Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

I just find myself saying Alhamdulillah repeatedly, nonstop, this morning. To finally have a resolution for something that I asked for help on, there’s nothing else I can say. Thankful, grateful. In scheme of things, it wasn’t the end of the world, but a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

In the heat of Summer Inspired by the sensorial style of The Picture of Dorian Gray, a personal retelling of a summer day ending in arrest.

Inspired by the sensorial style of The Picture of Dorian Gray, a personal retelling of a summer day ending in arrest.

open.substack.com/pub/thegolde...

#substack #livedexperience #narrative #story #blackwriter

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” ~ John Steinbeck

Photography requires exploration. Exploration in surroundings, styles, and interests.

La photographie demande de l’exploration. Explorer son environnement, les styles et ses centres d’intérêt.

#toulouse #photography #videography #france #explore

I’ve really been struggling with photography lately, my styles and interests are forever evolving and constantly under work for improvement. Sometimes I wished I had my style and niche figured out for cohesiveness. Then again, I think to myself branding destroys creativity. #photography

Gotcha culture has really destroyed critical thinking

James Baldwin said it so beautifully, “the children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.”

It’s a nice feeling to hear how others are moved by your writing

Love to humanize those who dehumanize us, not to repeat cycles. But note, love is not inherently non-violent, and hate is not inherently violent.

It is only through love that revolutionary change can happen, love for humanity, love for peace, love for softness, that gives us the strength to engage, have patience, and hope for a brighter future free of oppression.

My hate for these systems has made me aware of their aggressions and how they are the real culprits of the oppressions and violence that I have experienced and am still currently subjected to.

I have a great anger when it comes to these systems. These realities and systems do not need to exist; they only exist to serve a small class of people who enjoy life free of violence and scars at our expense. Hate is fuel for recognition; however, love is fuel for change.

Not Mad Enough On anger, survival, and confronting the systems that shape violence, trauma, and liberation

I am not mad at those who existed in my environments and gave me scars; I am mad at the systems that conditioned us to pass on scars.

#substack #love #trauma #politics #writer

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[This] Black brother in uniform whose entire reason for breathing seemed to be his hope to offer proof that, though he was Black, he was not Black like you.”

— James Baldwin, Evidence of Things Not Seen (1985)

“We used to say, ‘If you just must call a policeman’—for we hardly ever did—‘for God’s sake, try to make sure it’s a White one.’ A Black policeman could completely demolish you …

A revolutionary fever that one is born with is unavoidable.

The difference is the decisions and actions they take in response to their environment. While the actions are different, their anger and contempt are the same: the hate for police, the hate for the country, the hate for the systemic oppressions that are imposed on them.

An environment of prostitutes, drug dealers, addicts, career criminals, and violent offenders, both in my community and my family. There are those who are considered “hood” people, and there are those who grew up in the “hood.”

If my core was not what it was, I could very well have been in prison. I come from an environment where that is not uncommon, a reality where all the men in my household have been arrested, including myself when younger.

I have lived many lives and have come a long way from my impoverished, violent, and toxic environments, an environment where it would be fully understandable if I had turned out like those who once surrounded me.

Not Mad Enough On anger, survival, and confronting the systems that shape violence, trauma, and liberation

Sometimes, I feel like I am not mad enough. I often feel like I don’t fully express how revolutionary I actually am.

#substack #unitedstates #trauma #revolutionary #BlackPower

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In living abroad, you grow and are forced to adopt a new identity and culture as you learn and integrate into the area that never truly feels like you. There is a lot that I miss.

I miss the connection to the culture; I miss the jokes, the common understanding, the shared experiences within the community that was a basis of bonding even with those that you did not know.

I miss my community, the Black community, a culture now that I only experience through social media and content.

While it has been interesting and a great experience, one thing remains true since my departure from the United States, and that is I miss my American negros.

I miss my American negros A reflection on identity, distance, and the longing for Black American culture while living abroad

Living abroad is cool and an interesting experience that has been transformational for me. I have been living in France for two and a half years now.

#substack #Black #writer #unitedstates #france

open.substack.com/pub/thegolde...

the golden nugget | K Taylor | Substack A Black American man, a Muslim revert, and a Communist all in one, sharing his perspective. Through all the words, walk away with one golden nugget. Click to read the golden nugget, by K Taylor, a Su...

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Not Mad Enough: Anger, Survival, and the Systems That Shape Us

Stayed tuned and subscribe! I am off to bed now.

The articles are:

Creating under pressure: On perfectionism, survival, and the struggle to make art beyond capitalism

I miss my American negros: A reflection on identity, distance, and the longing for Black American culture while living abroad