incomplete thoughts and instantaneous reactions. something more coherent tomorrow 🫶🏾 #Debate2024
incomplete thoughts and instantaneous reactions. something more coherent tomorrow 🫶🏾 #Debate2024
incomplete thoughts and instantaneous reactions. something more coherent tomorrow 🫶🏾 #Debate2024
incomplete thoughts and instantaneous reactions. something more coherent tomorrow 🫶🏾 #Debate2024
incomplete thoughts and instantaneous reactions. something more coherent tomorrow 🫶🏾 #Debate2024
to my unborn son, on my 40th birthday, you are the most beautiful surprise I did not know to ask for. in the shadow of the failures of a nation, you grow as a testament to impossibility and abundance. before you came, i did not know to dream of you. Now that you are on your way, my love for you is boundless. you are proof of miracles, signs and wonders. proof that songs of joy are always worth singing. proof that God’s promises are yea and amen even and especially when they least look like it. i vow to protect you and your most precious brother with my life, not simply by my sacrifice, but by the way i live. in my now 40 years on this earth, i am clearer than ever that no matter what they say, i am free. you and your brother will bear witness to a free Black woman so that you will know you, too, are free. you will bear witness to a woman who is proud to be a mother-and everything else i was born to be. you will bear witness to the unbent backs of every mother in me and before me, to the victorious lineage that runs through you, to the unbowed heads of Black people who give your lives pride and your names meaning. you will know a woman who embraces evolution with courage and the unexpected with great faith. you will know a friend who finally knows her sensitivity is not a flaw, but a blessing of compassion that fuels her imperfect but very big heart. you will know a mommy who knows my power and my joy don’t come from the world—and that makes it unbreakable. what a gift you are, butterfly. happy birthday to me. on this, the dawn of a new decade, with more love than there are words, mommy.
to my unborn son, on my 40th birthday, you are the most beautiful surprise I did not know to ask for. in the shadow of the failures of a nation, you grow as a testament to impossibility and abundance. before you came, i did not know to dream of you. Now that you are on your way, my love for you is boundless. you are proof of miracles, signs and wonders. proof that songs of joy are always worth singing. proof that God’s promises are yea and amen even and especially when they least look like it. i vow to protect you and your most precious brother with my life, not simply by my sacrifice, but by the way i live. in my now 40 years on this earth, i am clearer than ever that no matter what they say, i am free. you and your brother will bear witness to a free Black woman so that you will know you, too, are free. you will bear witness to a woman who is proud to be a mother-and everything else i was born to be. you will bear witness to the unbent backs of every mother in me and before me, to the victorious lineage that runs through you, to the unbowed heads of Black people who give your lives pride and your names meaning. you will know a woman who embraces evolution with courage and the unexpected with great faith. you will know a friend who finally knows her sensitivity is not a flaw, but a blessing of compassion that fuels her imperfect but very big heart. you will know a mommy who knows my power and my joy don’t come from the world—and that makes it unbreakable. what a gift you are, butterfly. happy birthday to me. on this, the dawn of a new decade, with more love than there are words, mommy.
to my unborn son, on my 40th birthday, you are the most beautiful surprise I did not know to ask for. in the shadow of the failures of a nation, you grow as a testament to impossibility and abundance. before you came, i did not know to dream of you. Now that you are on your way, my love for you is boundless. you are proof of miracles, signs and wonders. proof that songs of joy are always worth singing. proof that God’s promises are yea and amen even and especially when they least look like it. i vow to protect you and your most precious brother with my life, not simply by my sacrifice, but by the way i live. in my now 40 years on this earth, i am clearer than ever that no matter what they say, i am free. you and your brother will bear witness to a free Black woman so that you will know you, too, are free. you will bear witness to a woman who is proud to be a mother-and everything else i was born to be. you will bear witness to the unbent backs of every mother in me and before me, to the victorious lineage that runs through you, to the unbowed heads of Black people who give your lives pride and your names meaning. you will know a woman who embraces evolution with courage and the unexpected with great faith. you will know a friend who finally knows her sensitivity is not a flaw, but a blessing of compassion that fuels her imperfect but very big heart. you will know a mommy who knows my power and my joy don’t come from the world—and that makes it unbreakable. what a gift you are, butterfly. happy birthday to me. on this, the dawn of a new decade, with more love than there are words, mommy.
