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January 12, 2015January 12, 2015

5 Black Artists Using Music To Inspire And Tackle Important Social Issues That You Should Know

I’ll have to admit, as great 2014 was on a personal level, it was a really hard year for me witnessing the violence against our women and men of color. The needless deaths at the hands of law enforcement broke my heart and I couldn’t figure out a way to properly express myself — being the only girl I have a tendency to go right for the jugular during a debate, it’s how I survived having two older brothers. Also, how can one really talk about a subject that is so insane you can’t wrap your head around it? So, I looked towards music to help quiet my always busy brain.

This list is presented by Kristin from Black Girl Nerds

Leyla McCalla

I’m a fan of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. I love how this group of young people have embraced the history of American music and made it accessible to all audiences. When I saw them live a couple of years ago I learned about Leyla McCalla — her personal story is phenomenal — and fell in love with her style. The night they announced the grand jury wasn’t going to indict the officers for the death of Eric Garner I was at The Hamilton Live in DC to see her. Last year, Leyla released “Vari-colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes,” a solo album which put some of Hughes’ poetry to music. I needed this — her beautiful voice and Hughes’ beautiful prose shut out all the anger and horrific comments I had been reading via social media. At one point during her performance, Leyla explained that she wasn’t planning on performing “Song for a Dark Girl,” but felt the need to in the memory of Michael Brown. After scattered applause, the venue fell silent, which is kinda hard considering there are two bars in it. Such a quiet, yet powerful song. By the time she finished I was hiding my face from a coworker and his wife who were sitting next to me as tears were falling.

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January 7, 2015January 7, 2015

A Blerd Reflects on the Social Issues of 2014

I will always remember 2014 as the year America was reminded of its social issues. On the heels of the popularization of “post-racial,” the universe stood puzzled at our collective blindness and punished our hubris by revealing Donald Sterling, Sony emails and Don Lemon journalism. None of these things were new; we just collectively packed away and ignored them, like “organizing” your room by piling all your loose belongings in an overstuffed closet. The year came with other reminders as well, from cultural appropriation to domestic abuse and corrupt policing. For many of us, 2014 was the reminder we never needed.

Following the release of Donald Sterling’s voicemails and news of his history being brought to public light, fans promised a boycott at the same time others searched Hub Stub for reduced ticket prices. In the first home game following the news, reports claimed the Golden State Warriors were prepared to shake hands with the Clippers and walk off the court, refusing to play if Sterling was present. He was banned from the game and the show went on so we didn’t see if the players had the fortitude to back their claims, but the whole fiasco begged the question – how do my convictions weigh against my entertainment?

A person can be an artist of anything – for an actor, their art can be a film; for a chef, their lasagna. I can cherish the beauty of someone’s work without consideration of his or her history, relationships or personal life. Or can’t I? As consumers of art, when do we separate the art from the artist?

When it comes to being aware as a media consumer, sometimes I feel like Cypher in The Matrix:

“I know what you’re thinking, ’cause right now I’m thinking the same thing… I’ve been thinking it ever since I got here: Why, oh why, didn’t I take the blue pill?”

One of my favorite quotes is an inspirational line attributed to Bill Cosby. I recited it to myself in times of intimidation, fear and nervousness. It was the entire movie of 8 Mile encapsulated in a dozen words, with Rabbit making eye contact in the mirror through his black eye. It says, “You have to want it more than you are afraid of it.” In light of the flood of sexual misconduct claims against Cosby and his handling of the allegations, I found myself uncomfortable with my favorite quote.

Read more from Jordan Calhoun at Black Nerd Problems

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015

Black Theoretical Physicist Ronald Mallett’s Quest to Build the First Time Travel Machine

Physicist Ronald L. Mallett is actively working on building the world’s first functioning time machine. Mallett published an autobiography called “Time Traveler: A Scientist’s Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality” about his journey to becoming one of the first Black Ph.D.s in theoretical physics, all inspired by his quest to build a time machine in order to travel back in time and save his father from death. Filmmaker Spike Lee’s production company Forty Acres and a Mule acquired the film rights to Mallett’s book in 2008, but the film was never made. Fortunately, Mallett has shared his amazing story and ongoing journey in several documentaries and educational specials available on YouTube.

Rasheedah Phillips is a Philadelphia public interest attorney, speculative fiction writer, the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair, and a founding member of Metropolarity.net. She recently independently published her first speculative fiction collection, “Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales).”

