Foto Friday – Dawn at Lake Merritt

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2022, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Chapel Hill, Foto Fridays, Georgia, Instagram, iPhone, iPhone 12Pro, iPhone Post, iPhoneagraphy, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Lake, Lake Merritt, Love, MW, North Carolina, Oakland, Photography, Sacramento, UNC, UNC Chapel Hill, United States, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Water

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Text Tuesdays – “The Echo”

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2020, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Chapel Hill, college, Georgia, Instagram, iPhone, iPhone Post, iPhone X, iPhoneagraphy, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Los Angeles, Love, New York, New York City, North Carolina, Oakland, Photography, poetry, Prose, Sacramento, San Francisco, Text Tuesdays, The Echo, U.S., UNC, UNC Chapel Hill, United States, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Echo
10/2020

The echo of silence in my mind is deafening,
Surrounded by the inadequacies of others, that they try to place on you,
The shrinking of your life, for their gain,
Their solace,

Celebrating the Life of Prince O(+> 2 Years Later – A Different Take – C Week Ƭ̵̬̊

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1958, 2011, 2016, actor, April, Arista, Atlanta, Atlanta Braves, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Chanhassan, Coachella, Coachella Festival, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, college, Columbia, Death, EMI, Forum, Funk, Georgia, Girl, Girlfriend, Great Western Forum, Guns 'N Roses, Housequake, How can you just leave me standing?, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Indio, Jamie Starr, Joey Coco, Joy In Repetition, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, LA Forum, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Love, March, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mourn, MSG Entertainment, Myla Watson, NPG, Oakland, Oracle Arena, Paisley Park, pop, Prince, Prince Nelson, Prince Rogers Nelson, Producer, Purple Rain, R&B, record producer, Rest in Peace, Rest in Peace sweet Prince, rock, Sacramento, Sign O The Times, Singer, Singer-songwriter, Sometimes it Snows in April, Take Me With U, The artist formerly known as Prince, The Fabulous Forum, The Fabulous Fox, The Forum, The Forum presented by Chase, The Madison Square Garden Company, Universal, Usher, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Records

Instead of talking about that day, how I felt, or loss, this year I will be different and a celebration. The first year was shock, and Coachella tributes, last year (2017) was my tattoo and party on the anniversary.

In 2011, I made a last minute decision to travel to California…mind you, Los Angeles. In the process of that trip, a late decision was made to attend the Prince residency at the historic Fabulous Forum in Inglewood California on 4/21/11. The building had been recently returned to its venue status, after being a church since the teams had left years ago for Staples Center.

After an already full day, with a game of the Atlanta Braves beating the Los Angeles Dodgers, however losing the series, my iPhone died as we pulled into the Forum parking lot. Excited to see Prince, though the scalped price of $100 per ticket, for face value $25 tickets was not agreeable, especially through my nemesis StubHub, we arrived, and you could hear The Time performing through the paper-thin walls of the building.

Initially our tickets scanned as “already entered,” and I just shook my head on the money spent, knowing that I could’ve gotten legitimate tickets, though we later found out that the tickets were just printed multiple times. Upon entering, the set list was as follows:

Music Mondays – Chance the Rapper & Francis and the Lights – “Dear Theodosia (Reprise)”

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actor, Atlanta, Atlantic, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Broadway, California, Carnegie Mellon University, Chance the Rapper, Chancellor Johnathan Bennett, Chano, Chicago, Dear Theodosia (Reprise), Emmy Award, Francis and the Lights, Francis Farewell Starlite, Georgia, Grammy Award, Hamilton, Hunter College High School, Illinois, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, MacArthur Fellowship, Mixtape, New York, New York City, Oakland, Pulitzer Prize, Queens, Rapper, Sacramento, Singer, Singer-songwriter, The Hamilton Mixtape, Tony Award, United States, West Chatham

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog -Throwback Thursday

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Alton Sterling, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, facebook, Falcon Heights, Fruitvale Station, Georgia, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, LA Riots, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Minnesota, Murder, Oakland, OJ Simpson, Oscar Grant, Philando Castile, Photography, Police Brutality, Rodney King, Sacramento, San Francisco, twitter, UNC, UNC Chapel Hill

I wake up further enraged this morning…there is no time to mourn when the news of the next murder is broadcast. How much longer will we cast a blind eye, and allow locations, tweets, and posts to be evidence of our disgust and displeasure, yet let it end there? The pandemic of violence against us in the United States, and systematic violation and disregard of our lives is reported daily. Should my future wife have to worry whether I will come home, or whether she has to watch me die in public? Should I have to worry about my future son not returning home from college? Should my future daughter live in fear that at any moment, her father, brother, boyfriend…husband, will not return from their day? Will I make it home alive tonight?

