Writers Wednesday – Chapter 6: The Women with Blue Eyes

Chapter 6: “Jason Who?”

“Higher daddy, higher! Push me higher!”

The four-year-old swung her legs back and forth, feeling the wind on her face. Jason smiled. Amarie was a fun junkie like her daddy.

“I don’t think you ready for this though Marie baby. You ready for this?”

“I’m ready, I’m ready. Higher daddy!”

Jason stopped the swing and placed his hands on each side. He stepped back, pulling Amarie back, high into the air, his hands still holding on tightly to the swing. Amarie laughed and giggled. Jason let go, letting the swing fly through the air as Marie screamed. Jason laughed.

“Told you, you weren’t ready!”

As the swing came back to him, he stopped it, helping Amarie to climb down.

“Come on baby, let’s go feed daddy.”

“That was amazing!” shrieked Amarie, still feeling giddy.

Jason smiled. Kids were something else. One minute they are asking you a million questions and the next they little geniuses.

“Amazing huh? Spell it for daddy.”

Amarie twisted her lip and Jason couldn’t get over the cuteness. She was his little chocolate drop, her skin taking on her mother’s dark complexion instead of his lighter one. Her brown, course, hair was in ponytails with yellow barrettes adorning the braided ends. Jason and his baby mama didn’t always get along, but he admired how she always kept his daughter fresh and looking like a little lady. Not too many little girls still wore pigtails these days. While moms kept her cute, Jason kept her smart. He taught her beauty on the outside meant nothing without beauty on the inside. “And beauty,” he taught her, “come with brains. Don’t just be a cutie, be smart too.”

“A-M-A…” began Amarie.

Jason tried hard to listen, but his spirit was still disturbed from the events of the other day. He wouldn’t teach his daughter the importance of thinking if he wasn’t a thinking man. I know for a fact her ass was sitting right next to me. How the hell did she end up on the other side of the room, standing up? He couldn’t remember what happened between the time he was about to tongue the woman down to when she put him out. It was weird and had him feeling uneasy. It was hot as hell in there too though. Could that have been the reason? Did I blackout from the heat?

“N-G,” recited Amarie as they made it to the car. Jason helped her into the back seat and strapped her into the booster seat.

“Did I do it right daddy?”

“Yea, baby. Good job.”

He closed her door and felt a wave of heat on his neck. Frowning, Jason turned around before opening his car door and saw no one.

“J man you are tripping,” he said outloud to himself.

“Tripping. T-R-I..” began Amarie.

Jason laughed and took out his cell.

“I’m not gonna make it out that way any time soon bro,” boomed Jason’s deep, melodic voice. He laughed into the phone. Tony was always saying something crazy.

“Naw, nothing like that. Got the little one with me. Yea. Ya’ll go ahead though. Imma stop by Moms, I can leave her there and catch ya’ll later. The steakhouse? Bet. I ain’t eating though. Jason paused as his friend chided him on the other end.

“You know moms ain’t gonna let me stop by and not eat! If Imma choose a meal it’s gonna be moms fa sho.”

He hung up and dialed another number.

“Sup old man. You at the crib? Oh yea? What she cook? Bet. I’m on my way. I got Marie with me. Yea. Aiight. See you soon.”

Jason hung up and then strapped on his seat belt. Whatever it was he was feeling, he didn’t trust it. He always talked things over with his dad. He felt fortunate to still have him in his life. Not many black men he knew could say they grew up with both parents in the home. Jason’s parents had been married for twenty-five years. That meant something to him. It also made him ashamed that he couldn’t hold onto a relationship himself. As Jason pulled out of his parking space and began to drive down the street, he prayed his mother’s cooking could help to shake the cold chill that trickled down his spine and the knot that lingered in the pit of his stomach.

***

“Internet stalking your boyfriend? Sweetie, if you think he’s cheating, he’s cheating.”

Amy laughed as she walked past Tina’s cubicle where a photo of Jason was pulled up on her computer screen. Quickly, Tina opened another tab.

“It’s not like that.”

She shook her head and crossed out the word Email on her notepad. The man was invisible online, no email and no record. He had been working for the U.S. Postal Service for three years. Before that, he attended a community college but then dropped out. Anything before that is a mystery.

