#also!!! my cousin in the indigenous choir!!!!!

[toyourliking]

watching anthony callea and his husband limp-wirst around stage healed a significant portion of this hurt

when you’ve experienced religious trauma and are now an atheist and you’re stuck watching carols with the parents 🫠

[a-night-like--this]

Boys Do Cry remake of The Cure classic launches campaign to arrest male suicide rate

Rapper Dallas Woods has lost loved ones to suicide. Now, he’s joined a remake of a famous song from The Cure to show men they can get help before it’s too late.

First Nations rapper Dallas Woods is “sick of going to funerals”. He’s lost too many family members and friends to suicide, boys and young men who couldn’t ask for help when they needed it because they felt it was a “burden”.

He is on a mission to break down the taboo of putting up a brave front instead of seeking help with the Boys Do Cry campaign, launched this week with a remake of The Cure’s famous song featuring a choir of 30 men from different walks of life.

“Real men get help and real men do cry, I wish I had that convo with my brothers in the sky,” he raps in the emotional piano-driven remake.

Dallas Woods on the set of Boys Do Cry, the new Australian mental health campaign. Picture: David Collins.

In that verse, Woods, who grew up in the Kimberley in Western Australia, which he said has one of the highest rates of suicide per capita in the world, speaks directly to the loved ones he has lost, the cousin who took his life when the rapper was just 11 through to the best mate he was texting on the day he died.

“I’d lost a lot of mates around that time but that was the one that blew my mind because I was texting him that day, I was meant to see him. One minute he’s there, happy as, there was no indication … sometimes you know people are going through some stuff but he was literally the life of the party, the glow in the room,” Woods said.

“It really was the first time I questioned ‘What the actual hell … why?’”

The choir with the team behind the rework of The Cure’s Boys Don't Cry. Picture: David Collins.

The Boys Do Cry campaign was created by advertising executive Simon Lee, who took 30 years to confront his chronic anxiety, and in conjunction with The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Mental Health and Gus Worland’s mental fitness foundation Gotcha4Life.

In the last 12 months in Australia 2384 men have taken their own lives. That’s an average of seven men every day, making suicide the leading cause of death in Australian males aged 15-49.

British-born Lee said the “stiff upper lip” mantra he grew up with also permeates Australian culture” and does not “produce emotionally balanced men who are comfortable to emote.”

“Before I had therapy, my fear was if I went deep inside myself to examine what was going on, the sense I had was this fear of murky darkness, this writhing kraken of the deep waiting down there,” he said.

“When you start peeling back the layers, it wasn’t as scary or dark as I thought it was and the knot in my stomach loosened and the ongoing negative dialogue in my head relaxed a little bit.”

The choir circle at the Boys Do Cry shoot. Picture: David Collins

The music video has already been tested by the The University of Melbourne Centre for Mental Health as part of the Buoy Project to identify effective suicide prevention interventions for boys and men.

Preliminary findings from their random controlled trial of the Boys Do Cry clip found “men were more likely to say they would seek help if they were struggling.”

Woods has spent the past 14 years, alongside his music career, working on social and emotional wellbeing health campaigns in more than 300 remote and urban indigenous communities and sees Boys Do Cry as a pivotal moment in the mission to arrest male suicide rates.

“Out of the Kimberley, I’ve been able to get to the resources and the people to help me through my own journey of healing and now we have to normalise that, not let it keep being normal to not do anything about it,” he said.

IF YOU NEED HELP PLEASE CALL:

Lifeline Australia – 13 11 14 (available 24/7)

Text 0477 13 11 14

Chat online: lifelife.org.au (7pm-midnight)

Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800

Kidshelpline.com.au

Beyond Blue – 1300 224 636 (available 24/7)

[writingwithcolor]

Fairy Tale Retellings with POC

@anjareedd asked:

Hello, Writing with Color! First of all, thank you for all you do. Second, do you have any advice for a white person retelling fairy tales, both European fairy tale and non-European fairy tales? Is it okay to retell non-European fairy tales? I would feel bad if all fairy tales I retold were European as those are over represented, but given how much white people have erased and whitewashed other culture's fairy tales I understand if that were off-limits for a white person. Thank you!

