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Fresh off the heels of Beyoncé’s legendary, record-breaking performance at Coachella, one California-based church is getting in formation by honoring the superstar singer and philanthropist with her own designated mass service. Grace Cathedral recently announced that its contemporary worship service, the Vine, will host Beyoncé Mass on Wednesday, April 25, to highlight the “Halo” singer’s music, specifically as it relates to Black female spirituality. Though everyone is still buzzing about Queen Bey’s headlining set at the music festival and what she has planned for her second performance, the idea for this mass was conceived long before Beyoncé blessed the stage. In fact, the concept was born when Sam Lundquist, a pastoral intern for the Vine, took a class led by assistant professor Yolanda Norton at San Francisco Theology Seminary entitled “Beyoncé and the Hebrew Bible.” “This is not a service deifying Beyoncé,” Professor Norton tells ESSENCE. “This is a service that uses Beyoncé’s music as a tool to engender positive, empowering conversation about Black women. The premise of this work [Beyoncé and the Hebrew Bible] is that if we look at the personal life, career trajectory, music and public persona of Beyoncé, so much of her life reflects aspects of Black women’s stories.” According to Reverend Jude Harmon, founding pastor of the Vine and director of innovative ministry for Grace Cathedral, the Beyoncé Mass will be a mixture of her classic songs and signature hits, as well as Bible readings, preaching, praying and Communion. But Harmon also notes the mass is “the beginning of a much larger and long overdue conversation.” “To that end, women of color are leading every part of the worship service they can, from singing and reading Scripture to lamenting and protesting the structural injustices of our world — Professor Norton will preach,” Harmon explains to ESSENCE. “We are so grateful to her for sharing her vision with us, and for agreeing to let us lift her and other female voices of color up in this service.” The Beyoncé Mass is part of a three-part series to be held at the Nob Hill church called “Speaking Truth: The Power of Story in Community.” The series was created with the intention of lifting up the voices of those largely marginalized and oppressed by the Church, particularly women, skeptics and communities of color. On the surface, including an artist who is, arguably, more famous for her secular music than she is from her humble beginnings singing in the choir in Houston, seems odd for Grace Cathedral. However, upon delving deeper into the artistry of the 36-year-old musical icon, the deliberate imagery of spiritual deities sprinkled in her televised performances and interspersing of religious odes at her concerts have always been present throughout the course of Beyoncé’s 20-year career.   There was her awe-inspiring Grammy performance in 2017, where she embodied African goddess Oshun, as well as her recent rendition of the African-American hymnal, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at #Beychella. Not to mention, her pregnancy photos and the captivating portrait of her newborn twins posted on Instagram in July 2017 drew comparisons to the Black Madonna and challenged the traditional acceptance of the white Virgin Mary. “Over the course of her career, people have judged her body, clothing, marriage and motherhood,” Professor Norton says. “She is expected to be superhuman while simultaneously being underestimated. Every product that she has released, every performance that she has done has been beyond everyone’s expectations. Why are people still surprised when she excels? Simultaneously, when she succeeds people of various ilk are quick to dismiss or disparage her.” “All of these things are a part of Black women’s stories,” Norton adds. “We are dismissed, used, underestimated, and asked to perform Herculean tasks. In spite of all these things, Beyoncé, like most Black women, have found mechanisms for survival and thriving — found our own God language and developed strong agency.” [brightcove id=5318547826001] The Beyoncé Mass is just one of many programs and services Grace Cathedral has implemented to elevate the conversation surrounding Black women, immigrants and the LGBTQ community. “I am committed to leading a community that is not afraid to engage hard conversations about what it means to walk with God in a world still beset by structural injustice,” Reverend Harmon tells ESSENCE.   

