#american gods April challenge

[ipoxcky]

🕷️

spider-verse_headcanons

MILES MORALES:

whenever he gets nervous/embarrassed, he'll turn part of himself invisible, like maybe he'll stick his hand in his pocket and make it go invisible

SCENARIO: at the college admissions office, rio would tell the lady, "he makes sure that he recites his time tables every night so that he can't mess up on those challenging calculus problems!" and then he would do the invisible thing and go "stop, mami, she doesn't need to know that..."

he'll also put his head on the desk with his hood up and turn his face invisible in school if he's bored

he would probably also do that when he's crying

did the invisible hand thing with fake blood to prank ganke on april fools, ganke freaked out and almost called an ambulance before miles told him it's a prank

had a shoe-collecting phase at some point

aggressively tender headed bc his hair is always nappy from putting on the suit and his mom goes CRAZY with the comb

got little twists in his head when he was younger, but now he keeps it out. his mom will still twist his hair occasionally just for fun and he hates it

secret SoundCloud rapper whose account has like 20 followers and it's him just freestyling. the only person he told about the acc was uncle aaron who's his number one fan

PAVITR PRAHABKAR:

always pulls the "is it bc i'm _____?" card, ESPECIALLY with hobie just to mess with him and hobie would go "don't chat to me mate i don't even like the u.k. myself"

talks with his hands definitely

has seen every romance movie known to man and forces the others to watch them with him if they can

VERY facially expressive, throws the STANKIEST faces at people he doesn't like, yes he's good at reading others but it doesn't take much to read him

falls over when something shocks him bc it's like his little joke

laughs to himself a lot but doesn't tell anyone why

knows a bunch of horror stories on command, the first spiderpeople sleepover he freaked everyone out and miles couldn't sleep without the light on

just dance GOD

can raise both eyebrows individually

GWEN STACY:

had an agressive minecraft phase when she was 8 where she got the creeper hoodie and never took it off

definitely had a full pixie cut at some point

theater kid, definitely goes to watch broadway shows with her dad every so often, has met famous people because of it, her favorite one is probably dear evan hansen (idk i haven't seen it)

ben platt worshipper

drums on anything she can get her hands on

music blaster

tried electric guitar for a blip of a moment

morning person, stretches anywhere and everywhere

her favorite thing is DESTROYING pointe shoes because she can take out all her anger. this one time it got to a point where after her shoe destroying sesh she started crying because she didn't realize she had so much pain built up inside her

tutu hater

takes french and already knows a ton from ballet

wheeze laugher

pastel note taker

really pretty handwriting when she tries, chicken scratch when she doesn't

HOBIE BROWN:

surprisingly good american accent

knows a bunch of magic tricks to entertain kids experiencing homelessness on the street

headphones always on so they're absolutely demolished and holding on for dear life, too bothered to get a new pair

REALLY good with kids, does anything to help them preserve their childhood because he feels like his was gone too quickly

good whistler

beats everyone in board games

knows a lot about politics for someone who doesn't rlly like them

can judge people's character based on first glance

black nail polish never leaves his fingers

goes on really long rants about the state of the world

reads self help + philosophy books

hops the subway/metro thingy

lips always moisturized, but his hands and knees r lowkey ashy sometimes (i'm blk it's okay y'all)

doesn't drink soda

tries to be vegetarian because of the stuff he's seen (worked at a fast food restaurant and was grossed out about the stuff they were serving), that and he loves animals so

natural remedy kind of guy who would drink chlorophyll water

dreams of being a tattoo artist

uses sound effects of random things in his music, raps/sings his poetry about capitalism and stuff

keeps tin jars and cans

doesn't kill bugs and instead lets them go free

#across the spiderverse #spiderman #into the spider verse #miles morales #gwen stacy #hobie brown #spider punk #pavitr prabhakar #atsv #spiderman atsv #spoiler free #headcanons

[dramartist]

The FOOL'S Challenge

Artists, one and all, introducing your very own APRIL MONTHLY ART PROMPT! Starting on April 1st, aka April fool's day, I challenge others (and myself) to the foolish task of drawing characters as vines! FOR 30 WHOLE DAYS! You could do your own characters, someone else's, from a show; and you could draw a screenshot, panels, animate, etc. However you'd like!

Disclaimer I am not viable for any finger, arm, wrist, hand, back, brain injuries that come from non-stop drawing and all nighters. Eat, drink, sleep, stretch. You are not actually required to draw every day.

Check the read more for the typed out list, along with links to the vines! And here's a YouTube playlist of all the vines already collected: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnR0BYbuC5xgBmC8RGQY0JHWrMUDuiM0R

1) Road work ahead? Uh, yeah i sure hope it does.

2) Souls of the Innocent. A bagel. No! Two bagels.

3) Even though I look like a burnt chicken nugget, i still love myself.

4) Hurricane Katrina? More like hurricane tortilla!

5) It is Wednesday my dudes. HOOOOOO

6) So you just gon give me a birthday gift on my birthday... Happy birthday? SLAP.

7) I am the Sand Guardian, guardian of the sand! Poseidon quivers before him!

8) I like chicken strips- Fuck ya chicken strips!

9) It's an avocado! Thanks..

10) Hey I'm lesbian. I thought you were American?

11) Let me see what you have. A knife! No!

12) Boo! Aaa! Stop, I coulda dropped my croissant!

13) *Quacks*. Look it all them chickens!

14) Dad look it's the good kush! It's the dollar store how good could it be.

15) And they were roommates! Oh my god they were roommates.

16) Don't fuck with me! I have the power of god AND anime on my side!

17) Why are you running? Why are you running?!

18) So i was sitting there, barbeque sauce on my tiddies-

19) I'm Jared, I'm 19, and i never learned how to fucking read.

20) Chris is that a weed? No it's a crayon- I'm calling the police!

21) Hello I'm Michael with a B, and I've been scared of insects my whole life-

22) Two bros, chilling in a hot tub, five feet apart cuz they're not gay.

23) So no head? *Throws phone*.

24) Actually Megan, i can't sit anywhere! I have hemorrhoids!

25) Back at it again at Krispy Kreme! *Flips*.

26) Johnny has 19 bottles of dish soap- wait why does Johnny have so many soaps in the first place?!

27) I'm in me mum's car! Vroom vroom.

28) Why the fuck you lying? Mmmm why you always lying?

29) I don't have enough money to buy chicken nuggets. *Sobbing*.

30) Im gonna say it. I don't care that you broke your elbow.

#fools challenge #april fools challenge #april art prompt #april art challenge #monthly art challenge #april fools #artists on tumblr #my art #art challenge #art prompt

[malka-lisitsa]

— character info sheet.

(repost, don’t reblog)

name: Katerina Petrova/Katherine Pierce

name meaning: Originating from Greek, the girl's name Katerina/Katherine means “pure,” Petrova/Pierce Coming from the Greek word petra, it translates to “stone” or “rock,”

alias/es: the myth, the legend, the baddest bitch of all.

ethnicity: Bulgarian (tho shes p much Americanized now)

one picture you like of your chara:

three h/cs you never told anyone: god idk i talk about her constantly

Katherine flip flops between wanting absolute control of every situation, and liking the challenge of having to think on her feet.

Katherine doodles, but shes not particularly gifted in art. Most of her drawings are abstract distressing emotions.

