Part One: A Number Calls My Name In 2005 I put the number 109 on my car. My personalized license plate read “109LAW2” — my birthdate, October 9th, and my initials. It was a deliberate act of personal claiming. Looking back I recognize it as the beginning of a pattern I wouldn’t fully understand for…
Where Do I Go from Here?
On this day, May 15, 2026, I am at a crossroads. As of late my marathon is focused on drawing the world’s attention to a connection between Basquiat and Nipsey through the artwork entitled ALL COLORED CAST PART III. I want the world to see that there are elements in Basquiat’s artwork that precisely parallel…
On Nipsey
When I look at Nipsey Hussle’s life I see a man who was equally ambitious. He did not have the luxury of being raised with the advantages I had. His mother and father separated. He did not earn his high school diploma. He did not earn a college degree. Yet Nipsey was a reader. His…
I Asked AI for Perspective
I wasn’t deliberately attempting to train-wreck my career. When I was in high school I was being prepped to study English at best. However, when I went to college, I chose a math intensive major — Finance. I did so because I felt that becoming a teacher would be the best option for me with…
Coincidences Abound: Coyoacan
The Blue House Speaks I didn’t know she was watching me. As I exited the Uber somewhere in Coyoacán, I caught a glimpse of the radio station — 100.9 FM. A small thing. But, for me, it was monumental. I snapped a photo for posterity. To be certain, for anybody else, the radio station is…
Marathon Iconography: Imagery in the Rap Lyrics of Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle, born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, was among the most visually compelling lyricists of his generation. Where many rappers traffic in abstraction or hyperbole, Nipsey built his art on concrete, specific imagery drawn from the streets of Crenshaw and the interior landscape of a man determined to transcend them. His lyrics function less like boasts…
Paidaeia & Ermias
Dr. Cornel West often refers to Paidaeia – a Greek word meaning pedagogy. Ermias Asghedom referenced Greek marathons and the legend of Pheidippides when he named his brand the Marathon and his debut album Victory Lap, respectively. Was Ermias trying to draw connections the way Dr. West does? Or was Ermias highlighting the east African…
Artificial Intelligence Assisted
I wrote: “During that tragic month, I also experienced wildly peculiar events. First, I took a picture of a goat near my home. Second, I took a picture of myself wearing one sock on my right foot while I laid in a tent reading a book. Third, on the day that Nipsey was murdered, I…
Hasmonean Dynasty
The Hasmoneans were a Jewish priestly dynasty that ruled Judea from roughly 164–63 BCE.Origins They emerged from the Maccabean Revolt, led by Mattathias and his sons — most famously Judah Maccabee — against the Seleucid Greek king Antiochus IV, who had desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah commemorates their victory….
The Other Side
Jesus archetype fits Nipsey Hussle because Nipsey wore Pumas, and rode the 108 bus. Jesus was a son of a Roman Soldier of the Hasmonean Dynasty whose family created includes a puma. The number 108 is a sacred number and aligns with Nipsey because he rode the 108 bus to Watts. This is an interesting…
Hidden in Plain Sight
Simon Rodia spent 33 years of his life creating the Watts Towers. The tallest Stelae in Axum is 33 meters tall. In Tikal, one of the temples is 33 meters in height. The average human breathes 108 multiplied by 100 times in the day and again at night. At the temperature of 108 degrees, the…
The Sacred Frequency: 108
The Sacred Frequency: 108 and Its Human VesselsAn Essay on the Divine Number and the Artists Who Embodied It There are numbers that count, and there are numbers that mean. Mathematics gives us tools for measurement, but certain figures transcend calculation and enter the realm of the sacred — numbers that civilizations across centuries and…
You must be logged in to post a comment.