middle cyclones and other references
Credit: sirmerlin (sidebar art) ∙ Josh Cochran (Icon)
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PlayFrank Ocean - Bad Romance (Lady Gaga Cover)
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“Joaquin is an impressive actor. We met every day before the shoot started, to discuss our characters. That’s when I met him for the first time. He...”
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Blood is thicker than water but maple syrup is thicker than blood so technically pancakes are more important than...
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That honestly could not have gone any better.
You’ve never heard someone be so enthusiastic about time management skills as I just was.
The Dapper Rebels of Los Angeles, 1966
In the summer of 1965, riots broke out in the Watts neighborhood of southern Los Angeles. Over a six-day period, 34 people were killed, 1,032 injured and over 3,438 arrests were made. In 1966, LIFE magazine revisited the site of the worst riots America had ever seen in its history. The photo essay depicting the region’s ‘fearsome street gangs’ however, turned out more like a fashion shoot for dapper style…
This article is such an interesting look at the history of black fashion, quintessential “Los Angeles” style, and how we perceive early gang culture. I’m fascinated with the pride of dress shown by the “dapper rebels” and the dignity presented in their portraits and photos.
(via crsenex)
“Photo of children buying goods at Matilda Newman’s store located in Africville, Nova Scotia. Africville was a north-end Halifax community populated primarily by residents of African descent. In the 1960s, Africville was bulldozed by the city, under the guise of urban renewal.”
(via csebastian:marleighsea:onthepeachtree)
Gentlemen of Bacongo, by Daniele Tamagni
The arrival of the French and Belgians to the Congo, at the beginning of the 20th Century, brought along the myth of Parisian elegance among the Congolese youth working for the colonialists. In 1922, G.A. Matsoua was the first ever Congolese to return from Paris fully clad as an authentic French gentleman, which caused great uproar and much admiration amongst his fellow countrymen. He was the first Grand Sapeur. The Sapeurs today belong to Le SAPE (La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes) - one of the world s most exclusive clubs. Members have their own code of honour, codes of professional conduct and strict notions of morality. It is a world within a world within a city. Respected and admired in their communities, today s sapeurs see themselves as artists. Each one has his own repertoire of gestures that distinguishes him from the others. They are also after their own great dream: to travel to Paris and to return to Bacongo as lords of elegance. Designer brands of suits and accessories are of the utmost importance to Sapeurs - Pierre Cardin, Roberto Cavalli, Dior, Fendi, Gaultier, Gucci, Issey Miyake, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Yohji Yamamoto are their patron saints. Unlike some US hip-hop gangs who are dressed in similar fine threads, there is no bloodshed here here your clothes do all the fighting for you, otherwise you are not fit to be called a Sapeur.
(via pluralisms:certainshadeofmoreno)
Below are the law’s main prohibitions: prohibitions against any education programs that (1) “promote the overthrow of the United States government,” (2) “promote resentment toward a race or class of people,” (3) “are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” and (4) “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”
“advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals”
since when is ethnicity not a part of an individual’s identity? doesn’t delving into the experiences and histories of an ethnic group help develop that individual’s identity too?
fuck you, arizona. fuck you.
““are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” “
oh you mean like how “regular” history class is designed for white kids or…?
Ohhhhh boy. Look at me, ready to be the least liked person on Tumblr. And I want to say that, like, I’m not agreeing with whatever’s happening in Arizona (I have no idea what’s happening in Arizona, because all I can find is super left-wing Huffington Truth-Out crap on the subject, and that’s just such bullshit.) But, I do think that we should think a little more about what ethnic studies should be. Ethnic studies does have a place, but it’s not the place that a lot of people on Tumblr whose comments I kept above are suggesting.
Does no one realize that ethnic studies are themselves kind of super racist if you’re advocating them as a way to learn about one’s “identity”? I’d like to strongly recommend a book called Against Race, written by the extremely intelligent Paul Gilroy, which basically points out that today, arguments for “differences of culture” and “ethnic identity” have just taken up the spot that used to be occupied by racism. What is, really, the difference between saying that someone’s race determines their identity and saying that someone’s ethnicity determines their identity? There isn’t one. And the whole logic of race itself is something completely constructed, guys. Completely constructed. And perpetuating that same logic of division and difference through the culturally acceptable moniker of “ethnicity” is just ridiculous.
We should study something that approaches “ethnic studies” not to learn about our “identity”, but because these are important facets of history, and because reading South American or African literature doesn’t just get us, like, a way of knowing how bad white people screwed up. I mean, think about it. Reading an entire vein of literature as though it were nothing more than a diatribe against the white man is reductive to the vein of literature you’re studying! We should be reading South American or Asian or African literature and looking at their use of form; seeing how their use of form intersects with history; seeing the interesting ways in which global literature diverges at certain points. That’s what so-called ethnic studies should look like - not a racist reservoir for “identity”, and not a constant gush of white liberal guilt.
Well this is phenomenally cool.
