In the vibrant world of fashion, creativity knows no bounds, yet representation often falls short. Enter a groundbreaking comic strip that centers on the journey of a Black fashion designer, illuminating both the struggles and triumphs faced in an industry rife with challenges. This comic strip serves not only as entertainment but also as a powerful medium for social commentary.
Artwork by Antoinette Naseef, Copyright 2024
The protagonist, inspired by real-life figures like Ann Lowe and Dapper Dan, navigates the complexities of the fashion industry while grappling with personal and cultural identity. Each panel showcases the designer’s evolution, from sketching designs in a cramped apartment to showcasing at prestigious fashion shows. The character’s journey is punctuated by moments of doubt, systemic racism, and the relentless pursuit of acceptance in a predominantly white industry.
Artwork by Antoinette Naseef, Copyright 2024
Visually, the comic strip bursts with color and style, reflecting the richness of Black culture. Each outfit designed by the protagonist serves as a canvas for storytelling, incorporating traditional African motifs and modern aesthetics. The art style blends realism with a whimsical flair, drawing readers into the designer’s world. Fashion becomes not just a profession but a form of self-expression and cultural pride.
The narrative arc emphasizes community support, showcasing interactions with family, friends, and fellow artists. These relationships highlight the importance of mentorship and solidarity, reminding readers that success is often a collective journey. Through witty dialogue and heartfelt moments, the comic strip captures the spirit of resilience, inspiring aspiring designers to embrace their unique perspectives.
Artwork by Antoinette Naseef, Copyright 2024
Moreover, the strip addresses broader societal issues, prompting discussions about diversity in fashion and the need for inclusivity. It challenges stereotypes and encourages readers to celebrate differences rather than conform to mainstream ideals.
In conclusion, this comic strip about a Black fashion designer is more than just a story; it is a celebration of creativity, identity, and resilience. By weaving together fashion and storytelling, it inspires a new generation to break barriers and redefine the narrative in the fashion world.
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Antoinette Naseef
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Antoinette Naseef is a formally trained artist and designer. She is based in Philadelphia. Her works are inspired by Nature, ancient Ethiopian art and pop culture. Antoinette’s Work has been featured in New York Fashion Week, Galleries, events and web publications.
Artwork by Alexandra Rouvet Duvernoy. Copyright 2024
Text by Arthur Beckman, Copyright 2024
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You May Not Be Interested in Politics
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You may have already seen numerous articles and heard numerous pronouncements in the media about the importance of the upcoming election. About how democracy itself is at stake and about how one of the candidates, a convicted felon, is said to be completely unfit for public office – even by many members of his own party and his former associates.
So what?
Does any of this really affect your life directly? Is it worth your time to leave your home or workplace for an hour or two and wait in line to vote?
It has been said in some places that “choosing the lesser of two evils is still evil,” and this statement has been taken quite seriously at times. The third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader is reported to have said, “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference” between the two major political parties. Really? Tell that to the person who needs an abortion in a place like Oklahoma or Texas. Tell that to the person who would lose health insurance if the Republicans had their way and overturned the Affordable Care Act. Tell that to the schoolteacher prevented from assigning books that tell the truth about American history and culture. Tell that to the perfectly legal immigrant from Latin America who Trump would deport simply because of his hateful xenophobia and that of his followers.
Guess what? One of these parties is not “the lesser of two evils.” One of these parties is demonstrably evil. It wants to deny the vote to people of color and is actively putting rules in place to do just that. It wants to deny reproductive rights to women. It spews hate towards immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and anyone who isn’t a white Christian nationalist. It is indifferent to the problem of climate change and will even deny that it is a problem. It doesn’t care about democracy. And it turns a blind eye to the unfitness of its presidential candidate: someone who provoked a violent mob to try and overturn the 2020 election. Someone who has vowed to prosecute political opponents, deport immigrants, and heavily tax imports (with consumers paying the extra cost). Someone who has every intention of functioning like an absolutist dictator if elected. This is no exaggeration. It is well documented.
The other party, the Democrats, isn’t perfect by a longshot. It may be a lot of things, but it isn’t evil. It has no plans to do the despicable things the “grand old party” wants.
This election may be a dramatic and devastating turning point in American history. And here’s the choice: We can soundly reject the movement that wants to “make America great again,” by which it means to roll back the social and economic progress of the past half century and hand more power to billionaires and purveyors of intolerance. Or, we can sit by idly and let that movement have its way with policies and laws that reach right into our bedrooms, schools, and pockets.
