@thepowelloflove

as i sit and listen, and rally and organize, and unpack and understand more how to better get to work on freedom in the face of the constant need for total control and power, even when it comes down to what one does with one’s own body, i fall on images, moving and still, of her. my three year old baby girl. layla. and then i think of all the women who are connected to her and therefore connected to me. and i think of how if they weren’t such fighters, how I wouldn’t be here today. period. because that choice being aborted made way for this choice to live and that other choice birthed the one that keeps the whole thing working. and how if the right to make one choice is taken away how that breaks how all the others choices function. and how much a fight it is to keep everything together for a system counting on them to but not supporting them to. and I think of how i don’t want them to have to fight so hard anymore. how i want them, these womxn, to feel free to choose what’s best for them. because only they truly know what’s best for them deep down inside. like, no one else is there but them and the god of their own understanding. like, no one else belongs there. especially not “the state”. but “the state” insists. and then i think of the lengths they’ll go to get what they want, what they need. and i see a lot of unnecessary pain but then I see if we keep resisting, the state may see “his” own reflection and in being mortified may lose his place, or even better his face. then my baby girl will truly be safe and free and able to fight in the good way for the good things, for even greater change to come. #findingthewords #aligningwiththerightaction #listening #speaking #fightingonthebehalfof #itsallonefight

✨ natural glow from within ✨ ⁣ ⁣ this wants to be a reel so bad 🫠😍 ⁣ ⁣ #nofilter #facecard #heartcard #lightcard #loveyall #happyjuneteenth #theeventinleimertisonsaturday @itzcali @stuzoclothing @uncrownedkingsbrand @zara @birkenstock @cultgaia

if you know me you know i love being on the casting and producing team as well, whatever role it takes when there’s a great story to tell… gathering this group of brilliant humans together to tell the fierce story that led to the story of the profound unearthing of these hidden herstories/histories of how our ancestors did what needed to be done at all costs was my honor, duty and literal divine pleasure. thank you dr. hall, thank you maggie, thank you tyler, thank you simone, thank you anna-lyse, thank you mark, thank you tami, thank you dewanda, thank you chanté, thank you jerrie, john, rhian, kate, karen, román, alex, bahni, blake, katharine, matthew, andre, folake and tim, thank you podium audio, thank you invisible studios, thank you djrupture and thank you to each and every soul named and unnamed who has been and will be a thread in the tapestry of this tale. go listen to the tyler english-beckwith adapted, audio dramatization of the 2022 pen award finalist graphic novel “wake: the hidden history of women-led slave revolts” (@wakecomicbook) by the honorable dr. rebecca hall with art by hugo martínez only on @audible. ✨✨✨✨✨✨ Credits: Full cast includes @dewandawise, @chante_adams, @thejerriejohnson, @thefolake, @kat.mcnamara, @prospertunia, @squirrellthing, @karenmalinawhite, @romanzaragoza, @alexubokudom, @jstewiii, @blakecoopergriffin, @tim_dekay, Kate Steele, @andresogliuzzo and Matthew Wolf. Directed by Simone Barros, original music by @djrupture, and adapted by @tyleronline. Produced by @podiumaudio and @theinvisiblestudios, @annalyse_erikson & Larry Powell as Associate Producers/Casting, with DeWanda Wise & Chanté Adams as Executive Producers. 🙌🏾 IN UNITY 🙌🏾

back in 2020 when my brother from a dreammother @walkgoodetienne told me to pull up to the park in the name of activism and support of our lives I had no idea what it would be but I knew it would be great. ⁣ ⁣ then everything changed for all of us, for the better. the protests, the service, the wellness, the hikes, the runs, the pivate roundtables, the public town halls and so much more.⁣ ⁣ two years later... the work continues, the community grows stronger and the roots grow deeper for the betterment of the culture. ⁣ ⁣ 🙌🏾 happy 2 year anniversary @walkgoodla!!! 🙌🏾 #rootsandculture may #wecontinue to #walkgood ⁣ and #plantgoodseedsingoodsoil #family

smile, the light still shines on we. something bout how realigned i feel after i get that fresh @itzcali cut! ⁣ ⁣ #nevergiveup #staystrong #besoft #carryon #welive #beautiful

until the lion tells their side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. it is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life. even the lion protects themself from flies. the lion does not turn around when a small dog barks. #africanproverbs #courage #youwillwin #nmrk⁣ ⁣ thank you @alfredjacksonmuzic for inspiring us with your artistry, song and vision… #urgreatestlegacyisyou #bealion🦁 #mercuryinleo #venusinleo

