Gentrified: pt One

Imagine receiving a letter from city officials about exciting new neighborhood enhancements that are coming to your area. This correspondence vaguely details the upcoming improvements. They speak of repaving roads & sidewalks, planting new grass & shrubs & installing more lights for safety & security. Fresh paint is said to cover the once graffiti filled walls & the vacant buildings are to be newly occupied with healthier eating choices. Once the construction, new life is being pumped into the neighborhood & these are exciting times for everyone. It appears that the city finally took time out of their day to add a face lift to the “hood” and improve everyone’s quality of living.

You decide to take a stroll around the block once the work is nearly completed. You notice every abandoned building has been magically transformed into a new place of business that offers new goods & services thats never been available before. They even introduced better waste management systems so the air has a cleaner smell. Refreshing thoughts flood your mind as you complete your walk. Everyone seems so ecstatic about the new developments. Everything is so clean, well lit, safe and renewed. We will get back to the stroll in a moment.

The gentrification process is a visually lovely thing. All of the fixing up raises value in our neighborhoods & increases the quality of life for us. Safer neighborhoods equates to safer schools for our youth & better schools creates an increase of salaries to pay more qualified teachers and staff. This always creates lower crime rates & means more tourist & visitors will feel safe when they come to spend money with the newly born businesses in the area. This gentrification thing is like the citizenry of our hood as hit the lottery. What could be better than a community being gentrified?

Protect Your Investment

I was always told that if you buy cheap, you buy twice. Despite the investment, its up to you to protect it. I remember when smartphones became a glass bricks. The average price was north of $700 but some people refused to shell $40 on a decent form of protection. When you skimp out on proper protection for your investment, you always regret it in the end.

Lets say you decide to purchase a new vehicle. Are you willing & able to acquire & maintain adequate protection? Protecting it not only in form of insurance. Are you able to keep up with oil changes & or mechanical obligations? Will you keep it washed & waxed to ensure your paint & clear coat will look its best as long as possible. Today we will be focusing on protecting your car’s exterior & preserving its beauty.

Cars are usually parked on the dealer’s lots for months on end. The porters may spray idle inventory on a weekly basis but spraying water on a car is not fully caring for it. Even after the purchasing process is completed & your new investment is sent over for delivery, its still isn’t given a proper cleaning. This is how so many new cars (especially ones with darker paints) end up with scratches & swirls before you even leave the lot. Most people’s first instinct when they arrive home with a new car is to share their purchase on social media. Yes, there’s nothing wrong with being proud of your new toy but protecting it from all angles should be first. Heres a few things you should do. I’ll go into deeper detail in a later post.

First you want to make sure you have the proper utensils & productions. You will need a source of water, a ph balanced car shampoo, scratch free microfiber towels, a glaze & then a wax to seal the deal. Other items you may need down the line is a clay bar & a polisher. Now that we know what we need, heres a small break down of what each item does.

1. The water source: used to spray off loose dirt & debris.

2. Car shampoo is formulated be to a cleanser & a lubricant to safely lift dirt without scratches

3. A quality microfiber towel will quickly dry your vehicle & lift any remaining debris

4. A clay bar will extract soot & other contaminants trapped in your clear coat that the naked eye can’t see

5. The glaze is formulated to bond to the clear coat & give your paint an unearthly shine

6. Waxes are used to seal in the glaze & seal out future dirt. After a good wax, later washes are faster

Over the next few months I’ll be posting more in-depth information on proper car wash methods & other content on protecting your investment. Stay tunes ILL Fam!

Prepping While Black

A wiseman once said if you stay ready then there’s no need for having to get ready. This is exactly the epitome of prepping; or being prepared. I have been through several pandemics during my time on this planet but I have never witnessed how quickly & easily that our normal world could be torn asunder. We never know when another lockdown or marshal law could be implemented & we lose all of our freedoms. This is why we prep! But what is prepping while black?

Prepping while black is the fact that other communities have been prepping for years & have a huge head start over us. Its not a race so I beg you not to let their advantage discourage you. Preparing while Black is ensuring you have enough nonperishable foods, water, ammunition & other survival supplies for every soul in your household. Other supplies you may need is rope, a nice knife, batteries , flashlights, first aid kits, material for building makeshift shelters and even matches & campfire supplies. If money allows & you have a place to store it, a generator is essential. This is the what of prepping but what about the why’s?

Reports have been made that if the power grid ever becomes disabled, over 60% of the population would die off within the first few days. So many of our people are depended on refrigerated medications & without the ability to keep those prescriptions preserved will surely shorten your days. This is why is vital to live a healthy, medicine free life if at al possible. Another chunk of us will perish from being too depended on western living. The average person isn’t able to walk from the house to the car without feeling the effects of heat exhaustion so imagine going weeks without air conditioning & running water. The way Americans over eat is pretty gluttonous. We get cranky between snacks so how do you expect to survive going days without a full meal? This is where training your body to fast & reduce pointless snacking will aid you mist.

I will be revising this topic every few months. If you chose to start prepping, keep in mind a few tips that the pros suggest. Try to store 1 gallon of water for each family member per day. Try to store non perishable foods in a cool, dry place & try to get foods that are lower in salt. Keep in mind the more salt you eat the more water your body may crave. The key here is to preserve as much as possible for as long as possible. You can find MRE (meals ready to eat) packets from your local Walmart or Academy. You can also find other camping supplies on Amazon that will fit anyones budgets. A water purifying straw or pitcher is also important if you are forced to leave home & are unable to carry the weight of water jugs.

So what happens if you are forced out of your home. This is where a bug out bag comes into play. A bug out bag is simply a bag that houses the bare necessities designed for quick departure. It should have a few days of food supply, a water purifying device, some sort of weapon & campfire starting supplies.

