Featuring: Built to Spill / Wye Oak / Jamila Woods (Reading + Performance) / Carrie Brownstein + Roxane Gay + Amber Tamblyn (In Conversation) / Julien Baker / Lidia Yuknavitch / Quinta Brunson and Friends / Margaret Glaspy / Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith / Algiers / Cakes Da Killa / Laurel Halo (Live + DJ Set) / Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib Xylouris White / Deb Olin Unferth / The Weepies/ Horse Lords / S. Carey / ONO / Alex Zhang Hungtai / Horse Feathers / Current Joys / Gordi /Kundiman / Lambda Literary / VIDA

IOWA CITY, IA – We are proud to announce that Mission Creek Festival will return to Iowa City April 3 – 8, 2018 for its 13th year, produced by The Englert Theatre. Join us for a week of performance, literature, and community-minded programming across downtown, stretching south to Big Grove Brewery & Taproom and north to Hancher. Full week passes for all six days of events will be available for $150, and — new this year — festivalgoers can purchase a weekend pass ($75 for access to events Friday through Sunday). Individual tickets to select shows will become available in January 2018. The lineup will be released and passes will go on sale simultaneously this Friday, December 8 at 12:30 p.m. CT.

The lineup reflects Mission Creek’s commitment to exploring and showcasing live performance, the literary arts, and radical community happenings.

Headlining this year’s festival are Carrie Brownstein + Roxane Gay + Amber Tamblyn (In Conversation) at The Englert Theatre. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Girls Rock! Iowa City, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering creativity and self-esteem in young girls and trans-identified youth through musical instruction and expression. This event is co-presented by local literary speaking agency, The Tuesday Agency.

Mission Creek’s 2018 musical programming boasts a characteristically diverse range of artists and groups, weaving into the week many fast-rising and genre-defining artists across indie rock, singer-songwriters, electronic and experimental music, rap, and spoken word.

A feast for indie rock fans, this year’s music program will include Built to Spill, who have been at the forefront of the genre for more than twenty years; rising singer-songwriter Julien Baker, known for a confessional style landing her on multiple “best album” lists since her surprise debut album in 2015; and returning festival favorite Margaret Glaspy, who performed with Andrew Bird and Bridget Kearney at Mission Creek in 2017. Mission Creek will partner with University of Iowa student group SCOPE Productions to present soul singer-songwriter and poet Jamila Woods (performance and reading) and dream-pop duo Wye Oak.

In 2018, Mission Creek Festival will also feature avant-garde composer and master of the Buchla synthesizer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, who paints “warm, absorbing and gorgeous” music ( Rolling Stone ); groundbreaking gay rapper Cakes Da Killa ; Atlanta post-punk/gospel/blues outfit Algiers ; World-music party band Xylouris White featuring Cretan lutist Giorgos Xylouris and Australian drummer Jim White (founder of chamber-rock band Dirty Three); and Bon Iver member S. Carey. The lineup will also have deep Iowa representation, including Iowa City-based, nationally-known indie pop outfit The Weepies, performing at Mission Creek for the first time; Extravision (Des Moines), Squirrel Flower (Grinnell), Sister Wife (Rock Island), Paul Cary, Purcha$e, Collidescope, Peanut Ricky & The Fiends, Elizabeth Moen, Jack Lion, Younger, and Hot Tang (all Iowa City). Comedian Quinta Brunson will perform with a roster of comics,comedian/satirist Bassem Youssef, who will perform, and Chef Dave Wieseneck (formerly Motley Cow Café) will return to prepare a special meal on the opening night of the festival (details forthcoming).

This year’s literary programming will be led by best-selling essayist Roxane Gay ( Bad Feminist, Difficult Women, Hunger); Carrie Brownstein, who chronicled her life in riot grrrl band Sleater-Kinney in the memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl ; poet Amber Tamblyn. Friday and Saturday’s literary programming will now reside under Litscape , which includes the Lit Walk (formerly Lit Crawl), a book fair hosting independent writers and presses, ICE CREAM comics and zine fair, and readings and conversations. 2018’s Saturday keynote reading (sponsored by The Iowa Review) will present Lidia Yuknavitch, whose lyric memoir The Chronology of Water gained an online cult following; poet and singer-songwriter Jamila Woods, and poet/essayist/culture critic Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib ( They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us ,The Crown Ain’t Worth Much ). Additional readings from Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program graduates Sarah Viren, Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Venegas, and Sandra Allen; and many more.

On Saturday, April 7, the festival will offer a series of free, daytime community events, including its Art + Life + Tech (ALT) speaker series, a book fair featuring literary magazines and small independent presses, the ICE CREAM comics and zine fair, a free rock show at Big Grove Brewery & Taproom, and other community happenings taking place downtown.

