MUST WATCH: Highlights From Our First Annual Blackout Music & Film Festival Featuring Live Musical Performances by Lalah Hathaway, V. Bozeman and More, Spoken Word Performances by Amandla Stenberg, Donté Clark and More, and Panel Discussion Highlights with Tracie Thoms, Justin Simien, Nate Parker, Rahiel Tesfamariam, Patrisse Marie Cullors-Brignac, David Johns and More: https://youtu.be/ba_J5iCKQDk
Check Out the Excellent Articles Below on the Best and Most Powerful Moments From Blackout Music & Film Festival:
How the Blackout Music & Film Festival is Encouraging Emerging Voices to Break Out - http://bit.ly/1JHmERd via Indiewire
The Responsible Celebrity: Actors, Filmmakers Talk About Art, Activism at Blackout Festival - http://bit.ly/1O4eiXH via The Root
Blackout Music & Film Festival Talks Artists and Social Justice - http://bit.ly/1UnXJIr via Variety
Blackout Music & Film Festival Celebrates Community, Creativity and Culture - http://bit.ly/1JHU86a via The Root
Chris Rock, Tessa Thompson, Justin Simien And Others Talk Celebrity Advocacy at Blackout Festival - http://bit.ly/1PSyWdY via Colorlines
Nate Parker, Tessa Thompson Speak Out About Human Rights At Blackout Festival - http://bit.ly/1NUoSDK via Hip Hollywood
“What I think is exciting is that to a certain extent, there is a revolution happening where black women are owning their own beauty, despite the standard of beauty that in the past has not had space for it. Our culture has created a very limited view of what beauty is and can be. I think right now television is one of the places where women are pushing up against that and saying, ‘You know what? I don’t need to play this game anymore in order to be considered beautiful’” Tracee Ellis Ross
Don’t Miss Black-ish Star Tracee Ellis Ross on Our Featured Storytelling Panel with Director Justin Simien, Actor Mo McRae and More at Blackout Music & Film Festival on Saturday, August 29: http://bit.ly/1NviXBK! In the Meantime, Check Out These Articles Below on the Beauty of Black Women and the Power of Diversity in Media Representation PLUS an Article by Tracee:
“I am keenly aware of how we as women (and most specifically women of color) are presented and portrayed in media and how we present ourselves. And here was my mama from almost 30 years ago on the surface doing something that often snags me in videos today but why did I feel differently about it?” Continue Reading Tracee Ellis Ross’ Article Here: http://bit.ly/1hB34Qz
“Black Women Are Leading a Cultural Movement through TV” For Harriet: http://bit.ly/1h4JAmq
“We need stories for and about black youth. We need stories where they are painted in the same light as their white counterparts. “I turned to books to figure out how to navigate life and relationships,” said I.W. Gregario, a founding member of the We Need Diverse Books campaign. As a result of not seeing her identity as an Asian woman represented in the literature she loved, she says she became self-hating. We live in a society that sees black kids as both less innocent and older than white children. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that “black boys can be seen as responsible for their actions at an age when white boys still benefit from the assumption that children are essentially innocent.” The U.S. Department of Education revealed in a report that black children face discrimination as early as pre-school. This systemic dehumanization has life-altering results in the case of, say, Dajerria Beckton who was tackled at a pool party, or the life-ending case of Tamir Rice” Continue Reading For Harriet’s Article Here: http://bit.ly/1MHfHWX
Don’t Miss Our Storytelling Panel at Blackout Music & Film Festival Featuring Actress Tracee Ellis Ross, The Blacklist Founder Franklin Leonard, Actor Mo McRae, Entertainment Tonight Co-Host Kevin Frazier, Director Justin Simien and More. Presented by CBMA, the Panel Will be Moderated by Indiewire Editor-In-Chief Dana Harris. The Panel Will Center on the Importance of Diversity in Media Representation, the Power of Visual Storytelling and the Need to See the World We Live In Reflected on Screen: http://bit.ly/1NviXBK. Join Us Next Saturday at The GRAMMY Museum and Check Out these Insightful and Compelling Articles Below:
