Lil Bites

This week's roundup focuses on some of the best pieces I've read from Black creators. I highly recommend you seek them out should they not already be on your radar.

Jelani Cobb broke down Judas and the Black Messiah and the Klan Act over at the New Yorker. Cobb outlines the false equivalencies highlighted in the film, explains how they come into play in modern America, and the significance of the NAACP enacting the Klan Act to file suit against a former President.

There's no arguing that The Oscars are broken. But film critic Robert Daniels points out that representation isn't going to bring any kind of meaningful change to the institution.

Moya Bailey explains how misogynoir nearly killed Meghan Markle, highlighting the frequent racism hurled in Markle's direction while around the royal family.

Carla Renata on how Raya and the Last Dragon addresses trust and division with humor and heart, while also appreciating that Raya doesn't fall into the same old Disney trap of "yet another traditional Disney princess story of a young woman chosen by legacy or magic to save her people."

ICYMI...

• Kingsley Ben-Adir will be coming in hot as the villain in Marvel's Secret Invasion.
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's incredible Tati Gabrielle is joining Season 3 of You as a series regular.
• Ryan Coogler discussed how balancing his grief and working on Black Panther 2 is one of the hardest things he's ever done.
• Creed III is official, and will be Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut.
• Hollywood publicists told the HFPA to fix its heart or die.

The Good News Is,

• Here's what's in the American Rescue Plan.
• Meet Sidney the Seal.
• Watch Tiffany Haddish find out she won a Grammy while working with a bunch of kids for her show. It's Big Cute.
• Check out these women who are changing the world.
• 21% of the American population is vaccinated! (With their first dose! The number of fully vaccinated is 11%.)

Get Loud

Did you know that just learning someone's name immediately makes you see them as more of a human being? When people say to remember those who have been lost to police brutality, it's not just about ensuring their memory lives on or that the cause isn't lost. It's about remembering that a living, breathing human being was on the other side of the attack. If more people were able to feel that, there'd be a lot more loud voices in the chorus.

Learn their names. You won't remember all of them all the time. It's a long list. But when you find yourself starting to forget, remind yourself. People are being murdered by the very people sworn to protect them. That has to matter.

The Baby Step

This one's easy peasy! Just subscribe to Black Lives Matter. You'll get updates in your inbox. Read them. This baby step only counts as a baby step if you're actually engaging with the information you're being given. Educating yourself is the first step of resistance.

I Want to do More

That's hugely exciting, because there's so much to do. A lot of the advice here is for the folks not in the Black community, given it's not so much my place to give advice to the folks experiencing racism everyday. Recommendations kick up again below if you don't want to read a bunch of stuff that you already know!

• This one's uncomfortable, but it's critical: people in places of privilege have to start talking to the people in our circles. If they matter enough for you to keep in your life, then they matter enough to talk to about racism. And it's not just the Big Stuff™. If you see a micro aggression, call it out! It doesn't have to be a fight. Just a simple "Hey, this wasn't cool. Here's why."
• Help BLM fight disinformation. The internet's a big place filled with a whole lot of propaganda.
• Share Black joy, Black love, Black excellence. White guilt often makes us pat ourselves on the back for watching media "educating" us on Black pain. There's validity to those stories when told by the right people, they just gotta stop being the only stories we ingest. Engage with your community!
• Breonna Taylor's family has a list of actions to take on their website, #JusticeForBreonna.
• This one's huge: follow. Black. organizers. I may do my best, but I am still a white woman. I know what I know because I listen. I do my best to listen harder when I mess up. (That's also important, you will mess up. Don't let the fear of that stop you from taking any action at all.) Who to follow will vary based on your social platform of choice, but @aliciagarza is a great place to start. I'm not any form of Christian, but I enjoy @RevJacquiLewis as well. Don't just follow monoliths in the community, get engaged.
• Vote. Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote. You will hear me bang this drum for eternity. I will shriek it from the rooftops until my throat bleeds. I will get especially loud if you aren't in a situation where people are constantly trying to take away your right to vote and still choose not to. We need you. Republicans shifting goalposts, cheating, and gerrymandering didn't start with Trump. They invented the game! Every single one of these issues need us at the polls using our voices to fight them. Vote.

Don't...

Not a normal segment, but it felt just as important. Here are some things to avoid:

• Don't put #BLM or #BlackLivesMatter in your bio. It muddies the water when people are looking for actual organizers in the community, events, and more. We don't need hashtags in our bios. We need to do the work. (Note: this doesn't mean not to use them at all, just avoid them in your bio itself. Be vocal enough in your everyday action that your stance is clear.)
• It can be difficult, but try your best not to get defensive when corrected. This isn't about us. We can't center ourselves in Black spaces and call it activism. That's not helping anyone.
• Stop talking about how angry or appalled or sorry you are. Ladies, how obnoxious and useless is it when we're talking about misogyny and some dude shows up in our mentions "apologizing for their gender"? That's what it sounds like when we respond to Black pain with our own turmoil. We're centering ourselves in a space we have no right to be centered in. Elevate their voices and get to work.
• Don't say you understand. We don't. We can't. This statement is well meaning but both useless and insulting. Just listen. Show support. Learn. Act.

Movies to Catch Up On

With the Oscar Noms hitting yesterday, I figured we'd stick with the theme. There are many to choose from, but here are my faves.

• One Night In Miami... — It's rare that I enjoy films that are mostly relegated to one location. Regina King and her spectacular ensemble make a small room feel huge, and it's criminal this film didn't get more love than it did.
• Minari — I know I've already recommended this film in a past issue, but maybe all those sweet, sweet Academy nods will help nudge you closer to it.
• Da 5 Bloods — Though this Spike Lee joint was largely snubbed, you should make time for it if you didn't check it out when it first released on Netflix a year ago.
• Promising Young Woman — This one feels so much like a no-brainer rec from me that I nearly forgot to include it on the list. No doubt one of the best films of the year. Get on it.

Note: Judas and the Black Messiah would be on here, but there is currently no safe way to screen the film (it left HBO Max on March 15th). If you have been fully vaccinated or there's a drive-in near you, the film is still in theaters. 

It's Show Time!

• Snowpiercer just aired its penultimate episode, and it's a doozy. Catch up on the season before the finale hits on March 29th! It's legitimately one of the best things on network television right now. I swear I'm not being paid by TNT to scream about this show.
• Get ready for Amazon Prime Video's Invincible! The series premiers March 26th with 3 episodes and then will air weekly from then out.
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier drops this Friday on Disney+. Long af title aside, get hyypppeeeed!
• If you just need a nice pick-me-up and you're into dinosaurs, I highly recommend Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. It's for kids but it doesn't matter one bit. No blood, but plenty of stakes, and two whole seasons to binge on Netflix!

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