Music Put Its Arms Around Me And Forced Me To Fall In Love

There is a quote by W.H. Auden that says, “music is the best means for digesting time.”

I wouldn’t doubt that because it has definitely got me through this quarantine, being trapped in my home with ample time to do while the spinning world takes a repose from the business of it all that it used to be. 

In this social distancing world where we are more and more creating these digital communities and finding time to learn something new every day, I have definitely been feeding my soul with purposeful creativity. Being in isolation made me realize how to access and control my superpowers better than I had before.

I have been unleashing my mindset through song and poetry. I have found different ways to give the world a taste of my skills. Music has found its way to dance quick circles around me and I had no choice by to simply jump in with a listening ear and a butterfly of speech to add my own creative juices into the universe. My time in quarantine has been a singing revolution from my heart because it has fueled me with confidence.

If music didn’t move me before this pandemic contagion, it has put its arm around me and forced me to fall in love with its sophisticated soul. It has been my wing of security. It has helped me to generate chuckles and smiles. And so, while I am trapped in my home, I seize every moment to listen to sultry voices of different instruments blaring through my amplified speakers and also, different podcasts and on-line seminars that have helped me to rise above the circumstances that the coronavirus has left us in which has helped me go gain more self-esteem and I am so thankful for that.

If you are like me and in these trying moments, music make you think differently, perhaps you might be interested in discovering some music sounds that you may not have heard before. Music has given me an overwhelming sense of comfort and I would like to invite you to check out this music playlist created by E.N.D.I.E. FIYA, which has made a positive impact on my world.

While every spoon-fed thought about the coronavirus is being served that sends me into a frenzy, this playlist has spread love around the world. It features music from different indie artists, and it is a great listen. I am also excited to have one of my songs featured in this playlist among the many other songs that are presented which I found to be through enjoyable and heightened the mood of encouragement that felt just right in these crazy moments we are facing.

So here is the link to it if you are interested in listening:  https://youtu.be/RJvEtD_aVYQ.  

Hope you enjoy it. God bless you and be safe out there. Much love!

Songs For My Father

With every new endeavor, I can say that I had my father there, in his genuine nature, infusing me with mental strength and love that made me feel adequate. 

Today, I am turning up the volume to his truth because I never had to vie for his attention. Our relationship from its genesis has always been rooted and grounded in love and for every powerful memory that I have, I can say that he has been there, even when I tried to burrow away from his instructions to take my own crazy paths that resulted in what we call, experience. But I was never too far from the safety of his love because it was always there for me regardless of how rebellious and stubborn I was.

And so, to savor the good things that we have had over the years because of his answering the call to the duty of being a real dad, I twittered with delight writing some poetry in dedication to his being in my life and for every calming moment that he gave me his shoulder to cry on and comforted me to know that I was loved.

He made a huge impact on this woman that I am becoming. Today, I bring wild cheers in the form of a book of poetry that you might be interested in sharing with your own father, as this week brings to us the traditional celebration of Father’s Day. 

As I retraced the steps of every moment that we shared, thoughts augmented my reality which manifested into a new verse of poetry. I had much to say deep inside and I hope that perhaps you might take a chance on my latest book of poetry, Songs for My Father by Stephanie Jeannot which is dedicated to all the quality dads. You can find it on Amazon here: Songs For My Father

 

It is definitely a time for dads to shine; especially those who always seemed to grace the 

stage with concern and love and left lasting impacts on their children.

Happy Father's Day and God bless! 

James Weldon Johnson's Masterpiece Takes Beyonce

“Life is nothing but a dream, and if we are artists, then we can create our life with love, and our dream becomes a masterpiece of art”

(Don Miguel Ruiz)

I remember reading James Weldon Johnson’s “The Diary of an Ex-Black Man” and in it he spoke about an experience where he realized he was black and ran home to ask his mother if he really was black because he did not know until a teacher told him.

The innocence in that amazes me. The beauty of his writing thrilled me. The masterpiece of his song that came to be known as “The Black National Anthem” moves me.

He showed people of color that we can lift our voices to be heard because we have identities and we can own our own ambitions to march on being perfectly black even though we labor to open eyes to a vision of being not so different and lovable though we are different simply because our skin colors are not the same.

Beyonce and the fierce fighting woman that she is, proved how the hope that this song has always built in people of color and also provides a a sense of empowerment in using our voices to daily renew the fire within. 

She did it with visual presentations of what reporting to active duty as a soldier in the war for true equality looks like when she levels the playing field and makes black life across the globe know in truth that beauty in identity is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing when she showcases the beauty of the normal physiology of her skin and sings James Weldon Johnson's song live. Her performance on Coachella resonated with me and I tried to capture my thoughts of it in a poem since it is National Poetry Month. I hope you will read it.  

James Weldon Johnson’s Masterpiece 
Takes Beyonce

Black Woman

Strong Woman

Good Woman

I am Woman

I am Daughter

I am Sister

I am Cousin

I, the Writer

I am Blessed

I Confess

I am Set

I am First

I am History

I Have a Ministry

I the American

I the Woman

I the American Woman

I the Black Woman

I the Strong Black Woman

I who Lift My Voice in Sing

‘Til Earth and Heaven Ring

I’m down with the Kings

Because, I the Queen

I Am the First

To show all the Haters

I Did it

Like a Teacher

Schooling us to own our Blackness

To possess Pride

Of being who you are

In your Blackness

In your status

In your number

Because you are a Number

Because you are in the Number

Because you Are

Because you have an Identity.

