"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: October 27, 2022
Weekly newsletter 4: 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. Please stop telling me whose eyes are blue ~ “Ready to Love”: The balance between pro-interracial dating but not forced interracial dating
I’m on a White House mystery reading binge, and I can’t get enough of Ollie’s antics. That summarizes how I’ve treated late September and all of October, shortly after writing “I miss Black Expressions Book Club.” With so much business drama in my life, I needed something to get lost in — a familiar place that I used to depend on as a child and teenager. I needed to get lost in good books.
I found that reading outlet again with author Julie Hyzy’s “The White House Chef Mystery Series.” However, there is one thing that drives me nuts in every book from this white woman author. The black characters get glossed over (ex. the guy “with the durag” who saved Ollie from being dragged into a stranger’s car). Meanwhile, every character with blonde hair is a “blonde bombshell” and all the smoking hot people have “blue eyes.” One character in the book who was previously described as no big deal at first — when Ollie thought he had gray eyes — is now jaw-dropping with blue eyes.
2. Where are all the black stunt doubles? ~ The hidden career that’s even more hidden for POC entertainers
Thomas Billings is a good-looking guy. So is Nathaniel Perry. But if you match either of them up against Idris Elba, chances are pretty slim you’ll think they look alike. Interestingly, Thomas Billings is the stunt man for Idris Elba in the BBC hit “Luther,” and Nathaniel Perry did his stunts in “Hobbs & Shaw.”
It’s fascinating to see the three in photo comparisons and a bit surprising, considering Elba is known to take on many physical challenges— from hot wings to fast cars.
The good news, though, is that at least more people of color are getting a chance to be stuntmen (and stuntwomen) in movies. There was a time that blackface was a common way to get around hiring POC for Hollywood flicks.
3. Three years ago, Amber Guyger faced 10 years in jail the same day I walk into the wrong apartment ~ How a knee-jerk reaction killed someone’s child
I am one of the only people I know who enjoys jury duty. I think it’s important for a diverse group of peers to sit in on criminal and civil trials so people get a fair shot at telling their sides of the story. But I would have been a horrendous juror for the defense team in the Amber Guyger trial in which the former Dallas, Texas officer shot and killed 26-year-old Botham Jean. According to her own testimony, she believed Jean had broken into her own apartment, which was on a different floor. In reality, she’d broken into his home — with “1478” plain as day on it. As a professional dog walker, I’m used to walking into apartments, condos and homes that I’m unfamiliar with. I never went to the wrong place. That is, until the day I did the exact same thing that Guyger did on September 6, 2018 — if her testimony is to be believed. And she was the first person who popped into my mind.
4. Overslept for jury duty? Judge gave juror 10 days in jail ~ Judge’s disturbing reaction to 21-year-old black man Deandre Somerville
Less than 24 hours ago, I stood in front of a bar full of storytellers and gushed over how much I enjoy jury duty. I respect the process and enjoy hearing both sides of any case. It’s one of the reasons I leaned into journalism so much. While I usually start with a pretty strong opinion on most news reports, I can be swayed. I actually enjoy reading or listening to any story* to consider both sides of it.
But there’s pretty much nothing that could convince me that the actions of Judge John S. Kastrenakes, a civil court judge in Palm Beach County, Florida, were justifiable. If you have not followed the recent story, news reports confirm that 21-year-old Deandre Somerville missed jury duty. The young, African-American male would have been the only black juror during this three-day negligence trial involving a car accident.
5. Productively teaching black children about colorism ~When I found out my cousin favored light-skinned women
“I only like light-skinned girls with long hair and light eyes,” my cousin told me while he munched on McDonald’s.
Up until that moment, I’d only been plotting three goals for our weekend hangout: talk him into eating my vegetarian meals instead of all junk food and takeout; make sure he completed all of his homework; and tutor him in areas that he was struggling in—minus math because that is not my area of expertise. But tackling colorism was not on the menu.
6. Are your student’s poor grades due to boredom, laziness or racism? ~ SATs: The diversity argument that may improve a student’s grade
I earned my bachelor’s degree and graduated Cum Laude. Even in grad school, I was determined to maintain a 3.2–3.5 GPA. But if there was one thing I simply could not conquer, it was bragging about my scores on standardized tests. I was never going to be Dwayne Wayne (of “A Different World”), going around bragging about my “perfect score*” on my Standard Assessment Tests (SATs). If memory serves me correctly, my score was in the 800s. Even on my Advanced College Testing scores, my score was a 20. Clearly I was a student who valued education, but there was no bigger challenge for me than boredom. And standardized tests were painfully dull.
7. The bigot across the hall ~ The racist neighbor in my building, and the landlord who appeased him
I should’ve never stomped on the floor. I wish I’d have never stomped on the floor. But I just couldn’t take it anymore. I did not want to lose this condo rental, too, especially for the rate I was paying. But when my landlord first asked me was Second-Floor Neighbor loud, I admitted he was. And one night, I had had enough. Although this felt like deja vu from my last place, I stomped on the floor. Our walls and floors were already thin, but the commotion downstairs in his unit was just unbearable. And then I heard the flood of insults from his place, one of which hit me like ice pouring through my veins. I thought I’d imagined what he said, but then he said it a second time: “nigger bitch.”
8. Americans and our indifference to rude customer service ~ When rude employees at the gym saved me money
Have Americans gotten so used to bad customer service that we’ll just shrug it off? I thought about that recently while writing “How Culture Impacts Service Expectations — and Why Americans Settle for Less.” In a survey of 20,736 people from 19 countries, surveyors asked if they would pay for better service. Forty-seven percent of all consumers said that they were open to paying more for a service experience that exceeds their expectations every time — with frustrated customers almost twice as likely as satisfied consumers to be willing to do so.
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. Grammy-winning singer Anthony Hamilton talks Michelle Obama's favorite song of his, background singing, new music (2010)
Regardless of how laid-back and soulful Anthony Hamilton's music is, Hamilton himself is a bit of a jokester. Riding up in a wheelchair after surgery from a meniscus tear in his knee, he still greeted everyone cheerfully. With handshakes, hugs and greetings of "Waddup doe?," he had no problems moving his way around Chicago's Arie Crown Theatre before he and his background singers, The Hamiltones, were set to perform.
2. From PA to Tee Tee, Barry Floyd Talks About CW's 'The Game' (2009)
Tee Tee is like that family member you only see at the reunion, and then he disappears, but the audience looks forward to seeing him again next time. Barry Floyd, mid-20s, the actor behind Tee Tee on CW's show "The Game," has been on the show for three years. However, the actor Floyd has been putting in work in Los Angeles for five years.
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.
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