Last week I watched While You Were Sleeping, which is but one leaf on my ‘Christmas Movies – Romcoms’ branch. I love this movie. It is cute and funny and genuinely romantic, and it stars Sandra Bullock, a fine actress who has contributed much goodness to the genre. I <3 Sandy, man. And speaking of [...]
Category Archives: Culture
While You Were Sleeping, and the Dearth of Working Class Romcom Heroines
Also posted in Humour, Movies, Society
Tagged Acting, Film, Relationships, Romance, Women
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Film Africa 2012: Nigerians at the BFI
A few weeks back, following several days and sleepless nights of terrible illness (a head cold that felt like a troop of ill-tempered monkeys – led by a stompy soldier – had taken up residence in my body), I wrapped up in three layers, biker boots and a headwrap to go attend a film screening [...]
Also posted in London, Movies, Nigeria
Tagged Film Africa 2012, Phone Swap, The African Experience
1 Response
What we talk about when we talk about ‘tokenism’
Here’s something I’ve been ruminating on for a while, forcibly brought to the forefront of my mind given recent events, so apologies if it’s not terribly coherent. A quick perusal of comments sections across the breadth of the internet throws up the ‘but do you want tokenism?’ defence. I mean, practically every comment section has [...]
On ‘Black Girl Feels’
Last week, my Tumblr dashboard threw up a teaser promo for Solange Knowles’ upcoming single, Losing You. I watched the clip (less than a minute long) three times in a row, liking what I heard and saw much more with each viewing. Then I re-read the blurb an earlier poster, Britticisms had written: Preview for the new [...]
Also posted in Identity, Society, Style
Tagged Black Girl Feels, Black Girls Rock, Popular Culture
3 Responses
In Praise Of Jon B
Last week on my Tumblr dashboard, Cord Jefferson (an excellent writer/editor person in NY) posted a video of Jon B’s ‘Are U Still Down?’. This is the video: Cord’s commentary went as follows: “Without Jon B. there would be no Drake. Belee dat.” And that’s the exact moment I fell in love with Cord Jefferson. [...]
In Praise of Girlfriends
Source All the talk of Lena Dunham’s new show, Girls, has had me looking into the annals (heh) of popular culture, searching for the representation so sorely lacking in Ms Dunham’s HBO creation. So, a quick question: Do any of the names on the t-shirt above ring any bells for you? They should. For eight [...]
Also posted in America, Identity, Television
Tagged Girlfriends, Girls, Popular Culture, Race, Telly
4 Responses
The Populist
Around this time last year, I noticed that Love Actually, aka Notting Hill With Added Black People! was a trending topic on Twitter. I’d seen that it was showing on ITV1 that evening, so of course, I clicked the hashtag to see what people were saying about it. Somehow this innocuous little movie manages to divide people as if it [...]
Also posted in Literature, London, Movies, Television
Tagged Film, Love Actually, Meme, Popular, Richard Curtis, Sigh, Twitter
1 Response
Whip It Good!
At the time of writing this post, Black Twitter was in a frenzy of retweeting links. I refuse to be ashamed at how enthused I was to see the new video for Willow Smith’s single Whip My Hair. It’s a catchy little pop tune that doesn’t feature rude boys giving it up, or brushing teeth with [...]
Also posted in America, Music, Video
Tagged Music Videos, Whip My Hair, Will Smith's Sperm Is Better Than Yours, Willow Smith
6 Responses
All Black Everything*
Hi kids! It’s a veritable Feast of Blackness™ today on Yoruba Girl Dancing. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from colonial rule (e ku ojo ibi!), as well as the beginning of Black History Month here in the UK. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s Black Friday and The Friday Pretty – [...]
Also posted in Black Fridays, Blog, Nigeria, The Friday Pretty
Tagged Black History Month, Black People, Happy Birthday, Independence Day, Nigeria, Race, The African Experience
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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in London
On Wednesday night, I put on a pretty frock and shiny shoes and made my way to Sadler’s Wells, a venue which if it isn’t the home of dance, is at least a favourite hangout of it. I love Sadler’s Wells – it’s so warm and welcoming. And it was especially welcoming this week; I [...]
Also posted in America, Black Fridays, London, Review, Theatre, Video
Tagged Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance, Joy, London, Theatre, Things That Make You Go Mmm
5 Responses
A Disappearing Number
This week on YGD appears to have unofficially been christened the week of Brown People Entertainment™. I have awesome friends, and so it’s no surprise that a ticket for a terrific play, A Disappearing Number, came into my possession at the weekend. On Monday night, I headed to the Novello Theatre and watched a truly beautiful play [...]
The Friday Pretty: You’re Welcome.
“Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.” ~Ralph Ellison On Jezebel the other day, I spotted this photograph:
Also posted in Beauty, Identity, Love, Society, The Friday Pretty
Tagged Beautiful People, Boys, Male Beauty, Things That Make You Go Mmm
12 Responses
Sloane Crosley: Love At First Reading
One of the joys of living in London is that I get to indulge my inner media wanker on a pretty regular basis. She enjoys going to the theatre before loudly and (probably) obnoxiously recounting how good/bad/avant-garde* the staging/lighting/re-interpretation of the text* was. Sometimes, she attends concerts in cramped/poorly ventilated/extremely grand* venues and then pontificates [...]
Also posted in America, Books, Literature, London, Love
Tagged Literature, London, Shoreditch House Literary Salon
5 Responses
Black People Don’t Camp, And White People Don’t Drink Supermalt*
It’s true. I read it in the paper. Of course, the kneejerk reaction is to say huffily, “Well, that’s just a stupid generalisation!” Which it is, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I say this as someone who actively enjoys camping, loves to go hiking, and will traipse quite merrily around an old property for hours.
How Does Your Bookshelf Stack Up/Break Down?
I recently finished Stranger In A Strange Land, a collection of Gary Younge’s journalism in his role as the Guardian‘s New York correspondent; I can’t recommend it highly enough. Each piece is perfectly pitched – he’s a very fluent writer, and his convictions bleed through everything he writes. I love the way he writes; his [...]
Also posted in Books, Identity, Literature, Society
Tagged 'Lady Things', Author, Feminism, Literature, Men and Women, Stereotypes
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