Black Panther

Reginald Hudlin: "BET Wouldn't Air 'Black Panther' Because It Was Too Male & Young For Their Audience"

...

How are prostitutes who don't kiss, too young?

How are notations of the USA's habit of black-ops actions (Banana Republics anyone?) to bend a country to their needs, too young?

How is dialogue about South African establishing families and their treatment of black natives, too young?

Seriously, looking at the Black Panter Animated Series; yes the animation is like something out of the early 70's but with better colouring, and the direction for action scenes is a bit better stylistically, more martial arts and less fisty cuffs.

But despite the art, the whole thing reads as 'Too Black Positive For White Advertisers'.

Too Male? Too Young?

What the hell?

I can't believe I'm about to buy something (for my birthday no less) involving Reginald Hudlin. But I am, just so I can own something, that lets me see white US government types say things like "What are they going to do, chuck spears at our planes." And then realize what they said, get told to shut up, they're only making it worst, and eventually get thrown out of the room.

Also, Jill Scott, Alfre Woodward, Carl Lumbly, Djimon Hounsou - Uhm, Yes please!.

PS: Yes, I am totally willing to spend $13 US on two episodes, having not seen the rest. This is how much I enjoy the concept of a POC and in this case specifically Black and African power fantasy.

PPS: Is it still Marvel Comic Canon that Wakanda of all places after centuries of defending itself against all comers, fell at the hand of DOOM? And is now a country in crisis? **eye rolls**

3 Things Make A Post

1. LIAR, by Justine Larbalestier won was officially granted the Carl Brandon Kindred Award this past weekend, it seems. I think Justine Larbalestier is potentially a very nice person. I understand that she 'tries'. I also understand that I will be very unpopular because I do not think LIAR deserved any kind of PoC Exemplar award, and I honestly feel that the award was won more for Larbalestier's actions concerning the 'CoverFail', than for her writing a book with a young black (mixed) girl as an unreliable narrator with potential bestial leanings.

Back in 2009, I mentioned LIAR, without mentioning it by name. Now, I am.

~*~

2. I am aware of Tunisia. If you are not, I suggest you check it out. I am also aware of Haiti and the return of Baby Doc. I also suggest you read Who Removed Aristide; which has some background on the vengeance and exploitation enacted against Haiti by the French and taken up by the USA. As well as The Denial Of Self Determination. I would ask you ponder the term 'Banana Republic', that you ponder assassinations, dictator placements of people (men) who were/are pro-USA policies of exploitation. That you consider why there are people who do NOT think the USA is the greatest country in the world, but often can't say or do much about it. That you ponder what Freedom, really means.

There is potential and there is actuality. The USA has slid past like a sullen teenager on potential for decades, all the while hiding backdeals and dark deeds and now more obviously doing things to affect the average citizen - while leaving its potential, its ideals, by the wayside.

There is very little difference between the USA's corporate elite nobility (major and minor) and the myth of Marie Antoinette's 'Let them eat cake'.

~*~

3. A friend asked me to re-post this statement/thought of mine:

"Sometimes it feels as if people get caught up in being ashamed of what they like, then defending their right to like it. And completely miss the part where what they like is draped in a lot of society's ills and unthinking. And they'd probably have a lot less guilt, if they separated how society uses it most often, with what is the actual structure underneath."

I had originally applied it to kink and sex, realized it could be applied to cultural appropriation and realize now it also applies (to some extent) to patriotism. Many people in the USA, love the USA and refuse to hear a bad word against it, they defend it, unfailingly, despite facts and proof, and lived experiences of others and sometimes their own feelings of doubt and confusion. They refuse to separate the ideal from the actuality; to separate the turn on, from how it is framed.

Example: Someone can love the flavour of vanilla, without loving ice-cream, without having to deny they are lactose intolerant. There are other things with the flavour of vanilla even if how they are introduced to vanilla, is via ice-cream.

