Tag: CNN

Posted in A Professor's Thoughts..., Black Joy, Celebration, Conversations with Beloved & Kindred, Holiday Celebration!!, Resources

Juneteenth 2024: A Time for Celebration and Reflection!!

Posted on by drblackfuturefeminist

What does it mean to be free?

Another year to celebrate and reflect on a moment in history! Juneteenth is about freedom! On this day in 1865 two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Union troops announced to over 250,000 unaware Black folks in Texas..that they were free! And over a half-century later in 2021, this day was officially named a federal holiday.

I’m still amazed and proud that I am here to see the holiday come to fruition. To think that freedom was delayed (especially for two years, any amount for that matter) is truly an injustice. I cannot even begin to imagine…BUT the dream was delayed not diminished. While the holiday is not perfect (there is room for growth), the history of Juneteenth will always be around, which is important! Freedom did come!

As an African American Studies professor, I am always talking about the experiences of Black folks in and out of the diaspora, particularly in popular culture. And when thinking about those experiences I cannot help but consider the past. As a people, we have encountered daily trauma, joy, pain, motivation, and so much more. These expressions are projected in many ways, many speaking to the ultimate goal…simply being free!! This freedom is shown through our music, food, tv shows, films, language, and so much more. In our own unique way, we have been able to unapologetically give ourselves permission to be empowered and live free in spite of what might be happening in the world.

In the spirit of celebrating being free and living in one’s purpose, I have gathered a few options of some good books to read, a few movies to watch, and some podcasts to add to your morning commute that speak to being FREE! Check them out below:

Books

  • On Juneteenth ~Annette Gordon-Reed
  • We Are Each Other’s Harvest Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy ~Natalie Baszile
  • Four Hundred Souls ~Edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha Blain
  • Magic Enuff ~Tara M. Stringfellow
  • Shoutin’ in the Fire ~Danté Stewart
  • Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People ~Tiya Miles
  • I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness ~Austin Channing Brown

Movies/Film & TV Series

  • Miss Juneteenth (2020)
  • Beyond the Canvas-Art: Black Women Lead (2023)
  • Pose (2018-2021)
  • Mending Walls: The Documentary (2022)
  • The Learning Tree (1969)
  • High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America (Netflix)

Podcasts

TV Specials

  • Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom and Legacy (CNN) [Airing June 19 at 10pm ET/PT]: The third annual special will feature musical performances and conversations with John Legend, Patti LaBelle, and Smokey Robinson discussing freedom, progress and recognizing the people that paved the way. 
  • Additional documentaries, films, and television shows (provided by VCU News)

Now we cannot leave without offering some reflections on popular food and drinks that many folks consume during this celebration. During Juneteenth celebrations it is customary to partake in a feast, but particularly red foods take center stage. Red symbolizes the resilience from bondage. As noted by Chef Chris Scott who spearheaded the first James Beard Foundation’s Juneteenth celebration, “the red symbolizes the blood that was shed by Black Africans and Black Americans during slave capture, slave travel, and slave trade here in the state and in the Caribbean.” Some of the common foods found on a Juneteenth menu include:

  • Strawberries (especially strawberry soda pop)
  • Sorrel
  • Watermelon
  • BBQ
  • Red beans and rice
  • Red Velvet Cake
  • Deviled eggs

Remember these are just the basics, it is up to you what you want to include, you can even make your own creations or remix a recipe. Just make sure it’s with family and friends as you celebrate and reflect on the notion of freedom!!

As an extra bonus check out this past episode where I talk with my friend and academic colleague about why Juneteenth Matters!!

Posted in A Professor's Thoughts..., Feature Spotlight, On The Radar

Inside Shang-Chi’s evolution from forgotten comic book character to big-screen superhero*

Posted on by drblackfuturefeminist

~Scottie Andrew, CNN Entertainment

Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings First Reactions

So a couple a weeks ago I had the opportunity to offer a few of my thoughts about Asian representation in comic books and its relationship with the latest Marvel film, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings for CNN Entertainment!! To view the complete article see here.

Check out some of the snippets below:

Shang-Chi’s early issues relied on some problematic stereotypes

Every iteration of Shang-Chi has a similar throughline: He’s always a spectacular martial artist, always playing tug-of-war with his former life as a fighter and always, always tormented by daddy issues. That blueprint was created by Englehart and Jim Starlin, the two-man team who brought the character to life (Englehart, perhaps best known for his dark, noir take on Batman, has also created characters like Star-Lord of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and Starlin is responsible for MCU icons like its biggest villain, Thanos.)

In the early 1970s, Englehart and Starlin approached Detective Comics (DC) with an idea: a comic book take on the David Carradine series “Kung Fu.” (The series has been criticized for its use of “yellowface,” or casting White actors as Asian characters. Carradine is White but starred as a part-Chinese martial artist.)Starlin, an artist, loved the martial arts element of the story, while writer Englehart said he was interested in delving into Taoism and other philosophies to flesh out his protagonist. The two thought they’d found a match with “Kung Fu” — but DC thought the “kung fu craze was going to disappear,” Starlin said, and passed on the idea.

So the pair took it next to Marvel, whose executives agreed only after insisting that the pair inject some pre-existing intellectual property into their comic, both men told CNN.

In this case, the company had the rights to the character Fu Manchu, a racist caricature of a Chinese man created by British author Sax Rohmer in the early 20th century. The villain was then “grafted onto the series” as Shang-Chi’s father, Starlin told CNN in an August interview. (Racist depictions of Asian characters had appeared in comics before this, like the egg-shaped villain “Egg Fu” in a 1965 Wonder Woman issue and the 1940 character “Ebony White” in the early comic, “The Spirit,” said Grace Gipson, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies race and gender within comics.)

Gipson, a pop culture scholar who studies race and gender within comics, said hiring writers of color like Yang to helm series about characters of color is an improvement, but it “is really not a hard task.” She said while comics creators have made great strides in deconstructing norms of who a comic book reader is and what storylines they want to see, the hiring of creators of color needs to happen consistently.”It’s about making sure the voices of those being represented always have a seat at the table as well as a microphone to speak,” she told CNN.

Still, she said, as a fan of comics herself, she’s enjoyed seeing more representative stories being told in mainstream comics. 

*Repost from CNN