It’s been a lot going on in the world, and the message has been clear but just in case you wondered where Danii Gold stands on all of this, here it is:
Black Lives Matter.
Police harass black people more than white people.
White privilege exists.
If you aren’t black or a person of color then you wouldn’t understand.
There are some white people who use their privilege to educate the ignorant.
If you aren’t enlightened, then get enlightened.
We (black people) aren’t considered equal to white people in SOME of their eyes….STILL.
It’s 2020 and we are still fighting for equality and having to prove we matter even though there’s a whole anthem and amendments out there created for this country (USA).
The proof is in the pudding and there are laws that are clear as day to show that black people have never been equal, such as the the LATE abolishment of slavery in 1865 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Non-black people or non people of color….educate ya self.
My fellow black people, let’s keep fighting the fight.
Okay look…I’m not part of the Beehive and I’m not a big Beyonce fan. I love her music and I’m a supporter but this “Spirit” video for The Lion King movie tho… whew chile!! It’s an uplifting, inspirational song that she sings her heart out on. It’s in reference to Simba becoming King. Lyrics such as “watch the heavens open” is a referencing to when Simba was born and Mufasa was lifting him up in the sky and the light came shining down on him.
The African rooted choreography and even the clothing in the video was beautiful. The song was played at the best time of the movie, when Simba was heading back to Pride Rock to take his place as king. Check out my Lion King Review <—- here.
I love how Beyonce goes back to her roots, OUR ROOTS, when she is involved in a project, such as her Homecoming documentary on Netflix. She involved the HBCU culture into her Coachella performance, which is black AF! Even though she never got the chance to attend a HBCU due to her career, she made sure to recognize it. With The Lion King, even though it’s animated, it takes place in Africa and Beyonce showcases the dances and somewhat the attire. Leave it up to Beyonce to “woo” us.
Over the past two weeks, I finished watching When They See Us and The People vs. O.J on Netflix. I watched part 1 of When They See Us and took a week break because, well, it’s sad. In that week, I watched The OJ series and I know I’m late on it but it was really shocking how much evidence they had and he was proven innocent.
All The Evidence In The World and No Conviction
OJ was known to be abusive to his ex-wife Nicole Brown, according to police calls ad documents. He was also known as being a charming professional football player. He wasn’t caught at the scene of the crime, but his blood was there. A glove was found at the scene at the crime, but it didn’t fit his hand. When he got the call about Nicole being dead, he didn’t ask how she died. OJ was on a whole speed chase with his friend Aj Cowlings driving him because he was threatening to kill himself. Why would he threaten to kill himself if he didn’t kill Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman? There were too many red flags. Of course Black people wanted him to be innocent because there have been several instances where black people were wrongfully convicted and it was probably time for a black person to get away with something. An instance when black people were wrongfully convicted were the Central Park 5, also known as the Exonerated 5, also known as Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson.
todayshow.com
The story about the exonerated 5 is this; five young boys [Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson] were accused of raping a white woman jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989. They were coerced into admitting to the crime so they would get less time. No DNA placed them at the scene of crime. Yes, they were in the park around the time of the incident but they were on a totally different side. Some fight broke out at the park and as some of them were trying to leave, they got picked up by the police. The next day, the police picked up the others and one in particular, Korey, came along with his friend Yusef just so he wouldn’t be alone.
nydailynews.com
The police accused these young boys because they were black and they so happened to be at the park at the wrong time. They manipulated them so bad they made Korey, Yusef, Kevin, Antron and Raymond make up stories and pin stories against each other just so they could leave the police station. Some of the boys were questioned without a parent present. This was a sad story to watch because the boys were so young and didn’t know how corrupt the system was. Between the 5 of them, they spent between 6 years to 13 years behind bars. Even though the real rapist admitted to the crime, the men had already did their time. Korey was still doing time when Matias Reyes admitted to the crime and he was even in prison with him.
