Saturday, September 30, 2017

Charlottesville : The Truth Will Set Us Free



by Patricia Britt


Charlottesville, VA showed our flaws once more as Americans, that left us to wonder once more, where is the love, last month in August?

Clearly we need more love here, and everywhere else with the eclipse of reason, and soul over materialistic shades of obsession.

A bird's feather for Heather Heyer, forever remembered in the shadow of regressive thought patterns that took her life, when her right to free speech, and assembly was violated, not by an authority in this case, by another citizen in the shameless baggage of a lynch mob mentality suddenly in the afternoon.

We need to educate with the truth so that people, particularly youth aren't so messed up, and  isolated with hatred they act in a blind rage of irrevocable destruction.

Yet American heroes have achieved, and bonded through eyes, spirits, song, philosophy, agricultural innovations, microscopic business, and grand commerce in spite of physical torture, tight laws, and loopholes weaved with regard to slaves.

Abolitionists, the written word, military enlistment, politics, transportation, technology, and will power incrementally advanced blacks, who out of necessity to preserve family status i.e. togetherness, a spec of dignity, or a spiritual choice to communicate or understand the oppressors motives, beyond economics in order to achieve equality, rebuild, and enhance the American spirit as a result. This is the quilt we're composed from as Americans.

As each set of people with various ethnicities arrive in America across oceans in chains (African - Americans), or in search of Manifest Destiny to inhabit Indian, and Mexican land, that created the gumbo that exists today in this gorgeous landscape of the "Real McCoy." We became one, however with a few mutations.

Charlottesville poses the question, is this violent deterioration reversible for safety, spirit, economics, and our legacy as a nation.

We the people recently stood strong together through Texas's "Hurricane Harvey," Florida's "Hurricane Irma," as a united people, not to earn a gold star, it was to keep our fellow American's alive, and above board.  If we can show the same support for the brave state of Puerto Rico hit by "Hurricane Maria," and every state hit by storms infinitely while we reach across borders to help as we always have as individuals materially with concern, empathy, hope, and love we will meet every challenge always.

With humans purity equals an open heart, which attracts love, and happiness when free to pursue lofty values minus interference, in an atmosphere of determination to be just for all, because it is statistically the natural state of the heart, and the goal of our, free within reason, Democracy.

To substitute obsession with freedom is a constitutional concept. The right to fall in love is a remarkable concept evolved in the vital words of the constitution that means love is worthy of protection, across any lines of ambiguity.

Vulnerability lends strength to weather storms is our truth. When one can choose love we grow, evolve, and renew some of the creed of our constitution instead of a no win scenario that doesn't represent our initial ideals.

We need some dreamers, artists, pragmatists, statisticians, scientists, healers, construction workers, teachers, lawyers, humanitarians, and every day people to perpetuate positive change.

Salvation is within each of us, when love owns the moment, and we protect each other, however we can, especially children we live truth.

2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink


https://www.josephprince.org


Songs

You Are Loved by Stars Go Dim

Friday, August 4, 2017

Happy Birthday President Obama

by Patricia Britt

Happy birthday, and thank you, for all the differences you made while president. High school graduation rates went up among numerous statistical improvements, and immeasurable spirit lifters.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/10/17/498246451/the-high-school-graduation-reaches-a-record-high-again

https://www.obama.org/

2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink


Songs:

Summer Friends by Chance the Rapper

Caminando by David Benoit / Marc Antoine

Love & Happiness by Al Green

Breezin by George Benson

Cruise Control by Najee

Get To Know Ya by Maxwell

Real One by Chante Moore

MSU Professors of Jazz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1EQ3dqwiA4&spfreload=5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv48usNgIdM


Quote:


Where you see wrong,  or inequality, or injustice speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on. by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics. by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warrren

Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thurgoodma821973.htmlW
Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thurgoodma821973.html
In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/earlwarren112607.html
In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/earlwarren112607.html
Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thurgoodma821973.html
“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. by Martin Luther King

Sunday, July 30, 2017

John Legend Making Strides in Love & Harmony


by Patricia Britt

July is the month of our American Independence Day. I think John Legend is a young American in the spotlight working towards change in the Criminal Justice system spreading love on the way.

