The purpose of this post entry here on ReNudePride: Guys Without Boxers! is to provide the history leading into the celebration of National Nude Recreation Week.
This week-long festival of body and clothes freedom recreational (leisure) activities is jointly co-sponsored annually by the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR) and The Naturist Society (TNS). As summer is the “season-in-the-sun,” it is only logical (natural) that two major naturist/nudist advisory organizations proclaim and promote an event in honour of clean, healthy bare (nude) living. The recent tendency over the last several years is to observe this occasion the week following the 4 July holiday.
Celebrate the occasion naked!
National Nude Recreation Week involves an emphasis on the numerous activities, leisure services, and pastimes, both active and passive, that people may engage in or undertake while clothes free. In essence, almost identical to what can be enjoyed when wearing garments. This isn’t to imply this special week is the only time we bare our bodies for fun and games. We do that quite frequently!
The race to the beach!
The history of National Nude Recreation Week is recent with the earliest documented date of 7 August, 1976, as being Nude Beach Day. It was first observed at Truro Beach in southern California and at the Head of the Meadow Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The Nude Beach Day was continued at the same locations and by the end of the 1970s decade, it soon expanded into the National Nude Weekend in order to expand the time of the clothes free event. As many traditional naturist/nudist camps, resorts and other facilities weren’t located with access to a clothing optional beach it soon became apparent that another name change and another expansion of the theme was necessary.
A memorable Nude Recreation Week!
Many existing clothes free businesses, facilities and properties were first-hand witnesses to the rapidly growing numbers of people now taking advantage of the weekend event. They sought to grow their own markets by affiliating with the already established destinations. This new interest helped the popularity of the event to grow even more and added additional incentives for development and growth.
In the early 1980s, the weekend then evolved into the current event known as National Nude Recreation Week. This extended time period encouraged even more people to explore social nudity and to try new opportunities.
Expand horizons!
Author’s Advisory:
Rest assured that even without an “officially” declared National Nude Recreation Week, the ever-resourceful bare practitioner community and culture would need no excuse to strip out of clothes and stroll about in proud nakedness. After all, our nudity is firmly implanted in our DNA! Besides, none of us would ever want to change!
Strolling together!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, July 11, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Nude Recreation Week #2!”
It is obvious that our bare practitioner community and culture isn’t the only organization observing June as a month of Pride! This rainbow coloured park bench is indicative that this same distinction is shared by this local recreation and parks agency also! This rainbow park bench serves as a reminder to us all that celebrating Pride is not limited solely to the month of June nor just to the GLBTQ+ population!
Even in a shallow water level, relaxing while enjoying nakedness is still considered the all-time favourite aquatic activity known as skinny-dipping (swimming naked)!
A bottoms-up! hairy pair of buttocks is all that’s necessary to mark the closure of Pride Month, 2025!
A serious yet solemn stare as he provides a full viewing of his very personal contribution in commemoration of this Bottoms-Up! June, 2025!
Aquatics Bottoms-Up! celebrating Pride Month, 2025! in a very fun inspired posing while taking a dive into the neighbourhood pool skinny-dipping (swimming naked)! Seasonally appropriate, comfortably cooling and very inviting!
The bromantic (brother + romantic) bare practitioner strolling duo: same-gender loving (SGL) and nakedness enthusiasts bottoms-up! at a clothing-optional resort.
Their bare practitioner relationship is apparent and obvious to all as is their bottoms-up! appreciation and comfort! Free from any evidence of embarrassment, guilt or shame! Proud to be what and who they are all year long!
A graphic adaptation of an original artwork by the late gay artist, Keith Haring, who died from complications with AIDS.
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Canada Day, 2025!”
The exterior view of The Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street, New York City, New York, USA, where history happened the evening of 27/28 June, 1969!
Background:
Friday, 27 June, 1969, was a very hot and humid day in New York City. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the approaching weekend and the freedom from having to struggle for relief from the oppressive weather.