to my unborn son, on my 40th birthday, you are the most beautiful surprise I did not know to ask for. in the shadow of the failures of a nation, you grow as a testament to impossibility and abundance. before you came, i did not know to dream of you. Now that you are on your way, my love for you is boundless. you are proof of miracles, signs and wonders. proof that songs of joy are always worth singing. proof that God’s promises are yea and amen even and especially when they least look like it. i vow to protect you and your most precious brother with my life, not simply by my sacrifice, but by the way i live. in my now 40 years on this earth, i am clearer than ever that no matter what they say, i am free. you and your brother will bear witness to a free Black woman so that you will know you, too, are free. you will bear witness to a woman who is proud to be a mother-and everything else i was born to be. you will bear witness to the unbent backs of every mother in me and before me, to the victorious lineage that runs through you, to the unbowed heads of Black people who give your lives pride and your names meaning. you will know a woman who embraces evolution with courage and the unexpected with great faith. you will know a friend who finally knows her sensitivity is not a flaw, but a blessing of compassion that fuels her imperfect but very big heart. you will know a mommy who knows my power and my joy don’t come from the world—and that makes it unbreakable. what a gift you are, butterfly. happy birthday to me. on this, the dawn of a new decade, with more love than there are words, mommy.
to my unborn son, on my 40th birthday, you are the most beautiful surprise I did not know to ask for. in the shadow of the failures of a nation, you grow as a testament to impossibility and abundance. before you came, i did not know to dream of you. Now that you are on your way, my love for you is boundless. you are proof of miracles, signs and wonders. proof that songs of joy are always worth singing. proof that God’s promises are yea and amen even and especially when they least look like it. i vow to protect you and your most precious brother with my life, not simply by my sacrifice, but by the way i live. in my now 40 years on this earth, i am clearer than ever that no matter what they say, i am free. you and your brother will bear witness to a free Black woman so that you will know you, too, are free. you will bear witness to a woman who is proud to be a mother-and everything else i was born to be. you will bear witness to the unbent backs of every mother in me and before me, to the victorious lineage that runs through you, to the unbowed heads of Black people who give your lives pride and your names meaning. you will know a woman who embraces evolution with courage and the unexpected with great faith. you will know a friend who finally knows her sensitivity is not a flaw, but a blessing of compassion that fuels her imperfect but very big heart. you will know a mommy who knows my power and my joy don’t come from the world—and that makes it unbreakable. what a gift you are, butterfly. happy birthday to me. on this, the dawn of a new decade, with more love than there are words, mommy.
[sound on:] today @ home with a loving, bright, joyful 2 year old👉🏾Jan ‘22 in NICU holding my 28 week old baby for just the second time 👉🏾 tweeting from a hospital bed strapped up to hear my 22 week old baby’s tiny little heartbeat inside me. everyday I get to watch my 1 lb 9 oz 24-week rainbow baby eat impossible for lunch with so so much joy and excitement. and I shed tears nearly daily in gratitude for the privilege of being *this* child’s mother. If God never does a single new thing for me, I’ll forever remain obsessed with our own testimony. s/o to @jovianzayne’s granddaddy 🫶🏾 my big boy is not defined by his accomplishments, but by the beauty of a beating heart and breathing lungs he protected with his small, steeled body to win his fight to be present and bring us his innate light. my life is not defined by motherhood. it is defined by the consistent drumbeat of God’s blessings and the light of gratitude that shines from my soul, replenished each day by this young one’s smile and love. I’ll never be able to put it into words that do it justice. For now, I share in hopes that you might be encouraged: what is for us won’t pass us. May your latter days be even greater than the greatest of your former days. just remember to say thank you. love y’all.