The exonerated 5 sued the City of New York and got a large settlement, but no amount of money could give these men back the time they spend in prison and the time they lost. They will forever be mentally scarred from this traumatic life event.
deadline.com
My Analysis
It’s crazy how the system doesn’t properly serve justice but it’s a reality. In New York, Korey, Yusef, Antron, Kevin and Raymond were young boys, kids in a sense and they were 100% innocent but the way Linda Fairstein saw it, they were black, young and guilty. Innocent kids were forced into a juvenile detention and even prison all over the rape of a woman (in which they didn’t do). The prosecution placed judgement on them and wanted to so desperately solve this case, even if it meant wrongfully convicting someone. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, during their sentence, O.J is found not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. As I stated above, black people have been wrongfully convicted for years and it was time for a black person to get away with something but murder tho? With plain site DNA? What if some of jurors (the many that were selected) knew that OJ was guilty and they paid attention to the Central Park 5 case that happened in ’89 and figured “Those boys were innocent, OJ isn’t but we’re gonna vote not guilty anyway.” It’s sounds crazy but it’s a thought. The justice system has still come a ways, but they have a long way to go, especially with police brutality and them being proven innocent.
What are your thoughts on the two cases? Comment below and let me know.
A week ago today, I was scrolling through YouTube and I came across a GQ video that featured Lauren London & Nipsey Hussle, a couple’s quiz. Since I like Lauren as an actress and Nipsey is a well-respected rapper, I decided to watch it. It was so cute, Lauren was her sassy self and Nipsey was so cool and calm and answered damn near every question correct, all but one six at least lol.
To be honest, I’ve only listened to one Nipsey song, “Last Time That I Checc’d” and I like it, but I never listened to his whole album unfortunately. I do know that his first album Victory Lap was nominated for a Grammy this year. I do know that Nipsey was a man of the community. He’s from Crenshaw and Slauson, and he used to hustled so he could get money for his music. It worked and when he got the money, he gave back to the community that helped mold him. He invested into programs for children and even helped reconstruct a playground in his neighborhood of Crenshaw. He opened a clothing store, The Marathon Clothing, selling apparel with the city Crenshaw on it. On top of that, he bought out some of the other businesses in the plaza that his business is in. It’s been told that he even hired local artists and others in the community to work at his store.
billboard.comlamag.com
As far and his relationship goes, Nipsey and Lauren London kept their love life semi private. We would see the pictures and happy captions but never the negative, which is how it should be. They had a baby boy and kept him out of the spotlight. They recently gave us a glimpse of their relationship through GQ.
So with little or just enough information I have on this guy, why am I sad that he passed away? Why do I get teary-eyed when reading other artists’ post on social media mourning him? Why do I shed a tear for his lady Lauren London and his kids even tho I’ve never met them? Why do I sit and read all the stories people told about him? The answer to all that is because…it’s sad to see a young man who was praised and respected by many, get killed by his own kind. It’s sad to see a young man who was giving back to his community get killed in front of his business that he worked hard for. It’s sad to see a young man grow from the streets and flourish into a well-rounded individual.
daltondr.com
I’ve lost someone close to me at a young age. He was 21 and my cousin; we grew up like siblings because that’s just how it was. I remember him from when he was in diapers and watched him grow and go off to college with me. He was killed by his own kind, some say it was someone that he knew. That was a hard time for me and it took me a year to stop crying about it whenever I brought his name up. It changed me, made me more paranoid. I couldn’t watch movies where people were violently killed and young. If I did, I would get emotional and cry. I’m better now, but I’m still a simp when it comes to those scenes lol. But he was into music and was a well-rounded cool, calm dude but sometimes your own people will hate on you. Maybe that’s why Nipsey’s death hit so close to home for me.
All in all, I’m not going to act like I was a big Nipsey fan. I’m not going to fake it. Yes, I shoulda gave this man his flowers while he was here, but I didn’t. But…what I will do is respect his legacy. I am sad for his death because he didn’t deserve it. I will continue to pray for his family and hope that his killer gets that life sentence in prison.
What are your thoughts on Nipsey’s death? Comment below and let me know.