Katherine has a self soothing stim where she rubs her fingertips together bc theyre soft and its comforting.

three things your character likes doing in their free time: 

watch yt videos/vine compilations

listen to music and dance around either at home or a club

Bother people for attention mostly Stefan/April.

eight people your character likes / loves:

Stefan Salvatore

April Young (@unsettledspirits ) Delicate verse

Damon Salvatore

Nadia Petrova

Elizabeth Petrova ( @baby-royalty ) Family ties verse

Freya Mikaelson ( @multi-royalty ) Flirty verse

Elijah Mikaelson

Vik ( @petrovawitch )

two things your character regrets:

Leaving her boys

Not fighting harder to keep her daughter.

two one phobia your character has:

Shes not really afraid of DEATH as much as shes afraid of dying without her happy ending. She wants to get her fairy tale ending. She lives for love and love more than anything. If she doesn't believe in love, she doesnt ant to live straight up. So shes not afraid of death so much as shes afraid of never being loved the way she longs to be.

Tagged by: MY OWN DAYUM SELF.

Tagging: @unsettledspirits (april) @bunnyblooded @deceptivemorals @touchedbydestiny (Nadia) @retconned-royalty @traumapyre @troubleah @were-jer AND YOU!!!!

#headcanon #the one and only... sort of: ooc

[beardedmrbean]

Made the mistake of reading euro Twitter on what they thought of the queen passing and many of them were surprised that Americans on both sides of the political aisle celebrated her passing instead of mourning. Like no shit you idoits the british monarchy is the reason why there are more Irish and Scots here then in Europe, there are family's who trace there history from being exiled, also if you fly the union jack in west Virginia or new Hampshire there's a good chance someone will tear it down and burn it.

The formal way of addressing the President is a result of our abandonment of the monarchy, like many of the different things we have here it's more of a formality than something written in stone but ya Washington didn't want a big flowery 'his excellency' type title and told everyone "Mr President" will do just fine, and everyone just followed his lead.

2 terms for president was another one of his, both Roosevelt's tried for a round 3 only one got there, war on not really wanting big changes back home so the stability of it I could totally agree with even if I didn't with who the person was.

but ya, we don't really do monarchy here. Y'all out there can do it but we ain't doin that people do like celebrity though so honestly just like anyone else gonna have people on both sides of the issue and people that just don't care.

(I'm gonna go off on a tangent now, but I promise it's fun and interesting. Or skip it, no worries was just kinda fun to write and remember all the different stuff coming up.)

Well with one notable exception, who proves that San Francisco has just always been like that.

Joshua Abraham Norton, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

Back in a time when being a high quality eccentric could actually result in a way to make a living.

Successful businessman, one of the wealthiest people in San Fran, till one bad deal ruined him, don't know if it actually broke his brain or what but he emerged as Emperor Norton wandered around issuing proclamations and all that good stuff, even printed his own money.

Which was accepted as currency by the locals.

I've always liked this line from his wiki article from the first time I read it.

Norton did receive some tokens of recognition for his position. The 1870 U.S. census lists Joshua Norton as 50 years old and residing at 624 Commercial Street, and his occupation is listed as "Emperor". It also notes that he was insane.

Not really ever charged at restaurants, just part of the local colour

we've also got

During the 1860s and 1870s, there were occasional anti-Chinese demonstrations in the poorer districts of San Francisco, and riots took place, sometimes resulting in fatalities. Starting in the late 1870s, these riots were fomented at rallies that took place on Sunday afternoons at the sandlots across from City Hall. The rallies were led by Denis Kearney, a leader of the anti-Chinese Workingmen's Party of California. At a sandlot rally held on April 28, 1878, Emperor Norton appeared just before the start of proceedings, stood on a small box and challenged Kearney directly, telling him and the assembled crowd to disperse and go home. Norton was unsuccessful, but the incident was widely reported in local papers over the next couple of days.[

Dude was just cool, nuts but cool.

Local paper at the time when he died

The Call reported, "On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moonless night, under the dripping rain ... Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life". Two days later, the San Francisco Chronicle led its article on Norton's funeral with the headline "Le Roi Est Mort."

People that thought he was secretly rich were disappointed, but he was not allowed a paupers burial, got the full shebang,

Papers reported 10,000 people came out to see him and a line of carriages 2 miles long had formed.

There's questions about the truth of that, but I choose to believe they under counted and there were 10 times that many.

Emperor of the Unites States and Protector of Mexico deserves nothing less.

One last little tidbit, he shows up in a bunch of places in literature, including one from Tumblr's author in residence Neil Gaiman.

Norton also appeared as a character in the comic book The Sandman, Vol. 2, No. 31, "Three Septembers and a January", by Neil Gaiman and Shawn McManus, and was voiced by John Lithgow in the audio book version of the comic.

Nothing but the best for His Imperial Majesty Norton the First, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

Like I said, tangent but fun.

Also like I said, San Francisco has just always been like that

#anonymous

[mariacallous]

For three years, I have been waiting for good news from Washington to share with Yvette Beatty.

Beatty, 63, is a home health aide in Philadelphia who has provided care for elderly adults and people with disabilities for nearly 40 years. Like most direct care workers, she earns very low wages despite the increasing demand for her essential work.

I first met Beatty in April 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. In our interviews, she shared with me the hardships she endured: the fear she faced as she risked her life going to work, and her daily struggle to afford basics like food and medicine for her family. “It is very hard.” she told me. “Thank God for noodles.” (You can listen to Beatty in her own words in this profile.)

Beatty questioned why leaders in Washington were not doing more to support underpaid yet essential care workers—the vast majority of whom, like her, are women and workers of color.

“With home health aides, we are struggling out here,” Beatty told me in April 2020. “This is a field everyone needs. They need our service. Why can’t we get wages that help us?”

Yvette Beatty: Listen to her own words in this profile.

Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden took important steps toward heeding Beatty’s call. In a Rose Garden ceremony, he signed a historic executive order with more than 50 directives for improving care jobs and expanding access to affordable child care and long-term care. In his remarks, President Biden thanked care workers like Beatty and said they “deserve jobs with good pay and good benefits.”

The new executive order is important for two key reasons. First, it demonstrates the Biden administration’s commitment to addressing three interrelated and critical challenges in the care sector: 1) the struggle that millions of American families face trying to access high-quality, affordable child care and long-term care for their loved ones; 2) the dire shortage of care workers who provide these services; and 3) the inadequate pay, benefits, and job quality that plague the sector. Because pay for care workers is so low, turnover is high, waitlists are long, and families are unable to find the care they need. In his Rose Garden remarks, President Biden framed the stakes in moral and economic terms, calling the issue “fundamental to who we are as a nation” and important to the entire economy.

To this end, the executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Education to use their regulatory power to enhance the job quality and wages for long-term care workers, early educators, and child care workers. For instance, HHS could increase the pay and benefits for Head Start personnel, and the Education Department could encourage its grantees to increase wages for child care staff.

The second key reason for the executive order’s importance is that it harnesses the power of the executive branch at a time when progress in Congress has stalled. Early in his administration, President Biden proposed historic investments in the care sector as part of the Build Back Better agenda, including $400 billion for long-term care, $225 billion for child care, and $200 billion for early childhood education. However, the final version of this legislation signed into law (the Inflation Reduction Act) was ultimately a slimmed down version of Build Back Better that was stripped of any investments in care.

Now, with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, any major legislation investing in care work seems unlikely for the foreseeable future. But by issuing an executive order on care work, President Biden was able to bypass Congress to make some progress through the executive branch and demonstrate continued support—albeit without bringing any new money to the issue.

