Rx

I had so many topics I was gonna write about today but something topped them all. A breath of Fresh air.
I have found that Black people in general (oh, here we go again) have specific requirements for themselves and the things they do to qualify as Black. Like music for instance, if I listen to Fiest--that's not Black people music. Yeah, as bogus as that is that is ingrained in our social psyche as a whole, whether we admit it or not. But I had the privelege of going to a High School that was alternative. It seemed that although this school was 95% Black, it gathered the 3% of Black students in Birmingham that were enlightened enough to think beyond just the Black and White of everyone and everything. I reveled in this, being able to talk to other kids who didn't think in terms of "Black people music" and "White people music". I was always the weird kid until I got there, and I found out they all were the weird kids before they got to Ramsay too. I'm not saying we all became colorless but we stopped revoking people's BLACK CARD for listening to another kind of music other than Hip Hop or Rap. Or for having a different style of dress...of life.
Slowly but surely us Black people have been chipping away at the stereotypes that surround us, our style, our music. Look at what Pharrell and Kanye have been doing...Andre 3000, Gnarles Barkley. Gradually its happening whether it is retro, bohemian (which sometimes veers on the side of Afro-centricism), rock or even country.

Well I was on Dork magazine today and found this:


Awesome! The first step toward this was Darius and Nina in Love Jones. This movie was set in Chicago (known for its creative centers). They were a Black couple (Darius: writer/poet and Nina: photographer) that let their love for culture and the arts bring them together. They also communicated through creative channels. They didn't step outside of the Black people stereotype though. They just kinda broadened it on the Afro-Centric/Bohemian end. But Medicine for Melancholy is a new spin.
The movie is set in San Francisco (you got your artsy urban backdrop). Two black urbanites share the same interests in Indie-Rock music, bike riding and other non-tradional motifs. Plus there is a great soundtrack.
I'm excited! Here's what Dork magazine had to say about it...

Film. Medicine for Melancholy: Medicine for Melancholy is an anomaly. It’s a story about two San Francisco hipsters and the Sunday they spend together after having a one-night-stand. They ride fixed-gear bikes, smoke a joint, visit a museum, go dancing at an indie-rock club, and buy late night tacos. They also happen to be black. Gasp!
Like it or not, a monolithic image of blackness pervades in popular culture. Any deviation from this is deemed inauthentic and unmarketable. This is not a subtextual issue for the film but a theme it tackles head-on. The duo’s affinity for indie-culture has left them isolated in a rapidly gentrifying city that is only seven percent black. Meeting each other seems to bring their mutual identity crisis to light. Their affection for each other is visceral, - they both realize, without actually saying it, that they belong together. Micah (the guy) wants to go with this gut feeling, while Jo (the girl) seems a bit reticent. Here’s what director, Barry Jenkins has to say about the film: “In this meek story of a random encounter, the film explores the process of negotiating one’s identity by illustrating how the effects of gentrification make it virtually impossible for minority urbanites to just be.”