Brief Pastel Timelapse Video

It's All Connected (But We Still Don't Get It)

 The more I reflect on the Brett Kavanaugh hearing going on at this moment, along with Bill Cosby being sentenced to prison, Jameis Winston being sued by the Uber driver, and other events  where men are accused of assault/rape, the more I keep going back to Serena Williams and the US Open controversy, which took place a couple of weeks ago. The world got to witness up close firsthand, uncut, live and in the flesh what happens when a woman accuses a man of sexism without evidence, which is slander,  and the reactions by those who support her without factoring in any evidence that points to the contrary.

  The following days proved that many of us missed the point altogether.

  It was an open and shut case that proved how human beings are not creatures of rationale, but creatures of emotions and desires. Emotions and desires are great, when used in the right context. But when love and hatred blinds one from seeing that which is clear and evident, there is no hope for truth, justice and guidance.

Artwork by Quwwa Davis, with digital assistance by S. Davis

  Serena Wlliams' antics at the US Open were only a continuum of the ongoing story of the mythological Champion of Women's Rights aka Feminism, that Serena has fallen victim to. This was not an isolated incident, nor was it the first time for her to rail against what she sees as sexism.

 When Serena was nominated as Sports Illustrated's  Sportperson of the Year in 2015, it marked a monumental point for feminism. Around this time we saw a rise in feminism, politically helped by the Obama administration( and no I'm not Republican either), and repeated over and over in the media, which lead to other token feminists getting their shine, especially the likes of Beyonce'. Remember the Super Bowl halftime show, and the preceding video "Formation"?

Around that time Serena seemed to began chanting more about advocating "women's rights" and dedicating her matches for "women's causes" and the like.

This past summer we found Serena at a "Purple Purse" event, advocating "awareness" against domestic abuse, a feminist pseudonym for men hitting women. When addressing the topic of domestic abuse, she calls for not only men, but boys to be educated about domestic abuse.. She  also uttered "That could be something my daughter could face and that's not cool." My question to her would be "what if your daughter is the perpetrator?"  Domestic abuse is not just men abusing women, but women abusing men as well. But we all know feminists don't see it that way.

This past summer we also found out #MeToo advocate and one of Harvey Weinstein's accusers Asia Argento has been accused of trying to pay off former child star Jimmy Bennett, for an alleged sexual assault incident occurring in 2015. The New York Times wrote an article about the incident, but quickly deflected the issue by proclaiming "men do it too", and reiterating their bogus claim that sexual assault and rape is about "power and gender". and not sexual mores.

  The parasitical MeToo and Times Up movements are misleading people, and merely exploiting those who have truly suffered from these traumatic experiences.  Under these quasi-justice organizations, the true victims are being relegated to the status of pawns, tokens, expendables and collateral damage in their so called war. The very moment they publicly stated rape, sexual assault/harrassment, and domestic abuse were issues of power and gender, and not declining sexual morals and morality in general, we should have known their intentions, but we failed. We dropped the ball.

  Some of those who disagreed with Serena's antics also dropped the ball by asserting race was implied. The infamous comic strip drawn by the Austrtailian cartoonist clearly accentuated stereotypical Black/African American features; big lips, large, volatile and angry women, yet it was insisted that race had nothing to do with the cartoon.

  Some broadcasters clearly accused her of also pulling out the race card, to which I did not hear any instances of race in her tirade, nor in the post-game press conference. Reviewing the clips will show she clearly stated she was trying to stand up for women's rights.  Instead of focusing on the fallacy of feminism, some people took it as part of a broader issue to attack what they call "identity politics" and "social justice"in the broader sense, and left wing politics, with multiculturalism being mentioned as well, a pseudonym for race-mixing.

   Frankly speaking, I don't see how she can rage against racism, or especially White Male Privilege, seeing that she's married to a White man anyway. If anything,  Serena,  like Bill Cosby, Monique and other Black celebrities suffer from the illusion of inclusion.  This usually occurs after achieving some sort of mainstream acceptance, or adulation. It causes them to either give unbalanced and unfair criticism at poor Black people , while downplaying or avoiding racism and bigotry, or to harbor grandiose feelings toward one's personal achievement, and totally deny racism altogether. In the end, most of Serena's talking points, like feminism itself is mostly White liberal-influenced talking points.