We are dwelling in uncertain times & don’t ever feel we as Americans are immune to 3rd world situations. Even a simple storm can take out the power grid & if/when it happens, I want all my citizens & ILL family to be BLACK & PREPARED! Be prepared for the worse but expect the best.

☮️&🤎🌡Family

Weight Problem vs Wait Problem

We have been viciously lied to. Since I was in grade school, the atrocious deception that we need 3 square meals a day to lead a strong & healthy life was tossed around. I’m not going down the alley of if that misinformation was intentional or not. But I do find it mystifying that an entire government entity would train & condition us to over eat. Everything on this planet has a limit. Watch what happens when you put too much air in a tire or pump too much gas in your car. Too many of anything; good or bad; makes you an addict. Over eating leads to obesity & obesity leads to inflammation & inflammation leads to 90% of illnesses we face. Diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure & cholesterol just to name a few. Once these aliments arise, Big Pharma has you by the throat & force feeds you poisons to help live with your new acquired sickness instead of giving you proper guidance on how to make it to a cure.

The late, great Robin Harris said it best when he spoke of us over eating. He said our WEIGHT problems come from us not being able to WAIT to eat. Fasting solves 95% of life’s issues if practiced or an extended time frame. The results are tremendous even if you so an intermittent fast. First & foremost, fasting builds a sense of accomplishment. It takes extreme disciple to reverse any habit but to transpose the conditioning of pointless snacking is something to be proud of. When your stomach sends that notification that its time to eat, preoccupy yourself with an alternate activity such as reading or working out. Increasing your water intake is another way of settling your stomach. The key here is to train your stomach that your mind is the pilot that controls the plane.

Just as we empty out or pockets on laundry, we have to free our bodies too. Fasting allows your to release all waste from your body while allowing your digestive system to rest. Once your digestive system is resting, its able to reconstruct its self & heal from year & years of poor eating habits & rid itself of other toxins & poisons like pesticides that our foods we treated with. Even ingredients used to preserve our food makes them harder to break down & digest. It takes more stomach acids to aid this process & over time, the acids used to benefit digesting starts digesting you. Once again too much of ANYTHING beneficial can pose negative effects.

If you are battling with your scale, waiting to eat is one of the first steps you should consider taking. Fasting allows you to work off the weight without adding more. We all know our bodies need nutrients for a healthy survival but almost all of us have enough nutrients stored around of bellies to last a few week. No one in the history of the world has died from fasting but plenty have perished from feasting. Along with weight loss, fasting automatically enhances your quality of life. You are able to rest more soundly because your body is at peace & not using energy digesting. Your body has less waste & toxins so your hair & skin is healthier. Now that your body is healing, this is the ideal time to feed your mind. Pick up a good book & read about fasting. I’m no doctor so please so your own research. But I would like to recommend the next book on my reading list.

You hold the keys to the best pharmaceutical company on the planet & everything on the shelf is free! Try fasting Eating the proper foods will improve your mental power, physical appearance, for prevention of illness, curing of ailments and prolonging life. The longer you are on this planet, the more time you have to work on self mastery.

Vast As The Ocean

Back in 2013 I decided to turn my passion from a hobby into a means of income. Vast As The Ocean Photography LLC was born. I found doing photography calming as some find relaxation in fishing. A lot of research & self teaching went into this. I was researching what camera features I needed, best lenses, how to edit, what program to edit in. Lets not even get into lighting & cost of running a website & social media advertising.

The most offensive thing you could tell a photographer is that their camera takes good pictures. Thats just like telling a baker that his oven makes great cakes. The camera is just a tool & what your level of creativity does with that tool is what makes the magic. The Point of this post is to share some of my most impressive work with my ILL community.

Can You Deal With Damaged Goods?

While grocery shopping oneday, I ran across a can of goods that sat lonely on a shelf with a few minor cosmetic imperfections. The dents were highly noticeable & the label was tattered a bit but there was something intriguing & interesting about this can. I picked it up to take a full inventory of its suffrage only to find out that the damages ran deeper than I initially suspected. A red discount tag was attached to the can. Its always beneficial to take advantage of a price cut but in this particular case, I could care less about saving a few nickels on an abused can. I was baffled on how someone could bypass on a wonderful commodity just because it came with a few deformities & disfigurements. I was not curious about the discount for my entire inquisitiveness was focused on the can. Its contents were still preserved & the nutritional value remained fresh. If the insides are unscathed & fresh, why do we put so much emphasis on appearance & presentation.

No one on the face of this planet is perfect. We all come with damages. Think about all the amazing people we shallowly missed out on when we do not take time to get to know someone. It takes an attentive leader to deal with a damaged person. Iron sharpens iron but on the flip side of the coin, hurt people hurt people. Listening to one’s story on how they became damaged is the first step to helping. Lead them an ear. Allow them to get their side of their experience off their chest. Get a full understanding on the cause of the damage. Knowing the backstory benefits both parties.

When dealing with defaced cans, be sure to handle them with care. I’ve seen too many of us reach for a rose & pull back a hand full of thorns. A dented container can puncture if not handled cautiously. Keep your total attention on the ways you handle them. Half of us get so focused on the trees that we miss the forest. The other half get so concerned with hacking away at diseased branches & never dawns on them to inspect the root. The root is always the starting point to lead them to the healing path. Who care if the damages are internal or external. The key to a healthy mental life is to seek professional help. You can lead a horse to water but you can not influence it to drink. But how can a professional benefit you if you don’t have faith in them & you don’t attend treatments. Its up to us to monitor the damaged & build confirmation that a professional’s care can help them construct acceptance on the damages that can not be repaired. The key ingredient is learning to living with the damages we can not change, repair the ones we can & putting less emphasis on the DAMAGES & fully focus on the GOOD!

