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https://www.essence.com/celebrity/rapper-brax-obituary/
By Brooklyn White ·November 5, 2020November 5, 2020
We are sad to report that the beloved multi-hyphenate Brax, born Braxton Baker, has passed away. She was 21.
Her community of supporters and friends have begun to share their condolences online. “You were such an amazing light,” wrote makeup artist Scott Osbourne on Instagram. “Man the work you created, and the work we created together will live on forever.”
In a 2018 interview with Svage magazine, she spoke on what she sought to accomplish as an artist, saying, “My role is to create art straight from my heart. For I know that art will be pure, poetic, powerful, and healing.” She then added, “All I want to do is help the world heal. That’s when things will begin to shift.”
The artist was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1998. In 2017, she rose to fame after she shared a music project titled VERSE(atility).
During the aforementioned interview, she shared that she was the force behind her creative work. “I have been using my creativity to build a unique brand for years,” she said. “I’ve been directing my own shoots, directing my own videos, styling myself, writing poetry, writing articles, writing raps, choreographing dances, styling myself, and styling others like it was nothing for years. So I guess that’s how I’ve been making it work for me.”
We are sending our love to her family during this difficult time.
The post Rapper Brax, 21, Passes Away appeared first on Essence.
By Brooklyn White ·November 5, 2020November 5, 2020
We are sad to report that the beloved multi-hyphenate Brax, born Braxton Baker, has passed away. She was 21.
Her community of supporters and friends have begun to share their condolences online. “You were such an amazing light,” wrote makeup artist Scott Osbourne on Instagram. “Man the work you created, and the work we created together will live on forever.”
In a 2018 interview with Svage magazine, she spoke on what she sought to accomplish as an artist, saying, “My role is to create art straight from my heart. For I know that art will be pure, poetic, powerful, and healing.” She then added, “All I want to do is help the world heal. That’s when things will begin to shift.”
The artist was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1998. In 2017, she rose to fame after she shared a music project titled VERSE(atility).
During the aforementioned interview, she shared that she was the force behind her creative work. “I have been using my creativity to build a unique brand for years,” she said. “I’ve been directing my own shoots, directing my own videos, styling myself, writing poetry, writing articles, writing raps, choreographing dances, styling myself, and styling others like it was nothing for years. So I guess that’s how I’ve been making it work for me.”
We are sending our love to her family during this difficult time.
The post Rapper Brax, 21, Passes Away appeared first on Essence.
There’s some really good news coming out of Oregon this election as Oregonians voted to make their state the first in the country to decriminalize all drugs and also legalized the therapeutic use of psilocybin therapy. Both measures 110 and 109 passed in the state with strong support and will mean some big changes in the way the state prosecutes drug crimes.
Measure 110 decriminalized all drugs, which isn’t the same as making them legal. The passage of the measure means that possession of certain smaller amounts of currently illegal drugs will have no criminal penalty, and that includes no prison time. Those found with the drugs will face either a $100 fine or will be given the option to get a “completed health assessment” at an addiction recovery center. The sale of drugs is still illegal and, as noted, this only applies to small amounts, so dealers carrying large amounts of drugs can still be prosecuted. These addiction centers and drug recovery programs will be funded by taxes on marijuana, which is legal in the state.
This is a big step in ending the use of prisons and jails as default treatment centers and centers the drug crisis on public health instead. Supporters of the measure claim that its passage will end thousands of unnecessarily and racially disproportionate arrests in Oregon each year and decrease mass incarceration, And doing so will hopefully also free up resources in the criminal justice system to use resources in a better way.
The passage of this is a big deal and as an Oregonian myself, I hope it works as intended. As someone who has worked in the Oregon justice system, I certainly didn’t see that the criminal penalties we had were effective deterrents, I only saw them weaponized against people of color.
