December 1 is always a special day for me, as I’m very chronological in thinking– January 1 is the new year, April 1 is my birthday, and October 1 is 6 months between one birthday and the last so the time I take stock in. December 1 is a milestone of self-judgement and goals, where there’s still plenty of time to get a lot right for the new year, however every day is precious and can’t be wasted anymore. Today I started to think of how much more I wished I’d written and created, but then I had to recognize what all I did accomplish this year and come back from against some incredible odds.
Here I am with my friend Pamela Appea in Manhattan, June 2023. I wasn’t feeling great this day, but doing what women do to smile anyway, and keeping my daily salad habit even with little appetite.
November was challenging but God is good. My own and loved ones’ recent events inspire renewed commitment to pay into the Bank of Health every single day, to have plenty to withdraw to cover emergencies or get approved for a loan when I need it, to be indestructible to support myself or others.
It’s amazing how easy and automatic this is very quickly- fruits and veggies, nuts and beans, low alcohol and no smoking, no drugs and limited pharmaceuticals, water water water, exercise every day, sleep, the word “No” and the words “Hell no” if necessary.
Happy New Year 2024- don’t wait to January 1! Get a head start now. 🥂💫💛
I also want to recommend your 2023 Holiday Movie: Rustin. Let’s amplify this masterpiece as it deserves. It’s in theaters but also on Netflix. I was too involved in November to see it, but finally did this morning two weeks after it premiered. I’m still processing the genius writing, joyous acting, thorough historical documentation. It is not a traditional biopic. Civil Rights icon Bayard Rustin has been a muted name in American history compared to more famous peers he influenced and in some cases was betrayed by. It’s a refreshingly unsanitized portrayal of the ego battles and backend power struggles in the Civil Rights movement, rendering men we’re conditioned to see as saints as more human and therefore that much greater. The film centers itself in Rustin’s survival of American racism and 1960’s homophobia up to spearheading the historically pivotal March on Washington in 1963.
Wish I could say I was confused about why we aren’t seeing its stars Colman, Audra, Chris, Glynn, Jeffrey, I could go on… as an unprecedented historical drama ensemble of the season in George C. Wolfe’s RUSTIN like we see for Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, which I loved enough to see twice, or Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER. As RUSTIN only came to exist to document, this is a white man’s world the rest of us have to ask to sit in. Please see or stream the film.
negression 