  The masses of people are being misguided by those who desire something other than truth and justice, and here belied the opportunity to begin to detect and rectify the matter. It was served on a plate, for all to see, reflect, and begin to repair. But we turned it down. Instead we went to our colored corners, one corner blue, and the other corner red, listened to the pundits whisper in our ear, and came back out to the center of the ring, swinging away, and not hitting a darn thing.

We still don't get it.

Serena Willams cites sexism after dust-up with chair umpire | FIRST TAKE...

Interesting segment on ESPN's FIRST TAKE, involving a debate between Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman, regarding this past weekend's U.S. Open, in which Serena Williams accuses the referee of sexism regarding docking her a game, and ASSUMING she cheated because the official gave her a violation when he sighted her coach making coaching gestures. Her coach later in the evening admitted to making gestures, which is a violation. I hope to do a blog on this issue very soon regarding Serena's feminist antics, which stretches farther than this incident.

A Little Art For A Change

Art patron views my piece Envisioning Freedom at the ART214 Exhibit, where the reception was held this past Sunday.

It's been a minute since I've actually blogged, for several reasons, some personal, and on some occasions it just felt as if the timing wasn't right.

For example I wanted so bad to discuss these plethora of marches that are going on, especially in the U.S.A, especially doing a close-up on my opinion of one David Hogg, and the March For Our Lives event that took place last March, but other things got in the way, and after trying to discuss this issue with people, it seems as if  I needed to gather my thoughts before I go full blast on what I see as a serious failure to connect going on in America, which concludes in all of these marches and rallies going on in this country.

Trust me. I haven't left, nor forgotten, because I just have a funny feeling things will come back around, and this situation will be discussed at length again. Why do I feel this way?

Simple, we haven't learned our lesson yet. So we're doomed to repeat it in some form or fashion.

But in the meantime and in between time, I wanted to show a couple of pics from the ART214 exhibit going on right now in Dallas, Texas, where 4 different cultural centers celebrated this occasion by selecting artists residing in the Greater Dallas area, the Bath House, Latino, South Dallas, and Oak Cliff Cultural Centers.




My piece entitled "Envisioning Freedom" was selected to be displayed at the Bath House Cultural Center, located at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.




Envisioning Freedom is simply a token gesture at paying homage to those previous generations who strove for freedom and justice against great odds being  levied against them. Regardless of whether I agree with some of their stances and tactics, they must be given their due respects, and their histories fully narrated and analyzed, whether  the outcome was successful or not, in order to continue the struggle, and claim victory in the end.

Envisioning Freedom, created by the artist, is now on exhibit at the Bath House Cultural Center from March 24th to April 21st, 2018.

This is not the first time I've done such a piece, I did a piece for Staff Sgt. Homer Hogues in 2013, and presented it to him at a tribute for his contributions to the Tuskegee Airmen. It was a great event, and the piece was well received by him and the family, as well as the community of Highland Hills, who finally got a chance to pay tribute to a legendary figure, who lived in the area. 

Doing pieces like these has taught me a great lesson in telling stories, regardless of my personal opinions. 

I'm now waiting to hear word from an upcoming exhibit, Art and Activism, slated to be held at the South Dallas Cultural Center from May 5th to July 29th, 2018. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted....

Until next time....

Still Ain't Gettin' It (More B.A.D News For America)

"No child, teacher, or anyone should ever feel unsafe in an American school."

President Donald Trump after the Parkland, Florida school shooting, which just occurred yesterday.

And to think: Here I am scolding myself for not speaking about the President's latest tirade (well now it's old news since he made statements about cutting food stamps and giving poor people boxes of food.). This time he blamed immigration laws for the death of two individuals, one being an Indianapolis Colts linebacker, Edwin Jackson.