Should you care? I had a wonderful teacher in graduate school whose name was Marshall Berman. One of my favorite quotes of his was this: “You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.”
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80 million voting-eligible citizens did not turn out in 2020. In 2022, 131 million voting-eligible citizens didn’t turn out. If every Democrat got one non-voter to turn out, it would be a wipeout for the GOP. So please help to assure that we have overwhelming Democratic turnout in November.
• Do you know someone who is not registered to vote? Then please visit this site: https://vote.gov/ and help get them ready to vote in 2024.
Voter registration can be done online in 38 states, plus DC. It’s quick and easy.
And, if you think you are already registered to vote, please check that your registration is current and active. Here’s where you can do that: https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration
Arthur Beckman is a political scientist and advertising copywriter whose research explores the intersection of marketing and politics. This is Arthur Beckman’s first contribution to this blog.
In Virginia, prison inmates do not have Internet. I am on my seventeenth year as a prisoner of the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC), so I have gone over sixteen years without Internet. I have “email,” sort of, through a company called JPay. Each email costs me 25¢ and it costs the same for people to write to me. It can take a week to get to the recipient!
In my institutional job I make a princely sum of $ 32.40 a month! Just over a dollar a day. That would have been good pay in the 1860s! It’s less than I made in my first high school summer job back in the 1960s!
As most of you already know, I’m a professional photographer/writer. I can say that I am a professional because from the mid-1970s I’ve been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, with over 1,000 magazine articles to my credit. Since 1986 I’ve authored/coauthored/ghosted more than two dozen books. My books and articles have been published in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Serbian, etc. I’ve written for several websites and this blog. I’ve worked as an editor of magazines and books, and as a fact checking consultant for National Geographic Books and Eastman Kodak Company.
Until 2007 I made a very good living from my writing and photography. My capsule biography was included in ‘Who’s Who in the World’ and in ‘American Artists’ since 1981. I write under Bob Shell and my main pseudonym, Edward Lee.
In 2003 my comfortable life was destroyed by a false arrest for a crime that never occurred. I wasn’t tried and convicted until 2007. The Innocence Project has taken my case, but it’s slow going because they have so many cases.
I’ve continued writing from prison, contributing op-ed articles for The Roanoke Star newspaper and articles about dinosaurs for Prehistoric Times magazine, and in 2019 I self-published the book ‘Cosmic Dance,’ which has sold reasonably well worldwide via Amazon despite having no promotional budget. Like most books, sales dropped off after the initial surge, and I only sell one or two a month now.
Most of my writing prior to my imprisonment had been nonfiction. In 2021 I began working on my first novel, ‘The Adventure of the Abducted Actress,’ a genre detective story featuring the Harley Stone Detective Agency (HSDA). I invented the HSDA and most of its cast of unusual characters in 1973. A few short stories I wrote about the HSDA were published in limited-circulation “fanzines.”
This first HSDA novel was completed in September of 2023 and sent to the company that assembled my first self-published book. In early November they mailed me a bound author’s proof. I didn’t get it. In mid-November I was transferred to a different prison.
When the proof never came, the company emailed the proof to my attorney as a PDF file. He had it printed and sent a printout of the proof to me as legal mail because we cannot receive PDF files. On arrival that proof was read and confiscated. (Violating attorney-client confidentiality as well as VDOC operating procedure.) Then in August of this year the bound proof mailed last November finally showed up here. But it was immediately confiscated.
To add insult to injury, that proof had been sent to the VDOC’s Publication Review Committee. They’d put it on their Disapproved Publications Listing. (I am in good company. Dr. Anthony Fauci’s latest book is on there.)
The Disapproved Publications Listing contains hundreds of books and magazine. The very existence of the Publication Review Committee and Disapproved Publications Listing are unconstitutional censorship.
Yes, my book has sex scenes, but there is nothing in my book beyond what’s in dozens of books in the institutional library here.
The librarian said if he had to remove every book with scenes like mine, he’d empty out the library.
I have argued until I’m blue in the face that an unpublished manuscript is not a publication by their own definition (An item that can be purchased from a vendor or subscribed to). They have given me nonsense responses to my grievances, even claiming that the book had been for sale since 2019! It is not on sale anywhere because it has not been published due to their interference.
