In many cultures, ethnic groups, and nations around the world, hair is considered a source of power and prestige. African people brought these traditions and beliefs to the Americas and passed them down through the generations.

In my mother’s family (Black Americans from rural South Carolina) the women don’t cut their hair off unless absolutely necessary (i.e damage or routine trimming). Long hair is considered a symbol of beauty and power; my mother often told me that our hair holds our strength and power. Though my mother’s family has been American born for several generations, it is fascinating to see the beliefs and traditions of our African ancestors passed down. We are emotionally and spiritually attached to our hair, cutting it only with the knowledge that we are starting completely clean and removing stagnant energy.

Couple this with the forced removal and covering of our hair from the times of slavery and onward, and you can see why so many Black women and men alike take such pride and care in their natural hair and love to adorn our heads with wigs, weaves, braids, twists, accessories, and sharp designs.

Hair is not just hair in African diaspora cultures, and this is why the appropriation and stigma surrounding our hair is so harmful.

This is Chaka Khan appreciation. Without Chaka, we might never have heard of the (still-underrated) Rufus. We would’ve never had Kanye’s “Through The Wire.” We would’ve just missed so much. Whether you call here Yvette Marie Stevens (her birth name) or Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi (adding the Khan after marriage), the name she received when she became a member of the Black Panther Party and friends with Fred Hampton, you’d have to acknowledge that lovers of music owe her so much. 11 solo albums. Another 11 with Rufus. A career that spans more than 42 years. 10 Grammy Awards. 22 Grammy Nominations. When you look at this pictures, know that you’re looking at greatness. I mean, even after all that, she’s so bad that a 60-plus-year-old Chaka Khan looks like a lot like a 31 year old Nicki Minaj. (You’ve been told: it don’t crack.)  Her beauty, her hair, the face, the energy, the presence—these things would define a mere mortal. But Chaka is no mere mortal: she is every woman, and her musical and artistic accomplishments are so great that even her beauty cannot distract you from her talent for long. She’s been quoted as saying, “I’ve always struggled so much just to appreciate myself.” That one quote explains so much. But Chaka—Yvette— and this is no substitute, but you should know: we appreciate you, for who you are and what you’ve done. Let me tell you something good: you are one of the best ever to do it. Chicago stand up. Everybody stand up.

@ayeleshia

This is the Lucky Ace. Reblog to recieve a wad of cash that is oddly specific to your current needs.

I reblogged this shit two days ago y’all… what kinda sorcery is this. Oddly specific too …. I’ll take it tho 🤯

I think I did it wrong

Uh I reblogged this like 3 days ago and I start my new job on Monday??? Like idk how you accidentally find a job but I did.

I need to get paid asap so pls ace help

I GOT PAID I GOT PAID!!!!!! MUCH MORE THAN I EXPECTED AAAAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU ACE

I legit have a specific amount i want in my head rn it better come true 😭

I ALSO HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY I WOULD LIKE TO ACQUIRE, PLEASE HELP

This has worked before, so why not again?

you can have more notes just please give me money

Gimme some money pleaseee 😭

🧿🧿🧿🧿

A lot of these Death Row cases that are emerging now ...happened between Reagan’s “War on Drugs” & Clinton’s crime bill. During this time police were pressured (& incentivized) to close cases, and they utilized the Racist narrative already established in this Country to target young Black Men (& Black people in general)

Systemic Racism in the Justice system means stricter sentencing laws which leads to excessive criminal sentences for Black people, that fuels more prisons (which creates a demand for prisoners) and THAT emboldened the police to abuse power. It’s a disgusting cycle that NEEDS RACISM to because Racism justifies the exploitation of Black people.

Defunding The Police, Dismantling ICE Prison Abolition, and Abolishing the death penalty are the most pressing issues in our Nation.

Before Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin.

Most people think of Rosa Parks as the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. There were actually several women who came before her, Claudette Colvin.

March 2, 1955, when the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl refused to move to the back of the bus, nine months before Rosa Parks’ stand that launched the Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette had been studying Black leaders like Harriet Tubman in her segregated school, those conversations had led to discussions around the current day Jim Crow laws they were all experiencing. When the bus driver ordered Claudette to get up, she refused, “It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me pushing me down. I couldn't get up."

Claudette Colvin’s stand didn’t stop there. Arrested and thrown in jail, she was one of four women who challenged the segregation law in court. At the time, the NAACP and other Black organisations felt Rosa Parks made a better icon for the movement than a teenager. As an adult with the 'right look', Rosa Parks was also the secretary of the NAACP, and was both well-known and respected – people would associate her with the middle class and that would attract support for the cause. But the struggle to end segregation was often fought by young people, more than half of which were women. 

Claudettes name is often left out of the boycott history lessons

So much has been hidden from us.

Its important to learn and research, history explains why the world is the way it is today.

Justice for Quawan Charles! He was only a baby, his family deserves to have answers and the culprits need to be caught and punished.

#manifesting

He owes her more than just an apology.

John Boyega and Lucasfilm’s racism and lies

When all know how the companies loved to use Black Lives Matter to help their PR, or at least they did when they could still monetize it. 

One of the companies that did that had been Lucasfilm who did that by supporting John Boyega when he had gone out to protest back in June of 2020.

The funny thing is, and by funny I mean bull shit, Lucasfilm has never shown support for John Boyega through the years as he’s faced years of racism from both the Star Wars Community and from folks within their own company.

In fact, even during the push to boycott John’s casting, Lucasfilm had never said a word in support of John Boyega.

They showed zero support for the STAR of their own new trilogy, yet were sure to put his face eveywhere in the marketing

And this got me thinking how much they had used John Boyega’s Finn in the marketing of the film “The Force Awakens” to advertise a Black Jedi, and how even the film had set it up, and yet John Boyega had this to stay in regards to how The Last Jedi treated him and his character.

And through the years, many folks would defend Lucasfilm under the excuse that the story of Rey and Kylo was actually the main story, that Finn was just a red herring or that his story would take away from hers.

Well to all those people, get your clown shoes because Daisy Ridley just said “LOL NOP!” to all that.

So no, they never had Rey’s story nailed down. They never had Kylo’s story either. Think about that, in a story where Rey could have been anything and everything always had to be about Kylo, Finn was sidelined for no reason.

Oh, wait. I know the reason and I talked about it in this video in detail:

So I’m just wondering, if Lucasfilm stood with the Black community, why did they sideline Finn? If Lucasfilm actually stood with John Boyega, why did they not only show zero support for him until they could use it for PR? Lucasfilm never stood with the Black Community, it never stood with John Boyega, and they deserve all the backlash they’re getting for this fake woke trilogy.

Retweet this so everyone knows what they did, so they know how they lied, and if you stand with John Boyega 

I Stand With John Boyega

Hello 70s

© Caitlin Burke

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