Skyler Saunders
Bio
I will be publishing a story every Tuesday. Make sure you read the exclusive content each week to further understand the stories.
In order to read these exclusive stories, become a paid subscriber of mine today! Thanks….
S.S.
Stories (3001)
Filter by community
Life and Production: S3 E1: Contributions
Way of Existence This day was not marked by big government pulling out semiautomatic rifles and training them at the citizens saying, “Pay up or prison!” No. April 15th marked the time when Delawareans’ rights remained intact. They were not out of the powers that be coercing them to trade their income for liberty. But that they donated their dollars in a willing way. Lesane used his smartphone to transmit his funds. He also checked the website of the list of names that showed the non-payers. On that list for the tenth year in a row was Holtzclaw Wert. Lesane paid as much attention to Wert as you would a fly: Enough to destroy him at least in a fiscal sense. Because of the list of non-payers, most names represented people who were barred from banks to barbershops. With a few swipes of his fingers and some quick voice commands, Lesane observed the list of names with whom he refused to do business. Though the list was quite short, it was exact and final for that year. By sending in a donation to the State, each Delawarean enjoyed rights of being free American citizens. Every working man, woman, and a scant amount of children before the age of 18 filled out the tiny, digital form, which proclaimed that they had paid for this wonderful way of existence.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Futurism
Is Billy Porter the Gay Savior?
What is the state of the black man’s masculinity in America? Who determines the guidelines, rules, and parameters for the men of color of direct African descent? The actor and celebutante Billy Porter, a gay black man, maybe redefining the role of the African American male in the United States and even the world. But let’s stick to America. Are we at a time period where black men can show up to award shows with evening tuxedo-gowns with their white husbands? While this may be a display of might for the LGBTQ community, what does it say about the black man in America who should be teaching the male youths about how centuries of demasculinization has prompted other cultures to malign and disregard the black man?
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Geeks
Is Society Punishing R. Kelly?
For decades, the business of music and media as a whole have been fueled by the secular and the profane or the grand and the coarse or God and sex, drugs, and nowadays, hiphop. Seemingly, it would be because most acts grew up in homes espousing faithful values in America. The late, great Prince Rogers Nelson built up an entire career based on the ideals of trying to coalesce the notions of some alleged floating consciousness outside the bounds of reality with the urges of the flesh. Corporeal thoughts and actions meant greater dollar signs to the companies that produce everything from music to pornography and everything in between. The recognition that some mystical force would one day save the makers and consumers of such fair through the blood of the son continues to resonate with audiences. R. Kelly is just a pawn, a freak that has only brought upon himself the indignation of a nation.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Criminal
Is Jussie Smollett the Spokesman for Millennials?
Tupac Amaru Shakur was a revolutionary figure, a prophet, and one of the foremost legends ever to be produced by the hip hop genre. His outspokenness mixed with his ability to cater to street sensibilities and the THUG LIFE (“The Hatred U Give Little Infants F–– Everyone”) movement solidified his place as one of the most controversial, poetic, and timely figures of his day. Jussie Smollett is a marginal actor who claims that he is the “Gay Tupac.” This is offensive to the estate of Mr. Shakur and the LGBTQ community. But both Mr. Smollett and the representatives of this faction of the world are in error for propagating the notion of an anti-concept, the “hate crime.” Even if (which appears to be doubtful based on the facts) Smollett had been attacked for his being a gay African American man, it would not mean that his chemical makeup or life as a gay person grants him special privileges before the law. Smollett brings the thought of a scared little boy in a man’s frame. Sensing that he would lose face over the whole debacle, he hid behind both the Pan-African and the rainbow flags.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Criminal
Does T.I. Stand for the Intellectual?
There once was a Douglass High School principal in Atlanta, Georgia who encouraged his students to employ a sophisticated vocabulary in their speech. He walked the hallways like a southern Joe Louis Clark whose sections of his life made it to the big screen as played by Morgan Freeman in Lean on Me (1989). Enter Clifford Harris. A young knucklehead who was as backward as his hat in his ways. Even though he would drop out of high school eventually, he never forgot the teachings and lessons that he learned from this Atlanta principal. Fast forward about twelve years and one of the hottest MC’s to ever come from the womb of the South, T.I./TIP emerged with a flow and a unique way of expressing his music like the blues. He picked up the slang of the streets and called it trap music, stylized as TRAP MUZIK. After a slew of altercations with the law, T.I. would be a number one best selling artist while contending against the clutches of the carceral system.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Beat
Is Troy Ave Better Than Drake?