Unfortunately, that lack of new money means that America’s care crisis will continue, despite the positive steps outlined in the executive order. Sizable federal and state investment is required to simultaneously improve care jobs and expand access to affordable, quality child care and long-term care. Unlike other low-wage sectors such as retail or fast food (where wages are responsive to labor market demand, as evidenced by fast-growing wages for in-demand leisure and hospitality workers), the hourly pay for workers providing direct long-term care is mainly financed through Medicaid (funded by both the federal and state governments) and restricted by (often inadequate) Medicaid reimbursement rates set by states. Even when demand for workers is high, as it is today, employers in the care sector have little room to raise pay or improve benefits to attract and retain staff, unless states increase Medicaid reimbursement rates and Congress and state governments invest additional money to finance pay bumps.

Recently, several states have made financial commitments to raise pay for care workers permanently. Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, and New York have funded pay increases for direct care workers providing long-term services, including home health aides. And New Mexico, Washington, D.C., Maine, and Louisiana boosted pay for child care workers. While promising, these examples of state leadership remain the exception. A comprehensive and national solution to the care crisis requires federal action.

To Yvette Beatty, this issue isn’t partisan. “It isn’t a Democrat or a Republican thing,” she told me back in 2020. “It’s a ‘we’ thing.” She noted the appeal to voters in helping both families and workers. “Help the home health aides so we can continue to help our patients. If we can’t keep ourselves together, how are we going to keep our patients together?”

President Biden’s executive order and instances of state action show hopeful signs of progress on solving America’s care crisis. But major federal investment is needed, and I’m still waiting to call Beatty with good news that it’s coming. Three years ago, when I asked her how she would feel if leaders in Washington invested in care workers, she responded: “It would give us hope if they supported us. It would let us know we are appreciated. If the government could help us right now, it would feel beautiful.”

[freddiemercurydaily]

Gallery update 8 November 1974, Queen released their third studio album, “𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤“ in their native UK by EMI records.  It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker and launched Queen to mainstream popularity in the UK and throughout the world. It peaked at the #2 spot in the UK and stayed on the charts for 42 weeks!The album was recorded between July and September 1974 at four different studios, there were considerable challenges during the making of Sheer Heart Attack. Mid-way through Queen’s first North American Tour, one that started in April 1974 (as a support band for Mott The Hoople), Brian fell ill with hepatitis.When May recovered, the work continued in the studio before he fell ill again, this time with a duodenal ulcer. Brian’s health meant that all gigs were cancelled following th

eir return from America and before the UK tour in autumn 1974 got underway.  Freddie, Roger and John overcame the issues of Brian’s absence during the recording by leaving spaces in the songs for his solos. When he felt well enough, May returned and completed the tracks, adding his guitar solos and backing vocals.Thirteen songs were written and recorded, with Freddie taking on the lion's share: six were written by him, while four were penned by Brian. John and Roger each wrote one, and Stone Cold Crazy was credited as a four-way composition, though it had started off as a Wreckage song, written by Freddie.For this album, Queen experimented with a variety of musical genres, including music hall, heavy metal, ballads and ragtime. At this point Queen started to move away from the progressive tendencies of their first two releases into a more radio-friendly, song-orientated style, illustrated by ‘Killer Queen’, which was their biggest hit at that point reaching No 2 in the UK.  It was the bands first international hit, peaking at No 12 in the US Billboard Charts, the first of many hits there. Freddie knew how important this album was to be for the band, saying at the time, “The album is very varied, we took it to extreme I suppose, but we are very interested in studio techniques and wanted to use what was available. We learned a lot about technique while we were making the first two albums. Of course, there has been some criticism, and the constructive criticism has been very good for us.” It’s hard to believe now, but misconceptions remained according to Freddie – “We’ve been called a supermarket hype. But if you see us up on a stage, that’s what we’re all about. We are basically a rock band.”  

Freddie also said, “Nobody knew we were going to be told we had two weeks to write “Sheer Heart Attack.”  And we had to — it was only thing we could do.  Brian was in hospital." Sheer Heart Attack proved that Queen was far from just any old rock band. This album took the band to a whole new level, helping to propel them from a support band on a US tour to a headliner.As the album went platinum, it was proof that this was a band that was “even greater than the sum of their considerable parts.”Roger Taylor has said ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ is his favourite album.  The Winnipeg Free Press stated in July of 1975:The more I listen to Sheer Heart Attack, the third album from Queen, the more I realize bow much I under-rated it a few months back when it was first released. Side one in particular is a delight, with Brian May’s multi-tracked guitar, Freddie Mercury’s stunning vocalizing and Roy Thomas Baker’s dynamic production work teaming up in a no-holds barred, full-scale attack on the senses.The album cover was shot by renowned photographer, Mick Rock and was Freddie’s idea.  “God, the agony we went through to have the pictures taken, dear.  Can you imagine trying to convince the others to cover themselves in Vaseline and then have a hose water turned on them?!  Sheer agony!”76Katherine R Davis, Eileen Roether en 74 anderen13 opmerkingen8 keer gedeeldLeukOpmerking plaatsenDelen

#Gallery #photoshoot #freddiemercury #queen #fansite

[ausetkmt]

Alice Faulkner Burch thought it would be easy to find Black Latter-day Saints to write essays about their faith for a volume she was editing for Deseret Book, the publishing house owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After all, the convert has a large network of Black members from her time as the first African American missionary in the church’s Chile Santiago South Mission, her stint as women’s Relief Society president at Genesis, a support group for Black Latter-day Saints, as well as her current position working on Black history on the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board.

She feared her biggest challenge was choosing ones to include, and having to reject all the others.

It turned out Burch faced the opposite problem.

Many of those she approached declined to be included in a volume they presumed would whitewash Mormonism’s racial history and downplay the bigotry they experienced in the church.

No matter how much they trusted Burch or how ardently she reassured them that their words would not be censored, she says, many told her, “I like you, but I don’t believe Deseret Book would publish such a book.”

They were wrong. It would and it has. It’s titled “My Lord, He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints,” with Burch as general editor.

(Alice Faulkner Burch) Alice Faulkner Burch is the editor of “My Lord, He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints."

The effort required a lot of research, legwork and, she believes, divine assistance, but Burch is proud of the newly released anthology, which includes a powerful group of essays from Black Latter-day Saints across a spectrum of ages, life experiences, geography and approaches — and even some from history.

The issues they face within the 16.8 million-member global faith are all there — racial slurs at church, insensitive comments by fellow Latter-day Saints, feelings of isolation, the faith’s former priesthood/temple exclusion for Black members, and the shadow of slaveholders in the church’s past.

Historian W. Paul Reeve, who heads up Mormon studies at the University of Utah, was “pleasantly surprised that Deseret Book was willing to publish this volume,” he writes in a Facebook post. “I liked the candor and the vulnerability that permeates the stories and hope for more of this in the future.”

Reeve, author of the critically acclaimed “Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness,” also notes a strength of the pieces by Black converts.

They “tend to speak of growing up with God, of being spiritually aware, of having a love for Jesus and then bringing that love with them into the [church],” Reeve writes. “It was refreshing to hear about the songs they sang (and still do), and the spiritual promptings they received, and the faith-based lives they led before they joined the [church]. They were faithful members of other denominations who went about doing good. They still speak of their prior churches with respect.”