“We need stories for and about black youth. We need stories where they are painted in the same light as their white counterparts. “I turned to books to figure out how to navigate life and relationships,” said I.W. Gregario, a founding member of the We Need Diverse Books campaign. As a result of not seeing her identity as an Asian woman represented in the literature she loved, she says she became self-hating. We live in a society that sees black kids as both less innocent and older than white children. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that “black boys can be seen as responsible for their actions at an age when white boys still benefit from the assumption that children are essentially innocent.” The U.S. Department of Education revealed in a report that black children face discrimination as early as pre-school. This systemic dehumanization has life-altering results in the case of, say, Dajerria Beckton who was tackled at a pool party, or the life-ending case of Tamir Rice” Continue Reading For Harriet’s Article Here: http://bit.ly/1MHfHWX
“Even before his tragic death at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson, though, Brown’s chances of being seen—or seeing himself—as a hero were already limited. The image of a young black man, prostrate in the street, is one we’re much more accustomed to seeing in Hollywood movies than we are a black man working to save humanity. Marvel Studios, the folks behind Iron Man and The Avengers, recently announced they’d be releasing Black Panther—their first black superhero movie—in 2017. It’ll be the kind of film Michael Brown saw very little of in his lifetime. It’s hardly a surprise that many people of color were thrilled by Marvel’s announcement, or that the Internet recently erupted in jubilant conversation around the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer—which opens on a black man dressed as a stormtrooper. There are huge portions of society, including the more than 50 percent that are women, who are starved for this kind of representation in our grandest forms of entertainment” Continue Reading Bright Ideas Magazine’s Article Here: http://bit.ly/1EFp4hU
“I am a storyteller. I write movies, short stories, and poems. I’ve spent years trying to understand the ways that narratives underscore society, how the stories we create, retell, and amplify influence our thinking, our actions, our ways of life. I cannot tell you how many times someone has had a pre-packaged idea of me before I even opened my mouth or entered a room. These people had a “black woman narrative” already constructed and were waiting for me to fulfill it. When I didn’t, they appeared confused. I just breathed and existed. But sometimes, even doing that is cause for violence and brutality. Because narratives of black beasts, black demons, of black criminals are so strong, that just breathing, and existing, might get you killed” Continue Reading Indiewire’s Article Here: http://bit.ly/1E8nyKC
Although I do like the Newtina ship, but as a black female fan of the Harry Potter franchise, I was rooting for Leta and Newt more. Taking away the race dynamics, Leta and Newt simply have more chemistry than Newt and Tina. The way that Newt starred at the photo of her in the first film was beautiful. Leta Lestrange’s storyline is incredibly hurtful and offensive. If you’re going to write more diversie characters, specifically black female characters, don’t write her as the product of the rape of a black woman, a “tragic mulatto,” and then only to have her sacrifice herself for her white suitors. Regardless of which Scamander she ended up with, I wanted Leta to be more than a mere footnote in the love story of Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein’s relationship. I wanted to see more black women be sought after and loved as full human beings and love interest in sci-fi/fantasy. I know that Tina and Newt’s marriage and Bellatrix Lestrange exist in the HP books. So, does that mean JK Rowling planned this awful storyline from the beginning? However, At the very least, a fun friendship between Leta, Newt, Tina, Queenie, and Jacob. I honestly wish JK Rowling hadn’t even created Leta Lestrange to disrespect her in this way.
I was fortunate to be apart of @sammyborras’ amazing Janelle Monáe/Dirty Computer fanzine with my op-ed discussing how she has impact my life. Janelle has shaped, changed, and SAVED my life with her artistry since 2010. She makes me feel seen, loved, and valued. There is power in art. I present…
Place your bets. How many seconds will she be onscreen
One thing I also noticed with the film is the characters voiced by black women look way less human-like compared to the characters voiced by white actors. We have the main characters who are elves both voiced by white actors.
Then you have these guys who are both voiced by black women…
And this ties back in with how Pixar conveniently made their only LGBT character a literal “ugly monster” (whos also a cop). Aside from the cop aspect, I wouldn’t be so bitter about her being gay if she looked like the main characters who are elves. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to have non human LGBT characters nor is it bad to have non human characters voiced by black people but this ain’t it sis.