☮️ I.L.L family 🌡

The Extraction

I’m composing this while in unappreciable pain. We all have experienced the type of pain that reminds you something is wrong as much as you try to keep your mind free of it. Teeth play an important role in our survival. The foods we consume to nourish our temples are initially crushed by teeth. This is the beginning steps of digestion process. Just like friends, each tooth has a dash of diversity to distinguish themselves uniquely from one another. Having a particular purpose, each tooth works singular to form a system, or a team if you will, to complete the objective. But what happens when 1 tooth is unable to do his job without causing you pain? Pain is pain despite it being intentional or accidental. As leaders, we are designed to withstand a hint of discomfort but when that irritation becomes unbearable, it may be time to come to terms & face reality by making an irreversible decision. The Extraction.

I was always told that pain is our weakness leaving the body. Once we pinpoint which tooth is the culprit, we have to ask him to leave or physically have him removed. Who wants be subjected to more pain while already in pain? Believe it or not but some pain is beautiful when you view it through your 3rd eye. Teeth are vital for eating & forming speech. Extracting something from your world that you need WILL be painful…but the beauty of this discomfort is it will only cause pain 1 time…unlike the continuous hurt you have been experiencing.

Temporary self inflicted pain is better received than the on going torture from an uncontrolled source. If the element is needed or not; if its disrupting your peace & happiness, by all means it MUST go. For the surface dwellers, I am solely taking about teeth. For my true leaders who understand double entendres, plays on word and seekers of deeper meaning, I’m solely talking about life. So if you do have that job that’s disrupting your comfort or that friend/family member who no longer wants to be part of the unit, its time to extract them from your essence for the sake of your painfree sanity. Remember, seeing that pain being uprooted will indeed hurt. BUT it will only hurt once. Once that torment has been ripped out, its time begin with the process of purification to reinforce everything that I preach here. I want the I.L.L community to lead pain free, productive lives & smooth rides on the path of spiritual fitness.

☮️

Dependability

A few years after high school I heard this song called “They Forced My Hand" by Cormega & Tragedy. The song started off with a bar that was engraved into my brain since the day I heard it. "A man is either condemned or exalted by his words!". To truly understand the meaning of those words you'd have to truly OVERSTAND the definitions of condemn & exalt! This brings us back to a previous post that touched on the Power of Words. Imagine having words so valuable that your audience had no choice to exalt you? Or imagine having words so pointless that folks condemn you as soon as you open your mouth. The only thing a Black Man has in his life is his word. Back in the day our word was our bond! When we made an agreement, we gave our word & sealed it with a handshake.

Dependability is major asset to have associated with you name. As leaders, we have to be dependable & have the power & resources to show up & show out. Look at yourself in the mirror & evaluate your dependability. Its totally NOT ok to let people down. Once we make an agreement & give our word, we HAVE to make those complete those vows to keep our word untarnished. I try to stay away from the word promise because promises are made to be broken. But when you make a vow with a person, that vow is impenetrable.

Honoring a vow to a child is a major stepping stone in instilling loyalty & ethics into their heart. You not only disservice your credibility by displaying a lack of dependability but you could tear asunder the fabrics of a child's innocences. The object here is to EXALT our future leaders & show them now valuable our word is & show them that word is way more priceless than a credit score. So what if a bank won't deal with you but if your own community doesn't see value in your vows, you have committed an act of High Treason.

Actions truly speak louder than words but those 2 go to hand in hand. Don't shoot the breeze about it if you know you can't be about it. We depend on our vehicles to get us from point A to B. How would you feel if your car decided that today his word was NOT going to be his bond & the braking system chose not to be dependable?Going back on a vow is un-royal & reckless. Don't be that guy (or gal) who fails on a commitment & have people condemn you for the rest of your being. Be that King or Queen who get exalted when we make liable obligations. Its an oxymoron to be an undependable leader! Keep your dependability polished like it was a badge of honor. 🏅 Be Your Brother's Keeper!

Infinite Love & Loyalty to the ILL Community

Black Preservation

Its no secret that society has 2 different rulebooks. When it comes to preserving our communities, we have to be extra careful how we move. I never grew up around firearms & I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I was in my late 30’s when I was introduce to them. It’s better to have protection & not need it than to need it & not have it. Firearms are an inanimate item that are practically harmless until in the hands of a hero or a zero. They can either be a tool or a weapon. It just depends on the handler. Guns do not get bored & just got off for shits & giggles. When danger arises or when you are faced with a life-threatening event, a gun in the right hands can equalize the situation. Imagine 63 yr old Lola being attacked by a 300 lbs male. Theres no way Lola can take down this threat with her bare hands. Her Smith & Wesson gives her a fighting chance to live to see the next day.

Gun laws vary from state to state but in Texas, you do not need a license to purchase a firearm. Just waltz down to your local gun store or sporting goods store & simply buy it. But with this type of power needs to come an equal amount of responsibility. Here are 3 essential tips that will help you become a safe gun owner.

1. Learn your state’s ever changing laws

2. Learn the 4 basic firearm rules

3. Get Insurance.

An easy way to get caught up is by not knowing your state’s gun laws. In some states you can not transport a loaded firearm & in some states you can carry it loaded but forbidden to use hollow points.You can stand your ground in some & have a duty to retreat in some. A lot of law abiding citizen become criminals over night by possessing a high capacity magazine that was just legal to retain just 24 hours ago. Also, be careful when reading laws. The legal jargon can be overwhelming & can be easily misconstrued. There are tons of resources out there to help filter the fluffy from the info.