Tina tapped her pencil on the desk, still unsure if she should intervene and because she had taken her prescription, there was no sign of Az to help. If she was going to help, she only had a few hours to do it and she had no idea where this Jason dude was.

“Hey Fred?”

“Yep?”

“Look up this name for me.”

Fred took the post-it from Tina and frowned. “Jason King?”

Amy laughed, shaking her head.

“Who’s he?”

“With a name like Jason King, shid,” laughed Amy.

Freddy laughed too. Tina shook her head.

“Ya’ll play too much. I don’t even know the guy. I think he may be connected to the Byron case.”

“In what way?” asked Freddy.

“I don’t know but I think he’s involved,” she lied. Trying to stop a blue-eyed fallen angel disguised as a beautiful black woman from killing him, wouldn’t exactly make her look sane.

In the new browser she typed in her company password, and pulled up Byron’s file. She looked up to find Amy staring at her. The woman cut her eyes, frowned, and looked away.

Chapter 7 “Angel of Vision”

Revising The Stella Trilogy: Book Two – Beyond the Colored Line

Book one is out and we are on to book two!

My main challenge for book two is making sure that it stays consistent with book one. This is important for any series, but for Historical Fiction, it is even more critical.

Since writing Historical Fiction is writing set in a time that has already occurred, the details of the past must be realistic to what was going on. A good Historical Fiction book places fictional characters somewhere in a world that has already existed in a way that reads authentic. Readers should be able to reimagine what that world was like by immersing themselves in the life of the characters and the world around them. I like to think of it as a time machine, which is also what makes writing #Histfic fun to me.

Style, Language, Dialogue

Like book one, book two opens in 1996 and picks up where we left off at Mama Sidney’s house in book one. But book two also takes us back into the life of Mama Sidney, and we revisit history from the 1920s through the 60s. My focus for book two was to make sure the dialogue, language, racial and political events occurring during this time were realistic to what was happening in the world. We talk about The Great Depression and touch on the reoccurring lynchings taking place in both the north and south. We look at the brutal murder of Emmett Till, the shooting of Dr. King, Jim Crow Laws, and The Black Panther Party. While I immerse Stella in her own world, there is still the larger world to deal with and we watch how she navigates both. How does Stella’s personal identity crises correlate to the identity crises plaguing her larger community?

Racial Terminology

The biggest thing to deal with for book two is the racial classifications of blacks during this period. African Americans are the only people whose racial terminology has changed with the census. We have been “Niggers,” Negros, Coloreds, Blacks, and African Americans, and this can get confusing when trying to use the right term for the right year. This is also not to mention other racial “nicknames” we called ourselves, such as Afro-American and The New Negro.

The challenge of using the right term for the right years is because there were terms that blacks preferred to call themselves and terms used discriminately by the wider society. Although by the 60s Black Americans were preferring to be called blacks or Afro-Americans (as Malcolm X used a lot after leaving the Nation of Islam) white separatist signage still referred to us as coloreds. “Whites Only / Coloreds Only,” or “Welcome to the Colored Zone,” banners and store signs could have read.

Credited to W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington, blacks advocated for a switch from Colored to Negro in the early 1920s. As blacks redefined themselves, terms like “The New Negro,” became popular and sparked a movement that later became known as The Harlem Renaissance.

By the 1960s, though, African Americans had transitioned from being “Negros,” to “Blacks.” (Malcolm X specifically didn’t like the term Negro).

During the Black Power movement when sayings such as “I’m Black and I’m Proud,” were popular (think James Brown “Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud!”) blacks wore their hair natural, read and published black literature and did what they thought would reconnect them with their lost heritage. In this process, many black political leaders of the time, such as Kwame Ture or Stokely Carmichael, helped to shift the terminology away from Negro and toward Black. Black publications like Ebony followed by switching from Negro to Black.

While a large majority of people still preferred Negro, “Black“ was becoming the preferred term with the New York Times and Associated Press abandoning “Negro” in the 1970s.

By the 1980s, Jesse Jackson called for a shift from Black to African American and while the change is still not as accepted or monumental as black was during the 60s, it is the term most socially acceptable when referring to black Americans.

I had to consider these changes when referring to blacks throughout this part of the book. What did they call themselves? What did society call them? How do I integrate this into the dialogue and setting realistically?

Setting, language, and dialogue is the backbone of Historical Fiction because the setting makes the story seem real and determines the character’s beliefs and actions. Not only do I strive to make the characters stand out but the culture of the time in which they live.

