Oh CNN

I'm watching CNN's "Black in America"

My thoughts...

-I am sick of the tripe about traditional marriage being the saving grace for Black folk.

-H-ow...why...wtf...howwww are AIDS rates so high for Black people when we make up like 12% of the population...is that...possible...why does it always sound like something doesn't add up when I hear stats like AIDS is the number one killer for Black women ages 25-34, that 2/3 of all new AIDS cases are Black, that 50% of all AIDS cases are Black...even if it may be true...how the fuck is it true?? My brain...almost literally...can't wrap itself around the idea that we are dying at the highest rates from AIDS...and I almost wonder if the statistics are lies? Though it's probably suicidal to even ask that question, better to be safe and take every precaution out there than create a conspiracy theory...

-This spoken word artist that introduces every segment is cracking me up :)

-I wonder who's tuning into this show...and how CNN benefits

-And why is McDONALD'S always sponsoring everything that has been sanctioned as "Black" ??

Oh CNN...the premier authority on Blackness...

And now I'm watching Barack Obama visiting the Wailing Wall.

OMG/WTF

The Real World to Ruin Brooklyn this Summer

Entering its 21st season, MTV's The Real World returns to New York for a third time...but for the first time it's headed to an outer-borough. That's right, the seven generic, good-looking roommates will be heading to Brooklyn.

Shooting begins this summer, and will result in 12 hour-long episodes. In the press release we received, Jon Murray, co-creator of the show, says "The Brooklyn season, like the Hollywood season, will focus on what people loved about 'The Real World' when it launched in 1992 - genuine people, meaningful conflict and powerful stories." Really Jon? We're sort of betting it'll be more about the cast taking over bars, fighting with locals, getting drunk and sleeping with roommates -- all as they take their amazingly overpriced living quarters for granted.

The big question now is: Which part of Brooklyn will have the distinct pleasure of welcoming the new residents? Our guess is they'll be taking over a few luxury condo units in Williamsburg. Perhaps this will unite the hipsters and anti-hipsters of the 'nabe? Either way, get ready to see the production taking over McCarren Pool Parties this summer.

Original Post

AfroPunks!

It's AfroPunk Week in Brooklyn and let me just say that I am truly enjoying the festivities! I <3 AfroPunk. I first attended the festival three years ago with a couple of my friends. It's a festival that at the time was in it's second year and was spawned from a documentary of the same name and directed by James Spooner, a self-proclaimed Afro Punk. It's about race in punk rock, and specifically about Black people who are punk (and have been punk since punk was). It's now in it's fourth year and it draws Afro Punks and Afro Punk enthusiasts from around NYC, the tri-state area, and probably the country. It generates such amazing energy because there is such radical race pride and self-acceptance floating in the air during the festival alongside pure rock and roll, pure music, pure incredible intense love and rebellion and defiance. There are no apologies, no "yea I'm Black but I'm punk" or "I'm not white but I do like punk."

But there are lots of...

"Hell yea I'm punk and hell yea I'm Black! What other way is there to be?"
"Shit yea punk is the Blackest thing on god's green earth, you ain't know?"
"Where the fuck do you think the punk counterculture got it's inspiration from? This is pure Black nationalism...the piercings, the tats, the dreds, the 'hawks...that's Africa babe!"





You see folks with Black power buttons, and tee shirts with messages like "I'm Black...please don't shoot," and golden Africa medallions...

annnd lip rings annnd nostril rings annnd industrials annnd artistically shaved heads annnd ear plugs annnd hair color annnd skateboards

and the space that this festival creates to be all of that and more is so refreshing and empowering and affirming and celebratory and sexy and addictive as hell, and so COMPLETELY necessary.

But that's just a background. This year's festival has so far been amazing, and last night I saw two incredible film selections with friends.

The first was also directed by James Spooner, a "scripted documentary" about a man who rejects his Black self while exploring the punk world, since conventional, white dominated punk outlets don't typically have space for a strong Black consciousness. No, he doesn't conveniently "discover" the AfroPunk scene near the film's end but he does eventually discover himself. Brilliant film, highly recommended.



The second was a hilARious romantic comedy called "I'm Through With White Girls." For me it was an extremely refreshing take on/celebration of Black love amidst the problematic history of race relations in the U.S., but it's one of those films that everyone is bound to take something different yet powerfully affirming from. While some small aspects of it rubbed up against my politics (and lead to a spirited phone conversation with one of my friends until 3:00 am about the biological/socially constructed nature of desire, the troubled history of race and the present manifestation of racism in a colonized world, standards of beauty and desirability that are decidedly anti-Black and anti "real people," and the politics of interracial relationships and skin color in the U.S.), overall it was just such a provocative, intriguing, entertaining, funny, well-acted, relate-able movie. And I'm not even one to really sit through and enjoy movies that don't have a documentary kind of feel to them. But this movie definitely WILL be in my collection when it's released on DVD Aug. 12th. Without a doubt. It was that good, and if you get a chance, you should really check it out.