I saw John Legend perform several years ago at the Lansing, Michigan Commonground Festival, and enjoyed watching the beginning of his climb to stardom. Since then he's made proud strides in love & harmony for America, and the world, showing a bias for a us to come together. 

Although I've never talked to him, it's obvious he's not content with being a star making money to simply enrich his own life, he cares about his peers trapped in a cycle of poverty, and violence that leads to incarceration. His organization is one of many studying the problem of incarceration, and taking concrete action where possible. Time will tell his ultimate impact on a growing situation that needs to be reversed when it costs more to keep an individual incarcerated that to send them to college and be a part of society.

Yesterday I was watching www.tonyevans.com on the Impact network speak about Kingdom Men. He compared God to the commissioner position in the NFL (July 29, 2017 broadcast), and Kingdom Men following bible guidelines as the indisputable rule book, with pertinent statistics on current American culture. John Legend is a Kingdom Man making a difference. He's not ready for sainthood, but everything he does seems to stem from love, and follow loves guidelines from his romantic compositions to his choice to marry his mate and build a family, and help others along the way.

So the next time they broadcast OJ twiddling his thumbs as the model of today's black man, think of John Legend and Tony Evans whom you have to seek out absorb the wisdom of a love song, or the sermon of a regimented life for success. Tony Evans (Book: No More Excuses) might be a conservative, but wisdom is on all sides if you look for it.

His lastest song "Surefire" is thought provoking, and haunting. Lets pay attention, and hold up John's collaborative goals, and buy his music, and support his projects, because he's a young man with a positive direction, a distinct voice,  who knows what partnership is ... "cards on the table we're both showing hearts ..." A lovely lyric from the song "All of Me."

The 1978 Christmas season was a real gift. The piano is John Legend's instrument of expresssion. If music was once again funded in the schools, how long would it take to reverse the trend of idleness, and turn paupers into princes? Please bring back the love songs, and the vehicles for creation so that the object of intention is unity.

2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Legend_discography

https://twitter.com/johnlegend

http://letsfreeamerica.com/news/



Songs:



Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington

Sonny Side of the Street by Dizzy Gillespie

Fair Thee Well, Fair Weather Friend by Isley Jasper Isley

You Really Got a Hold On Me by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons

Rock With You by Michael Jackson

1000 X's O's (Nothin But Love ) by Prince

Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer

Love Is By Common

Jesus Walks by Kanye West

Walk on By by Dionne Warwick

El Amigo by Romeo Santos ft. Julio Iglesias

I Need Love by LL Cool J

Try Again by Aliyah

Ai No Corrida by Quincy Jones

Lady by Kenny Rogers

Easy by Demetria Mckinney

It's You by Swizz Beatz feat. Alicia Keys

Visions by Stevie Wonder

Addictive Love by Bebe & Cece Winans


Quotes: 

Cinema was my rite of passage by John Singleton

If a father doesn't care enough to stay with his children, then where is the love, something to think about in solitude. by Patricia Britt

I believe in humanitarian capitalism, and there are good people on Wall Street. 
by Ambassador Andrew Young

Financial Freedom is a mental, emotional, educational process. by Robert Kiyosaki

Raising a family is difficult enough. But it's even more difficult for single parents struggling to make ends meet. They don't need more obstacles. They need more opportunities. by Bill Richardson


Quotes by Nelson Mandella - Mandiba:

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

You know, you can only lead them from behind.

Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.
It always seems impossible until it's done.








http://letsfreeamerica.com/

Saturday, June 24, 2017

2017 East Lansing Jazz Festival

by Patricia Britt

This weekend's East Lansing Jazz Festival was a pleasure to the ears as always with lots of love from the performers.

2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

2017 NBC : The Voice Wins


by Patricia Britt

Alicia Keys's Chris Blue won the Voice yesterday with suspense up until the very last second.
http://www.today.com/popculture/chris-blue-wins-voice-giving-alicia-keys-first-victory-t111922

Finalist Aliyah Moulden, Lauren Duskis, and Jesse Larson gave it their all this season, and are surely on their way to the stratosphere.

Chris Blue the R&B artist who exuded love through competition claimed the love of his family and the audience upon achieving a career starter win. https://youtu.be/_3Fpm_6Go_g

There were some show stopper performances that the Voice has become known for with the highs & lows of the purity of song.