Rings with the Harmony

Of Liberty

Like a church bell on Sunday Morning

In Brooklyn

High as the glistening Skies

March on Beyonce.

I respect who you are.

You are Cultural!

You are Strong!

You are Fierce!

You are Black!

You are a Soldier in the Army of God!

And you are Shining Your Light!

Now Even the Young, Gifted and Black Youth will be able to Sing the Black National Anthem

Who may not have known there was a

Black National Anthem

Until they saw Coachella in 2018.

______________________________________________________

Hey speaking of culture.

I wrote a song about the beauty of my family’s culture.

The video does a better job of displaying it though and I hope that you will take a minute to watch my video entitled Saut D’eau Song written and produced by Stephanie Jeannot. Though it only shows bits and pieces of beautiful Haiti, I am glad to have been able to see it with mine own eyes. The beauty in culture moves me. 

Thank you so much for stopping by my page and for taking the time to read my blogpost. Be so wonderfully blessed.

Chronicles of an Angry Driver in New York City

Everything is so fast paced in New York City, so it is a pleasure at night when it is you and the road and the skyline and you can just ride without the heavy rush of the never sleeping town.

May Photo Challenge 2017: Skyline

The difference is that during the daytime, you are driving, stop at a red light and don’t let a second of green catch you standing behind it because you will be met with a chorus of beeps. So you start to move as you were prompted to by the cars behind you, and a person wearing all black clothes starts to cross the street in front of you. The latter example is even worse at nighttime when you can hardly see them at all. 

When I took my defensive driving class, the instructor told the class that every 3^rd person on the road is under the influence of something. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, makeup or Snapchat that you decide to stream live while behind the wheel that has your attention, the driver might not see that camouflaged to the color of the pavement walker, or that crazy bicyclist who decides that no traffic law pertains to them. Yeah! I said makeup. Haven't you ever seen someone applying mascara and eyeliner while behind the wheel or using nail polish remover to take an old coat of polish off the nails? 

But then you have the city skyline to provide some extra needed comfort to that vision-zero spot you are in. All those lights keep you abreast and aware; unless you start gazing at the sparkle and decide that at that moment, patience to just enjoy life is more important than rushing through it. As that thought skates through your mind, may I invite you to "Enjoy Life" and sing along with me? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alV2ULnr9z8

How could you not see the draped in all black pedestrian when the neon lights kind of color them in as they cross the middle of the street that you might not have seen if it were in a different area? And how could you not stop to simply let them pass without road rage getting the best of you and leading you to want to curse them out because you are in a rush? And how could you not feel like stopping just to appreciate the beauty and to capture the essence of it? Just looking at the skyline transforms a driver and leaves them feeling good. 

Thank God for those lights. Here is hoping for more patience as we cruise on down the thoroughfares of life. 

P is for Pardon My French . . .

Pardon my French but,

it feels good to know that

I am a troubadour of the world!

And so, I try to put my whole heart into every performance whether I am happy or with a broken spirit. The stage gives me a reason to feel optimistic. I can declutter my mind for a moment as I box out my troubles with a song.

I release infectious laughter at the end because the joy that took over made me feel really good. I may worry or climb over familiar hurdles every time before I take the stage but the music clamors for my attention and then my focus turns to the song, the lyrics, the notes, the key signature and the audience. And so my alter ego thrives in full immersion.

I am no longer who I was a second ago and the sound art breaks the cycle of who I was and I become who I am in the moment. The doubtful whispers cease and I feel as if the music and I, become one before a score of people.  

I guess this is why my heart rattles like thunder for it. I am psyched with each opportunity to release the passion within. Even on my worst of days or when I am completely exhausted, I get on stage and my day changes into a masterpiece. I get this energy that is unreal and I experience this maniacal grin because I still don’t quite understand it; you’d think exhaustion would pose as a challenge and instead, my alter ego reboots me and I’m with a full battery.

Like for instance, a year ago this week, I was on my way to an exciting performance that I was supposed to do. My friend William Rivers invited me and my band to be on his television show, “Showcased Talent.” And so, I got all dressed up, into my car and was driving on the highway. The highway had a crazy merge from about 10 lanes to one and while merging, a coach bus hit my car. I had to sit waiting for cops to come and attend to us for two hours just to tell my side of the story and fill out a report. I was late to the television studio and still wanted to go do the performance though I was not under the best condition, being stressed and waiting out in the cold for all that time. I still can’t believe I did not cancel after all of that but, it was one of those experiences I will never forget. Check out one of the many songs JNote Band and I did that night together here: https://youtu.be/z7BZHMjQdFk

I try to maintain a thankful spirit. It's no easy street to be a singer with an instrument inside the body that you need to preserve through weather and sickness and drama-filled days and emotions and tiredness. But singing is one of the most delightful things that I do and I am happy with each opportunity to face the toil of what is required to simply vocalize. I have genuine affection for the work because I genuinely love to do it.

Pardon my French but,

it feels good to know that

I am a troubadour of the world!