[032020] our new March madness
we gon' be alright, tho — at home
“No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
the response to the relaunch of HRDlist has been awesome. thank you.
and hello, original and new subscribers! we’re all living this new March madness: kinda stressed! alternately anxious and calm, terrified and brave, busy and lazy. we painstakingly follow recipes, we snack too much, or we find ourselves unable to eat at all. we know our partners and roommates way better (and for worse). we stream movies, blast Jhene Aiko and Lil Uzi Vert, play Call Of Duty, and when laughter erupts we’re free, if only for a few minutes, before we must school the kids, help our elders, find the money, sip the rosé, and wash our hands of germs — and of the way things were, not even so long ago. our future arrives regardless, though! and it remains up to us to create it. ••••• SO: if you have not, please register to vote immediately. not sure if you’re set up? go here, like right now ✌🏾
9 TOUGH COVID-19 THINGS
[$$$ for visual artists, journalists, actors, playwrights, poets, DJs, musicians, choreographers, printmakers, event producers, service workers, sex workers, LGBTQI, BIPOC, small biz owners $$$] EMERGENCY FUNDS for freelancers, creatives losing income during coronavirus quarantine
[writer: Kevin O’Connor] as the world grapples with the coronavirus, the NBA is trying to plot a path forward. there are plenty of ideas, but…
[Bay Area] how you can assist the most vulnerable populations
[writers include Andrea Castillo + Brittny Mejia] and “It’s a tinderbox…detention and congregation of people in institutional settings is dangerous right now. It’s dangerous for people detained. It’s dangerous for the staff. It’s dangerous for the community who interact with the staff.” U.S. Immigration policies are raggedy and convoluted and inhumane — the COVID-19 crisis is shining light on it all
[writer: Candice Marie Benbow] the black church is between a rock and a hard place
[writer: Sarah Jones] if you’re not working in an essential business, “to stay out now, against all evidence-based recommendations, is to reveal oneself to be small-hearted and cruel, if not stupid.”
a guide for media organizations re how to act
[writers: Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Jeffrey E. Singer] everybody wants food delivered. immigrants are doing the risky work of delivering. and, related
newish reads + looks + listens
[writer: Julian Kimble] how House Party brought black teenage experience to the mainstream
[writer: Frances Solá-Santiago] Bad Bunny, “bicha,” “yal,” and race and class in reggaeton
[Sam Biddle, Paulo Victor Ribeiro, Tatiana Dias] TikTok is trippin’, for real
[writer: Natan Last] the hidden bigotry of crossword puzzles — they’re largely written/edited by older white men, who dictate what makes it into the grid — and what is kept out.
[hosts: Tre’vell Anderson + Jarrett Hill] they “bring their pop culture and political expertise to things we must stan — and stand up against.” listen to their genius FANTI podcast here
[oop!] is your Supreme gear even real?
[writer: Mary C. Curtis] on Moral Monday founder (and MacArthur genius) Reverend William K. Barber II of North Carolina
[hosts: Jen Yamato + Frank Shyong] talk about being and not being “Asian Enough,” about “our shames and flaws, and try to accept them.” they just posted a bonus corona virus episode: listen here.
[New York Times] your favorite black artists on your favorite black artists
[writer: Laura Pitcher] AI clothes for the ‘gram = the future
sittin’ up in our rooms, yes — but let Kendrick remind us…
new playlist: so many tears, sick of being lonely, still trying to do numbers : a playlist created by Elliott Wilson
from last issue: boo’d up, wanting to dance with somebody, yet also having one a ‘dem days: a playlist created by Elliott Wilson
screen
[a very direct Netflix tv guide]
[Essence] where is Beyoncé? right here with us.
[writer: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar] the Hall of Famer is watching Amazon Prime’s Hunters, a show in which “leftover German Nazis from World War II live the high life in America while planning a Fourth Reich built around a biological attack aimed at killing the poor, particularly people of color.” It’s controversial.
[writer: Steve Baltin] music is finding an even deeper home on Instagram live — just ask DJ D-Nice
throwback longish reads + looks + listens
[writer: Karen Good Marable, 2016] coach Dianna Williams and her Bring It! Dancing Dolls are about practice, Mississippi pride — and winning
[writer: Justin Tinsley, 2017] on the notorious night Biggie was murdered in Los Angeles
[writer: Malcolm Gladwell, 1997] the very relevant story of the 1918 “Spanish” Flu
oh + also
subscribe to reporter Darian Harvin’s necessary Beauty IRL newsletter here. you’ll learn something new and valuable about the complicated world of beauty
check out the Kickstarter for Miles Marshall Lewis’ French hip hop documentary
if you love sports follow @taylorrooks in the tweets
if you love houseplants follow @hiltoncarter on IG
if you love HRDlist follow us on IG and Twitter —
…after a long hiatus, we’re back: curated news and culture from the team that brought you HRDCVR. in these wild times, we are trying to do something creative and useful. when we started this newsletter, way back when, one of our earliest issues was a #Ferguson special edition. this quarantine lockdown has us feeling a familiar fear and strength and commitment to a better future.
team HRDlist
Danyel Smith || Elliott Wilson || Darian Harvin
special thanks this issue to
Sarah Min
Karen Good Marable
Tre’vell Anderson
and many others!