Mr. Soulja Boy has been in the media for the past week. He seems to think that he had the biggest comeback of 2018 EVEN THOUGH, he did not release a song that charted. He criticized Tyga because everyone said that he had the biggest comeback with his “Taste” record. Check out the video below at the 5:03 mark:
Tyga posted in Instagram his accomplishments according to Spotify and it showed that he had 884 Million streams, 58 million fans and he reached 65 countries. According to Soulja Boy’s accomplishments, he had 98 Million streams, 16 millions fans and reached 65 countries as well, sooooo numbers don’t lie. It’s clear that TYGA had the biggest comeback BUT according to Google, his net worth is $3 million and Soulja Boy’s is $30 Million. Sooooo Soulja was doing something right in 2018 to secure the bag!
But he also had a few things to say about Drake when his name got brought in The Breakfast Club interview. Soulja said he taught Drake everything that he knows and referenced Drake’s intro to “Miss Me” which was on his first album. The line goes:
Tell meeeee what’s really going on
Drizzy back up in this thang, I’m ready, what’s hannenin’
Soulja Boy came out with the song “What’s Hannenin” back in 2007. “Miss Me” came out in 2010.
Here’s a clip from the interview below:
Yeah….he went there lol BUT DID HE LIE? We all know that big artists have ghost writers write their hits including Drake and the proof is in the pudding. Soulja Boy claims to have paved the way for artists today. He says he was one of the first artist to be on YouTube dancing and doing what influencers are doing now. (he has a point) . He also said he was one of the first artists to have a dance to their song.
He has a point. Besides those “Crank That Batman” “Crank That Yank” songs whom we don’t know the artists to, Soulja Boy WAS one of the firsts to do that of my generation.
Soulja also said that he put Tyga in one of videos earlier in his career. He also said he put Chief Keef on, meaning he co-signed him.
LOOK I’m not saying Soulja Boy had the biggest comeback of 2018 BUT i am saying that he has had an influence on artist such as your Lil Pumps, and Tekashi 69s and of course many more. What I DON’T like is how cocky and arrogant he is when explaining his endeavors. BUT I salute him, he just needs to simmer down and stay off the “lil lean” that he says he partakes in,
The TV show Blackish does not shy away from controversial and trending topics, for example Juneteenth, calling the police on black people, black people not knowing how to swim and recently, on last night’s episode they addressed colorism.
If you haven’t had the chance to watch it, here’s what happened: Diane, played by Marsai Martin, took her class picture and she was poorly lighted in the pictured and it made her look darker skinned.
washingtonpost.com
tvguide.com
Now, for the record, she is the only dark skinned family member in the show. Bow, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, is her mother and light skinned; Dre, played by Anthony Anderson is more caramel skinned and plays her dad; Grandma (Ruby), played by Jenifer Lewis, is caramel skinned; Grandpa (Pops), played by Laurence Fishburne, is caramel skinned; Junior, played by Marcus Scribner, is her older brother and light skinned; Zoey, played by Yara Shahidi, is her older sister and is caramel skinned; and Jack, played by Miles Brown, is her twin brother and is caramel skinned as well.
Bow and Dre made a big deal about it because they felt that Diane was under looked and lighted poorly and they wanted her group school picture retaken. Diana did think it was a big deal but she was really hiding her true feelings. Junior brought up the fact that the light skinned people in the family are treated differently than the light skin people. For instance, he brought up the fact that Dre is always hard on him and he symbolizes his complexion to being soft, like the jokes going around about Drake being emotional and soft because she sings RnB (as well as rap) and because he’s light skin. Junior also brought up the fact that Jack does weird “sensitive” acts but he gets a pass because he’s not light skinned and “that’s just Jack.” Ruby is always clowning on Bow because she’s mixed/light skin and thinks that she can’t raise her kids right, insulting right? Another point that Junior brought up was that light skinned people get joked on more instead of dark skinned people, specifically in their household; he said what if him and Bow started telling dark skinned joke, and Dre’s response was “Don’t you dare.” Which he has a point. If someone was to joke about my skin tone during the time I was struggling with it, I woulda snapped or got really emotional because there has been a standard, in a sense, that light skin is the preferred skin tone and the only beautiful skin. You had your dark skin artists such as Lauryn Hill that was one of the very few people loved no matter the tone of her skin.
hiphopgoldenage.com
Diane ended up revealing that it actually does bother her that she has to get reminded on the daily of her skin, from band aids being a nude color according to lighter skins and not matching her skin, to trying on lipstick and a BLACK sales assocoiate says that color wouldn’t like good on “our skin tone” and suggests her try on a more toned down color, to a random lady saying she was cute for a “dark skinned girl.” WTF IS UP WITH THAT?
