Black History, Black Futures

From Black History Month to the Black Panther, does the idea of black excellence come at a cost? Let's talk

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music—"Budding" by Broke for Free

[AhsanteB]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾This video was a WORD. Yeah, one of the ways I feel like a place is diverse enough for me is when I don't feel like I need to like all the other black people there. It is nice to just be normal in that way and not have your race called out with some larger than life or culturally groundbreaking significance.

[TheWillieSun]

Lovely video as always. Since I didn't grow up in the US, my education concerning POC is even worse so I appreciate learning more about famous POC.

[shutupcharli]

I love how you alter the way I think for the better whenever I watch your videos. You speak such truth

[TheRainydayvideo]

I'm blown away by this video. I grew up in the countryside and had such little exposure to Black History as a young person. Thankfully there are some great resources such as this to educate.

[ameenahhhh]

This reminds me of something I actually think about a lot / discussed a lot while in college, which is that artists from dominant groups are afforded the ability to create their work in a sort of “vacuum” (their art is never considered 'informed' or 'shaped' in any way by their identity). Meanwhile, artists from marginalized communities don’t really have a choice in whether or not our work is politicized—whatever we produce will automatically be viewed through a critical lens (whether that be and considered emblematic of the community as a whole + the intersections we come from. Our art isn’t allowed to simply be / exist. This can lead to issues like getting pigeonholed as ‘appealing only to certain audiences’ or, alternatively, being seen as a sellout or traitor if your work isn’t always identity-centered. And the thing is, I think most artists from marginalized communities _want_ to make art that is reflective of their lived experience, but it shouldn’t be because we feel pressured to and, conversely, it shouldn’t be considered radical or a political statement when we do. (Our identity is a facet of us and of the things we create, but it is also _exactly_ that: one facet out of many.)

I would like to see a future where our voices and stories are visible and commonplace enough that our work isn’t primarily defined by how ‘Other’ it is.

[emeline_]

This video was great, in both form and content 👍 I don't have anything to add, I absolutely agree with you.

[intellectgrime]

Thanks for the dope video, I SO want women and people of colour to be normal, unexceptional, dare I say flawed, even, and just downright accepted as regular dudes as you so eloquently put it! That being said I think your story telling is exceptional :)

[emeline_]

Oh actually I just read bad critics about Black Panther and now I do have something to say: very similarly to what you say, I hate that some people criticize the movie saying it's just another Marvel movie whereas it pretended to be "groundbreaking" because of its cast, etc. While I did absolutely love the movie, if someone doesn't like it, it shouldn't be held to a more severe standard compared to other Marvel movies just because of what it stands for. If anything, it's just finally a Marvel movie that doesn't just have white main characters (and mostly male), and as such can still have a (subjectively) weak scenario at some points, or bad action scenes, or whatever you want to criticize. Just because this movies means a lot in terms of representation and is thus greatly supported for this fact, does not mean it won't have the flaws of other Marvel movies, and just because it is not Oscar-worthy according to someone's point of view doesn't mean they should undermine how important the movie is in terms of representation. Once again I am not criticizing people who just didn't like the movie, but people who didn't like the movie and thus criticize the enthousiasm that its representation has created. Not only should POC be represented in art, but they should be allowed to be represented in both award-winning movies and regular blockbusters, without their representation having to be a token of groundbreaking quality. (Sorry if this is not well written and explained, English is not my first language and I didn't get enough sleep haha)

[DIYCameraGuy]

I have so much to say in response to this video that I don't know where to start. I want a future where we teach everyone how to live, grow and understand how the lens we see the world through effects our perception of it. I want a future where more effort and money goes into developing the emotional intelligence of children than goes into incarcerating them. I want a future where we all compete on an equal playing field, that every kid believes that they can have a future full of love happiness and significance...

[IzzyInkpen]

This is super tied into Du Bois' philosophies, right?

[jayclarke]

This is actually something thats on my mind a lot so for someone to share something about it, I pretty much agree almost straight away. Plus me being and extrovert ive met a bunch of diverse people to know that something specific within our culture doesnt define us directly. Like she said most of us out there are just normal people. (Black as well btw).
I would want the future to be a lot more excepting. Cliche as hell but if we actually invested time to understand each other instead of thinking stereotypically. We'd all get along✌ imagine that😁. Hope my question was related to the subject😅. Ps love you and your stories always keep me entertained✌💚😜

[autotransport]

May millions of Mixed Chocolate and Chocolate babies be born everyday =)