Instead of creating a “false dichotomy between a hopelessly false and fallen world outside of the church and an impossibly perfect scenario within,” he says, these stories reveal “faith-filled lives striving to follow Christ both before and after hearing the message of the restoration.”

Here are samples from some of the articles:

‘I don’t see color’

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Black Menaces have been filming TikTok videos addressing racism at BYU in Provo. Shown in April 2022, from left, are Nate Byrd, Kennethia Dorsey, Rachel Weaver, Kylee Shepherd and Sebastian Stewart-Johnson.

Many white Latter-day Saints and other Americans seem to think “I don’t see color” is a progressive way of thinking, but it seems to contradict basic Christian theology.

“Since becoming a member of the church, I feel a tremendous amount of spiritual groundedness and gratitude for being covered in this body of color. It possesses a divine plan and purpose,” writes Lita Little Giddens, coordinator of diversity, collaboration and inclusion at church-owned Brigham Young University. “How I stand in my body now is empowering and faith promoting. Acknowledging my Blackness and standing confidently in [it] keeps me intimately connected to my God and is vital to my existence as I continue to learn its positionality in God’s plan.”

Does Jesus see color? she wonders. “Every time I approach the scriptures, I feel Jesus looking at this body of color in fullness and through all things.”

A road trip to Jesus

(Charles Kelly | AP)This April 3, 1968, file photo shows the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., second from right, standing with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King, and Ralph Abernathy.

Two Utah sisters, 14-year-old Hayley and 13-year-old Millie Fletcher, were adopted by a Latter-day Saint couple living in an area dominated by white culture. Their birth moms are white, and their birth dads are Black. Tired of being harassed for their race, being called racist slurs, having strangers touch their hair, their mother took them on a civil rights tour of the South to learn more about their roots, history and Jesus. Their final stop was in Memphis: the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down.

“We sat in front of the hotel where he died,” the sisters write, “and our thoughts turned to our Savior; we asked the same questions. Jesus was also young, powerful and full of hope. ...He suffered equally for everyone no matter their race, religion or location.”

The girls connected even more to the Christian Redeemer after the trip.

“In our eyes, Jesus is more like us than most people realize. His skin was probably brown because he was a Jew from the Middle East,” they note. “He was adopted because Joseph was not his biological father. He stood out and was different in who he was and the things he taught. Jesus loved to be different.”

The question of belonging

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Descendants of Latter-day Saint pioneer Green Flake, left, Euridell Bankhead, Eldon Udell (hidden), Tamu Smith, Betty Juanita Jackson and Darryl Udell unveil the bronze statues of their ancestor and fellow Black pioneers at This Is the Place Heritage Park, Friday, July 22, 2022.

Earl Joseph Hunter Jr. joined the Utah-based faith in 1980, and now, in his 70s, that means he has spent decades as a member, serving in a variety of church assignments in his Virginia congregation. Fulfilling those commitments, he writes, “is very important to me.”

Reared as a Baptist, he was used to being a Black participant in mostly white organizations. Still, in the past four years, Hunter has found a real kinship with other Black Latter-day Saints by attending the Legacy of Black Latter-day Saint Pioneers conference at the Washington D.C. Temple’s visitors’ center. The gathering attracts speakers and attendees from church headquarters and across the country.

This connection with other African American members has “enlarged my soul and increased my understanding and enlightenment,” Hunter writes. “All these experiences have buoyed me up, contributing to my feeling that I belong.”

A missionary tool

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The Bonner family performs in the Conference Center at an event June 1, 2018, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the priesthood/temple ban.

The book’s title comes from a Black American spiritual, “Steal Away to Jesus,” written sometime before 1862 by enslaved composer Wallace Willis, Burch explains in the introduction. In 2018, it was recorded by two Latter-day Saint performers, Camlyn Giddins and Yahosh Bonner, of the Bonner family singers.

The purpose of this anthology is “to strengthen and aid the Black American Latter-day Saint community, as well as educate other members of the church who want to better understand the experiences of Black American Latter-day Saints,” she writes. It also aims to help members understand “the sin of racism and removing racist attitudes and behaviors from our congregations.”

So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, Burch says in an interview, with buyers returning again and again to pick up more copies — even planning to send them to local Latter-day Saint leaders.

Who knew it could have such an impact or be used as a missionary tool? asks Burch, who also wrote one of the essays and all of the poetry.

“God did,” she says.

#Black Latter-day Saints express their faith and their wrestles with racism in the church

[marialeto]

Ascended Master and Tarot Card of the Day

September 1st, 2022

Thursday

Iolite

lOVE and Compassion

Iolite’s essential oil blend consists of 2 essential oils

Patchouli 6

Lavender 5

Iolite’s divinely blessed braided intention, prayer, and meditation bracelet is made of 3 strands of yarn.

Medium Blue for Wisdom

White for Beauty

Lavender for Compassion

Message: The highest blessing is love.

The gemstone is Colorless, Purple Quartz

Peach coffee

Photographed with Cats and Yarn coffee mug.

💙💟💜

Today, the Spirit Animal is Peacock, the Angel is Chauvin, the Being Of Light is James, the Goddess is Grace, the God is Uriel, the Saint is Zebra, the Ascended Master is Iolite, the Planet is Uranus, the Number is Four, the Elohim is Soul, the Element is Wind, the Place is Vedder, the Star is Wayne, the Country is Russia, the Theme is Over, the Gemstone is Colorless Purple Quartz, the Day is Megauniverse, the Day of the God, the Divinity is Masculine Feminine, the Song of the day is Out On The Tiles by Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes song #9 on the Album Live At The Greek Disc 2, year 2000, the Keyword is Tiles.

It is Shannon and Kaylie day 2 and Jared’s day.

Today the moon is Waxing Crescent in Scorpio.

Moonrise today 11:52 AM to 10:52 PM

Sunrise 6:16 AM

Sunset 7:26 PM

In Virgo Sun

TAROT CARD 💙💟💜

Six of Cups

Returning to a state of harmony and balance.

The symbol in the photo is the Primrose. A traditional symbol of youth.

It is a gesture of kindness and affection.

It represents honesty and simple goodness.

From the Influence Of The Angels Tarot

Notes for today: Flow, Blue, Red, Purple, Colors

Notes:

Colorless purple quartz

Also known as Conite, Cornish Diamond, Konilite, Lake Country Diamonds, Lemurian Seed Crystal, Lodilite (wine), Low Quartz, Mexican Diamond, Pacific Cat’s Eye, Beta-Quartz, High Quartz.

Quartz can be as abrasive as sandpaper or as delicate as glass. It is considered the birthstone for those born in April. It has been the Arkansas State emblem since 1967. Traditionally, the Japanese asserted that quartz signified purity and infinite space, while ancient North American and Burmese cultures considered the stone to be a living being, holding rituals for it and providing it with food.

Quartz belongs to the trigonal Crystal system.

Peacock: known to be the epitome of beauty, this graceful power animal offers lessons about self love, honor, integrity, and the importance of facing life’s challenges as well as the unknown with courage and confidence.

When the peacock struts gracefully into your life you may be entering a time of rebirth.

