Electric Soul

So in case you haven't seen lately, there's some controversy surrounding cosmetics company L'Oreal and they're recent firing of transgender woman of color Munro Bergdorf for her since deleted comments on Facebook about white privilege.  Understandably it pissed a lot of people off, myself included. Now the Facebook post was only speaking about Bergdorf's views on white privilege and the responsibility of non POC's to be open to discussion and to accept that they have a certain level of high ground when it comes to status, safety, and sense of self. Also that there's a layer of casual racism that comes across unintentionally that they need to be more aware of. But all L'Oreal could see was an angry person of color ranting against white people so they sacked her. In a statement they spoke of them  being "Champions of diversity" and stated that Munroe didn't align with those views. Now, putting aside the utter BS of that statement; let me ...

You've heard it before. "You're so pretty for a (insert minority here) girl." or "You're cool, you're not like other girls." or the oh so common, "You're smart, you're not like those other (insert minority here)." Just so you know, those aren't real compliments and you sound like an idiot. For one, my positive attributes shouldn't be in relation to other people and second, don't insult an entire group of people just to uplift me. I don't want that. I'm not okay with it and it just makes me feel like I'm constantly on a timer until I piss you off and you throw it in my face that you thought I was different but you guess not. Like if I show signs of being "just like" other women or other black people that you'll cut me off and honestly? I hope you do, or I'll cut you off before you even think we're close. I don't need people in my life like that. Just, before you say something to s...

Long title, for a heated rant. I was watching a Youtuber that I really enjoy and she said that she's not into politics and that she doesn't take part in the process because to her the whole thing is "stupid". Now while I can usually watch someone and enjoy their content while not agreeing with them on some things this sent me into questioning if I could watch her but also question if I might not like her at all. Now you might think that's a bit much and I'm overreacting. Well, think of it this way. Due to the fact that I'm a young woman of color living in a lower middle class area (but honestly it's bordering on poor at this point) and I live everyday in a political space because of those things, I can't turn a blind eye to politics. I can't not take part in it. Everyday is a political battle for me. As I try to make a place in the world, when I'm out and I need to make it home safely, if I show my face in a mostly white area knowing th...

I've been a fan of Paige (real name Saraya Jade Bevis) since she debuted on the main roster of WWE in 2014. She's an amazing female wrestler and someone that could be Hall of Fame material. That is, if she can make it back to the ring at this point. She's been in a relationship with Alberto El Patron (real name Jose Rodriguez, formerly Alberto Del Rio when he was in WWE as well) for a few years now and as someone who's a big fan or at least I used to be, things have not been going well for her. She's been dealing with a recurring neck injury, she's been suspended two times, and now it's come out that everything isn't exactly roses for her and Alberto. In fact not even close. Recently some footage as well as audio has come out that shows them arguing in an airport with her telling him to, "Get out of my life" after she threw a drink in his face. Then the police were called. She's since come out and claimed full responsibility for the inc...

So you may have heard of the Austin Jones situation recently. If not it involves a youtuber by the name of Austin Jones who was recently found to have been contacting young girls in their early teens for videos of them twerking. There's obviously more to the story but because some of it is a little more graphic than I'm comfortable speaking about right now, I'll just leave it at that. What I'm really posting this for is to point out that this is not the first time this has come to light. A few years ago another youtuber by the name of Damon Fizzy (Also known as D Fizzy) alerted managers and other authority figures while he was on tour with Jones as part of My Digital Escape. A now defunct group of alternative youtubers who performed under the guidance of interviewer Bryan Stars. Well apparently Damon told both Bryan and the owner of Warped Tour about what was going on and how he'd seen Jones partake in inappropriate actions with some of the underage fans and was...

On June 14th 2017, while at a practice field, GOP members were shot at. Many were injured and the assailant is now dead while Steve Scalise is in critical condition. This is the second attack in a short amount of time with the recent stabbing incident that took place. Things are officially heading towards what I can only describe as like civil war territory. And I know that may seem far fetched, dramatic but it's really not. Things like this can lead into back and forth attacks between political parties. That's not what we need right now. When we say that there needs to be a call to action and we need to fight back, this is not what anyone meant. No one wants to see anyone get physically hurt. No one wants that and no one should want that. The gunman is not representative of what I or many other people in the left wing want in terms of sending a message. He didn't even send a message, he just caused chaos and hurt people. A man is in critical condition right now, fighting...

I was scrolling through social media when I happened upon a very troubling post, or a response to a post, regarding age differences and how they are perceived depending on the gender of the older party in the relationship. And not only was I confused in this person's thinking but I was and still am frightened by this way of thinking. Basically what the person said was that it is "gross" to come down on a woman for dating a man who is substantially younger than her because "if it were a man" it would be perceived as alright. And what I have to say to that is, you my fellow human have your standards mixed up. Usually the way I see things being handled is: If a man is pursuing a female who is considerably younger than he is, he's called a perv and a creep. If a woman is pursuing a male who is younger than she, the guy is called a God and a champ and given a pat on the back for getting with a cougar. See: When the public gets wind of teacher/student relation...