About Book Two:

In book two, we dig deeper into the McNair family’s legacy. Named after her great-grandmother, Stella has a very light complexion causing her to be the tease of her classmates. Unable to find solace among her African American contemporaries, Stella finds it challenging to adjust to a world where she is too light to be black.

After The Great Depression of the 1930s forces Stella’s family to move to Chicago, a conversation with Aunt Sara provokes Stella to do something that will dramatically affect not just her life but the life of her children and grandchildren.

Stella: Beyond the Colored Line will be available through my website and back up on Amazon in digital and print by April 24th. I am not putting the rest of the books up for preorder, so you’ll be able to order it immediately on 4/24.

If you have not already read book one, click one of the links below.

Amazon Kindle

Signed paperback

https://www.yecheilyahysrayl.com/bookstore/stella-between-slavery-and-freedom

People Will Never Forget How You Made them Feel

If there is one thing I have learned in both my personal and professional life (to include blogging) is that change is inevitable. One day you will look up and the people who were rooting for you, in the beginning, are not rooting for you any longer. As I’ve said on this blog once before, you can look up and see an entirely new group of supporters/readers.

Just as quickly as COVID-19 has swept over the world, people will pack up their support and leave you dumbfounded. What happened? What changed? Am I no longer interesting? Is the content no longer quality?

It’s easy to blame ourselves. It’s our blog, our book, our product. And while we are conscious enough to know that sometimes our circle will decrease in size, we must remind ourselves that while the support might decrease in size that doesn’t mean it doesn’t increase in quality. A lack of interest sometimes has nothing to do with us. Although it may feel like it, it’s not personal.

But as I’ve said, we are human with feelings and thoughts and emotions. We cannot help but wonder. These are the times where we will need to pick up our faith, hold on to those gifts and hold our heads higher than we’ve ever held it before. I can’t tell you why some people leave, why they unsubscribe from your life or what you did to influence this decision. What I can echo are the words from one of our favorite poets and one of my favorite quotes:

“People will forget what you did, people will forget what you said, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

These are such powerful words to me because it’s a two-edged sword. Whether you make people feel inspired and empowered or whether you make them feel discouraged and disheartened, people will remember it.

People will leave when they’ve served the purpose in your life it meant them to serve and some of them will even forget what you’ve done. What they won’t forget is the impact you’ve had on their life, the imprint you left there and how you made them feel.

Entrepreneurship, authorship specifically, is hard and I know that in this climate “hard” doesn’t seem like a strong enough word to describe what it’s like to endure this, but I hope this message and Angelou’s words were not only encouraging for you today but that they help you persist in the troublesome areas.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned was understanding the state of my mental health is much more important than my career because my level of self-worth and self-love is what will drive the work.

A text I received from Ms. Edwards (pictured) inspired this post; how good it felt to know someone was thinking about me. So whether it’s a text, phone call, email or DM, it doesn’t take much to be kind. Since we are all in the same boat right now, with the time you have, be sure to reach out to someone who has made an impression on you and show them you appreciate them.

Let us remember that support is a verb.

It’s National Poetry Month!

I am Soul is 99cents on Kindle and $8 in paperback through the end of April.

Signed Paperback

www.yecheilyahysrayl.com/bookstore/i-am-soul-poetry

Amazon Kindle

www.amazon.com/I-am-Soul-Yecheilyah-Ysrayl-ebook/dp/B078FS2ZJT

What are you reading or re-reading for National Poetry Month? Here’s my list so far!

The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni (1968 – 1998)

Maya Angelou Poems: Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie, Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, And Still I Rise, Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?

If Only There Was Music : The Poetry of Forbidden Love by Nonnie Jules

Writers Wednesday – Chapter 5: The Women with Blue Eyes

Chapter 5: “The Mission”

The woman moved her hips from side to side on her way to the kitchen and Jason cleared his throat, watching as her booty swayed underneath the red silk skirt. There was something about dark skin against red. Baby girl was all body. He shook his head, trying to focus as the sweat began to trickle down the side of his face. He loosened the collar on his shirt. Damn it’s hot in here.

“Ey mama you got something cold to drink in here? It’s hot ass hell.”

