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Wamba found her #RainbowConnection. 🐈🌈🐈

Wamba found her #RainbowConnection.
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#catsofinstagram #catstagram #rainbow #piano #musicmonday #LAlife #wambaforever

This week’s #fridaysforfuture dives into #sustai

This week’s #fridaysforfuture dives into #sustainablefashion. 🌿👚🌱 This fabulous outfit is 💯% #secondhandfirst. The @lamadeclothing maxi skirt came from my latest @swapsociety haul, and I discovered the blouse in an Oxfam charity store in Cambridge, UK. Until today, I had no idea there was a name for this style of collar—the #cheongsam. First popularized by Chinese feminist movement at the turn of the 20th century, women began wearing men’s long robes. That look evolved into the cheongsam we’ve all come to know through old Hollywood films (most of which were full dresses). The blouse I’m wearing has a much less modest neckline, but the collar and cap sleeves are classic cheongsam. Thank you to @dr.dawnnkaren for her must-read TED blog discussing the line between appropriation and celebration of cultural fashion, which inspired this post. I’ve got a beautiful hand knit sweater from Mexico that my grandmother bought in the ‘50s, and I was concerned that my wearing it was inappropriate. Your post encouraged me to learn more about the sweater (and the other ethnic items in my closet, like my kimono) and to consciously style it within my wardrobe. As someone concerned with how my clothes affect the environment, I am equally concerned about how my clothes affect people—be they underpaid garment workers or young girls struggling with positive body image or the progenitors of a minority style co-opted by the white mainstream. Adding this layer of awareness to #GiasConsciousCloset is the next step in my fashion journey.
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#intersectionalenvironmentalism #actonclimate #actonclimatenow #actonscience #climatestrikeonline #climatecrisis #thisiszerohour #greenfashion #buyused #whomademyclothes #shopsecondhand #sustainablestyle #swapbeforeyoushop #circulareconomy #fashionrevolution #veganlife #nonewclothes

Our 16-year-old handsome devil suffered a stroke t

Our 16-year-old handsome devil suffered a stroke this week. He’s on the mend, thankfully, and hopefully he’ll soon return to his feline familiar duties for his mistress. I mean, his mommy. Who needs him to go grocery shopping. Because... coronavirus. Get well soon, my darling Spanky boy! #SpankyPerSempre
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#caturday #rescuecat #adoptdontshop #nkla #savethemall #catstagram #catsofinstagram #instagramcats #instacat #catoftheday #lovecats #blackcat #quarantine #quarantinelife #pandemic #covid19 #coronavirus #felinefamiliar #dali

🕉Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu🕉 May all be

🕉Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu🕉 May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may my thoughts, words, and actions contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all. .
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#internationalyogaday #yogaeverydamnday #yogaeverywhere #pride🌈 #blacklivesmatter #equality #peaceandlove

Closing my first official #Juneteeth celebration l

Closing my first official #Juneteeth celebration listening to #CarmenMcRae’s 1973 album “It Takes A Whole Lot of Human Feeling.” (🎨 based the album artwork on the 1997 re-release I purchased on cassette.) .
Carmen is one of the most decorated #jazz singers in American history. With seven @recordingacademy nominations, an #NAACP Image Award, and an NEA Jazz Master, she is best known for her incredible phrasing and singular interpretation of lyrics. Her performance of the title song is one of my favorite recordings of all time and is a must listen on this historic holiday. .
For 60 albums of #genius, we are forever grateful for you, dear Carmen. #geniusdrawsnocolorlines #blacklivesmatter #blackwomen #blackmusicians #whitepeopleforblacklivesmatter

The reckoning of the last three months has forced

The reckoning of the last three months has forced pluri-privileged white feminists and environmentalists such as myself to examine how our pursuit of "justice for all" has historically, and continues to, excluded BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ from the benefits of and conversations inside these movements. According the New York Times, #STEM fields like "climate, conservation, environmental, earth and atmospheric sciences are among the least diverse in science. That lack of #diversity sits uneasily with findings by numerous studies that people of color are more likely to live in places that suffer from pollution, and are more at risk of developing associated health problems, like asthma or heart disease."
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In an effort to be a better ally and advocate for people, animals, and the planet, I wrote in to @Grist's ASK UMBRA column inquiring about actions I could take to become a better intersectional environmentalist. What a delightful response I got!
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Not only did intern Joseph Winters direct me to a 2017 book list that "goes beyond the standard old and white environmental canon," he and the Grist staff also added reading recommendations that begin with a science fiction novel by MacArthur genius and Pasadena native #OctaviaButler, whose work I was first introduced to in 2017 at the @thehuntingtonlibrary.
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May this be the first step in reimagining a supportive, inclusive, and compassionate world for all.
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For more information on #intersectionalenvironmentalism, follow activist @greengirlleah. Link to Umbra’s response in bio. .
#GiasConsciousCloset Info: 👚 from @swapsociety. Vintage 💍. Join me in the #NoNewClothes challenge!
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#fridaysforfuture #actonclimate #actonscience #climatestrikeonline #climatecrisis #thisiszerohour #whomademyclothes #secondhandfirst #sustainablefashion #swapbeforeyoushop #circulareconomy #fashionrevolution #veganlife #blacklivesmatter #antiracism #environmentalism #environmentaljustice #remakeourworld #equality #climatejustice