Fairy tale retellings are my favorite thing. I love reading, rewriting and creating new fairy tale-style stories with People of Color!

As you write, keep in mind:

European does not mean white. 

The possibility of PoC in European or Western historical settings tends to throw off so many. There are plenty of European People of Color, then and today. You can have an Indian British little red riding hood and it isn’t “unrealistic.” And we wanna read about them!

Still, research the history of your settings and time period. Use multiple credible sources, as even the most well-known ones may exclude the history of People of Color or skim over it. The stories might be shoved into a corner, but we live and have lived everywhere. The specific groups (and numbers of) in a certain region may vary, though. 

How and when did they or their family get there, and why?

Has it been centuries, decades, longer than one can remember?

Who are the indigenous people of the region? (Because hey, places like America and Australia would love to have you believe its earliest people were white...)

Is there a connection with the Moors, trade, political marriage; was it simply immigration?

No need to elaborate all too much. A sentence or more woven into the story in passing may do the trick to establish context, depending on your story and circumstance. 

Or if you want to ignore all of that, because this is fantasy-London or whatever, by all means do. POC really don’t need a explanation to exist, but I simply like to briefly establish context for those who may struggle to “get it”, personally. This is a side effect of POC being seen as the Other and white as the default.

Although, if PoC existing in a fairy tale is the reader’s biggest stumbling block in a world of magic, speculation, or fantasy, that’s none of your concern.

Can you picture any of the people below, or someone with these backgrounds, the protagonist of their own fairytale? I hope so!

Above: Painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1760s - 1800s), British Heiress with her cousin. Check out her history as well as the movie, Belle (2013).

Source: English Heritage: Women in History - Dido Belle

 Above: Abraham Janssens - The Agrippine Sibyl - Netherlands (c. 1575)

“Since ancient times Sybils were considered seers sent by god, priestesses foretelling the coming of great events. This model serves to depict the Sybil of Agrippina, one of the 12 that foretold the coming of Christ. Notice the flagellum and crown of thrones which are symbolic objects reminding the viewer of Christs suffering.”  X

Above: “Major Musa Bhai, 3 November 1890. Musa Bhai travelled to England in 1888 as part of the Booth family, who founded the Salvation Army.” X

Above: Eleanor Xiniwe and Johanna Jonkers, respectively and other members of the African Choir, who all had portraits taken at the London Stereoscopic Company in 1891. 

“The African Choir were a group of young South African singers that toured Britain between 1891 and 1893. They were formed to raise funds for a Christian school in their home country and performed for Queen Victoria at Osborne House, a royal residence on the Isle of Wight.” X

The examples above just scratch the surface. Luckily, more and more historians and researchers are publishing lesser known (and at times purposefully masked) PoC history.

More Sources 

PoC in History (WWC Search Link)

POC in Europe (WWC Search Link)

The Black Victorians: astonishing portraits unseen for 120 years

Hidden histories: the first Black people photographed in Britain – in pictures

Let’s talk about oppression and slavery 

There is a hyper-focus on chattel slavery as if the times when and where it occurred is the only narrative that exists. And even when it is part of a Person of Color’s history, that is seldom all there is to say of the person or their lives. For example, Dido Elizabeth Belle.

People of Color were not all slaves, actively enslaved, or oppressed for racial reasons at all times in history! Dig deep into the research of your time period and region. Across the long, wide history of the world, People of Color are and were a norm and also NOT simply exceptions. Explore all the possibilities to discover the little known and seldom told history. Use this as inspiration for your writing.

PoC (especially Black people) were not always in chains, especially in a world of your making. 

Don’t get me wrong. These stories do have a place and not even painful histories should be erased. I personally read these stories as well, if and when written by someone who is from the background. Some might even combine fairy tale, fantasy, and oppression in history. However...

