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I [don’t] hate to get on the screen and write dissertations on this commute to work but fuck it, everyone else is doing it. I wasn’t shocked by the election results at all. Could you imagine that your opponent chooses to run a campaign motivated by Christian nationalist sentiments, and to offset that as a democrat, you in turn take a center-right approach at best to appeal to right-wing voters? A great deal of whom are operating from the far right and have had their minds made up about you from the very beginning? Simultaneously ostracizing the demographics of those who vote blue and identify as progressive? I mean, what did she think the Joe Rogan appearances and Liz Cheney endorsements were gonna do?

Some fingers are being pointed at Kamala’s identity as a woman, and Black woman as to why she lost, but how valid of a statement is that? Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian woman was re-elected in Michigan, a region in which Kamala was absolutely put through the wringer (Dearborn was not jackin her vibe AT ALL and as a Muslim, albeit not Arab I completely understand.) Somali-American rep. Ilhan Omar still stands in her state of Minnesota even in spite of her identity and as she was outspoken about her position on the genocide in Palestine. So what gives? Whether you believe Kamala ran a good campaign or not, the fact of the matter is that she ran a campaign almost wholly disconnected from the youth, the marginalized, and the progressive, and she’s paying the ultimate price for it; defeat in crushing and humiliating fashion. In fact, liberalism in itself is paying the ultimate price for consistently falling short of people’s political, social, environmental, & overall material demands.

Now, what do I mean by disconnected? Let’s take a good look. Firstly, let’s take a good look at the elephant in the room that is to continue amplifying a genocide (only to walk it back last minute by saying that if she wins, she’ll “end the war” in Gaza.) It’s not 2004 anymore. American sensationalism doesn’t work on the general public in the manner it did when Condoleezza Rice was still the National Security Advisor. Sure, a Civics course could tell you that she wasn’t in charge of arming the colonial state in the Middle East, but all signs pointed towards her not stopping in the event that she won — a humanitarian catastrophe and an environmental disaster.

Furthermore, rather than to actively contrast Trump in immigration policies, she completely decided to mirror his stance in such — all while remaining passive about the Cop City project in Georgia, regressing beyond the mean with the rights of trans individuals, and a lengthy list of grievances that no person running from the left would ever take on in a public eye.

And after all of it, my second biggest gripe of it all? The gilded approach of co-opting Black culture and marketing her identity as a benchmark of progress within the community. Fixating less on identifying and building a true relationship and good rapport with the average proletariat, and more on trying to buy endorsement through the means of celebrity worship while running with center-right practices. Maybe this is what it was like watching the 2004 Lakers lose to the Pistons in the finals despite buying more depth in previous all-NBA talent. Analogy aside, isn’t it ironic having to hear “do we believe in freedom?” from an Attorney General who has made countless amounts of black people difficult in the prison industrial complex, turned Vice President who’d actively seek to continue the colonial occupation in Palestine?

Do we still believe in freedom when it’s niggas my age getting tear-gassed for begging our colleges to divest from a colonial apparatus committing murder several and several miles across the ocean? Or when that’s brought up, does it then become “I’m speaking?” So much for skipping the primaries and leaving us with one of the most uncharismatic, and detached candidates I’ve known in my lifetime. Not to mention she’s a perpetual loser who managed to lose the most winnable election of my lifetime and possibly even beyond than that.

My heart truly just weeps for those of whom reproductive rights are up in the air. Citizenship. Livelihood. All that. My heart also weeps for the black girls Miss Harris ran high and dry by not even showing up to her own speech at (Howard?) after losing. I mean, what leader does that?

I wanna switch gears real quick though. Don’t interpret this as me being mad, but rather emphatic. Interpret me as emphatic when I say that I think you niggas who sided with Trump are absolutely some of the most soulless, decrepit, pathetic people to grace the Earth. ESPECIALLY, if you are of a marginalized group. You telling me that he could walk you down with a declining cognitive state, re-rock Weimar Republic rhetoric and you’re on board with it? Block me back and debate ya mother twin, I’m so deadass. At least I can understand why someone may have voted Kamala. With Donald, you’ve basically voted against my best interest and those who look like me. We don’t need to be amicable.

