Herb Sundays 86: Dante Ross (Apple, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon). Art by Michael Cina. “Before hip-hop consumed my life (and my crew's), we listened to what we then called ‘club music’ alongside early hip-hop and post-punk/new wave. As a kid, I had a gig skating a half pipe in a nightclub called Area in Tribeca for a summer. After work, my friend the fabulous Ms. Lysa Cooper, and a crew of super hip, beautiful girls and guys would go to the legendary Paradise Garage and dance till daylight, then go to Rockaway Beach and nap on the beach.

In my last Substack, I argued that it was time for churches to stop singing Hillsong worship music. Given all we now know about the global enterprise — including the alleged coverup of sexual abuse, plus leaders’ financial impropriety and mistreatment of staff — I argue it now lacks integrity, and hampers Christian witness, for churches to financially s… ncG1vNJzZmijkamyrcXNm5yarKljwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89on56qlWKus7GMcWSgqpWWwW7DzquqoaGgYq6zwMisq6w%3D

One January day in 1993, Bryan Shelton stood in the lobby of the Como Hotel in Melbourne, Australia, when he locked eyes with a girl. He was a tennis player; she was a rival’s sister, and since they both lived on the wild merry-go-round that is professional tennis, they could only have found themselves in Melbourne for one reason: the Australian Open. Bryan asked for her name. “Lisa,” she said.

Hojo Masako Died on This Day, August 16, 1225 Said to be “The most important woman in Japanese military history”, political leader Hojo Masako was born in 1156 during the tumultuous warring of the late Heian period Hogen and Heiji Rebellions, two short civil conflicts fought over the Imperial succession. The Hogen no Ran in particular is seen as the basis for the emerging dominance of the samurai class.  

Certainly, for Native Americans with dreams of acting and filmmaking, this includes participating in the Oscars. Also known as the Academy Awards, staged annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and broadcast to millions from Los Angeles, California, in recognition of excellence in film. However, to this day, no Native American woman of any tribe located in the United States has stood on that stage to receive or give an award.