There are plenty of stories on oppressed PoC. How many fairy tales?

Many European tales have versions outside of Europe. 

Just because a tale was popularized under a western setting doesn’t mean that it originates there. Overtime, many were rewritten and altered to fit European settings, values and themes.

Read original tales. 

You might be inspired to include a story in its original setting. Even if you kept it in a western setting, why not consider a protagonist from the ethnicity of the story’s origin?

For example: the Cinderella most are familiar with was popularized by the French in 1697. However, Cinderella has Chinese and Greek versions that date back from the 9th Century CE and 6th Century BCE, respectively. 

Choosing a Setting: European or Non-European?

I do not see anything wrong with either (I write tales set in western and non-western settings, all with Heroines of Color). There is great potential in both.

Non-Western Settings (pros and cons)

Normalizes non-Western settings. Not just the “exotic” realm of the Other.

Potential for rich, cultural elements and representation

Requires more research and thoughtfulness (the case for any setting one is unfamiliar with, though)

European or Western Setting (pros and cons)

Normalizes PoC as heroes, not the Other, or only fit to be side characters.

Representation for People of Color who live in Western countries/regions 

Loss of some cultural elements (that character can still bring in that culture, though! Living in the West often means balancing 2+ cultures)

Outdated Color and Ethnic Symbolism 

Many fairy tales paint blackness (and darkness, and the Other) as bad, ominous and ugly, and white as good and pure. 

Language that worships whiteness as the symbol of beauty. For example: “Fair” being synonymous with beauty. Characters like Snow White being the “fairest” of them all.

Wicked witches with large hooked noses, often meant to be coded as ethnically Jewish people. 

Don’t follow an old tale back into that same pit of dark and Other phobia. There’s many ways to change up and subvert the trope, even while still using it, if you wish. Heroines and heroes can have dark skin and large noses and still stand for good, innocence and beauty.

Read: Black and White Symbolism: Discussion and Alternatives 

Non-European Fairy tales - Tips to keep in Mind: 

Some stories and creatures belong to a belief system and is not just myth to alter. Before writing or changing details, read and seek the opinions of the group. You might change the whole meaning of something by tweaking details you didn’t realize were sacred and relevant.

Combine Tales Wisely: 

Picking stories and beings from different cultural groups and placing them in one setting can come across as them belonging to the same group or place (Ex: A Japanese fairy tale with Chinese elements). This misrepresents and erases true origins. If you mix creatures or elements from tales, show how they all play together and try to include their origin, so it isn’t as if the elements were combined at random or without careful selection.

Balance is key: 

When including creatures of myths, take care to balance your Human of Color vs. creatures ratio, as well as the nature of them both (good, evil, gray moral). EX: Creatures from Native American groups but no human Native characters from that same group (or all evil, gray, or too underdeveloped to know) is poor representation.

Moral Alignment: 

Changing a good or neutral cultural creature into something evil may be considered disrespectful and misappropriation. 

Have Fun! 

No, seriously. Fairy tales, even those with the most somber of meanings, are meant to be intriguing little adventures. Don’t forget that as you write or get hung up on getting the “right message” out and so on. That’s what editing is for.

--Colette  

[nookishposts]

Keepers

I decided many years ago not to have children. I love kids and love spending time with other people’s kids. Children’s choirs with those reedy innocent voices never fail to move me to tears. I was a summer camp theatre arts teacher for a number of years, and I am often the first one to get down on the rug with a wee one learning to crawl. The smell of baby, especially a sleepy one nestled against my chest is the breath of heaven. My choice has nothing to do with kids themselves and everything to do with me. I come from a swamp of family health issues: cancer, heart disease, diabetes and far too many incidents of serious mental illness resulting in a lot of suicides. I felt neither prepared nor compelled to parent , especially given the possible inheritances, and because I had so much growing up of my own to do. At 58, I have no regrets about this. My sister also chose not to have kids for her own reasons. So, effectively our parents contributions to the gene pool will die when we do. If I have any regret at all it’s that my Mum didn’t get the pleasure of grand-parenting, but thankfully she fully supports our choices. I have friends and acquaintances in this world who are absolutely awesome parents, raising kids who will definitely make this world a better one. I am delighted to support those efforts in any way they ask.

