#dear white people

The Power of Storytelling in Art, Film, Music & Spoken Word Was on Full Display at Blackout Festival this Past Saturday. Check Out the Captivating Articles Below on the Festival that Featured 3 Panels, 3 Live Musical Performances, 3 Spoken Word Performances, 2 Film Screenings and a Signature Artist Showcase. Thank You to Everyone Who Came Out on Saturday, Thank You to Our Amazing Partners and Thank You to All the Talent that Took Part in Blackout Music & Film Festival:

• “Whether the discussion was about representation, development or recognition of artistic talent, voices in the black community were front and center on Saturday. And while they were eager to share their own experiences, they were also speaking on behalf of the voices that don’t often make it to the majority of American households.” Continue Reading Steve Green’s Article on Blackout Festival Here: http://bit.ly/1JHmERd via Indiewire
  
• “Attendees at the first annual Blackout for Human Rights Festival included Chris Rock, Tessa Thompson, Nate Parker, director Justin Simien and many others” Continue Reading Danielle C. Belton’s Article on Blackout Festival Here: http://bit.ly/1O4eiXH via The Root
  
• “Moderated by ASCAP’s Mir Harris, the panel discussed the history of music and its connection to human rights, especially within the African-American community. The panel begun with the quote: “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Referring back to the civil-rights era, the panel agreed that music was a catalyst to the movement” Continue Reading Mannie Holmes’ Article on Blackout Festival Here: http://bit.ly/1UnXJIr via Variety
  
• “At the first-ever Blackout Music & Film Festival, held Saturday at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles, artists, activists, celebrities and everyday citizens convened to highlight and explore the ways in which artists are using their art to address human rights violations and injustices. The daylong festival featured screenings of 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets and Dear White People, a #SayHerName Voices for the Cause music showcase, an artists showcase and three panels that addressed topics ranging from the importance of diversity in media to criminal-justice reform” Continue Reading Akilah Green’s Article on Blackout Festival Here: http://bit.ly/1Q6D0rL via The Root
  

The potent power of inclusive storytelling can not be expressed enough. For people privileged enough to see themselves reflected on TV, movie screens and magazine covers in a positive and nuanced light, it is easy to dismiss the impact of media representation. Shout to Ava DuVernay and her Company AFFRM for promoting voices from all backgrounds and seeing the beauty and value of diversity in storytelling. We’re honored to have them as an official partner of Blackout Music & Film Festival. Join at Blackout Music & Film Festival this Saturday: http://bit.ly/1NviXBK and Read the Articles Below:

• “Long before “Selma” came along, its director, Ava DuVernay, was working to help distribute films with black themes through the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement. As she said in 2011, explaining why independent black artists needed the organization, “No one is ever going to care about their film except the people it’s made for, which is, black folks.” On Wednesday, hoping to raise awareness of AFFRM’s distribution label, Array, Ms. DuVernay enlisted more than 40 black filmmakers to share insights and advice via Twitter. Using the hashtag #ARRAY, the “Rebel-a-Thon” began in the morning with Debbie Allen, among others, and has progressed throughout the day with veteran and newcomer directors alike taking turns every hour or so” Continue Reading The New York Times article: http://nyti.ms/1JbRfLA
  
• “And that is just so important, not only because she called out Hollywood for a status quo that refused to give such complex roles as that of Annalise Keating to women of color, but that she called out Hollywood for a status quo that refused to give such complex roles to a woman who is almost in her 50’s. Ageism and racism still run rampant in America today, something that has come to the forefront of American consciousness in the wake of the controversy surrounding the 2015 Oscars nominees, and for Davis to call that out in her speech was truly beautiful. How To Get Away With Murder does something that very few other shows are doing on TV right now, and to have a lead like Davis makes it even better.” Continue Reading Bustle’s Article Here: http://bit.ly/1MO0thB
  
• “The auteur, and Paste’s 2014 Film Person of the Year, invites you to join her community of film artists, film advocates and film lovers who want to experience true diversity both in front of and behind the camera.” Continue Reading Paste Magazines Article Here: http://bit.ly/1KkPzzz
  
• “I started writing this movie some 10 years ago as an impulse because I didn’t really my story out there in the culture. I didn’t see myself reflected back at me in the films I love or the stories that resonated for me. I tried to put myself in the culture. That can be difficult when, along the way, there’s really nothing there to tell you that you belong there. If you don’t see yourself in the culture, please put yourself there, because we need you. We need to see the world from your eyes” Justin Simien Wins the Award for Best First Screenplay at the Spirit Awards. Watch His Full Speech Here: https://youtu.be/JpBPTVejG2w
  
• “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
  
• “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
  

“I started writing this movie some 10 years ago as an impulse because I didn’t really my story out there in the culture. I didn’t see myself reflected back at me in the films I love or the stories that resonated for me. I tried to put myself in the culture. That can be difficult when, along the way, there’s really nothing there to tell you that you belong there. If you don’t see yourself in the culture, please put yourself there, because we need you. We need to see the world from your eyes” Justin Simien Wins the Award for Best First Screenplay at the Spirit Awards. Watch His Full Speech Here: https://youtu.be/JpBPTVejG2w