I really don’t understand how some people hate Hamilton. Here’s some reasons why I love it:
• it was written by a man of color, Lin Manuel Miranda, to modernize and retell the story of the founding of the US and the overall impact an immigrant faced in an up and coming nation
• the roles were specifically written for people of color to play the characters because of the white washing in the media, but specifically Broadway (there was an entire scandal surrounding this casting choice in 2016)
• it emphasized the roles that immigrants played in the founding of the country but also in the modern day America
• not to mention that Lin Manuel Miranda speaks out about a variety of issues in America and he even went as far as to open Hamilton in Puerto Rico to raise money to rebuild their country after the hurricanes
• The musical gives a voice to people of color and gives them a place in a retelling of history that they were largely not included in, especially in our text books and classrooms
• it empowers women throughout the musical, showing different dynamics and types of powerful women (Angelica compared to Eliza)
• it expresses the duality of each character and while Aaron Burr is the anti-hero, he isn’t a villain. It shows motivation and angle behind each character’s action
• it shows us people of color in powerful positions! It gives THREE presidents of color and the only white person in the musical was King George III
• Hamilton is a relateable character. Specifically his line from Hurricane, “When my prayers to God we’re met with indifference, I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance!” That’s so powerful!!!
• Lin chose the hip hop/R&B style music because he thought it was the sound of America and it represented the country.
These are just a handful from the top of my head. I like Hamilton because I find Alexander Hamilton to be an inspiring, relatable, flawed, and outspoken character. His ability to take a stand and constantly voice his opinions are what I aspire to do as well. He was outspoken and bold in the middle of a revolution, and he went after what he wanted. Despite his flaws and mistakes, he is still one of my favorite fictional (the musical portrayal is fictional imho) characters that still inspires me to this day. I could write an entire essay about the musical, but I’ll spare you.
During these difficult times, I hope you can be like Hamilton: strong in the face of adversity and unafraid to punch the assholes that get in your way. Support those around you and stand with our Black friends. Black Lives Matter!
Blah blah blah and here’s why we hate it:
* It glorifies the founding fathers, European colonizers, and slave owners.
* It’s written by a non-Black man with no connection to slavery and who has no right to make commentary on it in any way.
* It’s true that it might cast non-white people in the main cast…as slave owners and colonizers.
* “Sally, be a lamb darling, won’t you open it?” *vomiting intensifies*
* Miss me with the idea that Hamilton is fucking feminist lmao. There are four women, I repeat, FOUR WOMEN, in the play, only 14 of the 46 songs are sung by women. All of them play a peripheral love interest role to Hamilton, even Angelica, who in real life was already happily married by the time she met Hamilton, and in the musical is supposed to be his intellectual equal, and yet all she gets to do is sing and rap about…her feelings for him and the love triangle between them and her sister. The only exception to this role is Peggy, who…umm, disappears. It doesn’t pass the bare minimum of the Bechdel test. The women of the play are not powerful feminists, they are pawns designed to further Alexander’s journey and exist in relation to him. Them snapping their fingers and saying they’ll include women in the sequel is just a “you go girl!” moment, it’s all for show. We as a society are just so used to the “bare minimum of women is enough or even majority women, just make them give sassy quips and act ‘BADASS’ and boom, you’ve got a feminist narrative!” that we accept stories like these even outside of the colonist propaganda aspect of it all as feminist. Despite there being actual feminist musicals that put women at their center out there that are much, MUCH better and less problematic than Hamilton. Mean Girls? Heathers? SIX? The Color Purple? Hello? But no just focus on the musical with like four women whose only feminist moment is asking to be a part of the narrative.
* Say No to This
* It doesn’t give POC a voice so much as it has them play the role of historically white founding fathers and colonizers who were involved with the slave trade.
* Alexander is not a relatable hero. He’s a racist colonist who married into a family of slaveowners.
Is that enough for you?
Although:
During these difficult times, I hope you can be like Hamilton: strong in the face of adversity and unafraid to punch the assholes that get in your way. Support those around you and stand with our Black friends. Black Lives Matter!
Good God. Some people are unable to be reasoned with.
Hey! So I made this post years ago, and I totally forgot about it and this blog for a while, but I definitely agree with what this person is saying and I think it’s important to read!
I am sorry. I was wrong. My original post is tone deaf, flawed, and wrong on several accounts. Thank you to @thisismisogynoir for their contribution and corrections.
I thought about deleting this post when it came back up, but this person shares a lot of important information that we should know as we consume or engage with this media.
I hope you take the time out of your day to read this, listen to Black voices on this matter, and do your research.
I will do better in the future. Thank you for correcting me and holding me accountable.
