Current Affairs: Who Actually Gets to Create Black Pop Culture?

[No1]

TBF to Dave, black people were not fukking with him until the Chappelle show. He played to mostly white audiences. He never changed who he was, but black people didn't embrace him to later.

On Woke Brows last week, the author compared the story of Donald Glover who grew up middle class with someone like Jerrod Carmichael who grew up poor. They are around the same age, but Glover was in the right circles--thanks to college--and was able to get on a smooth ten years earlier than Carmichael. Its hard for comedians now.

What is Woke Brows?

 

[mastermind]

What is Woke Brows?

A podcast with Wosney Lambre and Nando Villa. It used to be Wos and Michael Brooks (RIP).

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Great article.

I was thinking about some of these topics a lot as I’m trying to start my comedy writing thing. I like racial comedy, but I always approached it as I’m going to stay true to my experiences and not force any examination of Blackness or Black oppression outside of my wheelhouse as a mixed race child of new world immigrants from a Black middle class suburb in a Black city in the 80’s and 90’s. I try to draw from random experiences without talking myself too seriously other than a person that’s trying to entertain people.

This shyt that I’ve written in regard to race is more Black professional middle class concerns, like dealing with goofy ass white coworkers and shyt like that. Not doing any Black oppression porn.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Great article.

I was thinking about some of these topics a lot as I’m trying to start my comedy writing thing. I like racial comedy, but I always approached it as I’m going to stay true to my experiences and not force any examination of Blackness or Black oppression outside of my wheelhouse as a mixed race child of new world immigrants from a Black middle class suburb in a Black city in the 80’s and 90’s. I try to draw from random experiences without talking myself too seriously other than a person that’s trying to entertain people.

This shyt that I’ve written in regard to race is more Black professional middle class concerns, like dealing with goofy ass white coworkers and shyt like that. Not doing any Black oppression porn.

the author of this article would say you're an elite class traitor if you do this though

This is whats so stupid about this.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

I have a lot of personal commentary regarding this article - but I will say there's a "Black performance" that the Black petit-bourgeoisie likes to put on that doesn't match their educational or social stratum.

And if you look at media as a whole the differences between depictions written by Black people who exist as Black people and Black people who are trying to portray an idea of Blackness - is pretty stark.

blame white gatekeepers.

 

[ogc163]

We need more black elites. Deal with it.


The way they were even acting like they need more poor black people on TV then acting like Cosby was harmful. Bruh, its ONE tv show. And there weren't even that many black shows! Like...what the fukk is all this whining about?!

We. Have. NOTHING. If we get ONE black show of a successful black family, then these burlap bag fashionistas come through trying to lower the goddamn bar.

Bruh so are you saying black people shouldn't have images of black success now?!



There are no rich black people.

Its a lot of whining with no suggestions. its basically a light-weight conservative critique of black escapism while ignoring the actual racism black employees face. The author himself is a liberal arts grad student, even if he grew up poor.

Look at the author. You telling me yall taking HIS critique on actual black people? WORD?

No wonder he spends so much time whining about "what about the white poor"...




ANY TIME SOME black people get SOMETHING, here come these bullshyt class reductionist clowns. I HATE these b*stards. They want us to have N O T H I N G.

He is not even making a class reductionist argument you fuccing clown.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

He is not even making a class reductionist argument you fuccing clown.

Yes.

He.

Is.

Listen to the interview. It was this pile on about some mythic class of a literal handful of black people who have a couple nickles as ignoring class issues.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Spoiler: Bertrand's apperance on Bad Faith Podcast

Who Actually Gets to Create Black Pop Culture? ❧ Current Affairs

I circulated this on my social media last week. It’s a great article.

Good article, I had a conversation with my former roommate/ law school classmate about how in our class that had 15 Black students, only 3 of us had ever grown up in poverty or anywhere near it. Plus only my roommate was ADOS. The rest of the Black students were working-class or upper-middle class. And although it is way too common to lump in blue-collar working-class Black folks and poor Black folks together there are still significant differences when it comes to access to institutions and resources.

Even if one counters with the common response that the Black working class/upper-middle class cannot be analyzed in the same way as their white counterparts because of systemic racism, there are still class-based disadvantages that help lead to disparate outcomes presented in the article.

