Sacred Images

Coming across the MACRO film, Really Love, on Netflix, drew me into an intelligent love story interlaced with life-changing decisions alongside social issues relevant to black America.

This refreshing romantic drama, balancing art and politics with a serious depiction of black love is a sacred piece of art when such imagery is subliminally fading from the minds through an abundance of counter images suggesting the opposite. 

What makes this film more enriching are the images of black love across generations and the cultural commonalities that seed the foundation for such relationships.

Destined to become a classic, Really Love is an exceptional work, extending to the expressions of black culture through the visual arts, music, and commentaries on urban transformation.

Interior Observations______________________

Confidence is more attractive, particularly when it’s embraced from a non-aesthetic lens and substantive assets as character, intelligence, humility and heart.

The Misrepresentation of the Black Woman

The emerging voice in black entertainment is aggressively becoming a “Prurient-Fem” culture, placing a broader spotlight on hypersexuality, opposed to feminine comportment that allows room to showcase the intellectual and humanity-driven attributes of young women, which is far more attractive from a conscious mindset that less is more.

As famed celebrities are awarded for such explicit expressions, which they have the right to do in exertion to their first amendment right, the dangers in doing such is the influence it is waging on young women, some of which are replicating such behavior publicly, as it is seen around the world and propelling a monolithic myth and false representation of Black women as a whole.

In honor of Black Music Month, a counter to this pandemic can be found in the timeless lyrics of “Sophisticated Lady,” recorded by Natalie Cole in 1976.

 “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” 

                                                                             – Jim Rohn 

Interior Observations ________________________

In these times, it’s imperative that we seek healthy stimuli that nourish our mind, body and spirit.

A Woman Paying Homage to Women

Courtesy of the Artist's Reps

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This one life given to us holds us accountable to purpose – lying within our divine identity and shaped by our tastes, talents and desires, combined with assimilating our individuality with the organic vocation that calls us.

If we are fortunate, we are provided with an education and a nourishing environment to attain our dreams and hone our calling into a refined expression.  If not, we must fight for it … slaying obstacles and outside distractions to create a way when there is no way.

As I think about the educational disparities facing young kids living in homes, where their education has been more at risk since Covid – lacking discipline or adequate parenting to encourage learning – they fall prey to aspiring for less than what they can become with the consequences of never discovering their hidden talents; meeting the right mentor; or taking a class that could change their lives. 

It is for this reason that I chose female musician and singer, Kandace Springs as my feature for Women’s History month to exemplify what is possible when gifts are nurtured at an early age, as she pays tribute to legends who have inspired her in the above documentary, The Women Who Raised Me.

Kandace Springs Official Site

 

"You cannot discard elders like an old shoe.  They're human beings still with a whole lot to offer ..."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              – Cicely Tyson