Tag Archive for "People of Color"

Posts Tagged People of Color

Reactions to Good Hair

I wear a few hats on campus. Along with being a graduate student and a Feministing contributor in constant search of my next post, I am also the President of the Campus Coalition for Sexual Literacy (CCSL). CCSL, an org that is an affiliate to the National Sexuality Resource Center, promotes sexual literacy through community forums and serving as a liaison between students and campus health providers. This past Wednesday, with the help of HBO, film distributor Roadside Attractions, University of Michigan academics and student organizations, we held a private screening of Chris Rock’s Good Hair 2 days before the film premiered in Michigan.
While the event, and the conversation that followed with the 300 audience members was ...

By Chloe Angyal • 14 years ago

The Feministing Five: Erica Watson

Erica Watson is a comedian, director and actress from Chicago. This month, Erica is performing her one-woman show Fat Bitch! at The Tank theater in New York City. In the show, Watson, a self-described “fat girl,” dissects media images of full-figured Black women, and explores how her weight has shaped her view of the world, and above all, the world’s view of her. The show also tackles how weight and self-esteem can affect women’s sexual lives, a theme Watson mainly addresses by sharing her own personal experiences.
The main goal of the show, Watson says, is to educate male audience members about women’s struggles, and to empower women to live the best, most authentic lives they can. “You ...

By Chloe Angyal • 14 years ago

The Feministing Five: Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Melissa Harris-Lacewell is a professor, an author, a mother, a prolific Tweeter, and the possible future First Lady of the great city of New Orleans. Harris-Lacewell, an Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, majored in English, which explains why she was the only interview subject I’ve spoken to who was immediately able to answer question number two in the Feministing Five. She didn’t stay on long on the English track, however, and got her Ph.D in political science at Duke University and an honorary doctorate from Meadville Theological Seminary.

Fans of The Rachel Maddow Show will recognize Harris-Lacewell, who frequently appears on Maddow’s show as well as on Countdown with Keith Olbermann (in fact, Harris-Lacewell ...

By Jos Truitt • 14 years ago

I ♥ Vogue Evolution on America’s Best Dance Crew

I’m really excited about Vogue Evolution, a group competing in the current season of America’s Best Dance Crew. The crew members are black and Latino. Four are out gay men and one is an out trans woman. From the beginning they’ve been very upfront about their identities (a relief after seeing so many euphemistic referrals to queer people on TV including the insulting “Choice Fab-u-lous” category at this year’s Teen Choice Awards). Check out this video from the first episode of the season where they introduce themselves and talk a little bit about being gay and trans:

Voguing has been around since the Harlem Renaissance and has been dominated by queer people of color. Pony Webster, one of the crew’s directors, ...

By Samhita • 14 years ago

Netroots Nation 2009 Round-up.

It is always interesting reading what different people get out of conferences and how they apply it to the work they do. Netroots is one of those spaces that are unique in that people from all walks of life converge for something they are passionate about, something that they often don’t get paid to do and something that is trying to bring some semblance of justice and accountability to our legislative process. It is this process that Feministing has given me some access to, by having such a loud megaphone to discuss issues that I think are important and I want you, the voting public, to read about.
Netroots was an interesting experience for me, but not for the same ...

By Ann • 14 years ago

Mad Men, brought to you by women

Betty Draper takes aim at stereotypes, thanks to Mad Men’s women writers

If you’re anything like me, you can barely contain your excitement that season 3 of Mad Men begins on Sunday. It took me awhile to get around to watching the show (I didn’t bother to get a converter when TV went digital, and won’t shell out for cable), but finally my coworker Dana Goldstein convinced me: “Ann, it’s all about sexism and vintage fashion. How can you not watch?”

And indeed, I love how the show paints an unvarnished picture of ’50s gender roles and how the female characters are so three-dimensional. They don’t easily map onto the sorts of stereotypes prevalent in TV shows and movies ...

Betty Draper takes aim at stereotypes, thanks to Mad Men’s women writers

If you’re anything like me, you can barely contain your excitement that season 3 of Mad Men begins on Sunday. It took me awhile ...

By Lori Adelman • 14 years ago

America’s Got Talent- and, Apparently, Race Issues

Others have written before about their (un)feminist guilty pleasure of watching television shows like American Idol and America’s Got Talent, and the problematic practices these shows often have behind the scenes. Despite the obvious cheesiness, as well as the more problematic and unfeminist aspects of these shows, there’s something about them that keeps me tuning in. I don’t know if it’s the dramatic story-line videos that make me feel like I am actually getting to know the contestants and identifying with their struggle, or just the reminder that there are other people out there who are pursuing their dreams without letting the threat of criticism or rejection prevent them from doing so. Or maybe it’s watching people sweat ...

By Samhita • 14 years ago

POC Queer and Two Spirit Community Organizers Kicked out of Pride Parade.

NorthEast Two-Spirit Society and Audre Lorde Project’s Executive Director seemed to have been forcefully kicked out of the NYC Heritage of Pride march this past weekend.
From the Ness website,

Just before 2PM, Lieutenant Connoly of the Midtown Taskforce demanded that the People of Color Contingent leave the parade. The reason given was that a delay of 6 blocks existed between the People of Color contingent and the contingent in front of them. NYPD raised the issue of the gap once and POC contingent marshals were in the process of closing the gap. Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Audre Lorde Project (ALP), and Loyda Colon also of ALP explained to Lieutenant Connoly, that they were ...

NorthEast Two-Spirit Society and Audre Lorde Project’s Executive Director seemed to have been forcefully kicked out of the NYC Heritage of Pride march this past weekend.
From the Ness website,

Just before 2PM, Lieutenant Connoly ...