[sound on:] today @ home with a loving, bright, joyful 2 year old👉🏾Jan ‘22 in NICU holding my 28 week old baby for just the second time 👉🏾 tweeting from a hospital bed strapped up to hear my 22 week old baby’s tiny little heartbeat inside me. everyday I get to watch my 1 lb 9 oz 24-week rainbow baby eat impossible for lunch with so so much joy and excitement. and I shed tears nearly daily in gratitude for the privilege of being *this* child’s mother. If God never does a single new thing for me, I’ll forever remain obsessed with our own testimony. s/o to @jovianzayne’s granddaddy 🫶🏾 my big boy is not defined by his accomplishments, but by the beauty of a beating heart and breathing lungs he protected with his small, steeled body to win his fight to be present and bring us his innate light. my life is not defined by motherhood. it is defined by the consistent drumbeat of God’s blessings and the light of gratitude that shines from my soul, replenished each day by this young one’s smile and love. I’ll never be able to put it into words that do it justice. For now, I share in hopes that you might be encouraged: what is for us won’t pass us. May your latter days be even greater than the greatest of your former days. just remember to say thank you. love y’all.
[sound on:] today @ home with a loving, bright, joyful 2 year old👉🏾Jan ‘22 in NICU holding my 28 week old baby for just the second time 👉🏾 tweeting from a hospital bed strapped up to hear my 22 week old baby’s tiny little heartbeat inside me. everyday I get to watch my 1 lb 9 oz 24-week rainbow baby eat impossible for lunch with so so much joy and excitement. and I shed tears nearly daily in gratitude for the privilege of being *this* child’s mother. If God never does a single new thing for me, I’ll forever remain obsessed with our own testimony. s/o to @jovianzayne’s granddaddy 🫶🏾 my big boy is not defined by his accomplishments, but by the beauty of a beating heart and breathing lungs he protected with his small, steeled body to win his fight to be present and bring us his innate light. my life is not defined by motherhood. it is defined by the consistent drumbeat of God’s blessings and the light of gratitude that shines from my soul, replenished each day by this young one’s smile and love. I’ll never be able to put it into words that do it justice. For now, I share in hopes that you might be encouraged: what is for us won’t pass us. May your latter days be even greater than the greatest of your former days. just remember to say thank you. love y’all.
Frankie Beverly in all white will forever be what heaven feels like. Only family gets to call us by our nicknames. And Howard Stanley Beverly thought us all family enough to let us call him Frankie. The purest indication that when he sang ‘We Are One,’ he meant it from the most generous of hearts. It takes ancestral connection and spiritual discipline to build circles unbroken in uncertain times. but with every performance, every festival, every track and every vinyl, you’ve given us a reason to feel the warmth of the sun on our faces and the glow of love surrounding to remind us that through the Joy and Pain, we are each divine, worthy of the circle and worthy of love. I’ll never know precisely how you did it, but I’ll be forever blessed that you saw fit to do it. @stevie_elem said it best: “ I knew I was part of something divine. As the opening notes of “Joy and Pain” filled the air, the drums, congas and hand claps reverberated through our chests, igniting a familiar yet unrehearsed ancestral response. In unison, we chanted, “Go ’head, go ’head, go ’head,” our voices rising as Frankie, in his signature white head-to-toe linen, teased us with Maze’s famous synth sounds. The deep, spiritual groove was a gateway to pure, uninhibited joy and freedom. And we moved as one band, one sound—electric slidin’ in all of our perfect and playful moves. With our singin’ and sanctified!” Uncle Frankie, Godfather Frankie, Mr. Beverly… The light you’ve filled our lives with is forever impossible to extinguish. Take your rightful place in the kingdom: you no longer have to create heaven for us on earth. Simply rest in the glory you’ve well earned. I pray we have learned the lessons of your life, lyrics and art—that as Black folks, holding each other as worthy and divine is what we owe each other. I pray that as we lose our elders, we don’t lose the wisdom. Because in our lowest moments, we lift us like no one else can. You lifted us like no one else could. I pray that as you take your eternal golden time of day, I hope you hear us lifting up your sounds— singing, swaying, praising, praying, holding one another just as you held us. 🕊️
