Saturday Open Thread

Posted on September 10, 2016 by rikyrah

Good Morning. I hope you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.

First Lady Michelle Obama Honors the 2016 Class of the National Student Poets Program

This entry was posted in Open Thread, Politics and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

43 Responses to Saturday Open Thread

  4. rikyrah says:
    September 10, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    Dragon Con: Where Black Nerds Come Out to Play
    This year marks the 30th anniversary of Dragon Con—and, not coincidentally, the start of one of the best eras of black pop culture ever.

    Jason Johnson
    BY: JASON JOHNSON
    Posted: September 7, 2016

    Most people spend their Labor Day weekend cooking, shopping or just getting the heck out of town. Other people spend Labor Day weekend cooking up plans for world domination, shopping for rare-action-figure collectibles and finding ways to fly to another galaxy.

    At least that’s the main explanation for most black folks who attended Dragon Con weekend in Atlanta. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Dragon Con—and, not coincidentally, the start of one of the best eras of black pop culture ever. A sign that maybe, after all these years, the genre dedicated to white male power fantasies has finally opened up.

    Going to a comic book or science fiction convention is a lot like attending any other convention: You dress up, look forward to meeting colleagues and similarly interested people, attend some panels, and spend most of the night partying. The only difference is that at Dragon Con, you do most of this while wearing costumes of your favorite video game, movie or cartoon characters.

    The convention began 30 years ago as a small collection of fans who would get together to play Dungeons and Dragons and trade comics. Over the years, Dragon Con has grown to what is likely the second-biggest convention of its genre in the country, with over 70,000 people crowding into the downtown-Atlanta hotel district for four days of panels, fun and parades.

    There are two things that really distinguish Dragon Con from most other conventions. First, it has remained, for lack of a better word, more “fan friendly.” Celebrity guests in the autograph room, like Austin St. John (the original Red Power Ranger), Janina Gavankar (The “L” Word, The League and True Blood) and Jack Gleeson (King Geoffrey from Game of Thrones), are incredibly accessible and fun to talk to and generally appear to be having a good time. Often fans will just walk up to talk and share stories about the shows without buying an autograph or taking a picture.

    The other big distinction with Dragon Con is often how amazingly, unmistakably black it all is. Maybe it’s because of Atlanta, maybe it’s because of changing culture and demographics, but the number of black folks who are interested and are willing to come out and share their love of all things Marvel, DC and Cartoon Network has increased every year since I’ve attended Dragon Con, and I’ve been going since 2011. There are black folks in costumes for black heroes, white heroes and just about anyone else. The feeling of acceptance is universal, and the convention tacitly enforces an “accept all costumes and body types” theme.

    Reply
  5. rikyrah says:
    September 10, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    Watch: Allen Iverson’s Epic Hall of Fame Speech Left Nary a Dry Eye in the House
    Iverson, who was inducted with other icons such as Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming and Sheryl Swoopes, thanked Biggie, Tupac and Michael Jackson in his gracious, emotional speech.

    Angela Bronner Helm
    BY: ANGELA BRONNER HELM
    Posted: September 10, 2016

    https://youtu.be/x67RQKknl-g

    Reply
  6. rikyrah says:
    September 10, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    yep

    With Atlanta and Queen Sugar, TV Gets a Dose of Real Southern Blackness
    The sense of place allows both shows to tell authentic stories that revolve around multidimensional characters that bear no resemblance to the caricatures we are so used to seeing.

    BY: RONDA RACHA PENRICE
    Posted: September 8, 2016

    “I’m criminally Northern,” from black Twitter stalwart and cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux about the epic Tuesday night of black Southern intensity fueled by new TV shows Atlanta and Queen Sugar. Clearly, the Chicago native, who now calls New York City home, was not alone, as similar sentiments also showed up on Twitter. Those from the South or currently living la vida Southern also chimed in, amazed to see their lives represented so vividly and so uniquely on the small screen.

    In name, the black South has shown up on television quite often in recent years. NBC’s sleeper hit comedy The Carmichael Show is set in Charlotte, N.C. Tyler Perry’s numerous series mostly take place in and around Atlanta. One could even argue that Perry’s success has been a gateway for more Atlanta on the small screen. House of Payne preceded the reality shows The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta as well as more respectable fare like Being Mary Jane and Survivor’s Remorse.

    But none of these shows are wholly invested in black Southern identity. Atlanta and Queen Sugar are, but not in a preachy or politically advancing manner. Instead, both shows are centered in a sense of place. And that specificity helps anchor each narrative, though they differ substantially. Having location as a bonus character enables both shows to dig deep and tell authentic stories that revolve around multidimensional characters that bear no resemblance to the caricatures we are so used to seeing. Consequently, these people feel not only like real people but like people you actually know or could be.

    FX’s Atlanta, created by and starring Donald Glover, whose family moved to nearby Stone Mountain, Ga., when he was a kid, is probably not what most people, even his own fans, could have imagined. Even though Glover is also a rapper known as Childish Gambino, his FX show is largely a result of his work playing community college student and onetime-hotshot high school jock Troy Barnes on the long-running, quirky series Community, which debuted on NBC back in 2009.

    Reply
  7. eliihass says:
    September 10, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    God’s continued abundant blessings and protection upon my fantastic First Lady…

    Still standing…

    Yup..

