July 3, 2013

Real Talk

Being An Awkward Hot Grrrl: A Day in the Life

venuswilliams_beads

Did you watch Ava Duvernay’s Venus Vs. last night on ESPN? I was most blown away by Venus’s confidence. 23 years old, 6’1″ and those white and green beads and those long, gangly legs. When she said, “I’m tall, I’m Black and everything is different about me and those are the facts,” I knew EXACTLY where she was coming from and EXACTLY where she was heading. She was on the precipice of not giving a Read more...

May 26, 2010

Art, Best Of, Real Talk

High Fashion or Low Class?

venus_lingerie
mural_blackbluedress

For some reason Venus’s provocative tennis outfit at the French Open got me thinking about Sofia Maldonado’s mural on 42nd Street and the uproar it created over whether it was a bold expression of art and culture or a simple promotion of stereotypical images of Black and Latina women. Why and when does art’s imitation of life become so problematic? High art or a low down dirty shame? Clearly it’s not just girls in the Read more...