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨⁣ “But when I began to write that was the place where I had to go. That’s where the information was. That’s where the images were. That’s where the language the color came in, these tales folktales attitudes, the normal easy acceptance of signs. And then things began to happen that were really quite startling.” ⁣ ⁣ -Beloved Ancestor, Toni Morrison, my guide, guiding me before I even knew her and when I found her I found a piece of me. It was indeed, literally, quite startling. frfr⁣ ⁣ in this pour: everyday phone wallpaper of little larry “beginning to write” 12:12 screenshot unlocked, toni morrison speaking to the ancestral pour and pull of it all, present day larry’s pour and pull setup for a piece in part on the ancestors of it all, larry’s cousin brit dreaming of what larry’s soul twin texted him about two days prior on the living water of it all, larry’s younger brother lance’s deeply powerful and beautiful story post of a photo with his son, larry’s first and only nephew, landon screenshot at 1:11, a license plate on the 1111 life of it all, more signs, more wonders, 8888, ladybugs on balenciagas and an ode to black human magic with a sign to stay woke but give woke culture a rest. we are all connected.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨⁣ the bath water had been thrown out but not the baby. the baby was brought closer in our loving embrace as we dried them off, moisturized them and put them in new clothes. the bath water served its purpose and we were grateful we had clean, warm water to bathe the baby in this time. the baby was cleaner now and from here we could rest a bit and together dream of better days.

I was called a fag, again, a few weeks ago, by someone driving a car inches away from me, just for taking my time walking across the street in our beloved Harlem USA. Thank God I had just seen A Strange Loop on Broadway— I held my head higher and walked slower. ⁣ ⁣ I was told, again, yesterday, that my “queer lifestyle” isn’t in God’s perfect order and will. After, I turned on my Strange Loop Albums instead of my beloved gospel music— my heart felt stronger.⁣ ⁣ Thank God for A Strange Loop. Thank you to 𝗔𝗟𝗟 my queer kindred for spilling the incredibly complex lives we live onto the page. Thank you to those being courageous enough to live the nuanced lives lived offstage onstage as well. There is a deep cost to be able to confess these lived truths on page/stage/screen in these times. ⁣ ⁣ So, thank you to anyone helping these stories be told in the fullness of their authenticity potential. There is a frightening, high cost and I bear witness to a time where we are paying it my people and I see a time where the return on our soul-baring investments shifts EVERYTHING, for ALL, FOREVER. ⁣ ⁣ Keep telling the story… whether the story is about being queer or not, us being there, present in our bar-raising brilliance births new worlds …⁣ ⁣ “maybe i don’t need changing / maybe i should regroup / cuz change is just an illusion / and i is just an illusion / if thoughts are just an illusion / then what a strange, strange loop” -Michael R. Jackson, #AStrangeLoop⁣ ⁣

3:33pm on 6/03/22 … that’s all. We go way back. Trust the first point of connection. All else is fairytales and make believe. #community #circles

Yesterday, as soon as I wrapped (Acting!) on a major movie set, I ran home to throw on a pink velvet @youngrideaux durag n some yummy @stuzoclothing white lace right quick, then went on down to The Pynk to celebrate in community and chozen family with @shamikachronicles @jstewiii @j_fonz @alldaynicco @kemi_yondo @harriett_d_foy @mo.roc.co and the one and only @katorihall on the Season 2 Premiere of @pvalleystarz. ⁣ ⁣ yesterday was filled of so many full circles … as all-ways… the dots are always there to connect… all we have to do is be open and loving enough to connect them… that’s where the blessings are. nothing to reach for, only dots to connect. they are already there. complete the circles.

LA Natives hit different… #fourthgeneration #angeleno #tothineownselfbetrue