Festival Dates:
April 3 – 8, 2018

Pass & Ticket Information: 

Festival passes will be available for purchase beginning Friday, December 8 at 12:30 p.m. CST, online at missioncreekfestival.com or at the Englert Theatre Box Office. Individual tickets to select events will go on sale in January 2018.

Full Week Pass – $150
Our usual full week pass, granting access to all Mission Creek Festival ticketed performances (music, comedy). Entrance to ticketed events at The Englert Theatre and Hancher is guaranteed at all times. Entrance to other venues is subject to capacity. Special programs like culinary events are not included in the festival pass and require the purchase of additional tickets.

Weekend Pass – $75 (NEW THIS YEAR)
Introducing the weekend pass, friendly to folks with busy schedules or those traveling from afar. The weekend pass grants access to Mission Creek Festival ticketed performances (music, comedy) Friday through Sunday, subject to capacity at all venues. Special programs like culinary events are not included in either festival pass and require the purchase of additional tickets.

Confirmed Lineup Includes:
Performance – Music
Built to Spill
Wye Oak
Jamila Woods (Reading + Performance)
Julien Baker
Margaret Glaspy
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Algiers
Cakes Da Killa
Laurel Halo (Live + DJ Set)
Xylouris White
The Weepies
Horse Lords
S. Carey
ONO
Alex Zhang Hungtai
Horse Feathers
Current Joys
Gordi
Paul Cary
Squirrel Flower
Younger
Peanut Ricky & The Fiends
Hot Tang

Collidescope
Extravision
Jack Lion
Mission: Beat
Sister Wife
Purcha$e
Dana T
Bstar
Elizabeth Moen

Performance – Comedy
Quinta Brunson and Friend

Bassem Youssef

Literature
Roxane Gay + Carrie Brownstein + Amber Tamblyn (In Conversation)
Lidia Yuknavitch
Jamila Woods
Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
Deb Olin Unferth
Sarah Viren
Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Venegas
Sandra Allen
Jesus Carrasco
Lyz Lenz
Brandon Taylor
Stephen Ira
Hafizah Geter
William Johnson
Cathy Linh Che
Helene Achanzar
Melody Gee
Kundiman
Lambda Literary
VIDA
The Believer
The Rumpus
Dorothy, a publishing project
Forklift, Ohio: A Journal of Poetry, Cooking, & Light Industrial Safety
The Iowa ReviewTwo Dollar Radio

Iowa Youth Writing Project

Rescue Press

Title Sponsor:
University of Iowa Community Credit Union

Little Village

General Festival Sponsors:
City of Iowa City
SCOPE Productions
Iowa City Downtown District
The Tuesday Agency
Iowa House Hotel
Big Grove Brewery
Iowa Public Radio

Event-Specific Sponsors:

The Tuesday Agency (Carrie Brownstein + Roxane Gay + Amber Tamblyn [In Conversation])
SCOPE Productions (Jamila Woods, Wye Oak)
The Iowa Review (keynote reading with Lidia Yuknavitch, Jamila Woods, and Hanif
Willis-Abdurraqib)

Grant Support:
Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

About Mission Creek Festival:

Mission Creek is dedicated to delivering a riveting 6-day artistic experience for our community that builds on the cultural geography and capital of downtown Iowa City. Programming focuses on music performances, literary readings, film screenings, public lectures, local food culture, and educational outreach. Nestled in the heart of downtown Iowa City, with most venues within a five minute walk of each other, Mission Creek thrives on intimacy and cross-medium experiences, turning music lovers on to new literature, writers on to new music, and expanding
appreciation of arts, community, and culture. Our focus is on quality, independent-minded sounds, words, and events. We are keen on emerging artists and embrace renegade spirits who have been around for years. Intimacy is integral to the Mission Creek experience: Our smallest festival venue fits 30 people and our largest holds 1800; but most rooms are in the 200-300 capacity range, allowing for visceral connections between artists and audience. The festival is presented and produced by The Englert Theatre, Iowa City’s 105-year-old historic
performing arts space.

Website: http://missioncreekfestival.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/missioncreekfestival
Twitter: http://twitter.com/missioncreekic
Instagram: http://instagram.com/missioncreek

The post PRESS RELEASE: Mission Creek Festival announces 2018 lineup appeared first on KRUI Radio.

For many, politics and entertainment are meant to be in distinct categories and politics shouldn’t enter our areas of entertainment. The way that I’m defining politics in this article isn’t as a policy related discussion or by our political party but it includes the political issues of woman rights, social issues, and race.

