When my big brother shared Azealia Banks' interview on Hot 97 in the video below, I cried. Banks clearly articulated the pain felt by black creatives when their art is misappropriated by white people who they then must watch become wealthy while they languish, be awarded while they are left empty handed. It was decided, I would conjure my Black Girl Magic to rally around Banks and ignore the problematic points in her argument (is she shedding tears for Bill Cosby?) because I cape hard for black women. I cape especially hard for NW45, Deep Dark outspoken, women artists. Skip to the 7:52 mark to hear the discussion pertaining to the effects of cultural misappropriation in hip hop and rap music.
Read moreBeyonce, bell hooks & The Audacity of Lemonade
I come to this post not as a member of the Beyhive but as a young critical thinker questioning the validity of the charges levied against Beyonce by bell hooks in her latest essay "Moving Beyond Pain" . Here my fantasism for Knowles-Carter and deep seated respect for hooks are in violent collision because while hooks taught me about the political and historical implications of my hair and my complexion, Beyonce has taught me how to operate as a black woman in this creative, capitalist industry. Both of these women are feminists, both are important to me but in this instance bell hooks' unrelenting, militant stance of undermining Beyonce's feminism finds itself akin to Piers Morgan's delirious reading of Lemonade.
Read moreJohn Boyega & The Power of Clarification
Have you ever been to Peckham Multiplex? It’s amazing if you’re on a budget. The last time I went the tickets were £4.99, the carpets were sticky, we were watching Attack The Block and the banter that shot across the audience made the film even better than it was. That was the night I fell in love with John Boyega. I didn’t know how much of a star he’d become but I remember feeling he was special. At the end of 2014 when the Star Wars teaser was released, I screamed a scream from my soul when John Boyega jerked onto the screen. Star Wars has never meant anything to me, but when I saw he was in it, instantly I knew I had to get a ticket, I had to brush up on my knowledge, I needed to know everything there was to know about this war in the stars. That’s the power of representation.
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