Justin Simien Will Be on Our Featured Storytelling Panel with Tracee Ellis Ross, Mo McRae and More PLUS We Are Screening His Award Winning Film Dear White People at Blackout Music & Film Festival: http://bit.ly/1NviXBK

• Watch the Trailer for Dear White People Here and the Trailer for Our First Film of the Day, 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, Here: http://bit.ly/1JjAUUk

EXCITING:Blackout Music & Film Festival is Right Around the Corner! Join Us at The GRAMMY Museum on Saturday, August 29 for 2 Film Screenings, 3 Featured Panels, 3 Live Musical Performances and A Signature Artist Showcase! #BlackoutFestival Tickets ($10-$18) Are Available Here: http://bit.ly/1NviXBK

Check Out the #BlackoutFestival Programming Lineup Below and Don’t Miss Out on a Full Day of Film, Music, Panels and Art!

• Movie Screening #1: 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets
  
• Featured Social Justice Panel: Features Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors, ACLU Lawyer Peter Bibring, Activist Ashley Yates, Urban Cusp Founder Rahiel Tesfamariam, The Root Associate Editor Danielle C. Belton and More. Presented by ACLU Southern California and Black Lives Matter, the Panel Will Be Moderated by UCLA Professor Dr. Marcus Hunter
  
• Movie Screening #2: Dear White People
  
• Featured Storytelling Panel: Features Actress Tracee Ellis Ross, The Blacklist Founder Franklin Leonard, Actor Mo McRae, Entertainment Tonight Co-Host Kevin Frazier, Fox Casting Manager Cameron Washington, Director Justin Simien and More. Presented by CBMA, the Panel Will be Moderated by Indiewire Editor-In-Chief Dana Harris
  
• Featured Music Panel: Announcing Next Week
  
• #SayHerName Voices for the Cause Music Showcase: Includes Live Musical Performances by Lalah Hathaway, V Bozeman, PJ and More
  
• Signature Artist Showcase: Includes Adrian Franks, Hank Willis Thomas, Synthia Saint James, Bayeté Ross Smith, Damon Davis, Shikeith, Mariella Angela, Nikkolos Mohammad, Viewing of Smithsonian Museum Photography Book Through the African American Lens, Spoken Word Performances and More

For more information, please visit www.blackoutforhumanrights.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, and YouTube.

Barry Jenkins, African American, and Lulu Wang, Chinese American, are one of today’s Hollywood power couples! Barry is an award-winning film director, producer, and screenwriter and is probably best known as the director and screenwriter of the 2016 Academy Award winning film, “Moonlight”, and the director, producer, and screenwriter of the 2018 film, “If Beale Street Could Talk”. Barry also directed the 5th episode of the Netflix series, “Dear White People”. Lulu was born in Beijing and moved to Miami, Florida with her family at the age of six. She is fluent in both Mandarin and English. Lulu directed and wrote her first feature-length movie in 2014, “Posthumuos”, and she also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 2019 movie, “The Farewell” which did very well on the Asian Film Festival circuit and was released to general theaters in July of 2019. Barry and Lulu started dated quietly in 2018 and first started doing red carpets together in early 2019. We wish Barry and Lulu continued success and incredible happiness!

https://asianblackcouples.com/celebrity-chinese-and-black-couples-past-and-present/

joamettegil:

What White Americans Misunderstand About Mixed-Race Latinx Identity

“Visibly mixed-race people are the norm, but Latinx people are trained to identify with nation first and race second, if at all.”

Story by Joamette Gil, art by Joamette GilandCorey Ranson.

gabbsalot:

Ashley Blaine is so beautiful ✨

(Photographer: Marcus Ezell)

Queen from dear white people

soph-okonedo:

Logan Browning attends EMILY’s List Brunch and Panel Discussion “Defining Women” at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on February 04, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD:Justin Simien, who wrote and directed the lauded Sundance indie Dear White People which he turned into the Netflix series, will next write and direct Bad Hair. He will team with Sight Unseen, the newly formed production shingle of Julia Lebedev,Eddie Vaisman, and Oren Moverman. Lebedev and Angel Lopez produced Dear White People, and Lebedev is exec producer of the Netflix series spinoff. 

Paralleling the rise of New Jack Swing in 1989, Bad Hair is a horror satire that follows an ambitious young woman who gets a weave in order to survive the image obsessed world of music television. Her professional success comes at a higher cost than anticipated, however, when she discovers her new hair may have a mind of its own. Simien has retained the biting satirical commentary but added genre bending thrills. Sight Unseen VP of Development, Angel Lopez, will oversee the film for the company. They’ve started a teaser website that will be developed over time as the movie takes shape.

Simien sparked to a team-up “with Sight Unseen in order to create work that both entertains and holds a mirror up to society. This will be both a love letter to black women and a critique of the cultural forces our society puts them through.”