The biggest examples of people being upset when celebrities talk about political issues have always been when celebrities chose a platform in which millions of U.S. viewers were watching like the Superbowl and the Academy Awards.Speaking about these issues with a large audience allows for people to listen and hear what the discussion is about.

An example of woman’s rights, more specifically, the pay gap between men and women, being discussed by a celebrity on a big platform is Patricia Arquette’s 2015 Oscar Acceptance Speech. The speech started out normal before finishing with the statement that it was time for women to receive equal rights within America. This speech was received in both positive and negative ways.

Positive reactions consisted of people supporting her remarks and continuing the conversation over the pay gap difference as well as Meryl Streep’s and Jennifer Lopez’s reaction at the actual event itself.

Arquette was able to get the discussion about woman’s rights out on a bigger scale than if she had said these statements in an interview. Even if that interview was on a top talk show it wouldn’t have received the same amount of attention that her 2015 Oscar Speech did. Twitter hashtags were made to continue promotion of her comments on social media.

Negative reactions towards her comments were also abounded as many people felt like Arquette shouldn’t have discussed this at the Oscar’s and others felt like her opinion was wrong.

Arquette was thus able to start a debate about women and their rights as human beings. However, when she was asked to expand on her comments, Arquette made it obvious that she was advocating for equal rights and equal pay for white woman and not all women.

When asked to clarify her comments, Arquette stated, “It’s time for women in America and all the men, all the gay men, the people of color, to fight for us now.” While she was promoting woman’s rights, Arquette failed to realize that being a woman, a person of color, and be a part of the LGBTQ community could all be attributes of a single person. Reactions towards her failure to discuss intersectionality were quick.

Even after her comments, many still applauded Arquette because any discussion was good enough. Since Arquette’s Oscar Speech, many have continued the discussion of woman’s rights and equal pay. While Arquette may not have realized that she didn’t include intersectionality in her speech, many others have.

An example of race being discussed in a popular entertainment event includes Beyonce’s 2016 Super Bowl 50 halftime show.
(Watch it here.Skip to 7:04 to view Beyonce’s performance).

Her performance was deemed political from her song choice, outfit choice, and the entire performance as a whole. Her performance was considered by some to be pro-black and anti-police alongside many other things. Reactions varied from those who supported Beyonce’s support of people of color and were thrilled that someone with her stance in our society spoke out. Others were upset at Beyonce’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement and for what they believed to be an “anti-police” performance.

Reactions against Beyonce’s Performance:

Anna Kooiman, at the time, was the host of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends”:

“Beyonce got a police escort there and then gives a salute to the Black Lives Matter movement.”

National Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Jonathan Thompson:

“Art is one thing, but yelling fire in a crowded theater is an entirely different one.”

“At this point, I think the NFL had a serious error in judgment.”

Rudolph Giuliani, former New York City Mayor.

“I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us.” Also stated that he would have preferred a “decent wholesome entertainment.”

Reactions in Support of Beyonce’s Performance

The article titled “Why the Outrage Over Beyonce’s Super Bowl Performance is Completely Ridiculous.” 

Jessica Williams in response to Rudolph Giuliani saying that the performance wasn’t “wholesome’ enough for middle America.”

“Are you saying you can’t talk about race issues to middle America? What are they, so delicate and unaware and maybe so white that Beyonce is too much for them?”

Damon Young, Editor-in-Chief of www.verysmartbrothas.com

“I think that you’re hard-pressed to find that demonstrative an example of performative blackness on stage, on such a high profile stage”

—

While the reactions to both the examples above are split, with some in support and others against. It’s clear that both of them managed to do one thing.

Keep the discussion alive.

The public attention span is very short. Meaning that when something happens, we talk about it for a few days, weeks, or months and then we move on to the next thing. Injecting politics in entertainment whether that be in award shows or sports shows is a good time to get the voice out even if some people are against this.

Politics within our entertainment is a good thing in the sense that it allows for a bigger pool of opinions to be heard. It’s also a way for us to be confronted with the issues that we may not want to discuss. Politics within our popular culture ensures that we are consistently aware of what is happening around us.

What’s your opinion? Do you believe that politics have a place in entertainment or do you feel that politics and entertainment should be kept separately?

Fill out this short survey below and voice your opinion! It’s anonymous!

https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3OEWB9AW4TtvgPj

The post Living in White America: Politics in Popular Culture appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I showed up at the Trumpet Blossom Cafe about 20 minutes before the show was supposed to begin and I was afraid there wouldn’t be any seats. Boy, was I wrong. The place had a few people scattered throughout the venue but I was able to find a table near the front no problem.

