Break the Freaking Mold - Colorlines Video

As some of you know, I am an advocate for alternative and creative video content. I do not care if you want to monetize or not, show me something other than an insulting dumb azz scripted corporate reality shows.

Women need to be visible. Non-hostile white men need to be visible. Fat people that like to dance need to be visible.

Which is why I will not watch. mainstream TV. My television has been dark for five years and counting. Only in the case of a national calamity will I turn it on again.

I subscribe to educational channels, old people channels, teenagers, food shows, tech shows, and what ever I might be interested in that day. Don't box me in and don't try to peg me demographically.

I'm just as likely to was 60 Seconds Adventures in Astronomy as I am to relax watching the Galaxy Trio.

I'm not alone in this mind set. Okay, perhaps watching the Galaxy Trio is for a select population.




Jay Smooth point out on Twitter this Colorlines video from some of the top folks on YouTube.They just so happen to be people of color.

Should you happen to hear some chuckle-head cackle that we are in a post-racial society and that they are color blind please point their eyeball to this video. Because these folks will tell them that they get deeply offensive comments no matter what they are talking about.

That they don't get the new tech give-a-ways to share with their viewers and they have a lot of viewers. Probably don't get the invites to plain vanilla stuff either. 

It is a lament that I have heard from African American parenting bloggers who get totally ignored by  the marketing world. Followed by food bloggers of color, tech bloggers and probably there is a version for the audio podcasters as well.

Asian, Latino/Latina and African Americans creators do not fit the current mold of completion acceptance. I have a feeling ageism creeps into the mix as well; in both directions.

So let's break the freaking mold.

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What Is In that Purse?

This year I'm traveling as light as possible. Which doesn't mean I'm going to BlogHer 2012 empty handed.  It just means that I'm thinking about what devices would more than one job?



Last year there was a mobile tech panel at BlogHer 2011 San Diego. Each one of the participants showed what they carried for business and personal use.

Adding up the amount of tech these ladies used in 2011 is impressive. Tablets, smartphones, camcorders and support technology.

I have held off buying a tablet. Not even the Nexus 7 could move me to do so. But I am close. I want a rear functional camera.  I have to have an SD expansion slot.

I will be visiting the Expo floor looking for my hearts desire. I might make some lucky vendor very happy. I doubt it but I can't give up the search.

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TOWS NY and Words From Jay Smooth

I pay attention to what Jay Smooth has to say. Brother can post once every three months and it is all right with me because when he does hit record it makes sense to me. I've been trying to write my own thoughts but I can yank three pages of them cuz Mr. Smooth has scope out part of the signal.

Case in point about Occupy Wall Street New York:



Especially the part about the ringers. The guy from American Spectator that started the ruckus at the Air and Space Museum and all the media pundits, pundi, pontificates and those that cannot see non-scripted reality for the life of them.

Oh yea, oh yea there will be co-opters, on both sides. There will be a voice that will be worthy and then not worthy. I know this. I've seen it. I also know that once a fuze is lit all it takes is some kindling.

The kindling catches and boom, you have illumination and heat. It might take a little longer for the kindling to catch up in Los Angeles but once folks get their iPhone 4S they will be back to normal. Can't do jack with them until they get the Apple fix.

I'm keeping my camcorders charged just in case.

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The BBC, Rastani and My Lack of Sleep

On September 26, 2011. Alessio Rastani scared the hell out of folks in the UK and Europe. He worked my nerves something terrible. I was so messed up I couldn't even read or do anything worth a damn.



For those folks that can't see the video. he basically said in a clear, assertive voice that traders and brokers don't care about governments or stable societies. They are looking for profit. The next money fix.

This is not news but he said it in plain English. That was news.

And the work that others folks are trying to do to save Greece and parts of Europe aren't worth the effort because traders and financiers are looking for safe ports for their money, even if they have to stick them in U.S. dollars. It isn't about governments, it is about what Goldman Sachs wants and needs for monetary growth.

What has that got to do with me or you?

Business as usual you say. Well, he also said that he has been waiting for the next drop so he can make some serious bank. A drop that will clean out bank accounts around the world.

I can say with painful memory that small depressions are bad enough. The pure hell of 2001 nobody should wish on any group of people. 9/11+Dot Com bust+Enron all in the same year was quiet enough thank you very much.