Never mind the fact the suspect was allegedly drunk, just like the other tens of thousand traffic deaths attributed to drunk driving on a YEARLY basis. Nope, look past that, and get to the heart of the matter, at least in his eyes, illegal immigrants. So now only illegal immigrants are going around in a drunken state, killing others on the road. Wow.

I sat here being mad, trying to find some sort of excuse for why I didn't jump on this latest obvious display of bigotry by the so called Leader of The Free World. Could it be that I was procrastinating, as I usually do? Or was it out of fear of sounding redundant? Or was it because I didn't want to come across as the usual Trump-hating liberal?

Whatever the case, there's always something happening in America to bring events such as this back into perspective, regardless of the age of the issue. This country is draped in enough bigotry on all sides to never have to worry about running out of incidents to compare or reflect on the constant double standards, hypocrisy and denial that continues to plague this "Land of the Free."

Yesterday's shooting in a suburban Florida high school is another constant reminder of what bigotry can do to a person, as well as a society. It makes those who engage in bigotry not see the true reality of things, how the decline of morality, values, and intelligence is a direct result of their own doing, and not some outside entity, as many are led to believe.

We have witnessed during this administration alone SEVERAL mass shootings in a frightening span of only a FEW months. When the church shooting in a Texas small town killed 26 people late last year, people were assured by the President that "God and YOUR COUNTRY are with you." In the Las Vegas shooting we heard practically the same speech, yet no reason why. We witnessed in Plano, Texas last year a shooting at a football watch party that took the lives of 8 people, which included the shooter himself.

So far in only 45 days into this new year, there has been 5 school shooting incidents whereas someone has either been injured or killed. And neither of these incidents happened in Chicago, Illinois or Chiraq, as some may say.

Yet when the smoke clears, the bodies have been buried, and all of the tributes and memorials have dried up, for some reason we go right back to hearing about wild immigrants, shithole countries of color, persistent threats of terrorism from someone who just can't stand America's toxic freedom, or poor people inside the country supposedly tearing this nation down, the usual conservative banter.

But Conservatives are not the only collective of people that can be called into account for displaying bigotry. Liberals and the like are not absolved from such accusations either. Clear case in point is the the out-of-the-blue video from CNN of all people, that supposedly shows Africans being sold into slavery in Libya. Black Americans went up in arms again at the sight of  seeing or being led to see Black people once again in a state of captivity, oppression and slavery.

The usual emotional response? Attack Arabs and Islam, of course. Spread vitriol hatred against a whole group of people, and accuse a way of life as the catalyst for such actions.

Imagine CNN, the news network that doesn't like the antics of the Black Lives Matter movement, but just can't seem to expose the movement for what it really is: a movement led by Black feminists and members of the LGBTQ community, using the plights of unarmed Black men who were murdered at the hands of police, but only as a mechanism to get into the psyche of the Black collective. They can't seem to show the real intentions of the movement in their own land, how it poses as a conflict of interest to heterosexual Black men, families led by Black men, and how they wish to subvert the Black community from the inside to inject its matriarchal beliefs. But they can tell you what's going on in another part of the world. Yeah right.

But it's easy to get the Black public in America. Just take a look at the Disney-produced Black Panther movie. Oh, and let's not forget the pseudo-Black Panther, Black-empowerment tribute from Beyonce at the Super Bowl two years ago. Nothing has changed.

I encountered such a bashing against Arabs and Islam a couple of weeks ago on a Youtube page, whereas a so called Pan Africanist posted a video from of all people, White conservative media reporter Alex Jones. This video has Alex Jones spewing the most agregious lies against Islam, alleging that the Qur'an speaks in the most hideous of terms about Black people, although he could not bring up one shred of evidence. He played off as if to say there was so many bad names given that he couldn't list them all, although he couldn't even list one name and show one single verse.

 He then proceeded to claim that these some of the slaves are butchered, and then fed to other slaves, who are then forced to eat the remains before they are executed, with the belief that this will make them enter Hellfire.