Part of the mid-life reflection involves considering legacy; I think some of us will admit to wondering what effect our lives have had, if any at all. Will we be remembered or will our brief tenure on the planet quickly disappear into the ether? We are just minute pinpricks on the greater pointillist picture of Time anyway, so what does it matter?

What got me thinking about this was the process of packing to sell a house, stuff in storage for 3 months and then unpacking it at our final destination. We had done what we thought was a major purge before squirrelling things away, but as we unpacked I found myself thinking : why the heck did I keep this? We all seem to retain some momentos of special times in our lives and that’s understandable, but I came across an awful lot of boxes that had not been opened since we moved to Winnipeg in 2009...for 10 years they’ve just been hauled around next to the necessities of pots and pans and winter boots. Why keep them at all? Watching a bit of Marie Kondo with My Beloved, didn’t help, in fact I found her downright annoying which is not usually like me at all. I guess it felt like she challenged things I wasn’t ready to face.

Some of those boxes I know for sure I will never let go of; the one with the Fair Isle sweater my Grandma made for me, my Grandpa’s service medals, and the first piece of jewelry gifted by a family friend when I was born (Does anybody even remember Sarah Coventry bracelets?)

There are boxes pertaining to my former schools and places of work and trips I’ve enjoyed, volunteers gigs that were impactful, bits of inherited china that I don’t imagine I will ever use: I can admire fine bone china tea cups and saucers, but since I have muscley massage and gardening paws (whereas my sister’s hands are slender and delicate despite being hardworking ) I tend to drop things. My klutziness is legendary. Every one who knows me has a story of how graceless they’ve seen me be. Not everyone you know can achieve a paper cut on their tongue licking a Christmas Card envelope. But I digress.

It is dawning on me that in a way, those boxes validate the person I was becoming. High school year books are full of sentimental awe and angst; look at those hairstyles and remember how we were sure we were “all that” and then some. Achingly fond memories of dances and all night conversations, cheering from the stands wearing school colours with great sense of belonging, the first terrifying day of Grade Nine weighed against walking across the graduation stage such a few years later. Same with college and university; who was that passionate being with boundless energy for learning,who slipped so easily and with such ferocious idealism into 30 years of feminist marches and human rights campaigns? What happened to that young woman who in spite of hating airplanes flew by herself all the way to Australia and back looking to answer some big questions? Or the crazy theater student who performed street mime and Shakespeare, dressing from the second-hand store in androgynous suits  carrying a guitar everywhere, hitch-hiking between small -town pubs. Or the one who took a summer to hike the entirety of the Bruce Trail from end to end. It turns out she’s in boxes among the t-shirts and the handbills and the polaroid photos. She in the boxes from the YWCA as Aquatic Director, WUM as a Housing Counsellor, Gomorrah’s as a bookstore employee, The AIDS Network as Director of Volunteers. And in the endless boxes of books; about massage and gardening, and eco-living, and spirituality and cooking and favourite novels by authors whose stories generated both laughter and sense.

But what do I do with it all?

My Beloved and I were laying in bed recently, chatting sleepily as we recounted our day. One of the questions I keep hearing lately in social media is : “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”  Both of us admitted that we would take only what could fit in a knapsack and travel the World. Which, given that we have spent 11 years looking for the right place to settle down, and have finally found it, is deeply ironic. 

I could not fit all of those boxes into my knapsack. The weight of it would crush me. So why, as an armchair traveller am I holding on to them now? I am not a hoarder by a long stretch. But I suspect I have to a need to prove to myself the existence of my being. People with children see themselves looking back at them through the eyes and hair and mannerisms of their offspring, even those not biologically born to them. Grandchildren increase that evidence exponentially and carry the torch forward casting their light into those generations to come. No boxes required. Perpetuating existence proves itself. The stories will survive.

