Meet writer, cultural worker, and educator Juliana “Jewels” Smith. As an effort to connect with her students, Jewels created the comic book series, (H)afrocentric. The entire series features four disgruntled undergrads of color and their adventures at Ronald Reagan University. "Before I knew anything about Ronald Regan, I knew he was racists," Jewels joked during her talk at the Drawing Lines - The Black American Experience. The event, which took place in early May, was held at The Great Hall at The Cooper Union in New York City. Jewels, who grew up in the 1980's, created (H)afrocentric as a way to challenge students and readers alike about the presumptions around race, class, gender and sexuality through character dialogue. Jewels published four volumes to date and in each issue, you'll find sprinkles of wokeness. "You're going to know who W.E.B Du Bois is," she explained. "(H)afrocentric is supposed to be a satire of what's going on right now."
Jewels dug deep to create the characters of (H)afrocentric. "I
As a Black-American woman in the midst of testing her multimedia journalism skills in advertising, my eyes are always wide open. I've been analyzing every single commercial and ad in magazines, newspapers, transportation hubs, as well as the ones that appear on my favorite television shows, black-ish. The Richard Youngster episode that aired March 29, 2017, on ABC, opened my eyes even more. While social media expressed their disappointment of Chris Brown's appearance on the show, I was applauding the writers. About what? Blacks working in advertising and the lack of Blacks working in the business. I'm talking about the absence of Black creatives, talent, focus groups, and Blacks in executive positions at global agencies. There were several truths in the episode, but the one that caught me off guard was how Richard Youngster was compared to Stepin Fetchit. Which, by the way, I never heard of until Andre, Rainbow and Ruby broke it down.
Unfortunately, most people missed the history lesson, and the in your face message of what it's like to be a minority working in advertising. Even industry advertising newsletters didn't get or send a memo. Lucky for me, I did get the memo because my eyes are opened...even wider. Did you get the memo? Discuss in the comment box below or e-mail your views to TCsViews@gmail.com.
It's so refreshing to see women coming together to support one another. We need more women uplifting each other. Unfortunately, some critics didn't get message. Instead, they body shamed these women. Who wouldn't want to be part of a tribe whose members are doctors, lawyers, beauticians, bus drivers, etc.?
Watch, listen and learn... from the ladies who burn tires.
Learn more about the clique of chicks on their Facebook page.
Racial barriers continue to plague Americans and it's causing distress in the melting pot of the Land of the Free. The unjustified killings of Black Americans by the hands of police officers has yet to subside. And now innocent police officers have more to worry about after five of their fellow comrades were gunned down by a lone sniper in Dallas following a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. The social chain of events have left many undivided. People are confused and arguing about #BlackLivesMatter vs. #BlueLivesMatter and everything in between. In the following video, MTV's Franchesca Ramsey drops facts, stats and knowledge surrounding #BLM on all fronts. I highly encourage you to take notes.
Posts