Frankie Beverly in all white will forever be what heaven feels like. Only family gets to call us by our nicknames. And Howard Stanley Beverly thought us all family enough to let us call him Frankie. The purest indication that when he sang ‘We Are One,’ he meant it from the most generous of hearts. It takes ancestral connection and spiritual discipline to build circles unbroken in uncertain times. but with every performance, every festival, every track and every vinyl, you’ve given us a reason to feel the warmth of the sun on our faces and the glow of love surrounding to remind us that through the Joy and Pain, we are each divine, worthy of the circle and worthy of love. I’ll never know precisely how you did it, but I’ll be forever blessed that you saw fit to do it. @stevie_elem said it best: “ I knew I was part of something divine. As the opening notes of “Joy and Pain” filled the air, the drums, congas and hand claps reverberated through our chests, igniting a familiar yet unrehearsed ancestral response. In unison, we chanted, “Go ’head, go ’head, go ’head,” our voices rising as Frankie, in his signature white head-to-toe linen, teased us with Maze’s famous synth sounds. The deep, spiritual groove was a gateway to pure, uninhibited joy and freedom. And we moved as one band, one sound—electric slidin’ in all of our perfect and playful moves. With our singin’ and sanctified!” Uncle Frankie, Godfather Frankie, Mr. Beverly… The light you’ve filled our lives with is forever impossible to extinguish. Take your rightful place in the kingdom: you no longer have to create heaven for us on earth. Simply rest in the glory you’ve well earned. I pray we have learned the lessons of your life, lyrics and art—that as Black folks, holding each other as worthy and divine is what we owe each other. I pray that as we lose our elders, we don’t lose the wisdom. Because in our lowest moments, we lift us like no one else can. You lifted us like no one else could. I pray that as you take your eternal golden time of day, I hope you hear us lifting up your sounds— singing, swaying, praising, praying, holding one another just as you held us. 🕊️
Frankie Beverly in all white will forever be what heaven feels like. Only family gets to call us by our nicknames. And Howard Stanley Beverly thought us all family enough to let us call him Frankie. The purest indication that when he sang ‘We Are One,’ he meant it from the most generous of hearts. It takes ancestral connection and spiritual discipline to build circles unbroken in uncertain times. but with every performance, every festival, every track and every vinyl, you’ve given us a reason to feel the warmth of the sun on our faces and the glow of love surrounding to remind us that through the Joy and Pain, we are each divine, worthy of the circle and worthy of love. I’ll never know precisely how you did it, but I’ll be forever blessed that you saw fit to do it. @stevie_elem said it best: “ I knew I was part of something divine. As the opening notes of “Joy and Pain” filled the air, the drums, congas and hand claps reverberated through our chests, igniting a familiar yet unrehearsed ancestral response. In unison, we chanted, “Go ’head, go ’head, go ’head,” our voices rising as Frankie, in his signature white head-to-toe linen, teased us with Maze’s famous synth sounds. The deep, spiritual groove was a gateway to pure, uninhibited joy and freedom. And we moved as one band, one sound—electric slidin’ in all of our perfect and playful moves. With our singin’ and sanctified!” Uncle Frankie, Godfather Frankie, Mr. Beverly… The light you’ve filled our lives with is forever impossible to extinguish. Take your rightful place in the kingdom: you no longer have to create heaven for us on earth. Simply rest in the glory you’ve well earned. I pray we have learned the lessons of your life, lyrics and art—that as Black folks, holding each other as worthy and divine is what we owe each other. I pray that as we lose our elders, we don’t lose the wisdom. Because in our lowest moments, we lift us like no one else can. You lifted us like no one else could. I pray that as you take your eternal golden time of day, I hope you hear us lifting up your sounds— singing, swaying, praising, praying, holding one another just as you held us. 🕊️
