Why Ooloi are so damn sexy

Swazi and I have been reading a book by [hail queen]Octavia Butler called "Lilith's Brood". She is my new prophetess. Her thoughts are nourishment to my existence. Basically, human beings drove themselves out of existence. Crappy air, using up all our stuff, mass production to death, and finally mass-produced warfare and death as a group of (probably McCain supporting) war mongerers decided that the destruction of humanity was the only remedy to what was probably percieved as our "sins" for having let gays marry and Black people have rights and immigrants become citizens....basically they wanted to prevail in the "culture war" and bring on the return of Jesus (my interpretation).

Sadly, Jesus didn't come....we just killed ourselves. The entire world succumbed to a nuclear winter after mass slaughter and humanocide. The end.

But, Lilith awakens. She and other survivors of the war were collected and brought on board a living spacecraft which is home for the Oankali. They are all in suspended animation, after having been interviewed and "fixed". They were rid of all diseases, strengthened, nourished, and given the capacity for long long (centuries long) life, then put back into suspended animation.

It is Lilith's job to assist the Oankali in orienting the newly awakened humans to be taught, mated, and sent back to earth (which the all-knowing Oankali have repaired). But, in exchange for their help, humans must complete a "gene trade" with these intergalactic nomads. The "gene trade" is the way that Oankali ensure their survival. They trade genes with new species they come into contact with, especially ones who are weak and dying, so that all biological diversity can continue. They are collectors.

But humans are unable to reproduce, unless they do so with Oankali. Basically ensuring that genuine "humanity" will never exist again. From this moment forward, they will be hybrids...aliens. Some resist, prefering a childless purely "human" life in often violent colonies on earth. Others do mate with the Oankali. Forming 5 partnered many children households. 1 human hetero pair, 1 oankali hetero pair, and 1 Ooloi.

.....And here's where we get to the sexy part.

The Oankali have 3 genders: Female, Male and an untranslatable Ooloi. Ooloi are completely sensory creatures. They percieve and manipulate genetic material. They touch you and can percieve cellular and functional structures. They are the ones who rid humans of diseases, they are the ones who can heal and can even change the genetic structure of (for example) a tree to begin producing honey. It is a creator. It is not male nor female.

Ooloi takes the material from it's other mates (male and female) and mixes the genes to create the perfect children, ensuring that all of the genes that the Oankali have collected over the past millinea don't go wrong. It carefully constructs children which the females then carry.

They are completely SENSUAL creatures. An Ooloi taps into the nervous system and as it communicates with biology. This can be painful (having it re-grow a liver inside your body might be uncomfortable) so it stimulates neurons to give you intense sensory pleasure, which it then shares wtih you. Not only does it fix you, it gives intense pleasure as it does so.

All of the mating is done through the Ooloi...(who are extremely sexual creatures)...as it wraps it's sensory arms around it's 4 other partners. Everyone shares past and present sensory images. The human female shares her own past lovemaking experiences (including pleasure) with the oankali male, who also shares his experiences, etc. etc. It's like group sex! Except, you're not akwardly one person in a group...wondering what everybody else is thinking (and there are no germs). You actually feel what they feel. It's sex...times 4, delivered and amplified by the Ooloi. I think it's sexy!

Don't read this and believe that I fantasize about these Octavian aliens (which I do...but that's beside the point). Imagine how lovely life would be if we were able to give sensory stimulation to each other? Imagine if I was able to walk up to you, touch you on your neck, and show you pictures of my day. I could show you, let you feel, exactly the excitement I am feeling about the Ooloi, which I am probably doing a terrible job at communicating to you on this blog. What if we were in a deep conversation, where each of us were trying our hardest to be understood. Words often aren't enough. We could just touch each other and give each other sensory pictures and feelings...bypassing conversation.

How much sensory material is lost in translation?

When making love, we look at our partner's face, listen to their words/sounds and feel the way they touch (grab, squeeze) us in order to guess how much they are enjoying the experience. And that makes you enjoy yourself more. But these things are innacurate and boring in comparison to the Ooloi method.

But what if we had an Ooloi....they deliver these sensory experiences directly. I feel him, and I feel how he feels me, and he feels how I feel him feeling me, and I feel how he feels how I feel him feeling me....etc etc ETC! And it has this amazingly amplifying effect.

if only.

Why Kanye's New Video makes my Love Lockdown

Welcome to the Afrofuture! Completely blank and empty. Everything else has been wiped away. We've outlasted all of our oppressions and oppressors...the universe is ours to fill.

I saw art, praise, reverance and identification with, not exoticization of! This is what goes on inside of him…these people are him. This is a depiction of him. The masquerade in the monochromatic room with him, IS him. I think that’s perfect. These people are me. No matter how many times they've been co-opted by others, they are still me. Still Kanye. I love that he was able to take these images that have been shown over and over and over in an oppressive and exoticizing and distasteful manner, and make them seem fresh and new. Bring them life. Revive them.

I really appreciate bringing traditional eastern/southern African masquerades, war attire, party gear, all kinds stylization within those aesthetics ... into the future. I even saw a spaceship! Telescope, monochromatic surroundings, and the women at the end with the bright colors were very neon. I thought it was very afro futuristic and no oppressors were a part of the dialogue. They may watch it (and probably helped make it…but obviously lots of black people helped too) but they damn sure aren’t represented in it!

No bones, no flies, no drooping breasts, no national geographic. Why can’t art be African influenced? If the video had been Japanese themed with samurai warriors and the big Japanese taiko drums, it would not have been so offensive (Swazi and I seem to have the same mind). I thought it was beautiful and I saw myself in it (especially the part with the women w/ponytails…looked a little Fulani-esque to me).

We don’t have to be afraid of all depictions of traditional African culture and aesthetic.

Those mythological American paintings of naked black women being pregnant with the world (in my daddy’s living room) scare me a lot more than this video ever could.