And this man speaks of that type of event happening like a cash money wet dream. It turns out that Mr. Rastani is not a big time trader. He is more of a dabbler.

Rastani is not technically a fraud but he does not roll with the big boys. The BBC did not fully verify his actual qualifications to appear on the broadcast. He is just a man who loves to talk, he wants to be a public speaker.

Rastani got his big break.

And yet,what Rastani said is the truth.

Not about Goldman Sachs. It isn't just that company. Be real. 

We know there are people who would do anything to make huge sums of money. Ethics or societal responsibilities have nothing to do with it. In fact, we are being schooled that no one has any responsibility for anybody but themselves. The rest be damned unless you have money to buy you way out of perdition.

It is the truth that we need to prepare for a serious cosmic money azz whipping or fiscal re-alignment. It is the truth that no one in government or those that aspire to public office has a clue on how to fix this. None. There is no desire to do so.

We are in palliative care mode at the moment. We cling to the side show when the main attractions are just too much to witness.

We need to have alternative sources to our food supply. How are we going handle brown and blackouts? Skills for services or products is going to make a comeback but do most folks have something to trade? Actually no, what do any of us know how to do that does not involve electricity?

You will not catch anyone from this side of the pond say the words that Rastani said to the BBC.  He probably will not appear on any of the business or talking head American television programs. Really shouldn't have been on the BBC.

It makes what he said no less true.

That is why I was curled up in my bed trying to sleep with all kinds of thoughts romping through my head. I didn't sleep much at all.

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Poetry In Plain Sight - Don Kingfisher Campell 2

There are all sorts of ways to say I love you, I know you are present and thank you for affirming me. Poets are always reinventing the message.



It is a one to one to many relationship. Strangers are always included. Don is the ringleader of the San Gabriel Valley Poets writing workshop and poetry readings. His poety blog helps you to keep track of all his doings in the area.







Any poem that mentions the James Mason Thunderbird commercial is okay by me.



James Mason was a fine actor, a classy guy. But he was a real person too. There are times when the money gets funny. You have to do (within moral/ethical guidelines) what is necessary support yourself and your family.







Perhaps the reputation of Thunderbird wine was much different than it is today. From the two times he says "unusual taste" I am guessing no. Mr. Mason classed up the joint but the wine has traveled downhill in an alley near you.



Nasty, wicked stuff.

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The 21st Century Political Minstrel Video Show

Some of my questions have been answered and new ones take their place. This is hopefully my last post on the political media connections to the traditional form of minstrel theater.

It is my exploration. If you don't know what minstrel theater is check out my prior posts on the subject:

• The Minstrel Show - Minstrel 101
• The Minstrel Show - History in a Nutshell
• The Minstrel Show - I've Seen This Before
  

Once again, this isn't about white people bashing. Minstrelsy is the mother of burlesque, vaudeville, stand-up comedy, slap stick, Bugs Bunny, Laugh-In and The Onion. It is also the foundation of social media defining a group of people with stereotypes, mis-information and hatred.

Minstrel theater is institutional racism that makes a profit at the expense of other people. It is a living laboratory of prejudice, class and power. It is not just a white/black dynamic. It is an uncomfortable, itchy culturally shared history.

For the record, there were black performers who willingly wore the cork. There were many people who refused.

There are African American performers today who wear the invisible cork and can't deposit money fast enough. There are other performers who refuse and still need two trucks to carry it to the bank.

I've selected this video as the 21st century representation of current political video minstrelsy:



I dogged it back to the source of TurnRightUSA where the creator is very proud and ecstatic that his video has had such as response.

The creator of the video has been supported with comments that ring with hate for anyone with a liberal/progressive point of view, of support of the message of the video and, "Why are black people upset? Have you seen a rap video lately?

Why This Video Is 21st Century Minstrelsy

1. Minstrelsy needs fear. It needs to generate anticipatory fear and make it tasty. Red demon eyes on stripper. That would be a check in the affirmative column.

2. Minstrelsy depends on the presentation of black people as the other. The other is presented as a fool, a grifter or a predator. The other is always lesser than the viewer.

Let's see now, two black fools with money and guns. Check to the second power.

3. Minstrelsy needs an Interlocutor acting as the Voice of Authority guiding the audience into the super secret black world, in this case, two black men and a white woman acting as a stripper.