My task now is to decide if I need to hold onto momentos that prove the moments that made me. When I managed a thrift store, I used to wonder at the treasures that came through the doors when somebody decided to clean out an attic. Wartime photos, first edition books, delicate china and silver engraved with initials, diaries, wedding dresses, inscribed jewelry....the sale of those special pieces helped keep the doors of a food bank open and the kids after school programs running, but sometimes it felt sad to me to be putting a thrift store price on something that had once been so precious to someone else. We are collectors, but we inevitably outgrow those collections and the kids and grandkids may not see the same value in what we’ve saved as we did when we carefully boxed things away. 

Nobody else is going to want keepsakes from my schools, my travels and my jobs, and they are of no practical use to me now except perhaps as kindling for a bonfire on a starry night. Better they be incinerated in a communal act of warmth and light, perhaps with storytelling, than go into a landfill. There are family heirlooms I will eventually find other homes for among my cousins and their kids I suppose, as they aren’t really wholly mine to dispose of.There are lots of other things that will never mean anything to anybody but me. And as long as I can remember to tell the stories, I suppose those will pack nicely into the knapsack as I travel into this next phase of life as a self-sustaining steward of the Planet. When I can no longer remember the stories, the reminders won’t matter anymore anyway. Best they be dispersed now to do whatever good they might for someone else. Or is that an excuse to just hand off the responsibility? I’m not completely sure. 

I am too old to really need the proof that I have lived, and there’s a lot of living yet to do. The accumulation of non-practical stuff needs to stop, and space for new experience needs to be cleared. The garage attached to our home has been converted into a very large workshop space, insulated and heated, with windows and outlets everywhere. The previous owner had amazing tools in there and created amazing things. But we have filled it with boxes. There are 3 giant Tupperware bins of music CDs alone. At least 6 of books. We have more duplicates of tools than we know what to do with. More artwork than we have wall space for. Camping gear that may have reached redundancy now that we live surrounded by woods and 3 minutes from a lake. Things don’t define a person, they never have. But I lulled myself into thinking I needed validation through proof. I have no children or grandchildren to inherit the proof of anything. My ancestors stories will continue through the rest of the family and I can help by  being one of the ones committed to writing them down.  Electronic storage takes up way less space and is more accessible than a box in an attic. It’s an easier inheritance to manage.

Of course there will be those things I will choose to keep simply because they please me. I’ve a collection of small indigenous carvings of animal spirits that give me great joy to handle. I still have my massage table because I can still do that work if called upon. I will likely get rid of most of the linens that supported it as a business, maybe  see if a young masseuse might like some of the books and tools to help set up their own practice. Inevitably, certain things will end up in the bins of a thrift store. The workroom will get emptied and become once more a place of creation; shelves for things we’ve grown and preserved in our gardens, space for my Beloved to set up her loom and spinning wheel. A corner for my desk and a designated spot to see if I can put my money where my mouth is as a writer, to finish a novel and assemble a collection of musings. There needs to be space for Marie Kondo’s idea of “sparking joy” to come from within and take form. Who knows how much travelling we will do, and the various forms that might take. We’ve spent 11 years coming to this place with a very specific way of living in mind and the incredible joy in being here will carry us forward. Joy need not be a collection of inheritances or things amassed; I think I have decided joy can be an acronym for Just Open Yourself. It will not matter if I existed after I am gone, only that I lived in a way that honours the opportunities while I am here now. Those boxes are filled with reminders of amazing past moments, but I hope I am the distillation of those formative gifts, including all of the people and places that challenged me to shed one more layer of shell in order to grow. There is nothing to prove. There’s only what the sum of yesterday can offer today, and if I’m lucky, a series of tomorrows. It all fits in a knapsack.