The photo of the day is:

Reach For Heights

#photography #coffee #art #love #inspiration #life #energy #beauty #tarot #photooftheday #cats #peach #yarn #blessed #Iolite #Grace #Chauvin #Peacock #Uriel #Zebra #Four #Soul #Wind #Uranus #Russia #Quartz #God

[daily-praise]

Today’s Reflection

During this week, Jesus has continued to refer to himself as the Bread of Life. Although we have a better understanding today of what this means, it still remains a mystery. Yet, for those who accept this challenge, they are not alone. Because “the relationship we have with Jesus [has been] made manifest [through] the cross. This act revealed what sort of God we worship, one who gives his flesh for the life of the world. This is the God we not only celebrate, but [also] truly encounter in the Eucharist.”[1] for Jesus gave to us through this sacrament, his Life to sustain us so that we can continue to take up the challenge of Jesus daily as we strive to live better Christian lives.

[1] http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/DailyReadings/3Easter.html#Thursday

Today’s Spiritual Links for April 18, 2024

National Eucharistic Review Today’s Mas Readings Today’s Reflection Rosary Liturgy of the Hours New American Bible Non-Scriptural Reading Prime Matters

#Daily Praise #Catholic #Prayers #Easter

[kenndowell]

Struggles to Success: Waverly Willis | A Story of Resilience and Community Leadership

Struggles to Success: Waverly Willis | A Story of Resilience and Community Leadership https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQbqidYSkRE 🌟👏 From Struggles to Success: The Inspiring Journey of Waverly Willis! 👏🌟 Join us on a captivating journey as we delve into the remarkable story of Waverly Willis, a true embodiment of resilience and triumph. From battling addiction and homelessness to becoming a thriving entrepreneur and community leader, Waverly's journey is nothing short of inspiring. Discover how he turned his struggles into opportunities for growth and empowerment, and learn about the pivotal role of barbershops in promoting health awareness and mentorship in the African American community. Watch now to witness Waverly's incredible transformation and be inspired by his commitment to giving back and fostering positive change! 00:00 Welcome to Strategic Moves: Merging Life's Elements 00:11 Meet Ken Dial: A Man of Many Hats 01:17 Introducing Waverly Willis: The Man with the Golden Clippers 02:06 Waverly's Journey: From East Cleveland to Entrepreneurship 04:13 The Dark Side of Success: Drug Dealing and Addiction 09:29 Hitting Rock Bottom: Homelessness and the Fight for Sobriety 13:39 A New Chapter: Recovery and Rediscovery 14:23 The Power of a Second Chance: Barber College and Beyond 22:48 Reflections and Revelations: A Conversation with Latif 26:25 A Promise to God: The Journey of Recovery 27:18 The Harsh Realities of Group Therapy and Relapse 28:04 Finding Strength in Faith and Overcoming Adversity 28:25 The Last Shot at Recovery: A Life or Death Decision 28:49 Embracing Potential and Pursuing Success 29:09 The Impact of Family History on Personal Struggles 31:52 A New Chapter: From Recovery to Giving Back 34:37 Transforming the Barbershop into a Community Health Hub 36:31 Expanding Community Impact: Prostate Screening and Youth Mentorship 38:06 Addressing the Challenges of Youth Mentorship and Role Models 46:19 Reflecting on Personal Growth and Family Life 54:20 Final Thoughts and Call to Action via Strategic Moves With Kenn Dowell https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuR0qSitL0BzCbd9I16VOoQ April 15, 2024 at 08:59AM

#podcast #business #mentalhealth #education #relationships #motivation #realestate #entrepreneurship

[audiofictionuk]

New Fiction Podcasts - 11th April - Part 1/2

Fandom Fables & Dragons Audio RPG Welcome to "Fandom Fables & Dragons," the podcast where fantasy meets reality in the most unexpected way! Join our four intrepid podcasters – Caleb, Chad, Scott, and French – as they embark on an extraordinary adventure beyond their wildest imaginations. In each episode, follow along as our hosts navigate through a fantastical realm after being unexpectedly whisked away from their ordinary lives. Transported into a world straight out of the pages of their favorite books, they find themselves facing mythical creatures, enchanted forests, and magical quests. But it's not all dungeons and dragons; as they journey through this mystical land, our podcasters discover that their knowledge of pop culture and fandoms might just be the key to unlocking the secrets of this new world. With each twist and turn, they draw upon their love for stories, games, and movies to solve puzzles, overcome challenges, and forge alliances with both friend and foe alike. From battling dragons to deciphering ancient prophecies, "Fandom Fables & Dragons" is a rollercoaster ride of laughter, suspense, and heartwarming moments. As our hosts delve deeper into the mysteries of this realm, they also uncover truths about themselves and the power of friendship. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240302-05 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2324490.rss

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City Dwarves Audio RPG This story begins with our PCs, a trio of young dwarves, living in a city. They're the children of cobblers who perished the month prior when plague swept through the city. Coming home from the funeral, they have found their shop ransacked. Tools broken, shoes in for repairs ruined, the whole place a mess, except for one left boot that has been repaired and left in the middle of the room. Obviously this was the work of a rival cobbler shop, but which one? And why? Soon enough the clients stop coming in. No new orders for shoes, boots, or even sandals. The potential heroes are facing a serious problem as funds begin to run out... yet some god must have smiled down upon these poor orphans, for one day they come downstairs to find all their work completed for them and the shop nicely cleaned up. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240302-06 RSS: https://media.rss.com/city-dwarves/feed.xml

Legends of Straflem Season 2 Audio RPG Join us in a Dungeons and Dragons adventure through the long forgotten Straflem Islands. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240229-04 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TavernTableAdventures/feed.xml

Watts Corner Audio Drama Welcome to Watts Corner! This show follows the adventures of two best friends, Johnny Watts, a penguin with a heart of gold and a buck-o'five in the bank, and Frankie Carlino, a down-on-his-luck raccoon who may or may not be way into witchcraft. From haunted thrift stores to the Cermack Mafia to facing off with a deranged scientist who gets his kicks creating animal-human hybrids, Watts Corner is where you'll find it all.  https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240301-08 RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/wattscorner

American Leprechaun Audio Drama Pack your four leaf clover for an epic adventure to a magical land full of excitement and danger. Young leprechaun Rowan was only planning on chasing rainbows and playing pranks his whole life. Then, at the Grand Fairy Hall, he accidentally volunteered to save all of Ireland by finding St. Patrick’s stolen magical spectacles, which were rumored to be hidden across the Atlantic in New York City! Teaming up with a kind banshee, a twelve year old boy and a troop of theatrical rats, Rowan crosses the sea to set off on a journey filled with magic, mysterious tunnels, PT Barnum and the villainous Muldoon family. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240229-05 RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/americanleprechaun

Paddleboat Audio Drama You don’t have to change the world, you just have to live in it | An existentialist flashfiction anthology | Created by Rhys Lawton and James Curtis https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240229-06 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/ead11efc/podcast/rss

Trouble In Mind Audio Drama A horror/mystery audio drama miniseries. Strange tapes, ghost trains, witches, and conspiracy theorists. In 1945, a continental train bound for the east coast stopped in Appalachia and was never seen again. But one passenger, a reporter, did come home. And she claimed something was following her. It's now 1983. The woman has gone missing. Her niece finds magnetic tape reels in her attic that contain recordings from the doomed overland passage. Something compels her to keep listening. Something wanted her to find those recordings. What happened aboard the Autumn Flyer? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240329-01 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f3c2c114/podcast/rss

