Monthly Archives: October 2012

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The Walking Dead 3.3: “Welcome To Stepford”

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Hosted By Fashion and Entertainment Editor Joe Lamour

Happy Halloween, everyone! Let’s talk about eating brains.

This week, we were introduced to The Governor. His name warrants bolding, capitalization, and other fanfare because he’s clearly this season’s Big Bad: much less annoying, but way more insane than Shane. Funny how zombies were only the first season’s villain.

Even though the East Coast is a mess this week–and only one of us lives on the West Coast–almost everyone snuggled up to watch adults stab decaying people in the head. Fun!

Kiki Smith, Kenneth Hwynn, and Jeannie Chan (all New York City dwellers, mind you) and I had a zombie tete-à-tete-tete-à-tete. We also welcome Jenn Kim, a new tete–and a rather astute tete at that.

More zombie shenanigans under the cut!

* Also, pretty please, commenters, no graphic novel-related spoilers. I was researching Skyfall (admittedly, because the new Moneypenny is the first black Moneypenny, and that’s super.) But anyway, I clicked on a link at some point and read a spoiler that ruined my life. Don’t worry: the link is about the spoiling; it doesn’t list the spoiler right in the beginning, unlike Wikipedia. Seriously, I read it about twelve hours ago, and my face is still hot. Surely, you don’t want to do that to anyone else?

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activism, asian, community, ethnocentrism, media, race & representations, racism

The Science Of Racism: Radiolab’s Treatment Of Hmong Experience

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By Guest Contributor Kao Kalia Yang, cross-posted from Hyphen Magazine

Kao Kalia Yang. Photo courtesy of the author.

On September 24, NPR show Radiolab aired a 25-minute segment on Yellow Rain. In the 1960s, most Hmong had sided with America in a secret war against the Pathet Lao and its allies. More than 100,000 Hmong died in this conflict, and when American troops pulled out, the rest were left to face brutal repercussions. Those who survived the perilous journey to Thailand carried horrific stories of an ongoing genocide, among them accounts of chemical warfare. Their stories provoked a scientific controversy that still hasn’t been resolved. In its podcast, Radiolab set out to find the “fact of the matter.”

Yet its relentless badgering of Hmong refugee Eng Yang and his niece, award-winning author and activist Kao Kalia Yang, provoked an outcry among its listeners, and its ongoing callous, racist handling of the issue has since been criticized in several places, including Hyphen. When Hyphen’s R.J. Lozada reached out to Kao Kalia Yang, she graciously agreed to share her side of the story for the first time. What follows are her words, and those of her uncle.

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american indian/native american/first nations, culture, everyday racism, exoticisation, race & representations, racism, stereotypes

Excerpt: On Halloween And ‘Native’ Costumes

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The Wider Society Says: Totally cool. They are honoring Native Americans…they are just having fun…these people claim Native American ancestry…these are not racist costumes…so its okay…

I guess the Civil Rights Movement was only for certain groups and racism only counts against some minorities but not all.

Society as a whole does not condemn these outfits and they are even considered fashionable at the moment. While all hell breaks loose over other racist costumes, these tend to go without notice to the point that many consider it a legitimate or even fashionable option. Seriously, even progressive websites listing racist costumes conspicuously forget Native American costumes. I honestly did not attend a Halloween party yesterday because if I ran into a well-educated white and affluent peer of mine dressed as a Native American I do not know what I would do.
– From Speak Faithfullly

diversity, media, news, race & representations, reporting, storytelling

Want To Land A Knight Fellowship?

Calling all journalists, documentary filmmakers, freelancers, and media makers of color!

And hey Racialicious crew! It’s been a while. I know I have a million and one things to write about. I still have to write my “Coming to Stanford” post, a post about Argo, finish the Octavia Butler book club, and some hanging posts about fandom, film, and Afro-Asiatic allegories.  And I won’t even tell you my Knight to-do list because it is starting to give me hives.  But if you are even thinking of maybe applying to this awesome fellowship, please join us on a call Tuesday.  The details (that I conveniently snatched from the NABJ Digital blog):

Join the NABJ’s Digital Journalism Task Force, along with the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Hispanic Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association for a conference call on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time to discuss the application process for the 2013-14 class of John S. Knight Journalism Fellows at Stanford University.  The program is actively seeking a more diverse talent pool and is reaching out to journalists of color.  The call will feature one current and two past Knight fellows:

Knight Fellowships director Jim Bettinger will give an overview of the program and introduce the fellows. The fellows will discuss their application process, the work they did during their 10 months at Stanford and offer tips for those who may consider applying.  We’ll then open it up to questions.
The call will be recorded for those who can’t make the live call. You can also tweet your questions to @NABJDigital or email questions to auntbenet AT Gmail DOT com.Dial-in Number: 1-213-226-0400
Conference code: 878554

Application link: http://knight.stanford.edu/news-notes/2012/be-a-knight-fellow-applications-now-open/

I also want to point out that The John S. Knight Fellowships is currently kicking ass on diversity, as reported by Richard Prince:

Less than a week after the Knight journalism fellowships program at Stanford University chose a fellowship class comprising more than half journalists of color, the Nieman fellowships at Harvard University announced an incoming class that appears to be devoid of African Americans. […] In the current Nieman class, Jonathan Blakley, an African American foreign desk producer at NPR, is the only U.S. journalist of color.

