by Richard Jean So and Gus Wezerek | December 2020
During last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, books written by people of color climbed the best-sellers lists. Was last summer a vision of equality to come for the publishing industry? Or a flash in the pan? Nana Kwame-Adjei-Brenyah had just turned 26 when he got the call in 2017 that Mariner Books wanted to publish his short-story collection, “Friday Black.” Mr. Adjei-Brenyah suspected that the contract he signed — a $10,000 advance for “Friday Black” and $40,000 for an unfinished second book — wasn’t ideal. But his father had cancer and the money provided a modicum of security. Mr. Adjei-Brenyah’s uneasiness over his book deal became more acute last summer. Using the hashtag #PublishingPaidMe, writers had begun to share their advances on Twitter with the goal of exposing racial pay disparities in publishing. Some white authors disclosed that they had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their debut books.
TAGS: [Strategies] [Individual Change] [2020’s] [Systemic Racism] [White Supremacy] [White Privilege] [White Culture] [White Blindness] [Art & Culture] [History] [Accountability] [Economics]
Resource Links Tagged with "Art & Culture"
Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music; The Field Must Acknowledge a History of Systemic Racism While Also Giving New Weight to Black Composers, Musicians, and Listeners.
by Alex Ross | September 2020
This spring, the journal Music Theory Online published “Music Theory and the White Racial Frame,” an article by Philip Ewell, who teaches at Hunter College. It begins with the sentence “Music theory is white,” and goes on to argue that the whiteness of the discipline is manifest not only in the lack of diversity in its membership but also in a deep-seated ideology of white supremacy, one that insidiously affects how music is analyzed and taught. The main target of Ewell’s critique is the early-twentieth-century Austrian theorist Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935), who parsed musical structures in terms of foreground, middle-ground, and background levels, teasing out the tonal formulas that underpin large-scale movements. Schenker held racist views, particularly with regard to Black people, and according to Ewell those views seeped into the seemingly abstract principles of his theoretical work.
TAGS: [Assumptions] [2020’s] [Art & Culture] [Systemic Racism] [History] [White Supremacy] [Myths] [-ing While Black] [White Culture] [White Blindness] [Immigration] [Slavery] [Civil War] [Asian]
A response to ‘Statement of Global Indigenous Identity and Solidarity’
by Rhiana Yazzie (Navajo) | October 2020
The following was written by Rhiana Yazzie (Navajo). It was originally posted on Facebook and is republished here with permission.
I’m responding to the “Statement of Global Indigenous Identity and Solidarity” that Rulan Tangen, the founder and artistic director of Dancing Earth Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations published online on October 12, 2020. I urge you all to read this masterpiece justifying theft: the stealing of Native American identity, fellowships, grants, leadership, thought leadership, movie roles, and countless other robberies big and small, personal and public. …The letter details how over 30 years Rulan’s identity has evolved, and has allowed people, Native and non-Native to believe she was Native American. She now says, “I am often mistaken for or mislabelled as Native American, and my community kinship ties have possibly added to this mis-association.”
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Indigenous] [Systemic Racism] [Myths] [Art & Culture] [Assumptions] [Economics]
The A-Z List of Black Inventors; This list of Black and African-American Inventors Have Certainly Earned Their Place in History. Let’s Take a Look at the Legacy of These Inventors.
by Christopher McFadden | July 2018
The following join the ranks of many great African-American inventors who have contributed greatly to society throughout the years. Many black inventors have struggled with hardship, poverty and, in some circumstances, slavery, to prove their genius to the world. The following are but a few of the many inventive and talented members of the black community in the United States. Many of the entries on this list are derived from the dutiful work of one Mr. Henry Baker who worked for the U.S. Patent Office between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. At this time, the African-Americans had few rights so Henry wanted to make sure that some, at least, received some form of unofficial recognition for their contributions to society. This list is not exhaustive but is comprehensive and is in alphabetical order.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Art & Culture] [History]
I’m Black and Afraid of ‘White Fragility’; Robin DiAngelo’s Corporate-Friendly Anti-Racist Screed Actually Reinforces Racist Beliefs
by Cedrick-Michael Simmons | June 2020
DiAngelo views racism as a problem to be combated with sensitivity training. The premise of diversity and cultural competency training is that by educating European-Americans on the persistence and consequences of racism, they can be transformed into non-racist (or, ideally, anti-racist) individuals. But diversity training has been shown to be a largely ineffective way to address racism in American workplaces. These lectures and workshops do little—if anything—in the way of addressing the structural tensions that workers must navigate on a daily basis.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [White Fragility/Tears] [Anti-Racism] [Accountability] [Art & Culture] [Black Lives Matter] [Denial] [Myths] [Assumptions] [Systemic Racism]
Glorifying White Authors like DiAngelo Erases Decades of Black Writing on Whiteness
*Paywall Alert
by Anastasia Kārkliņa | June 2020
For weeks, white liberal Americans have been praising White Fragility, treating it as a must-read manual for white people, forming online discussion groups, and joining book clubs all across the country. What is troubling about the current white liberal obsession with DiAngelo is how digital conversations that glorify her most recent work rarely consider writings on whiteness and white people by Black American authors, at least not with the same sense of urgency and importance. If DiAngelo’s readership is earnestly committed to decoding whiteness, we must ask a glaringly obvious question: why are white liberal Americans so quickly inclined to praise and venerate a white expert on race but generally don’t extend the same attention to what Black writers, intellectuals, and political leaders have have had to say about whiteness and white people for decades?
