"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: November 3, 2022
Weekly newsletter 5: 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”).
ELECTION DAY IS COMING: Know your judges! If you’re not in Cook County, please find the equivalent of InjusticeWatch.com in your city. Chicago, please do not just vote “yes” for any judge on the ballot without knowing who they are.
REMINDER! Election Day: Here comes the judge … you don’t know ~ Don’t treat judge votes like the Scantron multiple choice test you didn’t study for
Interested in an IDSC Substack membership for $5 per month (or $50 per year)? Paid Substack membership perks:
One paid Substack exclusive “BlackTechLogy” post each month
Automatic (monthly/annual) subscription to “Window Shopping,” including access to paid monthly exclusives
One paid Substack exclusive “I Do See Color” post each week
Immediate alerts for each IDSC post
Loyalty subscribers of all Substack publications at $90 per year: Receive and comment on all exclusive posts and get immediate alerts post-publish.
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. 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 special prosecutor
A conversation with one lawyer stuck out to me. She absolutely despises litigation, stating it involves “too much paperwork and a lot of waiting around” when she could be making money elsewhere. Never in my life have I understood her opinion on that more than I do now. The amount of hoops one has to go to in order to just get in front of a judge is so tedious that it’ll make you throw your hands in the air and say, “Just forget it.” I’m stubborn. I won’t. But there was a moment yesterday where I came very close. And I still don’t understand how I arrived at a conversation about hanging black people.
2. When self-checkout feels more like racial profiling ~ Whether working or shopping, everyone black is not a thief
I love one particular store chain*. They have my favorite vegetarian items, household products, electronics and beauty essentials. Being able to find a combination of all four perks is important to me. I’m not the kind of consumer who wants to go to eight different stores to grocery shop. My weekly grocery runs are at this popular discount chain* and a higher-end grocer, then pretty much everything else is bought online. But I have a bone to pick with one store location, and it’s primarily due to the self-checkout experience. I dodge it unless I’m already nearby (and usually drive past it even then), primarily because I am profiled by store employees and/or management every time.
3. The Diversity Question All Graphic Designers Must Answer ~ Does this material match our target client base?
When I looked through the marketing business proposal, I knew something was off. I remembered the photoshoots with our marketing staff. I knew who had been in which photograph — and I quickly realized who had been cropped.
Our graphic designer had cropped out the only African-American woman in several group shots, including one image of just hands. She kept lighter-skinned Hispanic employees and plenty of 20-something white people — one in particular. The most commonly used image was of a 22-year-old, blue-eyed and blonde-haired co-worker on the front cover, back cover, and middle pages too.
4. Cultural Appropriation: How To Not Lose Your Loyal Audience ~ The case of Shea Moisture
When Shea Moisture consumers were upset with a new direction in their company, the company sent a humble and wholehearted apology, confirming that they understood where their loyal base was coming from. But in the world of capitalism, that doesn’t always happen — either because some companies just simply don’t get it or choose to turn a blind eye to why some marketing projects miss their mark. Shea Moisture cares. But turn on your television or open a magazine ad, and you’ll find a host of other marketing campaigns from companies that shrug their shoulders.
5. Does My Editor Understand My Audience? ~ Know your marketing deal-breakers ahead of time
You’ve finished the rough draft of your book. Now you’re ready to find an editor to clean the copy up. Whether the assignment calls for substantive editing, copy editing, or proofreading, rolling the dice and choosing the first person who looks like the Grammar Police may not be the best business move. You need to find an editor who is both qualified to edit your book and understands how to market the material you’re writing. While your editor should be qualified to cross your T’s and dot your I’s, this should also be a person who is passionate about your project.
6. The most efficient way for black businesses to never succeed … is to let self-hate and self-doubt get in our way
When I talk to people — specifically black people — who say that black businesses cannot succeed because “we can’t get along,” it makes my blood boil. Catch me on the wrong day, and it’s almost certain that it’ll result in a shouting match and me shooting off successful black business statistics like a machine gun. One of the absolute easiest ways for African-American businesses to not succeed is to feed into the theory that we can’t and won’t support each other.
7. Don’t weigh in on positive black shows if you only support ratchet TV ~ How “The Photograph” supporters made me reevaluate my take on African-American entertainment
I go out of my way to support African-American films on other platforms that slide under the radar but turn out to be really good. They’re often drama-free, flesh out the characters, avoid tokenism and show black folks in a light that doesn’t look like a mainstream rap video with dialogue.
So when I see tweets like, “I’ve never watched black-ish but apparently I’m missing out because Tracy and Anthony have won this award 29 years in a row….#NAACPImageAward” and responses like, “That’s because they keep just giving them awards for no reason… there [sic] performances are not ground breaking,” I’m annoyed. Entirely too many of us still do not respect shows that pay homage to innovative projects that go outside of the box.
8. Please stop laughing during the funeral ~ Everyone copes differently, don’t judge me
I sat in the church pew quietly, daydreaming about past memories and thinking of my upcoming high school graduation. This was the second time I’d reached my graduation year, and a relative died. It was not a trend I was comfortable with and started making me dread graduations altogether. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at my aunt, with tears streaming down her face as a man from the choir sang a solo in a cappella. She covered her mouth and wiped her eyes as he sang, with her shoulders continuing to shake. My eyes watered up too. Sadness struck. I hate funerals.
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. Ne-Yo comes to Chicago Theatre
"The year of the gentleman shouldn't be an annual thing," said Ne-Yo. "It should be a lifestyle--respect for yourself, respect for other people, charm, swagger. These are things that will get you pretty far in life. We gone call this life of the gentlemen."
2. From child star and actor to rapper, Brandon Adams is back!
He's 5'11 now and gained some muscles. But even without the trademark curly hair, [then] 29-year-old actor Brandon Adams still looks the same as he did as a child star.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote,” “Tickled,” “We Need To Talk” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday.
If you’re not ready to subscribe but want to support my writing, you’re welcome to tip me for this post! I’ll buy a dark hot chocolate on you. Thanks for reading!