We've been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we're done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil - black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit. The thing is though... the thing is that just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real. | | | | | Jesse Williams uncensored and truthful at the BET Awards (BET) | | | | | | “We've been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we're done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil - black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit. The thing is though... the thing is that just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real.”
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| | rantnrave:// I was very moved by JESSE WILLIAMS' speech at the BET AWARDS. And sad that any society could be so blind as to allow the cancer of racism to fester and make any group of people feel this way. His words were strong, emotional, truthful and unapologetic. This was not a plea. It was a rightful demand. I can't claim to understand his experience. But as a human being, I have empathy. Only action fosters change and when the indignities he describes happen and we look past them or change the channel we too are complicit. Just turn on the TV and see how may children are shot and how many police are acquitted. There's a problem and it's deeply ingrained in the system and happens too often to ignore. The wrong reaction to Jesse's speech would be to compare your tragedies. As someone very smart once said to me: "Don't match your bitch with my bitch." Social unrest is here. Some of its forms, like in the election, are distasteful but no matter how much, it behooves us to understand why. Jesse's was spot on. You may never understand someone else's experience but you can have empathy and you can take action. Watch his parents watch him give his speech. Humanity and pride.... Years ago when I was President at MYSPACE I was at the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL on a panel taking questions from creators. I thought we were so benevolent making sure they could post their works on the site. Audience members set my pride straight when they declared that it helped MySpace but gave them no opportunity to earn revenue. Things have changed on platforms since then. But there's still a chasm. Winter is coming and the creators remember. The platforms that don’t hear the cries and protest coming from creators will pay a price. In brand and popularity. It's great to maximize revenue. It’s great to give value to consumers. But there's nothing to earn and nothing to give if creators don’t create. Thinking the models today are fair and equitable will be at a platform's peril. While nitwits like this say FU to "rich" artists, the revolt is coming. I heard it at VIDCON. I hear it from musicians and filmmakers. What an artist has is 100% immaterial to the argument. The spoils will go to the platforms that behave well and do what's right, not what's just legal or contractual. This isn't just about revenue share but also governance and process. Want a tip? Hire people that come from a creative background. Those that understand artists. There are plenty of data scientists, coders, revenue optimizers and consultant-like analysts and dealmakers. Up the social EQ. Hire some of "those people" that would never pass the famous interview processes. Arrogant and tone deaf isn't a good strategy. There's a big win here for those that get it right... Not since SENATOR JOHN YERKES ISELIN in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE has someone been so flagrantly wrong and dismissive of facts like DONALD TRUMP on everything let alone unemployment rates... Happy Birthday to CASEY WASSERMAN, ANDREW ANKER, NADA STIRRATT, JOE GREEN, DAVID NATHAN, MICHELLE BREEZE JOHNSON, ANAND CHANDRASEKARAN and BOB SHERMAN. | | | - Jason Hirschhorn, curator |
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| Jesse Williams, with his piercing blue eyes and make-you-short-of-breath smile, always grabs attention, but never has he captured our gaze-and our minds, our hearts, and our passion-more than with his powerful acceptance speech at the BET Awards Sunday night, where he received the Humanitarian Award. | | |
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| In 2008, the hospital where I worked-a Level II trauma center just outside Chicago-was $54 million in debt. Everyone seemed to be aware of this fact; the figure floated beneath the surface of all our conversations, an unspoken rigidity we seemed to bump up against everywhere we turned. | | |
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| The Fashion Law's Julie Zerbo talks us through the murky world of FTC violations and counterfeiting and chips in ideas on how to fix the fashion industry. | | |
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| New Journalism pioneer (and former Esquire writer) Michael Herr has died at the age of 76. Below, reprinted in full, is Herr's legendary story "Hell Sucks," which paved the way for his acclaimed book Dispatches . | | |
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| Ardelia Ali was raped in 1995. Twenty years later, her rapist was convicted. | | |
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| Cannes panel hosted by Wall Street Journal says there is less tolerance for bad ads | | |
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| Alternatively titled ‘Be aware of context, and maybe start using Google AdWords’ Instead | | |
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| Over the last year, there have been a number of encouraging conversations about diversity in Hollywood, including one about the dearth of female directors. But even as progress is made regarding the women calling the shots, a remarkable fact still stands: No woman has ever been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. | | |
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| Mass shootings have one thing in common: toxic masculinity. Where does it come from and what can be done to stop it? | | |
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| The divisions among national Republicans could prevent Trump from getting equal treatment from the mainstream news media. | | |
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| In the wake of the Orlando shooting massacre, leagues continue to erase LGBT from their outreach message | | |
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| As Australian track cyclists prepare for Rio 2016, Kieran Pender is granted exclusive access to the Cycling Australia High Performance Unit in Adelaide | | |
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| The campaign against Brexit featured fantastic predictions of doom (but seldom with much supporting fact or logic) and assertions that it was racist and irrational. Europe’s elites resorted to these barrages of fear for good reason: the EU does so much for them. Here’s a look at the costs to Europe’s people, which journalists seldom report. | | |
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| Star Trek was the show that wouldn't die. After the original series was canceled in 1969, reruns in syndication attracted phenomenal ratings, an animated version ran for two seasons and the convention scene exploded. Things were not going as well for creator Gene Roddenberry. | | |
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| Tuck professor Eesha Sharma on how perceptions of personal wealth affect the decisions people make. | | |
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| Hatemongers Jungle beats hypnotically hammer as Hitler's words flash across the screen: "I shall annihilate everyone who is opposed to me." In this music video, the track's heavy baseline pulsates, and instantly, you're flying above a bombed-out Berlin circa 1945. | | |
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| Amidst the post-referendum rending of garments over Brexit it has become settled wisdom that it was older working-class voters who spearheaded the Leave vote. But plenty of older upper-class voters were just as rabid in their eagerness to stick it to the foreign busybodies across the Channel, and the oldest and most upper-class of them all was reportedly among them. | | |
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| Tragedy -- both political and personal -- hung over a Paris fashion week punctuated by masterful shows by Demna Gvasalia's Balenciaga and Rick Owens. | | |
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| Fake online reviews generated by unscrupulous marketers blanket the Internet these days. Although online review pollution isn't exactly a hot-button consumer issue, there are plenty of cases in which phony reviews may endanger one's life or well-being. | | |
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| Google and Facebook have upended the old order by taking ownership of the new one, claiming nearly two-thirds of the $60 billion online advertising market last year and on course to take more this year. Therefore, the word of the week in Cannes was "duopoly." | | |
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| The tech hype-cycle works something like this: Some driver - perhaps a landmark company event such as the 2014 IPO for Lending Club in the fintech sector, or the spike in Bitcoin's value, or indeed Facebook's acquisition of Oculus in VR - triggers a flurry of investments in a particular "theme," which in turn feeds news flow, panel discussions at conferences and a procession of expert "talking heads." | | |
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| In a not-too-distant future, autonomous cars, driven largely by AI systems, will hit the road in large numbers. But getting autonomous vehicles on the road is only half the battle. That's because, even after the cars are out there, system operators will need to frequently update their software models and deploy updates to their fleets. | | |
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| © Copyright 2016, The REDEF Group |
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