Me: This edible ain’t shit
10 mins later:
— Ernest Wilkins | 🏁 (@ErnestWilkins)
Jan 9, 2023
Editors Note:
We're at that time of the year when all the days start to blur together, aren't we?
Thanks to everyone who sent kind words after the last issue. Some of you surprised me with your curiosity about the world around you, even if that stuff isn't something you'd admit to being ignorant about in a public scenario. I got one question that I felt particularly moved to answer here, since I wager this isn't the only person who has this on their mind.
From M -
"I am in my 60's. What's your take on the Woke, too Woke, anti-Woke discourse? I don't get it. Is Woke a polite way of defining a Non-Woke as an ignorant hick? I'm confused. "
It's important to remember that slang terms have a shelf life. Some are universal, people will be "cool" forever, right? Others are remnants of the times that created them. I think woke is one of those words. It's a 1000% politically-charged term that Republicans have turned into a four-letter pejorative.
Let's be clear: The word comes from Black folks. There are tons of really awkward explainer articles out there, but the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition says woke means "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)."
If that sounds vague, try "The belief there are systemic injustices in American society that need to be addressed."
That last one isn't my opinion by the way; it's what Florida governor Ron DeSantis's office defines it as. See, the Governor's Office was recently in court about Gov. Ron DeSantis' suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren. The attorneys for Warren were able to put that question to aides for DeSantis, who called Florida the place where "woke goes to die" in his victory speech after being reelected last month.
Here's what they defined it as: "Someone who believes that there are systemic injustices in the criminal justice system, and on that basis, they can decline to fully enforce and uphold the law,"
Asked what "woke" means more generally, DeSantis' legal counsel said, "it would be the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them."
Suppose you consider yourself to be an intelligent person. Or if not intelligent, maybe the type of person who wants to people to walk away from a conversation with you feeling like they just had a conversation with a smart person. If that's you, I'd avoid using "woke" at this point. Treat it the same way you no longer say "bling bling" to refer to diamond-encrusted jewelry.
...you DID stop saying "bling bling," right?
Email with anything you're culturally curious about right now. What are you fascinated with? What do you want to know more about, but are too scared to admit on the timeline? Don't be shy!
Click the shiny button down low and tell me what's on your mind. If I think it's cool, I might write about it! Thanks for reading!
Around The World
A curated list of interesting stories from around the web
Thanks to @TMZLive for having me on 🥰
— Ernest Wilkins | 🏁 (@ErnestWilkins)
Dec 16, 2022
I was on TMZ talking about R. Kelly → TMZ
"If you’ve been paying attention to all the machine-generated content that’s flooding the internet this year, you might be concerned with the state of digital content industries, wondering if you will have a job in a few years.
If this sounds like you, follow this advice: Never work for someone who would replace you with a robot if they had the chance."
Let the bots reignite your snobbery → The Content Technologist
(Shopping) is not about the money, it’s not about the transactional high. It's about somebody making something fucking great, and they deserve for me to go and get it.
As long as I know that the shit was great, If it's the best fucking car, I want to know why. This is hand stitched and this came from blah blah blah, and these people did this piece by piece. That person that made that motherfucker, right there? [He points to his Benz in his driveway.] That's amazing. SL 600 1994. Fucking amazing car. And when you read all the shit that’s like, “they ain’t made a better Benz since they made the SL in the 90s.” And you're like, “Give me one of those!”
That's how I feel about my music. I want the same shit.
After Writing Nearly 20 Years of Hits, The-Dream Is Ready to Be a Little Selfish → GQ