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IG @showmeshannon Fall/Winter ’20-’21
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Pandemic Book Review: Parable of the Sower
SPOILERS AHEAD!
It’s 2021 and COVID cases are increasing which makes pre COVID life impossible. Social activities are very limited so there is more time for past times like reading. My first book review of 2021 is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I would recommend this book.
Octavia Butler is an African American author. I appreciate Parable of the Sower because if features a Black, female protagonist and most of the characters are Black but race is not the vehicle that moves the story along. Parable of the Sower is not a typical Black story that involves Civil Rights, inner city life, music, slavery or sports. I don’t have anything against that subject matter but I love it when writers give Black characters range beyond those roles.
Octavia Butler The story takes place in California from around 2024 to 2036. American society has spiraled downward. The economy is in shambles and Americans are living in poverty. Crime is out of control. Homelessness is commonplace. The government is rife with corruption. The nation’s infrastructure has crumbled.
The United States regressed one hundred and fifty years. Every shameful part of our past was a part of the books present. People were enslaved. Workers were routinely hurt in factories. Child labor was commonly used. A large part of the population was illiterate. Drugs and addictions were ubiquitous. A plague was spreading and making people ill.
Racial tensions were high. Nationalism and hate crimes had been on the rise for decades. A presidential candidate from Texas used this vulnerability to gain support. His campaign promise was to make America great again. Octavia Butler wrote Parable of the Sower in 1993.
The book moves a little slow in parts but I would encourage readers to stick with it. The story is a part of a series and there isn’t a very exciting payoff but I was floored by the author’s insight. If Donald Trump read I would have sworn that he based his campaign on Parable of the Sower. We all know he doesn’t read so I will assume that Butler was clairvoyant. She died in 2006.
If you enjoy dystopian novels add this to your reading list. I think you will enjoy it.
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Watch “Hair 1 Corinthans 11:11-16” on YouTube
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Bella Thorne is an actress that was on a Disney show called “Shake It Up” in the early 2000s. She is now twenty three and she is a social media sensation. She is worth $12 million. Bella recently caused a stir on Instagram when she created an Only Fans account. Bella Thorne’s IG controversy makes her a feminist icon.
If you’re not familiar with Only Fans it is a feature on Instagram that offers exclusive content for a fee. The exclusive content is often nudity. Bella Thorne charged subscribers $20 per month for Only Fans and made $2 million in six days. The controversy is that Bella did not post any nudity to her Only Fans.
To my understanding subscribers were upset that they didn’t get to see any nudity for their $20 monthly subscription. Sex workers that use Only Fans were upset that they are putting their body on display for a low monthly fee while Bella made millions in one week fully clothed.
Bella didn’t promise nudity and Only Fans wasn’t intended to be a soft core porn site even though that’s what it has turned into. She used feminine mystique and the power of suggestion plus her fans’ imaginations to make herself $2 million in six days.
You gotta love it. She knew her worth and she knew she didn’t have to take her clothes off in order to make a boatload of cash. Bella had nothing to gain by displaying her body.
Bella is smart enough to know her audience. I doubt that most people know who she is and if they do they wouldn’t give her a dime. She knew who would be titillated at the prospect of seeing her flesh and she marketed them a fantasy that made her richer.
The average woman can employ the same strategy in her personal life. If Jane Doe opened an Only Fans she would need to work harder than Bella Thorne and most won’t make $2 million in a week. But the lesson to be learned is that women need to know their market and who appreciates them. Put yourself in front of the right people and don’t work too hard. All women can prosper from Bella Thorne’s model.
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Donald Trump is trying to invalidate the 2020 presidential election by undermining the votes of Black Americans. Donald Trump is only challenging votes in states with cities that have large Black populations that voted Democrat which caused him to lose the state. He’s only questioning the votes in Black areas.
This is undemocratic and blatantly racist. This is an assault on the rights of Black Americans. Americans that support the actions of Donald Trump and the GOP or that are apathetic towards it are shameful cowards that don’t love democracy, The Constitution or America. They don’t cherish fairness or freedom.
Whether anyone likes it or not the Black people of America have spoken and our voices matter. We voted in record numbers and helped to oust a president that would have never been elected in the first place if Americans were not so racist, gullible and stupid.
