Come Touch My Heart, Again

I have a very selective group of influencers I follow in Instagram and Substack - I prefer to call them scholars because of the depth of their focus, the acuity of their research, and their ability to communicate. One for whom I feel a thrill of anticipation every time I see he posts is Jupiter Baal. His posts take on a commitment to humanity, an access of language and storytelling, and an ability to frame current events in historical contexts in a manner I find rare, informative, and poignant.

This one is good example of how he weaves together multiple elements into a cohesive, compelling storyline. It pulls together the brutal abduction of Oscar Film director Hamdan Ballal, Ta-Nahesi’s recent exploration of the Jim Crow south, the imprisonment of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, and apartheid Israel.

“The least of us,” he warns, “will always be able to inflict violence on the best of us”.

1 minute 32 seconds

The start of this post is sweetly heart-breaking and heart-opening, and the ending is surprisingly heartening. 1:49

Finally, if you’re open to some raw vulnerability and grief, here’s a post that both shatters and awakens me each time I watch it. 1:32

I loved reading this comment, left on Instagram about this post, by another laudable scholar. I totally agree with her:

“I think this is my favorite video to have ever been posted on the internet. I’ve watched it 3x over. Thank you for being this fiercely gentle. I’m so grateful to exist on your timeline.” Jenan Matari

Jupiter Baal is something of a nom de plume, although I don’t understand it’s significance. His name is Helio Figueiredo; he’s a Portuguese Londoner, historian, artist, truth-teller. The relevance of his name is beyond me: there’s the The Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, Lebanon and this (evangelical?) video I haven’t dared watch. Anyone help me out here?

Be moved, and enjoy. Find Jupiter Baal on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Blue Sky.

April 2025

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