45 Search results for "caricature"

Black Culture Is Not a Costume: K-Pop, Cultural Appropriation, and Racial Capitalism
by Charles Tremblay Black culture is everywhere, on runways, in music, even in the way people speak and move online. But the people who create it, especially Black women, are rarely protected when culture is copied, mocked, or commodified. This is especially apparent in K-pop, where Black aesthetics, from language to hairstyles, are often adopted […]
How Black people mourn the loss of a Superhero
The day I thought that Chadwick Boseman was James Brown, he lit up the screen with his rosewood colored skin and small gap. He was not the real James Brown except that he was, for over two hours he was James Brown. “Get On Up” was the first time I’d seen Chadwick’s acting skills, but […]
one party
y’all playin. we got these libido ones kissin cute in the corner. these other rhythm ones at the speaker nodding and taking requests. those bodies over there with sweat and hips and shoulders. even the head ones creating clouds we can smell and taste. she just got here and it will only be a few […]
American “heroism” in times of crisis highlights just how disposable we are to the state
by Donnie Moreland As a boy, I remember learning about firefighters. I found their work as spectacular as the graphic novels, and Saturday morning superheroes, which crowded my daydreams. There was no difference between the cape and their fire helmet. And there were enough Black men, dawning the garb and colors of the local fire […]
How TikTok is ushering in yet another way for youths to don “Digital Blackface”
by Cosima Smith By now many of you will have heard the term “Digital Blackface” a term defined loosely as the movement or expansion of Blackface minstrelsy to the new-age digital platforms we frequent. The “tradition” of minstrelsy dates back to the early 19th century and began as a form of entertainment at the expense of […]
Black asexuals are not unicorns, there are more of us than we know
This essay contains discussions of sexual violence as well as racist violence and fetishization I personally know of fewer than five Black people who identify as asexual, and I’ve only met two of them in person. The others remain virtual friends for now, but I hope to meet them someday. Of course, these are just […]
From John Henry to James Evans: Black men married to hard labor in the white American imagination
by Donnie MoreIand I find myself humming the theme of Good Times, quite a bit. It’s calming, in the way only Black Baptist Church Choirs can be calming. In fact, I find all of it pretty calming—Good Times, that is—because it’s so unequivocally Black, that it feels a part of my cultural genome. Now, I […]
Defending “Nipsey Hussle’s widow” and other hollow gestures for Black women
Editor’s Note: April is Black Women’s History Month. Throughout this month, Black Youth Project is celebrating Black women. This month is also National Minority Health Month, Autism Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. As a New Yorker […]
How Ariana Grande uses “Black Cool” in her incremental appropriation game
by Ayika Tshimanga Ariana Grande recently released a music video for her song, “7 Rings”, a repetitive pop-trap&B tune with all the necessary ingredients to bring out your innermost bad bitch. The bouncy trap beat, braggadocious lyrics, and an attempt to ooze the kind of confidence radiating from pop stars like Beyoncé on “Apeshit”, or Rihanna […]
What Future’s fear of admitting his sobriety says about our unhealthy expectation for Black pain
By Arielle Gray Dana Schutz’s “Open Casket” is hard to decipher at first. Its textured and abstract strokes make it difficult to discern the image. But the more your eyes linger, the more easily the distorted face, rendered in geometric simplicity, and the brown coffin outlining the body become clear. After a second lengthy look, […]
It’s not just white incels. We need to talk about the Black Manosphere, too.
Mainstream conversations about online misogyny keep neglecting The Black Manosphere, and it’s because of misogynoir by Aaron Fountain On his weekly podcast, The Brother Pill, Sacramento-native and now Poland-transplant, Oshay Duke Jackson, conducts segments, interviews, and discussions about the issues faced by Black men. Occasionally, he talks about these things alone, but on most episodes […]
We need to challenge fat antagonism in Black activist spaces
by Denarii Grace “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” These words, uttered by legendary Black civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, have become as much a part of Black languages and cultural understandings, both past and present, as “lit,” “bumboclaat,” and “the bomb.” Her expression of the ongoing oppression of Black […]