of water, prayers and frankincense toward his elevation

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️