James 1:5
A Melanated Art Guide For Women and Men That Make The World Go Round...
First Semester
(January 1st 2021 - March 1st 2021)
So far, I'm not impressed with 2021...
...but I'm just going to ignore it like the PANDEMIC CRISIS WE'RE STILL IN everyone seems to ignore.
I want to highlight far more important things.
I've come across so many empowering videos and photos of melanated culture during this pandemic. The most shocking being the back-lash created from sharing images on social media, of healing and self-love, with nations that would rather see them crumble and fall.
Instead of blabbing and boo-hooing about how wrong it is ( it is f.y.i)
For Semester 1 will be highlighting...
...MELANIN IN ALL OF ITS SUNSHINING GLORY IN AN EVERYDAY AESTHETIC...
We are more than just our complexion.
We are dreamers and innovators. We make the world go round.
The Girl Who Ran Away To Singapore
Layla is a proud native to her home town in the Ivory Coast.
She envisioned a different life for herself. One filled with delectable treats and pastries from the far east.
So, she packed her bags and hightailed it to Singapore and followed her dreams.
You can catch her riding around town with her shar pei- Lilo and her Ice cream & dessert cart!
THe Girl Raised By a fox ( 狐 )
"In the reign of Emperor Kinmei (that is, Amekuni-oshihiraki-hironiwa no mikoto, the emperor who resided at the Palace of Kanazashi in Shikishima [510-571 AD]), a man from Ouno district of Mino province set out on horseback in search of a good wife. In a field he came across a pretty and responsive girl. He winked at her and asked, "Where are you going, Miss?" "I am looking for a good husband," she answered. So he asked, "Will you be my wife?" and, when she agreed, he took her to his house and married her.
Before long she became pregnant and gave birth to a boy. At the same time their dog also gave birth to a puppy, it being the fifteenth of the twelfth month. This puppy barked constantly at the mistress and seemed fierce and ready to bite. She became so frightened that she asked her husband to beat the dog to death. But he felt sorry for the dog and could not bear to kill it.
In the second or third month, when the annual quota of rice [that is, the rice due to be sent to the capitol as taxes] was hulled, she went to the place where the female servants were pounding rice in a mortar to give them some refreshments. The dog, seeing her, ran after her barking and almost bit her. Startled and terrified, she suddenly changed into a wild fox and jumped up on top of the hedge.
Having seen this, the man said, "Since a child was born between us, I cannot forget you. Please come always and sleep with me." She acted in accordance with her husband's words and came and slept with him. For this reason she was named "Kitsune" meaning "come and sleep."
Slender and beautiful in her red skirt (it is called pink), she would rustle away from her husband, whereupon he sang of his love for his wife:
Love fills me completely After a moment of reunion. Alas! She is gone.
Koi wa mina Waga he ni ochi nu Tamakagiru Haroka ni mie te Ini shi ko yue ni
The man named his child Kitsune, which became the child's surname—Kitsune no atae. The child, famous for his enormous strength, could run as fast as a bird flies."
"Come and Sleep" By: Monk Kyoukai. Japanese Folklore
"Come and Sleep" is unusual for two reasons: One, the wife returns to her husband, although only at night. Once discovered, fox wives usually disappear, although their husbands may track them down and meet them briefly once or twice in the wild. Two, the fox-woman is credited with the founding of a family, whose descendants are chronicled rather than slipping into discreet anonymity once their role in the fox-woman's story has been fulfilled.
The girl who laid eggs
There is a girl who goes by the name of J.
She lives in a tree house with her Macaws Bo and Bay.
One day a blue Jay crashed into her tree house.
She cried when she found out the blue jay just up and died.
She wiped her eyes and prepped the birds' burial.
To her surprise, the bird was gone from the shady hill.
She found an egg, note, with a bow neatly tied.
"This -ish is getting weird," then began to read the note.
" To J,
Forgive my joke I needed to know..."
"...If you were as true as you seem. Before I must go...