Jason wiped his brow and dried his sweaty hands off on his Post Office jeans. Something told him not to be greedy and try to do one more block but when he saw those beautiful blue eyes, he couldn’t resist. The woman returned with a large glass pitcher of tea and a glass. Jason wondered how she could hold both with one hand.

Damn she strong.

The woman smiled, handing him the glass and holding the pitcher with both hands as she poured the sweet liquid. Her breasts dangled in front of her guest.

“I’m so sorry. It’s been quite warm lately,” she said licking her lips and smiling.

Jason watched the show. He wasn’t much of a breast man. They weren’t as much fun as booty and thighs. “Tittes are for babies,” he told his friends. But he damn sure wasn’t complaining. He watched them jiggle when she sat down and gulped his drink.

“So, tell me a little about yourself? How long you been in this house? I don’t remember seeing you around here and I been working this route for a minute,” Jason emptied his glass. It really must have been hot because he only drank like that when he was thirsty.

“Oh, I’m new here.”

The blue-eyed woman moved closer, staring into his eyes. Her hips practically touching his. She watched the red spots on the internal screen of her eyes as Jason’s temperature rose. He loosened his collar again and cleared his throat, then leaned in closer to the woman, his lips so close to hers he could feel her cool breath on his face.

The woman smiled and continued to stare.

“Stop.”

Startled, the woman turned in the direction of the voice and back to Jason, whose mouth hung open, his body stiff. She turned back to the man who spoke, her eyes flames of fire, her teeth gritted.

“You froze him?”

“He’ll snap out of it in a second. Won’t remember a thing. I need to talk to you,” said the being.

The woman sighed. She hated when they froze time. She folded her arms.

“What are you doing here? This isn’t exactly your jurisdiction.”

“Pas, you don’t need to do this. Let him go. He’s a good man. Haven’t you had enough already?”

Pas stood and walked toward the tall, blue-eyed man, stopping in front of him.

“Good and man is an oxymoron. I know how badly you want to be one of them. Are you a good man Azbuga?”

“Stop playing games. I have orders from the master. You can’t touch him.”

Pas circled the archangel.

“See Az, that’s the difference between you and me. You are a sheep, blindly following your master.” She laughed, walking back to the sofa and waved her hand in the face of the stiff Jason before her.

“I mean, they are so weak. I tell you what. You can have him if I can have her.”

“That’s not how this works. You know that.”

“Oh.” Pas bit her lip in a fake pout, “that sucks.”

“I’m not playing games with you Paschar. Stop digging or I disintegrate you.”

“Ouch. Pulling out the big guns huh? I can do stuff too you know.”

“This isn’t a competition. There are people’s lives at stake here.”

“Exactly. People. Ungrateful, weak-minded human beings who care about nothing but themselves, their fancy cars and worthless money. They can’t even breathe on their own let alone “control their own destiny.” Bunch of weak-minded fools are what they are.” Paschar folded her arms across her chest. It pissed her off that despite being more powerful than humans her legion still didn’t have a chance at redemption.

“You stop digging or I turn you in and you know what that means.”

“I don’t have to listen to you.”

“There’s a bottomless pit with your name on it. Try me.”

Pas rolled her eyes and bit her lip, Az vanished.

Jason snapped out of his trance and shook his head. The woman was standing. Was it over already? I know I ain’t that desperate I can’t remember hitting it, he thought.

The woman walked over to the door and opened it.

“You can leave now.”

“What? Yo ma I thought…”

“Get your ass up. Get out before I call the cops,” said Pas. She had to muffle laughter on that one. Cops. What a joke.

***

Tina tightened the silk night cap on her head and sighed. It had been a long day at the office trying to solve the Byron case and she still didn’t know how to reveal to Freddy that she knew the guy. I’m just so caught up in this foolishness, she thought. The children were with her mother for the weekend and Janiyah was at a friend’s house. She was thankful for that at least. She needed the break. Tina turned over on her side and pulled the tiny chain on the lamp that would turn off the light, but it wouldn’t turn off. She pulled again. Still, nothing.

“Come on now,” she said removing the covers and standing. Pulling again, the light wouldn’t turn off.

“Gotta be these cheap ass bulbs. Told mama not to get this brand.”

“It’s me. Look, we need to talk.”

Tina jumped, holding her hand to her chest, breathing heavy.

“Don’t do that!”

The man held up a hand.

“Sorry.”

