All posts for the month February, 2012

The Story of a Morena Boriqueña

I remember going to church as a child and understanding that I was different.  My abuela and I used to go to a Pentecostal church that was mostly white Latinos, but I had darker skin.  I would see the Pastor’s wife and I yearned to look like her.  In my eyes, she had milky white skin and silky hair to her ankles.  Though she never knew this, I would go home, look in the mirror and wonder why my skin was darker and my hair was significantly shorter than hers.  I did not understand what it was to be Latina and black.

Puerto Ricans are descendants of Africans, Europeans and the indigenous Tainos, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Puerto Ricans come in many colors.

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by Progressive Pupil on February 29, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 29, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/the-story-of-a-morena-boriquena/

Inspiration and Mis-Education

You can read the entire text of “The Mis-Education of the Negro” here.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, founded by Carter G. Woodson in 1915, will have its annual convention in Pittsburgh in September.  This year’s Black History theme is Black Women in American Culture and History. We encourage you to make black history all year long by supporting local institutions and grassroots organizations.

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by Progressive Pupil on February 27, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 27, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/inspiration-and-mis-education/

Color me Igbo

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Half of a Yellow Sun, a novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has been the recent focus of movie execs and members of the Igbo community in Southern Nigeria. A petition, developed by Ashley Akunna, is protesting the casting of Thandie Newton as the film adaptation’s lead character. Newton is an acclaimed actress who has gained greater recognition in recent years for her roles in films such as Mission: Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happyness and Crash. She is of Zimbabwean descent and is set to play an Igbo woman caught in the thralls of the Biafran War, which ravaged a newly independent Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. The book has been heralded as a stunning depiction of the relationship between the Hausa and Igbo tribes during this period and received the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007.

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by Progressive Pupil on February 20, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 20, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/color-me-igbo/

Black History “The House Down”

Robin explains that yes, Black History Month is more than a month. But February is a great opportunity to support grassroots organizations and local institutions. She encourages you to enjoy yourself and Black History “The House Down”.  For more information on Carter G. Woodson and the legacy of Black History Month, check out the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

by Robin Hayes

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by Progressive Pupil on February 17, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 17, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/black-history-the-house-down/

Stop Shootin’

A few days ago, an old friend from London came to New York for a visit.  Cora’s trip was brief, but we managed to sneak in a dinner and catch up since our last lunch date 4 years ago.  After chatting about the usual things–school, family, love–I asked her to fill me in on her experiences with the London Riots that swept the country for 4 days last August.  She had much to say, but one thing stood out:

It was a really beautiful thing.  This guy was shot by the police, and I mean, I know here in the US that type of thing happens all the time, it’s common.  But in London, it started something.

I sat there quietly listening to the rest of her description of the riots, but I couldn’t move past her statement that state-sanctioned violence toward a person of color “is common” in the United States.  Unfortunately she was right, and the past year has done nothing to suggest that this is changing.

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by Progressive Pupil on February 17, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 17, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/stop-shootin/

Revolution Soldier

Photos taken at Bob Marley’s resting place; near Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. Courtesy of Rebecca Alvy

On a recent, very brief trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, I was not surprised to experience the high quality of respect given to the memory of Bob Marley. Anything less would have been disappointing. However, as a lifetime follower of Marley, this trip highlighted a pattern much of the world is guilty of—pigeonholing Bob Marley as nothing more than a reggae artist and—thus losing sight of his revolutionary spirit.

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by Progressive Pupil on February 13, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 13, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/revolution-soldier/

Black History Metropolis

Jet Magazine, February 10th, 1986 pg. 14

Black History Month is in full swing and we have been enjoying all that New York City has to offer.  If you haven’t had the chance to check out some BHM events around the city, it’s not too late.  Here are some of the events we recommend (whole calendar after the jump). All events are free unless otherwise noted. If you know of any events to add, send us an e-mail at progressivepupil@beautifulmes.com.

Recommended

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by Progressive Pupil on February 13, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 13, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/black-history-metropolis/

Choose Instead of Run

 

If you haven’t already had the opportunity to check out Dee Rees’s film ‘Pariah’ I highly recommend you stop reading this, find the nearest theater and see the next showing.  I finally had the chance to see the film—which has garnered a significant amount of critical success—and was thrilled by Rees’s presentation of a story that too easily could have left an audience filled with sorrow, pity or false empathy.

What struck me almost immediately about ‘Pariah’ was it’s honest portrayal of adolescence.  Alike, a 17-year old black androgynous woman, struggles to find herself amongst the chaos that surrounds her.  Her dysfunctional family life, complicated friendships, her first sexual encounter—and the awkwardness that follows—are things that everyone can relate to despite race, gender identity or sexual orientation.  Of course, these things are also complicated by Alike’s black skin, butch exterior and interest in women, which are central to her character.  Rees does a phenomenal job of balancing general teenage angst and discomfort (think ‘Thirteen’ or ‘Raising Victor Vargas’) and the specific issues that speak to the black LGBTQ community.

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by Progressive Pupil on February 6, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Artists, Black Resistance Screening List
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on February 6, 2012

https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/choose-instead-of-run/