Courtesy of the Dance Collection, the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations
Zimbio’s “Clashes Break Out at Voodoo Ceremony for Quake Victims” is a post I have most recently been drawn to. The bucolic text wavering below the disturbing and somewhat explosive photograph screams ‘explain me!’. As a collective body–art and words–the post deserves to be ignored. To some degree, however, I digress [... ] Continue reading
In a beautiful arching back bend, Latham Thomas (above) is doing some phenomenal work. Not just in this photograph (featured on her website) but also in busy women’s lives.
I am now a mother of two. Noemie is 2, and will be 3 in November and Leila-Camil is 1 who had her first birthday on Sept. 4th…B-Day (Beyonce’s birthday). I haven’t written about my experiences yet (surprisingly) but my pregnancies and birth/labor journeys with my girls were both profound and amazing. Life changing/transitioning/mind altering/delivering/exuberant/elevating…you get the picture…With the support of my husband, I had a midwife (the same one) with both pregnancies, gave birth outside of a hospital (Noemie was birthed at the Brooklyn Birthing Center and Leila-Camil in a “made in water” birthing pool at home Continue reading
I have missed you! I have not blogged in what feels like a VERY VERY LONG LONG TIME, as I have been swamped with finishing up projects for my doctorate all spring and summer. I have so much to say about Disney’s The Princess and The Frog which hits theatres December 11th, (NY and LA November 25th I believe) but for now I am going to keep it short. When I looked at the trailer with Noemie our almost 3-year-old (November) I was almost brought to tears when she saw a picture on “The Princess and the Frog” Disney website and identified everyone in the picture as mommy, daddy, and herself as well as her bed everyone was sitting on. By the way, we love New Orleans. A moment to remember…
Like Biggie said… and another one! Yesterday’s cartoon in the New York Post has immortalized a chimpanzee caricature which the cartoonist has compared to the “the author of the stimulus package”. There are some things here we can look into. As noted by Sam Stein of Huffingtonpost.com, “The drawing, from famed cartoonist Sean Delonas, is rife with violent imagery and racial undertones.” In addition, I see in the cartoon two police officers shooting the chimpanzee compared to a stimulus package author, which I also think can be examined. Some suggest that the cartoon is stating that the stimulus package is so silly that a monkey could have written it. That’s one way to look at it I guess, but the whole point of cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness is all about being aware.
This is why that explanation doesn’t fly.
A recent story published this week I have been drawn to due to my attempt to process image and identity (although this falls under the cultural phenomenon of colorism), are the photographs of Freida Pinto in the March issue of Vanity Fair Magazine. The Indian born brown skinned star of the Golden Globe holder and Oscar nominated Slumdog Millionaire appears to have lighter skin in Vanity Fair. Apparently, Pinto’s skin was actually lightened in the photographs. Why would Vanity Fair feel they needed to do this? Does “darker” imply something? Or for that matter, does lighter?
This post may inform my next few posts as I am currently working on an article that deals with stereotypes and images as they relate to “racial” identity. In light of Barack Obama’s presidential election—stereotypes of African American men, women, children and family and how they affected President Obama’s campaign and now, his administration is a topic of great interest. What is even more interesting is the notion of stereotyping in general.