Tina first started seeing Az when Ronnie died, before Freddy recommended, she see Erica. It had happened right there at the office. She was snitched on by Amy, her rival.

“Are you all blue?” Tina looked him up and down. His full name was Azbuga and he was a Watcher Archangel sent to help her.

The angel frowned, “what?”

“Is your whole-body blue or is it just your eyes?”

“Just my eyes. I don’t really look like a human. This is the image I show you so you’re not…afraid. Listen, I didn’t come here to talk about me. It’s gonna happen again.” Az handed Tina a folder. She took it and opened it.

“Her name’s Paschar, angel of vision. She’s a nasty entity who sucks the souls of men right out of them using nothing but her eyes.”

Tina stared back at the photo and paperwork.

“She’s beautiful.”

“Exactly the problem. She kills more men than anyone of her kind. There’s a legion of them. She’s high up there.”

Tina looked over the paperwork, stopping at a photo of a well-dressed African American man with light skin, freckles, and an Afro. He was handsome and Tina caught herself staring.

“His name is Jason. I stopped her before she did anything but Paschar can’t be trusted. She’s gonna cross me and…”

He nodded toward the photo in Tina’s hands.

“Kill him.”

“Why?”

Tina stared at Az, no longer frightened by his appearance. He was taller than a normal man but could shorten his height around people like he did that night at the club. He was at least 9ft and Tina found herself looking up to talk to him. He’s been coming around since Ronnie’s death. Only now was he communicating with her and showing his real height. She wanted to know why.

“Why me, why black men, why now?”

“Energy.”

Tina rolled her eyes, “cut the crap Az. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I told you. Energy. Paschar and her crew are fallen angels, no longer connected with the master…”

“God? When you say Master, you mean God?” asked Tina sarcastically.

“Listen, they need the energy and worship from humans to live. There’s a connection to you because Ronnie’s involvement with one of their kind…”

Tina shivered. Big Sam.

“…opened a door,” continued Az. “The more men Paschar and her girls take out, the longer they live. Sexual energy is one of the most powerful forms of energy there is. Your sexual energy is a creative, life-force energy. Through it, you give birth to new life and angels have always been jealous of that.”

“Angels jealous of humans? Get outta here,” waved Tina.

“Ever since Mount Herman.” Az paused reflectively. “Anyway, Pas and her crew craves the sexual energy of black men, a strong force that gives them longevity. Men are weakened by the sight of them, especially Pas, and their weakness is a doorway she can use to suck the energy from their eyes.”

“Okay, but why black men? All of her victims so far have been black. Is it because she’s black?”

“Paschar is not African American. She appears that way same as I appear to you a Hispanic man. I know your father was Hispanic so you wouldn’t fear me in this form. We angels have no race, no color, no human form. We are energy.”

“Why black men though?” Tina asked again, annoyed that he had not answered her question.

“Black men have one of the most powerful energy forces there is. Black women follow them. Listen, if Pas visits a man herself, he must be very special. She saves the best for her. Jason is visiting his daughter at precisely two o’clock tomorrow. Afterward, he will stop at a friend’s house for a short while before heading home. At this friend’s house he will meet a woman. A beautiful woman. You and your people, get to him before she does.”

Az vanished.

“Wait!”

Tina punched the bed, then buried her face in the pillow, her head pounding like crazy. She wanted to scream. Why was this happening to her? Why had Ronnie’s death invited angels and demons into her life? She sat up, head still pounding. Her eyes looked ahead to the bathroom. Only now did she realized Az large figure had blocked it completely from view. Erica’s pills were calling out to her and so was the aspirin. She wouldn’t be able to see Az if she took the pills and wouldn’t know what to do next. She did need those aspirins though. Tina sighed.

“Choices, choices.”

She looked down on the bed at the envelope Az gave her with Jason’s information in it. He was so beautiful, but she couldn’t involve herself in this. She decided to take Erica’s prescription over the aspirin. This was all too much.

She touched Jason’s picture, caressed his face, and sighed.

“Sorry baby. But I’m not your savior.”

Chapter 6 “Jason Who?”

Are you new to this series? Click here to start from chapter one.

Movie Night Friday – REVIVAL with Harry Lennix

Revival

Movie Night Friday is back!

