[080920] we said what we said 📣
brandy + secret societies + tiktok blackface
snap/shot 📷
Cardi and Meg looking at y’all not registered to vote 😅
politics+protests+pandemic:
first things first: we’re less than 90 days out from the general election. regarding VOTING, folks are not playing fair. so: everything you need to register to vote is right here. if you live in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Wisconsin, you are in a “swing” state — and if you want things to swing differently than they’ve swung over the last few years, you should check the deadlines for your state, register, and then vote.
Okay, deep breath: on to COVID stuff. Many, many of us are suffering from pandemic-related anxiety/mental health issues. How can we not, when we read stuff like this? And this. And if you are dealing with anxiety via Talkspace, you should truly read this. And then the law enforcement sh*t: if you can deal with the triggers rn, try to recall when Robert Fuller was found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, CA. Looks like the rumors about his personality were not true. And at the same time, people seem surprised there are “rogue” gangs of law enforcement officers, some in ‘secret societies,’ wreaking havoc on communities. Not to mention the tradition of lying by police that is finally coming to light.
👋🏽also this ⤵️is a must-read⬇️
I worry about making this sound romantic because it is not. Or at least, in that moment, I do not feel heroic or beautiful. Seeing my lover run from the police does not make me feel blacker than the day before. If anything, I am frozen by how easily the world is ready to dispose of my bones.
— Clarissa Brooks in the Oxford American on the “revolution going on down the street from [her] house”
some music + some media ⏬
Brandy has created a new album. It’s good. And if you want a beautiful story, this from Sabrina Ford about Ms. Norwood is everything.
Tik Tok is in the news for many reasons, but Jason Parham takes a different tack ⬇️ for the cover of Wired ⤵️ He talks about how Tik Tok users ‘drape themselves in the trappings of Black culture — and steal the viral spotlight.’ Parham calls it ‘exploitation at its most refined and disturbing’ ⤵️postscript, you saw IG’s new Reels, right?
🎧⤵️
⤴️ that Burna Boy noise is loud
screen time ⬇️
…a ‘must-see, Immigration Nation is apparently the docu-series ICE doesn’t want you to see (+ Carlos Aguilar notes the series’ flaws, and ‘unforgivable omissions’).
…here’s what some South Asian Australians have to say about Indian Matchmaking.
…what happens when Blacks make an appearance on Seinfeld?
…Jurnee Smollett opens up about harassment, the trauma of her brother Jussie's public scandal, and how she's ‘no longer asking for a seat at the table.’
…and we need to talk about James Hong ⬇️ he may have been in more films than anyone in the history of Hollywood ⬇️
🍤 some edibles ⤵️
⤴️Chef BJ Dennis
five great spots for jerk in Brooklyn. what happens when white people rename ethnic/immigrant foods. for the Navajo Nation, a fight for better (more real, more fresh) food is gaining new urgency. and the simple joys of tamarind.
🗝 throwback:
⤴️you need this ⤴️ Flavor Unit oral history in your life (from 2015).
this is your newsletter. diverse work curated by a diverse team for a diverse readership. in this curation you see work from writers you know (and some you don’t). work from creators of color. from women writers. and LGBQTI creators. basically storytelling curated with the idea that the many segments of our multiverse are equally interesting and important.
team HRDlist
Danyel Smith || Elliott Wilson || Darian Harvin
special thanks this issue to Parker Williams, Benjamin Meadows-Ingram, Dyana Larios, Wesley Harvin, Nicole Jones and many others.