Instead of proving the allegations the video spends a great deal of time invoking images of assorted criminals flashing across the screen.

It is just a buzzing repetition over and over as our modern day Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones get busy with a bucking azz in hot pants wiggling in anticipation.

4. That is also a feature of minstrel theater. Sex and violence. The early minstrel shows before E.P. Christy were loaded with stereotypical sex and violence; with black men going stone cold crazy over white women.

Let's see, AK-47, check, flipping fanny being stuffed with money, double check.

5. The big finish is a call to action. Support the one (white) man who can deliver you from evil, skanky stripper women running for congress and gangsters who threaten to take our country.

Epilog

There will be much more sophisticated political videos to come in the current election cycle. There will be more trashy ones too.

If the video or political media messages needs racism, sexism and stereotypes to convey their point of view then yes, they are partying like it is 1849.

All I'm asking thinking people to do is look and see if those communications are applying the minstrel template to sell their message. Sometimes it will be tricky but the template will rat them out most of the time.

Like I said, this is my opinion. I based it on my readings, research and my own understanding of my experiences as an African American woman. For some of you that isn't enough.

To borrow a well known Twitter hashtag from Mrs. Erin Kotecki Vest, #suckit

In a few days or weeks, there will be another video that will make this one look like cotton candy. How will you handle it?

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The AFRO American PSA Experiment

Over at my other blog I was yakking about creating a public service announcement for the AFRO American archive. I wanted to show that you don't need a big time advertising agency to make a promotional video about something that you think other folks should know about.

You might need more talent and design skills than I possess. Actually, you don't. We need to stop talking about doing stuff and just up and do it to the best of our abilities.

This is where I am this day.



I really want to let other people like librarians, genealogists, researchers, historians and those of us with an interest in history to know about this resource.
It doesn't happen much anymore but I had students asking for information for more information Sarah Goode like clock work during Black History Month.

Each one of us is a connection to another person's history and by extension to the national history. That history does not end with the election of a president.

I'm going to keep trying to get it right. Because I will not allow a bunch of low hanging fruit inside and outside of Congress to determine who I am and where I came from. I know parts of my history and I'm working on the rest of it.

It will not be erased without a fight.

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Two Games About Women's Bodies and Both Make Me Sad

The power of intention always whacks me upside my head. My post for BlogHer about the FOX News report on Abstinence Video Game is up but as part of my research I was lead to these two games.

I'm not a gamer. I do not want to kill anything or anyone in reality or in a virtual environment. I will if I have to protect my life. But the hunt and execution has not thrill for me.

I do believe in sex education and empowerment but I'm not sure this is quiet the way to go. From E4 comes Privates where the troops are posted in the vagina to kill off the STD and nasty stuff in the lady bits.



It is a shooter game for ages 14 and older. I saw another example of the game and there is a bit of "disease ed" tossed in the game but there is something about having my or any woman's vagina thought of as a toxic battle ground is profoundly uncomfortable.

Having it voiced with a British sounding accents is makes me thing of Dr. Who. I would not mind a certain Doctor riding me up the pleasure canal but he is gonna have to leave the sonic screwdriver in his coat.

Non-sexual education parents can squawk all they want but the more they suppress education based sexual health instruction the more the commercial marketplace will pick up the slack.

This might be a good example of why you don't want that to happen. Except I've got one more.

Hey Baby is a game where a woman walks down a street. Dude says the wrong thing and blammo, he's dead and the remark is on a tombstone.

Look, you can't grow up in an urban area or ride a bus without hearing some clown spewing a line or two. The low hanging fruits of the world will say dumb, vile and bordering on psychotic things to women and young girls.

I'm not sure I want to promote a shooting game as a method of handling the problem. And let me say this as a person who had to walk pass east coast construction crews back in the day.



Um, yeah.

I'm not sure killing a person for saying "God Bless You" is in the same league as I wanna suck your (insert the blank).

For some folks this is gonna be a hoot.

Not for me. It is the same line of thinking that every guy does this. Excluding the teen years, real mature thinking men do not insult women this way. I think the game might send the message that most men do let the brain dribble out of their mouths.

I can't support this but I haven't the right to tell others not to engage in this type of play. The hundreds of women abusing and hating games out in the world is way too many.

