"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: February 1, 2023
Weekly newsletter 18: Combination of race- and culture-related posts from "We Need to Talk," "I Do See Color," "BlackTechLogy" and "Window Shopping"
Welcome to the “I Do See Color” newsletter (with a bonus section of two first-person interviews called “Deuces”).
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Now let’s get into the weekly newsletter!
Each week, eight* carefully selected posts will be chosen, which focus on culture, politics, health and race from a black (wo)man’s perspective.
NEW! 1. From master to overseer, from slave patrol to police force, from white cop to black cop ~ The conversation I wish I could have now with that black train conductor
Statistically speaking, there are more white police officers than black ones—64.9% to 12.1%—and more male than female—83.2% to 16.8%. But this narrative that black people (usually Black Lives Matter advocates get blamed) are solely pointing the finger at white police officers couldn’t be further from the truth. While Tyre Nichols’ horrendously cruel death over a traffic stop is the current talking point when it comes to black officers, three of the six officers involved in Freddie Gray’s death from 2015 and the Asian officer involved in George Floyd’s death from 2020 are prime examples of how activists did not solely focus on white cops.
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NEW! 2. Humor is beer goggles for women ~ Why “You People” makes some men so angry
While there are moviegoers who will hate Kenya Barris’ and Jonah Hill’s “You People” movie because it romanticizes interracial dating, there’s nothing Barris and Hill can do about that. This same crew could’ve seen “Loving,” “Something New” and/or “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and despised those movies too. While they will complain about Jonah Hill looking like an everyday white guy, the “he can’t pull her” argument doesn’t work on clearly handsome Ashton Kutcher (or Simon Baker).
Regardless of that, this same crew could’ve seen all the black couples in Kenya Barris’ other projects (ex. Pops and Ruby in “Black-Ish”; Zoey and Aaron, Zoey and Luca, Jazz and Doug in “Grown-ish”; all the couples in “Coming to America 2”) and still claimed he’s shoving interracial dating down our throats. You’ll never change their minds, and you’re wasting your time trying to.
3. If you’re attacking old Asian people, I hope you run up on the wrong one ~ Xenophobia has reached bottom-of-the-barrel ignorance thanks to COVID-19
Xenophobia was idiotic enough pre-COVID-19, but coronavirus has made the It’s-my-right-to-not-wear-a-face-mask crowd become even more irrational than usual. Somehow they’ve convinced themselves that every Asian person they encounter — regardless of whether these same attackers can point to Wuhan on a map — must be held accountable.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume they couldn’t tell you the difference between someone who is Japanese, Filipino, Korean or Chinese. Anyone who is “close enough” can be attacked for something they have as much control of as the attacker does. And COVID-19 attacked everyone from Idris Elba (Londoner of Sierra Leonean and Ghanaian descent) to Tom Hanks (white) and Daniel Dae Kim (Korean American). The virus couldn’t care less about skin complexion; it just wants to wreak havoc.
4. Free Black Therapy and my first time going to therapy ~ What I learned from expressive arts therapy
In all the time I’d interviewed psychologists and psychiatrists, it never occurred to me to actually go to therapy. Therapy just never intrigued me enough to go. I’d listened to enough minority psychologists to understand the hardships that black people and people of color went through when it came to finding mental health professionals who fully understood what they were going through. I’d even heard from mental health professionals who found that patients who looked like them refused to make appointments with people of similar cultures, religions and races. Why? They felt like they’d be double-judged because that mental health professional would know them a little too well.
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5. The FAQ guide for anti-racist racists ~ Auto responses to your "I'm not racist" race questions
You have questions. I know, I know. There are a lot of things you simply do not understand about these complaining minorities. They’re never happy. Amiright? No more worries. This guide will help answer all of your frequently asked questions (FAQs) so you don’t have to find that one melanin-rich person who couldn’t run away fast enough for you to start your sentence with, “I’m not racist, but _______________.” Let’s go.
6. Your real issue with Meghan Markle is she refuses to act beneath you ~ Oprah Winfrey, it is not uncommon for someone to not keep tabs on British royalty
I didn’t know much about Prince Harry other than he was entertaining to watch with his Jamaican dance partner, who pulled him over to groove along to Bob Marley’s “One Love.” I genuinely have no idea why I knew that about him, but he was a better dancer than I would have guessed. Paying attention to the Royals just was not something I was interested in doing before then.
So when I saw the previews for “CBS Presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A Primetime Special,” my first reaction was “Meh.” But the more I saw the previews, the more I pondered on how cool it was that these two made the decision to leave a family worth $88 billion. (Prince Harry is reportedly worth $40 million courtesy of his mother, Princess Diana.) So I watched the special. I must admit it was way better than I thought it would be, but not too much shocked me.
7. 6-year-old black boy arrested for picking a tulip ~ Start talking to your non-black social circle about racism, not running to black people to get extra credit
My grandfather gave his neighbor a couple of tips about mowing his lawn. I shook my head at how picky he was being, and life went on with him and his block club. I thought about this recently when I heard the story of the 6-year-old black boy who was arrested for plucking a tulip from someone’s yard. Not only did this child not understand the offense. This kid was so bored during the court proceedings that the attorney had to give him a coloring book and crayons to keep him busy while the judge learned of the case
8. The darkest subject change I’ve ever heard: From summons delivery to hanging black people ~ Disturbing things I wish I wasn’t learning about hiring a process server
I’ve hired a process server before. For privacy reasons, I cannot go into specifics. However, I remember being a bit annoyed that the process server was given specific times to meet the person to serve him with a summons, and he chose to come every single time but the times suggested. What I found most unfair was the law firm insisted he be paid for his services regardless, even though it was never delivered.
I shook my head and always thought, “If I ever have to do it myself, I will absolutely make sure I don’t get duped like that.” And so I did. I shopped around for pricing, county service areas and availability. One company had a 5-star rating, and I thought, “How could I go wrong?” So I called.
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. "Rapper David Banner talks politics, race, criminal justice system, music and more," Originally published version on Aggrego, formerly known as Sun Times Network, July 31, 2015
One dimensional is the last way to describe the Southern University graduate whose favorite song is The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." He may show his noticeably bright set of white teeth or chuckle about his favorite flick "Bustin' Loose" starring Richard Pryor, but he's just as likely to grimace while talking about current events.
2. "Actress Taylor King ponders on Season 4 'The Wire,' secret cast crush, Baltimore," The Wire Examiner, April 3, 2014
The women on "The Wire" were anythnig but weak, and one of the most rebellious ones came in the form of a 14-year-old girl's body. Actress Taylor King played the role of Zenobia Dawson in "Season 4."
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