Black History Month: How far we've come...

UPDATE 02/13/2010: Helena over at Newsy.com reached out to me this week regarding their piece on Vanity Fair (and others). Check them out for more insight into VF's depiction of the "New Hollywood" or view the embed below. 

It's Give Us A Little Attention So We'll Shut the Hell Up Month Black History Month. Traditionally, this would be a time to reflect on the many good and inspiring acts for, by, and about Black folks. But, since that's the approach mostly everyone  is going take, I decided to head in a different direction...and call some **** out!!

Initially I planned on one or two items a week, but because I'm having such a great day today, I'm giving you a double-dose.


First up: Vanity Fair (whose title could not be more fitting). Normally, this magazine would mean nothing to me, and rightfully so, I'm not their audience. But I was surfing and saw it over at EW... They just unveiled their February cover featuring a batch of fresh-faced (i.e. white) young starlets, or, as the cover states, The NEW Hollywood.  Funny how it looks just like the old Hollywood.

Really? There are NO promising Latina/Asian/African-American/Native-American  actresses bringing in the new decade? None? No Zoe Saldana? No Gabourey Sidibe? I mean that field these girls are in seems pretty big, and I'm sure the photographer had an array of lenses available; they could've squeezed some color in there somewhere.

But I know this wasn't intentional. And no one on the shoot, or in the editor's office, or at the printer's, noticed the total lack of diversity in this spread. And, I'm also sure Vanity Fair will tell us as much should people make a big enough stink about this during Black History Month.

Now, I know ultimately this isn't a big deal...Vanity Fair isn't about diversity. If I really want to see black actresses I've got Ebony and Jet (heck, Jet comes out once a week, so that more than compensates). But, the point here is there's still a clear division in Mainstream (white) and Other (everybody else) when it comes to entertainment. And, bottom line is it isn't right. There are so many people who claim that we're past racism, that it's the people who keep bringing it up who actually cause the problems... but, truth is we're living a life of quiet segregation most days and that won't change if we don't talk about it.

So, here it is, why are the images we see in our cineplexes, on our tv screens, in our books, and in our magazines so skewed towards one race if everything is supposed to be so equal?

We call it Pop Culture with the emphasis on Pop when it needs to be on Culture. Stuff like the Vanity Fair cover is a snapshot of our world: pretty to some, but not to others. Think about it...

Finally, I want to bring back an oldie but goodie. A video from the Game Overthinker that seems to be about the controversy of Resident Evil 5 from a couple of years back, but is really about so much more. Enjoy!!

Ending radio silence

It's been awhile. A long while. A six months and ten days while. To my single follower, I apologize.

First off...Haiti. Wow!! If you have a heart to, help these people. You already know about all the organizations that are taking donations (Red Cross, Doctors w/o Borders, etc.) so please skip a dinner out, or a movie, or hold off on the new shoes, and send that money to the people suffering down there. God bless them.

Now, to explain my absence, I give you two words: Grad School.

I've returned to school to obtain a Master's Degree in English (WARNING: the next condescending ***hole inquisitive person who asks, "well, what do you plan to do with that?" is going to get a Call of Duty Tactical Nuke aimed at their house). I have my reasons for pursuing that particular degree...'nuff said.

My first semester (despite a few hiccups) turned out well. I'm currently sporting a fresh 4.0 GPA on my transcript and loving it. More exciting than that, I finished writing a new novel. And even more exciting than that, several agents have expressed interest in the manuscript and requested to see more. How did I do this while studying, being an attentive husband, and holding down a day job? Let's just say when I finally got some time off around Christmas, I took a 3-week nap.

Fingers crossed on the agent thing. Representation is a big step towards the ultimate goal of a book deal, but there are no guarantees at any point in this process. Having agents request your full manuscript is encouraging, but the potential for a "no" forever looms.

If this thing goes my way, I'll post my agent-getting query letter for all to see (tell your writer friends). And if it doesn't go well, I'll talk about that, too. Because that's what you all pay lurk to see.

I promise more frequent posts, by the way. I've got a pretty good handle on this life-balance thing now, so I can work some blogging in without issue.

Soon, people (I mean it this time).