It seems for a while now that the Black poor have gotten the short end of the stick not only in terms of policy but also in regards to Black narratives cultivated and spread within our community. The disdain and contempt many working-class and upper-middle-class Black folks have for poor Black people hasn't really been analyzed to the same degree as gender dynamics, as intersectionality overall is severely lacking when it comes to the discussion of internal class dynamics. Compared to the way class dynamics is discussed in-depth within the UK.

Incredible article. Articulated a lot of the class-based issues I experienced in undergrad and will probably continue to experience to a lesser degree in grad school.

Explained a lot of nuances and differences that are often felt, but never really detailed to such a great extent. And yeah, I’m seeing now with the advent of Trap Yoga, Trap Brunch, Trap Iceland Vacations, etc. especially the dynamic in that the black middle class have to virtue signal proximity to poverty in order to cash-in on the industry of ‘blackness’

Fantastic article! Repped.

Surprised this isn't getting that much traction on HL.

Read the article last night, can definitely see where the author is coming from.


Also this must be one of the reasons you don't really see a whole lotta new young upcoming black comedians...

definitely gonna read this later...

@wire28 @Th3G3ntleman @ezrathegreat @Jello Biafra @humble forever @Dameon Farrow @Piff Perkins @Pressure @johnedwarduado @Armchair Militant @panopticon @Tres Leches @ADevilYouKhow @dtownreppin214 @DrDealgood @Red Shield

I just listened to this hoe ass nikka's arguments on The Bad Faith show with Briahna Joy Gray.

‎Bad Faith: Black Enough for TV? on Apple Podcasts

https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-95-black-54541034

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aH...d=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwig9riDmpryAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

I was right.

he's a class reductionist dipshyt.

EVEN BRIAHNA CALLS HIM OUT!!! Thats how ridiculous this entire discussion is.

he ignores ALL of the white gatekeeping in the first place that limits black access to media opportunities in the first place. Not to mention, Damon (the other guest) also calls out his bullshyt for not even understanding the plot of the show ATLANTA as an ivy league drop out who falls back into black precarity. He can't even define black class distinctions and uses an example that he didn't know about Friday being "casual day" at work. WTF? This dude was even

He doesn't even talk about Tyler Perry's independence and he keeps talking about "class backgrounds" but NEVER defines it. He then says "why doesnt Issa rae higher poor people"...then he says he doesn't know if these black media figures do... WTF??? He's just fighting strawmen then ignoring WHITE GATE KEEPERS! White media interests, figures and resources SHAPE ALL opportunities! Why wont he talk about why ASIAN RACISM limits black media access in INTERNATIONAL MOVIES?!????????

Did he forget that WHITE EXECUTIVES created all these black "low class" shows in the 70s and 80s?!

He's talking in circles when he gets actual pushback. He's feigning concern for black poor.

He's focused on Donald Glover...bruh, what about DENZEL? VIOLA DAVIS? What about every one else?

He's talking about black appropriation by black middle class people...bruh, the "BLACK MIDDLE CLASS" doesn't even exist. ALL BLACK PEOPLE ARE POOR. Even "elite" blacks are never fully removed from the black poor because of the sheer size of the population of the black poor.

HOW MUCH OF AN IDIOT ARE YOU THAT DAMON YOUNG CALLS YOU ON YOUR BULLshyt?????

This is PRECISELY why i call out these class reductionist a$$holes. They are basically culturally crypto-conservatives masking their disdain for ANY black success as undermining some vague notion of "solidarity" when in reality their real project is holding black people back en masse unless theres some focus on white people. This Bertrand dude exposed himself. HE EVEN QUOTES JOHN MCWHORTER AS CALLING OUT BLACK AUTHENTICITY (@1:15:00)...HUH??? I TOLD YOU THIS DUDE IS FULL OF shyt! He's just whining.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

I have a visceral hatred of this assclown right now.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Spoiler: You've all been fooled

Who Actually Gets to Create Black Pop Culture? ❧ Current Affairs

I circulated this on my social media last week. It’s a great article.

Good article, I had a conversation with my former roommate/ law school classmate about how in our class that had 15 Black students, only 3 of us had ever grown up in poverty or anywhere near it. Plus only my roommate was ADOS. The rest of the Black students were working-class or upper-middle class. And although it is way too common to lump in blue-collar working-class Black folks and poor Black folks together there are still significant differences when it comes to access to institutions and resources.