"You cried for me because I am a real thing..."
"I gift you this power to hatch the eggs of your dreams..."
"What you dream. You will always, always achieve!"
Short Freeform poem by Pepper-T
This poem is about encouraging others to stay on the path they created and keep working towards their goals. Envision your goals. Remember your dreams and never stop until you achieve them.
PROTECT WILDLIFE.
The Girl Who Couldn't sing
Once upon a time there lived a bronzed maiden with the gift of music and song.
Nations would come from far and wide to hear her melodic voice coupled with a harmonious blend of stringed instruments.
She was well versed in all things music.
One day, she had an accident and her vocal cords were left mangled and warped. She knew it was the end, her precious voice was gone.
She searched high and low for a remedy until one day a good friend came to her home with a gift, a perfect solution. On one condition, she give up everything else that was important to her in exchange for the limitless ability to sing again.
She took the deal without hesitation. Unbeknownst to her, the good friend was a liar and took away everything she loved and she was banned to the hills and the mountains.
She thought what she did was the right choice for her own desires.
For 2 years, she lived in the mountains and humbled herself, became more wise, less naive and began to love herself even more than before she could sing.
She prayed to God to heal her continuously.
Then one day a stranger came looking for her with a solution to her problem.
He was sincere and gave her hope.
She began to trust her new friend more
everyday they spent with each other. Then one day he was gone.
She felt cold and alone again, even worse than before.
She ran outside to shout and curse at the heavens.
She parted her lips and a soft tune seeped from the back of her throat. She gasped, sucked in a sharp air and slapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes wide with surprise.
She parted her lips again gingerly, and hummed a lower melody. The sound oozed from her vocal chords like a Cello. She whispered in disbelief " I can sing again?"
A Voice boomed from the trees. The branches shook and sprayed leaves to and fro.
"The man gave his voice to you."
She looked up startled and replied instantly "Why! Where did he go!?"
"The man gave his voice to you...because he loved you so and knew you could no longer sing."
She ran through the forest looking for her love. Where had he gone?
Alas, she found him not far from her cottage. He was boarding a ship to sail to far lands never to return.
She shouted for him to stop, but the boat had already begun to sail off.
She chased it to the edge of the bank shouting for him to return to her. A tear streamed down his face.
The maiden began to sing a warm deep melody as she waded in the ocean watching the ship sail. The winds picked up and lifted the sweet sound onto the boat. The melody echoed over the deck and through the halls.
Shocked by the melody the ship's Captain immediately anchored down the ship and called all hands on deck. When the Captain discovered the jaunting tone came from the young maiden wading into the ocean, he ordered his sailors to find the maiden and bring her aboard.
When the Captain finally laid eyes on the beauty both in voice and features, he knew he had truly met an angel. He begged that she be hired to sing for his crew everyday to keep their spirits up.
Her heart began to beat with warmth again.
She would be with her love after all.
Short Story by Pepper-T
This story is about finding what's most important in your life and not giving up on them just to satiate one desire.
Its's about sacrificing a part of yourself whether it's using your love language to show gratitude to those important to you and becoming a better person for yourself first and others second.
What is meant to be is already yours. No one can take that away from you.
The Girl with the hornets in her hair
I am not my melanin.
I am not my skin.
I am not my hair.
I am not my clothes.
I am not the lie you want me to be.
I am not the angry bitter aggressive.
I am not a fantasy or a fetish.
I am not a toy.
But what I am is....
I am self love.
I am self confident.
I am respect.
I am healed by the grace of jesus.
I am somebody's wife.
I am somebody's mother.
I am a successful thriving entrepreneur.
I am beautiful no matter my shade of melanin.
I am intelligent no matter what you believe.
I am not my melanin.
Freeform by Pepper-T
Manifesting and speaking things into reality is one of our most powerful tools on this Earth. If we think and believe our negative thoughts, then that WILL become our reality. If we stay positive no matter the outcome. Nothing but good can't help but to come instead. It all starts with YOU.