Frankie Beverly in all white will forever be what heaven feels like. Only family gets to call us by our nicknames. And Howard Stanley Beverly thought us all family enough to let us call him Frankie. The purest indication that when he sang ‘We Are One,’ he meant it from the most generous of hearts. It takes ancestral connection and spiritual discipline to build circles unbroken in uncertain times. but with every performance, every festival, every track and every vinyl, you’ve given us a reason to feel the warmth of the sun on our faces and the glow of love surrounding to remind us that through the Joy and Pain, we are each divine, worthy of the circle and worthy of love. I’ll never know precisely how you did it, but I’ll be forever blessed that you saw fit to do it. @stevie_elem said it best: “ I knew I was part of something divine. As the opening notes of “Joy and Pain” filled the air, the drums, congas and hand claps reverberated through our chests, igniting a familiar yet unrehearsed ancestral response. In unison, we chanted, “Go ’head, go ’head, go ’head,” our voices rising as Frankie, in his signature white head-to-toe linen, teased us with Maze’s famous synth sounds. The deep, spiritual groove was a gateway to pure, uninhibited joy and freedom. And we moved as one band, one sound—electric slidin’ in all of our perfect and playful moves. With our singin’ and sanctified!” Uncle Frankie, Godfather Frankie, Mr. Beverly… The light you’ve filled our lives with is forever impossible to extinguish. Take your rightful place in the kingdom: you no longer have to create heaven for us on earth. Simply rest in the glory you’ve well earned. I pray we have learned the lessons of your life, lyrics and art—that as Black folks, holding each other as worthy and divine is what we owe each other. I pray that as we lose our elders, we don’t lose the wisdom. Because in our lowest moments, we lift us like no one else can. You lifted us like no one else could. I pray that as you take your eternal golden time of day, I hope you hear us lifting up your sounds— singing, swaying, praising, praying, holding one another just as you held us. 🕊️
Pay attention. Repost from @seven_sisters_collective • We, a dedicated group of organizers united under the name of Sonya Massey—a victim of police violence—are calling for your support and action. Since Sonya’s tragic death on July 6, 2024, over 100 more lives have been lost to more of the same violence. Sonya was not the first, and she was not the last. We continue to seek Justice for: Breonna Taylor Sandra Bland Korryn Gaines Ahmaud Arbery Sean Monterrosa D’Vontaye Mitchell And for the Countless #Nameless. We urge you to join us at a vigil in your community to honor their memories and Say Their Names. If you don’t see a vigil in your city, we invite you to step forward and help organize one. Email [email protected] OR click the link in bio 📌 #sayhernameniawilson Your voice matters. Your action matters. The time is NOW ! #justice4sonyamassey #NoMore2024 #sayhername #YNBC @vigils2saytheirnames
Pay attention. Repost from @seven_sisters_collective • We, a dedicated group of organizers united under the name of Sonya Massey—a victim of police violence—are calling for your support and action. Since Sonya’s tragic death on July 6, 2024, over 100 more lives have been lost to more of the same violence. Sonya was not the first, and she was not the last. We continue to seek Justice for: Breonna Taylor Sandra Bland Korryn Gaines Ahmaud Arbery Sean Monterrosa D’Vontaye Mitchell And for the Countless #Nameless. We urge you to join us at a vigil in your community to honor their memories and Say Their Names. If you don’t see a vigil in your city, we invite you to step forward and help organize one. Email [email protected] OR click the link in bio 📌 #sayhernameniawilson Your voice matters. Your action matters. The time is NOW ! #justice4sonyamassey #NoMore2024 #sayhername #YNBC @vigils2saytheirnames