The rap world is fractured. On different planes, you have a Pulitzer Prize-winning act like Kendrick Lamar and on the other you have energetic and rambunctious figures like Soulja Boy still holding it down for pop-friendly and street-oriented fair. But at the top of the mountain sits a Canadian mogul who has achieved widespread acclaim and fortune to boot. This figure is of course Aubrey “Drake” Graham. With radio-friendly cuts and sometimes velvety hooks and entire songs to his credit, Drake has outperformed the competition for over a decade in terms of sales and skills. But what about the rappers at the other end of the spectrum with lower sales but higher credibility towards street figures? Roland “Troy Ave” Collins represents this bracket of hip-hop artists.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Beat
Firm, but Not Crushing
Steel and glass enveloped the building in Wilmington, Delaware. A young COO named Kholer Ingot entered the skyscraper with energy and readiness. He possessed a chestnut skin tone and a flattop hairstyle. He was 33. His impeccable suit wrapped around him with exquisite precision. He journeyed to the elevator bay and boarded the enclosed space. He selected the 60th floor. Upon reaching that level, he met with the CEO of Afroflex Plastics, Alder Mann. Gray flecks in his dreadlocks showed his age. This CEO moved slower at his 97 years. But his mind remained glass shard sharp. He sat in a large room with 24 chairs around a huge oak table.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Journal
World Aflame
Vespucciland and brand reigned at the fashion shows. The Wilmington, Delaware based company set the tone for other fashion houses. Its head designer, Trill von Caseman had dreamed up the idea of the fashion line in his basement. He wanted to create a label that featured high end clothing and accessories that could compete with the French and Italian designers. Caseman’s 38-year-old frame held within it the fire to innovate, to concoct, to invent. A T-shirt cost $800. Dress shoes showed price tags approaching $10,000. But with the advent of celebrities wearing his line on red carpets and musicians sporting his gear in their videos, the American company excelled at marketing.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in The Swamp
Ideas, Not Guns
Henrik Colm, contributing editor for the Delaware Times, stepped away from his computer. The glow from his smart devices illuminated his cherrywood skin, cropped Afro. He silenced his smartphone and switched off his tablet and notebook. He wanted to get out into the world and get his information on the six percent of private school shootings that have occurred on American soil from 2000 to 2018.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in The Swamp
Appropriate
The pieces of fabric fell to the floor like joy unraveling. Kitchens remained bereft of all food items. Potato sacks replaced the dresses and suits and denim jeans and t-shirts. Everyone in the United States all looked the same—ashen and like grey blobs of paint against a portrait of utter bleakness. Henrik Niles and his wife Anita were with their three children, Bradford (12), Caxton (eight), and Cecily (five), all huddled in their house as the government officials cleared out their home in Alapocas, Delaware. The expansive space proved to be a gem for the Appropriators to rummage through, ransack, and rob the rightful owners, their property. The sun on this day in August blistered the Delaware area and sent tensions high. Families lined up down the blocks filled with spacious mansions. This anger simmered as the Appropriators went in and out of homes like pest control agents.
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in The Swamp
Motarded
A fire truck red pickup truck with chrome around the fenders and dual exhaust pipes roared to a stop at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Newark, Delaware. Private First Class Klyde Bakeman hopped out of the truck and yelled, “Oohrah!” He had covered the truck in decals: one read the “Rifleman’s Creed,” in red of course; another showed a bulldog with a KA-Bar between its teeth, another showed the division Bakeman hoped he be assigned to, First Marine Division; and among the dozens of “Semper Fi” stickers he also had a large Eagle Globe and Anchor decal on the hood of the truck in metallic gold. A vanity plate simply read, "Chesty."
By Skyler Saunders7 years ago in Serve