At that time, the same gender loving people were known, at least in “polite” society, as “homosexuals” (a name now considered derogatory). The popular nickname was “homos.” This segment of the New York City population was not only oppressed by the weather but also by the bias, discrimination, hatred, marginalization and violence of the general population against all persons seen as homos.
There were laws prohibiting homosexuality socially on record in 49 of the fifty states of the USA. Illinois had repealed its anti-homosexuality legal restrictions in 1961. All segments of society: general, government, legal and religious were united against the “deviant” (homosexual) peoples.
It was unlawful for homosexuals to gather together in public. They were fired from their jobs for being thought of as being homosexual without any legal recourse. They were ridiculed and attacked publicly often without any consequence for those assaulting them. Simply being a homosexual was considered a criminal act.
Everyone was required, by law, to wear clothing appropriate to their birth gender. The only legal exception was for Halloween.
The Stonewall Inn:
The Stonewall Inn (it was never a hotel) opened as a bar catering to the homosexual community in 1967. Prior to that, it had been a stable (for horses), a French bakery, a tearoom and lastly a restaurant that had burned out of business. Upon renovation, it opened as a tavern (bar) on 18 March, 1967, under Mafia-affiliated management and owned by the Genovese crime family.
The establishment consisted of two main rooms, each with its own dance floor. The front room was popular with older clientele and the back room attracted the younger ones.
“The door of the Stonewall had wrought-iron bars across this little “peephole,” a little wooden thing that slid open. The man inside would look at you and, it you looked like you belonged there, he would let you in.” ~ Chris Babick ~ describing the entrance to the Stonewall Inn
*************************
Friday evening, 27 June 1969:
Most of the patrons gathered inside the Stonewall Inn were looking forward to a night of dancing with their friends, relaxing with watered-down cocktails and enjoying a summer’s Friday night in New York City in a place relatively comfortable and safe for homosexual acquaintances. They had no idea that they were about to witness an historical event that would change their lives – and the homosexual world – forever.
Both the dance floors at Stonewall Inn were full of dancing homosexual couples. It was now just after midnight and 28 June, 1969, was now in its infancy. Suddenly, the music stopped. The lights that were dimmed to enhance the atmosphere came back on in a bright glare that caught everyone by surprise. Almost simultaneously, the realization dawned on the festive crowds: New York City police were raiding the bar!
The New York City Police Department was long familiar with conducting raids on homosexual bars (both female and male). Their process for the procedure was fairly routine and standard. They recognized homosexuals as a relatively compliant and passive crowd. For this reason, only one police transport vehicle (“paddy-wagon”) and one marked police squad car were involved in the raid.
Less than a dozen officers were assigned the task of managing and segregating the clientele, confiscating all the alcohol and arresting the Stonewall Inn employees.
Patrons outside Stonewall Inn, early evening, Friday, 27 June, 1969!
Early Saturday morning, 28 June, 1969:
“The police weren’t letting us dance! If there’s one place in the world where you can dance and feel yourself fully as a person and that’s threatened with being taken away, those words are fighting words!” ~ Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt ~ Stonewall Inn patron and participant
The arrival of the police raiding force caused pandemonium to erupt inside the Stonewall Inn. Customers searched in vain for an escape route or for a place to hide. The police immediately began confiscating both liquor and beer as evidence against the establishment and segregating the bar crowd: bar employees, cross-dressers (transgender persons) and the “regular” homosexuals.
The bar employees and cross-dressers were to be arrested for their individual violating the law. The “regular” homosexuals, once they showed officers their proper identification, were to be given citations and then permitted to leave.
The year, 1969, was at the end of a decade that had witnessed massive social unrest. The African-American protests for civil rights, the birth of the feminist and women’s rights movements, the anti-Vietnam war and peace demonstrations and the equal pay marches for primarily Latino/Latina immigrant farm workers were underway during this time. The homosexuals who had participated in some of these public unrests were energized and many wondered when their time for equality would happen. Little did they, and the police raiding the Stonewall Inn, realize that moment had arrived!