The second drug measure to pass is also a first in the nation experiment, allowing for the legalization and the study of therapeutic uses of psilocybin. Psilocybin is the psychoactive chemical found in so-called “magic mushrooms,” and its use in treating addiction, trauma, and other mental issues has huge potential. Psychadelic “trips” allow people to confront and process their anxieties, depression, and addiction. This is a big step towards a better understanding of how these substances work and how they can help people.
Overall this was a good day for drug laws in Oregon, as voters slowly chipped away at the walls set up in the failed and disastrous war on drugs. Walls that were set up with an idea of protection, but were too high and too thick and in the end resulted in disproportionately harming people of color while doing nothing to stop addiction and abuse, which is rampant in America. Hopefully, this is a turning point in all these fights.
(via Vox, image: Pexels)
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By Kimberly Wilson ·November 3, 2020November 3, 2020
It’s a new month, so you know what that means — a new batch of Black TV shows and films dropping on Netflix. With the general election serving as the backdrop for this month we’ll need anything to help take our mind off of what’s to come.
This month a few classic Black films join the streaming service, such as Woo, Two Can Play That Game and Boyz N The Hood, along with a new rom-com starring Kat Graham, a faith-based docuseries from Pharrell Williams and Bishop Ezekiel Williams and a dance documentary from Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland.
Below, check out the new must-sees dropping on Netflix in November.
01Operation Christmas Drop – 11/5A holiday rom-com? Count us in. Chasing a promotion, congressional aide Erica Miller (Kat Graham) forgoes family Christmas to travel across the Pacific at her boss’s behest. Upon landing at a beachside Air Force base, she clashes with her guide, Captain Andrew Jantz, who knows her assignment is finding reasons to defund the facility.
Operation Christmas Drop. Alexander Ludwig as Andrew, Kat Graham as Erica in Operation Christmas Drop. Cr. Ricardo Hubbs//NETFLIX © 2020 02A New York Christmas Wedding– 11/5The film is centered on a proposed Christmas Eve wedding between Jennifer Ortiz (Nia Fairweather) and David Wilks (Otoja Abit, who also directs). Plans change when Jennifer is visited by the Angel of Death and shown the life she could have led had she not denied her true feelings for her childhood friend Gabrielle (Adriana DeMeo). 
03Citation – 11/6Based on a true story, Citation is about a student (Temi Otedola) in Nigeria takes on the academic establishment when she reports that a popular professor who tried to rape her. 
04Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey – 11/13What’s the holidays without your new favorite holiday film? Enter Jingle Jangle, starring Forest Whitaker as down-on-his-luck toymaker Jeronicus Jangle. His boss (Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville) demands he come up with something good or else he’ll lose his store. When his former assistant (Keegan-Michael Key) returns to take his most prized possession—having already stolen an animate toy played by Ricky Martin—it’s up to Jangle’s granddaughter Journey (Madalen Mills) to heal old wounds and save the magic. 
JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY (2020)Madalen Mills as Journey Jangle and Forest Whitaker as Jeronicus Jangle. Cr.Gareth Gatrell/NETFLIX 05Voices of Fire – 11/20Voices of Fire marks Netflix’s latest endeavor in music competition-like programming, following Rhythm + Flow. The docuseries follows Pharrell Williams as he teams with his uncle Bishop Ezekiel Williams to find skillful singers in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. The goal is simple: establish a successful gospel choir composed of vocalists from Pharrell’s hometown. 
VOICES OF FIRE (L to R) BISHOP EZEKIEL WILLIAMS AND PHARRELL WILLIAMS in VOICES OF FIRE. Cr. ANTONY PLATT/NETFLIX © 2020 06Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker – 11/27This Shondaland production follows Debbie Allen and her group of dancers as they get ready for their annual production of Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. Debbie Allen dancing and bringing us joy? Yes, please! 
Debbie Allen with dancer, Kylie Jfferson in Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker. c. Courtesy of Netflix/2020 The post Here’s Everything New Dropping On Netflix This November appeared first on Essence.