If you don’t know, first of all wyd and second lemme give you a quick run down. BKChat LDN is a UK phenomenon created by Andy Omadi The premise of the online talk show is 5 women and 5 men on opposing sides of the room debate subjects with wonderful titles like “Don’t As Me How Many People I’ve Slept With” and my personal favourite “He Broke Up With Me At A Bus Stop.” Since the first episode one month ago, the channel has racked up over 2 million views, has just shy of 60,000 subscribers and trends on Twitter every week without fail- to say they’re a big deal is an understatement. The production values are stupendous, the cast are beautiful. They’re gargantuan. I’m a fan- d’yunderstand?
Read moreHow The New York Times Failed Michaela Coel
Recently the New York Times posted their picks for Best TV Shows of 2016. The list included Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, Donald Glover’s Atlanta and Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum. The article’s accompanying photography included images of Waller-Bridge and Glover but peculiarly instead of a picture of Coel, the creator and star of the show, the newspaper’s photo editor instead chose a picture of Danielle Walters- Coel’s lighter skinned co-star. At first glance, to some, this might seem like a simple oversight, until you realise the other accompanying imagery features lead act from the shows (bar one) lucky enough to make it on the New York Time’s end of year list. In my humble opinion you’d have to go out of your way to select a picture of Danielle Walters, regardless of her obvious beauty and talent, when it is two time BAFTA award winning Coel who heads the Netflix show.
Read moreThe Evolution of Black Women On Screen
Earlier this year I wrote a post about the sufferation of black women on screen. Fatigued by the incessant portrayals of black women as beasts of burden and strife, I lamented the stories of the black women characters in media were a “little more fiery, a little more brimstoney than the hell reserved for other women.” I might have spoken too soon as 2016 has proved to be a year where more black women than ever before have appeared on screen in TV shows and behind the camera as writers, directors and producers, saying that I am glad I did speak because we must never forget there was a time just 12 months ago when you’d be hard pressed to see so many black women in the forefront of shows.
Read moreTrevor Noah & The Normalisation of Hatred
The twittersphere was ablaze with headlines that Trevor Noah, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show had “dragged”, “eviscerated” and “destroyed” white supremacist darling Tomi Lahren in their interview on Wednesday night’s show when in fact the interview was a calm analysis of Lahren’s views highlighting her racism and hypocrisy. The interview, like Lahren’s with Charlamagne The God, excited me, we were again going to see what civility in the face of bigotry looks like. While I was proud of Noah and happy because he landed many a zinger upon Lahren the aftertaste wasn’t enjoyable- where do we go from here? NYMag.com published an article advising those who oppose Trump and white supremacy need to learn “language matters” and we must learn how to engage those who hate us if we are going to persuade them the lives of those who do not look like them or share their values have as much value and importance as theirs.
Read moreHamilton, Mike Pence & The Onus of Civility
Someone told Mike Pence, United States Vice President-Elect, it was a good idea to attend Lin Manuel Miranda’s multi-award winning play Hamilton. They were wrong, they lied, he was scammed. Upon entering the building boos erupted from some members of the audience who were clearly unimpressed with the Indiana Governor, his campaign with running mate Donald Trump, his support of anti-LGBTQIA legislation or heaven forbid- all three. After the final bow, Hamilton lead Brandon Victor Dixon spoke to Mike Pence directly, calling for calm from the audience again booing the embarrassed politician, telling him diverse Americans were “alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.”
Read moreGifty & The Faux Fear of Black Women
Gifty Louise received the fewest votes from the public along with girl group ______ last night on The X Factor and after a sing off was voted off the show by the judges. Instantly comments appeared on Twitter that Gifty was “angry” , “shifty” and she deserved to lose her place on the show because she had a poor attitude. Before I stopped watching the show I remember Gifty being a happy contestant, “maybe things had taken a turn for the worst since I’d last seen the show” I thought. Upon seeing the footage of her exit from the show I realised people online were misreading her facial expression as one of anger when what I saw was a young woman expressing extreme sorrow and regret and who was sad that her opportunity at winning the show was cut short. The problem is the British Public have been programmed to only recognise two emotions in black people, black women especially; anger and joy. To those unfamiliar with the nuances and expansive range of emotions black people are capable of expressing, her lack of a smile meant only one thing- she was duh Duh DUH angry.