[displacedprincess]

Elena Flores/Ximena Delejos Big-Ass Character Sheet

sometimes I'm so carefree/ with a joy that's hard to hide / and sometimes it seems that /all I have to do is worry / and then you're bound to see my other side / i'm just a soul whose intentions are good / oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

mira bien / todo va mal y todo está al revés / y tal vez no haya una segunda vez / para mirar las rosas rojas del edén

original sin / genetic fate / revolutions, spinning plates / it's important to stay informed / the commentary to comment on / oh, and no one ever really knows you, and life is brief / so I've heard, but what's that gotta do with this black hole in me?

i could feel myself falling from an aeroplane / i hear static when I close my eyes / i imagine one day things settling / and i think about what that might be like

NAME

Full Name: Elena Débora Nayaraq Viridana Maite Paqui Castillo Flores Origin: Most of Elena’s name is Spanish in origin, with Maite being a name Spanish has borrowed from Basque origin, Paqui being a name from the Nahuatl verb ‘to be happy’, and Nayaraq being a Quechua name meaning “one who has many desires.” Quechua is the most common language of the indigenous Avaloran population, and the Avaloran people have a strong connection with the Nahuatl speakers of Mexico and Central America (not to mention the small but considerable diaspora population inside of Avalor). Meaning: 

Elena - light

Débora - Spanish form of Deborah, biblical, bee

Nayaraq - Quechua origin, one who has many desires

Viridana - from the Latin word "viridis", meaning "green"

Maite - Basque origin, love

Paqui - Nahuatl origin, to be happy

Nickname/Alias: In Swynlake, she goes by Ximena Delejos. Title: Her Majesty Crown Princess of Avalor Pet Name: Gabe and other close friends call her Elenita. Signature: Elena’s print is neat and a little tight but not difficult to read. Her cursive is painfully fancy, even she rolls her eyes.

STATS

Gender: Cisfemale Gender Presentation: Elena presents in a stereotypical feminine way most of the time. She’s comfortable in dresses, with makeup, all the stereotypical “girly” things.  Orientation: Non-heterosexual, but exactly what is still up in the air. Real Age: 22 Age Appearance: Elena does look a little mature for her age and is often assumed to be around 25. Birthday: November 16, 1994 Birthplace: Avalor City, Avalor  Astrological Sign: Scorpio Zodiac Sign: Dog Primal Zodiac Sign: Octopus Celtic Tree Zodiac: Reed Hogwarts House: Huffledor Divergent Faction: Divergent - Amity + Dauntless  Moral Alignment: Chaotic good MBTI Personality Type: ESTP Temperament: Sanguine Enneagram: Type 4, The Romantic Vice: Envy Virtue: Kindness

FAMILY

Immediate Family: Elena was raised by her parents until their murders when she was 15. Her father was King Raul (fc: Ricky Martin) and her mother was Queen Luisa (fc: Gaby Moreno).  When they were killed, her grandparents took over the role. She has a little sister Isabel, and they are close with their older cousin Chancellor Esteban, aged 30, (fc: Oscar Isaac), whose mother was Queen Luisa’s older sister who gave up her claim to the throne to marry a common man of Cuban descent. Part of Esteban is jealous, and wishes his mother didn’t give up her right to the throne so he would be the king instead of just the Chancellor, but Esteban cares for his younger cousins and supports Elena’s claim to the throne since it is what it is; he’s more content with it knowing that Elena trusts him and values his advice, even if she doesn’t always follow it. He acts as Elena’s main point of information regarding goings on in Avalor. Distant Family: Many cousins and second cousins, like a lot. Parenting: Elena’s parents were strict to an extent, like as royals there were certain expectations, but they tried to make sure their daughters had a childhood. Upbringing: Elena was taught that being royal didn’t make her better than anybody else. She was taught that the responsibility of the monarchy was to rule with compassion and to look out for their people. Elena’s expanded this to care about everybody.

PERSON

Species: Human, Magick

Ethnicity: Latinx, Avaloran wih Guatemalan and Puerto Rican roots

Blood Type: O-

Preferred Hand: Left-handed

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color:  Brown-black

Hairstyle:  Elena typically wears her long, thick, curly hair like

this. 