Even if one counters with the common response that the Black working class/upper-middle class cannot be analyzed in the same way as their white counterparts because of systemic racism, there are still class-based disadvantages that help lead to disparate outcomes presented in the article.

It seems for a while now that the Black poor have gotten the short end of the stick not only in terms of policy but also in regards to Black narratives cultivated and spread within our community. The disdain and contempt many working-class and upper-middle-class Black folks have for poor Black people hasn't really been analyzed to the same degree as gender dynamics, as intersectionality overall is severely lacking when it comes to the discussion of internal class dynamics. Compared to the way class dynamics is discussed in-depth within the UK.

Incredible article. Articulated a lot of the class-based issues I experienced in undergrad and will probably continue to experience to a lesser degree in grad school.

Explained a lot of nuances and differences that are often felt, but never really detailed to such a great extent. And yeah, I’m seeing now with the advent of Trap Yoga, Trap Brunch, Trap Iceland Vacations, etc. especially the dynamic in that the black middle class have to virtue signal proximity to poverty in order to cash-in on the industry of ‘blackness’

Fantastic article! Repped.

Surprised this isn't getting that much traction on HL.

Read the article last night, can definitely see where the author is coming from.


Also this must be one of the reasons you don't really see a whole lotta new young upcoming black comedians...

definitely gonna read this later...

@wire28 @Th3G3ntleman @ezrathegreat @Jello Biafra @humble forever @Dameon Farrow @Piff Perkins @Pressure @johnedwarduado @Armchair Militant @panopticon @Tres Leches @ADevilYouKhow @dtownreppin214 @DrDealgood @Red Shield

This who yall celebrating? Word?

The guy who quotes and retweets:

Thomas Chatteron Williams?

Glenn Loury?

John McWhorter??

"HETERODOX ACADEMY" ??

COLEMAN HUGHES?

What sort of "black academic" attacks Ibram Kendi??? MOST black academics SUPPORT Ibram Kendi!


You've all been fooled!

Class reductionist Matt Bruenig thats against reparations?

Bruh...heres the fukking golden ticket... he's literally praising CONSERVATIVES AND ANTI-BLACK CLASS REDUCTIONISTS!!!

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Goddamn. Yall fell for this shyt

 

[mastermind]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Pascal Robert was a high paid lawyer. Idk why these grad students ass nikkas wanna be poor so bad.

 

[No1]

I feel like they’re missing the point. I have a bunch of cousins that visited me for the summer and got a feel of what the inner city was like. They still don’t one hundred percent get it and it’s not really their story. I think in the case of Ava it sort of falls apart. Because she was doing documentaries. But otherwise the point stands. And they’re doing a whole bunch of assuming that knowledge of poverty means you identify, relate and empathize. Most of the bougie people I met in law school wanted nothing to do with their poor relatives.

 

[mastermind]

I feel like they’re missing the point. I have a bunch of cousins that visited me for the summer and got a feel of what the inner city was like. They still don’t one hundred percent get it and it’s not really their story. I think in the case of Ava it sort of falls apart. Because she was doing documentaries. But otherwise the point stands. And they’re doing a whole bunch of assuming that knowledge of poverty means you identify, relate and empathize. Most of the bougie people I met in law school wanted nothing to do with their poor relatives.

I think the Ava point is strong. How can you advocate for criminal justice reform, yet proudly support people who will run on giving the police more money? It is strange.

But to your greater point, 100% agree. Black middle and upper class people aren’t that far from poverty as opposed to white counterparts. But those people don’t want anything to do with poverty or associating with their poorer family members. Hence the video in the second link where them LA snobs wanted nothing to do with lower classes of black peoples joining their community.

I also think the bigger point Bertrand is making, and this is lost on the people who want to defend their black culture heroes/colleagues like Damon Young is doing, is he is highlighting how terrible it is to be poor and black in this country. How hard it is to rise up. And how hard it is to be seen. Using the entertainment industry or culture critiques—like Damon Young—is a vehicle to talk about the difficulties of black poverty, and calling out specific people is how he got attention.

If you replaced Ava Duvernay with Maxine Waters and Donald Glover with Hakeem Jeffries, the article would be the same but about the black political elite exploiting black poverty.