The show didn’t begin until about 9:30 and 75 Dollar Bill walked out accompanied by Sue and Alice (who know the members of the band). Daniel Wyche had been expected to perform but had to pull due to a family situation. I thought it was cool of Sue and Alice to take his place due his unfortunate situation. However, after about 10 minutes, I was falling asleep. I should put a disclaimer here and say that I haven’t gotten much sleep this week because you know, college. So maybe it wasn’t just the music that had me wanting to pass out.

Sue, Alice, and 75 Dollar Bill started off with slow and, what I deemed, melo-dramatic music with a whole lot of ah-ing. As the music kept playing at its slow and melodramatic pace, it also got deeper or darker, if you will, and I legit felt like I was at a funeral. The four of them sang about 6 or 7 songs all with similar pacing, rhythm, and style. Which I found boring and tiring. It could have just been me that felt that way because the audience cheered and clapped at the end of every song and were, from what I could tell, having a great time.

75 Dollar Bill, Sue, and Alice played for about 40 minutes. After that, Sue and Alice got off the stage and let 75 Dollar Bill play by themselves. Members of the duo are Che Chen and Rick Brown. Now, I want to preface this by saying that both of these men are really talented and I can definitely tell why they have a fan base but I was not a fan which may be due to not really having any understanding of the genre that was played.

The duo played 3 songs in the span of an hour. Do you ever have those days were 5 minutes seems to last an hour? Yeah. That was me. The songs were slow and instrumental which in a sense were good but due to my lacking of knowledge in that genre I couldn’t really enjoy the music to the capacity that the rest of the audience could.

I should mention however, that in that entire venue the only person who was completely done with life in that moment was me. Everybody else was super excited, clapping, cheering and having a grand time. After what seemed like forever, let’s be real, that entire night felt like forever, Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon took the stage and played for about an hour. They also played 3 songs in one hour. It also felt like forever. The only difference was that while 75 Dollar Bill played more slow and soft songs, Tashi and Tyler played loud and fast songs.

I don’t know if it was because, at that point, my head felt like it wanted to explode but for reason I couldn’t get invested in Dorji and Damon. It wasn’t for lack of talent on their part but I think that I was just done for the night. They woke me up in the beginning though so props to them. Dorji and Damon’s songs followed the pattern of loud, soft, loud. Which was fine. It was better than listening to only slow music for another hour.

Each song that was sung received cheers and applause from the crowd. When Dorji and Damon ended their set, it was the loudest I had heard the audience cheer that night. Which was great. I’m glad that the audience, 75 Dollar Bill, Tashi Dorji, and Tyler Damon’s fans, were able to appreciate the night and the performances to their full capacity. As for me, we now all know which genre is not for me.

To hear 75 Dollar Bill and Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon, look below.

The post Mission Creek: Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon @ Trumpet Blossom Cafe 4/7/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

It’s lit.

That was a common thought that kept entering my thoughts when three talented and powerful artists took the stage. They were Meka Jean, Flint Eastwood, and Mykki Blanco.

The night began with Meka Jean who immediately jumped right into singing her songs. She was quite impressive and I definitely enjoyed listening to her. She performed on the floor in front of the stage instead of actually on the stage which in turn created a great atmosphere but terrible video angles. Below is her music video for her song, “Too Good For You.”

After about 10 minutes, Flint Eastwood took the stage and brought back the energy left by Meka Jean. Their style of play was like a genre of rock and pop. I could be totally off but that’s what it sounded like to me. Let me tell you though, Flint Eastwood had one of the greatest stage presences I’ve ever seen live before. I found myself captivated not only by her presence but by her passion.

It’s pretty easy to tell when someone has passion for something and it’s even easier to see when someone doesn’t have that passion. Flint Eastwood, like Meka Jean and Mykki Blanco, had amazing passion and it made me enjoy her songs even more. One thing that I thought was endearing was that after every song she performed, which was like 6 or 7, she would say “Thank you” to the audience. One of my favorite lines from the night was when Flint Eastwood told the audience to purchase some merchandise but if nobody did then she understood because “we’re all broke, so fuck it, let’s have fun.”

This lead into her closing song which really brought some high energy into the Blue Moose Tap House. It was a great song to end on. Listen to Flint Eastwood’s song “Queen” below.

After Flint Eastwood finished her set, people were buzzing and ready for Mykki Blanco. However, it wouldn’t be until about 40 minutes later that Mykki Blanco arrived on stage. The audience didn’t mind one bit. When he ran on stage, he was meet with loud cheers and applause. Blanco’s entire performance had me saying, “it’s lit” and “I’m shook.” I didn’t know what to expect when I entered the venue but I was surprised and awed.