There’s no denying, Cardi B is the hottest rapper in the nation. With a number one album and her first Coachella performance under her belt (all while being preggo no less!), the Bronx bombshell is definitely on a roll. While Cardi’s been shown love by everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Denzel Washington to Taraji P. Henderson, an unexpected member just joined the Bardi Gang. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been outspoken against income inequality, protecting the social safety net, and instituting a living wage for all Americans. So it’s no wonder he agrees with Cardi’s views on Social Security. During her recent GQ interview, Cardi surprised the writer with her presidential history, including the fact Franklin D. Roosevelt, her favorite POTUS, instituted Social Security during the New Deal in the 1930s. “First of all he helped us get over the Depression, all while he was in a wheelchair,” she explained. “Like, this man was suffering from polio at the time of his presidency, and yet all he was worried about was trying to make America great—make America great again for real. He's the real 'Make America Great Again,' because if it wasn't for him, old people wouldn't even get Social Security.” After the organization Social Security Works shared Cardi’s quote about the program on Twitter, Sanders took to the social network to agree with the “Bodak Yellow” rapper. “Cardi B is right,” Sanders wrote. “If we are really going to make America great we need to strengthen Social Security so that seniors are able to retire with the dignity they deserve.” While there’s no words on a possible collaboration between Sanders and Cardi to campaign for Social Security, or any other issue, now that the Senator is part of the Bardi Gang it just might happen.

Do you remember when Luke Skywalker talks to a guy in the Yavin 4 briefing room about targeting womp rats on Tatooine? He’s talking to Wedge Antilles. But wait, you say, that guy looks different than the man in the X-wing cockpit during the attack on the Death Star, and isn’t that Wedge? Yes, it is; even though it’s a different actor, the dude flying the X-wing is also Wedge. So we have Wedge and a character that fans call Fake Wedge.

Oh, Star Wars.

A conversation about this at work led me down this rabbit hole where I discovered it gets even better: three different actors played Wedge Antilles in Star Wars: A New Hope. THREE. But Fake Wedge was later retconned to be another character, pilot Col Takbright, who has an in-universe nickname of “Fake Wedge.” Whew.

The story of Fake Wedge has been explored before, namely by Lucasfilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo. Which is to say, this is not news. But based on the response I received on Twitter, it’s new to a number of people. Let’s break down the story, nay the conspiracy, connected to Wedge Antilles.

Denis Lawson

When you picture Wedge, you probably summon an image of Denis Lawson as the character. The uncle of Ewan McGregor, Lawson appeared as Wedge Antilles in every film in the original trilogy, but he’s only heard in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. More on that in a moment.

Lawson auditioned for the role of Wedge, but he lost it to…

Colin Higgins

Actor Colin Higgins plays the Wedge with whom Luke discusses womp rats. He was the first person cast as Wedge Antilles in A New Hope, but he was replaced after a single day of filming. According to Star Wars Insider #98, Higgins had trouble recalling and delivering his lines so he was let go. Lawson was called back, and he took Higgins’ place in the movie as Wedge.

David Ankrum

But you don’t hear either Higgins or Lawson in A New Hope, because Wedge’s voice was provided by yet another actor, David Ankrum. His voice is dubbed over both actors in Episode IV because an American accent was desired for the character. Lawson applied an American accent when he played the character in Episodes V and VI.

Ankrum later returned to the Star Wars universe to voice Wedge in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

The Retcon

It’s weird to have two different faces for the same character in the same movie, right? But the notion of two Wedges stood until recently, with fans calling Higgins’ version Fake Wedge. Higgins’ character was retconned in 2017’s From a Certain Point of View. In the short story “Duty Roster” by Jason Fry, Fake Wedge became pilot Col Takbright. Col tells Biggs Darklighter about Luke’s targeting womp rats comments and so identifies himself as the guy in the briefing room.

And Col Takbright happens to look like Wedge, so his fellow pilots give him the nickname “Fake Wedge.” So, in-universe the character who fans once called Fake Wedge now carries that name. What a journey.

Images: Lucasfilm

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. She likes Star Wars a little. Follow her on Twitter.

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