I refuse to live my life in fear, but these are real questions to be asked in a country where increasingly obscure locations, towns, and places become unfriendly reminders of how devalued the life of a Black man is. Last year I felt an uneasiness as I rode past Fruitvale Station…what was simply a stop on the B.A.R.T. is now an eerie reminder of a New Year’s shooting of an unarmed Oscar Grant was murdered by a police officer. Our lives our being reduced to temporary outpourings of grief, vigils, speeches, and memories tied to a location. However, I wasn’t…we weren’t born to be symbols of tragedies that continue to repeated on, as we have seen the last two days, a daily basis. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are simply the new names added the growing list of disregarded lives.

Text Tuesdays – Why I Mourn Prince Rogers Nelson 1958-2016

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1958, 2016, actor, April, Arista, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Chanhassan, Coachella, Coachella Festival, Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, college, Columbia, Death, EMI, Funk, Georgia, Girl, Girlfriend, Guns 'N Roses, Housequake, How can you just leave me standing?, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Indio, Jamie Starr, Joey Coco, Joy In Repetition, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Los Angeles, Love, March, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mourn, Myla Watson, NPG, Oakland, Oracle Arena, Paisley Park, pop, Prince, Prince Nelson, Prince Rogers Nelson, Producer, Purple Rain, R&B, record producer, Rest in Peace, Rest in Peace sweet Prince, rock, Sacramento, Sign O The Times, Singer, Singer-songwriter, Sometimes it Snows in April, Take Me With U, The artist formerly known as Prince, The Fabulous Forum, The Fabulous Fox, Universal, Usher, Warner Bros.

“Sometimes it Snows in April”

Thursday evening I realized that you couldn’t sing at my wedding, and I didn’t think about whether I could afford it, and it was then, that I realized the finality in the terrible news that you were gone. Prince Rogers Nelson 1958 – 2016, gone way too soon, and well before your time.

I am still not accepting this. Prince was never meant to be this world’s “weekend lover, (he was supposed to) be some kind of friend, it’s such a shame our friendship had to end.” “Times are (definitely) changing,” But I can’t reach for something new.Thursday evening I realized that you couldn’t sing at my wedding, and I didn’t think about whether I could afford it, and it was then, that I realized the finality in the terrible news that you were gone. Prince Rogers Nelson 1958 – 2016, gone way too soon, and well before your time.

New To Tou Music Sundays – Childish Gambino – “Telegraph Ave (“Oakland” By Lloyd)”

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adidas, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Childish Gambino, Georgia, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Oakland, Sacramento

  
The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Text Tuesdays – Foo Fighters – “Home”

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adidas, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, California, Echoes Silence Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters, Georgia, Home, Key Yemaya Walker, Keypsiia, Keypsiia Walker, Keypsiia Yemaya Walker, Oakland, Sacramento, Text Tuesdays

I had no words for today, but Foo Fighters were fitting enough.

Wish I were with you
I couldn’t stay
Every direction
Leads me away
Pray for tomorrow
But for today

All I want is to be home

Stand in the mirror
You look the same
Just lookin’ for shelter
From cold and the pain
Someone to cover
Safe from the rain

All I want is to be home

Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays – Big K.R.I.T. Feat Raphael Saadiq – “Soul Food”

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2014, Big K.R.I.T., Big KRIT, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Cadillactica, California, Charles Ra Wiggins, Cinematic Music Group, Def Jam, Def Jam Recordings, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop Quotable Wednesdays, Jazz, Justin Scott, Key Yemaya Walker, Los Angeles, Lucy Pearl, Meridian, Mississippi, neo soul, Oakland, Producer, R&B, Raphael Saadiq, Rapper, Singer, Soul, Soul Food, Terrance Martin, Tony Toni Tone

[Intro – Big KRIT:]
What happened to the soul food?
What happened to the soul food?
I’m talkin’ good eatin’, good seasonin’

[Hook – Raphael Saadiq:]
Out here in this world, just tryna make it
Everything I see, sometimes I can’t take it
But damn I really miss those times
That soul food’s on my mind
Mind, mind, mind

[Verse 1 – Big K.R.I.T.:]
Grandma’s hands used to usher Sunday mornings
Now before Sunday school, I hustle and I’m on it
I can’t slow down, nah, a dollar and a dream
In this life you live, you’re either the dealer or the fiend
Leanin’ horizontal
The acrobats on the corner, they flip
So when them white vans pull up, shawty, we dip
Out of view, could’ve been a track star at the school

Blue Lines Blog – Congrats Golden State Warriors – 2014-15 NBA World Champions

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2 Chainz, Basketball, Big Sean, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines Blog, California, Champions, Golden State Warriors, Kanye West, Key Yemaya Walker, Mercy, Muse, MVP, National Basketball Association, NBA, NBA Champions, Oakland, San Francisco, sports, Stephen Curry, The City

Congrats Golden State Warriors!!! NBA Championpions!!!  Mercy!!!
  

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.