as a teen and even as a young man, you chase women and people that you want or desire to have around you. you might like their physical attributes or the idea of having them in your life. you might even dream about having this person next to you because of what you’ve built them up to be in your mind but a lot of times you’re just chasing that, a dream. a figment of your imagination, and that person is nothing like you’ve built them up to be. and because you’re chasing something that isn’t real you allow yourself to get stepped on and become less of yourself to please them. i heard a pimp once stay like the one that likes you. because that person is with you because they have a genuine interest in being with you. they’ve looked at you and said i like this person so they accept you for who and what you are. there is no chasing, no games to be played. everything that’s done for each other is out of appreciate, love and care. with no hooks at the end of their actions trying to get something out of you. go where you are celebrated and no just tolerated, things will be much smoother and you’ll find that the love you develop for one another is natural.
welcome to burning in paradise
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blind faith
i was listening to a grits and eggs podcast and they were speaking on faith stunting a person growth and it got me thinking. because at one time my faith was stunting my growth and i have seen people, like my father, faith limit and or restrict them because they can’t see beyond what the church has told them. i had to step away from the church because i was at alter crying every weekend.. because i’m being told by my parents that i’m a bad person, that if i don’t listen to them that i was going to be punished by god and ultimately go to hell. being a child and having no understanding of the world around you and not being able to question anything, your worldview become very small. you just start to do thing because that’s what you’ve been told to do, not understanding your own autonomy or having personal respect. you just follow what everyone around you is doing because thats what seems right.
man once stepped away and educated myself, began to understand what and who i am, where my people come from. i was able to love myself and respect myself because my faith didn’t supersede everything. and looking back it made me angry that was forced into the church without guidance of the actual world. I don’t know my lineage, or my grandmother, i don’t have family stories to pass on to my children. all i have is guilt for trying to pursue the things that make me happy and a long list of things i have to unlearn to continue to grow into the person i want to be. unfortunately i have to step away from my father because the church supersedes the relationship he has with his children. for him there is no question the church. and reading anything other than the bible is a disservice to myself. it sucks for real but it’s a sad truth. and no one, no matter who they are is worth me staying ignorant. I’ve been ignorant, and i’m upset i was so ignorant for so long, if only i had the opportunities for critical thought, and the understanding on reason.
a person has to be able to question and ask why. blind faith is not faith if you can think for yourself. anything reasonable and sound should be able to be questioned and not shun you for having any questions, big or small.
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America has a problem with crossing the line. for years americans have used politics and religion to cross the line and then try and return to their day-to-day lives as if what the did was moral or right. and it’s been allowed, turned a blind eye to, permitted in some insistences. then when that same line is crossed to infringe on their rights they sympathy and understanding. they want revenge, they want to get even. it’s an eye for an eye on the land of free. some much so that it’s citizen are blind to their neighbors and community members. pushing others into isolation and hysteria because when you aren’t of anything, you have nothing to lose. instead of us americans coming together on issues that can benefits us as a country, health care, standards of living, minimum wage, we fight at the sight of our perceive like rival gang member. fighting and killing each other for a cause long forgotten and a moment of prideful ignorance because we justified in what were doing, because the other side is wrong. but ain’t nobody bigger than the program, if you cross the line, someone else is going to cross the line to get even. if you kill mines, best believe i’m going to kill yours. is the American way. it’s in our leaders, it’s in our institutions, our news, our school, our people, our children. if a kids at the playground right now gets pushed, they’re going to push back. as a country we can’t play the moral high ground, go to church, and indulge in disorder all in the same day. either let it all go to shit, as we go an eye for an eye to the end or lets stop the lies.
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live laugh love
earl is always someone i’m excited to hear from in or outside of music. he never does what you expected him to do. sonically he’s been down a path that that’s reminiscent of mos def and mf doom, where the beat might have you say, “what the fuck is this?” if you’re not familiar. but if you stay and listen closely you find more than what meets the eye. artist like earl have always had a place in hip hop. they may not reach pop music status but definitely cause a moment of, “hold up i need to check this out before i move on with my day”. by design earl doesn’t love the spotlight but understand the balance of being forward facing when the time is right to present his work to the audience of hip hop. he’ll pop up here and there with moments and hip hop will nod their head in approval or laughter and then it back to the dark alleys of hip hop where he looms making music and putting on artist like mike and mavi. artist that are great rappers and artist but also don’t fit inside what is “popular” by the mainstream, and may not want the attention of the mainstream. artist like earl can still kind of move around without causing riots unlike their counterparts like a drake or Kendrick. earl can rap at the same level when it comes to bars and rhymes but he’s not selling the flashy image or lifestyle that comes with being a rapper, he’s selling himself and his truth.
just this weekend earl has dropped a suprise album with little to no promotion just as tyler did a few months ago. with an interview with the new York post via their popcast. 10 songs and about 25 mins out audio. i’m excited to sit with these songs as see what secrets unfold in the coming days. -
trump’s raid of dc
the increased military presence in D.C. isn’t going to change the city in the long term. America loves taking a military approach with everything as our military has been one of our best assets. but all that does it make things happen with force. and forcing Americans to do anything usually results in a large amount of push back. i don’t think you change a cities culture by having more agents and officers making more arrest. that’s just going to cause a larger distrust between citizens and law enforcement. targeting high volume areas where young adults go out to drink and have a good time, doesn’t make me feel safe, it makes me want to avoid d.c. all together. and agents targeting lower income communities where law enforcer knows that they don’t have the public trust seems more predatory than anything else.
to “fix” the crime problems of d.c. you have to create opportunities for people to make money and have self-worth and have love for the communities that they are in and apart of. like a lot of us cities, the cost of living is beyond what the average American can afford, and rather than fall behind people are going to start taking risk to make up for the difference.
mobilizing military and government offices on everyday people is only going to cause descent
Burning in paradise 