Also, please note the USA is not alone in the auto-defense. The French do it, all the time, including thinking that a real Frenchman/Frenchwoman would only say, think, this kind of thing. The Germans do it as well, 'how, who and why is a real German'.

A person can love a thing, and still admit it has problems, it misses the mark, it needs help, it has exploited and hurt and damaged. They can love a thing's ideals, its ultimate form, its dream form. They can love how a thing excites them and titillates them, but also subtract that excitement from damaging circumstances. If you can take fat and calories out of a recipe, or take allergens out of a recipe, how can people not take hate, racism, bigotry and sexism out of a thing? How can they not take dehumanization and objectification out of a thing?

Have a fascinator, not a feathered headdress. Explore power exchange and put away written fantasies about characters in concentration camps or prison or slavery - because really no true romance ever blossomed between authority captor and prisoner there.

And finally, admit American Exceptionalism is a lie. It was exceptionally exploitative, violent and domineering, yes. But it was not the perfect storm that formed a perfect country with no marks or blemishes or wounded, bleeding, dying, decimated, whipped, cut, stolen, beaten, segregated, ostracized, interned, imprisoned, manipulated or denied.

Open Letter To Tim Wise

Tim Wise,

When PoC individuals point out that you've thrust yourself (intentionally conscious or not) to the forefront of the anti-racist movement and any direction shift you give to the work laid down for centuries by the forefathers and foremothers of antiracism by POC, what they're essentially saying is this;

White people are calling you Mr.Wise while you let them call those PoC activists by their first names.

And if you can't understand what's implicit in that, then you've come a long ass way (in the wrong direction) from when you wrote 'White Like Me' and all the comprehension you claimed therein on what it meant to be doing what you were doing.

Stop being your grandfather running a liquor shop in a black community and expecting to be loved for it.

Facebook Deletes Racebending Group

I have never joined facebook. I am likely to never join facebook - sorry to the few of you who've invited me. But this latest thing?

Facebook Deleted People Against Racebending: Protest of the Cast of The Last Airbender Movie Claiming TOS Violations & Hatespeech. More here.

That's, to quote the Spill crew, Some Ole Bullsh*t right there. And it is not too far a leap to believe that Paramount may have had a hand in it, if you remember the copyright upset they pulled against Racebending Protest T-Shirts.

In all likelihood though, it seems that Facebook has a continued practice of not investigating claims against a group, especially when it involves ethnic minorities (American or Non American). And here we have many ethnic minorities, and supporters protesting media discrimination and... bahletion?

Seriously?

WTF is the appeal of Facebook anyway when you're not an organization trying to keep in contact with thousands of members? And the Racebending Facebook, did indeed have thousands of members. But this kind of thing is Facebook's idea of professionalism?

Twitter has more gravitas and responsibility towards its own users than Facebook?

Anyway, Jeff Yang has put up a Protest against the take down. Personally I think that's just a case of using the Master's Tools. But it's still someone trying to get word spread through Facebook about what's going on.

FOUND!

Brianna has been FOUND.

Help Find Missing Child

Brianna Lacey is missing.

She's 15 years old.

She went missing in Chicago.

Please do NOT let her become another Romona Moore.

If you're in Chicago, help look and better yet, help put some pressure for the police to put out an actual Amber Alert.

ETA: Brianna has been FOUND.

Manhwa: Conversations I Want To Have

Instead I want you to think about who decides what to translate and why, how they market the translation, and what all that says both about the audience receiving the translation and the people making the decision. I think it's pretty obvious that publishers decided to license manhwa because they thought it would help expand their manga market, but why did they choose to mostly acquire sunjeong and BL titles and why did they not acquire more actual bestseller titles?

Take a look at a rebuttal on manhwa's inferiority to manga (a pov since changed by the original poster) but which touches on Conversations I Want To Have

English language readers in America, over and over again, seem not to think about who chooses, and promotes the media they consume that is inspired by or merely a translation of, media elsewhere (particularly non-white media).

My examples?

1. Quentin Tarantino Presents: Hero

2. But anime characters are white.