Preface: 11:09pm I don’t remember which night it was exactly. I know it was sometime after March 2019 — after the grief of that month had settled into something quieter and more persistent. I was back in Los Angeles. I reached for a DVD from my collection — a documentary about Jean-Michel Basquiat. I had…
Tag: 109
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…
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…
Drachm, Phlegm, and Thumb
These three words share a fascinating silent consonant — the silent “b” in thumb, the silent “g” in phlegm, and the silent “ch” in drachm — and each of those silent letters is a kind of fossil, a remnant of an older pronunciation that speech gradually smoothed away while spelling stubbornly preserved it. This phenomenon,…
Literally. What Have I Been Up To?
I’m sitting in my new apartment. It has actually been more than two years that I have lived in this apartment. But, it’s new to me. I’d only lived alone in Los Angeles for less than one year (2004-2005) before I moved here in 2023. The rest of the time I lived abroad — South…
Carl Von Ossietzky
Ossietzky’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination telegram was numbered 109. That part! Do you see 109 within the painting? It’s not hidden. It’s right there. I found it when I visited the Nobel Peace Museum in Sweden. This was another encounter with 109. Please support 109. Buy 109 and/or artwork inspired by 109 at http://www.isee109.store
Black Jesus
ROMANS 10:9 is a reference to one’s belief in Jesus that leads to salvation. Jean Michel Basquiat once painted 109 on a painting. He even painted a male figure in the same picture that I would argue is Nipsey Hussle. Nipsey was not alive when the painting was created, but Nipsey took a photo that…
Original Artwork
In 2021, I took the picture that is displayed within this work of art. I stood near the intersection of Crenshaw Blvd and Slauson Ave. In my hands, I held a copy of my book entitled 109 — the Nipsey Blue version. I made a color print of the original picture which I adhered to…
David A. Gross
REVOLT produced an interview in partnership with the guys from EYL — Earn Your Leisure. During that interview, David Gross stated that somebody should create a website that showcases Nipsey’s interviews. To that end, I jumped at the chance to compile several of Nipsey’s interviews at my site. The intention is to drive traffic to…
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From Inception to Fruition
My forty-first birthday is quickly approaching. What usually happens during this time is that I have a heightened sense of the presence of the numbers one, zero, and nine (109, in that order). Like the Punch-buggy game we played as children when we saw a Volkswagon Beetle, I amuse myself when I see these numbers….
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