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015

A 1992 Speculative, Critical Race Tale Brings Up Relevant Questions in Current Times

“The Space Traders,” a short science fiction story by late law professor and civil rights activist Derrick Bell, imagines a day in the year 2000 when thousands of ships carrying an advanced alien race arrive in America. The aliens offer clean nuclear energy, technology, bail-outs for all the banks, and other benefits, in exchange for only one thing – to take all African-Americans back to the aliens’ home star. “Space Traders” first appeared in Bell’s 1992 best-selling collection, “Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism,” a book of essays and short stories exploring the persistence of racism in America. The short story was adapted for television in 1994 by Trey Ellis and Reginald Hudlin for an episode of Cosmic Slop, a three-part HBO anthology series highlighting POC-centered science fiction. Described by Ellis as “a sort of Afro-Twilight Zone,” the episode was even introduced by P-Funk front man George Clinton.

Interestingly, the story received renewed interest during the 2012 presidential election, when the TV adaptation of the story and a video of young Barack Obama hugging Professor Bell fell into the hands of conservative, right-wing news sites. Bell, a former mentor of President Obama, was accused by conservatives of using the story to race bait and incite paranoia, while also suggesting that Obama is racist by association.

Watch the Space Traders episode below and read the original story by Professor Bell

December 31, 2014December 31, 2014

Top 11 Graphic Novels and Comics Of 2014 All Blerds Should Read

This year has been blerd-tastic as creators of color have made their mark on the publishing scene. It feels like each week hot new books are hitting virtual and IRL bookshelves. If you haven’t been able to keep up, no worries—here are our best picks for graphic novels created for, by or starring people of color from 2014, as presented by Terreece M. Clarke at LifeSlice Media.

CHEW by John Layman and Rob Guillory

The 8th volume in a long-running, award-winning series, Chew is drawn by Black artist extraordinaire Rob Guillory. Anthony (Tony) and Antonelle (Toni) Chu are fraternal twins. Tony is Cibopathic, able to receive psychic sensations of the past of anything he bites into or ingests. Toni is Cibovoyant, able to flash onto a vision of the future of any living thing she bit into or ingested. After Toni was murdered her brother Tony vowed to catch her killer with her help.

LEGEND OF THE MANTAMAJI BOOK ONE & BOOK TWO by Eric Dean Seaton creator, Brandon Palas -illustrator, Deron Bennet – letterer, Andrew Dalhouse – colorist

A Black superhero not of the Marvel/DC universe with its own history and characters? It’s true. Television director Eric Dean Seaton [Undateable, Austin & Ally, That’s So Raven, Reed Between the Lines, etc.] gathered an all-star crew to bring the first two volumes of his first graphic novel “Legend of the Mantamaji” to life. The Legend of the Mantamaji series tells the story of Elijah Alexander, a successful, brilliant, handsome Assistant District Attorney with a huge ego who discovers that all of the African legends his mother read to him when he was a child are true and that he is among the last of an ancient race of magical warriors sworn to protect humanity. As he discovers his heritage, Detective Sydney Spencer is hot on the trail of a super secret street gang behind an increase in crime and an increase in the demise of other gangs. Superheroes, science and plot twists combine in this action-adventure.

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December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

An Open Letter to All Blerds

Dear Friend,

We first met in elementary school. I was always curious what you were talking about, laughing raucously with the older kids. You must have seen my interest when we made eye contact across the room because you smiled and waved a hand for me to come over. A polite invitation must not have been enough, so I felt nervous as you got up and walked across the cafeteria to ask if I watched Tommy become the White Ranger. Who hadn’t, I wondered.

We were steady for years until I started to figure out romantic relationships. It was hard to juggle you and them, and they didn’t understand you that well, but those are just excuses. I fell off before Wanda said “No more mutants” and to this day I try to make up the time we lost. Our relationship has been a Deborah Cox song; not “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” but the duet with R.L. people forget existed. I’m an adult now, and I know the secret you never tried to keep: Nerds are the most awesome people you can keep in your life. And Blerds? If you recognized R.L. from Next and were flooded with nostalgia, and you remember the exact moment Tommy pulled out his dagger in the white costume, you understand how special we are in our tiny sliver of the Venn diagram.

Blerds have the best community on the Internet, hands down. You are to online communities what The Wire is to television: Something so amazing that you feel woefully ineffective to explain it. I haven’t dabbled in all online communities to compare – I missed the new parent community, the vegan community, the country music community, among others – but I am confident in saying geeky people of color are the most fun, supportive and socially conscious group I could ever have the pleasure of knowing. You bond over memories of Gargoyles, debate fan casting of Saga, and band together against the onslaught of aggressions constantly hurled against you. You face a constant barrage of racism, sexism and trolls, yet when the Titans attack you mount up a coalition who swarm Facebook threads and Twitter feeds and you take back Wall Maria.

