Welcome!

This blog is more so a brain dump of thoughts about a bunch of stuff that I know a lot about or that I'm learning about. Some of them are related and some of them are not but most importantly: most of them are very Black. So welcome to a blog about my Black ass, creative ass, neurodivergent ass, a lor bit gay ass thoughts!

My name is Kandice A. Medley (the A is for Ayana and that means beautiful flower in Swahili. Shoutout to my Dad lol). Okay so now that I just put my whole government out there, I hope y'all remember it lol.

I am a 30 something visual artist, educator, and curator of all things Black, Arts, History, and Culture. My vibe is the 70's but I was alive during the 90's and early 2000's so that era also holds a special place in my heart when it comes to the beauty displayed by Black people in each of those eras. I'm really into Black History so aesthetically, I value vintage black fashion, music, culture, and lifestyle, I have a humble collection of vinyl and many vintage furniture pieces and items in my home. I spiritually inherited the role of Keeper on both sides of my family so I keep all the photos, heirlooms, and memories, of our ancestors that I can get my hands on and honor them by celebrating them, showing gratitude, and preserving their stories.

I've been on a personal journey of discovery (*cues Half & Half theme song*) and a key component of this journey has been exploring my southern roots and tracking my lineage back to slavery and beyond. This journey has also called my soul to study Hoodoo which is the only indigenous spiritual practice for African-American people on this land. Slaves practiced Hoodoo as a rebellion against white supremacy and chattel slavery. I believe it is how we persevered through slavery but, just like anything else Black, we were manipulated by white supremacists to believe that anything other than Christianity was evil. But Hoodoo is not evil, it is an indigenous practice like that of any other culture in any other part of the world. So as I learn more about Hoodoo, which involves African Traditional Spirituality, Christianity, and Native American Spirituality, I will share more of what I learn on this blog. So far, I have learned that Hoodoo is not a religion and that you can practice any religion and also practice Hoodoo. Hoodoo is more focused on ancestor veneration and working with the Earth's materials. I was raised Christian and still consider myself a Christian but, I do have some qualms about patriarchal, anti-black, homophobic, and transphobic ideas that are spread into the Church to promote hate. I don't tolerate hate against any group and neither did Jesus so, I'll be talking about that more too.

My ancestors speak to me mostly through birds and it is how I have learned to prioritize paying attention to the beauty in nature right before my eyes. It is also how I have learned lots of fun facts about birds and their behavior patterns so, I'll share lots of information about birds here as well.

Music has always been a huge part of my experience here on Earth. Some of my earliest memories involve music and I've been walking around making up songs and singing little catchy tunes since I was a toddler apparently. So I like to do artist studies and research the discography of certain musicians that intrigue me so that I can create an "essentials" style playlist catered to the songs that stick out to me the most. Then, I like to research the artist and their origins so I can experience their music through their lens. Like how did their upbringing or the world that they were born into influence the way their music sounds, the way they talk, the subject matter, idk just all those kinda things. So, I'll talk about stuff like that here too.

I also used to be a Child Development teacher and I'm a real nerd about Human Behavior and observing people's patterns but that's literally how I was able to break certain patterns of my own. So, I like to talk about that kinda stuff too because observing preschool children and high school children in their natural habitats, literally helped me identify some of my inner child wounds. So understanding human behavior from childhood and beyond is really helpful for healing communities so I want to share little nuggets of information about that here too.

Okay this is getting long so idk there may be a Welcome Pt. 2 but until then, look forward to some randomness about the things I mentioned above.

With gratitude,

Kan