The reality is, regardless of whomever were to take office, the Western world altogether has taken a shift towards fascist ideology with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Your savior will never live in Capitol Hill. In this landscape of white nationalism, we truly have are ourselves, and we’re really going to have to band together for the foreseeable future, because it’s increasingly clear that we are living in an empire in decline. Go link up with ya local Grassroots organization. Show up for ya community. I truly refuse to lose hope no matter how bleak it look. I truly can’t stress enough — ALL WE TRULY HAVE IS COMMUNITY

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Glanton

@leekglanton

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CASINO: Journal Entry (9/22)

Comprehending its multifaceted colors of greed in its graphic nature challenged my cerebral. I loved it though — no matter how graphic it may have gotten. I keep saying that it felt like watching Icarus fly too close to the sun, and for good reason too! Watching Sam Rothstein’s empire rise and fall was intriguing for the way it maneuvered through the perspectives of Rothstein and Nicky Santoro, sort of like Chungking Express in its own right. Rothstein maneuvered with, albeit questionable, a bit of rationale, even if some of his decisions didn’t make any sense — like falling in love with a woman who didn’t even know if she were capable of returning the mutual devotion. Can money buy love? Not in this lifetime. Santoro legitimately embodies what it meant to crash out, and for him to do so at the expense of Rothstein’s reputation and his own family’s operations? It spoke volumes to the type of character he was. You can’t keep a guy like Nicky Santoro around you. He’ll get his, even if it potentially ruins your motion. The woman Sam fell in love with too? Ginger was a woman with her own demons. I’d hate to reiterate it again, but money can’t buy love. Especially when the woman you choose has stockholm syndrome. Every character embodies greed in their own right, and dabble in wrath and lust at different points of the film respectively.

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the many shades of an earthy brown

dior fall '21 couture

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Waiting on the fall bad

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"I didn't choose to leave [Gaza]. My grandfather did not choose to leave Gaza. We were kicked out and we could not return. My house is still in Gaza."

Olympian swimmer Valerie Tarazi, originally from Gaza, blasting those trying to erase her Palestinian identity.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

follow for more Olympic updates 🤍🇵🇸

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FALLEN ANGELS: Journal Entry (6/8)

grateful I didn’t watch this movie when I was 19 cuz I would’ve been insufferable. That said, I’m really glad that I gave myself the opportunity to successfully watch and engulf myself in Fallen Angels. Watching this, I was able to understand where a good deal of underground visuals came from circa 2021; step printing and the aesthetic of the mercenary alike. Furthermore, akin to Chungking Express the screenwriting takes four characters (or better) and intertwines them as the script progresses. Unlike its predecessor however, this movie goes a step above what Chungking Express did — fusing and letting individual character progressions intersect a lot more prominently than the former. While I wasn’t as passionate about this movie as I was with Chungking Express, I still can appreciate this film and dissect what I did and didn’t appreciate.

I hadn’t realized initially that I signed up to watch an assassin’s tale. At first, I felt little attachment to Wong and it was truly because I’m not into brooding anti-hero archetypes. As a matter of fact, I felt a bit more connected to the women he was involved with — Blondie and his unnamed partner alike. Blondie yearns for love in a man unable to provide it sustainably. Wong’s unnamed partner is in love with a man who only ever agreed to be business partners with her. In both scenarios, Wong inevitably acknowledges his inability to satisfy both of their needs, inevitably parting ways with both in the hopes that they find the love they ever so seek.

One of my favorite aspects of this specific story’s progression was the cinematography. The step printing effect, the increased shutter speed, the exaggerated fish eye lens (which was advocated for by cinematographer Christopher Doyle) all contribute to a distorted harmony of restlessness. To continue, the cinematography illustrates more of a spontaneous freeform of shots than it follows a traditional structure and whether it intended to or not, this is a crucial blueprint for many music videos within the last decade. Lucki via Lonewolf, Travis Scott and Pop Smoke via Cactus Jack/White Trash Tyler, Migos via Sing J. Lee — the influence is prevalent.