I come from a movie family. My aunt used to collect VHS tapes and then later, DVDs. If she were still alive, she would have every movie streaming app there is and collect Fire Sticks. We are a family who walks around quoting movie lines and seeing if people can guess what movie it is. It’s only right that I feature a series on this blog about movies. Movie Night Friday is nothing new. It is a segment I started on this blog years ago (2015) to feature my favorite films and why I love them. My favorites are broken down into different categories, though, so Malcolm X could number one in one category Lean on Me in the next, Boyz N Tha Hood in the next, The Great Debaters in the next, and Revival in the next.

Revival! features a star-studded, mostly black cast in the retelling of John’s book, featuring the resurrection, life, and ministry of the Messiah. Viewers will watch the bible play out through some of their favorite actors and musicians in a mixture of onstage performances, gospel songs, and spirituals, so that Revival! becomes more than just a movie, but an experience. Michelle Williams playing Mary Magdalen, Chaka Khan as Herodias, Wendy Raquel Robinson as the woman with the blood issue, Kenny Lattimore as Lazarus, Harry Lennix as Pontius Pilate and Mali Music as Yahoshua, Revival! is a part short film, part musical, and part broadway play.

What attracted me to Revival?

When TriCoast Entertainment reached out to me for a review, my first impulse was to watch the trailer. As a spiritual person who believes in the bible but not a Christian, I wanted to make sure this was the kind of film I can stand behind, support, and promote. When I watched the trailer, the first thing that piqued my interest immediately was the almost all-black cast and, even more, the black Messiah.

Many African Americans do not see themselves in scripture and are thus convinced they are not there and have nothing to do with this powerful historical text. Further, few films reveal the actual physical appearance of the people of the bible. Where are we? It is a question I often hear from black people when discussing scripture. Some of us don’t think we were there at all. But the truth is that many of the people’s nationalities in the bible, including the Israelites, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, were black-skinned people.

Best Scenes

I think the Pharisees did an excellent job of being hypocrites (haha), and they were in some of my favorite scenes, but my most favorite part was the scenes where Yahoshua is fighting off the temptation of the devil. Taken from Matthew 4:1-11, the creativity of the temptations had a modern touch. Still, it did not take away the reality of the devil’s persistence in his attacks and how we must be just as persistent in our resistance to those attacks. In the movie, these attacks take various forms, such as Satan as a man sitting at the beautiful dining spread to tempt Yahoshua to eat during his fast and command the stones to become bread (Matt. 4:1-4). Another instance is of a little boy and another seducing woman trying to entice him with her body. The best of these scenes for me was when the devil transformed himself into that of a little boy on top of the Hollywood sign and there tempted Yahoshua to jump.

We live in a world where Hollywood is a place everyone strives to be apart of. It represents the epitome of success for some and the place everyone wants to be. Here, celebrities are worshiped as gods. Most people aren’t taken seriously or acknowledged for their art, whether music, writing, or theater, until they have become promoted on a mainstream level. Therefore, inspired by the scripture where the devil takes the Messiah on a high mountain and tells him to throw himself down (Matt. 4:6), Mali and the little boy sitting on top of the Hollywood mountain was a brilliant idea. It was also a good idea to portray the devil as an innocent young boy since we know that he can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Co 11:14).

Least Favorite Scenes

I enjoyed some of the songs, but the combination of several mediums was my least favorite part. I would have liked to see the film part as a consistent thread throughout (like a movie) without being jolted from the narrative for someone to sing for three minutes. At times it did work, but there were also times I was immersed in the story and then snatched out of it. I think the musical/stage play part could be a separate production of itself so that it doesn’t disturb the transition between scenes and distracts from the core story.

The lady with blood flow was also my least favorite scene because the scripture doesn’t mention anything about the woman’s flow of blood coming from bruises. Based on Lev. 15:25-33, I understood this flow of blood was a literal flow of blood as in a menstrual cycle. Wendy Raquel Robinson’s acting was excellent, though, as usual.

Mostly All Black Cast

I have to bring it back to the mostly all-black cast! This is hands down my favorite part of the film, and I’d like to end this review with a bit more context to explain why I think this is so important for African Americans to see.

