A meditation on space- Can love survive when our souls are no longer near one another? That’s a question that popped into my mind hanging out with my brother, Ryan. Drawn together by our hopeless romantic spirits and love for Islam. We’ve had many conversations on using love as a source of inspiration for our artwork. I’ve noticed in my time spent with artists like Ry, that it is light hearted and zany people that are the deepest of lovers. The rollercoaster of feelings that arise when you’re in love. Somehow, that spiraled into him asking me to document him burning all the pieces about her.

So we did.

He is honestly one of my favorite artists in the Bay. Possessing this amazing art style where he takes things like old wood, nails, coins, magazines, chains and hidden quotes from past loves and adds it to his oil paintings. Processing his pain by morphing the ugly parts of a relationships and creating beautiful scenic paintings. When taking a deeper look at his work, I can really feel the love- but also the little stings to the heart when you are in love with someone who doesn’t really get you. The energetic weight being lifted off him as we watched his paintings burn. Time away from the woman he loved has given him peace and clarity. Feeling good in his spirit to venture down a path that aligns art and Islam.

Imam Al Ghazali once said, “What is meant for you will reach you even if it is between two mountains; what is not meant for you will not reach you even if it between your two lips.” To really take the time to focus on joy and love is the most potent forms of kindness we can give ourselves. We are only able to love at the level of consciousness we choose to become aware at- he let’s go of what no longer serves him. Looking at his pieces, you could never tell the pain it took to create such beauty. Reclaiming the space needed to welcome in a new. I love to see him stepping into his power as the beautiful creator that he is. Allowing faith in Allah to be his guide as he navigates through a world that can sometimes be ugly and using those very elements to create. I believe Al-Ghazali’s words resonate when it comes to break ups. Space can show us how the lack of depth and security needed to build a loving relationship. That if it truly is meant for you, Allah will show you through signs and omens that it is so. And other times space shows you that your love is too vital to be wasted on someone who does not match up.

On that day at the beach, it felt like the fires cleansed his spirit of unrequited love and allowed space for new art to be created. A sweeter love to connect with. I feel like all my friends teach me something. My takeaway with this shoot was that you can’t grow and love with someone who doesn’t understand your soul so you gotta go within and deepen the love for your own self. A love where Allah is alive between you, where the pools of inner being deepen with each moment shared with that love. Where 1+1 is 1.

I look forward to seeing that love emulated in Ryan’s art.

To be س - An Underdog Amongst Giants

I had the pleasure of sitting down with @kinglangbang at @hausofgodspeed last month. He came in with big, exuberant, loving energy that always lifts my spirits.  Langstyn is a man I deeply admire for many reasons- he possesses this innate ability to lift a person up and remind them that things are never as bad as they seem. A man that instills unconditional love and faith into his friends and his community. He is a comedian, motivational speaker, and Co-Creator of Negus in Nature. A space for black people to enjoy the great outdoors all while micro dosing on shrooms. Taking his community all over California and more recently, Kenya & Tanzania. A breaker of toxic generational cycles of subjugation and lack. He lives in a realm of abundance and joy.  People have expressed their woes to what he’s building from the ground up, and it has left me deeply confused. How is a space designed by and for black people (and allies) something to feel threatened by?

Some see it as exclusivity. I see it as someone protecting their energy and peace of mind in a world that sees Black people as a threat more than actual human beings trying to reclaim their power and space. Langstyn isn’t a man that dwells on small-minded mentalities. He demands to be seen as someone more determinant through his comedy & motivational talks on Instagram.

Langstyn told me that he sees himself as an underdog, I found that narrative to be fitting. To be an underdog is to see your world outside of the circumstances you reside in. I see him as an innovator- a creator of a just world outside of America’s toxic lens of capitalism. He pointed out something that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind since we spoke: that to create change- real change - you can’t do it in communities where we believe in the same thing. You have to start the awakening in areas that live in blissful ignorance. It’s within everyone’s power to be apart of the solution. Never underestimate what you bring to the table.

Creating safe and loving spaces for Black people to be free, he led NIN through Africa- connecting NIN with the motherland. This is the most anti imperialist move I’ve ever seen. The power in connecting back to your motherland!

His source of guidance and inspiration comes from people in the community that he’s seen and wishes to emulate. He creates his own heroes. Lang is an observer and watches closely to what his people have the potentiality of becoming. He’s a weaver of his own reality. Reminding us all that just because life is ugly, it doesn’t negate the beauty. Vibrating out of the lens of fear and falling like a domino, faithfully knowing that when he surrenders, the ones aligned will follow him- knowing that this fall can create an impactful change for his community. What’s wild to me is that I’m not sure he truly sees how powerful he is. Fear doesn’t dictate what he does. Anything that scares him, he dives right in. A true non-conformist that takes action to champion his ideas. Langstyn is someone who has unplugged and resides outside of the binary black/ white narrative that America has pushed onto us. I’m excited to see what he has in store for us next. If you love what @negusinnature is about, DONATE because they’ll be going to Africa Summer 2022.