Links to Excellence - The Speech

Saluting August Wilson’s ability to exhume the ordinary, here’s a recap of Viola Davis's acceptance speech at the 89th Academy Awards, and Carl Lumbly sharing what his theatrical role in Fences gave him in this 2014 Interiors interview.

Artificial Self-esteem

                                                            Courtesy of The Minimalists
                                                                                

I always say money isn’t everything, and I hope to maintain this conviction.

It’s a mantra that rests in a grounded belief that nothing is worth the monetization of one’s soul, and is solidified by either one’s experience or vividly imagining how it would feel to relinquish one’s dignity in exchange for money or another externality.

Some learn this through experience, while others hold this belief through an intuitive understanding of priceless character built from a centeredness of self and principled teachings, leading to moral insight that one’s worth and dignity are sufficient and do not require an abundance of materialistic consumption to artifice one’s worth, as seen by excessive materialism, which has become the zeitgeist of American culture.

In the film, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, this concept of extreme consumption is addressed with simulations of consumer mania driven by an insatiable need to fill the voided self with an illusion of self-esteem that’s never captured in pursuing material goods to the extent that things have become a deity, alienating one from one’s authentic self.

Closing the documentary with footage from Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” speech, the film makes a prevailing argument on misplaced values with a prophetic warning that has come to fruition.

 Visit The Minimalists

“When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”

                                                                                –  Shirley Chisholm

Remembering Gloria Naylor

... A fictional architect who could freeze a setting in the reader’s imagination, while transporting one to a polarized world with as much magnetism to dread the departure.

Mulligan Motivates

___________________________

An Idris Moment

"Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important."

               – James Baldwin

Miscegenated Rhythms

Courtesy of the Band

When eight culturally diverse band members merge their individual talents from three distinct genres, the result is an intriguing sound of "miscegnating" rhythms, intoning messages of peace, love, and unity.

Coming across televised coverage of Sidewalk Chalk, here’s a look at a standout band with great horns, compelling vocals, keys, strings, and more.

Band Members: Rico Sisney (MC), Maggie Vagle (Vocals), Charlie Coffeen (Keys), Josh Rosen (Bass), Xavier Breaker (Drums), Jumaane Taylor (Taps), Sam Trump (Trumpet), and David Ben-Porat (Trombone).

                                                          
                                                                  Sidewalk Chalk