According to Revelations chapter one verse 14-15, the messiah is described by John as having hair like white wool and feet like burnished brass as if refined in a furnace. So, when he shows up in this film dark-skinned with full lips and a full beard, it is refreshing. If Yahoshua were to walk the earth today, he would do so as a black man, so we are not only looking at ourselves, but we are looking at the truth. Initially, the descendants of both Shem and Ham were black people. Gerald Massey, English writer and author of the book Egypt the Light of the World, wrote:

“The dignity is so ancient that the insignia of the Pharaoh evidently belonged to the time when Egyptians wore nothing but the girdle of the Negro.”

Sir Richard Francis Burton, a 19th-century English explorer, writer, and linguist in 1883 wrote to Gerald Massey:

“You are quite right about the ‘AFRICAN’ origin of the Egyptians. I have 100 human skulls to prove it.”

Scientist, R. T. Pritchett, states in his book, The Natural History of Man:

“In their complex and many of the complexions and in physical peculiarities the Egyptians were an ‘AFRICAN’ race.”

And finally, the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century B.C.E., saw the Egyptians face to face and described them as black-skinned with woolly hair. Consider also that the word Ham in Hebrew is Khwam, and it means “hot, burnt, and black.”

If it is true that the Egyptians were black, and we know that they were, then it is also true that the Israelites were black. The Israelites became a nation in Egypt (the land of Ham). Jacob’s sons arrived 70 in number (Gen. 46:27, Ex. 1:5) because of the famine, but as Joseph ruled Egypt (Gen. 41), his brothers did not at first recognize their Israelite brother among the black Egyptians. (Gen. 42:8)

Additionally, Moses passed as the grandson of the Egyptian Pharaoh for forty-years. (Acts 7:23)

How could this have happened if he didn’t look like him?

“Moses had to be of the black race because he spent 40 years in Pharaoh’s place. He passed as the Pharaoh’s grandson, so he had to look just like him.” – KRS One, “Why is That”

For this, Harry Lennix’s mostly black cast is necessary because while the world has come to accept, in part, that Ham’s descendants were black, the world has not come to fully embrace the black origin of the descendants of Shem, the original Hebrews.

Moses, Abraham, The Prophets, and even the Messiah, would have looked like African Americans had they walked the earth today. I believe that Lennix’s decision to make Yahoshua and most of his disciplines black is not just a form of creative expression but a powerful re-education of black biblical history.

I give Revival! four out of five stars.

I want to extend a thank you to TriCoast Entertainment for the opportunity to review the film REVIVAL starring Harry Lennix (The Blacklist, The Five Heartbeats, Love & Basketball, Ray), Wendy Raquel Robinson, Chaka Khan, Michelle Williams, Mali Music, and other musical legends.

*TriCoast Entertainment has released REVIVAL onto various digital & DVD platforms (Amazon, iTunes, FLIXFLING, Vimeo on Demand, Vudu, FANDANGO, Google Play), Walmart, Target and Best Buy.

**Direct Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3aRERRv

***For more information, please visit: https://revivalthemovie.com/

***Image Stills (including blog cover image featuring Harry Lennix) used with permission.

Can’t get enough of Black History? Don’t forget that book one of my novella series Stella: Between Slavery and Freedom is now available.

Get it here in ebook

Get a signed paperback copy here

Stella: Between Slavery and Freedom (Book One)

Book one in The Stella Trilogy is officially back on Amazon and my website and book two is on its way!

Stella is a work of Historical Fiction and is distinctive in its focus on one woman’s road to self-discovery, against the backdrop of the African American fight for justice, racial equality, and freedom. The three-part novella series focuses on the history of one family in their struggle for racial identity. We discover in this trilogy how three individuals living in separate periods strive to overcome the same struggle, carefully knit together by one blood.

In book one, Cynthia McNair and her boyfriend, Alex, express some racists’ feelings toward blacks. They visit Cynthia’s Grandmother Sidney McNair, who recounts the story of her ancestor, a slave named Stella Mae. Cynthia has no idea of her African ancestry or how deep this rabbit hole goes.

“Yecheilyah Ysrayl takes us on a colorful and thought-provoking journey through the eyes of a mulatto slave woman Stella. Generations later, Stella’s descendant Cynthia McNair has no idea of Stella’s life as a slave, nor the true identity of their bloodline. Since Cynthia is a racist she is in for a rude awakening. Stella is reminiscent of a wonderfully written slave narrative, a story of history and pain, it is a brilliant opener of the Stella series.”

– Kathryn Reed

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Author: Yecheilyah