Contributions from Malkia Devich Cyril
Holding Our Collective Grief, w/ Sarah Jaffe and Malkia Devich-Cyril
Hosted by
Cayden Mak
Cayden is joined this episode by organizer and strategist, as well as co-founder of MediaJustice and founder of the Radical Loss Project, Malkia Devich-Cyril and journalist and author of From The Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire, Sarah Jaffe. Together, they seek to grapple with the political and cultural implications of grief, both individual and collective, arising from everything that’s happened to us, collectively, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BET Music Awards: Target Industry, Not Artists
As I watched the BET Music Awards on Sunday evening, I was brought to tears by three things.
One, the rousing and emotional tribute to world renowned singer Whitney Houston by her mother Cissy Houston whose emotional tribute of the gospel classic 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' grabbed me right in my chest. Two, Yolanda Adams gentle urging of her fellow artists to use their talent responsibly. "We need all of y'all," she said. "I'm saying the world needs everyone in this room. Please make sure that you use your gift responsibly, 'cause we're watching. Our babies are watching, and they want to be like us." Unfortunately she also read directly from the teleprompter when they asked her to "wrap it up."
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Shifting Culture, Making Change
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Malkia: Memes Are Not Movements – Why the hoodie meme is important, but not enough
I love the fact that within days of the revolting shooting murder of the 17-year-old African-American teenager Trayvon Martin by the self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, thousands of unlikely individuals put on their hoodies, took pictures, and shared them through social media. It was, to be sure, an unprecedented show of national solidarity within an often-ignored pattern, and it brought tears of pride to my eyes.
But the wearing of hoodies alone will not overturn the vicious Stand Your Ground laws that have proliferated throughout U.S. states in the last year. The hoodie is a meme, but it is not a movement. And only organized pressure can change the law.