Whether we want to believe it or not, we STILL live in a world that’s full of color stroke people and colorism issues, meaning people past judgment on skin tones. Light skin people are supposedly not as threatening as dark skin people. Light skin men are supposedly softer than dark skin men. Light women are supposedly curve men more and will do you dirty, versus dark skin women are more laid back and outgoing, all SUPPOSEDLY!
One thing I’ve noticed and it’s been spoken about, is that black men love/fantasize about about having a foreign light skinned woman. Public figures have spoken about it saying “i need her to be light skinned, long hair that’s real” etc. What I don’t like is that the media and people in general act like the only kind of beautiful is light skin women, BUT I will say that the media, social and all, has made it their duty to glorify dark skin women such as Lupita Nyong’O, Viola Davis, Danai Gurira, Aja Naomi King, Yvonne Orji, and many more.
I use to deal with skin tone issues when I was younger. The guys I liked in elementary and middle school always liked light skin girls. Then when I got in high school, the guys who did seek interest in me only wanted to talk to me because of my big booty.
The point in all this is: ALL BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. Yes we hear that a lot but seriously…ALL BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. Light skin women have been picked on because they are too cute; according to Amber Rose, that happened to her. Dark skin women have been picked on for being to too dark and ugly, as sad as it is. I think we should all learn to stop judging someone by the tone of their skin, EVEN BLACK FOLKS AGAINST BLACK FOLKS. We’ve all been guilty of it, I know I have.
By now everyone has had time to see all 6 part of the R. Kelly Docuseries. I don’t even know where to start. I’ve been trying to figure out what angle I wanted to take on this Surviving R. Kelly. So much content, so much disgust, so much hurt, so much sadness, just so much to take in.
I’ll start here:
From watching part 1 of Surviving R. Kelly, it was expressed that he was molested at from age 7 until 14-15 by a female relative. The sexual abuse also happened to his younger brother. It seems like this sexual abuse was transferred to R. Kelly then he transferred the hurt and abuse to young girls.
Random thought: What if R. Kelly is making these young girls suffer because of what he went through from at a young age by a woman. Just a thought.
Moving along, I really do not want to bring her up but it seems like the first sight of concern of our weirdness should have been with Aaliyah. Yes, it was rumored that he married her when she was only 15 but forwarded the documents saying that she was 18. But during this documentary, R. Kelly’s former assistant Demetrius Smith said he helped forge documents of Aaliyah and R. Kelly’s marriage. Once that news was water under the bridge, it never got brought up again. I feel like Demetrius is just as guilty. Yes he is speaking out now and he admits he was wrong but that doesn’t make it write. If a rapist goes to jail and speaks out in a documentary saying he was sorry and explains why he did it, would you forgive him? FUCK NO!
HisVictims/Survivors
Several of his victims spoke out about how they met him and the abuse they face. The trend was he would meet young girls at the mall or at concerts and woo them over then the manipulation would start. Small things from telling the girlsthat they have to call him daddy to telling them that they have to follow rules. The physically abuse started when the girls “broke a rule,” he would hit them and even starve them.
JerhondaPace
variety.com
This young lady’s case bothered me a little, not only because she was a victim of sexual abuse at a young age but….SHE MET HIM OUTSIDE WHILE SUPPORTING HIM FOR HIS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE, AS HE WAS WALKING INTO COURT. Now, by all mean I AM NOT VICTIM SHAMING AT ALL, but this goes to show that young girls are really naive. The poor girl was only 15 and even though the “relationship” as she calls it, lasted less than a year, she endured manipulation, signing fake documents, being slapped and spat on. Luckily she was able to get out but this case shows that, little girls are easily manipulated and Kelly knows that and he used it to his advantage. Just imagine his train of thought on this girl “oh she’s at my trial for a case that I know I did and she’s still supporting me. I can get one over on her.” He’s a fucking sick clown.