The energy that Mykki Blanco created was insane. It was something that I had never been apart of and I loved it. It felt amazing. What was even more amazing was that Blanco was trying to get a point across. To speak about queer issues in a way that doesn’t immediately turn people off. My favorite quotes of this evening were said by Mykki Blanco. They were:

“Happiness and compassion are birthrights.”

“It’s 2017, educate yourself.”

“Protect trans woman, Protect Black children.” (This line was said twice. Because that’s how important it is.)

Mykki Blanco was nothing like I expected and it was perfect. Listen to Mykki Blanco’s song, “High School Never Ends” below.

All three created an atmosphere with so much energy and passion that I didn’t know what to do with it but enjoy it and be happy to be in the presence of these talented and powerful artists. I would highly recommend checking these artists out because all three were straight-up badasses who gave zero fucks.

To look at the Mission Creek Festival schedule click here.

The post Mission Creek: Mykki Blanco @ Blue Moose Tap House 4/6/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In my very first article of this column, I wrote a story. That story asked you, the reader, to imagine yourself as a child of illegal immigrants who had just gotten deported.

The story wasn’t false.

It has happened to many people over the years and currently, it’s about to get worse. President Donald Trump made it a campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants and many people cheered. They thought it was a good idea and they agreed with his plans for both deportation and the wall.

What these people forget is that the people they are against are human beings, many of whom are trying to escape Mexico. Trump said that Mexico was smart for sending their people to the US. Mexico isn’t sending anyone anywhere directly.

The corrupt government, the drug wars, kidnappings, and a poor community drive people away. My cousin makes about 17 US dollars in one day. I make more than that in two hours.

There isn’t a plan to make the US the next Mexico. Mexicans aren’t here to “take over.” We’re just trying to survive. Yes, there are “bad guys.”

Newsflash: EVERY SINGLE RACE HAS BAD PEOPLE.

It was a white man that charged into a movie theater and a white man that ran into an elementary school and killed innocent adults, teenagers, and children. It was a white man who walked into a church and killed NINE innocent people.

There is no such thing as a perfect race no matter how hard society wants to believe there is.

“Mexicans are bringing drugs…” Okay, but do you know what supply and demand is? Drug cartels bring the drugs because there is a demand for them. And who is a part of the group doing the demanding? White people. So Mexicans could be/are bringing the drugs but white people and others are consuming them.

It’s important to realize that throwing blame at one race doesn’t excuse another. I’m not saying Mexicans are perfect and I’m not saying every single Mexican even wants to come to the U.S.

It’s important to understand that the U.S. is closing its doors to human beings who wish for a better life not only for themselves but for their children. It’s important to remember that not one race is better than the other.

When the Black Lives Matter movement started, All Lives Matter was created in response to that. Most people said that race shouldn’t be a factor. (Yes, it shouldn’t be. But it is.) They also said that every life was important.

So why is it that the people who supported the All Lives Matter movement are, mainly, the ones who are telling Mexicans, Muslims, and Syrian refugees that they don’t matter and that they aren’t welcome?

The answer to the question, “Who Matters?” is simple. Everybody does. Even if certain people don’t believe that to be true.

The post Living in White America: Who Matters? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In Part 1 of Breaking the Stereotype, I talked about two black male characters from CW shows The Flash and Arrow that I felt broke a negative stereotype in some way or another.

Part 2  featured two black female characters from the CW’s The Flash and ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.

Part 3 featured a Latino male from the CW show, Jane the Virgin.

Part 4 features a Latina character that I think is a positive portrayal.

Once again, I am only doing one character because a lot of shows I watch don’t feature Latina characters. Which I need to fix that ASAP. But anyway. The character is, once again, from a CW show. Honestly at this point, I should become a CW ambassador because almost every single show I watch is on the CW. Anyway the character is, Rogelio de la Vega’s daughter, Jane from Jane the Virgin. 

Jane Villanueva, Jane the Virgin, The CW

Stereotype Broken: Sexpot and the Harlot

Jane Villanueva, played by the amazing Gina Rodriguez, is a young woman who dreams of becoming a writer. She attends grad school in order to achieve this goal. She is a mother to a one-year old son. The show is basically a telenovela but not as crazy as a typical telenovela and because no matter how I try to explain the show, I will do a terrible job so instead watch the extended trailer below. The main gist is that Jane gets artificially inseminated with some dude’s sperm or as it’s called in the trailer, specimen.

Jane breaks the stereotype of the Sexpot and the Harlot because her sexuality isn’t at the forefront of the show. She’s not seen as an over the top sexual object. The fact that she’s never had sex and ends up pregnant is the main story line in the show but the reason why she breaks these stereotypes is because the show never makes her a sex object.