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [White Fragility/Tears] [Black Lives Matter] [Anti-Racism] [Art & Culture] [Denial]
*These Profound Photos Masterfully Turn Racial Stereotypes On Their Head
by Lilly Workneh | May 2017
A powerful new photo essay reexamines our relationship with race.Oe image shows several East Asian women at a nail salon being pampered by white female beauticians. Another shows a young white girl at a toy store standing before a row of shelves stocked only with black dolls, and the last image shows a posh Hispanic woman on the phone as her white maid tends to her.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [Accountability] [Systemic Racism] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [Assumptions] [White Privilege] [Art & Culture]
Taking From the World Tree: Mythology and Cultural Appropriation
Cultural Appropriation is just that, when one culture appropriates elements of another culture. Mythology and folklore certainly count. … One of the threats of cultural appropriation comes with modifying the original source, often a simplification of the ideas present in the original culture.
New Monument To The People Of Malaga Island Offers ‘Healing And Closure’
*Paywall Alert
by Dennis Hoey |July 2017
More than a century ago, the state wiped out the coastal community, institutionalizing its mixed-race population. The monument at Pineland Farms promises we’ll always remember.
TAGS: [History] [Strategies] [2010’s] [Art & Culture] [Collective Action]
An Escape Room Where You Can’t Escape Your Privilege
by Jillian Steinhauer | July 2019
The artist Risa Puno, designer of “The Privilege of Escape,” an art installation and escape room at Onassis USA in Midtown Manhattan where the escape room turns from a high-stakes thriller into a disarming demonstration of Social inequality.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [White Privilege] [Art & Culture]
In the morning, you won’t find me here: A meditation in Blackness
I am a black man.
I was planted in deep, loamy, black soil by my black father.
Cradled, cultured and coaxed out like a tuber of yam by my black mother.
Though I came from one womb, I am birthed by many mothers – some of skin like bark and timber, some of eyes of yellow like cassava.
I have a scandalous affinity with shadows in this here regime of light.
9 Black Composers Who Changed the Course of Classical Music History
by Classic FM, Global Media & Entertainment Limited | June 2020
From Scott Joplin to Florence Price, the music of these brilliant composers has too long been neglected in Western classical music tradition. Classic FM recognizes some of the most famous and influential black composers. Black Lives matter now, and absolutely always.
TAGS: [Art & Culture] [2020’s] [History] [Strategies]
Meet the New Generation of Black Climate Leaders
by Nexus Media | February 2019
Twenty-two experts and advocates talk about the struggle for racial justice in the face of rising temperatures. “Organizers and activists long relegated to the sidelines are gaining momentem – and political power – as they push for bold solutions to the greatest challenge of our time.”
TAGS: [2010’s] [Role Model] [Economics] [History] [Art & Culture] [Advocacy]
[Social Justice] [Environment] [Strategies]
‘Mudbound’ Has More To Say About Whiteness In America Than Any Other Trump-Era Movie
By Zeba Blay | November 2017
A person doesn’t have to be hateful in order to be racist. The new Netflix movie “Mudbound,” directed by Dee Rees, is an epic about race in the Deep South in the aftermath of World War II. It is also, in a way, about something that happened a few weeks ago. “The other day,” Rees told me recently, “I was in my pajamas getting ready to walk my dog in the building where I live.” A white guy, “trying to be friendly,” struck up a conversation. “Oh,” he asked, “are you with the dog walking service? Can I get your card?”
TAGS: [White Blindness] [Systemic Racism] [Assumptions] [2010’s] [White Culture] [-ing While Black] [Art & Culture]
Can I Speak Up if I’m White?
by Naomi Ranz-Schleifer | May 2016
Yes. Not only can you speak up about race and racial inequality but as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis illustrate in their song featuring Jamila Woods, “your silence is a luxury.” A luxury and a privilege — more specifically, white privilege. Now is not the time to be a passive viewer, to be offended by every little thing, to play it safe for fear of making a mistake, or to be silent. Includes Videos “White Privilege II”, Deconstructing “White Privilege II”, and Whitney Dow on “Whiteness Project”.
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [Black Lives Matter] [White Fragility/Tears] [Art & Culture] [Accountability] [White Privilege] [White Supremacy]
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Introduction
Definitions
Facts
Maps
Assessment Tools
History
Appropriation / Aggression
White Privilege / Supremacy
Public Displays
Performance Art
Workshops
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Dear White People
Being Allies
Reparations
Spiritual Foundations
Dear White People
Being Allies
Reparations
Spiritual Foundations
Public Displays
Performance Art
Workshops
Activist Resources
Assessment Tools
History
Appropriation / Aggression
White Privilege / Supremacy
Introduction
Definitions
Facts
Maps
Dear White People
Being Allies
Reparations
Spiritual Foundations
Public Displays
Performance Art
Workshops
Activist Resources
Assessment Tools
History
Appropriation / Aggression
White Privilege / Supremacy
Introduction
Definitions
Facts