As the police began checking the identities of those inside the Stonewall Inn, those with proper credentials were released and herded outside the bar. Only this time, instead of simply leaving the premises, they congregated on the sidewalks and across the street at the Christopher Street Park. Once law enforcement attempted to disperse them, they grew confrontational and belligerent.
Unaccustomed to homosexual defiance, the police continued to press the order to vacate the area. The growing crowd, emboldened by their frustration with being treated as “deviants” and second-class citizens, began to chant and to empty nearby trash cans and hurl the garbage at the officers.
By this time, passers-by, curious as to what was happening, joined the upset homosexuals to express their dissatisfaction with the raid. The crowd outside the Stonewall Inn began to grow in both number, anger and curiosity. When word of what had transpired inside the tavern began to spread, even more homosexuals started to descend into the inn’s neighborhood and amass in the bar’s vicinity.
Angry crowd outside Stonewall Inn, early Saturday morning, 28 June 1969!
SIR: Stonewall Inn Riot commences:
By now, the police, trapped inside the facility by the large crowd outside, understood that the situation had gotten beyond their control. They tried to call for reinforcements but were unable to reach any source for assistance. They had secured the bar but were confined inside and the crowd outside was swelling in both size and fury. A few hundred bar patrons had now increased into an angry mob of several thousand and more were joining by the minute.
“You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters, and it was a good sound. It was a real good sound that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you.” ~ Raymond Castro ~ Stonewall Inn customer detained inside the bar under siege
No one in the New York City Police Department had anticipated the homosexuals, always believed to be “meek and mild,” would fight back. The years of abuse, neglect, oppression, and ridicule had taken their toll, and the frustration had now become revolution; the time for retribution was at hand. Unfortunately for law enforcement, the pent-up anger toward the police was now being released and returned in kind. They were now prisoners inside the Stonewall Inn.
Two hours after the raid was initiated, the raiders and their detainees were trapped and no immediate relief was available. The two-way communication devices between the raiding party and their office weren’t working and the only public telephone inside the tavern wasn’t able to connect with any local police precincts. The “passive” homosexuals had finally achieved a “first” in their spontaneous riot: the police were contained, surrounded and they were all very nervous. By now, the mob outside the Greenwich Village bar numbered several thousand with a full-fledged riot underway.
SIR: Stonewall Inn Riot!Multiple police attack a protester early Saturday morning, 28 June, 1969!
In an effort to relieve the inflammatory predicament, the isolated police decided to send the detainees and half the officers trapped inside the tavern, using the two police vehicles on site, to the closest local precinct. There, the detainees would be formally charged with arrest, and the officers could make arrangements for a police riot force to assemble and rescue the remaining law enforcement personnel. This relief effort finally returned to the bar and eventually dispersed the angry mob of homosexuals and curious onlookers several hours later.
Saturday evening, 28 June, 1969:
Despite damage to the Stonewall Inn, the bar opened for business (dancing and socializing) the following night, Saturday, 28 June. by then, word of the disturbance the previous evening had spread throughout the city’s largely closeted (anonymous) homosexual community (primarily by word of mouth). The city officials and law enforcement superior officers were hesitant to release information that would encourage more aggressive reaction.
A larger than usual crowd gathered both inside and outside the Greenwich Village establishment. Most didn’t expect a repeat raid of the night before and a significant number of those in attendance mainly wanted to inspect the damage. The police, however, had different ideas. They were strictly outside the facility in full force with a large number in riot gear. They had learned their lesson and were determined to remain in complete control should the patrons become unruly again.
The homosexuals and the neighbourhood residents had been empowered by the riot the night before and of the mindset not to bullied into submission again. As the large police presence attempted to disperse those gathered outside the Stonewall Inn, they were confronted by verbal insults and an array of street-savvy tactics that set law enforcement chase off onlookers, only to have them run around the city block and return again.
Silent obedience to uniformed policemen was no longer a fact of life for New York City’s homosexuals. They were tired of suffering abuse, disrespect, ridicule and treatment as second-class citizens.