 Lightly groomed with messy pieces tied back for convenience. Sometimes in an

updo

Skin Tone: Light brown

Makeup: Elena does her eyebrows up real nice every day, but other than that prefers light makeup for most days. 

Build: Slim and toned, proportional 

Height:  5′4

Cup Size: C

Shoe Size: 7 1/2 US

HEALTH

General Health: Elena is typically slow to fall ill, but she’s a baby when she’s sick. She haaaaates being ill. Energy: Too! Damn! Much! Memory: She remembers just about everything and really, really wishes she didn’t. Senses: Elena requires corrective lenses, usually she just wears contacts. Allergies: Elena is allergic to wasps and carries an epipen on her person. Medication: She’s currently not on medication, but she was on effexor for a while after her parents’ were killed. Phobias: Wasps, claustrophobia, the dark Addictions: None Mental Disorders: was diagnosed with depression after she failed to cope after her parents’ deaths, but she was taken off of her medication a year and a half after starting it and it seems she’s herself again

Occupation: Crown Princess of Avalor / Unemployed and seeking Work Ethic: Elena takes everything she works for seriously, be it leading her country or mixing drinks. Rank: Crown Princess / ?? Income: Right now, none Wealth Status: Aristocracy, royalty. 

Education: The highest level of education Elena has so far is university. Instead of going to university at Oxford or Ivy League like most of Avalor’s aristocracy, Elena chose to attend uni at one of Avalor’s public universities, University of Avalor - Avalor City. She was primarily castle-schooled for her primary and secondary education and she completed it and went onto university when she was 16.  School: UAAC or U doble-A C said aloud, is the largest university in Avalor. It has degree programs taught in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and attracts students from all over the Americas and Europe. Students from the US come here because it is cheaper than a US school. Grades: Elena was a mostly A students with Bs in subjects she struggled with. Special Information: Elena graduated summa cum laude from UAAC. UAAC also has a small Greek life community, one of the few universities outside of the US participating in Greek Life. Elena joined the [fictional] Lamba Mu Theta social sorority. She was also active in numerous clubs, a choral music and show choir student org, and participated in student senate.   Social Stereotype: At first glance people thought the princess would be a spoiled brat, but the turned out to be the biggest nerd and cupcake. Degrees: Elena double majored from the get-go, took summer classes, and studied some more to get another degree so she holds three bachelors’ degrees; one is a B.A. in International Studies with a concentration in Global Governance, Human Rights, and Law, another is a B.S. in Bioengineering with a concentration in immunoengineering, and the third is a B.A. in Linguistics with a concentration in sociolinguistics . 

[terrablaze514]

Shieeet... I remember that song (Ciara "Goodies" was my jam back then - still is). Just thinking about the lyrics to that song now has me thinking...

"Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number" (Aaliyah's first single/album) vibes.

The monster has also written songs for B2K's "Pandemonium" album. Hits like, "Bump That" and "Girlfriend". Their strange former manager, Chris Stokes, had something to do with that.

Then there's "I Need An Angel" on Ruben Studdard's second album.

And he'd collaborated on Kirk Franklin's, "Lean On Me". Not only was the song popular, but every church choir/singing group/band rolled with it through performances and jamming sessions.

When JHud (Jennifer Hudson) released the hit single, "It's Your World", and I saw R. Kelly was featured on it, I was done. So done.

On that note, I will no longer discuss sexual assault/the importance of consent/how to recognize a sex predator/anything related to that subject on my blog. The Black Community is still not ready to face the music, nor acknowledge that there is a rampant rape culture where girls are constantly targeted (and boys are affected too). No one is ready. Facebook and other platforms (except this one) felt like a ghost town, and I think my posts from Saturday play a role in that. According to a relative, let's wait for a documentary on Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey...