    Still standing tall even with the very visible scars from this very interesting experience…

    Still standing …even in the face of, and all in spite of the haters, the plotters, the underminers, the double agents, the undercutters, the saboteurs, the envious, the denigraters, the contemptuous, the condescenders, the multi-prong tongued ones, the sly ones, the cunning ones, the inciters… the calculating ones, the biblical false ‘friends and allies’…the ones who thought it should have been them…the ones who still think it should be them…the ones who rooted against her publicly… the two-faced pretenders and phonies who badmouthed and rooted against her privately and anonymously…the ones who demean, dismiss, discount and disregard her – until they want to take credit for any of her successes and well-received efforts… and those who want to contain her, keep her down…make sure she never ever exceeds them – or their preferred narratives and preferred public figures aka as gravy train by association…or their great white woman hope..

    One day the full story will be told … the whole truth, and nothing but the unadulterated truth..

    Until then we can all just keep pretending that it all just only started with Trump…that we are all just so shocked, offended and horrified…that there’s always been some all-inclusive supportive, respectful, protective, uplifting Kumbayah alliance that always gave a damn and was always consistently respectful, uplifting and protective of black women…colored folks..

    https://media.giphy.com/media/LWU1alSEJkv9C/giphy.gif

    https://collegecandy.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/lucille-wink.gif

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    September 10, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    About That Michelle Obama Essence Photo …
    She Matters: I have so many questions. Like, where has she been hiding that all this time?
    BY: DEMETRIA LUCAS D’OYLEY
    Posted: September 9, 2016

    I said I wasn’t going to write about it. But I have to. I. Have. To.

    On Wednesday evening, I was practicing my ritual of procrastinating by browsing through Instagram. A friend, an Essence editor, posted a new image of the first couple that will run in the upcoming October issue. The Obamas are on the cover.

    If you saw the picture, I know you saw … what everyone who saw the photo saw. All over social media, everyone’s talking about first lady Michelle Obama’s, uh, surprise ending. Constantly.

    I want to be respectful of my FLOTUS. I do. I do not wish to objectify her. I will not. But it’s pointless to pretend not to see what we saw. And I’m making a public observation because, I mean, it stands out! It sits up! It cannot be missed. It’s the first thing everyone sees who looks at the image.

    Case in point: I showed the picture to my husband with no commentary. He laughed.

    Husband: That ain’t junk in the trunk. That’s luggage!

    Me: That. Is. The. First. Lady.

    Husband: She is a woman and I am a man with good vision.

    Me: GREG!

    Husband: You don’t need 20-20 to see that, though.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      September 10, 2016 at 9:13 pm

      Pffttt..

      Is Demetria trying to clean up her original Instagram post that demeaned, questioned and more or less disrespected our First Lady…?

      The hateful-troll click-bait Instagram post she first posted and then later edited after many of the commenters called her out…

      The post that dripped of jealousy and envy and derisively and condescendingly suggested that the First Lady must have gotten a butt enhancement recently – or that her bum was somehow photo-shopped to look larger than it actually is (a first in our ever thin-conscious society!)…bringing out many anti-FLOTUS trolls to concur and further denigrate the First Lady with their insulting comments…

      I’m tired of black women who don’t get it…or those whose envy, pettiness, ignorance and childishness blinds them and just won’t let them…even as they seek validation heaving and ho-ing and rah-rah-ing all over the place – and louder than every Becky in sight for the white feminist hand-picked ‘great hope’..

      Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    September 10, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    From the South Side of Chicago to College

    A new documentary chronicles the lives of two young black men as they leave high school and pursue higher education.

    “There’s a tendency we have in trying to decide who is college worthy and who is not,” Joy Thomas Moore told me. “More often than not, it’s boys of color who are written off and devalued. We want to address the expectations people have about boys of color and what they can contribute to society.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/09/from-the-south-side-of-chicago-to-college/499463/

    Reply
  31. Liza says:
    September 10, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    Breaking: Arrest Warrant Issued For Amy Goodman in North Dakota After Covering Pipeline Protest
    SEPTEMBER 10, 2016

    An arrest warrant has been issued in North Dakota for Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman. Goodman was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor offense. A team from Democracy Now! was in North Dakota last week to cover the Native American-led protests against the Dakota Access pipeline.

    On Sept. 3, Democracy Now! filmed security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company using dogs and pepper spray to attack protesters. Democracy Now’s report went viral online and was re-broadcast on many outlets including CBS, NBC, NPR, CNN, MSNBC and Huffington Post.

    “This is an unacceptable violation of freedom of the press,” said Amy Goodman in a statement. “I was doing my job by covering pipeline guards unleashing dogs and pepper spray on Native American protesters.”

    http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/10/breaking_arrest_warrant_issued_for_amy

    Reply
  34. Liza says:
    September 10, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    JUST IN: Greta Zimmer Friedman, nurse in iconic Times Square sailor-kiss photo dead at 92 https://t.co/QtM9OAuGj7 pic.twitter.com/oNirqE8XL4— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 10, 2016

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    September 10, 2016 at 5:54 am

    Good Morning 😆, Everyone 😄
    Off to swim 👙and run errands. 😇

    Reply

Leave a Reply