Now that you’ve purchased your shiny new toy, you have to know how to handle it.I advise you learn the 4 basic gun rules (not laws) before you lock & load it at the range. Treat EVERY firearm as if its loaded. Never point your weapon at anyone or anything you are not willing to destroy. Even when its empty & you are cleaning it, NEVER jokingly point a gun at anyone. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to use it. You can easily find videos online on the proper way to handle a firearm. Lastly, know your intended target & what’s beyond it. If ever in a self defense situation & you strike an innocent bystander while stopping a threat, you are fully responsible & liable face anything that comes after that. This is why is very important that we train. Training will allow you to expect the best but will have you prepared for the worse if it ever comes your way.

Just as with any type of insurance, you do not need it til its time to need it.In the event you have to use your weapon in self defense, companies like USCCA are there. They have partnered with lawyers in every state to handle everything while you get through this difficult situation. They will cover your bail, court costs, loss wages from your job & even firearm replacement. I know I don’t have $2M sitting around. Along with those hosts of features, you get tons of video training from some of the best instructors in the Industry.

We all pray that we never have to protect for family & neighborhoods with deadly force. But sometimes we have to pick guns up in order for a threat to put theirs down. In some cases, brandishing a weapon can put a threat to rest. There are also less lethal ways to fight off an enemy. Your hands or even pepper spray are great alternatives.At the endow the day, we all just want to make it home to our loved ones & preserve our live so we can continue to make memories with the people we love.

Be Sure Of The Purpose

A few posts ago, I touched on a critical topic of healthcare & the importance of knowing what you are going up against before you battle “The System”! Towards the end of that entry I purposely shifted the focus from John Q to John Henry. If you are not able to identify John Henry, I’ll give you a brief rundown of who he was & why his story is engraved on the walls of my heart.

John Henry was a freed slave that ended up working on the railroad during the industrial revolution. Being a freed slave back then is very similar to a released inmate. No where to go while not having any skills to find adequate employment. Working the railroads were dangerous & was very strenuously. John lost so many friends while working due to heat, collapsing caves & lack of oxygen from mining in a deep coal shaft. Work condition were poor but John carried on knowing he had to provide for his family.

While building the railroad, there lay a mighty obstruction in the planned path. It was impossible to lay tracks over a mountain & the foreman felt it was illogical to build around it so the only other way was to go through it. As the project began, a salesman from the city approached the foreman & told him of his amazing invention he manifested that could melt through stone & complete the task well before its projected completion date. The salesman also ensure the foreman that this investment could efficiently replace human workers while drastically cutting costs.The foreman was all in but John & the other railroad workers would be rendered unemployed if the foreman purchased the machine. John stood firm & said he was not going down without a brawl.

John stretched as he offered to compete against the machine. The salesman laughed because he knew no human alive could war with a digging apparatus & reign supreme. The competition was on & both John & the machine started laying tracks while digging through the internals of the mountain. Long story short, the digging contraption over heated & burst into flames. Everyone (with the exception of the salesman) was ecstatic over John’s victory. While in the mists of John’s celebratory moment, he clinched his chest & was having difficulty breathing. Everything that John fought to get off his shoulders was now heavily weighing on his chest. As everyone ran to help John, he collapsed & died in the very spot he gain his iconic victory.

The story of John Henry is about a Black Man who went to war with the system in hopes to secure his friends , coworkers and family had sustainable income. John looked the system in the face & told it that he woulnt’t stop until his people were in better positions. John & his “Go hard or go home” ambitiousness fueled his drive for victory. Some may argue that John’s achievement was in vain & the payoff wasn’t worth his life. But Id have to wholeheartedly disagree. A man with nothing to die for doesn’t have anything worthy to live. for. We will all face the day when we have to stare down a system & get combative with it. But be selective on the battles you pick. Is the payout worth it? Does the reward outweigh the risk?

Are you guys telling your people how you feel about them while you can? After John won the battle, he still wasn’t able to make it home. The system has multiple moving part so be cautious when challenging it. John paid the ultimate price against the system. If you find yourself in John’s shoes, reach out to friends for helpful resources. Try not to face this demon alone. As a community, it’s vital that we pull together like each component of the network & intricately work together to exhaust the system. We all have a little John Henry in our blood. Despite the task, big or small, always give it your all & once you have given it your all, dig a little deeper and go a little harder. When you hit your last wind, John will be there to carry you across the finish line.

Peace I.L.L Community

Count Your Blessing & Not My Change

Happy Sunday to the I.L.L. Community. I have a question. Why can’t some of us mind the business that pays us? Instead of focusing on what’s real & nothing else, we burn so many gallons of energy concentating on stuff that isnt our concern. My mom used to listen to this song called Sweep Around Your Own Front Door before you try to sweep around mines. I vomit when I see articles titled “20 Rappers That Went Broke!”. So what? Stop counting my coins & count your blessings.

One reason the financially challenged remain challenged is because their focus is targeted on the wrong bullseye. Don’t whisper behind my back & tell your circle of misery that I’m living beyond my means when in reality I’m living beyond YOUR means. An adult that’s focused on their business has a plate full to sort through without concerning themselves with what’s on the next. man’s platter. I’m too fascinated on maintaining my source of income so I can continue leading the lifestyle I love. I could care less who has paper plates on their vehicle & how much you spend on shoes. What you consume doesn’t make me potty.

W can’t take our monetary earnings with us when we leave this planet so when you see me blowing my money, don’t count my change, count your blessings!

Can Da Homie Get A Visit?

