passport harlem
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“Inscriptive Restorations: An Interview with Natasha Trethewey,” Callaloo, Vol. 27, No. 4
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I’d pay Broadway ticket money to see this.
The Wire: The Musical with Michael Kenneth Williams
Michael Kenneth Williams stars alongside The Wire’s Sonja Sohn, Larry Gillard Jr., Andre Royo and Felicia “Snoop” Pearson in “The Wire: The Musical,” depicting America’s failing drug war through the magic of song!
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D'Angelo & Black Genius
I’ve had many a conversation about the folks Quest lists and others. Why isn’t there a book on black genius? (Is there a book on black genius?)
I tell Rock that Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the drummer for the Roots and one of D’s closest collaborators, has ticked off much the same list. Questlove has a theory about what happens to black genius—what he calls “a crazy psychological kind of stoppage that prevents them from following through. A sort of self-saboteur disorder.” Rock says he understands.
I ask Questlove what he thinks has held D back. He says it’s not just the way “Untitled” turned D’Angelo into “the Naked Guy,” though of course that didn’t help. It’s something bigger. “We noticed early that all of the geniuses we admired have had maybe a ten-year run before death or, you know, the Poconos,” he says. “That renders D paralyzed. He said he fears the responsibility and the power that comes with it. But I think what he fears most is the isolation”—the kind that fame brings
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“You don’t come back in here until you’ve apologized to every person in this room, Because you just exercised a freedom that none of these people of color have. When these people of color get tired of racism, they can’t just walk out, because there’s no place in this country where they aren’t going to be exposed to racism. They can’t even stay in their own homes and not be exposed to racism if they turn on their television. But you, as a white female, when you get tired of being judged and treated unfairly on the basis of your eye color, you can walk out that door, and you know it won’t happen out there. You exercised a freedom they don’t have. If you’re going to be in here you’re going to apologize to every person of color in this room. And do it now.”
“I’m sorry there’s racism in this country—
“BULLSHIT! No, you’re not going to say ‘I’m sorry there’s racism.’ You’re going to apologize for what YOU just did.”
“I will not apologize because it’s not a matter of race always—”
“OUT.”
Jane Elliot is a champ.
I still laugh at that part: “OUT! OUT! OUT!!”
(Source: non-dairyqueen)
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Yes.