LOOTEN & LEVELN Audio RPG Pen & Paper-Rollenspiele zählen zu den absoluten Lieblingsprojekten bei Rocket Beans. Zahlreiche Abenteuer wurden bereits auf Youtube und als Podcast unter dem passenden Kanalnamen “Pen & Paper“ veröffentlicht. Warum also dieser neue Kanal hier? Ganz einfach: Die hier erscheinenden Abenteuer gibt es NUR als Podcast. Musik, Atmosphäre und Soundeffekte sorgen dabei für ein echtes Hörspiel-Gefühl. Aktuelles Abenteuer: CITY OF MIST - DAS LAZARUS PROJEKT. Neue Folgen gibt es jeden Montag. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240328-02 RSS: https://www.rocketbeans.tv/podcasts/lootenleveln.xml

Les Intelligences Artificielles rêvent-elles de Terriens Hérétiques ? Audio Book Et si vous receviez un message envoyé du futur par une Intelligence Artificielle? Fermez-les yeux pour vous laisser transporter... Ce voyage de 13 minutes peut vous emmener très loin si vous lâchez du lest. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240331-01 RSS: https://feeds.podcastics.com/podcastics/podcasts/rss/7229_20691333082644aac05c533c264a6157.rss

AcadiaRole: Dungeons and Dragons Audio RPG We are a ttrpg group who has been playing together for 10 years and recording for 8 years. We are a DnD5e group playing both original and official campaigns and settings. Subscribe to us on Spotify or Patreon for exclusive access to Session Zeros, One Shots and to be able to listen to brand new episodes a week early! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20220908-06 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/812d8e4/podcast/rss

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Void - A Narrative Audio Experience Audio Drama A standalone pilot episode for a speculative audio drama series about the pursuit of science, and the inevitability of its consequence. Void follows Dr. Henry Katz, an idealistic neuroscientist whose finding disrupts humanity as we know it, and the lengths to which he must go to undo the societal turmoil he's created. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240329-02 RSS: https://media.rss.com/voidpilot/feed.xml

Le Fil Bleu Audio Drama Lors d’une soirée trop arrosée, sept amis de lycée perdent le contrôle. L’alcool coule à flot, les souvenirs se dérobent. L’une d’entre eux disparaît dans la nature. Les heures passent, Thalia est introuvable. Grâce aux témoignages, la police creuse la piste de la fugue. Mais la reconstitution de cette soirée présente des failles. Les témoins mentent. Est-ce Thalia qu’ils protègent ? Ou leurs secrets ? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240330-01 RSS: https://feed.ausha.co/bzrNQMC3NnG1

U3A Melbourne Entertains Audio Book Stories, drama, and comedy from U3A Melbourne Scriptwriters https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240326-03 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/smlingcat20002000y/feed.xml

Last of Eden's Vices - A Vampire the Masquerade V5 Podcast Audio RPG The fate of Providence hangs in the balance, a new Coterie stumbles across a conspiracy that threatens the establishment. They have unknowingly made themselves key players in the fate of the city. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240325-05 RSS: https://feeds.castos.com/v4pm1

This Machine Belongs To Audio Book This Machine Belongs To details the journal entries of those that toil away at the machine. Be careful dear listener, or you may find yourself under it's same compulsion. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20240401-01 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1613659.rss

#audio fiction #fiction podcast

[lboogie1906]

“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” is the popular name of the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr.

He spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple in Memphis. On the following day, King was assassinated.

The speech primarily concerns the Memphis Sanitation Strike. his calls for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent protest, while challenging the US to live up to its ideals. At the end of the speech, he discusses the possibility of an untimely death.

Regarding economic boycotts, King advocated boycotting white goods as a means of nonviolent protest. He said that the individual Negro is poor but together they are an economic powerhouse, and they should use this power to stop support for racist groups and instead empower African American businesses. Although the industries might not listen to protests, they would be forced to listen to boycotts lest they be driven out of business. King named several businesses as targets for the boycott:

Toward the end of the speech, King refers to threats against his life and uses language that prophetically foreshadows his impending death, but reaffirms that he was not afraid to die:

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter to me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live – a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[chicagoarchaeologyevents]

APRIL 2024 CHICAGO ARCHAEOLOGY LECTURES AND EXHIBITS

LECTURES

April 11, 7:00 PM AIA Society Chicago Lecture "Crouching Tigers, Hidden Elephant” Lecturer: Noel Tan While a global phenomenon, rock art has been a relatively recent subject of study in Southeast Asia with the number of known sites growing from a handful in the 1960s to over a thousand today. Research accelerated in the last 20 years with better recording and analytical techniques as evidenced by the increased number of papers on Southeast Asian rock art in international conferences and journals since the 2000s. The majority of sites are located from Indonesia and Thailand, where sustained episodes of research have been conducted. New dates from Indonesia challenge long-standing ideas about the ‘origin’ of art while other discoveries shed light on the movements and activities of peoples across this diverse landscape. This lecture presents a survey of rock art across Southeast Asia from the deep past to more modern times and shows how rock art can help us better understand the archaeology of Southeast Asia. DePaul University Levan Center 2322 North Kenmore Avenue Chicago

April 13, 5:00 PM American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Chicago, Illinois Chapter

"New Evidence of the 25th Dynasty God’s; Wives of Amun at Luxor Temple”

Catherine Witt, Egyptology PhD Candidate at the University of Chicago

In Person only in the LaSalle Banks Room at ISAC This year there is one lecture, 20 minutes long (in keeping with the ARCE Meeting lecture format) so this will be a short meeting.

April 17, 8:00 pm ET, 7:00 PM CT AIA Society, Chicago Online Lecture This is an online event.

"Excavating a Shipwrecked Marble Column Destined for the Temple of Apollo at Claros"

Deborah Carlson (Texas A&M)

Between 2005 and 2011, researchers from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University excavated and raised the remains of an ancient ship that was wrecked off the Aegean coast of Turkey at Kızılburun in the first century B.C. This ship was transporting about 60 tons of white marble blocks and architectural elements that originated in the quarries on Proconnesus Island in the Sea of Marmara. Ceramic artifacts and coins help narrow the date of the shipwreck, but the pieces of a single monumental Doric column suggest that the ship was destined for one of the most important oracular sanctuaries in the ancient Mediterranean. Join underwater archaeologist Deborah Carlson as she lays out the evidence to solve this maritime mystery!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uCFCjR1iQ-SNbtaZkrd48Q#/registration

MUSEUM EVENTS

April 25 – August 18, 2024 The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (formerly the Oriental Institute) Exhibit

"Pioneers of the Sky: Aerial Archaeology and the Black Desert"

The University of Chicago, 1155 E 58th St.

January 26-May 12, 2024 Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Photography Exhibit “Native America in Translation” https://www.mocp.org/exhibition/native-america-in-translation/

January 6-June 16, 2024 The National Puerto Rican Museum Chicago Exhibit “Caribbean Indigenous Resistance / Resistencia indígena del Caribe ¡Taíno Vive!” https://nmprac.org/exhibition/taino-vive-caribbean-indigenous-resistance/?back=ago