Often times, Latinas are put into three categories. The ugly Latina maid, the sexy Latina maid, and the over the top sexual Latina. Jane is none of these things and that is why her character is, in my opinion, a strong one. With Jane it isn’t about how sexy she is but rather everything else about her. Rafael and Michael, the two guys vying for her love, aren’t solely in love with her for her looks. They love her because of who she is.

I guess the real reason why Jane is a welcome change from the typical way Latinas are portrayed is because there is so much more to her than her looks. She has real substance and isn’t just a diverse character on a show put there so that the network and the show don’t look racist.

Latinas and other minorities need positive portrayals on television. We need to see that there is more to us than the negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media. The CW does a good of getting these positive portrayals out there. They’re not perfect but they are definitely better than what is normally seen on TV.

This is the fourteenth article of the column titled “Living in White America.” Every month there will be new articles discussing how minorities live in America. This column will have articles dealing with anything and everything that concerns the under-represented groups of White America. This could include political and social talks. Some articles may discuss cultures of different groups and interviews with a variety of people including those of the racial majority. Discrimination against everybody but the racial majority has gone on long enough and now it’s time people get a look into the worlds of those they dislike so much. 

The post Living in White America: Breaking the Stereotype Part 4 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In my last two articles, titled Breaking the Stereotype Part 1 and Part 2, I discussed four characters who I feel do a good job of representing black males and black females in shows that I watch. Now, the characters portrayed aren’t perfect and free of stereotypes but they’re a welcome change of pace from what is usually seen on TV aka negative stereotypes.

For Part 3, I will be discussing a Latino character that I think has positive characteristics. This is another character from the CW. I probably should mention that I don’t endorse The CW, I just watch shows from that network. A lot. Anyway, on to discussing positive portrayals of characters.

Rogelio De La Vega, “Jane the Virgin”, The CW

Stereotype Broken: Latin Lover

Rogelio De La Vega, played by Jamie Camil, is dramatic and generous. He’s a lot more than that but describing him in full detail may take some time. He portrays a telenovela star in the show. Which is great because Jamie Camil is actually a telenovela star.

Anyway, Rogelio had a daughter with Xiomara named Jane. They end up together after years of not seeing each other. Rogelio in his drama and general awesomeness is also very vain, but omg he’s so fab and hilarious.

Anyway, the Latin Lover stereotype consists of a man always being romantic. Which due to Rogelio being “charmingly vain” he’s only really romantic with Xiomara not with every single woman he meets. Another part of the stereotype is that they are usually up to no good. This is the farthest thing about Rogelio. Not only does he give Jane a fake scholarship so that she can go to grad school, but he is always giving Xiomara support to pursue her dreams. There’s a lot more to the Latin Lover stereotype, but that would also take a lot of time to go over, so not going to do that.

The whole reason I’m bringing this up is because Latino men tend to fall into two main categories in television. Either the extremely macho man or the not so manly macho man. Rogelio falls somewhere in between, and that’s a good representation about the Latino male compared to all the negative representations in television.

Okay, so I’m going to be honest. Most of the shows I watch don’t have a lot of Latino men. Unless I head over to Univision and watch some awesome telenovelas like Tres Veces Ana. Some shows that I watch have Latino men but they make them so racially ambiguous that I honestly couldn’t tell you what their race was.

For example, Blake Jenner–not related to those Jenners–is Cuban-American. But in the all the shows I’ve seen him in, (Supergirl and Glee), never once has his Cubanness (is that a word?) shown through. Sure, it doesn’t “need” to, but that’s the problem.

Latinos and other minorities have the blessing or curse, whichever way you want to look at it, of being racially ambiguous. Meaning you honestly couldn’t tell what race we are just by looking at us. Maybe we’re Latino, maybe we’re white, maybe we’re Black, or maybe we’re Asian. Some people may say that’s a good thing. Others may say not so much.

Let’s be real, racism isn’t going away in the next few years, maybe not for centuries, and maybe it will never disappear which is precisely the reason that we need Latino representation on television. And not the typical negative representations. No. We need positive portrayals. Latino boys need to be able to see someone like them on television in a positive light.

In both Part 1 and Part 2, I discussed two characters but when going over the shows that I watch, there are either no Latino men or they are so racially ambiguous that I don’t even know if they are Latino. So, I leave you with Rogelio. I hope to find more positive portrayals of Latino men soon. And when I do, I’ll write an article about them.

This is the thirteenth article of the column titled “Living in White America.” Every month there will be new articles discussing how minorities live in America. This column will have articles dealing with anything and everything that concerns the under-represented groups of White America. This could include political and social talks. Some articles may discuss cultures of different groups and interviews with a variety of people including those of the racial majority. Discrimination against everybody but the racial majority has gone on long enough and now it’s time people get a look into the worlds of those they dislike so much. 

