FanFare

The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide
posted by aniola on Dec 26, 2023 - 1 comment

Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust. Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career. [more inside]
posted by The corpse in the library on Apr 22, 2023 - 2 comments

Moth is a teen grieving the loss of her parents and brother in a car accident that only she survived. She feels unseen at school and home. Sani is the new kid in town stuck with a stepdad that has no use for a Navajo stepson. Moth grew up schooled in Hoodoo traditions by her grandfather. Sani is schooled in Navajo customs by his Medicine Man father. Together they decide to ditch their Virginia suburban town and head west on an epic road trip of self-discovery and healing. This outstanding YA debut novel is written in free verse and touches on grief, depression, family, self-identity, and first love; while weaving Hoodo and Navajo mythology throughout the story. The ending will make you want to go back to the first page and re-read it immediately. The book was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for young people's literature.
posted by COD on Apr 5, 2023 - 0 comments

From 1968 to 1973, the first all-Black public-television variety show SOUL!, guided by sharp gay producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics. This documentary about Haizlip and his show includes clips of live performances from The Last Poets, Al Green, Earth Wind and Fire, literary figures like Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin, politics, dance and more. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. On HBO. [more inside]
posted by mediareport on Feb 21, 2023 - 1 comment

Struggling to figure out where he fits in, Dean decides to pursue his calling as "The Great Uniter" and attempts to organize the first integrated baseball game between his team and his friend Brad's team. (ABC reboot) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Sep 22, 2021 - 5 comments

After uncovering the origins of the Book of Names, the gang heads back to Ardham to cast the ultimate spell. (Season Finale) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Oct 18, 2020 - 25 comments

Leti, Montrose, and Tic go back to 1921 to rescue Dee. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Oct 11, 2020 - 37 comments

A distraught Diana finds herself in Captain Lancaster's crosshairs. Meanwhile, a when a visitor from his past arrives at the boarding house, Atticus and Leti each take steps to protect their future. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Oct 4, 2020 - 33 comments

Hyppolyta's relentless search for answers takes her on a multidimensional journey of self-discovery, and Atticus heads to St. Louis to consult an old family friend. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Sep 27, 2020 - 28 comments

In the throes of the Korean War, nursing student Ji-Ah crosses paths with a wounded Atticus, who has no recollection of their violent first encounter. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Sep 20, 2020 - 18 comments

After making a devil's bargain with William, Ruby steps into the charmed shoes of a white woman, but her transformation only fortifies her resentment of the racial divide. A betrayal by Montrose unleashes Atticus' pent up rage, leaving Leti deeply disturbed and sending Montrose into the comforting arms of his secret lover. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Sep 13, 2020 - 44 comments

After Christina mysteriously shows up at her doorstep, Leti confronts Atticus about his plan to surreptitiously return to Florida. Later, in search of missing pages to a crucial text, Leti, Tic, and Montrose head to Boston, with Hippolyta and Diana (Jada Harris) along for the ride. Back in Chicago, a handsome stranger nurses Ruby's disappointment over a squandered job opportunity. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Sep 6, 2020 - 28 comments

Leti hopes to mend her relationship with her sister, Ruby, by turning a ramshackle Victorian on Chicago's North Side into a boarding house--an endeavor that stokes neighborhood racism and awakens dormant spirits stuck in the house. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Aug 30, 2020 - 35 comments

The lodge of the Sons of Adam fills with guests, including Letitia, George and an increasingly suspicious Atticus, on the night before a major ritual. Our heroes are tormented by memories and plan their rescue of Atticus' missing father. This thread includes discussion of Matt Ruff's original book of 8 linked short stories.
posted by mediareport on Aug 24, 2020 - 4 comments

Inexplicably recovered from their terrifying night, Leti and George luxuriate in their new surroundings, while Atticus grows suspicious of their Ardham Lodge hosts - Christina Braithwhite (Abbey Lee) and her elusive father Samuel (Tony Goldwyn) - who unveil cryptic plans for Atticus' role in their upcoming "Sons of Adam" ceremony. Later, after Tic, Leti, and George stumble upon a clue that could lead them to Montrose, each takes an unwelcome walk down memory lane. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Aug 23, 2020 - 31 comments

