#Black Perspectives

[ausetkmt]

NPR: In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

Eric Deggans looks at the new documentary "Stamped from the Beginning," which looks at the history of racist ideas in America.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The Netflix documentary "Stamped From The Beginning" starts with a provocative question writer and professor Ibram X. Kendi asks of other Black academics.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

IBRAM X KENDI: Can you please tell me what is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: What is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK, what do you mean by that?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: What is wrong with Black people?

RASCOE: Kendi, who founded the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, answers by invoking how systemic racism can convince Black people and everyone else that Black people deserve to be marginalized. NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans has watched "Stamped From The Beginning" and has also been following recent allegations of mismanagement against Kendi at the BU center. Hi, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hi.

RASCOE: So first, tell us more about this documentary. It's out on Netflix later this month.

DEGGANS: Yeah, it's this percolating primer on the themes in Kendi's award-winning 2016 book of the same name. Now, there's compelling animation, historical photos, interviews with lots of academics - although it might be tough for some people to watch. It's centered on this idea that much of the systemic racism that's directed against Black people was created as an attempt to justify enslavement and exploitation of Black people, not the other way around. And in the film, you know, Kendi speaks of this ruler known as Prince Henry of Portugal who he says turned to enslaving Black people from Africa in the mid-1400s instead of Europeans because it was harder for them to run away. Here's a clip. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

KENDI: Prince Henry didn't want to admit he was violently enslaving African people to make money, so he dispatched a royal chronicler by the name of Gomes Zurara.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KENDI: Gomes Zurara justified his slave trading by stating that Prince Henry was doing it to save souls and that these people in Africa were inferior.

DEGGANS: So that, Kendi says, is the creation of Blackness in which Europeans treat Africans from many different tribes and countries as one inferior race to justify exploiting them.

RASCOE: So these are some very complex concepts about race and history. How does this fit with his other work, you know, like his bestselling book "How To Be An Antiracist" or his ESPN series on sports and race?

DEGGANS: Well, you know, I've interviewed Kendi for NPR's Life Kit podcast. And at the core of a lot of his work is this idea that racism is a behavior, not just a state of being - that it comes down to choices you make every day. And in Netflix's "Stamped From The Beginning," that means examining these ideas like the myth of Black hypersexuality, which has been invoked throughout history to justify raping Black women or lynching Black men. And after the death of George Floyd in 2020, you know, Kendi gained new prominence speaking on these themes - the themes in "How To Be An Antiracist." And those ideas are found in so many contemporary issues that it makes sense that Kendi could leverage them into an ESPN project on racism in sports or this Netflix film.

RASCOE: And what about that criticism Kendi ran into following his decision earlier this year to lay off about half the staff at the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University? Where do those allegations of mismanagement stand?

DEGGANS: Well, the university just released an internal audit finding there were no issues with how the center's finances were handled, which kind of backed up Kendi's contention that the layoffs were not a result of bad fiscal management. And it also pushes back against some critics who tried to delegitimize his concepts by suggesting he's some kind of fraud. Now, hopefully, this will allow people to focus more on his ideas, which he sums up at the end of "Stamped From The Beginning" by answering that original question. The only thing wrong with Black people, he says, is that we think something is wrong with Black people.

RASCOE: NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans. Thank you so much.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

[eastsideofthemoon]

As a Star Trek Discovery fan, I've listened to quite a lot of interviews with the cast. Every now and then there's an interview that really just stands out because there's such genuine warmth and transparency being exchanged between the interviewer and interviewee. The Syfy Sistas podcast did this interview with Sonequa Martin-Green and honestly, it's the best interview I've listened to in a while.

Regardless of where you fall on the love/dislike scale with DSC, this is a great interview for everyone to hear.

If you are a SciFi fan, a Star Trek fan, Star Trek Discovery fan, or just like SMG you MUST listen to this interview with Sonequa Martin-Green. It's so good!!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Ud6RBkg0GnF3C2USKM1EY?si=luxnE0h5TKiWR5naO4luPQ

[kosmik-signals]

“ Three chapters in this book stand out. The first chapter, “On Firsts, Foremothers and the Walker Effect,” situates Hurston’s legacy within Alice Walker’s legacy because of Walker’s role in reigniting interest in Hurston’s literary contributions. Walker pulled Hurston into new arenas of Black feminist thinkers, solidifying her literary contributions into the canon of African American literature.”

Ida E. Jones, “Zora Neale Hurston’s Anthropological Legacy (Black Perspectives, March 30, 2023).

https://www.aaihs.org/zora-neale-hurstons-anthropological-legacy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=zora-neale-hurstons-anthropological-legacy

[jccheapalier]

Why Some Black People Don't Identify With Black Culture

[shesnake]

I'm a lesbian and i see myself in media about bi women, also in media about gay/bi men. even if it's not Entirely made for me, it's still for me. and I know and hope that other gay/bi people are able to see parts of themselves in lesbian media. sorry to be cheesy but we are more similar than we are different and it's those experiences we share that draw us to these stories in the first place, and the reason we're even telling them <3

[chasiufan]

Nobody’s gonna buy ur 599$ marketable plushie stop tryna sell it to us -_-

[herve-ramboz-photographie]

[courfee]

it's been exactly a year since the last chapter of Operation Walburga's Arbitrary No Kissing Ever Rule and I still miss it. This scene is probably one of my favourite things I've ever written and I've wanted to draw it for forever, so now seemed like an appropriate time

[ed13d1]

they call for me

tomosu #6013 • yamamoto masao, 2023

[jiveyuncle]

How about some bamf Black Paladin Keith with his bayard reflecting his internal growth and understanding of self

[boostoverheavensgate]

small out boy

[zegalba]

Ruth Bernard: Perspective II (1967)

[kittypopper11]

Ugly ass sketch

Love their energy ill draw something better this week

[outromoony]

I see someone saying Sirius abandoned Regulus one more time, and I swear I will write a whole dissertation, complete with charts, footnotes, and maybe even a slideshow. I'll start a podcast, a newsletter, maybe even a TED Talk. I'll organize a full-blown seminar, with guest speakers, a Q&A session, and complimentary snacks where no one leaves until they can recite the top ten reasons why that statement is completely wrong. I'll make "Defending Sirius Black" my full-time job if I have to.

[clovenoko]