I waited a few days before writing this because I didn't want my emotions to be at a high when I wrote it. But then I realized that the only way to write this was to come at it from a place of feeling. Because we're all feeling this and it hits close to home in many ways for us. There was no way I could write this blog post and not feel anything. I couldn't close myself off from emotion and I shouldn't. For most if not all people music is a source of happiness and comfort. A link that ties us all together within one art form that’s universal. No matter what language, no matter what continent or country, we all know music. And we all cherish it. I laid in bed the night of May 22, 2017 and watched as news came in about an attack at the MEN Arena in Manchester at an Ariana Grande concert and from the moment I saw the headlines I was hit with extreme sadness at what had taken place. Those people went to that concert to see someone they loved and looked up to. Someo...

One more down and we've not even hit summer yet! Trump fires FBI Director James Comey in what can only be called a clear effort to derail investigation. Trump cites Comey's mishandling of Hillary Clinton's email investigation as the reason but we all know that's not true. The FBI has been investigating the Trump Administration's ties to Russia and he felt threatened. He was threatened that evidence would come out and he wouldn't be able to deny the obvious any longer. That not only does he have connections to Russia but Russia was integral in his winning the presidency. Of course during a meeting with NBC he denied such a thing but we all know that's not true. Just as him denying his ties to Russia is a blatant untruth. You know things are bad when both Democrats AND Republicans are calling for an independent investigation away from the FBI as concerns about the bureau's independence are called into question. Trump is trying so very hard to push bad ...

Recently there has been a lot of talk surrounding the Mauro Ranallo and JBL situation going on in WWE. As a wrestling fan, I've been a fan going on about nine years, there has always been talk about backstage "ribbing" as they call it. Which is pranks or a little veteran on newbie hazing. There is light hearted ribbing and then there's JBL style ribbing. Where he'll do something so outrageous and atrocious that it makes you wonder why he's still working with the company. He'll rib to the point where it comes across as actual harassment. With the things that are out there that both former and current wrestlers have said, he can be classified as a bully. A big bully. But let's start with what's going on right now. So Smackdown Live color commentator Mauro Ranallo has been missing from WWE TV for quite some time now. He took some time off right around Wrestlemania citing mental health reasons. For those who don't know, Ranallo was diagnosed wi...

So after dropping a bomb on Syria in a display of stupidity that measures on the Richter scale, Trump decided that he'd pull a double and drop a bomb on Afghanistan. You know, the place that we've been trying so hard to get out of because of the whole "Weapons of mass destruction" debacle made by Bush. He can say all he wants that it's to stop Isis but if he really cared about that and the danger that's being caused to the people over there he wouldn't be going on his anti immigration kick. Because apparently, caring about the actual people affected isn't as important as trying out these destructive pieces of machinery that cause lifetimes worth of damage. Just look at Japan if you want to know what dropping bombs lead to. The radiation over there is so sad. It's so tragic to look at those people suffer when they should not have to. When America dropped those two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki it caused irreparable damage that I just don't t...

As a video game fan, a lifelong video game fan, I'm very involved in the gaming community and have been since I first set foot on the internet. Most of my Youtube subscriptions are gaming channels. Because I love to watch Let's Plays and that's also how I find out about different games or decide if I myself want to play those games. Not to mention the fact that I'm on the lower end of the income bracket so sometimes this is the only way I'll ever experience some games until I can stabilize my income and be able to afford to treat myself to the newest gaming systems and titles. I know for a lot of other gaming enthusiasts this is the case as well. That being said, color me surprised when one of my favorite gaming channels, Kubzscouts posts their second episode of Persona 5 Let's Play and they inform us viewers that Atlus, the company who produces these games, has placed a strict ban on streaming and posting videos of the game past a certain point and also pla...

So...most of us are either incredibly angry, not surprised, or a combination of both at the recent Pepsi commercial that came out. For those who haven't seen it, it's Kendell Jenner leaving a shoot for something, probably a pictorial. Model and all. She then joins a protest, but instead of sticking with the people who are trying to get their voices heard and make a point, she hands a Pepsi to a policeman who smiles and that's how the commercial ends. I don't know what Pepsi was going for. Saying that the only way to make things better is to work with the police? I'm not sure. But the commercial comes off very tone deaf and as if not only Pepsi but Kendell missed the entire point of Black Lives Matter and every other police targeted movement. But that's the thing, isn't it? It's so easy as a privileged rich model or a multi billion dollar company, you just can't see things from our point of view. You'll never fully understand. But that's n...