The post Living in White America: Breaking the Stereotype Part 3 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In Part 1 of Breaking the Stereotype, I discussed two characters in TV shows that I have seen that I think are positive portrayals of black males. Moving along with the theme of characters breaking the stereotypes given to their race by society, this article is going to talk about two shows that have positive portrayals of black women. This article will discuss Iris West from The CW’s “The Flash” and Annalise Keating from ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.”

Iris West, “The Flash“, CW

Stereotype Broken: Independent Black Woman

Now I know the name of the stereotype may be misleading and you’re wondering if I just pushed the feminism movement back but if we look at the stereotype, it’ll make sense.

Often times, the independent black women is shown as narcissistic, overachieving, financially successful, emasculates black men, and has virtually no love life. (Thanks Wikipedia. Sometimes you are very helpful.) Iris West, portrayed by Candice Patton, is a journalist at Central City Picture News and the daughter of Joe West, who I wrote about in my last article. She is a member of Team Flash meaning she helps Barry Allen/The Flash beat the bad guys.

Iris is independent in the sense that she doesn’t need guys to support her and she is not narcissistic as she tends to care about the well-being of others before herself. She is an overachiever in the sense that she wants to succeed at her job which includes putting her life in danger in order to get the truth behind a story. Iris doesn’t emasculate men. Sure, the black men she deals with in the show are her father, (spoiler) her brother, and her new boss, but she doesn’t even make snide comments about them.

Her love life is doing great/not so great. Let me explain. Spoiler ahead if you haven’t seen season 1. Her finance, who was white, dies at the end of season 1. She grieves for him during the entirety of season 2. So her love life is explained as she is grieving the loss of her first love and can’t move on. Her single life has nothing to do with her being narcissistic and overachieving but rather with the fact that her finance died.

The way the show displays Iris as not a damsel in distress and not as narcissistic, overachieving, emasculator of black men is a breath of fresh of air compared to how black women are usually portrayed in television. Iris definitely has her flaws, but overall she is a positive portrayal of the black female.

Annalise Keating, “How To Get Away with Murder”, ABC

Stereotype Broken: Jezebel

Annalise Keating, portrayed by Viola Davis, is a criminal law professor and a ftc defense attorney. Discussing more about Annalise will give spoilers away and I don’t want to be that person, so I will try to give as little away as possible. Often times, black women are seen as extremely sexually promiscuous.

The show has created a character that is about much more than her sexuality. She is a bad ass. She is shown without her wig/weave. She is successful and married. There were a lot of talking points that I could have chosen but I chose Jezebel for a reason. I don’t know if you would consider the following a spoiler but I warned you regardless. The show starts off with Annalise being married to a white guy, Sam. She then cheats on Sam with her boyfriend Nate.

Then, after a series of events, her past lover returns and it’s a woman, named Eve. They get it on. Now, sure you might be thinking, “Damn. Why did I chose the Jezebel stereotype?” Well, like I said before, Annalise is more than her sexuality. She’s queer, black, female, and the lead character on a TV show. She doesn’t desire sex 24/7. She owns her sexuality.

Annalise being seen as more than a sex object is nice to see on TV. Once again, there are issues with the character of Annalise but for the most part, she is a positive portrayal of the black women.  Which is always a good thing to see.

Seeing positive portrayals of any minority member is a good thing for today’s youth because we need to be able to look at mainstream media and say, “That could be me.” We don’t have a chance of doing that when almost everybody in mainstream media is white and even characters who aren’t white are portrayed by white characters. It’s important to know that not everything displayed is negative and that there is such a thing as a positive portrayals for minorities.

This is the twelfth article of the column titled “Living in White America.” Every month there will be a new article discussing how minorities live in America. This column will have articles dealing with anything and everything that concerns the under-represented groups of White America. This could include political and social talks. Some articles may discuss cultures of different groups and interviews with a variety of people including those of the racial majority. Discrimination against everybody but the racial majority has gone on long enough and now it’s time people get a look into the worlds of those they dislike so much. 

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It’s no secret that the media tends to portray negative stereotypes about minorities. That being said, it’s important to give acknowledgment to parts of the media that gives a positive portrayal or at least spins the negative stereotype around.

Recently, a lot of the shows that I have been watching have one thing in common. They have positive portrayals of certain minorities. So I have decided to give credit where credit is due. Now the portrayals aren’t perfect as there are still some issues with the characters but the fact that TV shows are even giving these positive portrayals is a good thing.

For the next few articles of this column, I will be looking at gender and race and highlighting a few characters from different TV shows. First up, I will be looking at the black male. Click here to see some stereotypes.

