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Fighting for Diversity Does Not Help Black People


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My opinion on this subject is not as absolute as indicated by the title, but it is pretty close.

I've been advocating for Black folks for a long time.  While I'm not the Brother that you will see in the street carrying a sign; I make my contribution to the fight in my own way.  Obviously, a lot of what I do has to do with books, education, and our presence on the web. 

Today I discovered that AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement has rebranded itself as ARRAY.  The differences in the mission are described below 

array.jpg

AFFRM (Original)

Support Quality Black film: Theatrical Distribution Collective Dedicated to Black Independent Cinema.

ARRAY (New)

Our work is dedicated to the amplification of independent films by people of color and women filmmakers globally.

I was disappointed by the news, because whenever I see a change like this, usually, the Black part usually gets marginalized.  If you include "people of color" and all women, you really are talking about the majority of the population.

My unbridled support of AFFRM was due to the fact that Independent Black filmmakers need support--desperately.  It seems to me that there is already a pretty rich history of film featuring and made by white women.

I image a good reason to make this type of move is; that by including white women into the mix you now open yourself up to a much larger audience, which results in the ability to raise more money and gain greater exposure which would benefit the Black films more.

Sometimes this is couched under the term "diversity."  Again, the focus on Black issues are often marginalized when the term diversity is part of the mix.

What does "diversity" mean?  

Diversity, depending upon who you ask, includes; women of all colors; all non heterosexuals (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, transgender, queer, etc); all so called "minorities" (Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians. Blacks, etc), poor people,  non-Christians, "mixed race" people, the handicapped, etc. you see the point.  

Diversity is such a loose term it could include everyone and therein lies the problem. 

If a wealthy white men, who happen to be gay, and all white women can fit under the "diversity" umbrella, what really is the point?  

I've seen many corporations and schools that claim to be diverse, but you might not find a single African-American male.

In fact, mainstream publishing is one of those "diverse" environments where heterosexual African-American males are virtually absent.  This absence can be seen in revenue generating positions in Wall Street firms, and even in the student body of our nation's top universities.

Well I'll probably still support ARRAY's efforts, at least as they work to support the indie Black films.

 

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Chris did you notice how long ago the rebranding took place?  Somehow I missed that.  

Two of the films are on Netflix.

vanishing-pearls.png

Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Nailah Jefferson's Vanishing Pearls chronicles the untold story of personal and professional devastation in Pointe à la Hache, a close-knit fishing village on the Gulf coast, following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This 2014 Slamdance Film Festival Official Selection delves into the worst environmental disaster in American history just as news cameras leave the scene of the crime. While 49 million barrels of oil settle in the once vibrant coastal waters, a generations-old community of black fishermen pledge to fight for justice, accountability and their way of life.

 

mississippi-damned.jpg

Mississippi Damned is based on a true story, a family in rural Mississippi faces tragedy and triumph against the cycles of abuse, addiction and violence that haunt them all. Starring Tessa Thompson (Dear White People), this searing drama from writer/director Tina Mabry chronicles each family member's struggle to escape their circumstances and decide whether to confront or succumb to a crippling fate.

 

Edited by Troy
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Nothing much at all. There is the current campaign to support Women's Films which is doing exactly what you are worried about. It's taking 50 films by women. I can only imagine that this is the Oprah influence more than anything else and that in time, the focus will be places more on films that have the potential to "crossover".

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Yeah that is generally what happens Chris.  Black folks, especially men, get kicked to the curb.  

Here is another example; there is an outfit called We Need Diverse Books (WNDB).

Their mission is stated as:

We Need Diverse Books™ is a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.

They define diversity as follows:

We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.

This is an honorable mission.  However, the problem for Black folks, and this is not WNDB fault, is that as far as mainstream media is concerned, if they cover WNDB, they have covered Black books, or at least books from people of "color" (a term even more nebulous than "Black").