This one game is nowhere near as noxious as what people are plunking down cash money for modified versions of Grand Thief Auto and worse. Much worse. So much worse I'm not going to mention the name or link to them.

So there you have it. I don't want to kill for pleasure. And until producers can figure out a way to have entertaining game play that does not involve death I'm not going to have much to do with gaming.

We can do better. We are just not willing as yet. I hope I can hang on until we do.

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Slingers Teaser Via Mike Sizemore

The people that I meet online lead me to other people I should know. Some days I drop into another world.



It is a intro for a potential new show, not clear if it is traditional television or perhaps a new web serial. Works for me either way.

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Star Trek Exhibit At Hollywood and Highland Center

I was raised on it. I can't help it and don't want too. TOS, The Animated Series, Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise...ok I only watched the first season or so but I ain't hating on it. I just had other things to do.


Anyway, there is a traveling exhibit of Star Trek stuff over at Hollywood and Highland. Yes, I know, you are too old for that kind thing. You want to jump off the franchise grid. The Great Bird has left the galaxy.

I understand. I do. It is just that I never made it to the Vegas Star Trek Museum or an actual convention. I meant to but life happened or it was not financial possible at the time.

And talk about your cultural values. You can drag, er, encourage the young ones to come along and soak up some infinite diversity in infinite combination as they work their way through the educational guides.

No fooling. Start them young. Think about you old age and the two of you don't have much in common. This could help. Common ground or a sedative. Your choice.

So if you have the time and between $10 and $16 bucks you can hop on the Red Line because those that know Hollywood understand traffic is a blip.

For more info or other stuff that is happening at Hollywood and Highland check out the website. I hear the joint will temporarily be taken over by the vampire crowd but a few phaser blasts will clear those suckers out in a hurry.

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The Art of Presentation – Speaker and Presentation Bloggers

There will be common elements between all of the presenters in that there will be a structure of some form. It is a skill that can be taught by people who have information and the gift of teaching. It is also something that can be learned if you find the right resources.

Let me introduce you to a few of the bloggers who help others to give great speeches and presentations. The first two I met during PresentationCamp Los Angeles. I want to start with them because they demonstrated the very skills other claim to teach.

The first is Olivia Mitchell who lives way over cross the creek in New Zealand. She has posts on What You Need To Know Before Your First Presentation.

This is an excerpt:

There’s one thing though that most people are slower to forgive - and that’s a lack of preparation leading to disorganized and rambling content. They’ve given up their time to listen to you - respect that by putting time into your preparation.

Another thing that is very helpful is that she does presentation critiques. Check out the analysis of a presentation by author Malcolm Gladwell where Olivia breaks the presentation down to the elements to shows you what works and what could be improved.

Lisa Braithwaite at Speak Schmeak has a tremendous amount of posts on her blog. There are posts on anxiety, voice and when Audience Members Attack.

Being a speaker or presenter means believing in yourself and having confidence.  Either you have a knowledge that someone values or you couldn’t run out of the room fast enough. Either way, you have to believe that you have the power.

Other Speakers and Presentation Bloggers

Sarah Gershman at the Greenroom blog gives short concise tips on public speaking, behavior and being focused and present. Yes, we’ve all seen speakers that are able to stand before us and still phone in the talk. I liked her post on Listen to the Pop to Know When to Stop.

Ellen Finkelstein's PowerPoint Tips blog is information dense, just the way I like it. She has got information on how to give presentations, customize PowerPoint and other resources that help presenters use Microsoft PowerPoint better. I’m definitely going to be snagging an idea or two from her.

Contrast Ellen’s ways she uses PowerPoint with Joan Curtis and her post the Perils of PowerPoint.  Dr. Curtis is reminding folks that slide presentation programs are a tool, it should not be the whole experience when your give a presentation.

For those that might be giving science or technology based presentations you might want to check out Lisa B. Marshall’s blog, The Art of Speaking Science. Lisa also has The Art of Speaking Business blog. You might want to check out her Seminar page where she has downloadable pdf  on topics like How To Build and Maintain Your Network and How to Give A Research Based Presentation.

This is an extremely small sampling of the world of speaker and presentation bloggers but these folks have much to offer. Dive in and soak it up.

Gena Haskett is a Contributing Editor at BlogHer  where this post originally appeared.

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