[newmusicradionetwork]

for King + Country Drops “What Are We Waiting For” Deluxe Edition Today

Multi-GRAMMY® Award winning and RIAA Platinum-selling Curb | Word Entertainment recording artist for KING + COUNTRY drops the deluxe edition of their GRAMMY® nominated and American Music Award winning album, “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?” titled “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? +” today – purchase here. The expanded 17-track collection includes the duo’s four most recent consecutive #1 singles: the Gold-certified “TOGETHER (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly),” “RELATE,” “For God Is With Us” and “Love Me Like I Am.”;  two brand new originals:  the long-awaited title-cut, “What Are We Waiting For?” and “Better Man”;  as well as two previously released duets: chart-topping “Love Me Like I Am (feat. Jordin Sparks)” and GRAMMY®-nominated “For God Is With Us (feat. Hillary Scott)”. The duo recently released their epic music video for “What Are We Waiting For (The Single),” which was filmed in the Mojave Desert, California.  The video takes the listener on a journey as the larger-than-life track challenges listeners to be the change they wish to see in the world; hoping to inspire a message of unity, action and optimism.  View Video Here. The synth-heavy deluxe album finds brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone pledging to be the best versions of themselves for their wives, who each inspire them to strive for excellence every day. Acknowledging their faults, the men aspire to greater heights and stronger bonds, tracing a pattern of bold harmonies across more than three minutes of atmospheric rock.  Says the Smallbones:  “When you announce an album, you’re announcing a new era. In some cases that era lasts for a year and a half to two years, and as artists you realize in that time there’s going to be new iterations that come about. The deluxe album takes everything that took place in that time, and ties it all in a bow. We feel that ‘WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? +’ is the culmination point of the last two years. It’s the ultimate version of the record.” Track listing for “WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? +” Includes: - What Are We Waiting For? (The Single) 2. RELATE 3. Broken Halos 4. Love Me Like I Am (feat. Jordin Sparks) 5. Unity (feat. Dante Bowe) 6. For God Is With Us (feat. Hillary Scott) 7. Hold On Pain Ends 8. Unsung Hero 9. Harmony (feat. Sleeping At Last) 10. Shy 11. Better Man 12. TOGETHER (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly) 13. Seasons 14. Cheering You On 15. Benediction 16. Love Me Like I Am (Album Version) 17. For God Is With Us (Album Version) for KING + COUNTRY’s “What Are We Waiting For?” album received a GRAMMY® nomination earlier this year for “For God Is With Us” featuring Hillary Scott of Lady A;  and was given their first-ever American Music Award win for “Favorite Inspirational Artist,” garnering the hit single feat. Jordin Sparks, “Love Me Like I Am”, which hit the Top 10 on both Billboard and Mediabase’s Adult Contemporary charts.  The duo also recently announced the “A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS | THE 2023 TOUR EXPERIENCE” – their highly-anticipated annual holiday spectacle that features an extraordinary production, blending festive visuals and stunning lighting and staging effects, for a high-octane show that the brother duo have become known for. With 13 sold-out arena shows in 2022, this year’s Christmas tour will span 16 cities with tickets in high-demand at some of the largest venues across North America and Canada. A DRUMMER BOY CHRISTMAS | THE 2023 TOUR EXPERIENCE” kicks off on Nov. 25 in Chicago, Ill. and travels coast-to-coast visiting arenas in major markets including Phoenix, Seattle, Houston, Las Vegas, Portland and Minneapolis, among others. Visit www.forkingandcountry.com to purchase tickets. It was also recently announced in The Hollywood Reporter that “Unsung Hero,” Joel Smallbone’s directorial debut film from for KING + COUNTRY Entertainment has been picked up by Lionsgate with a theatrical release date of April 26, 2024. Titled from the duo’s song of the same name that was dedicated to their parents, the biopic follows the Smallbone family’s immigration from Australia to the United States. ABOUT for KING + COUNTRY for KING + COUNTRY is one of the music industry’s most respected and decorated duos.  Brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone have been awarded four GRAMMY® Awards, an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, 10 GMA Dove Awards, and 17 K-LOVE Fan Awards.  Their 12 No.1 songs have produced an astonishing 2 billion career streams.  The RIAA Platinum-selling act’s live show has been hailed as a must-see concert event that continues to wow sold-out crowds whether in the U.S., Australia, Germany, Netherlands, or New Zealand.  for KING + COUNTRY’s WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?, released this year, became the duo’s second Top 10 album on the Billboard 200; following their RIAA Gold certified album, BURN THE SHIPS, which also debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. The duo has had seven consecutive No. 1 songs including “For God Is With Us,” “joy.,” “TOGETHER” (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly),” and the 11-week Platinum smash, “God Only Knows.”  The global hitmakers have collaborated with a diverse list of artists including Jordin Sparks, Hillary Scott, Dolly Parton, NEEDTOBREATHE and Timbaland, amongst others. Joel and Luke Smallbone are committed to numerous philanthropic efforts focused on human trafficking, children in need, as well as numerous programs in support of the arts.  For more information about for KING + COUNTRY visit:  www.forkingandcountry.com. ABOUT CURB | WORD ENTERTAINMENT In 2016, Curb Records acquired Word Entertainment, combining two of the music industry’s most respected brands, and more than a century of collective experience.  Today, Curb and Word are two of the world’s leading independent music companies.  Owned and operated by Mike Curb, the Curb | Word family includes the labels: Curb, Word, Squint, Fervent, Sidewalk, MCC and IVAV, as well as Curb Publishing, Word Publishing, 25 Live, Curb Films, Word Films, Word Entertainment, and Curb Sports, representing top artists and entertainers in Country, Christian, Pop, Rock and Hip-Hop.  For more information visit www.curb.com. For media inquiries, please contact: Lori Lousararian-Hakola [email protected] Tracy Cole [email protected] Lesley Burbridge [email protected] Jessie Lowe [email protected] Read the full article

[thorntonkrell-blog-blog]

One year ago yesterday, the United States Supreme Court made a ruling on abortion that has further alienated the Court from the American public. The ruling is not in synch with the opinion of a majority of our citizens, most partcularly women.

This conflict has been going on for many years in America. Even George Washington, while deciding how to cross the Delaware River asked himself do we row or do we wade? According to history, he decided to wade.

Rochester, like all cities has been embroiled in this argument for many years. One of the most controversial figures in the debate was Doctor Morris Wortman. Wortman was viewed as a notable figure among abortion activists and served as a figurehead in the challenges of practicing abortion in America. His office has been regularly protested against by pro-choice advocates. He began receiving regular death threats after he defended his practice in an op-ed article that he wrote for Newsweek magazine but in 2021, Morgan Hellquist, the daughter of a former patient, sued Wortman, claiming that he used his own sperm to impregnate her mother in 1984 — when he had claimed that he was using the sperm of a medical student for the fertility treatments.

After the suspicious visit, a DNA genealogy test found that she had at least nine half-siblings. A test comparing Hellquist’s DNA to that of Wortman’s daughter from his first marriage confirmed the matter, according to the suit alleging medical malpractice, lack of informed consent, battery, fraud, negligence, and infliction of emotional distress. “He knew the whole time who he was and I didn’t,” Hellquist said on Good Morning America last year. “He took away that choice for me.”

In 2012, after the birth of her first child, Hellquist became a patient of Wortman, inspired by the work that allowed her parents to conceive after her father was paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver. For the next nine years, Wortman was her gynecologist — performing annual pelvic and breast exams and talking with her about her sex drive. The lawsuit states that while conducting a vaginal ultrasound in April 2021, Wortman asked Hellquist to take off her mask because she looked prettier without one. He also brought his wife into the room to meet her and see if there was any resemblance between them. “You’re really a good kid,” he allegedly said after the procedure. “Such a good kid.”

What a creep. What a monster. God knows how many other women had suffered the same fate. How many semi-Wortman's are walking around and discovering the root of their parentage.

The posse was closing in on the Doctor. He decided to take a ride with his friend in his buddy's home made airplane. Yet another bad idea. While in flight, the wings of the do it yourself plane became disengaged. It's never a good thing when you look out the window of your buddy's plane and the wings have fallen off. I imagine whatever conversation followed was short and uncomplimentary as the wingless junk heap crashed to the ground taking the life of both men.

