In "A Woman is Free," Trey Knowles emphasizes that God gave women free will, and no man—especially one who is not her husband—has the right to control her. Since God is above man, a woman should not be forced to cover her head or face if she chooses not to.
Trey Knowles' album "Wisdom Calls" is a powerful musical journey from darkness and destruction into light and life. Centered on the transformative power of wisdom, the album portrays wisdom as a guiding force that offers protection, blessing, and direction, shielding listeners from harm and leading them toward purpose and clarity.
Trey Knowles - "Wisdom Call" Album Release 5/30/
Trey Knowles’ message in "Hugo Black" speaks to young people about how the system can be biased against them, highlighting how some members of the Ku Klux Klan have been appointed as judges, reinforcing systemic injustice.
Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party and a devoted New Dealer, Black endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections.
Before he became a senator, Black espoused anti-Catholic views and was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. An article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that he temporarily resigned from the Klan in 1925 to bolster his senatorial campaign, before quietly rejoining in 1926. In 1937, upon being appointed to the Supreme Court, Black said: "Before becoming a Senator I dropped the Klan. I have had nothing to do with it since that time. I abandoned it. I completely discontinued any association with the organization."
Black served as the secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference and the chair of the Senate Education Committee during his decade in the Senate. Having gained a reputation in the Senate as a reformer, Black was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Roosevelt and confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 63 to 16 (six Democratic Senators and ten Republican Senators voted against him). He was the first of nine Roosevelt appointees to the court, and he outlasted all except for William O. Douglas.
The fifth longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history, Black was one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the 20th century. He is noted for using historical evidence to support textualist arguments, his position that the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights were imposed on the states ("incorporated") by the Fourteenth Amendment, and his absolutist stance on the First Amendment, often declaring "No law [abridging the freedom of speech] means no law." Black expanded individual rights in his opinions in cases such as Gideon v. Wainwright, Engel v. Vitale, and Wesberry v. Sanders.
Black's views were not uniformly liberal. During World War II, he wrote the majority opinion in Korematsu v. United States (1944), which upheld the internment of Japanese Americans ordered by the president Franklin Roosevelt. During the mid-1960s, Black became slightly more conservative. Black opposed the doctrine of substantive due process (the pre-1937 Supreme Court's interpretation of this concept made it impossible for the government to enact legislation that conservatives claimed interfered with the freedom of business owners),: 107–108 and believed that there was no basis in the words of the Constitution for a right to privacy, voting against finding one in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). 241–242 He also took conservative positions in cases such as Shapiro v. Thompson, Goldberg v. Kelly, Tinker v. Des Moines, and Cohen v. California where he distinguished between "pure speech" and "expressive conduct".
Early years
Black was born in Harlan, Clay County, Alabama, on February 27, 1886, the youngest of eight children born to William Lafayette Black and Martha (Toland) Black. In 1890 the family moved to Ashland, the county seat. The family came from a Baptist background.
Black attended Ashland College, an academy located in Ashland, then enrolled at the University of Alabama School of Law. He graduated in 1906 with an LL.B. degree, was admitted to the bar, and began to practice in Ashland. In 1907, Black moved to the growing city of Birmingham, where he built a successful practice that specialized in labor law and personal injury cases.
As a consequence of his defense of an African American who was forced into a form of commercial slavery after incarceration, Black was befriended by A. O. Lane, a judge connected with the case. When Lane was elected to the Birmingham City Commission in 1911, he asked Black to serve as a police court judge – his only judicial experience prior to the Supreme Court. In 1912, Black resigned to return to practicing law full time. In 1914, he began a four-year term as the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney.
During World War I, Black resigned to join the United States Army. He served in the 81st Field Artillery, and attained the rank of captain as the regimental adjutant. When the regiment departed for France, its commander was ordered to return to Fort Sill to organize and train another regiment, and he requested Black as his adjutant. The war ended before Black's new unit departed the United States, and he returned to law practice. He joined the Birmingham Civitan Club during this time, eventually serving as president of the group. He remained an active member throughout his life, occasionally contributing articles to Civitan publications.
In the early 1920s, Black became a member of the Robert E. Lee Klan No. 1 in Birmingham, and he resigned in 1925. In 1937, after his confirmation to the Supreme Court, it was reported he had been given a "grand passport" in 1926, granting him life membership to the Ku Klux Klan. In response to this news, Black said he had never used the passport and had not kept it. He further stated that when he resigned he completely discontinued his Klan association, that he had never resumed it, and that he expected never to resume his membership.
