On models and attractiveness
Obviously we went through a period where models reflected the Twiggy phenomenon, but that didn’t have much to do with what actually was attractive to the opposite sex. Hugh Hefner just gave me the...
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“41st & Central: The Untold Story of the L.A. Black Panthers”
Elaine Brown, a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. I attended a screening of 41st & Central last night, as part of the National Black Arts Festival. It’s...
View ArticleOn the danger of seeing a story as more than a story
We often talk about how stories change the world, but we should also see how the world of identity politics affects the way stories are being circulated, read and reviewed. Writer Elif Shafak in her...
View ArticleOn blacks and gays and gals in New Orleans
Big Freedia and Galactic at the Fillmore from Big Freedia on Vimeo. As far back as the ’40s and ’50s, it was a really popular thing. Gay performers have been celebrated forever in New Orleans black...
View ArticleOn art criticism and “Work of Art”
The show appealed to my belief that art only got better once the boundaries between high and low culture were relaxed, most famously by Andy Warhol, then by countless others. It also satisfied my...
View ArticleSatire & Stereotypes: Baracka Flocka Flame
WARNING: The videos below contain a lot of profanity. It seems the Baracka Flocka Flames controversy has heated up since the October 26 publication of Prez N the Hood: A Hip-Hop Parody Stirs Up Issues...
View ArticleBut, I’m Going Back to Cali: A play list
Also see Forever I Love Atlanta: A play list Note: I would have included the Eagles’ version as well had they not tracked down and disabled the audio on like every YouTube clip of it ever. Except this...
View ArticleOn metaphorical dick grabbing and Jay Electronica
But this isn’t about sex positivity. Look at the terms of the bet. How can any three men ever determine what “all women” like? At the moment that this becomes about generalizing female sexual practices...
View ArticleOn the Oppression Olympics
I am tired of people having this debate about the relative impact of pejorative words on their target minority group. If injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then the relative power of...
View ArticleOn Google+ and Gender
Another social network launches and another kerfluffle about gender and privacy is born. This time it’s Google+, it’s must-be-public* gender drop down, and the choice to identify as “Male,” “Female,”...
View ArticleRecommended: “Lockdown: The coming war on general-purpose computing”
A fantastic essay by Corey Doctorow over at Boing Boing all about the rise of DRM and the future of general purpose computing. The entire essay is grand, but I think this paragraph sums it up best. We...
View ArticleOn the gaze
I focus as a director on the moment in front of me. I focus on this scene and making it the best it can be. I’m working with a community of artists—a cinematographer, art director, the editor,...
View ArticleOn Segregation
The Hispanic population grew in almost every corner of the United States over the past decade, roughly equally in predominantly black and predominantly white neighborhoods. The typical African-American...
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On aging and hip-hop
I’m a rapper, and I just have to be honest, once you get to a certain point — I’m a fan of hardcore rap. Sometimes I like stupid gangsta rap, and I know at a certain age it doesn’t match. I want the...
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How every conversation about race ever on the internet goes
Someone makes a comment or corny “joke” that is kinda racist and kinda classist, but mostly harmless.1 Someone else — sometimes in the group targeted, sometimes not — says “Hey THAT’S RACIST!” Someone...
View ArticleOn “Lean In”
Sheryl Sandberg is a formidable woman. She is, after all, the Harvard Business School educated, well-connected billionaire COO of Facebook. And that makes people want to listen to her and heed her...
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