I'm Awkward, and So Can You!

I think this may be the best thing I've seen on youtube in an entire year.

Welcome to The Misadventures of AWKWARD Black Girl.

I think I was talking with someone recently about how I haven't seen any programming on B.E.T. for about 10 years now. Ever since Bob Johnson sold the network to Viacom, the caricatures of black folks on that channel have been nothing short of toxic and destructive. This deterioration has caused an inevitable ripple throughout mainstream media, making it okay for radio and television to perpetuate and exaggerate these images across the cultural landscape.

The brilliance of this web series is the levels of complexity and sincerity with which the life of a black women is explored. I feel the general perception is that black women are perpetually confident and assertive in all environments. Sometimes I wonder if black women even allow themselves to take advantage of this. (I know I would!)

But the idea of black women feeling nervousness, or insecurity, or inadequacy is probably a relatively new concept for a lot of people in this society. I know I've met many people in my travels who've grown up with very little multicultural interaction outside of images in the media. Much of our initial conversations have frequently involved tackling a backlog of stereotypical information they've received from third and forth-hand sources, and inviting them into a more complete understanding of my experience as an American of African decent.

I watched all seven of these videos and they keep getting better and better. Go check 'em all out here. (It's a link to the playlist. Just let it roll.) You will be hooked!

peace.

The Great Divide

from "Study Shows Racial Wealth Gap Grows Wider" by Pam Fessler:

There's long been a big gap between the wealth of white families and the wealth of African-Americans and Hispanics. But the Great Recession has made it much worse — the divide is almost twice what it used to be.

That's according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, which says that the decline in the housing market is the main cause.

The numbers are astounding. The median wealth of a white family in 2009 was 20 times greater than that of the average black family, and 18 times greater than the average Hispanic family. In other words, the average white family had $113,149 in net worth, compared to $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks.

That's the largest gap since the government began collecting the data a quarter of a century ago, and twice what it was before the start of the Great Recession.

For more, see here.

Preface: There is a possibly controversial assumption being made here. Please feel free to comment in order for us all to weigh the idiosyncrasies of this issue.

Yesterday, I had to appear at the Philadelphia courthouse for jury duty. I thought it odd, actually. Out of all the places I've lived, I've spent the least amount of time in Philly (it'll be a year in five days) but apparently the demand for jurors here is substantial.

I showed up at 8:15am for my day of service, passed through the standard issue metal detectors, and made my way into the initial juror holding room with a couple hundred other potential jury candidates. After about an hour of waiting and napping, a group of us was summoned upstairs to a courtroom for interviews. After more waiting, and some light reading, we were all told the defendant for the case we would have examined decided to make a plea. We were no longer needed for that particular case. Therefore, we were all sent back downstairs to the initial holding room for the possibility of being selected for other cases. More waiting and napping occurred. Finally around 11:30am, our group was called once again. We were led out into the hallway and told we were free to go. Cue waves of relief! We were given explanations for our employers and checks for our time (Mine was for nine bucks. I don't know what anyone else got; probably nine bucks.). I made my way home and fell asleep for the rest of the day. Eight fifteen in the morning doesn't really float my boat.

To be honest, I actually look forward to the day when I'll be able to serve as a juror. It may be the last place in the system that is America where an individual's voice can truly make a difference. But now is simply not the time, primarily because I do not currently have the financial stability to sustain a jury stint longer than the three hours of yesterday's adventure. Evidently, I'm not the only one. Most of the African and Latino American communities in this country are struggling with the same economic difficulties as I am. And I'm willing to bet my last dollar most of the black and Latino folks in that holding room with me were fully prepared to claim financial hardship as the primary reason they couldn't serve. I certainly was. So are we to conclude that the only people in this country who are financial capable of serving as jurors are white and Asian people?

In a system that disproportionately tries and imprisons people of Latin and African descent, this is a really big problem. If I, a politically charged, black, male, motorcycling theatre artist from the South, were on trial for a crime and I had a sea of white-only businessmen and property owners deciding my fate, I would be hard pressed to consider that a "jury of my peers".

peace.

Sharpton vs. West: The Set-up

I haven't had a chance to look at this enough to figure out what I think. But I knew I wanted to put it up and have you all take a look.

I will say this. I stumbled across this video doing other stuff. I intentionally stayed away from MSNBC's "A Stronger America: The Black Agenda" stuff. It felt patronizing, and if MSNBC is the "progessive" news network I would have expected better than that.

I have some thoughts on this tomorrow night.

peace.

Perfecto!

I figure there's been enough coverage of the Wisconsin union battle everywhere else today, so I figured I leave it alone for now. Besides, I was inspired today by something much more illuminating.

Currently, I've been working with the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre as an actor for their school tour of Hamlet. The production consists of one production manager and four actors who practically pack the entire show in a minivan and travel to various public schools in the Delaware Valley to perform. With the exception of the cat who plays Hamlet, each actor plays multiple roles (I'm Polonius, Horatio, Laertes, and Rozencrantz.) and the script is cut from its original four hour length to an hour and twenty minutes or so. After each performance we have a brief question-and-answer session with the students, shake a few hands and such, then pack up our stuff to make our way back to the theater.

Today's performance was at a vocational high school here in Philadelphia. When we arrived, we unloaded our stuff and began setting up on the stage in the school's "cafetorium". As we were loading in, much of the student body were finishing their breakfast in the same room, and it was immediately apparent the school was attended by a majority of African-American students.

Now, I am as susceptible to the frailties of human prejudice as anyone else. Not only that, at times I am apprehensive as to how my work will be received by the folks in my own community. I don't think is incredibly stereotypical to say many African-Americans, though politically liberal and progressive, trend towards social conservatism. Therefore, a stigma exists in the black community towards the exploration of performing arts. Many people who do what I do know this whether they like to admit it or not, which is why quality productions of Shakespeare, Chekov, or even August Wilson are a rarity in black communities. (Boy, I'm going to get in a lot of trouble!)

So I'm expecting the worst; disinterest, lack of attention, sleeping, heckling, etc.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

From the very first moment of the show these kids were incredibly engaged, and their energy was palpable. There received every word and had wonderful responses to every action. Many times throughout the show my cast mates and I heard many verbal responses to the events on stage like, "Oh snap! He killed Polonius!" or, "Wow!" and even, "Get 'em Hamlet!"

By the way, for all of you regular theatre goers, most of us actors like these types of responses. Read up on the groundlings that patronized The Globe.

After the show and a wonderfully rambunctious q&a, the kids made their way to the stage to shake hands and take pictures with all of us. And let me tell ya, there's nothing like a 17 year old asking for an autograph to stroke one's ego. It's almost narcotic-like.

As we were leaving the school we were still in disbelief as to how much fun we had performing at 8:30am. We never expected it. And I think we all learned something as well. All people hope for engagement, especially those that may not have ready access to it. I think it's safe to say we walked a little taller today. Days like today are why we do what we do.

peace.