A crowd lining the sidewalk on the Stonewall Inn city block watched by police, Saturday evening, 28 June, 1969!
The second night of the Stonewall Inn congregation wasn’t as aggressively disruptive as the previous night. No further damage was done to the tavern facility. However, an awakening consciousness was raised within the municipal homosexual community that would change the way society viewed them and – most importantly – the way they perceived themselves.
For the first time, the often assumed obedient and passive homosexuals joined together and defended their rights and demonstrated that they, as a community, had finally and long last, “had enough!”
“There was no gay pride before Stonewall. Only gay fear and gay isolation and gay distrust and gay self-hatred.” ~ Edmond White ~ American gay novelist and Stonewall witness
Our GLBTQ+ Progress Pride flag!
Footnote: This posting entry was from a research paper that I composed for class distribution that I taught at my university, 2015 – 2018.
Sources:
Bausman, Ann “Stonewall: Breaking Out for Gay Rights”
Doberman, Martin F. “Stonewall: A History”
Naked hugs!
Roger Peterson-Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, June 30, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! June, 2025!
As we are, this week, approaching the actual dates of the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969, my spouse, Aaron, and I agreed that a look at the historic site of SIR (Stonewall Inn riots) that ignited our movement for equality and justice was appropriate and fitting. A sense of irony that the dates of 2025 coincide in reality with the corresponding days and dates of SIR in 1969!
The purpose of this posting entry today is to offer a visual image of the facilities that played an important role in the SIR event, 1969. It may serve as a reference for those traveling to New York City in the future. A scene from our shared past as it appears today: a glimpse of our history. One that was ignored and overlooked for decades!
The Stonewall Inn, June, 2016!
The image above is of The Stonewall Inn as it was decorated for Pride Month, 2016. The facility was renovated, both externally and internally, in 2007. The Stonewall Inn and surrounding area was designated as a national monument by then-President Barack Hussein Obama on 24 June, 2016. It was the first such designation associated with the GLBTQ+ community and culture.
Footnote #1:The current gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer+ (GLBTQ+) flag was not created nor adopted until June, 2018. The above flag was displayed in honour of then-President Obama’s signing of the Stonewall Inn National Monument status two years earlier.
The Stonewall National Monument is the very first site in the USA exclusively dedicated to the commemoration of anything specifically related to the GLBTQ+ community and culture. The fact that the site underscores the beginning of the struggle for the equality, freedom and justice of that particular community and culture keeps it within the supposed national tradition of all persons being equal under the guise of this country, this government and the law.
Footnote #2: On 13 February, 2025, the National Park Service eliminated all references to transgender persons from the Stonewall National Monument facilities and website. This action was taken so public park facilities would comply with the felon-in-chief executive order denying the history of the Stonewall Inn riots. What was originally promoted as GLBTQ+ is now simply GLB (gay, lesbian, bisexual).
Inresponse, the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative and The Stonewall Inn replied with an appropriate, mature and respectful statement immediately following the issuance of Executive Order #14168:
“This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals – especially transgender women of color – who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for GLBTQ+ rights.”
The Stonewall National Monument!
The Monument Property:
The monument includes and surrounds Christopher Park (formerly known as the Christopher Street Park) that was originally owned by the New Netherlands Director-General, Wouter van Twiller, as a tobacco farm from 1633 until his death in 1638. When he died, the property was divided into smaller farms.
European immigration to New York City (following the Netherlands ceding the New Netherlands colony to the British) magnified and streets and neighborhoods developed. In 1835, the Great Fire of New York City burned the area known as Greenwich Village. The new Christopher Street Park opened in 1837 on the land of the old tobacco farm. The Stonewall Inn, which consisted of two adjacent stables, was built across the street from the park in 1843.
Entrance to Christopher Park, Stonewall National Monument!
The Stonewall National Monument is located in the West Village neighbourhood of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan, New York City. The site includes the actual Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street and Christopher Park (formerly known as the Christopher Street Park).