Yet this person supposedly holds fast to the Ten Commandments, which also includes "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Sad to say, most of the responses from the video proved true about what is said about many Black people, especially in terms of lacking critical thinking, doing extensive research on any given subject, using emotions over intellect, and jumping to conclusions. It also proved that as the old saying goes "stuffed shirts comes in all colors."

When I challenged them to bring one shred of evidence to prove Islam denigrates Blacks and encourages slavery, not one could do it. Just the usual crying out and accusing Black Muslims of being brainwashed and misled, among other name calling.  However one such person tried to reason that his displeasure towards Arabs and Islam was due to some Arabs who sell liquor, pork and lottery in inner cities.

There was a time when such people would chide those who claimed Islam while engaging in acts they knew were forbidden in Islam. Those days are gone for many.

Like Donald Trump, these actions are now used to masked their hatred and bigotry towards Islam, as well as other races of people.  One such individual expressed his joy over some of the atrocities that are happening to the Arabs, even the killing of women and children. He cited that this is the ultimate example that Islam is not true.

Little does this guy truly understand Islam, and how in Islam, the Muslim community can also be punished, if evil and disobedience is prevalent in the community. The Creator will dole out punishment to those who profess belief but act otherwise. However the punishment for the Muslim community only resides in this life, not in the Hereafter.

Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron. Ar-Rad, verse 11

But this is the problem with bigotry and racism. The hatred of others and desire to be better than another based on superficial factors such as color, ethnicity, class, pedigree or whatever clouds their intellect. The mind knows right away that in terms of race, one's skin color does not dictate intelligence or lack thereof, but a corrupted heart, filled with undue arrogance, hatred, and intolerance will lead one to believe the most ridiculous and illogical of stories about another person or culture.

How can the Black community cry foul against racism and White supremacy, when they may hold the same racist beliefs as described in those Hidden Color documentaries? How can they possibly hope for justice when they're willing to believe the first lie that comes to them about someone from another belief or nationality?

Once I reflected on this, it gave me a whole new perspective on why we witnessed all of these recent slave narratives. As one imam said in a lecture about the New World Order, they were preparing us for something.

This country and its inhabitants point fingers at everybody else and everything for the dismal plight and the decline of this country. Meanwhile claiming superiority over all others at the same time. Yesterday's shooting is a reminder that something is horribly wrong with this democracy we claim we live in.  It will not be fixed with the usual finger pointing and name calling that occurs on all sides. It will only come starting with an honest reflection about this society and freedoms we claim to enjoy. Until then it's business as usual.

Whatever reaches you of good is from God, whatever befalls you of evil is from yourself.  An-Nisa verse 79

No Common Sense and The Illusion of Inclusion

Over a year ago I started a blog about rapper/actor Common (formerly known as Common Sense) commenting on statements he made at that time, some were deemed controversial, such as the statement he made suggesting that Blacks in America should just put away the past, shake hands with White people and just love each other. 

I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, due to the fact that he came across at that time as a Christian, and knowing how Black Christians were always taught to "turn the other cheek" whenever assaulted by someone, especially a White person. I had a Black Christian upbringing, so I know very well the passive demeanor that is indoctrinated in Blacks, although White Christians, especially the conservative Christians, don't have to adhere to such doctrine, especially when they "feel" threatened by people, beliefs or systems that are alien to their way of life and thinking. 

When he made comments about how former President Obama's legacy impacted him, I started to go off on him, seeing that Blacks in America continue even unto this day to deem the Obama administration as the greatest thing to happen to this country. Never mind the open air attack on Black men proliferated with the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown as such. , The Feminist movement amped up their attack on men under Obama's watch, especially Black men with the likes of Bill Cosby and Afrika Bambataa. Not to mention giving Israel 38

  billion dollars at the end of his administration. Yet somehow, for some reason or another, I let it go.

But after watching two recent snippets of him, one snippet of him standing and clapping at Oprah's tired propaganda speech at the Golden Globe Awards, and the most recent of him reciting a poem this past weekend at a Women's March from a song entitled "The Day Women Took Over", one cannot help but think what the hell is this guy thinking?

