06/19/20

This Week: “The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.” - James Baldwin. In commemoration of Juneteeth, NYT made a really powerful interactive website dedicated to celebrating the holiday and expanding on its history. It includes photos, poems, quotes, and excerpts from essays. Let’s get educated.

TRENDS THIS WEEK

☞ YouTube: Little Dragon: NPR Tiny Desk Concert
☞ Letterboxd: Da 5 Bloods
☞ TikTok: #Juneteenth
☞ Spotify: Lockdown - Anderson .Paak
☞ Netflix: Politician
☞ Twitter: Animoprhs


LIFE & CULTURE

Instagram is on track to overtake Twitter as the top news source for GenZ. Younger audiences are more likely than older generations to prefer visual storytelling formats for their news, which Instagram is well suited for. 

Snapchat pulls insensitive Juneteenth filter after backlash, “aaaand this is what happens when you don’t have any black people on the product design team. As a Snap alumni, this is extremely embarrassing. It doesn’t have to be this hard,” tweeted Ashten Winger, who’s Black and previously worked at Snapchat developing original content.

Spike Lee will be in conversation with Barry Jenkins hosted by the American Cinematheque this Saturday at 5pm PT / 8pm ET.  They’ll be talking about Spike’s career and his new film, DA 5 BLOODS.  Register here.

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles just released a virtual showcase of more than 120 features, documentaries and shorts to celebrate the last 17 years of Indian cinema. The films are available for 17 days starting today. Check them out here. 

Colin Kaepernick joinsMedium’s Board of Directorsto develop projects focused on race and civil rights in America, “I am excited to continue to elevate Black voices in the news and publishing industry. I also look forward to creating new opportunities and avenues for Black writers and creators with my new role as a Board member.”


COMEDY

John Oliver has been on a tear during quarantine and has still continued to release weekly episodes (only now in a completely white room with no audience). His recent special on the police - where he examines law enforcement’s steady militarization and history of discrimination in the United States - was particularly illuminating and is a must-watch.


VIDEO GAME

WAKING developed by Jason Oda. Combining third-person action and guided meditation, Waking is an emotional adventure through your dying mind. Battle the forces of oblivion, conjure the memories of loved ones, and join them in the fight for your life. This is a great adventure game that explores the benefits of meditation and inner peace. With an interesting world where you fight to regain your consciousness, the design and music themselves work to offer a soothing experience that will relax you as a player.


THEATRE

On Saturday June 27th, Out of Hand Theater in Atlanta will be hosting a reading of ONE IN TWO by Donja R. Love. The play, which premiered off-Broadway this winter to rave reviews, takes its name from the statistic that one in two Black men who have sex with men will be diagnosed with HIV in his lifetime. Love’s play is a funny, absurd, and touching exploration of being Black, queer, and living with HIV. Register for the reading here!


PODCAST

Spotify is growing its audio empire by signing deal with Warner Bros., DC for Slate of Exclusive Scripted Podcasts. There’s no information yet on how much the deal is worth or when the first projects will drop but here’s some more info.

Season four of SLOW BURN just came out, with the second episode dropping this past Wednesday! It is the story of how a white supremacist became an American political phenomenon. David Duke’s rise to power and prominence—his election to the Louisiana legislature, and then his campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the governorship—was an existential crisis for the state and the nation. It explores how a Nazi sympathizer and former Klansman fashioned himself into a mainstream figure, and why some voters came to embrace his message. It will also examine how activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens confronted Duke’s candidacy, and what it took to stop him. - Vulture.


SHORT FILMS

FRAMED by Marco Jemolo. FRAMED is a stop-motion short about an anthropomorphic clay human who is trying to figure out who created them. The film touches on themes of gender, identity, police and is wholly original. It’s sad and heart wrenching, but ever relevant. Highly recommend this one.

Be kind, stay healthy, and as always, stay creative. ツ

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