Human being are extremely sociable creatures. Studies have proven that when surrounded by like minded individuals, we tend to flourish & level up. Theres an old saying that says 2 heads are better than one. Even the most anti-social being has a handful of friends that they love being in their company. So now that we’ve established that we all love to socialize, CAN DA HOMIE GET A VISIT!?

When was the last time you checked on your people? I’m not talking about a text message or assuming they are good because they recently posted on social media. Even during a phone call & they tell you they are fine, don’t always take their verbal confirmation as validity. Give da homie a visit. Pull up on them! Place your eyes on them. Put hands on them. Take a total inventory on all of your friends & family & see for yourself that they are truly fine.

We all have our demons we battle with so when a homie shuts themselves off from you, don’t be so quick to charge it to the “I hear you” card. They may be silently calling for a visit. That’s our problem. We have been conditioned to accept everything at face value instead of escavating beneath the surface in search of the true meaning. Remember Kings & Queens that silence is a POWERFUL voice.

I beg each & every one of you to take 30 minutes out of your week & pull up on a homie. I’m referring to homies that are incarcerated & the homies that are free. We have family in nursing homes or shut in a home that could use a visit. Actions express at a louder volume than words. A lot of people will stand in a 2 hour line at a amusement park to bestride a 60 second ride but won’t drive 2 hours to give a homie a 5 minute visit. Go see your people & inspect them for actions that validate they are fine & do not put so much faith in words. Sticks & stones break bones but words never hurt… unless they are words on a tombstone. Don’t wait to visit the homie in his last resting place. You will never achieve spiritual peace with holding on to words & hugs you should have given your homie while he was here to reciprocate the gesture.

Childhood Lessons

All my life I’ve always gravitated towards a meaning. If a song, book, cartoon or movie had a moral, I’m all in. Our everyday lives are transactional. You give an eating establishment money & they give you food in return. You give your employer time & they reciprocate a check. When you open a book & open your mental gates, in return you may receive a life long lesson. In order to be presented with these teachings, we must first clear our mind of the clutter & make room to store it safely in the depths of our minds but also in a location where we can easily access it later.

Enter the Little Red Hen. I was in grade school when I first heard of this hustling hen. While it may have been entertain to my adolescent counterparts, I truly acknowledged what was happening because I saw it happen in real time through my eyes. If you are not familiar with the story, the Little Red Hen lived in a small house with her family. Going forward I’ll refer to her as Henny. Henny worked hard to maintain her household like so many of us Kings & Queens do. She cooked & clean while her relatives took advantage of her kindness. Dwelling with her non assisting household did not break Henny. She knew her drive push her through the current task & well past the next one. Her kindness was THEIR weakness.

Henny was working out in the yard one day & found some wheat. She asked her family if anyone wanted to help harvest it and bring it on the house. Of course, no one wanted to help. Henny knew her family all so well so she found a hidden pleasure asking if anyone would assist her knowing the results of her requests. She asked if anyone wanted to help converting the wheat into flour & they all declined. The chuckled as she ask them to help mix the fresh flour with milk, eggs and sugar & beat it into batter for she foresaw the outcome. Once the batter was poured into a baking pan & placed in the over at 350º for 35 minutes, the entire household came running with plates in hands, feeling they were entitled to get a slice of the cake. Just as they refused to help put in work, Henny refused to break bread with them. Henny enjoyed every crumb of that cake she worked so hard to prepare. She knew she needed that cake for nourishment to refuel her soul so she could move on to the next task at hand. The End!

Revisiting this childhood tale as an adult really showed me a LOT of lessons. What all did you take from this story now that you are more mature & have seen life? You don’t work, you don’t eat? Don’t break bread with enemies? Family will treat you worse than a stranger? Watch your enemies close & your friends even closer? If you can’t determine who your enemy is, investigate your friends? And lastly, grind for your wheat & you will enjoy your cake!

Infinite Love & Love to the ILL Community. Until next time…

Healthcare Horrors

Today is the big day. You have been working, grinding & saving up to make this major purchase. Despite it being mid July, it feels like Christmas Day. As you step on the car lot, you can see the luster of her paint from a distance. The salesman hands you the keys for the test drive & your excitement is higher than the sticker price attached to the window. She’s equipped with all the features you know & love. The fragrance of leather takes over your nose. As you press the push button, a sweet melody of engine purr fill the air. What you are feeling is love at first touch. Now that the test drive is done, it’s time to handle the paper part of the deal. The order form is completed & you side it back to him along with the downpayment. Everything is ready to go until you he tells you, “I’m sorry but we can’t get you approved for that one BUT we can get you into something else!”

Something similar happened to John Q in 2002. His cheerful son had a serious ailment that landed him in the hospital.Nothing to fear right? Mr. Q is a hard working, tax paying, law abiding citizen that has the best health care that is offered. He’s paying for insurance so let them handle it. If you havnt’t seen that stellar film, I advise you to watch it. If you have seen it, we all know how far insurance got Mr. Q.

The reason this topic is so near & dear to my heart is because I recently went through a similar fiasco. Insurance doesn't want to cover the very medicines you need for survival. It was always a hoop to jump through. When they did locate a medicine the insurance would cover, it had to be mailed to your house in a 3 month supply so that took the price from post insurance amount times 3. Trying to fight red tape & loop holes is an ample amount of unwanted stress. Its normal to become emotionally bankrupt & have feelings of “its cheaper to die than to live!” As you know, we are here to assist you in keeping your worries low & your hopes high. Here are a few suggestions.

GoodRX is a God sent site that a lot of people recommend. They offer SOME medication at a discounted rate. While they were the selling what I needed for the same price, others have truly benefitted from them. Another avenue is contacting the manufacturer. When pharmaceutical companies purchase drugs from the factory, the prices end up UBER inflated because everyone has their hand in the pot. But contacting the maker directly, you may be able to get a discounted rate while saying ixnay to the middle man.