Read moreHoney G & [The Erasure of] Black UK Women Rappers
I stopped watching X Factor recently. I want to say it’s because of Honey G, the polarising, talentless contestant Sharon Osbourne put through to the live rounds. The truth is the scathing, witty banter I used to partake in has dissipated as many of my Twitter friends no longer care for the Hunger Games that has become of the singing competition. Happily I haven’t had to witness first hand the offensive modern day black face that is Honey G, the self proclaimed “Top UK Rapper” from North London, perform her horrific performances of rap classics California Love, Mo Money Mo Problems and Men In Black. The furore surrounding her claims people are using the “race card” against her is laughable when it is her who is using her platform to make a mockery of the art form Black British women have honed for years without none of the support this joke has been gifted with.
Read moreAmy Schumer Throwing Stones & Hiding Hands
Do you remember MTV Icons? I’m talking specifically about the year P!NK, Mya and Usher performed tributes to Janet Jackson. Their medley was supremely choreographed, they were expertly styled from the tops of their heads to the tips of the toes and were introduced by our dearly departed Aaliyah.
Read moreSolange's Don't Touch My Hair Touched Me
Today marks the 4 month anniversary of starting at my current job, it is also 4 months since a white person has put their hands in my hair. At the last company I worked at, I was never sure when some white person’s hands would find their way into my hair- a lot of them would do it from the back denying me an opportunity to matrix out of the way. To them, it was innocent curiosity, to me it was an act of violence. My hair is personal to me, intimate in a way I cannot describe and to have had innumerable people touch it, tug it and comment “oh my god, it’s so soft” (every time) is a violation so difficult to articulate with mere words. After a year and a half of unwelcome fingers in my tresses, to have a 4 month respite is so welcome. The celebration of this momentous occasion was underscored by the release of Solange’s video “Don’t Touch My Hair.”
Read moreLuke Cage & The Best One Liners
It is true. The first season of Luke Cage could have been tighter. And while I agree with Mike Hale of the New York Times that the show’s lead Mike Colter didn’t feel “comfortable” carrying the show, I also agree with Rebecca Theodore when she countered with a resounding cry that black people are “not your sidekicks.” The show felt bloated in parts, it could have been trimmed back into 10 episodes instead of 13 but it is still a feat of epic proportions. Cheo Hodari Coker, the series showrunner, assembled the blackest cast to tell a black story on Netflix and it’s what I needed. If Solange poured warm honey in my ears with her seminal album A Seat At The Table, Coker surely washed my eyes with powerful images of black people on an adventure as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Read moreMary J Blige & The Problem With That Song
A collective “wyd, sis” sounded out across the Twittersphere when Apple released the trailer for Mary J Blige’s The 411, The Queen of HipHop Soul and R&B’s upcoming sit down with the democratic presidential candidate Secrertary Hillary Clinton.
Read moreAn Ode To The FBI Agent In Mr Robot
This post is fully of SPOLIERS you wont understand if you haven’t watched both seasons of Mr Robot.
Read moreMarc Jacobs & Unrepentant Ignorance
The internet has given voice to the voiceless. Instantly those previously excluded from discourses surrounding their race and/or gender are able to connect with those they feel wronged by thus creating an environment where the offenders are held accountable for their misdeeds or in Marc Jacobs’ case not only refuse to acknowledge their failures but further highlight the depth of their ignorance with glorious, unrepentant flare.
