I miss hitiching around.

 
 
 



Hitchhiking in the 21st century with large fake breasts is different aesthetically speaking. It would be different today to hitchhike given the fears people harbor about each other. - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 6.20.16

Hitchhiking in the 21st century is a suspicious activity. A scantly clad woman hitchhiking would be arrested for soliciting, or be mistaken for a good time by a lot of men, sneered at by wives and in short would be in danger!! - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stores 6.20.16

 

Same Story: "She ain't dressed right!"

In an article written by Leeann Duggan "These "Inappropriate" Outfits Will Make You Scratch Your Head" she drew attention to a detail of young life each of the Abrahamic traditions have to address with each generation: proper dress.

Two things jump out consistently: one: dress codes are drawn up for women to adhere to, and two: women are directly tied to decency and social order in society. The third thing is hard. Men are allowed to not develop impeccability of spirit and discipline of heart over mind and our sex drives through initiation. It is not a surprise these reactions to women's dress.

One can remain on the surface of the subjects the issue irritates or go deeper and untie the Puritan ethic, which is fundamental to American culture. A better understanding of the roots make the tree more comprehensible. It is like a riddle, a puzzle to unravel, or leave on the table to clutter the process of cooking and what else needs to transpire in the kitchen. ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories (6.19.16)

the devil in Maitland Ward is the devil in woman three religions believe is the truth.

She wrote:

This week, Toronto students became the latest to push back against their school's restrictive dress codes with their "Crop Top Day" protest. But, banning crop tops is just one example; over the past year, we've seen a spike in women and girls getting in trouble for wearing all kinds of clothing — clothing that wouldn't elicit freak-outs from most sane people.

There was the school that allowed backless dresses, but kicked a student out of prom for wearing one. The 5-year-old girl whose teacher made her cover up a simple sundress. The woman who wasn't allowed to wear pants to prom (because it's 1915?). And, these are just the tip of the iceberg. Ahead, we show seven times when school dress codes went way too far.

Students at Toronto's Etobicoke School of the Arts declared Tuesday "Crop Top Day" in solidarity with student Alexi Halket, who was sent to the principal's office when her sports-bra-like crop top offended a teacher.

Halket said she chose the top because she wanted to feel beautiful and confident, and that "[the school was] sexualizing my outfit." To his credit, the school principal, Rob MacKinnon, seemed to take the protest seriously; he met with 200 students to discuss the issue: "[It's not about] sexualizing students or objectifying them, but what's okay in school," he said.

The school's dress code does not explicitly ban crop tops, and school officials are not changing that for now. In the meantime, Halket maintains that she should be able to wear "whatever makes [her] comfortable," while principal MacKinnon praised students for standing up for their beliefs: "I'm very proud of them for talking about what they value."

prom dress of Mireya Briceno that got her kicked out.

In April, a teacher ordered Michigan high school student Mireya Briceno to leave her prom because her dress was "too revealing" and "violated dress code." Apparently, the teacher had not read the school's prom dress code, which specifically permitted backless dresses. Despite Briceno's protests, she was still forced to leave her dance.

Briceno's mother demanded, but did not receive, an apology from the school for the incident, and Briceno vowed to wear the same dress to her boyfriend's prom later that year.

Pennsylvania student Alexus Miller-Wigfall was given a suspension after her prom dress was deemed "too revealing" of her cleavage. This was despite the fact that Miller-Wigfall had previously submitted a photo of the dress to her school for approval — now a requirement at many schools for female students (tuxes are curiously not subject to pre-approval).

Miller-Wigfall's mother believed that, since other students wore "more revealing" dresses without consequence, her daughter was actually being punished for being plus-size. A similar incident occurred with Washington student Brittany Minder in 2013. This raises an important point: For women with large chests, cleavage is kind of inevitable. Isn't banning it inherently sizeist?

Not even toddlers are exempt from body policing. In April, when Houston-based writer Jef Rouner picked up his 5-year-old daughter from school, he was surprised to find a teacher had made her wear a T-shirt over the full-length, rainbow sundress shown here. The reason? The little girl's bare shoulders violated the school's dress code.

Rouner clapped back at the incident in a post on Houston Press titled "The Apparently Immoral Shoulders Of My Five-Year-Old Daughter." It masterfully deconstructs the sexism inherent in dress codes that — as so many do — include a myriad of restrictions on women's dress, but absolutely none on men's.

"Make no mistake," he wrote, "Every school dress code that is not a set uniform is about policing girls and girls alone." Amen.

The flip side of policing female bodies is punishing women who don't dress "feminine enough." North Carolina high school senior Shafer Rupard experienced this firsthand, when she showed up to her senior prom in the jazzy ensemble shown here, only to be told by a teacher that her red pants were unacceptable and she needed to leave.

Rupard rightfully thought the decision was ridiculous, especially given the fact that her school's prom Code of Conduct did not include a dress code at all (in case it wasn't clear that many of these incidents came down to teachers' whims).

Rupard eventually received an apology from her school and a refund of her prom ticket. A pyrrhic victory given her night was already ruined, but better than nothing.



prom dress of Gabi Finalyson that got her kicked out.

In a truly head-scratching incident, Utah high schooler Gabi Finalyson was denied entrance to her school dance in January, unless she wore a sweater to cover her "bare shoulders." Call us crazy, but we're pretty sure her shoulders....aren't bare.