Then U. S. President, Mr. Barack Obama
“But the arc of history is clear – it’s an arc of progress. And a lot of that progress can be traced back to Stonewall. So, this week, I’m designating the Stonewall National Monument as the newest addition to America’s national park system. Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of GLBT rights.” ~ President Barack Obama ~ Weekly Address, The White House 25 June 2016
Stonewall National Monument, Christopher Park statues!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Thursday, June 26, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “HIV Testing Day!”
The proper name of this date is Juneteenth National Independence Day. It is the most recent federal (national) holiday in the USA, first enacted by then-President Joseph Biden in 2021. It is an annual celebration observed on 19 June (exempt from the Monday holiday policy) to commemorate the formal and official emancipation (freedom) from slavery of the African-American and Indigenous Peoples (Native Americans) in the USA.
The name of this occasion is a combination of the words “June” and “nineteenth” (in the vernacular of the populations freed) because on this exact date, 19 June 1865, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the official enforcement of the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation of the late President Lincoln. This enactment occurred throughout the entire state of Texas at the end of the U.S. Civil War.
Introduction:
The initial celebrations of this happening began as early as 1866 throughout the state known as Texas. Initially, because of the shortages and financial burdens of the civil war and the Union occupation, the events were in the format of local church sponsored community gatherings often featuring a large communal meal with each family/household contributing a special food. Observances soon spread beyond the borders of Texas and into surrounding former slave-owning states, still limited to the liberated enslaved peoples.
Once the Reconstruction (military occupation and administration of the South by the Union army) Period ended, a period known as “Jim Crow” government (racial oppression and legal segregation) ensued throughout the former Confederacy. During this time, the continued unofficial celebrations of the Juneteenth date were held under the auspices of local churches but gradually expanded from food festivals to include music and dancing.
Juneteenth Expansion:
The exceptionally large number of former slaves and their families continued to live in the South due to limited financial resources and travel availability. The U.S. involvement in The Great War (World War I) in 1917 allowed Blacks a chance to improve their economic circumstances by fighting in France. Following the war ending in 1918, The Great Migration happened with hundreds of thousands of African-Americans moving from the rural Southern sharecropping to Nothern and Western industrial factories and a regular paycheck.
This reality opened the doors to introduction and expansion of Juneteenth festivities to local church communities in both northern and western areas of the U.S. The growth increased awareness of and observances of the occasion and its importance to this particular population. Gradually, among churches, statewide and soon national recognition of this event followed.
The success of the civil rights struggle and the repeal of systemic segregation policies in the 1970s and 1980s, a movement emerged urging support of a Juneteenth official observance. This culminated finally in then President Biden signing into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in 2021.
Togetherness!
Juneteenth Myth:
A popular myth/rumor surrounding the earlier observances of the Juneteenth event was the fact that Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses Grant on 9 April, 1865, in the town of Appomattox, Virginia, many hundreds of miles from Texas.
The Southern plantation/slave owners were extremely reluctant to inform their enslaved “property” that they were now free. The myth evolved that the news of the emancipated slaves receiving liberation was only orally repeated from plantation-to-plantation. The Texans were the last to learn of their terminated bondage on 19 June, 1865. Hence the Juneteenth designation.
This word-of-mouth only conveying of the news of freedom from slavery was how many justified the delay in the information of Lee’s surrender to Grant two months earlier.
A Closer Look:
Given the speed of internet, social media and technological marvels, it is almost impossible to comprehend the validity of the myths/rumours of delayed news transmission concerning freedom. However, with the timeline and the reality that the exclusive Southern “upper class” was totally Caucasian, slave-owning and severely financially impacted by the defeat of the rebellious Confederacy, there’s a possibility of some vague truth here.
In addition, the wealth of plantation owners and the upper level of Southern society was frequently based on and measured by the values of those held in servitude. The eradication of slavery as a legality would and did bankrupt an empowered class of that society. Combined with the conclusion of a five-year-long devastating Civil War in which an overwhelming number of battles – and destruction – occurred in the strictly segregated South, this provided circumstances that could lead to some verification of the unsubstantiated Juneteenth myth.