Public opinion has now shifted with Wortman now being portrayed as a monster. Within this tragic, sad and absurd story there is a metaphor regarding the rise of genealogy websites and at-home DNA tests, there have been more than 20 cases in which doctors have been accused of fertility fraud.

May they all take a plane ride on a wingless plane and die screaming and swearing in open fields while the debate continues.

A prominent New York doctor accused of fertility fraud died over Memorial Day weekend after the hand-built plane he was on catastrophically fell apart mid-flight and plummeted to the earth. The doctor, 72-year-old Morris Wortman, was killed, as was the pilot and plane’s owner, 70-year-old Earl Luce Jr.In the late 1990s, Wortman began receiving suspicious powders in the mail after he defended his practice of performing abortions in a Newsweek op-ed following the murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian, who was shot at his home outside Buffalo in 1998 by an anti-abortion militant. For a while, he was a notable figure among abortion activists, appearing in a sympathetic light in magazines and in a documentary highlighting the challenges of practicing abortion in America. But in 2021, Morgan Hellquist, the daughter of a former patient, sued Wortman, claiming that he used his own sperm to impregnate her mother in 1984 — when he had claimed that he was using the sperm of a medical student for the fertility treatments.

In 2012, after the birth of her first child, Hellquist became a patient of Wortman, inspired by the work that allowed her parents to conceive after her father was paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver. For the next nine years, Wortman was her gynecologist — performing annual pelvic and breast exams and talking with her about her sex drive. The lawsuit states that while conducting a vaginal ultrasound in April 2021, Wortman asked Hellquist to take off her mask because she looked prettier without one. He also brought his wife into the room to meet her and see if there was any resemblance between them. “You’re really a good kid,” he allegedly said after the procedure. “Such a good kid.”

What a creep. What a monster. God knows how many other women had suffered the same fate.

The posse was closing in on the Doctor. He decided to take a ride with his friend in his buddy's home made airplane. Yet another bad idea. While in flight, the wings of the do it yourself plane became disengaged. It's never a good thing when you look out the window of your buddy's plane and thed wings have fallen off. I imagine whatever conversation followed was short and uncomplimentary as the wingless junk heap crashed to the ground taking the life of both men.

Since the rise of genealogy websites and at-home DNA tests, there have been more than 20 cases in which doctors have been accused of fertility fraud. But as the lawsuit states, Wortman’s alleged conduct “shocks the conscience.” In 2012, after the birth of her first child, Hellquist became a patient of Wortman, inspired by the work that allowed her parents to conceive after her father was paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver. For the next nine years, Wortman was her gynecologist — performing annual pelvic and breast exams and talking with her about her sex drive. The lawsuit states that while conducting a vaginal ultrasound in April 2021, Wortman asked Hellquist to take off her mask because she looked prettier without one. He also brought his wife into the room to meet her and see if there was any resemblance between them. “You’re really a good kid,” he allegedly said after the procedure. “Such a good kid.”

After the suspicious visit, a DNA genealogy test found that she had at least nine half-siblings. A test comparing Hellquist’s DNA to that of Wortman’s daughter from his first marriage confirmed the matter, according to the suit alleging medical malpractice, lack of informed consent, battery, fraud, negligence, and infliction of emotional distress. “He knew the whole time who he was and I didn’t,” Hellquist said on Good Morning America last year. “He took away that choice for me.” (Hellquist did not respond to a request for comment.)

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TGIF: Roundup for June 23, 2023

We released two new interviews: How to Understand People Who Doubt: An Interview with Sam D. Kim and Praying For Discipleship In The Chinese Christian Community In The UK: An Interview with Josh Shek.

Save the date! “Writing the Next Chapter,” the 2024 Asian American Leadership Conference, will take place on April 23-24 in Orange County, California. More info coming soon.

This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.

Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator

Enter to win these excellent books! This giveaway is primarily on Instagram (you’ll get an extra entry for entering via the Google Form) so please note that you must be following @moodypublishers and @diveindigdeep to win. Thanks to Moody for providing these books for our giveaway, in partnership with my newsletters for @diveindigdeep and FCBC Walnut.

Articles From Around The Web

Isabel Ong: Imagine Dragons More Biblically

The Chinese boat festival reminds us that Revelation’s serpent transcends Western and Eastern cultural concepts, say Asian biblical scholars.

Related: The Dragon And The Rooster by Heidi Tai

Bobby Scott: Young Men with Holy Habits

“Holy habits are means of grace that fan the flame of your love for God and keep his love for you before your eyes.”

Related: The Church and the Way Forward: America’s Long, Troubled Road Towards Racial Reconciliation, Part 4 by Bobby Scott

Kira Nelson: Motherhood Isn’t Martyrdom

“Many of our taglines overemphasize the pain of motherhood to the exclusion of the delight.”

Related: Moms & Motherhood Collection

Our new Books and Reviews page is your one-stop resource for all of your reading needs. It features Asian American authors and issues, book recommendations, and interviews.

Books, Podcasts, Music, And More

Tim Challies: All the Compassions of All the Tender Fathers

“God did not create human fathers and then begin to describe himself in reference to them. Rather, God has always been Father and created human fathers in reference to him.”

Related: Like Father, Like Son: The Obedience of Joseph, the Father of Jesus by Aaron Lee

TGC GLO Podcast: Fulfilling the Biblical Mandate to Care for Orphans and Widows

“In this episode of Glo, Blair Linne, Aixa de López, Sharon Dickens, and Soojin Park discuss caring for orphans through foster care, adoption, and discipleship, no matter your season of life.”

Related: Supporting Adoptees and Parents of Adoptees: An Interview with Jonathan Holmes

Aaron Lee: Related Works

Book Reviews: All Who are Weary by Sarah J. Hauser, True to His Word by Jon Bloom. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.

For Father’s Day, check out our Dads & Fatherhood collection! Featured authors include Cory Ishida, Daniel K. Eng, Tom Sugimura, Larry Lin, David J. Park, and P. J. Tibayan.

Featured This Week On SOLA Network

Daniel K. Eng: Praying for Discipleship in the Chinese Christian Community in the UK: An Interview with Josh Shek

What’s it like growing up Chinese in the United Kingdom? What are the challenges of immigrant churches or second-generation churches? How can we pray for and encourage our brothers and sisters there?

Aaron Lee: From Doubt to Faith: Book Review of “A Holy Haunting”

“Those who doubt their faith will find a friend in Kim. For firm believers, you will be equipped to come alongside those who struggle. My heart was moved to worship, thanking God for the gift of faith and anticipating the day for when my faith will become sight.”

Aaron Lee: How to Understand People Who Doubt: An Interview with Sam D. Kim

Sam D. Kim, author of A Holy Haunting: Why Faith Isn’t a Leap but a Series of Staggers from One Safe Place to Another, discusses spiritual puberty, deconstruction, and crossing the swamp of doubt.

P. J. Tibayan: Do I Really Have To Care About Structural Racism?

“I was a pastor who did not faithfully disciple and pastor my church against ethnocentric oppression in America and toward ethnic harmony, and God led me to repentance.”

TGIF: Roundup for June 16, 2023

Building Bridges: How God Invites Youth Pastors Into the Work of Relational Reconciliation / Opening Our Eyes to Art / How Spurgeon Got His Congregation

General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.