Azriel Clary
oxygen.com
This situation was sad because she could’ve avoided him on a few occasions and SHE STILL IS WITH HIM! A lil synopsis on this girl, she was an aspiring singer and she went to an R. Kelly show with her parents, she was called from the crowd and was able to go backstage to meet him. She sang for him and later on she “auditioned” for him in hotel room without her parents. Once she was there she told her parents and they immediately rushed to the hotel to “rescue” her.But come to find out she was not in danger and she claimed that her parents were messing up this opportunity for her because she wanted to be a singer so bad. Eventually time went on in her and her parents were in contact with R. Kelly to help pursue her career. Things got weird when her older sister decided to go with her to the studio and a situation went down. What’s the girl turned 18 she pretty much was out of sight. The last time her parents seen her was for her high school graduation.
time.com
My concern is: if her parents were getting worried to the point that they didn’t want Azerial alone withR. Kelly, then that means that they have their suspicions about him and they should have told their daughter “fuck him we’ll figure out another way for you to get exposed to the music industry.” No disrespect but her parents should be held accountable for this situation. They took her with them to the R. Kelly concert, let her go backstage, let her continue to do business with him even though they had Erie feelings that he should not have been with her alone regardless of the fact that she was 17. They wanted to make their daughter happy so bad that it literally cost them and now they haven’t seen her in 2 years.
Asante McGee
mercurynews.com
First of all, I’ve seen multiple interviews Of artists saying that they were not date girls who were super fans of their u of artists saying that they were not date girls who were super fans of theirs due to it being weird and the fans could be obsessive; so I’m confused as to why R. Kelly decided to date this woman. Oh yeah because she’s easily to manipulate even though she was actually of age and 35.
Asante and Kelly met in 2014 at a concert and eventually started dating. He told her that he had other girls but she didn’t care of course. They did the long distance relationship thing for a year-ish and when she moved in, that’s when she said he got controlling. He would lock her in room and of course abuse her. Luckily she was able to get out. My concern is: Baby Girl, you were so oblivious to the fact that he “didn’t do anything to those girls” and you still “supported him” but he ended up abusing you, he just didn’t manipulate you as much because you were a child but you were still brainwashed a bit. Again, I’M NOT VICTIM BLAMING, but you can’t put anything past nobody, especially a person who was publicly know for sexually abusing young girls and even went to court for it.
Lisa Van Allen
youtube.com
This young lady met Kelly when she was 17. She was involved with him the same time he was involved with him the same he was involved with the 14 year old girl. She had to participate in a threesome with him and the young girl and the encounter was recorded. Lisa was the one who found the tape with him and the 14 year old, gave it to someone who made copies, then got the tape back. By the time she got the tape back, it was too late, and copies were being handed out throughout the U.S. Eventually the tape got in the hands of the police and that’s when Kelly had to go to trial for multiple counts of child pornography. Kelly plotted to kill Lisa for exposing the tape and honestly if she didn’t then people would be even more in denial about his acts. Unfortunately he was found not guilty of the 14 counts of child pornography. But I commend her for speaking up BUT she is still kind of guilty for thinking that the girl was older but still underage. I commend her but she is still partially guilty.
To the girls who started dealing with R. Kelly because they wanted him to help their career:
WHO DO YALL KNOW THAT R.KELLY HAS HELPED MUSICALLY, besides Aaliyah? (God rest her soul).
To his ex-wife, Andrea Lee:
I’m glad you were able to escape him. My question is, how did you have two other children by him after giving the birth the day he was taken to jail for the child pornography allegations/charges? That would be a turn off for me but I understand you sticking by your man. Also, I commend you for speaking out despite the fact that you have kids with him. Speaking out about your kid’s father says a lot especially with it dealing with it dealing with abuse. I commend you.
To R. Kelly:
You are a sick individual and I hope you get ALLLLLL the bad you deserve. You will reap what you sew You psychotic, mentally unstable peace of shit.
One last thing:
His whole camp should be held accountable for their actions or lack there of. They seen what R. Kelly was doing and clearly didn’t report it. Even if he had connections with the Chicago PD, when they traveled across state lines where it wasn’t legal to have a 17 year old, his people should’ve spoke up.
What are your thoughts on the docuseries? Comment below and let me know!
Danii Gold 