Are You the Plug???

A very common term these days are DJ Khaled's "major key," and the phrase, "the plug." Sorry, I don't know who originated that one. But it's everywhere. The emoji, the phrase...its literally all over. I mean come on, we know it's the real deal when it's the premise of a rap song, right? *hee hee* I kid...kinda.

Urban Dictionary defines the plug as - "a term used to describe someone who is a resource for obtaining something valuable that would otherwise be difficult to obtain."

Basically being the plug usually means that you are the connect, the source, and/or the way to get all things one would want for the purpose of being equal parts lit, poppin' or for my more mature audiences, prosperous.

However, in this instance, me asking if you are the plug, is a bit more related to what a plug literally does. A plug is the device or the vessel used to conduct electric current. It is the thing that delivers a source of power to turn things on, get them going, make them work and most of all KEEP THEM RUNNING!

So for my creatives specifically I ask...are you the plug?! Is what you are doing revving people up? Is what you are doing something that charges ones batteries by way of inspiring them? Is the work that you put out a conduit for some person, place, thing or sector to be powered up?

In a world where we are a slave to outlets and even own portable devices that store and redistribute power, the need for current is a known one. And with the consistent slaying of black and brown people, this clusterfu*k of an election season, the fear that is purposefully deposited into our lives in various ways and so on, the need for a current of something that incites a 'working order' in us is very necessary.

In the last month or so I have seen my girls in this game killing it. From my favorite short by Katie Mack "Missing You", to my sis Jenny Harney landing the role of Nettie on Broadway in The Color Purple, my girl Jemier Jenkins' pending series Spiked Lemonade (that I am in!) to virgin playwright Adiagha Faizah releasing some powerful short plays with a relevancy that is presently unmatched at this moment by a first-time playwright. And after seeing all of this work along with all the dopeness on TV like Queen Suga, I was charged up. I was inspired to take stock and keep going! There are so many doing irrefutable work out there that allows them the chance to be the plug. And they also keep on the pulse of who's out there to get charged up as well.

So ask yourselves Shining Starrs...are you the plug? Or is your output weak and your chord frayed? Do you conduct any energy at all?! Or are you not just the plug for immediate power, but someone with something that creates enough juice to allow folks to store it up and be conveniently mobile with it? .. UPWARDLY mobile even!

These are trying times we are in. And its known and felt by all, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic class. The days of creating "just because" are pretty much gone. Not to say that creating for the purpose of providing a distraction from the harsh realities that exist today is obsolete. But you don't have to make revolution-focused work, to encourage a revolution. The revolt can simply be against mediocrity (because you only need to peruse YouTube to find it in abundance). Or the revolt can be as heavy as addressing the system and its unending oppression (Hey AVA and The 13th on Netflix). How you choose to be the plug is up to you, really. All that matters is that the work you create drives current and pushes power enough to create a working status of those in receipt of it.

Get your power Shining Starrs, then...turn on the juice! And remember, every power source is begat by another. So don't rest on just charging others. Recharge as needed! It is vital to your continued progress.

Yours in bright, white (bevel-cut chandelier) light...

~Miss O