I will not allow the book to be published until I have had a chance to correct the proof, so, by refusing to give me my author’s proof, the VDOC has blocked me from publishing my book. I am losing money every day the book is not for sale.
The Grievance Coordinator says I must take the matter into court. I don’t have the money to hire a lawyer to push this case. I need help! If anyone reading this knows of an organization or group that would help me defend my constitutional rights, please let me know.
Article One, Section Twelve, of the Virginia Constitution says “Any citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects.” I may be in prison, but I am still a citizen! ?
The VDOC is violating my constitutional rights under the Virginia Constitution and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
I haven’t joined any authors’ organizations because my institutional job pays me so little. It barely covers essentials at our grossly inflated commissary prices.
I hope someone can offer me help or direct me to someone who will help.
Thank you!
Mail address:
Robert E. L. Shell # 1201280
Dillwyn Correctional Center
P. O. Box 670
Dillwyn, VA 23936-0670
Mail address for legal mail:
Robert E. L. Shell # 1201280
Dillwyn Correctional Center
C/O: VDOC Centralized Mail Distribution Unit
3521 Woods Way
State Farm, VA 23160
You can email me by signing up at http://jpay.comusing my name, Robert Shell and state ID number, 1201280
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About The Author: Bob Shell is a professional photographer, author, former editor in chief of Shutterbug Magazine and veteran contributor to this blog. He is currently serving a 35 year sentence for involuntary manslaughter for the death of Marion Franklin, one of his former models. He is serving the 17th year of his sentence at Pocahontas State Correctional Facility, Virginia.
On September 16, 2024 Shell’s release date got moved up six years due to new “mixed charges” law to February 2, 2030. It was 2036.
Title: The Thrill of the Ride: What Makes Motorcycling So Much Fun
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Few activities match the adrenaline, freedom, and sheer exhilaration of riding a motorcycle. The experience of gliding through the open air, with the world rushing by, is unlike anything else. But what exactly makes motorcycling so much fun? Beyond the obvious thrill of speed and adventure, there are deeper elements—both physical and emotional—that explain why millions of people are passionate about this form of transportation.
One of the core appeals of motorcycling is the sense of freedom it provides. Unlike cars, motorcycles strip away the barriers between the rider and the environment. Without a cabin encasing you, there’s an unmatched immediacy to the experience: you feel the wind on your face, smell the fresh air (or sometimes the rain), and even sense the texture of the road beneath you. For many, riding a motorcycle evokes a sense of liberation and connection with the world that is hard to replicate in any other vehicle.
The physical sensation of riding a motorcycle is another powerful draw. The balance, coordination, and skill required to handle a bike effectively make the experience physically engaging. The lean into corners, the quick shifts in body weight, and the control of acceleration and braking offer a full-body experience that engages muscles and mind alike. For many riders, it’s a dance with the machine, where precision and flow are part of the fun. The feeling of mastering your bike, gliding through turns, or perfectly executing a maneuver brings a sense of accomplishment and joy.
Speed and adrenaline also play a key role. The rush of acceleration and the sensation of velocity on a motorcycle are incredibly thrilling. Even at relatively modest speeds, a motorcycle can feel much faster than a car because of the exposure to the elements and the direct feedback from the road. Riders often describe the experience as a form of controlled risk—a mix of excitement and focus that gets the heart pumping. It’s this combination of adrenaline and control that makes motorcycling so addictive for many enthusiasts.
Beyond the sensory experience, motorcycling offers a unique form of mindfulness. Riding demands focus and attention, making it almost meditative. The need to be fully present while navigating the road, especially on more technical routes or in traffic, leaves little room for distraction. This immersion in the moment allows many riders to escape the stress of daily life and find mental clarity.
Finally, there’s the community and camaraderie. Motorcycling is often as much about the people as it is about the ride. Riders form strong bonds with one another, whether they’re cruising in a group or simply sharing tips and experiences. The sense of belonging to a tribe, united by a shared passion, enhances the joy of riding.
In the end, what makes motorcycling so much fun is its multifaceted appeal. It’s the combination of freedom, physicality, thrill, mindfulness, and community that draws people to the open road again and again. Riding a motorcycle is more than just a mode of transportation—it’s an experience, a lifestyle, and for many, an expression of pure joy.
