REALLY NICE™️

REALLY NICE™️ exists to inject positivity in its various forms into the world. To be a world within the world that embraces everyone and everything and encourages you to embrace yourself (besides those that do not embrace or want to embrace everyone and everything in an equal way). This is about blurring lines, breaking down borders, togetherness in a shared humanity, looking at the common thread in all things. Anything besides this is insanity. Delusion. Some cases are more severe than others. One of the most severe is racism. We have always lived this mentality but are committed to actively and outwardly stand by, support and fight for what is right in whatever way we can.

scenes from last night, black lives matter protest, nashville:

Driving around town. I want so bad to be next to you all. Near you all. Seeing it, human spirit in action it hits me in a place that only having gone through this countless times in 100 past lives could.  I feel it deeply. But, with COVID and my home situation I can not afford anything less than to be overly cautious right now, so I have to stay afar. Eastside, I see a bunch of blonde girls with no masks laughing waiting in line for pizza, the equivalent of a whiny “lyke OMG lol, y is this takin so long omg”. Downtown, a street lined with exhausted protestors (maybe they didn’t sleep well last night or have lived a whole life of unrest) but they remained conscious, peaceful, silent – real humans holding signs or fists in the air on the only side there is to be on – life, love, freedom, equality. Those things are not political, not isms, not belief systems, not sides – They are the ground of existence, everything else comes 50th. Driving by it, blasting Nina Simone, felt like a calm, powerful epicenter of human spirit. A few blocks away I see about a hundred, armored police officers behind a barricade like rabid, wild dogs ready to be set free.  I see cop cars, cop carts circling frantically.  And the most terrifying thing – a big white pickup truck with the oversized tires packed with that breed of white people with the possessed, vacant eyes that I can tell from one glance drove in from the middle of nowhere and are circling around here waiting for a chance to start trouble and have zero sense, empathy or brain cells to be convinced otherwise. To me, those are the most terrifying and dangerous people in existence – proud, white, unconscious americans. If the world was fair the police would notice what I noticed in five seconds and focus their energies on keeping an eye on them, but no – the peaceful protest in the name of life is much more threatening. So I follow this truck awhile to keep an eye on their actions, none taken, that I saw.  I can not imagine what the fear a black person would feel to have to share a world with evil presence like that – An identity (or lack thereof) so tiny and so low and so fragile, it can only be supported by the bringing down of others. Part of me, a part of me that’s been developing since I was 7 years old when by my bedside my dad said something along the lines of “if you ever see someone harm or be mean to someone because of the color of their skin, I want you to punch them right in the face”. I have yet to exercise that because the racism in this country is sly and buried and behind the scenes and subtle and so my fist is pulsing, iron at this point waiting for an opportunity to redeem that when the time is right.  The time feels right.  I am no stranger to a heated, very direct conversation with older family members or family friends with toxic, programmed, “old fashioned” views they express in passing thinking it’s acceptable, I thrive on changing those kinds of hearts, but to see it on display, I can’t say it’s ever happened and that is a sign of my priviledge. I am glad I was able to see last nights movement for myself and not have it be painted by the media or short clips on twitter. Visually, there was nothing but harmony and peace amongst the protesters, energetically, it felt calm and grounded.  It was in the police and the opposition there was a heavy anxious feeling, nervous white energy, frantic. It was like the fragile human ego…a child tantruming, squirming in their skin for their last bit of life as they watch people they know deep down are 100% in the right gather to make a true statement that shatters their entire sense of identity – their toxic programmed morals, values and beliefs –  an identity they have based on faulty, poisonous mindsets.  I guess I would be scared too to watch it all die right before me.  But they can’t deny it.  They are out there to try and salvage whatever is left of a dying, poisonous structure and it is pathetic and sad that their way of dealing with it is like a caricatured movie version of a middle school bully.

The work is done in many different ways – it can be internal work, it can be donations, conversations, social media, protesting, calling racist relatives, shopping at a black owned shop or just being incredibly aware and mindful of what is actually going on around you. But this is not a trend, this is a way of life and its natural. It is time to adopt full-time awareness, compassion and strides towards what is right. We see a lot of first time activists on the internet criticizing or pressuring others – that is nothing but a sign of their own insecurity. So forget them and do you. Do what you can and if nothing else the best thing we can all do is make sure that we, ourself, is living a compassionate life with love for any and all and attempting to share that notion whenever possible.

Thank you to everyone that has supported our internal causes thus far – purchasing the “JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD SHIRT” (100% of profits donated to MN Freedom Fund) from the shop and for making live donations directly to the ACLU during sunday jazz wakeup show. More to come…

Lastly, let us take one moment before you go to acknowledge the silver lining in all of this – more people are speaking, opening up, fighting for this cause than ever before. Change is being made. Evil is being highlighted and documented and pulled to the spotlight. This is the biggest civil rights movement in history. George Floyd and countless other names are the angels that have sparked this necessary evolution in humanity. COVID-19 paused the worlds show – making it so everyone was finally paying attention. Let’s keep this going, and after the fire has reduced to embers, LIVE IT, everyday, all day – a life of compassion, love and understanding for all beings.

ciao.