Trump has lost nearly every lawsuit his filed over the integrity of the election. Now the AGs of various states are suing WI, PA, GA and MI over the legitimacy of their elections. In other words the great states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan are being asked to defend their Black citizens rights as Americans.
We the Black people of America have spoken and we overwhelmingly think Trump is unfit for office. We exercise our right to vote an now it is being challenged by Republican politicians. Their actions are blatantly racist and should not be tolerated. Donald Trump is trying to over turn election results and he thinks the path of least resistance is trampling on the will of Black voters.
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Teenaged millionaire business woman Jo Jo Siwa got a makeover from make up guru James Charles. It was absolutely dreadful. He made seventeen year old Jo Jo look like she was a thirty six year old, divorced single mom getting a makeover because she’s ready to start dating again. I don’t know how you mess Jo Jo Siwa up but James Charles managed.
Jo Jo is a bubbly, sweet, blonde, girl that most of us met while she was a young girl on dance moms. She’s tall and would be a stunning modeling at her height of 5’9″. It would be great to see her with a new, mature style. But James Charles made her up to look harsh and artificial like him.
Women need to stop taking dating advice from the likes of James Charles and Jeffree Starr. These guys have a lot of women looking manufactured these days. You’re already beautiful, fresh, fun, feminine. Have fun with your make up and simply enhance what you’ve been given. There’s no need for the exaggerated femininity. You’ve got this ladies.
I’ve gotten great fashion advice from men before. An eye for fashion isn’t gender specific and there’s nothing wrong with listening to style wisdom. But this current crop of make up gurus ain’t it. Woof! No make up is better than make up by James Charles unless it’s Halloween.
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Letitia Wright is the young British actress that earned her place in the spotlight as Shuri in the 2018 film “Black Panther” where she played the precocious and tech savvy little sister of the title character. I am very impressed with Miss Wright as an individual and I think she’s one of the brightest stars of young Hollywood.
Letitia Wright is well spoken, lady like and fashionable. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders. I use to follow her on Instagram and she often shared thoughts about her Christian faith. I think she is great and it’s wonderful to see a young Black woman, especially one that looks like she has two Black parents and four Black grandparents prosper.
Last week Twitter got upset with Letitia because she shared a video with an anti vaccine message. I didn’t watch the video but it sounds pretty wacky and scatterbrained. I don’t know why people are wanting to cancel Letitia Wright because a lot of people seem to be apprehensive about the COVID 19 vaccine.
This is yet another example of the narrow margin society gives Black women to exist within. The world doesn’t want to see Black women move with autonomy. We are expected to have our actions and opinions dictated to us so we can be used as tools that service others.
Letitia Wright didn’t stick to the script given to Black women and she was heavily criticized for it. I’m not in favor of what seem to be her views but Letitia is entitled to her view point. She didn’t deserve to be belittled, called stupid and threatened with the end of her career.
Letitia apologized for posting the controversial video and deactivated her Twitter account. It’s amazing how much grace some are shown while Black women are shown very little. The more visible African ancestry a Black woman has the less grace she is given.
Marvel Actor Letitia Wright Apologises After Sharing Vaccine Doubter Video (tyla.com)
I wasn’t a huge Black Panther fan but I admire Letitia Wright a great deal. She is a breath of fresh air in Hollywood. It’s great to see a young Black woman present herself with pride, maturity and modesty as opposed to being a loud mouthed bimbo fabricated by a surgeon.
Despite Letitia Wright’s gifts she’s still being silenced for having an opinion on a controversial matter. I guess it would be easier for the public to accept her if she was dating Future, rapping about selling her body for cash and gifts or discussing her wet ass pussy.
I would support Letitia if she expressed herself in a sexual way as well. Black women are entitled to be individuals with personalities that guide their own opinions and actions. We should not require permission to express ourselves. Black women should be given the same amount of grace and room for growth that others receive.
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Watch “Jesus Turned Over the Money Changers Tables” on YouTube
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Watch “Political Parties and Movements Don’t Determine Who Is a Christian” on YouTube
Thoughts, Observations, Impressions
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Shannon's Life in the Midwest 