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Posts tagged as “Helen Bezuneh”

Black Indigenous History Beyond Black Panther: Pablo José López Oro on Garifuna New Yorkers

It’s February 2016 at a music center in the Bronx, and Pablo José López Oro, who is currently a Smith professor of Africana Studies, attentively gazes at a group of Garifuna folks rhythmically swaying across the stage. The beat of militant drums echoes across the room as the dancers, dressed in a traditional attire that predates their existence, swing their hips and fervently chant in their native Garifuna language rooted in Carib-Arawak syntax — Carib-Arawak Indians, they claim, are their ancestral origins.

Let’s Talk About Blackfishing

Jesey Nelson, former member of British music group Little Mix, was recently criticized for “Blackfishing” in her music video for her debut solo single, “Boyz.” Critics called Nelson out on her exploitation of Black cultural aesthetics, such as darkened skin, curly hair, and other visual signifiers of Black culture like clothing style.

Haitian Refugees and the Violence of U.S. Nationalism

In mid-September, more than 10,000 Haitians appeared at the U.S.-Mexico border to seek refuge in the U.S. from their unstable country. Images circulated online of U.S. border agents on horseback, whipping migrants as if they are herding cattle. As they attempt to ward off and punish the refugees for presuming that they have any right to belong on American land, it enrages me to see such a horrifying and irredeemable act of violence directed towards migrants who are simply searching for safety and stability. 

I Am a Child: Why Won’t Cops Let Black Kids Be Kids?

On Feb. 1, 2021, police body camera footage surfaced online of a nine-year-old Black girl being dragged through snow to a police car, handcuffed, and pepper sprayed. The officers responding to a report of “family trouble” acted in this aggressive manner after the girl expressed that she wanted to kill herself and her mother. While the girl refused to sit inside the police car and said that she wanted her father, an officer dismissively told her that she’s “acting like a child,” to which the nine-year-old replied, “I am a child”–– then they pepper sprayed her.