HBO's new horror/period piece series about black lives in a 1950s where H.P. Lovecraft's shoggoths are real, including discussion of Matt Ruff's original collection of 8 linked short stories.
posted by mediareport on Aug 18, 2020 - 13 comments

Atticus Freeman meets up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. (HBO) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Aug 16, 2020 - 50 comments

Series Finale: Gently hosts a birthday party for Miss Luma and most of the gang gathers. A surprise visitor from the past turns up.
posted by mediareport on Mar 25, 2020 - 5 comments

An African American washerwoman rises from poverty to build a beauty empire and become the first female self-made millionaire. (Netflix, 4 episodes, adapted from the book 'On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker' by A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Mar 20, 2020 - 2 comments

Gently and Evan shop for counselors and recap their relationship thus far.
posted by mediareport on Mar 19, 2020 - 5 comments

Conflict between Evan's focus on work and a newly-buttoned-down Gently boils over at a dinner.
posted by mediareport on Mar 19, 2020 - 1 comment

Differing expectations and backgrounds clash, resolve and clash again as Gently, Evan and their families plan a big day. The two dads meet for the first time and find they have much in common, and Evan's mother tries her best. Bonus: extended interview with Ava DuVernay in which she discusses the love story's origins in her documentary 13th, the actors choosing not to use an intimacy coordinator for the sex scenes, and why she "really wanted to embrace a darker-skinned sister" for the romantic female lead role.
posted by mediareport on Mar 4, 2020 - 1 comment

Evan has a stressful breakfast with Gently's uncles. Miss Luma is in on a scheme. Evan takes Gently for a hike and fancy dinner, only to find the two of them have different conceptions of time. Evan ignores the advice of a friend. Ava DuVernay's one-day-per-episode look at love between two black professionals in Los Angeles continues. Bonus video: DuVernay talks about how she achieved gender parity in the first season by making sure over 50% of the show's entire crew (not just writers and directors) are women.
posted by mediareport on Feb 27, 2020 - 2 comments

Three months into their renewed relationship, Evan brings Gently to meet his parents at their 40th anniversary party. Gently’s own mother suddenly shows up in town as well, after years of absence.
posted by mediareport on Feb 19, 2020 - 1 comment

One year after their first encounter, Gently and Evan meet again at an art gallery and spend the day together, with Evan running into the Friend Test from Gently’s BFF. Bonus bowling alley and emergency room visits.
posted by mediareport on Feb 19, 2020 - 1 comment

Ava DuVernay's new series tracks the relationship between Gently (Xosha Roquemore) and Evan (Alano Miller), two young African-Americans in south Los Angeles. Each of the 8 episodes takes place during one day, across what the series will cover as five years. In the premiere the two meet at the library and spend the day getting to know each other via cheesecake and a refrigerator. Cicely Tyson has a supporting role as a sharp, sly aging film star. Airing, like DuVernay's Queen Sugar, on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
posted by mediareport on Feb 19, 2020 - 3 comments

Jenna and Wesley are back for Season 3! This week, they look at the movie “Proud Mary” as a jumping-off point for the cultural moment that black women are having. The discussion includes a brief history of black women in movies and television, from Hattie McDaniel to Dorothy Dandridge to Whoopi Goldberg to Halle Berry. Then Wesley and Jenna consider what all this means for Oprah’s theoretical presidential run. [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd on Jan 18, 2018 - 0 comments

A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.
posted by noneuclidean on Jan 7, 2017 - 38 comments

A film about Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), the interracial couple whose 1958 marriage eventually overturned anti-miscegenation laws in the United States. Currently at 89%/79% at Rotten Tomatoes. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern: "the most daring part of this wonderful film...is its calmness." Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter).
posted by mediareport on Dec 14, 2016 - 7 comments

A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
posted by latkes on Nov 16, 2015 - 3 comments