Joe West, The Flash, CW 

Stereotype Broken: The Absent Father

Joe West, portrayed by Jesse L. Martin, is a police man at the Central City Police Department. He is the father of Iris West and the foster father of Barry Allen. Joe and his daughter were left by Iris’ mom and Joe’s wife leaving, Joe to raise Iris alone. He then becomes the foster father of Barry Allen after Barry’s dad goes to jail. (Not a spoiler, you find this out in like the first episode.) The show flipped the role of the father leaving by having Joe be the one to have to take care of his daughter.

Then they did another solid by having a white kid see Joe West as a father figure. Barry’s dad is alive and he doesn’t need to see Joe as a father but he does. Joe isn’t the absent black father instead he’s just a father. Which is a good thing to see especially since on most shows with black families, the father is excluded from the narrative.

John Diggle, Arrow, CW

Stereotype Broken: The Black Best Friend

John Diggle, played by David Ramsey, is a former bodyguard and best friend to Oliver Queen. However, he isn’t the “black best friend.” The black best friend is someone whose entire existence revolves around their white counterpart. John Diggle is not that. Not only does he have his own storylines apart from his storyline with Oliver but he isn’t there to solve all of Oliver’s problems and he doesn’t drop everything the second Oliver needs him. The reason this is important is because a lot of times the black man is simply there to be a helpful guide for the white person. To lend a hand when the going gets “tough.”

The relationship between John and Oliver is generally equal. John does help out Oliver more than Oliver helps John but that has more to do with the fact that Oliver is the main character and all the villains want to kill him. Seeing a black man as more than a BBF, black best friend, is refreshing to see since pretty much anything you watch involves a black best friend so that the white main character doesn’t seem racist.

For all the shows I watch, these were the ones that stood out to me as positive. I’m sure there’s many more and I really do hope that there is. However, for all the positives that I see there are at least three negative that I see. The point of showcasing these positive portrayals is because it’s important to know that not everything displayed is negative and that there are people who are trying to make a difference by displaying positive portrayals.

This is the eleventh article of the column titled “Living in White America.” Every month there will be a new article discussing how minorities live in America. This column will have articles dealing with anything and everything that concerns the under-represented groups of White America. This could include political and social talks. Some articles may discuss cultures of different groups and interviews with a variety of people including those of the racial majority. Discrimination against everybody but the racial majority has gone on long enough and now it’s time people get a look into the worlds of those they dislike so much. 

The post Living in White America: Breaking the Stereotype Part 1 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

These were the words that Andre Wright spoke multiple times during this hour and a half discussion/performance/tasting. The event started with Wright, Sepehr Sadrzadeh, and The Cubist sitting on stage and discussing the history of Hip-hop. Icon Amarie gave a short performance before joining the rest of the guys on stage.

Wright made sure to remind people multiple times that people needed to give them energy in order for them to return it back 10 times. Wright also made sure to state that in order for the audience to get fed they needed to participate. Either by talking or by rapping.

Andre made sure to let the audience know that this was an “Adult Only Party” and no kids were allowed because of cussing. Cussing wasn’t as bountiful as I thought it was going to be but kids not being there was a good thing.

The feel for the entire event was very natural and charismatic. After Wright had gone through the history of Hip-Hop, The Cubist and Chef PZ aka Sepeher Sadrzadeh aka the chef at Pullman Bar & Diner introduced themselves. After that, Chef PZ gave a freestyle. They then invited people to rap and a guy and a girl both went up and free-styled. They were really good.

After Chef PZ freestyled, he started cooking. He cooked while The Cubist played some tracks and talked about the production that went into them. The Cubist and Chef PZ compared music to cooking by the example of layering.

Once Chef PZ finished cooking, Andre Wright said, “You gotta work to eat.” Which meant that he wanted “brave souls” to get up and freestyle. He then asked for people to come up and those who did would be able to get some of the food that Chef PZ had made. 16 people stood up but only 2 guys rapped. Everybody but one person got food because he didn’t want any. This prompted Andre Wright to say that those who didn’t want food shouldn’t be in line. Those who didn’t rap said their top 5 rap artists and still got food.

After everybody that was in line got their food, the MC walked around and handed out the rest. I got one and it was really good. I approved. Chef PZ then rapped to “Iranian Soul”. Finishing up the event, the guys brought up Wu Fei who played on her instrument and Chef PZ, Icon Amarie, and a friend of theirs then freestyled to Wu Fei’s and The Cubist’s talent of music.

The event was not what I expected. It was really fun and great. I got to listen to some great freestyle and taste some great food. It was fun experience that should definitely happen again because I will definitely be there.

The post Witching Hour: Hip Hop Kitchen @ The Mill 11/5/2016 appeared first on KRUI Radio.