Everybody Hurts performed by Chris Blue, & Usher
https://youtu.be/JszPlO41_lo

Remember Me by Jennifer Hudson gave a show stopper performance as always. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unm29dvUJYE

2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink



Quote


“I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.”  by Duke Ellington


Songs

The Dance by Robert Mirabal https://youtu.be/55m_xMBtNlA

Last Night by AZ Yet

Can't Stop by After 7

Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5

Another Day in Paradise by John Tesh

Man in the Mirror by Siedah Garrett & Michael Jackson 

Everytime I Feel the Spirit by Mahalia Jackson




Image result for metro goldwyn mayer logo

Saturday, April 22, 2017

2017 Earth Day Love

by Patricia Britt

Earth day is an acknowledgment of human concern for the planet for the youth that are here, and yet to come. It's also a very present concern for adults with 20 or more years on this planet with breathing, and aesthetic concerns. Do we want our soil to nurture nourishment & the beauty of the world, or do we want shudder at the thought of Winter & Summer? Do we want almonds for our biology? What about the rain, and the ozone layer we've tamed since the 70's? Resources are not infinite, and need to be loved, and cultivated.

All the colors of the rainbow are pure joy.

Here are what people are involved in:

http://www.earthday.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYA_Vibx3bU   - A glance at Earth Day

http://www.pbs.org/specials/earth-day


2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink

Flower Art

https://www.greatbigcanvas.com/category/florals/tropical-flowers/?group=b&utm_expid=126186327-10.r_9_XiaHS9uQ33ED3eJH_w.1&gclid=CJaAkKu6udMCFR61wAod_woNIg&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

Quote

Al Gore : Book Series : An Inconvenient Truth
https://www.amazon.com/Inconvenient-Truth-Planetary-Emergency-Warming/dp/B000QEJ0WY

https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/ten-times-al-gore-inspired-us-act-climate

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/22/health/global-march-for-science/

Songs

Earth Song by Michael Jackson

Purple Rain by Prince

Sunny by Bobby Hebb
https://youtu.be/Dh6CKMDBB5k





Tuesday, April 18, 2017

2017 MSU : Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre

2017 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
by Patricia Britt

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater proves its awe every time they perform!

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre enthralled the souls of a grateful MSU audience once more.

The program consisted of Exodus (2015), Open Door (2015), After the Rain Pas De Deux (2014), and Revelations (1960). The company that began in 1958 with Blues Suite. www.alvinailey.org  Explore Our History | Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater



Exodus began with grief then joy. Open Door began with a gentle modern dance ballet by a couple followed by a happy dance in a group with jazz salsa rhythms showing the freedom of dance with vibrant yet muted costume tones. The dancers then mesmerized as tinkling light piano keys in a mellow salsa beat, and driving horns set the pace. After the Rain Pas De Deux began with classic modern dance performed by a couple in a delicate love dance on the wings of love in unison with the heart.

Revelations classic spirituals in Pilgrim of Sorrow (I Been Buked, Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel, Fix Me, Jesus), and Take Me to the Water (Processional/Honor, Honor, Wade in the Water, I Wanna Be Ready), and Move, Members, Move ( Sinner Man, The Day is Past Gone, You May Run On, Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.) satisfied the traditional fans. The company worked it's magic with spiritual angular movements, soul searchin in a somber reflection of the spirit. Followed by light hearted Wading in the Water with the classic utilization of material to crate illusions. There were extensions, and solos, elevations, and fluid movements that told stories from once upon a time.

To see The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre makes you want to see all the great dancers from Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison, Misty Copeland, Carmen de Lavallade, Twyla Tharp, and so many others that we are able to experience through the Internet. You can read more about each of these legendary artist on wikipedia,org, and see them on youtube.com Artistic dance stays with you.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is truly a marvelous treasure with a spirit that speaks to every soul.

These are young people that exhibit what's always made America's culture great, as they collaborate to imbue a sense of oneness in the world. Dance is the language of love.

See performances at Michigan State University's www.thewhartoncenter.com

2017 Copyright Zimation Arts & Letters Ink


Quotes

 “Learn the craft of knowing how to open your heart and to turn on your creativity. There’s a light inside of you.” ― Judith Jamison


I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the quality of our work. - by Alvin Ailey

Dance is also universal. You can take it anyplace and people will understand it, because it's a language everyone speaks. by Carmen de Lavallade