I have always been years behind social media, and was especially hesitant to join anything like Twitter or Tumblr. I kept to my quiet world of Facebook in the comfort of 200 carefully selected friends. It wasn’t until 2014 that I reconnected with Whitney Syphax Walker, watched the launch of Black Nerd Problems, followed other sites in the blerdsphere, and was led to a Whole New World on an African-print magic flying carpet.

Read more from Jordan Calhoun at Blacknerdproblems.com

December 23, 2014December 23, 2014

Every Blerd Will Be Proud of the ‘All-New Captain America’

Nerd moments and proud Black moments alike make me happy. But proud, Black nerd moments make me do parkour flips in my living room like Roy Harper in CW’s Arrow.

If anyone who hadn’t read comic books before came up to me asking what they should start with, “All-New Captain America” is on the short list I would give them. (The independent, mind-bending stuff comes later. I don’t want to scare anyone off too soon.) It’s not too far from the MCU that everyone’s familiar with and it explains itself enough where you have no problem catching up.

The best thing about this issue, besides a Black Captain America, is … nothing.

The symbol of American freedom and defense is now a Black man. Even with the current strength of racial tensions in America, this makes me forget about it all for 10 minutes or so.

The best thing about Sam Wilson, formerly known as Falcon, as Captain America is that he’s still learning how to hold down the mantle and is underestimated by everyone, including himself. He goes out of his way to prove himself and bear the weight of the massive chip he has on his shoulder. Something everyone deals with at some point.

Due to overcompensating, Cap makes rookie mistakes. His natural skill and years of training help him work his way through. And when that isn’t enough, he gets a strong Black woman to help him out.

The flashbacks of Sam’s upbringing are still very appropriate but should start to disappear as the series goes on. For right now, it’s a great tool to use for those unfamiliar.

Source: Keith Reid-Cleveland at Blacknerdproblems.com

December 19, 2014December 19, 2014

10 Really Cool Classic Movie Trailers For Sci-Fi Lovers

Movie trailers are an art and a science, and they’ve been used to sell science fiction movies for decades. The greatest movies of all time started out as trailers. You probably don’t need to be convinced to watch movies like E.T. and Star Wars, but they all had to sell themselves to audiences for the first time. Let’s travel back in time and watch the original trailers for ten classics of sci-fi.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Released in 2001, starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester, humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.

Alien

Released in 1979, starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt, the commercial vessel Nostromo receives a distress call from an unexplored planet. After searching for survivors, the crew heads home only to realize that a deadly bioform has joined them.

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December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

How the Internet Gave Rise to Independent Artists and Webcomics

In 1998, two underground Brooklyn emcees postponed their individual projects to collaborate on a full-length album, and the result was “Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star.” Around the same time, another artist transferred from Pennsylvania State University to a cell in prison where he wrote verses behind bars in what would become “Revolutionary, Volume 1.” I can remember the first verse I heard from Jean Grae, the first track I heard from Brother Ali, and the exact song that made me give Atmosphere a chance after five recommendations from Pandora prematurely thumbed down. They all began with skeptical resistance, followed by a raised eyebrow after the third or fourth bar, followed by “What’d you say their name is again?”

I can also remember the first webcomic I browsed online. It came in an email with a single link, with a subject heading that read “Read.” It sat in my inbox for three sunsets, which is an eternity for someone who keeps their inbox cleaner than hospital rooms. Leaving an email for three days says I care nothing of the message it brings, and that it only remains un-deleted in sheer respect to the sender. A good friend had sent it, so before the sun set on the fourth day, I begrudgingly clicked the link, raised an eyebrow at the third or fourth panel, and replied, “Where’d you say you found this again?”

We previously covered the comedy of hip-hop and classic gaming, and now the genre teaches a new lesson in creative art: some of the most incredible works are the secrets you are least likely to hear or read. In comics, those secrets come from the fire inside an artist that burns hot enough to draw in their living room or basement, without promise of compensation, because they have a story to tell. It means hosting a website and sharing a piece of you to the world for free because any scrutiny is less damaging than keeping that story to yourself. It comes from a garage at 2 a.m. It does not originate at DC or Marvel. With an increasing readership, new Eisner award categories, and the comic industry’s growing fan base, recognition for noteworthy webcomics are on the rise as popular sites like XKCD and The Oatmeal are being joined by long-form online stories.

If a webcomic creator survives the long hours of unrecognized dedication for long enough they might find a home with a larger publisher to lend them credibility, but it will never be the publishing company that gave them their talent of storytelling; they will only monetize it best.

Read more from Jordan Calhoun at blacknerdproblems.com