On February 23, 1921, he married Josephine Foster, with whom he had three children: Hugo L. Black, II (1922–2013), an attorney; Sterling Foster (1924–1996), and Martha Josephine (1933–2019). Josephine died in 1951; in 1957, Black married Elizabeth Seay DeMeritte.
What happened to Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30? In this revealing episode of the Black Jesus series, we explore how the Ethiopian Bible holds the missing pieces—details that were erased, hidden, or ignored in modern translations.
Black Jesus uncovers ancient texts preserved only in the Ethiopian Bible, shedding light on Jesus’ early teachings, travels, and spiritual development. These lost years carry powerful truths that change everything we thought we knew.
For centuries, the Ethiopian Bible has preserved stories the West kept buried—stories that align with the mission and message of Black Jesus. Now it's time to reclaim this knowledge and understand why the world was never meant to know it.
Trump's Plan to 'Unleash' Police Risks More Abuses of Everyone's Rights
President Donald Trump's executive order empowering local cops will create bad incentives that could prove costly for law-abiding citizens.
It wasn't a surprise when President Donald Trump penned his recent executive order that calls "for cities to unleash high-impact local police forces." In 2017, the president told a police audience about handling crime suspects: "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. You just see them thrown in—rough. I said, 'Please don't be too nice.'"
The official line was that he was just joking, but even some police officials were uncomfortable with making light of police brutality. In the ensuing years, Trump's rhetoric has only gotten worse. His recent use of the word unleashing wasn't by accident. Unleash means "to let happen or begin something powerful that, once begun, cannot be controlled."
The purpose of the Constitution is to put the leash on the government and its agents. In the Declaration of Independence, colonists complained that the British king "sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." Police officers are the front line between the government and the people—and few others have such power to deprive us of our liberties and lives.
Many conservatives applauded the order, arguing that he's merely empowering police to do their jobs. But police and prosecutors have plenty of tools. Similarly, this administration has mocked the constitutional process of due process, whereby the accused get their day in court. That protects the innocent more than the guilty by simply requiring the government to prove its case.
As someone who has covered police-abuse cases, I can guarantee that officers make mistakes, can be overly aggressive, and on occasion are corrupt. After the 1980s-era War on Drugs, police often have used tactics more appropriate to an occupying military force rather than to civilian police officers. If you think police should be unrestrained, get back to me after a SWAT team gets the wrong address and invades your house instead.
This is not about letting police do their jobs. Let's say a President Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom—or whichever potential Democratic politician keeps you awake at night—issued an executive order calling for the feds to "unleash high-impact" Internal Revenue Service, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, or Environmental Protection Agency officers. Would you say, "That's great, they're just cracking down on tax cheats, illegal guns, and environmental scofflaws"?
Of course not. You'd instead fear they are going to tread on the rights of honest taxpayers, legitimate gun owners, and law-abiding business owners. You'd believe the purpose of the executive order would be political. In 2023, for instance, a Republican-controlled House subcommittee called on the IRS to end "unannounced field visits" because they believed the agency was targeting conservative groups, abusing its power, and harassing ordinary citizens.
I expect this argument to fall on deaf ears, given the inconsistent positions taken by members of each political tribe. As an aside, I saw a pickup truck with a "don't tread on me" flag bumper sticker and one of those blue-striped flags symbolizing support for police. Who, exactly, does the driver think will tread on his rights? We're all supportive of police who honestly and legally use their authority to battle crime, but only the most naïve person would believe that unleashing them from legal constraints will only hobble gang-bangers and felons.
In many ways, police have already been unleashed from reasonable limits. Consider the issue of civil asset forfeiture, whereby police officers, FBI agents, and other law enforcement officials take the homes, cars, and cash of people who have never been accused of a crime. That also started with the War on Drugs. Federal officials argued that the best way to stifle criminal gangs was to take their assets.
That's a fair point, provided it's bound by normal, legal standards—i.e., forcing the government to prove an underlying crime before engaging in a taking. Unfortunately, police take what they want based on their own claims—and then force the owners to prove their innocence to reclaim their life's savings. This is what unleashing looks like in the real world.