We have to stay vigilant while dealing with the America “healthcare” system. So many of us walk in for minor procedures or common ailments but ended up being rolled out in a bag. Supporting information is out there that our women die at alarming higher rates than white women. Dealing with this system is just like dealing with any other man made system. We are virtually playing a dangerous game that the systematic operators make the rules. They know you asthma & will ask you to run a marathon for a puff of medicine. You see what happed to John Henry (and John Q) after battling “the system”! John Henry won the fight against systematic unjust but he lost the war when he died from exhaustion.

Peace community. Stay ILL until we meet again.

Air Bed & Breakfast: My 1st Stay

Decor from The Jasmine House

We can all agree that a nice getaway from reality is a great way to strengthen our mental health. Picking the perfect place to stay is just as important as the vacation itself. A few weeks ago I touched on the topic to book a traditional hotel or take the modern approach & Airbnb it. I will admit that my post may have been seasoned with a dash of bias. I say that because pre-post, I did not have any experience with the Airbnb avenue. As I wrap up my last few hours of my vacation I will fill you in on my first modern abode experience.

To maximize the value of your Airbnb stay, always book with people who have been labeled as a Super Host. Super host tend to have great reviews & act with a servants heart. If you have an excellent host, there’s a higher probability that you will have a pleasant stay. Be sure to read as many reviews as possible. The reviews will give you clues about the safety of location, cleanliness of the house, what other goods & services that are near by & other hints of how good the stay will be. Keep in mind that a review is just an opinion & what was good to one customer may be a terrible experience for you.

A few negative sides to this type of accommodation is that everything relies on the host. The house will only be as cleans as the host. A lot of times your host will work a full time job so if you need extra towels or something, this would have to wait til they are off work. You do not get around the clock service like a hotel offers. Keep in mind that if you make it to your bnb & are not completely satisfied with it, you have to contract your host & Airbnb's customer service. With a hotel, they can easily switch you to another suite.

Another downside to the Airbnb experience is comfort. My host’s living quarters were on the opposite side of a wall. I didn’t hear much & assume she doesn’t have kids but it kind of didn’t digest well with me that a complete stranger was under the same roof. And lastly, my room was a bit cooler than I felt it should have been. The thermostat was on her side of the house. She did have a window unit AC, a heater and a few fans to help with getting conformable.

My overall experience with my Super Host was an amazing one. Will I ever use this service again? Yes! Now that I have a little insight on what to expect, I know my future Airbnb accommodations will be just as nice.

Preserve Our New History

Despite what the historians say, America likes to throw rocks then hide its hand. American history has been rewritten, revised & redefined to paint colonizers as heroes despite the way they loot & pillaged in the name of Christianity. Our history & heritage was purposely burned & hidden & the caveat is they attempt to pacify us with crumbs from a stolen cake. Sites like Ancestry.com will find your hidden information but for a nominal fee yet having a clause about entertainment purposes in its terms of service. It’s near impossible for a man to arrive at his destination without even knowing where his point of origin.

As a photographer I know the vitality of preserving our current memories, events & history. I’ve had a few friends & a few customers literally cry after informing them that I still have copies of photos that they no longer have access to. We all have really good cameras on our phones but where do our photogenic memories end up after we close the camera app? Do they end up lost when we misplace our device? Or are they forever gone like the history of our ancestors when the hard drive to our computer crashes? Some are even sent to the cloud & lost forever because we forget the password to our account. We have become so careless with our precious memories and it’s up to us to preserve and protect our new history. I promise you will shed 1 tear for each memory that’s been put to death by a power surge that fries the circuit of your computer.

The digital age is so quick & convenient but so much can go wrong. When was the last time you got physical prints made for a photo album? When you get photos printed, you can store them in a scrapbook & leave notes and documentations so the next generation will know what we do not know about now ancestors. There’s a forgotten beauty in holding a physical image. So much meaning and quality is lost admiring a picture on a backlit screen. I challenge the I.L.L community to start a small photo album & notate the event date & people featured. Your family will appreciate the effortless motions of opening up an album opposed to trying to figure out the password to your phone.

We may not have much from our forefathers but let’s start safeguarding our new memories so that the next generation will have a better starting point in the race of life. The point of history is to read about past mistakes & accomplishments. We must learn from our mistakes & mistakes of the ones that came before us. Also, look at their achievements & celebrate in their memories in hopes that one day soon our new school of Kings & Queens can celebrate our positive deeds.

And Tranquility Was Her Name

Navarre Beach FL

In 1989, a movie came out called Field of Dreams. In the movie, Kevin Costner was a farmer & this strange voice repeatedly told him to build a baseball field & “they” will come. I won’t spoil too much of the film but I will say that “they” showed up. I speak so constantly & vehemently about how our citizenry should join activities to release the toxicity from our everyday lives. Solidarity is not a moon that only resides on the other side of the tracks. It’s definitely possible to reach a state of peace in our community. I’ve been speaking on this topic since I started this digital diary that we call blogs & after all the months of speaking about it & calling on her, she showed me exactly who she truly was.

I saw her face & Tranquility was her name. While vacationing in Pensacola FL, my Airbnb super host recommended I visit Navarre Beach located in Navarre FL. I’ve never been an outdoorsy person & I’ve never really been a fan of beaches. Beaches gave me a very negative 1st impression due to the fact that the only beach I’ve ever visited was in Galveston, TX & if you are familiar with beaches in the Gulf of Mexico, they do not offer the purest waters in the world. While standing on the sugary white sands & taking photo after photo of its beauty, I decided to pop in my AirPods & enjoy a few of my favorite songs while indulging into my new favorite visual.