Every character was written in lonesomeness and loss in their own right but He Zhiwu was a character I couldn’t help but feel for. Personally, I felt more attachment to him and the navigation in his limerence. He doesn’t experience these things quite like the average joe as he is mute and socially awkward. Given these details, I empathized a bit more though he seemed to handle his shortcomings with a childlike bliss. To switch lanes a bit, I felt the love between him and his father. An awkward relationship and at times funny by the will of Zhiwu’s mischievous behaviors, but an honest one. He expresses his love for him through his cinematography and it gives us a truly pure essence of the relationship they have. Truly, he’s a very layered character and his silence speaks volumes in quiet settings. Limerence can be fleeting. Love hits like a stray bullet. Hardship can be a thunderstorm. Zhiwu felt everything, and as child-like as he was, he was just as analytical. Stop to feel these things out — don’t just neglect these sensations.

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june 12th — 10:03 pm

shot by i

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CHUNGKING EXPRESS: My Journal Entry (5/30)

Initially, this post was supposed to be about Days of Being Wild, but I didn’t finish the movie because I’m still trying to sync up the subtitles on VLC media player. Perhaps it was for the better, because I gave myself a chance to experience an oriental classic in Chungking Express, and I don’t think I could’ve picked a better moment in my life to have watched this movie than now. There’s a lot I want to say about this movie and I think I’ll divide it into two parts — my personal reaction and my analysis on the cinematography and other technical components. I don’t plan on writing in too much detail here, although with enough pacing I could write an essay on this.

I couldn’t help but feel floored when I came to the realization that I was watching four stories being told, two at a time. Every story was reflective on intimacy in avenues I didn’t even anticipate. The four main characters all had an ambition yearning to be curbed and personally, Officer 663 & Faye was a story I felt consistently more invested in. I was drawn to Faye for her child-like insouciance and I think it was absolutely rad how she played a character based on herself. The film itself is escapist, and her character yearns for love and excitement within her life. In a way, it felt like looking in a mirror — I feel seen when she talked about saving money so she could live life in the way she desires to! I felt passion in the way Officer 663 looked after her too. Oh, to have lost a woman he loved dearly and still find it within himself to take care of a girl he just met in that manner…

Along the way, I also picked up on recurring motifs of togetherness. The planes on 663’s ex’s back, the goldfish, and even the song choices reflect that — so much symbols within the script are interconnected within each other. My favorite motif though is Officer Qi-Wu’s “love you for 10000 years.” For me, I feel that love in many aspects can be undying, contrary to Qi-Wu pondering if love could in fact expire (I couldn’t imagine fighting tooth and nail for fruit with a two day shelf life remaining. I digress though.) I’ll have nothing short of love for the faces of my loves past, and future. If anything, watching this movie reinforces the type of partner I know I’ll be someday: a patient, self-less lover.

What truly hit close to home for me was the progression of 663’s loneliness. At a point, he was lead to believe he was chasing love in a place he wouldn’t find it in and it made me feel melancholy because of how relatable it was. His old lady is happy with a new man and the new flame he’s embarked on — is she invested enough to reciprocate the infatuation? Some things just hurt more than being alone. The performance was a vibrant reminder of how far from guaranteed love truly is. However, if the desire is real, you don’t flinch from the flame within you.. However, if the desire is real, you don’t flinch from its flame.

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11th Avenue, 8:25 PM

shot on iPhone 15 Pro

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Malian filmaker Souleymane Cissé’s film 'Yeelen,' 1987

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Shot during my library visit today!

I don’t usually come to this one unless I leave the house late. It was my first time up on the rooftop cafe and I swearrr the sights are beautiful

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Making a video essay on Gaultier for my class final, and this one look from the SS 1994 show has lived in my head for a week

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2010 Madama, West Bank

Israeli Occupation Forces point their rifles at Palestinian school girls

Link

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"DIAMANTE" — a work in progress

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Adut Akech at 2023 Messika High Jewelry Show