"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: December 7, 2022
Weekly newsletter 10: Combination of race- and culture-related posts from "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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Each week, eight carefully selected posts will be chosen from my Medium “I Do See Color,” “We Need to Talk,” “BlackTechLogy” and “Window Shopping” publications that focus on culture, politics, health and race from a black (wo)man’s perspective.
NEW! 1. Apple store controversy: Should employees stop thieves? ~ The Best Buy experience that makes me unsure
I shook my head, looking down at a few electronic appliances and CDs sprawled on the ground. From a customer’s perspective who has to deal with the excessive security measures (and being followed around the store) because of a high-theft rate, I felt no sympathy for these two. But I made eye contact with the teenager on the ground. He was a young, black boy. His facial expression looked somewhere between irritated and worried. His friend who got away was a white boy. While that normally wouldn’t phase me because both of them were stealing, it was the smile on one of the Best Buy employee’s faces — while sitting on the boy’s shoulders — that didn’t sit right with me.
2. The accidental jazz fan ~ The mental health benefits of music therapy
I knew I wanted to find another entertainment writing gig. Filming and editing videos of live performances and interviewing jazz artists sounded like a great way to keep my resume up to par. Even though I wasn’t getting paid for this volunteer work, I was still gaining marketable skills and getting eyes on my name from people who otherwise wouldn’t know who I was. But it wasn’t until I walked into the first chapel and heard the blast of a saxophone that I realized I was an accidental jazz fan.
3. My first time celebrating Juneteenth was with Mos Def ~ Learning about Chicago’s Inner-City Muslim Action Network
How I managed to overlook Juneteenth is anybody’s guess. I didn’t know about it in high school and clearly not this college. It still puzzles me that I graduated from a historically black college & university (HBCU) and slept straight through it, too. So when people were irate about Episode 3 of “Black AF” and the quip about “no one” celebrating Juneteenth, all I could do was shrug. In Chicago, it just wasn’t widely celebrated like it apparently is in the South.
But somewhere along the line, someone told me about it. I couldn’t begin to remember who it was. I just know that — 10 years ago — I was going to spend my first Juneteenth with Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) at my first (of two) concerts seeing him live. This was also the first time I’d be introduced to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network.
4. When a black inventor disguised himself as Native American ~ That other reason black folks say they have ‘Indian in my family’
Although I could pretty much guess the ending of the 2020 film “The Banker,” starring Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson, somehow through all my black history lessons growing up, I never knew that Garrett A. Morgan had to do something similar to get his inventions acknowledged. While the story varies depending on who tells it, WBEZ’s version reminded me of the flick.
“[Morgan] would bring along a Native American,” said Lisa Cook, a Ph.D. student, on WBEZ. “And he’d have the Native American, sort of, give the pitch. And he was the Native American’s research assistant.”
5. Dear white people, your black colleagues aren’t required to date ~ Just because your co-workers are the same race does not mean they’re compatible
Office spaces are opening slowly again after the COVID-19 scare, and people are headed back to their desks. Now whether they’ll share the same cubicles or move further apart in shared offices is totally up to the company. But I have a simple request for the walking, talking OkCupid co-worker in the office: Please stop trying to hook up your black co-workers. Yes, it worked for Michelle Obama and Barack Obama. We know. But just because two people in the office wear less suntan lotion than you does not mean they’re bound to get married next week and have 3.5 kids.
6. You, as a minority, can relate to me — but know when you cross the line ~ The invisible line between Hispanics, black folks and racial slurs
I never expected to defend my upstairs neighbor, who accused me of stealing her mail (twice). It surprised me when I did. But something didn’t sit right with me when my Hispanic neighbor said: “This bitch is a bad example of a black woman.” Time stopped. I know for sure I wouldn’t have been offended if it was another sista making this comment. But hearing a non-black woman say this made me uncomfortable. The hair on my arms rose. My head started to ache. And I let out the longest sigh, as I listened to her go on and on about her black friends and how they act nothing like this lady.
7. Why does your racism appear when the liquor does? ~ The real reason some of your black ‘friends’ and co-workers won’t party with you
My head tilted sideways and my eyebrow raised, looking from my roommate to my off-campus friend on the other side of the room. There was no way my homegirl of almost two years just said what I think she said. This could not possibly be the same college friend who had sat in my parents’ car for eight hours straight, chatted it up with my older brother, sat on my front porch and happily conversed with neighbors, and who I’d always trotted along with to lean on a picnic table whenever she wanted to smoke outside near our dorm. There was just no possible way my ears heard her correctly. But the look of embarrassment on my off-campus friend’s face told me this wasn’t my imagination.
8. Yes, my parents danced on Soul Train ~ The coolest press pass I ever got while working for a newspaper
Cool. It’s not always the first word you think of when you describe your parents. Mine can vary between laidback and no-nonsense, funny and frustrating. Most of the time I look at them as my parents, but sometimes they’re just as much friends as they are family. One of my most entertaining moments — of hundreds — with my “friendly” parents was that time I got press passes for the “Soul Train” reunion to honor Clinton Ghent.
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. “Historic Soul Train Party Rolls Through Chicago”
Clinton Ghent had never received an award for his accomplishments in the music industry or for hosting Chicago's version of the iconic "Soul Train" music show. But on January 30, Ghent was given a "Chic a Go Go" Heritage Award on CAN-TV, courtesy of producer Jake Austen, who found the music veteran after years of being out of the music limelight.
2. Ludacrismas was very merry on West Side
Traffic delays as long as three hours on the Eisenhower Expressway, two hours on the Kennedy Expressway, plane delays and a snow storm that dumped 4.8 inches of snow couldn't spoil a Ludacrismas. Hip hop recording artist Ludacris, who is the CEO and chairman of the Ludacris Foundation, was adamant about showing up for the foundation's Dec. 16 Christmas event in Homan Square Park, 3559 W. Arthington St.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “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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