As one of the founders of that program has argued, it "has turned into an evil itself, with the corruption it engendered among government and law enforcement coming to clearly outweigh any benefits." And that abuse only involves our property. Imagine the abuses that will result when police are free to use whatever violence they deem necessary—and when those who abuse their powers are given even more protections from accountability.
Sure, most police officers are honorable, which makes it all the more appalling to incentivize bad ones. "Bad cops are the product of bad policy," wrote Radley Balko, author of Rise of the Warrior Cop. "And policy is ultimately made by politicians. A bad system loaded with bad incentives will unfailingly produce bad cops." These Trump actions provide all the wrong incentives—and law-abiding citizens have much more to fear from them than criminals.
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
Trey Knowles' "America Cancel the Culture" is a powerful song that exposes the toxic elements of American culture and how they have harmed Black, Brown, and White communities—along with the broader global society. The lyrics portray America as a destructive force, a "beast" that manipulates and exploits minorities, causing deep psychological damage to countless lives around the world.
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Project 2025 is a conservative policy initiative led by The Heritage Foundation, aiming to provide a blueprint for governance should a Republican administration take office in 2025. The checklist outlines key actions and policy shifts across various government departments, focusing on areas like economic policy, immigration, education, and federal administration.
The plan emphasizes reducing the size of the federal government, rolling back regulations, strengthening border security, and reshaping education policy to align with conservative principles. It also advocates for changes in leadership across federal agencies to ensure alignment with its agenda.
Trey Knowles’ “Birth Defects” explores how the enemy disrupts your path, striking at your foundation and placing obstacles meant to drain the life out of you. The song draws a powerful metaphor, showing that when people are abused, mistreated, or pushed out of their natural state of being, it causes deep emotional and psychological damage—likened to taking a wild animal from its natural habitat and forcing it into an unfamiliar, hostile environment.
Tides are primarily caused by the moon's gravitational pull on Earth's oceans, which creates bulges of water on both the side closest to and farthest from the moon. The sun's gravity also contributes to tides, but to a lesser extent. The moon's gravity is the main driver of tides, especially when the moon and sun are aligned, resulting in higher tides during full and new moons.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
1. The Moon's Gravitational Influence:
The Moon's gravity exerts a differential force on Earth, pulling water towards it and creating a bulge on the side of Earth closest to the Moon.
Because of inertia, water also bulges out on the opposite side of Earth, away from the Moon.
These bulges are the high tides, and the areas between them are the low tides.
2. The Sun's Influence:
The Sun also has a gravitational effect on Earth's tides, but it's less powerful than the Moon's due to the Moon's closer proximity.
The Sun's gravitational pull contributes to higher tides during full and new moons, when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned.
3. Spring Tides:
When the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned (during full and new moons), their gravitational forces combine, leading to higher high tides and lower low tides, called spring tides.
Spring tides are typically 20% higher than normal and occur twice a month, coinciding with the full and new moons.
4. Neap Tides:
When the Sun, Earth, and Moon form a right angle (during the first and third quarter moons), their gravitational forces partially cancel each other out, resulting in lower high tides and higher low tides, called neap tides.
5. Other Factors:
The shape of the Earth's coastlines and the depth of the ocean also influence tide patterns.
Tidal friction between the Moon and Earth is also slowly slowing down Earth's rotation.
The Olmecs (/ˈɒlmɛks, ˈoʊl-/) or Olmec were an early known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 BCE during Mesoamerica's formative period. They were initially centered at the site of their development in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, but moved to La Venta in the 10th century BCE following the decline of San Lorenzo. The Olmecs disappeared mysteriously in the 4th century BCE, leaving the region sparsely populated until the 19th century.
Among other "firsts", the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies. The aspect of the Olmecs most familiar now is their artwork, particularly the colossal heads. The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking.
Origins:
Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished since about 2500 BCE, and it has been speculated that the Olmecs derived in part from the neighboring Mokaya or Mixe–Zoque cultures which developed during this time. The beginnings of Olmec civilization have traditionally been placed between 1400 BCE and 1200 BCE. Past finds of Olmec remains ritually deposited at the shrine El Manatí near the triple archaeological sites known collectively as San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán moved this back to at least 1600–1500 BCE. It seems that the Olmec had their roots in early farming cultures of Tabasco, which began between 5100 BCE and 4600 BCE. These shared the same basic food crops and technologies of the later Olmec civilization.
