What's the Story in Ferguson?

On August 9 2014, police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Here are the facts: 

• Dorian Johnson and Michael Brown rob cigarillos from a convenient store and begin their walk home.
• Wilson sees two men (Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson) walking in the middle of the road and tells them to walk on the sidewalk. Wilson states Brown responded negatively ('
  

#BlackoutDay - Why #Whiteout missed the point:

On March 6th social media sites such as Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook exploded with selfies of black people with the hashtag #blackoutday. According to the Twitter analytic service, Topsy, this hashtag received 365K tweets in just one day. 

But why the overwhelming popularity? The idea for the Blackout Day campaign originated from tumblr user: expect-the-greatest. The account is run by a young black man named T'von, who became inspired after noticing how he was 'not seeing enough Black people on [his] dash.” He states he was becoming 'sick and tired of seeing the 'European standard of beauty' prevail,' and wanted to promote a positive self-image for 'regular' black people - not just celebrities. In addition, he believes: that Black History Month 'isn’t enough to celebrate our heritage and our beauty' and wants to use this hashtag to show that  'ALL black people are beautiful and worthy of praise and admiration.'

Despite the positive motivation behind this movement, many reacted hostilely towards the trend; soon after this hashtag emerged, the trend 'WhiteoutDay' gained popularity, and it became a common conception that blackout day was 'racist' as it deliberately excluded white people from participation.

To anyone who went along with the #whiteout trend: You completely missed the point.

The hashtag was created, not to attack white people, but to raise awareness of the fact that the media's perception of beauty too often excludes other races. Blackout Day was hence designed to praise the beauty which has been sidelined in society. Those hashtagging 'whiteout,' complaining about their exclusion from the trend need to realise that their beauty is already recognised by the media, whereas blacks and other races remain highly under-represented, as a recent study by USC’s Annenberg School For Communication & Journalism shows:

'Across 100 top-grossing films of 2012, only 10.8% of speaking characters are Black, 4.2% are Hispanic, 5% are Asian, and 3.6% are from other (or mixed race) ethnicities. Just over three-quarters of all speaking characters are White (76.3%). These trends are relatively stable, as little deviation is observed across the 5-year sample...We also look at the total percentage of Black speaking characters per film in 2012. Almost 40% of all 2012 movies portray Black characters as less than 5% of the speaking cast. Only 9% of films show Black characters as 12-14.9% of the cast, which dovetails the 2012 US Census percentage (13.1%). A full 70% of the 2012 films feature Black characters in a percentage below that of the US Census.'

In going along with the 'whiteout trend' one is therefore dismissing or mocking the positive motives behind Blackout Day, which include praising black beauty, fighting negative stereotypes perpetrated by the media, and emphasising the need for race representation.

My only concern with this hashtag is the danger of making this a purely 'black' issue. The same study also concludes that the representation rates do not correspond with whom is viewing the film, and based on these figures: 'Hispanics are the most underrepresented group on screen.' This effectively demonstrates how under/misrepresentation is an issue for all races and cultures - not just blacks. Therefore, while they cannot participate in this particular hashtag, I believe other races whose beauty and culture is also overlooked in society should be encouraged to make their own trend. 

Blackout Day was not created to offend. Rather than marginalise others, this hashtag aimed to help people recognise that black beauty itself has been marginalised by the media, and hence help fight this problem by expanding society's perception of beauty to include other races, ultimately promoting racial positivity and self-confidence. Like T'von says: 'It’s past time for the beauty of Black people to be showcased.'

Tumblr: Cultural Appropriation Blown Way Out of Proportion

Every year Coachella rolls around, and with this event comes the angry mob of bloggers, hell-bent on accusing everyone of some societal crime. In this case, 'cultural appropriation!!' is the term which is angrily typed on keyboards everywhere. But personally, I wonder if the people who venomously spit this phrase at whites with cornrows have any idea what it actually means.

The real meaning of 'cultural appropriation' can be neatly outlined by Amandla Stenberg, known for her role as Rue in The Hunger Games. She recently posted a video which has since gone viral, explaining exactly what this term means:

'The line between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange is always going to be blurred, but here's the thing: Appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalisations or stereotypes where it originated but is deemed as high fashion, cool or funny when the privileged take it for themselves. Appropriation occurs when the appropriator is not aware of the deep significance of the culture that they are partaking in.'

She cites the example of Hip Hop and other aspects of Black Culture which are commonly misused. In particular, she stresses how often celebrities such as Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus either make a parody of black culture, or use black people/culture as an accessory or fashion statement in their music videos. At the same time, these public figures neglect to show any knowledge of the culture, or demonstrate any support for the daily struggles the people of this background face (very rarely do they promote the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign against police brutality in America, for example). She then quotes rapper Azealia Banks to show the impact of cultural appropriation, saying when white celebrities do this, it tells blacks that 'You don't own sh

Has 'Black Hermione' Ruined Harry Potter???

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is still very much alive even 9 years after the release of the final book and 5 years after the last movie. While it is unlikely passionate Potterheads would have ever let the franchise die, JK Rowling has recently relit the magical flame (“Lumos!”) by releasing a screenplay of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and a play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, giving her devoted fans so much to look forward to in the coming year. 

However, recently there has been something of an uproar about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Written by JK Rowling, Jack Throne and John Tiffany, this play is set years after the final book and follows the story of Harry and his son, Albus, who both face the fear of being subsumed by The-Boy-Who-Lived’s terrifying past. The play will open at the Palace Theatre in London in July 2016. 

While many are ecstatic about the upcoming project, some have expressed their immense displeasure with the play’s choice of casting. It was recently announced that Jamie Parker, Paul Thornley and Noma Dumezweni will play the iconic trio; Harry, Ron and Hermione. This has sent some fans in quite a whirl because it means -