Read more13 Awesome Things About Brotherhood
The Problem With Channel 5's Gangland
“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” – Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
Currently on TV and in film in Britian, the prevailing narrative of black men and women are those in the Channel 5 documentary series Gangland and final film Noel Clarke’s successful trilogy Brotherhood. I walked out of Brotherhood and refuse to watch Gangland.
Read moreLena Dunham & Toxic White Feminism
*UPDATED September 4th 2016
Lena Dunham has been heralded as the feminist icon here to save a generation. While it cannot be denied that her breakout HBO hit Girls is a seminal work that didn’t shy away from conversations about important women’s issues (abortion, body positivity), the comedy was plagued from its outset by cries that it failed to accurately portray New York’s racial diversity. Girls writer Lesley Arfin responded to the backlash thus “What really bothered me most about Precious was there was no representation of ME.” Dunham herself took a more measured approach, claiming that she had learned a “painful” lesson and the experience of being corrected had “made me stronger as a feminist and an activist and a thinker."
Read moreTeyana Taylor & Glorious Agency
You know, you can be woke to the point of paralysis? There is a space where your enlightenment can render you incapable of enjoying art. The first time I saw Kanye West's Fade featuring Teyana Taylor, I was mesmerised, truly transfixed by her athleticism and musicality. I was awestruck by her ability to almost inhabit the music, become the sound using her form to translate the inarticulable- how your body wishes it could move to that song... but can't because you're not Teyana Taylor. *weep*
Read moreLeslie Jones & The Validity of Black Emotions
Leslie Jones cried after racist trolls camped out in her mentions. The comedian was forced to leave Twitter because right wing “news” site Brietbart’s tech editor, Milo Yiannopolous led a charge against her because she dared to be a dark skinned black woman starring in summer blockbuster Ghostbusters. Yiannopolous posted a picture of Leslie Jones with caption “At least the new Ghostbusters has a hot guy in it”, after being blocked he posted another picture of Jones that read “rejected by another black guy.” In doing so, Nero as he was referred to on Twitter, unleashed an onslaught against Jones by his 300,000 followers that saw Jones called every racist epithet under the sun. After fighting off as many of the trolls as she could, she decided to leave twitter. Her admission that she cried might have irritated those who demanded that she not “stoop to their level” but I found kinship in that declaration of pain. Her power in this situation came not from fending off these keyboard thugs, but from admitting and sharing that it hurt.
Read moreKim Kardashian & The Taming of the Swift
Only white allies can defeat white enemies.
"It was only another white woman who could beat her at her own game." - Ira Madison III
Not until events between Kim Kardashian-West and Taylor Swift unfolded on Sunday night did I truly understand that only the actions of white allies are able to usurp and dismantle the harm done by white enemies who use even the most implicit forms of anti-blackness. Click here for a blow by blow description of what the Kimye/Swift feud actually is and what transp
Read moreJess Glynne & The Erasure of Black Grief
Jess Glynne’s tweets were well intentioned. She did what we’ve been telling so many stars to do over the last few years; stand with us and state explicitly that the systematic murder of black people at the hands of police officers is wrong. Her series of tweets started so well. I balled my hand into a fist, felt it rising into the air. “To the policemen who think they can do whatever they want cause they have a badge…You are truly sick.” Just as my fist touched the sky, high and proud, my eyes skated over the dreaded words #ALLLIVESMATTER A familiar sense of anguish washed over me. I pulled my fist out the air and lamented how effective three words were at erasing the grief black people were collectively suffering on Twitter that day. From Glynne’s perspective, and that off the proponents of All Lives Matter, the statement is an immutable fact. From the perspective of black people, especially those of us in Britain who know the only reason the only reason we do not die at the hands of law enforcement at the same staggering rate as our brothers and sisters in America is because of our tight gun control, the idea All Lives Matter is just that- an idea. A myth if you will. A lie if you must. Jess Glynne sharing that untruth with her quarter million followers on a day when we voicing our pain, frustration and anger was an act of unconscious erasure.
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