But it could always be better. So please, come hang on the call.  And if you are worried that you aren’t quite right for this fellowship, I encourage you to reconsider.   I’ve put my journalistic bio under the jump, the one I actually submitted. And my fellow Fellows include filmmakers, comic artists, bloggers, and one awesome person who was basically running “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” for famous Arabs. Your idea is the most important thing here. So go check it out.  And if you have questions, jump on the call.   Continue reading →

activism, community

Open Thread: Superstorm Sandy Relief Efforts

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A shot looking toward Brooklyn, NY, after Superstorm Sandy’s arrival Monday night. Photo by Michael Tapp via newyorkheadshotphotographer.co, Creative Commons licensed.

The National Weather Service said Monday night that Sandy the “Frankenstorm” is officially not a hurricane anymore, but whatever its designation, the impact is still being felt.

As of Tuesday morning, millions of people in several U.S. states are without power, with at least 10 fatalities reported due to the storm. Another 66 people were killed before Sandy reached the country, including 51 in Haiti alone, where hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents following the 2010 earthquake there.

With that in mind, we’d like to invite readers to list any resources for help on this thread, such as:

  • The Red Cross has started relief efforts for both U.S. residents and the Caribbean countries affected by Sandy, and is taking donations. Red Cross shelters can be found here.
  • FEMA is asking anyone looking for a shelter to text SHELTER + their zip code to 43362 to find the one closest to them.
  • Google has set up a crisis map for the storm as it continues to plow through the eastern U.S., including power outage zones.
  • If you or someone you know wants/needs to use Twitter — which, once again, has been a go-to information source — without having an internet connection, this is a quick guide to set yourself up.
  • A group associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement has formed Occupy Sandy Relief NYC, a volunteer group to help New York City residents in need of assistance.
  • AmeriCares is working with 130 partnering agencies in U.S. states affected by Sandy, and has already sent cholera treatment and prevention supplies to Haiti.
  • The International Medical Corps has been working with the Haitian government to coordinate relief efforts in the wake of Sandy’s arrival there.

Again, if you have any localized efforts to recommend – or red-flag – please use this space to let everyone know. And everyone stay safe, please.

Photo by Michael Tapp, Creative Commons licensed

community

Superstorm Heads For East Coast

The Northeast Coast of the United States stands in the path of what is being called a “superstorm” by weather experts. The weather pattern, including both Hurricane Sandy and a bitter winter storm, is expected to make landfall as early as today, somewhere between the Delmarva Peninsula and Long Island. The National Hurricane Center said Sunday that this storm could cause record flooding and a “life-threatening storm surge.”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of low-lying areas along the coast. The NYC mass-transit system shut down on Sunday, and the city’s schools will be closed on Monday. Similar evacuations and closings are taking place along the Eastern seaboard.

Below are useful resources for preparing for and tracking the storm. Take care, everyone, and share more resources in the comments.

 

Be prepared

Ready New York Hurricane Guide

Red Cross Hurricane Preparation – @RedCross

Ready by FEMA – @FEMA

The Weather Channel Family Preparedness Plan

FAA Flight Delay Information

City of New York Homepage

 

Track Sandy

National Hurricane Center – @NHC_Atlantic

NOAA StormCentral – @NOAA

The Weather Channel – @weatherchannel @twc_hurricane

NYC Severe Weather – @NotifyNYC

 

Image Credit: Wunderground.com

 

Racialicious Crush Of The Week, african-american, black, books, college, glbt, hip hop, homophobia/transphobia, literature of colour, love, masculinity, queer, queer and trans, race & publishing, racism

Racialicious Crush Of The Week: James Earl Hardy

By Andrea Plaid

James Earl Hardy. Photo Credit: Sylvester Q. Courtesy of the interviewee.

Award-winning author James Earl Hardy mentioned that quite a few people may have seen his best-selling book, B-boy Blues, outside of college classrooms–where it’s required reading in African American/multiculti lit and queer lit courses–and bookshelves: actor Isaiah Washington, who plays one half of a same-gender loving (SGL) couple in Spike Lee’s 1996 flick, Get On The Bus, is a holding a copy of it.

Lit-checked in a Spike Lee movie? Such is Hardy’s swag.

After the jump is the interview, in which Hardy talks about the “One Superstar Person Of Color At A Time” mindset in publishing, Black masculinity in pop culture, and his writing a one-person play about a man of color who’s a porn star and entrepreneur. (You read that right.) Hardy also talks about Washington’s career-ending homophobic remark, made a decade after his role in Get On The Bus.

asian, asian-american, casting, celebrities, hollywood, movies

Quoted: MANAA Speaks Up Against Cloud Atlas

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Jim Sturgess in “Cloud Atlas.” Photo via Collider.com.

“Cloud Atlas” may be artistically ambitious, but it’s also racially retrograde, according to a blistering new release from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans …

… “Cloud Atlas” missed a great opportunity. The Korea story’s protagonist is an Asian man–an action hero who defies the odds and holds off armies of attackers,” Guy Aoki, MANAA’s founding president, said in a statement. “He’s the one who liberates [a clone played by actress] Doona Bae from her repressive life and encourages her to join the resistance against the government. It would have been a great, stereotype-busting role for an Asian American actor to play, as Asian American men aren’t allowed to be dynamic or heroic very often.”

Instead, it is Jim Sturgess who plays that role, while Hugo Weaving and James D’Arcy are also cast as Asian actors.
– The Hollywood Reporter