Then I can open up about this. Then Black folks whom I've called out for supporting R. Kelly (and other monsters like him) will understand. It will take an extra mile before I sit down with one of my church pastors (or elders) to inform them of why I've been absent from church, from September up to last weekend.//Scratch that. This is a reblog.

We are not ready to protect our Black children and youth. Surely, we ain't ready to protect anyone else's own, either.

I will kindly ask The White/Caucasian Communities to do to Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, including that 7th Heaven actor, what survivors, interviewers and enablers did to R. Kelly. Heck, give Bryan Singer the same treatment!

I will also ask the Arabian, Latin, Indigenous and Asian Communities to start important dialogues surrounding this prevalent issue as well.

Suffice to say, that's the only time The Black Community will wake up and recognize what's wrong with the bigger picture, because they're still in denial. Still worshipping R. Kelly. Still bought his music this week on iTunes while the documentary aired. Still debating whether to "separate Art from the Artist". Whites are the only ones who can get R. Kelly and his enablers locked up for good. No, I am not being sarcastic. You guys are powerful through privilege, and you have my permission to put (or shove) R. Kelly and his shenanigans behind bars. What they've done to minors (Black girls) for several decades is... Go figure. What if this was your sister or daughter? Your niece or cousin? This is strictly Real Talk 💯, based on a lifetime of observations.

The voices of victims and survivors still matter. I believe them. It's the community who still turns a blind eye that puzzles me, and I have no fear of terminating relationships just because... Anyways, I have things to do.

Sincerely,

A Black Voice (Survivor/Witness of Rape Culture) Who Needs to De-stress. My insides hurt just thinking about how costly my honesty is.

2019 Will be a Great Year. Shaky start, but Change Will Come. There Will Be Justice. Sex Predators (regardless of gender) Will Live in Prison Without Parole.🖤

Ohhhhh, it was written solely by him….

[todaynewsstories]

Prince Harry and wife Meghan expecting first baby next year

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are expecting their first child in the spring of 2019, around a year after their glittering wedding injected Hollywood glamour into the British royal family.

Harry, 34, younger son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, married the U.S. television star Meghan Markle in May at a ceremony that mixed traditional British pomp with a gospel choir and other nods to her American heritage.

British media said Meghan, 37, was believed to be about 12 weeks pregnant. The baby will be seventh-in-line to the British throne.

“Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public,” the couple’s Kensington Palace office said in a statement.

The news emerged shortly after the royal couple landed in Australia for their first overseas tour, a busy trip which will also take in New Zealand and the South Pacific islands of Tonga and Fiji.

British media said Harry and Meghan broke the news of their pregnancy to the royal family on Friday, when they attended the wedding of Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie at Windsor Castle, where Harry and Meghan themselves were married five months ago.

There had been media speculation for a number of weeks that Meghan might be pregnant, and the couple had made no secret of their desire to have children.

“Hopefully we’ll start a family in the near future,” Harry had said in a TV interview when they announced their engagement in November last year.

The child will not be a prince or a princess unless the queen authorises such a title before the birth. Instead, royal experts said if a boy, the child would officially be styled the Earl of Dumbarton – one of Harry’s subsidiary titles – and Lady Windsor if a girl.

“My warmest congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the happy news they are expecting a baby in the Spring,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Twitter. “Wishing them all the best.”

After their arrival in Australia on Monday, Meghan and Harry were escorted by a motorcade to the residence of Australia’s Governor-General on Sydney’s north shore.

Braving rain, well-wishers lined the streets to Admiralty House where the pair were later spotted by local press enjoying a walk, hand in hand, through the grounds as they recovered from the long plane journey.

Their official duties will begin on Tuesday with a ferry trip across Sydney Harbour and past the Opera House, a visit to Taronga Zoo to see koalas and a viewing of a contemporary indigenous dance troupe. [nL3N1WV03I]

Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, attend the annual WellChild Awards ceremony the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, Britain September 4, 2018. Victoria Jones/Pool via REUTERS

Reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Michael Holden in London; Editing by William Schomberg, Janet Lawrence and Peter Graff

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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