​Winnie Mandela was South Africa for me & this book was my introduction to apartheid. She is an example of what it means to be a Black woman in the struggle. We are loved when we quietly take the pain, we wear our white gloves and patiently stay by the mans side. When we are forced into a world we didn’t ask for , when we are raped, beaten, tracked, arrested, humiliated and torn from your mate for 27 years then thrown into leadership, our anger is vilified. Did she commit murder , probably, did she commit unlawful things, I can’t imagine that she didn’t bc when you are living in a nation with legalized horror , when the government is an international atrocity, when their Thuggery is accepted by every country on this earth what is your alternative? The person who kept Nelson Mandela name alive was Winnie Mandela. She had to take on the ugliest of the rebellion to make sure the struggle would not end. Revolution is neither pretty or gentle , Winnie Mandela was the face of what terror does and how you have to beat it down at every turn sometimes at the cost of your own peace. #winniemandela #aparthied

..​I will tell you I have watched 4 of the SAG Best Male Performances Nighy, Farrell, Fraser and Butler are all amazing. Any of them could win and it would be fair. This is a Yes .. and situation tho. Fraser was amazing in The Whale, period BUT what Butler is able to do with such an iconic person. In the last live performance there was a switch from Butler to Presley and for a minute I wasn't sure who was who. Prior, to the screeners I had no desire to watch this film, I really at first wasn't clear why this film was even made, what else can you say about Elvis ? Luhrman truly has a style that is all his own which I really appreciate, At times a little ornate for me but I really love creative people who actually creative. I thought Tom Hanks was very effective but it's just Butler's film. I will say, I struggled with the film, as much as this was supposed to illustrate how he was influenced by Blk music and culture, Significant Black artists were props, just visual mediums with no voice. It was uncomfortable to watch artists like Little Richard, Rosetta Tharpe, Fats Domino and Big Mama Thorton being relegated to posters. The images of just black wailing was reductive and dismissive. It was clear Luhrman is not a man of faith because he had no greater understanding of catching the Holy spirit than Discovery channel going to Sea World. Elvis Presley was a man of faith but you would have never known that watching this film. For a images of Blk ppl like this in 2022, that was truly disappointing to watch. Conversely, with Priscilla, if you are going to show the crimes of the Colonel, don't show a 13 year old Priscilla in a 25 year old woman's body. In addition, she seems to have little to no voice at all in the film, even his mother was relegated to drinking and crying. However, with all this said... okay one more,  I should preface my mother LOVED,  LOVED LOVED Elvis Presley, on my first tour while I was in Memphis I went to Graceland to honor her. I personally struggled more with him for the obvious reasons but... again with alllllll that said... against my whole soul I have to admit. He was a force and this film does a great job of capturing that. He was sensual, he was magnetic, reflective, and prior to all the substance abuse, he was a physically beautiful man. There is a shot at the end of the film of the actual Elvis and is eyes are just.. wow. As problematic as I believe he was and at times this film, my blackity black behind had to admit, he was definitely an enigma. Lurham really honored him, in the same way that the Billie Holiday film did not honor her. #SAGAwards #elvispresley #elvis #fatsdomino #bigmamathorton #southern #rockandroll #bealestreet #bazlurhman #oscars #goldenglobes

​I will keep saying this, New York City mental health situation is out of control. From this report written in 2018
,https://www.manhattan-institute.org/deinstitutionalization-mental-illness-new-york-state-city?fbclid=IwAR07eYPiezctKg_11U5xAvpXHTPzz3nFUCul9tRq9Wlg7ejlQF7X6ATAnYo
there are 28 mental health facilities with a total of approx. 3,700 beds in a city of more than 8 million. Cuomo's administration opted for out-patient group therapy as way of bringing down costs, there has been a steady rise of mental health related incidents since 2014. Each month we are seeing a rise of incidents in the city, I don't know what it will take for this to become a forefront issue in this city. It is unfair, that the brunt of this is being felt by people on the subways. Defunding along with CRT have to be two of the most misunderstood terms in our culture right now. What defunding the police,is NOT reducing the police, is not closing precincts, it REDISTRIBUTING  funds that would normally fall under their jurisdiction to other institutions, or  professionals who might be better at handling the situation. Police departments, while  officers do are paid modestly especially in their first year, there is alot of money allocated to the overall department.  In this particular situation, what defunding would look like, taking some of that budget and putting into facilities and trained practitioners. Police can not address this the growing presence of breakdowns that we are seeing on a regular basis. The subway shooter, was diagnosed as bipolar, and taking medication for schizophrenia. There are countries  that are doing this much better than us, like Sweden, why can't we learn from them. Why not to try to adopt another model, we can't continue to put our head in the sand. Living in New York City, is challenging if your mental health is stable, if you are dealing with multiple ailments it's basically a prescription for disaster. Additionally, if you add financial woes, it is  a powder keg. This is a city that has billionaires, Cuomo, Giuliani and Bloomberg have created a mini Dubai with their coddling of developers. When a hospital was closed  create a high rise development the writing was on the wall. We are now experiencing the effects of irresponsible capitalism. This is worse than COVID right now and I fear we have not seen the worse of it, I really, really hope I am wrong. #mentalhealth #govhocul #Subway