In fact, Finalyson's dress did adhere to the school’s “2-inch minimum shoulder strap” rule. What this dress bares are Gabi's arms; maybe that teacher needs a refresher in anatomy.

Finalyson's mother wondered if this incredibly strict interpretation was about imposing Mormon dress codes on students. "Let's stop this insanity," she wrote. "Girls' bodies are not sexual objects, and religious perspectives should not be imposed at a public school.”

Proving that equal rights for women is still a controversial concept in some parts of the country, Sophie, an 8th grader at Clermont Northeastern Middle School in Ohio, was surprised to find that her homemade "Feminist" T-shirt was crudely Photoshopped out of her class picture. The school's official story was that they did so because the tee was "unflattering," and claimed that they had informed Sophie's mom of the censorship. But, her mother claimed no knowledge of the incident.

Luckily, Sophie's fellow students saw through the school's questionable judgement and subsequent squirrelly behavior, coming to her support with proud social media declarations of their feminism, bolstered by the hashtag #IDeserveFreedomOfExpression. Refer to this story anytime you need to restore your faith in the youths.
 

To Be the Elder



Baba sharing at Malcolm X park with the young (2015)

"Baba is doing what we are supposed to do as we get closer to our graves and legacy and empowerment is the language we cannot help but speak to the next generations. Men representing and moving the community to a higher plane is the social obligation of the Elders; not old people. There is a distinction." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories (10.20.15)

 

A Special CALLING

What makes a Spiritual Warrior

A Spiritual Warrior is one that stands in the gap between ordinary reality and Spirit. A Spiritual Warrior is armed with self knowledge, truth, prayer, discernment, and the ability to know truth from fiction. Often times Spiritual Warriors are reviled because they refuse to compromise truth to tickle people's ears with what they want to hear. They are lone voices crying in a wilderness of self deception, false prophets, and false teachings. These are people who walk alone, and are often misunderstood. They are charismatic and intense with a passion for truth and self discipline. They are the surgeons of the spiritual world often perceiving truth with a clarity that is often disconcerting. They get to the heart of the matter with a precision of mind that can at times be difficult to hear. They rarely mince words, but their purpose is not to wound with those words. While it may seem cold and harsh their words are often prophetic in their warning to abandon a certain path or mindset. 

Many Spiritual Warriors are often beset themselves with issues socially, spiritually and emotionally. They are people that have walked through the fires of purging themselves and have often had their own egos broken and then rebuilt and resurrected into a vessel fit for spiritual warring. They are our teachers, our beacons, our consciences and the connection between the seen and the unseen. Spiritual Warriors are the voices of prayer in the wee hours, the constant reminder to Creator of the frailty of human existence and the need for Creator's assistance. They are on the front lines of the battle between our shadow selves and our higher selves. Their calling is not an easy one, but essential, and even more essential in the times we live in today. 


by Robin Anekehee Littlefeather 4.26.10






Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa,
was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist.



Probing Deep into History



The Dark Immortals 2 by Lord Z is frightening, but from an air element nestled within the people who brought all the people together through terror. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 6.19.16

I have gone deep into myself arriving at a point in time in my evolution upon an important point in history where the ability to transform is the needed source of power. It is what is available to the people the process of restoration needs in the hard work of resolving the deep conflicts and healing the deep wounds conquest, and slavery and terror and deception worked upon the souls of white people and engineered into the conquered.

It is a dark spirit entered upon the Earth, our Mother that saw to it a way to bring the world's people to one land mass. What emerged from those dark centuries terrifies those who unleashed the beasts within the soul and guided a slaver's hand. In present day the type of men and women capable of ushering in the healing energies to work in the dark are as yet, not enough. In these times all must learn how love is stronger than death, and must learn how to become acquainted with their shadows.

These are first steps. There are more if one is ready for this. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 6/19/16



[Notice: June 24, 2016 I will be an invited guest on the Jay Winter Nightwolf show speaking on this subject with other guests. Tune to www.wpfw.org at 2pm Eastern standard time for a listen. For those close enough to the nation's capital turn to 89.3 FM on your radio.]




A dark immortal in times past.
 

The Dark Immortals 2
 

a Look at Lara

Lara Christine Von Seelen (known professionally as Lara Spencer) (born June 19, 1969)
is an American television journalist is refreshing each morning she is on air.

Lara Spencer, co-host Good Morning America walking in a coral & purple dress !!!!

 

IN BEYOND

Myrties Eve Torres Davis



"Beyond romance divinity, beyond awe stillness of spirit, beyond self others, beyond imagination magic..." - Dawn Wolf Keeper of Stories

 April 22, 2013 



symbol of Love over the Womb

"Beyond romance divinity. Beyond awe stillness of spirit. Beyond self others. Beyond imagination magic. These revelations I remember as a father. I remember learning these things after seeing them. The whole of Creation was in each moment of pregnancy. No one could convey, or translate all of what pregnancy is until it is internalized and becomes part of your body, your spirit and who you are. 

As a man, of course, pregnancy is another form of magic and mysteries. Beyond this reaction to the sight of presence in a pregnant mother who is illuminated are the stars twinkling in the vastness of space above us and within us recollecting the ancients from the circles we learn and come from! 

Somehow, as fathers, these things come together as knowledge and insight into the mysteries of the new born who came from and between his or her parents. These words are my recollections of holding the inexplicable wonder and joy of new life. Thank you, Creator, for sharing this picture, this form of divinity, and a glimpse into the possibility of a Sacred Woman!"  - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5.31.14

Warrior with charged bow.