A perfect soccer storm frenzy, with a strong magnetic pull is connecting the dots, putting Able Made, UMBF, and Suzanne’s big heart in the heart of it all.

Suzanne McKenzie, Founder/COO of Able Made, the “Original Off Pitch Soccer Style brand and Founder of the Ucal Breakaway Foundation (UMBF) has earned her rightful spot smack in the middle of the whirlwind of fresh interest in the world’s favorite game – soccer – here in the U.S.

OFF PITCH SOCCER STYLE – TOTALLY ON POINT.

Elizabeth Egan’s essay about Bridget Jones’ Diary in The New York Times made me think about representation in culture, particularly pop culture and every multicultural dimension. These days people call to be seen and heard on screens big and small. They want their stories to be reflected in Hollywood stories, in magazines and in fashion. People of color. People with disabilities. LGBTQ people. People who hate labels. All kinds of people. Representation matters.

I kept a copy of Bridget Jones Diary in my night table for over a decade. Every time I felt sad or depressed or down, I would open a page, any page, and find solace and even happiness. I felt a kinship with this fictional character I have hardly ever felt with any other person, fictional or otherwise. We understood each other. We liked each other.

The Gucci video comes out in a moment of important transition for the Italian label. After seven years as creative director, Alessandro Michele left his position late last year leaving behind stellar sales and a remarkable style legacy for the brand. He is being replaced by Sabato de Sarno, who will show his first Gucci collection in September, one of the most anticipated shows of next season. The celebration of a decade of the Chime Campaign could not be coming at a more opportune moment, when Gucci needs all the good will it can get.

Beyond marketing or commercial considerations, the socially-conscious campaigns of luxury brands are serving a purpose and are making a difference. A big difference, in many cases. And that is great news.

The name Prophet stuck with me, and so did he.

I am eternally grateful to some incredible community leaders in Watts/Jordan Downs in South Los Angeles who kept telling me ‘You have to meet Prophet Walker, he loves design!’

Over the past 10 years I have come to know Prophet, a man with a huge heart and tireless commitment to building better community – drawing from his lived experience to make the world a better place through the power of connection. Turning lemons into lemonade or using the metaphor of a treehouse to reimagine communal living – both are now part of the fabric of Prophet Walker’s journey and legacy. Treehouse continues to spread its branches into new neighborhoods, propelling new communities and making the world a better place for others.

I am so happy to introduce you.

You could argue that politics as entertainment is a poison that has been brewing for decades, surely not only on Fox, but the cable news explosion of the last few years has made it more prevalent and dangerous.You have 24 hours of news cycles that are treated as a banquet for editorial comment, the most ferocious the better, ending in a competition between the outrageous and the indignant were truth, poor truth, is left as an afterthought. Of course, the contempt for facts and the rising trend of conspiracy theories- all mixed in the pot of social media and now artificial intelligence- make things even more complicated. We seem to live in a gaslighted universe.

Suddenly, older icons are everywhere. Shortly before dying at 87, writer Joan Didion posed in dark sunglasses for Celine. (The sunglasses sold later in auction for $27,000). Legendary model Carmen Dell’Orefice, who started her career at 15 in 1945, just appeared on the April cover of Vogue Czechoslovakia, photographed by Albert Watson. She is now 91. A few weeks ago Saint Laurent launched a new campaign- “Director’s cut”- with four famous film directors-Abel Ferrara, David Cronenberg, Jim Jarmusch, and Pedro Almodovar-, all in their seventies and eighties, as models of cool and style.

We are living longer and better - and culture is taking notice.

Art at a Time Like This intentionally searches out and shines a light on bold curators and emerging artists showcasing on-line exhibits that address some of the most urgent social issues of the moment: gender equality, climate change, Black Lives Matter, human rights violations, systemic problems within the justice system, the farmer’s revolution in India and the fragility of Democracy in the United States . . . just to mention a few, all created and imagined by a deliberately diverse/international group of artists and curators.

Few people knew about Alvin Baltrop and his work until 2008, when Art Forum published a long article about him. Fashion Designer Joseph Altuzarra read the story and the photographer and his haunting images got his attention.

“What’s Going On” at the Rubell Museum DC, looks to respond “to pressing social and political issues that continue to affect society today” – say Museum officials- through 190 art pieces created by 50 artists, including Natalie Ball, Rashid Johnson, Richard Prince, Sylvia Snowden, Hank Willis Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, Kennedy Yanko, and Cajsa von Zeipel, among many others.

In these rapidly changing times, Jackson is particularly fitted to lead the NEA. She grew up in Los Angeles, the daughter of a postal service employee and a teacher, both determined to inculcate an appreciation for creativity and art in their children. Her city allowed her to grow in a diverse, multicultural environment and she is well aware of the power of the arts to create social change.

“ For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it”. Ah, her words! Amanda Gorman is a poet, of course, and uses her writing as a tool to fight for the issues causes she cares about- social justice, racial and gender equality, the protection of Democracy-, which makes her also a powerful activist determined to impact change through her voice.

Besides being fashionably chic and irresistible, Lingua Franca has a social and political spirit that is literally stitched into its heart. Under the slogan “Give a Damn!” the company, created by Rachelle Hruska McPherson, has raised over a million dollars for equity awareness and social causes that range from Marriage Equality to Peace for Ukraine.

The beautiful energy of Shantell Martin blew into my universe this spring – we met through dance. Her leap from the page to the stage felt like a natural place for this visual artist to explore – bringing the physicality of her drawing into lyrical movement where musicality, the human form and a playful richness of the performance, the stage set and costuming meld into an alternate universe.