Tulipe, J.J. Grandville, Les fleurs animées.
Till Lindemann and Apocalyptica, Helden. (Bowie’s Heroes.)
Rick Joyner is exulting in the chaos of the white house. Personally, I don’t think such dysfunction is anything to celebrate, but Joyner seems to be under the impression that this is exactly how Jesus operated, so it’s okay.
“I’m expecting some chaos in the White House team for the duration of Trump’s administration,” Joyner said, “and I am saying this is because he is such an extraordinary leader. It’s not a lack of leadership; it’s a different kind of leadership.”
“Jesus is the best leader there will ever be,” Joyner said, but even his “cabinet” of apostles was rife with infighting. “Why were they fighting? Because they are stallions! These are serious leaders. They’re the real thing and they’re going to jostle and they’re going to fight, they’re going to position themselves. Trump has chosen those type of people for this cabinet.”
Y’know, I’ve read the bible, more than once. I’d dearly like to know if Mr. Joyner has, and what the fuck he was smoking when he did. Muscular Christianity isn’t new, but it isn’t apostolic in nature. Even the kindest of descriptors couldn’t work what’s going on in the white house as any type of muscular christianity, either. A surplus of strong leaders is not our problem. We don’t have any leaders at all. Those things are a bit different.
Via RWW.
Sam Fulwood III has a much more accurate assessment of what’s going on right now, at Think Progress. We’re dealing with the fallout of a toxic tide of white privilege. Oh, don’t be rolling your eyes. Given the current circumstances, it really can’t be denied. There was a never-ending barrage of bullshit thrown at the Obama administration, for eight bloody years. Every single move was questioned, in spite of the fact that it was one of the calmest, most scandal-free administrations ever. Look at what’s going on now, and imagine if this was happening with Pres. Obama in office instead of the Tiny Tyrant. Do you suppose people would just be shrugging? No.
[…] But the worst part of the racist vitriol directed at Obama and his family was the impact it had on everyday black Americans, who saw putative political attacks on the president and his polices as proxies for how many white Americans view African Americans.
By contrast, no such stigma of bad-boy behavior from the White House is deemed representative of white men or their kinfolk. For anyone who doubts its existence, the stench emanating from the Trump administration is a textbook definition of white privilege. Despite displaying a level of incompetence and moral deviance that is uncommon in rational democracies, the phalanx of white men surrounding the Oval Office bear no burden or shame as white Americans; their despicable behavior rests solely with them as individuals, not representatives of a race.
Mono Inc – Tired of the Day. (Lyrics at the link.)
© Lauren Machen.
The name of Lauren Machen’s premiere art photography series was almost Finally. As in, “I am finally addressing something that is at the very core of my being,” states the artist, who has previously worked in art direction for musicians such as St. Vincent and Rihanna. “Finally because a lot of subtle racism that people of color have had to struggle [with] are bubbling to the surface. People who aren’t of color just simply thought it didn’t exist or we were past that.”
Instead, Machen named the series Elemental, as in, “The very basis of my being. What my soul feels. My truth. Being mixed race, I was left to just sort of float in space because we didn’t really talk about race and ethnicity in my household… This is about peeling the layers away. Taking a moment to identify as I am rather than how others think I am or what I should be.”
Machen cites the 2016 election as a turning point for how she sees her racial identity, and even more specifically, Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams’s knockout acceptance speech for the BET Humanitarian Award. One of Williams’s most prominent lines from that speech was, “Just because we’re magical doesn’t mean we’re not real,” and its resonance is felt in Machen’s photos that capture surreal insertions of earthly elements into stark, honest portraits of people of color.
“I chose to incorporate the classical elements in the photographs: water, earth, fire, air, and also used falling sand as a symbol of passing time,” Machen explains. “There’s a mystery and magic to these elements, yet they are very real.
© Lauren Machen.
A brilliant series. You can read and see more at The Creators Project and Lauren Machen’s website.
