Search results for: race

Some gay gang members are open about their sexuality, but others remain in the closet, fearing they could endanger themselves or the status of their gang. Devin/Pexels, FAL Vanessa R. Panfil, Old Dominion University There are many stereotypes of and assumptions about street gangs, just as there are many stereotypes and assumptions about gay men….

A man changes a flag to half-staff near the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. AP Photo/Eric Gay Molly Pahn, Boston University; Anita Knopov, Boston University, and Michael Siegel, Boston University On Nov. 5, just 35 days after the deadly Las Vegas shooting, a man walked into a church in a small Texas town and…

Francesca Andre has a message for everyone with her short film, Charcoal. The main theme of her film is about colorism and its damaging effects on the black diaspora. Her two main characters go through a journey of self-acceptance and self-awareness, and that journey is something Andre hopes is replicated in her viewers. I’ve had the…

British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro listens to a question during a press conference at his home in London on Oct. 5, 2017. Alastair Grant/AP Photo Cynthia F. Wong, University of Colorado Denver On a damp October day in 2006, I followed Kazuo Ishiguro and my 10-year-old daughter Grace to a back table at a bustling cafe…

Disclosure: These are my opinions as a free agent and separate entity from Magic: The Gathering.  As you might know, I acted as as consultant for Magic: The Gathering for the development of their first black Planeswalker character, Kaya, Ghost Assassin. (For info on what a Planeswalker is and what Kaya does, check this post.)…

Coco has premiered to great fanfare at the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico, and so far, the buzz is positive! Hearing about good buzz is different than actually reading it, so here are seven reviews from both American and Mexican critics, all of which have something positive to say about the film that finally breaks…

A Dominican immigrant cuts the hair of a customer at her New York City salon. Seth Wenig/AP Photo Melissa Godin, New York University When Chabelly Pacheco – a Dominican-American who moved to Long Island when she was five years old – walks into her favorite Dominican salon on Brooklyn’s Graham Avenue, it’s more like entering…

New Orleans Saints fans cheer from the stands during a game against the Denver Broncos in 2016. Jeff Haynes/AP Photo Tamir Sorek, University of Florida and Robert G. White, University of Florida A significant portion of the NFL’s fan base has reacted negatively to the national anthem protests of the past year. The responses tend…

Annual 2010 zombie march in Madrid, an homage to George A. Romero. AP Photo/Paul White Erin C. Cassese, West Virginia University “What’s your zombie apocalypse survival plan?” The question invites the liveliest discussions of the semester. I teach a course on social movements in fiction and film at West Virginia University, where I also conduct…

Colorism might be a spectre of a racist past, but it still haunts the African diaspora, especially black women, today. With the popularity of bleaching creams still in existence around the world and systemic prejudices leveled against darker-skinned women daily, Charcoal is a film that aims to get to the root of colorism and extricate it….