The Unanswered Question:
Why did it take 156 years to designate a holiday to commemorate a major event in this nation’s history? A country that was built for democracy and freedom.
Happy Juneteenth holiday and naked hugs to all!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Saturday, June 21, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Summer, 2025!”
Canadian stamp honouring King Charles III and his Ascension to the Throne of Canada in 2023!
Alternate Title: Majesty Versus Arrogance!
Today, 27 May, 2025, His Majesty, Charles III of Canada and Commonwealth Realms, will open and address the Canadian Parliament from the Throne of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He makes history as the second reigning sovereign to address the politicians from the Throne. The first was his mother, the beloved, gracious and late Queen Elizabeth II who delivered her first address on 14 October, 1957, and her second celebrating her Silver Jubilee on 18 October, 1977.
Queen Elizabeth II delivering Throne Speech, 1957!
The newly elected Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Mark Carney, announced the occasion earlier this month upon his audience with the King at Buckingham Palace in London, UK. The Royal Speech will outline the Liberal Party’s priorities as it stares down the USA’s clown of state, trumpster-dumpster’s (a dumpster is a commercial container for trash) trade war and remarks regarding the annexation of Canada to the USA. The idiot is also known as “Vladimir Putin, Jr.” Footnote: Any disrespect, direct and/or implied, towards the USA’s corrupt, deceitful, MAGA-lomaniac tyrant is deliberately intentional. He has yet to earn any respect from either my spouse, Aaron (who is African-Canadian) and/or me.
Aaron and I both apologize for any offence taken by those reading here.
His Majesty, King Charles III (left) and Mr. Mark Carney (right) in Buckingham Palace!
God save the King and bless all Canadians and Commonwealth subjects! In this day and age, our planet needs all the help that is available!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, May30, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Bottoms-Up! May, 2025!” Reminder: note the new date for this monthly posting series.
A day originally conceived as a time to remember and offer tribute to all persons who sacrificed their lives while fighting to defend this country.
A worthy salute to those who were inspired by patriotism. Unfortunately, the season of the year is more conducive to “fun-in-the-sun” rather than the spirit it initially encouraged.
Patriotic!
Originally known in the USA as Decoration Day, the holiday was created and first observed in the USA on May 30, 1868. It was to honour all the soldiers who had died in the USA Civil War which ended in 1865. By 1890, all the states in the US were commemoration the occasion which was annual.
The world wars during the twentieth century turned it into a day of remembrance for all who had died defending the country. In 1968, an act of congress changed the date of the occasion to the last Monday in May, annually. In 1971, the name was altered by legislation to Memorial Day.
The tradition, now largely ignored, was for flags to fly at half-mast to honour all the deceased. Later, the tradition was altered to fly flags at half-mast until noon then raise them to full-mast. That custom is no longer expected or featured.
Unofficially, Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer holiday season.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, May 27, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “M vs. A!” Also, be advised that the “Bottoms-Up! May, 2025!” posting this month will publish on Friday, May 30, 2025.
Simply: the choice is yours. Please read and act responsibly.
A sunny beach stroll!
Introduction:
Hopefully, the title of today’s post entry here on ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! has caught your attention and curiosity as to the content. If not, the equation covered in the Prologue was intended to eliminate all and any doubt. The purpose and theme are to remind us of the importance of sunscreen in our health needs and especially our skincare.
This hopefully serves as a serious reminder to all of us of the need to incorporate protection strategies into our nakedness. We are all born body and clothes free. That fact allows us an option in determining how we pursue our lives. The intent of this X-Factor component is to reinforce our healthy, honest and informed choices.
This photo-essay offering concludes with an accessible link to my most recent posting on this topic. If anyone needs detailed information on the concerns of sunscreen, please use the linkage featured prior to the signature below.
*************************
Sunscreen!
