Just one week left now. I really wanted this to be better organized, but all I can be is sincere.
February 15th
Denzel Washington (1954 - )
When I did the director spotlight on him, it was more that I had finally watched Fences, and then it was only two other films, so why not? That led to some interviews as I tried to find out how he decided when to direct, because he doesn't do it very often. It appears to be helping underdog films get made and doing favors. Listening to him, so warm and thoughtful and mentoring, well, it made me mad at Katie Couric, especially learning that she had held back racist comments from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but the Black man is scary.
And really, none of it is surprising, but my admiration and affection for Mr. Washington has only grown.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/03/director-spotlight-denzel-washington.html
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/09/celebrity-smackdown-couric-versus.html
Paired with "Whatta Man" by En Vogue with Salt N Pepa.
February 16th
"Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde (1978)
Lorde's writing has meant so much to me, but I am focusing on this one, because of a context in which it hit. It came at about the same time as a question about sexiness in women being equated with stupidity, and with reading something else about true sexuality being healing in its connection with and acceptance of the body. So then to read about how the erotic is connecting the physical with the emotional and spiritual, rather than the fear that tries to cast off the physical, or something else that tries to have the physical divorced from any emotional, well, I think there are some important ideas in there, that still seem beyond far too many people.
Paired with "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt N Pepa.
February 17th
bell hooks (1952 - 2021)
I suppose hooks has been slightly outranked by Lorde, but I started reading hooks first, and she was the one who introduced me to "Dominator Culture" which was huge for me (and why I keep bringing it up all the time, years later). She also introduced me to Paolo Freire.
February 18th
Selma (2014)
This is an incredibly well done movie on an incredibly important subject. I would have given Oscars for wardrobe, directing, and the song. It only won for song. If there could only be one win, then maybe that one makes sense, because it does a good job of bridging then and now, and the fight for civil rights and voting rights is not over. There will need to be something amazingly transformational to get us to where that is no longer a problem, but hooks and Lorde would have some ideas.
Paired with "Glory" by Common and John Legend.
February 19th
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (2013)
John Lewis and Andrew Aydin came to Powell's books when the first book came out. I remember him saying that he would cosplay as himself at Comic-con -- a new experience for him, which mainly meant adding a backpack to his usual look -- and also him asking me if I was getting into good trouble.
That was not a special thing for me; good trouble was a theme for him. Getting everyone included, though, was special for him, and what is needed. Then there is also the playfulness. His death is a loss, but his rest is well-earned.
Paired with "Walk This Way" by Run DMC.
February 20th
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi (2019)
This was done with wonderful clarity and compassion. It is direct but caring, and I have to really appreciate that. Kendi takes the stance of being that friend who is going to be honest with you, but still a friend, and he does it really well.
Paired with "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Gladys Knight
February 21st
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (2018)
Also in the realm of anti-racist books, this is not as humorous, but it touched me a lot and it introduced me to Audre Lorde, which was of incalculable value. Of special note is the chapter "Whiteness At Work", where good, well-meaning people are still caught up in the structural racism, as a constant part of her work day. It shouldn't be this way, and the onus is on the white people.
Paired with "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer
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