What is today called Olmec first appeared fully within San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, where distinctive Olmec features occurred around 1400 BCE. The rise of civilization was assisted by the local ecology of well-watered alluvial soil, as well as by the transportation network provided by the Coatzacoalcos river basin. This environment may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization such as the Nile, Indus, Yellow River and Mesopotamia. This highly productive environment encouraged a densely concentrated population, which in turn triggered the rise of an elite class.
The elite class created the demand for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture. Many of these luxury artifacts were made from materials such as jade, obsidian, and magnetite, which came from distant locations and suggest that early Olmec elites had access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica. The source of the most valued jade was the Motagua River valley in eastern Guatemala, and Olmec obsidian has been traced to sources in the Guatemala highlands, such as El Chayal and San Martín Jilotepeque, or in Puebla, distances ranging from 200 to 400 km (120–250 miles) away, respectively.
1530 BCE.
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Mansa Musa (reigned c. 1312 – c. 1337) was the ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige, although he features less in Mandinka oral traditions than his predecessors.
He was exceptionally wealthy to an extent that he was described as being inconceivably rich by contemporaries; Time magazine reported: "There's really no way to put an accurate number on his wealth." It is known from local manuscripts and travellers' accounts that Mansa Musa's wealth came principally from the Mali Empire's control and taxing of the trade in salt from northern regions and especially from gold panned and mined in Bambuk and Bure to the south. Over a very long period Mali had amassed a large reserve of gold. Mali is also believed to have been involved in the trade in many goods such as ivory, slaves, spices, silks, and ceramics. However, presently little is known about the extent or mechanics of these trades. At the time of Musa's ascension to the throne, Mali consisted largely of the territory of the former Ghana Empire, which had become a vassal of Mali. The Mali Empire comprised land that is now part of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, the Gambia, and the modern state of Mali.
Musa went on Hajj to Mecca in 1324, traveling with an enormous entourage and a vast supply of gold. En route he spent time in Cairo, where his lavish gift-giving is said to have noticeably affected the value of gold in Egypt and garnered the attention of the wider Muslim world. Musa expanded the borders of the Mali Empire, in particular incorporating the cities of Gao and Timbuktu into its territory. He sought closer ties with the rest of the Muslim world, particularly the Mamluk and Marinid Sultanates. He recruited scholars from the wider Muslim world to travel to Mali, such as the Andalusian poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, and helped establish Timbuktu as a center of Islamic learning. His reign is associated with numerous construction projects, including a portion of Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu.
Mansa Musa's personal name was Musa (Arabic: موسى, romanized: Mūsá), the name of Moses in Islam. Mansa, 'ruler' or 'king' in Mandé, was the title of the ruler of the Mali Empire.
In oral tradition and the Timbuktu Chronicles, Musa is further known as Kanku Musa. In Mandé tradition, it was common for one's name to be prefixed by his mother's name, so the name Kanku Musa means "Musa, son of Kanku", although it is unclear whether the genealogy implied is literal. Al-Yafii gave Musa's name as Musa ibn Abi Bakr ibn Abi al-Aswad (Arabic: موسى بن أبي بكر بن أبي الأسود, romanized: Mūsā ibn Abī Bakr ibn Abī al-Aswad), and ibn Hajar gave Musa's name as Musa ibn Abi Bakr Salim al-Takruri (Arabic: موسى بن أبي بكر سالم التكروري, romanized: Mūsā ibn Abī Bakr Salim al-Takruri).
Musa is often given the title Hajji in oral tradition because he made hajj. In the Songhai language, rulers of Mali such as Musa were known as the Mali-koi, koi being a title that conveyed authority over a region: in other words, the "ruler of Mali".
Pilgrimage to Mecca:
Musa was a Muslim, and his hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, made him well known across North Africa and the Middle East. To Musa, Islam was "an entry into the cultured world of the Eastern Mediterranean". He would have spent much time fostering the growth of the religion within his empire. When Musa departed Mali for the Hajj, he left his son Muhammad to rule in his absence.
