Stay up

It isn't always easy to keep going but keep going we must

Hi All,

I’ve been dealing with life, especially in these unique and trying times, hence delays in getting this done. Here are a couple of things that I came across and found interesting in the last week.

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1

Bruce Lee was one of my heroes growing up. And Brain Pickings is one of my favourite platforms. The sheer quantity and depth of what Maria Popova shares on the site is mind-boggling and there is never enough time to engage with it all. Be Like Water: The Philosophy and Origin of Bruce Lee’s Famous Metaphor for Resilience.

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2

Many of us started lockdown with the intention of completing a course or two. Some of us did, some of us didn’t. So you haven’t learned a new lockdown skill? Ronald Paul Ng started with online learning long before lockdown and has never stopped. After his son co-founded Coursera, he became its earliest student and competed 14 courses.

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3

My Moustache, My Self. “A quarantine facial-hair experiment led me to a deep consideration of my Blackness.” - Wesley Morris.

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4

I have talked about writing a book for some years. Now I actually have a publisher and I’m actively writing one - to be published in 2021. Perhaps that’s why this resonated: Nothing Prepares You For The Loneliness Of Writing Your First Book.

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5

In an email titled Power Dynamics in the Music Industry, Mensa Ansah [M3NSA] says. “Pull Your Strings doesn't expect to create moral outrage, but maybe to begin to identify the many shapes and forms of ‘Corporate Supremacy’ when we see it, and to refuse to partake in it.”

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6

Years ago, I was commissioned to write an article for the now defunct Joburg magazine Y-Mag on what happens to a hip-hop head when they turn thirty. Hip-hop and rap music have always been positioned as a youth culture with no place for older fans or older rappers. Why Growing Up Is No Longer a Death Sentence for Rappers.

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7

Black Thought will forever be one of my favourite emcees.

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That’s it for this week. Please leave a comment, share a thought or simply share the newsletter.

Easy

Kojo