As a result, the mainstream media coverage of Black books is far less as they focus on the efforts of WNDB.  Black owned media's coverage of Black children's books is miniscule because of the overall weakness of our platforms.  I saw the difference in the level of coverage of our respective efforts at Book Expo America/Book Con in 2015 and 2014. WNDB got all the shine, and virtually no one covered us, save me and another Brother, Clyde Davis, who posted a YouTube video (shown below).

This is actually why I've decided to focus more in Black children's books; as there is virtually no coverage anywhere else but there is demand for it. 

 

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I definitely see your trepidation in the shift in ARRAY in this situation with the WNDB project. I guess the problem is always that focusing on and emphasizing "Black" anything encounters a backlash. With that backlash comes a lack of coverage and in turn the call to bring attention to Black "whatever" gets less coverage. It's a paradox, but not really. Like you continue to say if we simply share each other's work we gain access to each other and create the networks needed to overcome the lack of coverage. 

I'm a victim of this problem: I have a nervousness about espousing my blackness so readily as to isolate myself before I even build an audience. 

I admit this is a problem for me, but it shouldn't be because I don't even have an audience so at this time it would probably benefit me to promote my blackness. I don't know, I guess it's a double edged sword. If I'm too black, Black people diss me and if I'm not Black enough Black people diss me. If I'm not Black, other people think I'm trying to be them, I'm not Black enough, Black people diss me. I can keep going with these scenarios, but I know you understand what I'm saying.

Overall though I agree that these shifts to diversity tend to hurt us.

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Man I understand exactly what you are saying.  It is good to read you articulate it, because I don't think it is a sentiment many Black people can appreciate, because they are not in the situation to encounter the dilemma.

The overall problem is that people, Black people, view anything Black as inferior.  

Now if white people cosign on a Black thing--then whatever that Black thing is, Black people will support it.  It could be a restaurant, a musician, an actor, a writer, or even our activists.

This has not always been true, but it is absolutely true today.  We, of course, have the capability to elevate our own; we simply will not do it.  

This is why AaFFRM would drop the "African-American" from their name and primary focus.  If you depend upon Black folks for your survival, you are in for a world of hurt.  WNDB will always get far more support than an AALBC.com, as an advocate for Black books, because I only advocate solely for Black books.

Of course there are exceptions.  Indeed, I'm literally banking that I can connect and serve the minority of Black folks who appreciate what I'm trying to do and don't view Black business or unworthy of supporting.  Those folk can keep me in business.

Who knows, one day I might even score the golden ring of the cherished, but elusive white cosign, and perhaps enjoy some financial success from my efforts. ;)

 

Edited by Troy
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You know I'm pulling for you and I didn't think I explained very well, but I guess the frustration is right there for both of us.  I tell you for the longest I wouldn't use my picture anywhere on my shoe company because I was afraid white people wouldn't support it, and interestingly enough it has been the white consumer that has kept my little shoe company running. I have two or three very active black supporters, but I know it isn't possible to tell by a name who is white or black, but I would have to guess I'm 90% right, the majority of the time there is a white name that actually converts and buys my brand. Before and after I ran my kickstarter this has been the case. The only time it hasn't been the case is when I set up a local flea market, but those numbers are skewed because the patronage was 95% black.

I will keep sharing articles and stories although I know the best form of support is people bookmarking the site and visiting it. You know better than I do how and what people are willing to support in Black literature so I hope that means you will eventually catch lightning in a bottle and figure out how to expand the brand and get people visiting and buying through the site. I know that the only way that happens is with a stable of writers delivering content to the site which leads to more traffic. The question is, how do you get that stable?

Since all of the tragic shootings a lot of Black owned business groups have popped up, but before those groups popped up I had long been finding black owned businesses to support. This means that I haven't really "supported" many of the new businesses and they in turn have not supported me. Which isn't really going to help anybody because it's not the recycling of money that helps the Black community. It's the purchasing of goods based on desire and need. Businesses can't sustain because of reciprocal buying. A business needs new buyers buying because they want to buy. That is the issue really. 

What AALBC needs is a success story that is undeniably an AALBC success story. Born here, grown here, sold here. A story that is so big it can't be ignored anymore. That is going to take money though. 

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