Mun2 takes the time to tackle a subject that is, perhaps, not spoken on often enough. Check out their interviews with a diverse group of actors, entertainers, writers and everyday folks in the video below…
What does it mean to be black and Latino in the U.S.? Featuring interviews with Latino actors Laz Alonso (“Avatar”, “Jumping the Broom”), Tatyana Ali (“Fresh Prince of Bel Air”), Gina Torres (“Suits, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”) and Judy Reyes (“Scrubs”), musicians Christina Milian (“Dip it Low”) and Kat DeLuna (“Whine Up”), and journalist Soledad O’Brien (CNN), among many others.
Tonight, HBO continues what they started with their documentaries The Black List: Vols. 1 & 2. The Latino List will focus on the lives of Latino-Americans through in-depth interviews with some of the most recognizable names of the culture including Gloria Estefan, America Ferrera, Jose Moreno Hernandez, Eva Longoria, Pitbull, Juan Antonio “Chi-Chi” Rodriguez And Sonia Sotomayor.
HBO presents a unique glimpse into the vibrant and burgeoning culture of Hispanic America through a series of highly personal video portraits of Latinos who have richly contributed to the fabric of contemporary society. Funny, poignant and irreverent, THE LATINO LIST illuminates the Latino experience today, at a time when the Latino population in the U.S. is booming, when it debuts WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO Latino, and THURSDAY, SEPT. 29 (8:00-9:00 p.m.) on the main HBO channel in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Linton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ) (born 24 August 1952, Chapelton, Jamaica) is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell.
Johnson studied for a degree in sociology at Goldsmiths College in New Cross, London (graduating in 1973), which currently holds his personal papers in its archives; in 2004 he became an Honorary Visiting Professor of Middlesex University in London. In 2005 he was awarded a silver Musgrave medal from the Institute of Jamaica for distinguished eminence in the field of poetry.
While still at school he joined the British Black Panther Movement, helped to organize a poetry workshop within the movement, and developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of poets and drummers.
…peace to our good friend Alwin for the heads up on this one.
After the jump, view the video that inspired this post…
The issue of Race can be complex, to say the least. Next week, NoMAA & Sound of Art explore that complexity, through art. Check out the details on their event below….
NEW YORK ARTIST M. TONY PERALTA DELVES INTO
CONTROVERSIAL TERRITORY FOR NEW ‘COMPLEJO’ EXHIBIT
Deeply Personal Works of Art Explore Issues of Skin Color, Hair Texture, Self-Esteem and What It Means to be ‘Latino’ and ‘Black’
For artist-designer Manuel Antonio Peralta, growing up as a dark-skinned Dominican in upper Manhattan’s Washington Heights/Inwood neighborhood, the child of Dominican immigrants, was an eye-opening experience.
It was these memories that fueled Peralta’s artistic process during the creation of COMPLEJO(‘COMPLEX’), a thought-provoking new exhibit of mixed-media silkscreens exploring complexes people of color have regarding hair texture, skin color, etc. The new work will be shown at the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA) Gallery.
Interesting article over at Naked With Socks On dealing with the ongoing issue of Ethnicity vs. Race. I’ll let them tell it. Check out the excerpt below…
Black is a powerful word. More than a color, it represents an entire race of people. While some may prefer African American, Afro Cuban, Afrocentric or whatever variation that applies, when someone says “Black” (with a capital B) you generally know what they mean. That’s why I was taken aback when this man looked me in my eye and said, “I’m not Black.”
Despite having the same pigmentation as myself, he was adamant about expressing his Spanish heritage. He was Panamanian and proud. Being called “Black” was somehow an insult to everything that he was. Be that as it may, looking at him all I saw was another Black man like myself. I never paid attention to his last name, which I later discovered had Spanish roots, because for all I knew it could have just as well been Haitian. Even that was “too Black” for him.
I have no problem with someone holding on to their heritage but when I use the term “Black,” I include all people within the brown spectrum. It doesn’t matter if you’re from the South, North, Caribbean, UK, South America or the Motherland, if I look at you and see a person of color I feel you’re Black. We can all break things down in to different categories and sub categories, but at the end of the day if your skin is pigmented b the world looks at your outward appearance and puts you in a box called “Black” before you even open your mouth.
Still, many people of Spanish descent tend to distance themselves from being labeled “Black.” Whether or not you speak Spanish, Creole, Patois, English or Portuguese, chances are the bloodlines have been mixed with an African slave at some point down the line, but because being “Black” is often viewed as being a negative thing it gets shunned by those that can.
The new film Fire In Babylon, has brought a lot of attention to the dominance of the West Indies Cricket team of the 70′s & 80′s. The folks at BBC Radio 4 sat down with former player Colin Croft and journalist Darcus Howe, to speak on their past glory and to recount the racial and political ramifications of their dominance in the sport, not only in the West Indies, but throughout the world.
Check the audio below….
A new film charting the past dominance of West Indies cricket has shed light on its political importance to black people in South Africa living under apartheid, as well as those who emigrated to the UK from the Caribbean.
The former West Indian cricketer, Colin Croft, who played on the South African rebel cricket tour, and Darcus Howe, the broadcaster and journalist who was involved in the Brixton riots of 1981, discuss the wider impact of the team’s success.
In Cuba Professor Gates finds out how the culture, religion, politics and music of this island are inextricably linked to the huge amount of slave labor imported to produce its enormously profitable 19th century sugar industry, and how race and racism have fared since Fidel Castro’s Communist revolution in 1959.
Get your DVR’s ready cause PBS has an interesting special on tonight!
Black in Latin America is the third of a trilogy that began in 1999 with the broadcast of Professor Gates’s first series for public television, Wonders of the African World, an exploration of the relationship between Africa and the New World, a story he continued in 2004 with America Beyond the Color Line, a report on the lives of modern-day African Americans. Black In Latin America, premiering nationally Tuesdays April 19, 26 and May 3, 10, 2011 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings), examines how Africa and Europe came together to create the rich cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean.
