Watching this upheaval over #BlackAF with interest. I liked Blackish (for a while), didn't really take to Mixedish (weak premise) & never saw Grownish (not target audience). Simple maths shows that Barris does generally cast lighter-skinned, mixed-ish actors, period.
I do agree with the crowd saying there are many ways to be black. But those different ways have different challenges too. The real problem is flattening them all into one amalgam experience & presenting that same experience repeatedly, as if it's all the same. It's not.
There was one Blackish episode where Diane wasn't well lit in a photo where she was the only Black person. She tried to wave it aside, but the parents were adamant, & that was the first time Diane being the darkest in the family was addressed.
And she's not even that dark!
In my opinion, pretending colorism isn't a thing among darker-skinned populations worldwide (even among other POC) is disingenuous. How much so in America where there was the paper bag test and racial passing.
Barris can cast anyone he likes, but he should do it with his chest.
Colorism is not as institutionalized as race, but it's there in every industry. I worked for a Big 4 multinational, & every single receptionist was light-skinned. There was even a particular department comprised solely of light-skinned women. Complexion has socioeconomic impact.
To have TV shows where the Black people are successful, but also majority of the key characters are significantly lighter-skinned, sends a message about proximity to whiteness.
Want to do it right? Look at Insecure (an equally contemporary Black-focused TV show) and learn.
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I once asked my mother what her family did during the Nigerian Civil War. She said her father was jobhunting.
Jobhunting.
TV gives us the idea that chaos rules when the worst things happen. But in truth, more people than not will try to retain a semblance of normalcy.
Ergo, if you believe your daily schedule will shift radically when things come crashing down, you'll be wrong.
When Victoria Island, Lagos floods as it does yearly, some residents put their work clothes in a backpack, take a canoe to work, and dress up in the restrooms.
Remember this when things are slowly crashing around you, but because no one declares open season on you in the streets, or ash isn't perpetually falling from the sky, it feels like things haven't gone that far yet.
They have, and the right time to act like they have is now.
EACH OF US A DESERT by @MarkDoesStuff. "A powerful fantasy novel about finding home and falling in love amidst the dangers of a desert where stories come to life."
LEGENDBORN by @tracydeonn. Meet Bree: Black girl magic, literally. Infiltrates secret society of "Legendborn" monster slayers to find the truth about her mother, despite some dude called "Merlin" trying to wipe her memory--and failing.
Remember one of those secret projects I said I’m involved in? Well, @UNICEF + @TheLancet & @FT Commission are partnering on @GHFutures2030 to explore how technology is shaping health and wellbeing for future generations.
And I’m working with them to help envision this.
We’re asking young people to imagine their own health futures. We want to know what mental health, healthcare & medicine, with artificial intelligence & frontier technologies, could look like in 2045. Youth voices matter, and we need them to be heard by world leaders at #UN75.
If you’re young (or have youngsters around you—looking at you, teachers!), what’s the biggest obstacle to your health? Climate change? Politics? Education? Join the conversation with the #MyFutureMyHealth hashtag. Go wild: Robot nurses! Wearable monitors! Flying Ambulances!
I'm teaching this virtual class at @piper_center for the next 3 weeks, and a silent benefactor & I are sponsoring TWO SCHOLARSHIPS for BIPOC writers to attend.
Open to writers anywhere in the world. See details in thread!
First, what the workshop is about: Every Monday for 3 weeks, I'll explain my understanding of revision, and actionable practices I use to revise my work (both long and short). Then we'll identify which may work for you and try those on your work.
Dope, right? Get in, then!
To apply for these scholarships: Email the following to ask@suyidavies.com:
1. one-page cover letter (about 3 paragraphs explaining your writing path, publications & aims for this class) 2. first page of your current WIP (novel, short story, whatever).
Captain Africa was the first superhero comic I read as a child that had someone like me in it, so it’s an honour that @tordotcom let me write about its rise, fall & impact on today’s #ownvoices superheroes from the continent. tor.com/2020/08/24/the…
Some stuff that didn’t make it into the piece:
Andy Akman, the Ghanaian creator of this comic, has gone AWOL since the comic’s disappearance. As in, absolutely no trace. Search for “Andy Akman” and every result you’ll find is people like me asking, “Where is Andy Akman?” 🤷🏾♂️
Also, though the piece focuses heavily on comics in English-speaking African (interspersed with various indigenous languages), comics also thrived on the continent in French, Portuguese and Afrikaans-speaking countries during the same period. Truly a treasure trove.
It's no secret I'm no fan of the police--any police, anywhere. Interacting with the Nigerian police teaches you early on that there's a stark difference between "policing" and "security," and these are two concepts I realise most folks seem to confuse.
A lot of policing discourse in the global sphere is usually discussed within the context of American policing and its roots in slavery. But the US police is not the only one to evolve from imperial-capitalist interests, driven by use of force.
The Nigerian police did too.
Here's the history of the NPF:
1820: Commissioner general raises force in the East
1879: Armed Hausa constabulary in the North
1888: Royal Niger Company constabulary
1894: Niger Coast constabulary, Calabar
What these constabularies have in common? Colonial interests.