I originally pitched this piece to a website who said that "It's a little too broad" for their website. Which, fine. That's within their right to reject it. So I'll just post it here instead.  There’s this attitude among a certain section of society that likes to look at fashion and beauty as a “frivolous hobby and use of time”, but I disagree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. Especially when people use this line of thinking as to why someone should keep up with politics and world events. Being that fashion is all about expressing yourself and projecting the image you want to put out into the world, there’s no way that’s not political. There’s no way those two things are not interconnected. When you wake up in the morning and get ready for the day, whether you wear a face full of makeup or just some lip balm, that’s your personal identity that you’re expressing to the world. When you pick out your clothes for the day you’re putting your best foot forward. ...

I'm someone who is VERY against the use and distribution of cigarettes. I don't see the appeal, I think they're disgusting and the health risks are not worth the small window of stress relief that they provide. Seriously. Get a new coping mechanism. I know you've heard it all before. That cigarettes cause cancer and that they contain literal poison. While some things that people say to deter you from using them are quite frankly baseless scare speech, some of it is truthful and in the grand scheme of things even two facts should be enough to keep you away from these small sticks of terror. Just keep in mind that I'm not saying these things to judge anyone with an addiction. There are many people in my family who are smokers and I hate it dearly which is why I'm trying to save other people's family members. I'm trying to save you the stress of watching your loved one's struggle to deal with their stress. My first point is the cancer claim. All in ...

Yep, that's right. While we were too busy paying attention to Trump crying wolf about Obama wiretapping Trump Towers (Seriously...) the rest of the snakes were slithering their way to more oppression. They snuck their way past and moved forward with some very damaging bills that they're trying to put into action. You better sit down for this list of travesties. It's really nothing new but when I break down the destruction we're possibly heading towards, it'll make your head spin. The first is H.R. 861 which is to terminate The EPA aka The Environmental Protection Agency. Our planet is suffering enough and it's only getting worse as time goes on. Without the EPA to keep things in check, the issues we're currently facing are only going to accelerate at a higher momentum, bringing about unprecedented damage to our ecosystems and wildlife. Not to mention the damage to our food and water sources. Ahem, DAPL anybody? Flint Water Crises ring a bell? The second ...

Oh look, another brick in the walls of lies that make up Trump's administration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was caught in quite the lie. Considering what the lie was about, he better be ready to face the consequences. If you haven't heard, Sessions lied under oath and said that he had no contact with Russia whatsoever. In the words of Maury, that was a lie. Not only did he meet with Russia's ambassador and lie about it under oath but people noticed that this action goes against a statement he made in 1999 when lying under oath was an issue. Though, he seemed to only have a problem with Bill Clinton lying under oath. But when he does it, he has no choice but to. At least that's what Trump says. In his opinion it's okay that Sessions told a tremendous lie. Or maybe it's that this lie had to do with Trump's favorite people, Russia. Because when it comes to Russia, Trump can't seem to get enough of them. They hacked Hillary's emails, Trump donate...

Oh no! Trump is scared that his little feelings are going to be hurt, so he's backing out of the White House Correspondents Dinner, an event that's usually attended by the president and his first lady. But why is he?, you may ask. Well, the answer is simple. He's afraid of what people might say in his presence. If you know nothing else about Donald Trump, know this: He can not take criticism. Like a petulant toddler stomping his feet and running to his mommy because the other kids don't like him, he will throw an absolute fit when he's confronted with someone that he can't bend to his will. That he can't bully into being on his side. He's nothing but an attention seeker, a class clown looking for his next audience. That's why he's so good at being a reality star. He thrives on the feeling he gets when all eyes are on him. He fails at everything else. The fact that an entire country for the most part, hates his guts is eating away at him. It...

To think that it's only been about a month since the orange idiot took office and threw a wrench in the progress we were gaining as a country. Well, prepare to take a BUNCH of steps backward and into the abyss. He's trying to not only ruin us but kill off the entire world. Although, that's what many said would happen beforehand.... First, he appointed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. A rich woman who has never worked in the education system, knows nothing about it, and wants to privatize education. Effectively not only kicking the small amount of education we had out from under us but also trying to implement a system that will benefit the rich over the less fortunate (big surprise there) and pretty much lead to segregation in the school system again. I'm not exaggerating, I'm not joking, this isn't hyperbole. This is real. She used her wealth to gain this job and now she's going to lead to millions of children not getting what little education they ...

We're under a new regime in America. One where you aren't allowed to speak your mind lest you be intimidated and threatened with treason charges. The media aren't allowed to report on the news without being backed into a corner by the administration. Agencies are being told that they're not allowed to give info to the public. We're all being placed under gag orders and none of us should take it. Remember, this is the age of INFORMATION. The news isn't the news anymore. We can transfer information from one place to another in an instant between each other. We can be our own reporters. That's how the police have been getting exposed. By the people who know what's right and won't stand for injustice. You are so much more important than the so called leaders will tell you. This is our nation. We're in charge and if we don't like something it's our duty to change it. It's our right to change it. Now, the Trump administration is trying ...