I often think about the convenient American narrative that terrorism is only a foreign reality. It shouldn’t be alive anywhere—and yet the often ignored domestic terrorism that Black and Indigenous people have and continue to face in this country is forgotten for the comfortable illusion of exceptionalism. I also often think about how that sense of exceptionalism is rooted in the evangelical notion that we are the most moral nation in the world—a dominant American idea that ignores the pain we cause here and around the world. The rise of the blonde, blue eyed white American Christ was never never reflective of the truth—but it was the supposed cover for a multitude of sins. The Klan, after all, identities as a Christian organization. Part of the deliberate domestic terrorism against Black people target our spaces of worship with great intention: to send the message that they believe their God had ordained them to take us out. That no space we deem safe or sacred will ever be respected by them. That our audacity to build sanctified institutions and structures of social change in one were expressly forbidden, from our Churches to our Muslim Mosques and anywhere between. The day these four little girls were bombed to death in their Sunday best frilly socks and bows felt, I’m sure, eerily similar to the day Mother Bethel was attacked as her Black saints prayed on the inside just a few years ago. Don’t let the Black and white footage fool you: the past is prologue. Repost from @naacp_ldf • 61 years ago, a bomb exploded during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11). In the aftermath of the bombing, two more black youths, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, were shot to death in Birmingham. All 6 children were involuntarily martyrs of a movement to which this country still owes a tremendous debt. We cannot forget the sacrifices made to bring America closer to its professed ideals. Today, we honor and continue to fight for equal rights in their name.
Ummmmm can we talk about last night?! First, let’s give praise to Kamala Harris for being a professional while handing out a good READ! 👏🏾 Second…..what was that from the other side? 🫠 Our very own @mspackyetti breaks everything down! #BETNews #WeVoteBET
Oh, you ain’t heard? *Rubs hands together sneakily😏* 🗣️OUR SEASON 3 PREMIERE WITH @ava IS LIVE!!!! UNDISTRACTED fam, we BACK with Season 3! Ava DuVernay (@ava) is a visionary, icon, and the big-sis of all big-sis wisdom 🙌🏾. We really WENT there: From the cookout vibes at the DNC to how her latest film, ORIGIN, is shifting the game… and why she thinks the Dems need to throw some “bare-knuckle” punches. 👀 She dropped m gems on how to thrive, disrupt, and at the end of the day, stay connected to that which is truly significant—the people. Plus, we’ve got the fresh UNtrending news you didn’t know you needed. 🎧 Episode 1 is out!! Catch up & listen in—and make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a second of this heat. This season launch is brought to you by @penamerica for #BannedBooksWeek. Visit pen.org/undistracted to learn more. And thanks always to @popcollab for the support!
the debate is almost here—and all of us have something to say about it. What do YOU want to see and hear from tonight’s debate? Thrilled to have joined @alexwittnews to share my thoughts once again on @msnbc. I’ll be pulled up tonight, notebook in one hand and an Olivia Pope sized wine glass in the other 👀. #Debate #Election #Politics #Trump #Harris
🗣️We’re Baaaaaack 🙌🏾 UNDISTRACTED fam, season 3 is HERE! And we’re diving in deep starting THIS Thursday, 9/12. 🎙️ that’s two days from now. Put it in ya calendar and subscribe NEOW, bookie. IYKYK: We’re not just here to talk—we’re here to disrupt, dismantle, and reimagine-and protect our joy while we do it! Quick❓❓: WHO do y’all who you want to hear from this season? WHAT issues are your mind? What’s driving you absolutely wild or bringing you joy? And WHAT do you just want me to jump up on a mic to talk about? We’re listening, baby! UNDISTRACTED is produced by @themeteor in partnership with @wmn.media, with support from incredible friends at @popcollab. And, of course, YOU, the UNDISTRACTED family of creative thinkers and subversive doers. Missed y’all real big! Let’s talk every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts 🫶🏾.
