Happy Holidays!

Photo: The New Yorker

From Ciroc to CNN

I have not watched a single episode of Grey's Anatomy, but here are five reasons why I love Jessie Williams:

Photo: Twitter

1. He identifies as Black -  In Toni Morrison's novel, Tar Baby, one of the characters says, "Yallas don't come to being black natural-like.  They have to choose it and most don't choose it.  Be careful of the stuff they put down."  Williams has chosen blackness in an era when many celebrities act as if they have the option not to.

Refugees from Blackness

2. He is courageous and articulate - When Williams talks about race he does so without apologizing for his anger.    He is passionate yet clearly knowledgeable about history, politics, and pop culture.   My favorite part of this video is when he says "if you don't live around black folks, and you just watch television you are going to be racist," but black culture is America's most profitable export.  I wonder how Williams's words would be received if he was a dark-skinned actor on a hit television show. Would he even still have a job?



3. Has a black wife with a normal woman's body:  I know this guy, let's call him Hakeem, who will complain about gentrification any chance he gets.  If I mention a new restaurant in Harlem, I have to be prepared for a lecture about how I shouldn't give my money to businesses that were not created with "us" in mind. However, his longtime girlfriend is white and he sees no contradiction between griping about gentrification and being gentrification personified.  Sometimes a person's choice of partner is more political than anything that comes out of their mouth because who they choose to spend their life with makes a statement about what they value in the world.

Photo: people.com

Photo: dailymail.com

4. He used to be a teacher:  Both of Williams's parents were teachers.  After attending Temple University, where he double majored in African-American Studies and Film and Media Studies, Williams taught high-school in Philadelphia's public schools for six years.

5. He's fine.  Williams is already being compared to Harry Belafonte.   Both are good looking, charismatic men who blur the line between artist and activist.  Considering the fickle nature of the entertainment industry and the lack of roles for black men, let's hope that Williams is able to have the longevity of Belafonte.  If not, I'm certain that he would be welcomed back into the classroom!

I love the fact that he wears a shirt and tie in a Vodka commercial and a hoodie on CNN!

Seven in the City

Hair Done, Nails Done

December 21, 2014

by Chloe Cross

Today is Sunday and I got my hair done. It's like braids going to the side, but twists at the end.  It's so tight.  I had a cake pop, chocolate milk, and water.  Then me and my mom went to the nail salon.  They put scrub, lotion, and a hot wash cloth on my feet.  It felt so relaxing and nice.  I got a light/dark pink.  They put a second coat of pink on my nails. The person that did my nails loves pink.  I have never been to this place before.  They have a little tub and they put it on a stand that vibrates.  On the bottom of the little tub there were bumps.  It felt so good.  The pink nail polish was sooooo shiny in the light.  It was so beautiful.  It made me cry because it was so beautiful.

@Polished Fingertips in Harlem

One Monkey . . .

When Winter Break Seems a Lifetime Away

Teachers (and students) know that the week before Winter Break is the longest week known to man.   You're certain that you should be teaching, but when you ask your students to take out their grammar books they look at you like you're crazy and keep sucking on the candy canes that their other teacher gave them.

As a compromise you teach them about Direct Objects and then promise to show a documentary after their test.  You then spend the rest of the week watching The Queen of Versailles, smiling inwardly as they shake their flaxen heads at the ways of rich folk.  (This scenerio is entirely hypothetical, of course).

Thank goodness for documentaries.  Here is a list of other things that that are giving me life until this Friday:

1.  Chris Ofili: Night and Day 
Everything I know about art I learned from my parents or Tumblr.  I discovered Chris Ofili on the latter, and was pleased to learn that a retrospective of his work is currently on view at The New Museum.   After unsuccessfully begging Chloe to go with me, I gave up and decided to go on my own after work.  Ofili's painting are bold, funny, and thought provoking.  His work is full of contradiction: glitter and elephant dung share space on the canvas.

In one darkened room hand several canvases that look as if they have been painted black.  It is only after your eyes adjust and you look at the work from various angles that different images appear, and it feels like magic.  The photographs below don't do Ofili's work justice; go see Night and Day in person before the exhibit closes at the end of January.  Be sure to visit the fourth floor and be prepared to have your breath taken away.

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2. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Photo: theroot.com

As soon as I finished this book, I had a desire to turn back to the first page and start reading it all over again.  Boy, Snow, Bird is about Boy Novak, a woman who moves away from her abusive father and re-creates her life in a small New England town. The novel examines issues such as race, beauty, and vanity through the lens of fairy tales.  I will have to read Boy, Snow, Bird a few more times before I fully understand it, but how can you not fall in love with language like this: 

"I was new to champagne, but as soon as I tasted it, spark after golden spark, I thought, well, there's magic in this water."

Photo: Marc Burckhardt/nyt.com

3. D'Angelo's Black Messiah: The last time that D'Angelo had an album out I was a recent college graduate.  I stopped waiting for new material from him amid news stories about prostitution charges, drug arrests, and rehab visits.  It seemed as if he and Lauryn Hill had cracked under the pressure of their own genius.  But then Black Messiah came out of nowhere at precisely the right time. Apparently, D'Angelo moved up the release date for the album in response to the uprising following the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner.  Black Messiah is Protest Music. Rebel Music.

Although, I don't think that Black Messiah is quite as inspired as Voodoo, it feels good to hear music that doesn't have all of the flaws and emotion mechanized out of it.  My favorite songs are Betray My Heart and Sugah Daddy.

Available on iTunes

4. Henri Bendel:  Last year at this time I was being disrespected by a 14 year old girl who received no consequence (because we needed to 'understand her culture').  She then gave herself a shout-out during closing meeting for having a 'good day,' and finished off by doing a little dance and repeating the words "you mad" while administrators looked on sheepishly.  This year, I received my first gift from Henri Bendel.  Very simply, it is nice to be appreciated.

Because I'm worth it!