When #BillieHoliday sings, she sings for her life,

When #BillieHoliday sings, she sings for her life, and it is that keening, that sadness, which makes her sound like no other. Escaping poverty and sex trafficking, she began singing as a young teenager in clubs in Harlem. By the time she was 18, she was considered a #genius by her male #jazz musician counterparts. Even still, Billie lived and worked in #JimCrow America, and, like many black performers at the time, had to use service elevator and backdoor just to get to the stage where she would be singing… and where she was often heckled.
In 1939, she began performing what would become one of her best known recordings, “Strange Fruit”—a heart wrenching ballad about lynching. It became one of the most popular songs of the 1930s and paved her way for more commercial success. By 1947, however, Billie became one of the first targets of the so-called war on drugs and a victim the continued #racism against and persecution of African Americans. Prohibited from performing, on the grounds that—as a convicted drug offender—she was corrupting the morals of the American youth, the newly formed Bureau of Narcotics zeroed in on her, planted drugs on her, possibly poisoned her, and then forced her to go cold turkey off heroine. She died handcuffed to her hospital bed, one of America's greatest voices--a woman who sang from the most broken of hearts. (If you’d like to know more about this shameful chapter in American history that still infects our nation today, read this: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/drug-war-the-hunting-of-billie-holiday-114298.html#.VVStgtNViko) Billie was posthumously awarded four @recordingacademy awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1973 and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2017. Celebrate #LadyDay by listening to "Banned from New York City — Live 1948-1957"--a collection of Billie recordings released in 2015. Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you, Billie, for all you gave us. We doff our magnolias in your honor. 🎨 based on a photo of Ms. Holiday at the @smithsonian portrait gallery.
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#geniusdrawsnocolorlines #blackmusic #blackwomen #blacklivesmatter #musicmonday

The High Priestess of Soul @ninasimone didn’t st

The High Priestess of Soul @ninasimone didn’t start out singing. She began playing #piano by ear at three and became an accomplished classical #pianist at a young age. After graduating as valedictorian, she intended to study music at Curtis in Philadelphia but was denied admission because of her race. Only then did she begin singing, giving the world a voice like it has never known. Nina used her voice not just to breathe new life into the #AmericanSongbook but also as battle hymns for the #civilrightsmovement. If you have never heard “Mississippi Goddamn,” do yourself and favor. In it you will heard the sadness and the rage and the deep, deep beauty of Nina Simone. When I first learned that Nina not only sang like a goddess but played for herself in all the recordings I had come to love, I just about fell over. She’s a masterful pianist. She seamlessly transitions between #jazz and #classicalmusic, even within a single song, most notably in her rendition of “My Baby Just Cares for Me.” The 2015 film “What Happened, Ms. Simone?” documents her personal and professional struggles as a #younggiftedandblack artist and is a must see for anyone who believes in the power of art.
Nina, you inspire me every day. Thank you for all you fought for and gave us. We will honor the legacy of your #genius by making music as we fight for justice and liberty for all. 🎨 based on a 1960 photo of Ms. Simone. Thanks to @museique for bringing it to my attention.
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#geniusdrawsnocolorlines #blackmusic #blackwomen #ninasimone #highpriestessofsoul #blacklivesmatter #ally

#SarahVaughn taught me to sing. My dad gave me her

#SarahVaughn taught me to sing. My dad gave me her album “Sassy Sings and Swings” when I was 13, and I still know it note for note. Her #genius deeply influenced my style as a singer, and to me she is greatest vocalist to ever grace the stage. .
Sassy, as she was known, sounds like velvet—lush, deep, rich—and she can soar in the rafters with the best of sopranos. Her nimble, four octave range rivals any diva, and many critics believed she could have had a career singing opera instead of jazz—a remarkable feat. Saying this is like saying sprinter Jackie Joyner-Kester could also win the NY Marathon—both sports involve running, yes, but they require entirely different muscles and training. .
Her perfect pitch and singular interpretations of standards, Broadway, and pop music earned her four @recordingacademy awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award. I wanted to honor her on #blackouttuesday— a day to recognize the massive contributions of Black people to American #music. As a #jazz musician, I am deeply indebted to the artists who persevered in the face of Jim Crow, bringing joy and transcendence to audiences of all colors. So here’s to you, dear Sassy. Thank you for all the gifts you continue to give. .
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#blacklivesmatter #blackartists #blackmusicians #geniusdrawsnocolorlines

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