For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, our season of “natural bare living” is in the process of happening now! As our Springtime unfolds, our opportunities for natural revelation increase daily. The need for clothing diminishes at an accelerated rate and the freedom to express our bare practitioner inclinations expands considerably! The necessity for the aid and protection of sunscreen grows beyond imagination.
For persons living in the Southern Hemisphere, even though the season of intense solar exposure is months away, sunscreen protection is always warranted for any sun exposure, regardless of sunray intensity. A secondary purpose of this post entry is to refresh everyone’s memory: sunscreen is essential for our health and well-being all year long, no matter where we live!
Application!
Each sunscreen is available commercially in a variety of containers, formats and styles. It is a topical product specifically designed to protect skin from the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV rays from the sun can cause premature skin aging, sunburn and skin cancer – including melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer. Wearing sunscreen daily is essential in reducing these harmful effects.
The goal of any sunscreen product is to shield the skin from sun exposure and a broad-spectrum formula that helps block UVA and UVB sunrays is basic for all skin types, ethnicities and races.
Reapply as per instructions!
The length of time for the purpose of sunscreen is recommended for each product. Everyone is encouraged to follow the commercial instructions as closely as possible and to individually decide the effectiveness. Variations are based on personal needs and the products overall rating. Not every product is identical. It is highly encouraged to all persons that when purchasing a new type of sunscreen product to apply a little to a small area of the body to test the product and individual reaction to it.
When applying the sunscreen, numerous bare practitioners – Aaron and myself included – recommend a “dual application” process. This involves rubbing the product into the skin and awaiting time for the product to be absorbed and then repeating the process. This reduces the chance of any area of skin being accidentally uncovered and unprotected.
Sunscreen application!
If at all possible, having an acquaintance, family member or a friend helping to spread the protection is advised. Their assistance helps to cover areas difficult to reach if applying alone and also guarantees thorough coverage of the entire body with protection. This cooperation also encourages us to share experiences and problems with others that we otherwise would not be able to exchange.
The growing market of sunscreen products offer many different varieties. This interaction gives us an opportunity to gain experience, knowledge and a sampling of products that we might not have accessibility to or reason to try.
Sunscreen is for everyone!
Despite extensive outreach efforts, there is still a significant number of persons who are of the erroneous mindset that Black people (persons of African descent) do not need to use sunscreen. This misconception is based on the false belief that their melanin-infused skin completely eliminates the need for sunscreen for protection. Yes, darker skin does protect from some UV sunrays, but all persons, regardless of their skin tones, need the protection of sunscreen.
Darker skin tones indeed have a greater genetic protection than fairer skin tones, however, humans have no natural blockage of all ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. Everyone has a natural deficiency.
For a more detailed information offering on sunscreen, please visit the post entry linked below:
Mayhem: A state of disorder or riotous confusion. Havoc or uncertainty.
That is absolutely a description of the theme of this month – unfortunately, today is only the fifth day of a thirty-one-day May! What will happen next? This month is usually one that is relatively predictable and set. It is the ending of the Spring semester at university and allows me the commencement of my “all-too-brief” Summer holiday!
Notation: The above situation was presented by a colleague of mine to her class. With her permission, I “borrowed” the theme and developed the post entry here today.
What is happening?
Is 2025 destined to be a totally unfortunate and completely unlucky year? The reason I question this is that the final days of our academic year are nothing except chaos and confusion—beyond any sane expectation! The official ending of this semester doesn’t occur until 15 May, so the madness isn’t even over yet!
Normally, the ending of the scholastic year brings no “last minute” changes in our routine. As faculty, our final month is fairly routine: grades due and plans due. This year, the last month contained one surprise after another and all with the due date of 15 May – no exceptions.
This year, there was an outstanding exception to every expectation of normal and routine. And not just in my school, but throughout the entire university. It was as if the administration was giving awards to which school, department or division could render the most disruption possible!
The school where I’m a professor implemented a review of curricula and evaluations during the month of September 2024. Fine. Not a problem. The goal, as explained to all of us, was to revise, update, and modify the offerings within a three-year period. There were no complaints from any of us as the process was most definitely long overdue. That was the last the subject was addressed with us.