Musa made his pilgrimage between 1324 and 1325, spanning 2700 miles. His procession reportedly included upwards of 12,000 slaves, all wearing brocade and Yemeni silk and each carrying 1.8 kg (4 lb) of gold bars, with heralds dressed in silks bearing gold staffs organizing horses and handling bags.[citation needed]
Musa provided all necessities for the procession, feeding the entire company of men and animals. Those animals included 80 camels, which each carried 23–136 kg (50–300 lb) of gold dust. Musa gave the gold to the poor he met along his route. Musa not only gave to the cities he passed on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina, but also traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he built a mosque every Friday. Shihab al-Din al-'Umari, who visited Cairo shortly after Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca, noted that it was "a lavish display of power, wealth, and unprecedented by its size and pageantry".[51] Musa made a major point of showing off his nation's wealth.
Musa and his entourage arrived at the outskirts of Cairo in July 1324. They camped for three days by the Pyramids of Giza before crossing the Nile into Cairo on 19 July. While in Cairo, Musa met with the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, whose reign had already seen one mansa, Sakura, make the Hajj. Al-Nasir expected Musa to prostrate himself before him, which Musa initially refused to do. When Musa did finally bow he said he was doing so for God alone.
Despite this initial awkwardness, the two rulers got along well and exchanged gifts. Musa and his entourage gave and spent freely while in Cairo. Musa stayed in the Qarafa district of Cairo and befriended its governor, ibn Amir Hajib, who learned much about Mali from him. Musa stayed in Cairo for three months, departing on 18 October with the official caravan to Mecca.
Musa's generosity continued as he traveled onward to Mecca, and he gave gifts to fellow pilgrims and the people of Medina and Mecca. While in Mecca, conflict broke out between a group of Malian pilgrims and a group of Turkic pilgrims in the Masjid al-Haram. Swords were drawn, but before the situation escalated further, Musa persuaded his men to back down.
Musa and his entourage lingered in Mecca after the last day of the Hajj. Traveling separately from the main caravan, their return journey to Cairo was struck by catastrophe. By the time they reached Suez, many of the Malian pilgrims had died of cold, starvation, or bandit raids, and they had lost much of their supplies.
Having run out of money, Musa and his entourage were forced to borrow money and resell much of what they had purchased while in Cairo before the Hajj, and Musa went into debt to several merchants such as Siraj al-Din. However, Al-Nasir Muhammad returned Musa's earlier show of generosity with gifts of his own.
On his return journey, Musa met the Andalusi poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, whose eloquence and knowledge of jurisprudence impressed him, and whom he convinced to travel with him to Mali. Other scholars Musa brought to Mali included Maliki jurists.
According to the Tarikh al-Sudan, the cities of Gao and Timbuktu submitted to Musa's rule as he traveled through on his return to Mali. It is unlikely, however, that a group of pilgrims, even if armed, would have been able to conquer a wealthy and powerful city. According to one account given by ibn Khaldun, Musa's general Saghmanja conquered Gao. The other account claims that Gao had been conquered during the reign of Mansa Sakura. Mali's control of Gao may have been weak, requiring powerful mansas to reassert their authority periodically, or it might simply be an error on the part of al-Sadi, author of the Tarikh.
Trey Knowles’ “I Face Death Every Day” is a powerful reflection on the dangers and delusions of modern life. It challenges us to examine what we consume—both mentally and physically—what we pursue, and why we willingly risk our well-being. Living under the spell of a corrupt system, the song questions whether this path aligns with any divine purpose.
An intergalactic war refers to a hypothetical conflict between civilizations from different galaxies, a concept commonly explored in science fiction. It's distinct from interstellar war, which involves conflicts between systems within the same galaxy, and interplanetary war, which occurs between planets within the same planetary system.
Key aspects of intergalactic war in a sci-fi context:
Space Opera Genre:
The concept of intergalactic war is a popular plot device in the space opera subgenre of science fiction, often featuring large-scale space battles and exploration of different alien cultures.
Inter-galaxy Conflict:
Intergalactic war, in a sci-fi context, implies a conflict between civilizations that inhabit different galaxies, potentially involving vast distances, complex political landscapes, and diverse technological capabilities.
Trey Knowles’ song “Self-Control” reflects on the transformative experience of being born again and made new in Christ. It emphasizes the power of praising and thanking God for the gift of self-control, which empowers believers to reject ungodliness and live a renewed life through Christ.
Trey Knowles, also known as Truth & Knowledge, spreads a message of transformation, recognition, salvation, and substance. His work encourages embracing the freedom and liberty found through the Spirit of Christ. He aims to inspire and instruct people to live a life of faith, confidence, and love, preparing for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
