How is it already the end of September?
How is it already the end of September?
The last few months have been a blur
Summer is officially gone.
In Los Angeles, she scorched with a heatwave that lasted more than a week, then she tiptoed away, leaving gentle breezes and mild temperatures in her wake.
One of my friends remarked today that by next month we will be complaining about the cold, and I hope that’s not the case, because I still haven’t gotten a chance to wear all of my summer clothing yet.
Alas.
It’s been a minute since the last update. I don’t apologize for that because I spent my summer wearing less, going out more, and spending less and less time plugged in.
It was a good thing, and it still is a good thing, but my creativity was given a jolt today, and my mission to bring back personal blogging by way of this Substack was reinvigorated, so I’m going to ride this wave for as long as I can.
Let’s get into it.
Random Thoughts
My Substack summer reads looks pathetic, so I’m not going to share it, but it has inspired me to read many more good Substack writers.
I know I’m late talking about this, and I’ve alluded to it in some paid writing I’ve done, but we all know Shannon Sharpe made up that whole “I accidentally went live on IG” thing, right?
Imagine, at his big age, doing this just to prove to his internet fathers that he’s not gay.
If he wanted to make a statement, he could have easily said he’s not gay while also affirming that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay, and that probably would have gotten him a lot further than whatever this bullshit was.
I’m working on a column about Sean Combs. It’s taking me longer than I expected because it seems like news about him pops up every hour like a jack-in-the-box. I did make a TikTok video about it though, because I’m tired of seeing people defending him. I’ll just say that, in this instance, there is no plot to take a Black man down. Sean Combs took himself down by arrogantly thinking he was untouchable and would never be caught or held accountable for things he has been doing.
Yo. As I was working on this post, reports of yet another lawsuit against Sean Combs dropped. See what I’m saying?
Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
What I’ve been writing about
I know we all saw Janet Jackson getting dragged across the internet for saying she heard Kamala Harris isn’t black. She was parroting disinformation that has been spread by the Trump campaign, and for NewsOne, I wrote about how misinformation and disinformation (there’s a difference) will have a huge impact on this year’s election.
Right after the debate, I wrote about how Kamala Harris is every overqualified Black woman who has had to confront white mediocrity in the workplace, and I said that shit with my chest because no matter where you stand as far as Kamala Harris’ politics, you cannot deny her qualifications for the role.
I am by no means a Kamala Harris stan, but I can honestly say, watching people try to belittle her resume and whittle her down to a “DEI choice” or someone slept her way to the top.
The woman has put in the work, and I think we can acknowledge that while also acknowledging that there are parts of her political stance that we disagree with.
She is overqualified for the job, and I disagree with some of her politics. Both things can be true at once.
What I’m working on
I have a few things in the queue including the aforementioned column about Sean Combs; a piece about non-monogamy, and a piece about social media and the attention economy. Stay tuned.
I also have some thoughts on the lynching of Marcellus Williams — whose chosen name was Khaliifah Ibn Rayford Daniels — at the hands of the state of Missouri and Governor Mike Parsonns.
I’ll gather those thoughts after I finish screaming into the void over the injustice of it all.
Suffice it to say, a Black man was lynched yesterday.
Reading List
I love that Cortney Wills is dusting off her keyboard again, and this piece on Sean Combs is worth reading.
I don’t know if I could call Power Book II: Ghost a guilty pleasure because I watch it unapologetically every Thursday night when it shows up on the Starz app at 9 p.m PT. What I will say is that me and Panama Jackson text about it each week, and he echoes a lot of my views on this show (and the 50 Cent Cinematic Universe in general), so read his recaps of these final episodes of this particular series.
I feel like this shit is going to go out with a whisper and not a bang, and that makes me sad because this is one of my favorite shows from that franchise.
“The golden era of journalism has long gone and many are choosing to make an escape plan—especially Black women, including myself. While R29 Unbothered remains as one of the few platforms that commission and amplify Black writers both in the US and UK, journalism is still a very, white, middle-class industry with Black journalists only making up 0.2% of the overall workforce.” (Refinery 29)
I think about this a lot. I’ve been freelancing for the last three years now, and while I’ve been fortunate enough to leverage my relationships with people I know in the industry to keep myself working, there are a lot of journalists — especially Black women journalists — who are not as fortunate.
Add to this the fact that Black media outlets are either shrinking or cutting back. There simply aren’t enough Black spaces to pitch to these days, and those of us who center our work on Black culture and Black stories can often find it hard when everyone else is also trying to pitch the same stories at the limited spaces we have to go to.
- with some essay prompts that I will probably use for myself.
Are you subscribed to
yet? You should be.I follow
on TikTok and here on Substack, and you should too. This update with links to everything you want to know about what’s currently going on with Sean Combs is great.As usual,
aka Meghann Thee Reporter always has the scoop on what’s happening in celebrity court around the country.
Other things of note
Substack is introducing a live video function, and this is right up my “bring back personal blogging” alley.
I always say that social media platforms take away a lot of control from us — especially as it pertains to who gets to see our content and when.
I see this live function as a good way to take back some of that control.
I recognize that I don’t own Substack, but my platform here is mine to do with what I wish, and considering the way platforms like Instagram and especially TikTok can squelch certain creators while promoting others, being able to let my audience know at any time when I be on live is a big deal.
That’s all my notes for today.
Stay tuned for my ode to summer 2024.