I was awestruck by the amount of beauty this beach unselfishly held. The more & more I asked for, the more it gave. The old saying “Be careful what you ask for” is real. I’ve been asking for inner peace the past few months & the holiness of Navarre Beach gave me more than I could clasp. While soaking in the celestial breeze that skipped across the 82℉ waters, I was struck in the heart by something sharp. That sharp object was dipped in some sort of tranquilizer. I stood there in a blissful paralysis while the scenery overtook my abilities of motion. I stared at the line where the water meets the sky.

When it is quiet you are able to hear peace. You are also able to feel peace when you are relaxing or meditating. I’m the ONLY man on this planet that has been blessed with the opportunity to see peace. I saw peace & Tranquility was her name. I gazed her in her mighty eyes for about 120 seconds. That limited about of time seemed an entire eternity. In that moment, nothing else mattered. My knees became weak. I lost all sense of sound, taste, feel & smell. All I could do is see & I saw Tranquility’s face. I stood there fixated on her natural beauty & didn’t care that she had robbed me of the other 4 elements that I use for sensory information. Tranquility smiled at me as she spoke. She teased me because she knew she had stolen my ability to hear so she spoke to my heart. Her message me was in some foreign language that I did not understand but my heart deciphered her message without confusion. I wanted to converse with Tranquility & tell her my problems, issues & insecurities but 2 things were wrong. I could not speak & even if I could, I had zero knowledge on how to say it in her language.

Tranquility blew me a kiss & when her lips touched my entire being, I regained the ability to move my neck. I looked at the sweet Earth beneath my feet & saw my 4 senses were laying there along with a lifetime of pain, sorrow, regret & mistakes. My heart regained consciousness as Tranquility’s wordsmith me one last time. I honestly could not decipher her last message but as I looked up at the perfect sky, Tranquility’s face was gone. I quickly looked back at the ground & all my senses & negative baggage had been swept away to sea.

I come to the citizens of I.L.L to tell you that I lost all sense of hearing. I can no longer hear the negative melodies this life loves to orchestrate for us. I can also no longer feel. I will never again feel pain for Tranquility swept that away from me. I lost the capability to taste & smell the foulness that we get served. I can only see. And I want to see my people find their own inner peace & witness spiritual fitness. Stay fit so you too can experience real spiritual healing.

When you pray & meditate, be sure to call on those specific aspects that your inner being is asking for. I’ve asked to meet Tranquility for a while & she finally came to me in such a cleansing fashion. I love Tranquility & can’t wait til our eyes meet again. You haven’t experienced peace til Tranquility has kissed your soul & washed away your baggage & your ability to acquire toxic clutter.

☮️ I.L.L Community

A Father’s Love

Posted by My Co-writer & Editor

I had a rough life growing up. My father always lived by the motto, "do as I say, not as I do." So while he always taught me and my siblings to clean up after ourselves he did the complete opposite and made us clean up after him. Some would look at that and allow it to have a negative impact on their future but I'm a little different. I allowed that to mold me into someone that loves to stay organized and clean. I'm sure that I work my husband's nerves sometimes with my need to keep everything organized but he secretly appreciates it. We notice that our children tend to follow my lead when we walk into their rooms and see their rooms are all neat and organized and they are toddlers. I see my husband smile in amazement as he says they definitely have my organizing genes. 

The things I did not like about my father when I was growing up I made sure to marry a man that was the complete opposite in those ways. Everything that I asked God for in my husband was given to me. I'm so blessed that my kids have the father that I never had. I can't say that I wish my father was different because I'm sure my future would probably be completely different if so. 

My father had his ways but he wasn't the worst father. He was sure to always tell us that he loved us even if he didn't show it well. I truly believe that he loved me and my siblings to the best of his ability. His mother passed away when he was very young and I believe that him growing up without her love had a negative impact on how he treated females in general. He always said, "see you later" instead of "goodbye" until he passed away a few years ago. That was a very hard day for me because I did not have a good relationship with him when he passed away but I still loved him dearly and had always hoped that one day our relationship would be mended.

I was blessed with a father-in-law that treated me the way I had always wished my father would have treated me. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago as well. That day was extremely hard for me as well. I felt like God blessed me with this awesome father figure and took him away from me wayyyy too soon. But I am very grateful that He allowed me to experience the love from him that I lacked from my father in the short amount of time that he was my "daddy".

My kids are very blessed to have a father that loves them a lot and takes such good care of them. I know a lot of kids are not as fortunate as my kids are and it breaks my heart that a lot of kids grow up without a father or with one that treats them badly. My husband has a genuine love for kids and he tends to be a father figure to those kids that are in need of fatherly advice or just need someone to say that they matter and show them that they are loved. Our kids are crazy about him and I love how much they all love each other. 

I allowed my childhood to mold me into someone that wanted nothing but the best for my kids. Which is why I was very picky when it came to choosing a future husband that I hoped to raise a family with one day. The one characteristic that I didn't mind him having that my father had was the ability to make me laugh. My dad had a lot of mean and serious ways but if you caught him on the right day he could make anyone around him laugh over the silliest things he would say. I definitely wanted my husband to be funny but I had a long list of things I didn't want to see in him that I felt would remind me of how my dad treated me when I was growing up.

I just believe that every child deserves to be treated right and I wanted my children to grow up with a father that would treat them like they deserved to be treated. In return, one day they will grow up and marry someone as amazing as their dad and their children will have an amazing father as well. They will not only hear the words, "I love you" but they will truly feel the love as well.