These two recent incidents made me so happy in knowing that in 1995 a Reggae band of the name Common Sense sued Common and made him change the name, to which he removed the Sense from his moniker.

He hasn't been showing much common sense to keep such a name anyway.

Regarding the trifling acceptance speech by Oprah Winfrey, research from the official Golden Globe Award website show that Oprah was nominated for the award for her work in the 1985 movie The Color Purple, a movie from a novel of the same name by feminist Alice Walker and directed by Steven Speilberg.

Stop and think for a moment. She's being awarded for a 33 year old movie? Really? And people accept this blindly? And what was this movie about you might ask? This movie depicted Black men in the most horrible terms, It was a Black feminists' dream and a Black man's nightmare. And as for the author, Alice Walker, a Black feminist who was instrumental in criticizing the Black Panthers and anything else Black and masculine, it should be noteworthy of her extreme hatred towards men, Black men especially. In a BBC documentary about the drug-riddled, troubled life of jazz legend Billie Holliday, Alice had this to say about Billie's bisexuality;

When I learned that Billie Holliday had partners of both sexes, I was delighted, because I like to think there were women who were equally as savvy, equally as canny, equally as voluptuous and equally as loving, and as fierce as Billie Holliday, and they had a wonderful time. 

It should also be noted that Cecil B. Demille, whom the award was named after, was a CIA asset hired by then director Allen Dulles to serve on board for a quasi-organization for Radio Free Europe, which was really a propaganda tool to fight against Communism in the 1950s.

So this PR campaign, which obviously supports the subversion and manipulation of the so-called Women's movement, gives a Black Feminist an award for a 33 year old film that depicts Black men in the most hideous of portrayals, and then Oprah gets on the podium and gives this contrived speech of female victimization, as if only women are the victims of rape, and only men are the perpetrators of rape and abuse, and where is Common in all of this? Clapping as if this was actually an accomplishment.

Then to see him at this Women's March, which was supposed to be about equality(or so they claim), spitting the lyrics to a song entitled "The Day Women Took Over", which gives the impression that things will be so much better if women took over rulership of nations and governments, one has to wonder what is this guy thinking? Is he really that unaware, or is it calculated?

How could he recite such dribble to a crowd of women and a movement who DELIBERATELY omit the sufferings of men via domestic violence and rape with a metoo campaign? Bullying those who dared to challenge or even discuss rape, sexual abuse, and mistreatment of men BY WOMEN by name calling? Flooded the MEDIA with open letters and allegations of rape by men, such as the allegations made against Russell Simmons, and sent waves of allegations of rape by men resulting in suspensions and firings without due process? Does it make sense that their definition of justice and equality is to emasculate men, heap untrue allegations and absolve women from accountability of their contributions to the moral decay of society?

So tell me Mr. Lonnie Rashad Lynn Jr., aka Common, is this how women are going to take over the world? With the same underhanded, deceitful, lying, manipulative tactics that they claim keeps the so called patriarchy alive? Can't you see that any so called gains made by using these tactics are just as unethical as if men did it? Or do you think women don't lie and cheat? Remember Emmitt Till.

Is this what happens to the minds of Blacks when Black people win awards? Apparently so. Now we're having to put up with the all-of-a-sudden Black antics of Academy Award winner Mo'Nique, who now wants Black people to boycott Netflix for what she calls "gender and racial" bias, simply because she doesn't feel she's being compensated properly... We have to remember she won an Academy Award for her ghetto role in the movie "Precious". 

Get real...Go take a seat over there with Colin Kaepernick, Jada Pinkett Smith, and the rest of the middle class Blacks who scream racism and boycott only when they don't get THEIR way.

Should I recognize Common's winning an Academy Award for a song he did in the movie "Selma" as an "achievement" when that same academy gave the same awards a few years back to a group who created a song entitled "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp"? Really?

Oh and I forgot all about the Black Panther movie coming up...Give me a break, please...

I sit here wondering just when Black people are going to realize this illusion of inclusion in America by both conservatives and liberals is only just that? An illusion?