The other day, my wife asked me which famous person I would like to meet, dead or live.

I hesitated because there are so many and from a time when I was a baby/ child. But the person I first thought of was Luther Vandross.

Listening to his music today, I know that he's definitely that person. There are so many but whenever I hear this man's music, he just makes me feel.

I was born in 1983 and was surrounded by music, so a lot of artists from the 80s are some of my favorites from here at home in South Africa to the US. Whatever inspired those guys back then was something.

I wish I had a friend and collaborator like Marcus Miller to just be so in tune with. Have our individual success but also make so much magic when we work together.

Yes, Mr Luther Vandross is someone I would have loved to meet and spend time with, just see his music making process. So many beautiful songs. So many great artists from that time.

I’m talking about songs only his true fans know that aren’t the big hits like “Never too much” or “dance with my father “. My favorite one is “Are you using me”.

"Luther: Never Too Much" is expected to premiere in 2025 on OWN, Max, and CNN.

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.

On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on reddit, from Apollo to reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.

Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.

This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free. What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.

The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

1. Complain. Message the mods of r/reddit, who are the admins of the social media site
2. Submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on r/reddit, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app and sign your username in support to this post.
3. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at r/ModCoord
4. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th - instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
5. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at r/ModCoord
• Make a sticky post showing your support, a template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to r/ModCoord

Thank you for your patience in the matter,

Mod Team

👉 Here's a great infographic that explains what's going on