The Hidden Father

My dad & I. 📸1-7-2012

Happy Father’s Day Community. Today is the day we celebrate & commemorate all the real Black fathers. This will probably be a very difficult post to compose due to the sensitivity of the topic. My thoughts were truly all over the road until my editor showed me which lane I needed to be in. Society & the media will twist your arm to convince you that real, loving Black Dad’s are as rare as polka dotted unicorn. This was the initial course I was taking. Then something in me said I was to speak on my hidden dad. I’m not the only person in the world with a hidden father so for numerous reason, I declined to take that road. Here at I.L.L, we do not promote the condemnation of one’s mistakes to exalt another. I am not vilifying him but stating a fact that I had a hidden father.

As a child, there were not many dads on my street. I had a favorite uncle who would drive in from Houston almost every weekend but other than that, I didn’t have many male influences. It was a teaspoon of normalcy not to see dads around so I never questioned who he was, where he was or why he wasn’t here. Kids were conditioned not to question adults about adult affairs & a child was suppose to be seen & not heard back then. As years went by, his absence did not affect me largely. I can count on 1 hand how many times I imagined what life would be like if I had a Heathcliff Huxtable or a James Evens Sr. molding me. Then it happened. When I was 19 years old, I ran into someone who knew my dad on a personal level & she introduced us. 😳

After spending a little time with him, I found out that he was really a nice & funny guy. He was a God-fearing man that loved his church & he was well loved throughout the community. So many people praised & spoke highly of ole Slim. I started noticing that genetics are real & I had a lot of qualities & interests from a guy who was hidden. We looked & acted a lot alike despite him not being around to influence me. The curiosity of what type of man I would have been if I had his hand of influence but a close friend told me that I am amazing the way I am & the butterfly effect could make me a completely different man if I had changed one of the many influences I was already blessed with.

The Sagittarius in me began to research. Deer do not have to be taught to walk; they just walk when the time comes. Mother bird doesn’t teach baby bird how to release himself from his shell so do I need a dad to learn how to become one? In life, we are all dealt different hands. What makes one man could be that same element that breaks another. I took the cards I was dealt & began analyzing my hand. This is when I realized that I, too, was a hidden father. Let me clarify that. I had a hidden father buried deep inside of me. But how do I crack the shell & release him? The father in me just knew how to release himself that day I saw my daughter being born.

Parents with multiple children will definitely let it be known that each child has their own personality, attitude and mindset. There is no “Black Dad’s Blueprint for Parenting”! So in my opinion, it’s uber important to have that positive male’s presence or a constructive father figure to become James Evans. I was not blessed to have that male impact to imprint the stamp of manhood approval on my chest. But I did have the most precious person in my life teach me how to reveal the hidden father in me. MY NEW BORN DAUGHTER!

Holding her for the first time showed me that I needed to release the hidden father in me. Any & everything that was keeping that inclosed was instantly shattered when I saw those celestial eyes. She taught me that I needed to do for her all the thing I wish mines had done for me. My daughter instilled in me that being anything less than a man of my word could permanently damage her fragile heart. That overnight transformation took me from being a Black man to being an unhidden Black Father. I became a protector! A provider! A dad joke dropping comedian. I became a better cleaner, a more wholesome cook. Every life lesson that was engraved in me was amplified by 💯 after seeing her face. In the past, Kings took part in making princes’ & princesse’s but 1-7-2006 was the first time in history that a Princess created a King.

Happy Father’s Day. Instill Love & Loyalty . Inspirationally Live Live!

Time To Let It Go pt. 2

When I was younger, I stopped by a gas station & was approached by an older gentleman & he asked for some change. I told him let me take care of my purchase first & he was more than welcome to have the change. While navigating the aisles of the store, I realized they did not have a particular item that I was in search for. In that instant, I too, was looking for change. I had to change my mind & find a secondary item. While playing snack scavenger hunt, I ran across a box of Cracker Jacks. I entertained childhood memories of this treat & quickly came to grips that I had outgrown this & no longer wanted to consume such poison. I eventually made my selection and departed from the store. I was immediately met by OG (older gentleman) & he reminded me that I had some change for him. He smiled, not at the change, but because I kept my word!

OG & I shook hands & exchanged possession of the change. He looked me in my eyes and said, “Sir, I now have some change for you!” My grandmother assisted in raising me & I learned at a uber young age to respect all elders & their wise words. The change he had for me was’ “IF YOU CANT CHANGE YOUR FRIENDS, CHANGE YOUR FRIENDS!”

The point of life is to grow & flourish into someone better than you were the previous calendar day. Growth is much more than a physical upgrade. Expanding your mind & soul via prayer, reading self help articles or taking a course to sharpen a craft is also a way to progress in life. A lot of times this means we end up outgrowing friends. The shoes we spoke of in part 1 is the perfect paradigm for friends. We rock them while they fit & once they began to hurt us, we let me go & find another pair that is fit for a King or Queen.

Just because you outgrow a friend or family member doesn’t mean you are better than them. It simply means you have taken a different route to achieve a more desirable destination. The only we are on this planet, our allergies & tastebuds change. We acquire alternate tastes in life opposed to the previous tastes that have grown bland. But stay on your toes community. When we steer off into smoother roads, the ones we leave behind will try to pot-hole you by saying things like “ The money made him change his route!” Change isn’t only beneficial at a snack machine. Change is healthy & should be well welcomed. During our lives we change jobs, change batteries & change our mind. Don’t get wrapped in attempting to change people; but focus on changing certain aspects of a person to assist them in achieving better energy in their Kingdom or Queendom. If you notice you are wasting time & energy in trying to change your friends, maybe its time to CHANGE OUR FRIENDS!

Peace Community!