Then, the end of March, 2025, it was announced that the entire revision of our school was due by the end of the academic year! The middle of May of our current year! What happened to our timely and coordinated efforts? Why the rush?
Totally clueless!
Needless to add, pure pandemonium followed. That, in turn, was then followed by anger, more anger, frustration, then anger (again) to be followed by fury! Those were the reactions on the “good” days!
Flexing and fists!
That issue was slowly resolved by the end of the month of April. No one is actually certain as to how all hell came into being, simply that the original resolution deadline of September 2027, implementation was returned. The threat of fist fighting on the faculty level was diminished!
We’re continuing to wait for a more detailed explanation as to what precisely caused the serious mismanagement of the change process. Someone blatantly miscalculated their professional position and the professional reaction to their error.
Celebrating a return to normalcy!
In the meantime, the “rank and file” of the university – us, the educators – have resumed our anticipation of a summer of freedom and fun, maybe not in that order!
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Friday, May 9, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Canada and USA: Mother’s Day, 2025!”
24 April, annually, is the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
This date is recognized as the first modern genocide of the 20th Century.
Genocide is the crime of intentionally destroying part or all of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by killing people. It is understood by most people to be the gravest crime against humanity.
Prologue:
The presence of the Armenian peoples in Anatolia, the region in modern Turkey that borders Iran and the Caucus) has been documented since the sixth century BCE – about 1,500years prior to the arrival of the Turkmens (first Turkish immigrants) under the Seljuk dynasty. The independent Kingdom of Armenia adopted Christianity as its national religion early in the fourth century CE.
The Genocide:
Photograph by U.S. Ambassador Morganthau of Armenian corpses left roadside.
Before the Great War (World War I; 1914 – 1918), there were limited exterminations of Armenian inhabitants of Turkey during the 1890s and in 1909. During World War I, The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) allied itself with Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Germany. This led to the power transfer to the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) by the civilian authorities.
On 24 April, 1915, the CUP ordered the deportation and expulsion of Armenian residents in the Ottoman capital, Constantinople. Soon, this order was extended throughout all the Ottoman Empire and massive crowds were forced to march into the Syrian Desert, without food and water. They were raped, robbed and brutally beaten.
Soon, the extermination of the Armenian residents throughout the Ottoman Empire was endorsed and enforced. The massive deportations and deaths became real and prevalent. The involvement in the Great War and the political instability which followed prevented the Western powers from monitoring the conditions within the former Ottoman state.
The overthrow of the monarchy and the division of the lands formerly occupied by the CUP allowed atrocities against the Armenians and other religious minorities until almost midway through the 1920s. By that time, an estimated 1.6 million Armenians had been exterminated. The emerging Turkish country had reduced the population of Armenians from almost 2.5 million to less than 400,000.
The Genocide Memorial, Yerevan, capital city of Armenia
Tsitsernakaberd: Armenian Genocide Memorial
The Genocide Memorial was built in 1967 on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd, just outside the capital city of Yerevan, Armenia. The Genocide Memorial Museum-Institute was added later and officially opened in 1995.
Every year, on 24 April, the complex hosts the national Remembrance Day Ceremony, where hundreds of thousands line for hours to place floral and prayer tributes to the victims.
Remembering those murdered.
A profile of prayer
Personal Connection:
My maternal grandfather was half-Armenian. His mother was a resident of the Ottoman Empire. He remembered the Turkish soldiers congregating the Armenian population – including all of his family – inside their village church prior to setting the entire structure on fire. He and several friends were being absent from school that day and they climbed trees when they witnessed the soldiers assaulting the village.
A Turkish family helped them escape to safety.
My mother doesn’t remember his discussing the incident when she and her siblings were growing up. It was only when his grandchildren were born that he felt the need to share his past.
Naked hugs!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers!
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, April 28, 2025, and the proposed topic is: “Charge!”
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 