I’m really glad you raised the points of the nebulous concept of Black excellence and it’s connection to yt supremacist violence (as reinforced by classism). There’s a line that can be traced from today’s rhetoric around Black exceptionalism/exclusion and the culture of respectability that was intentionally crafted by the so-called talented 10th. We see how well that worked. Secondly, aesthetics of Black liberation being exploited as a tool for virtue signaling in consumer culture - simply to explore profit making WITH no other purpose makes the creativity of Black artists all the more precarious & nowadays it’s polarizing how that’s interpreted. Strange times w/ very little space held for critique. Ya got me thinking. Thank you for this.
I’m really glad you raised the points of the nebulous concept of Black excellence and it’s connection to yt supremacist violence (as reinforced by classism). There’s a line that can be traced from today’s rhetoric around Black exceptionalism/exclusion and the culture of respectability that was intentionally crafted by the so-called talented 10th. We see how well that worked. Secondly, aesthetics of Black liberation being exploited as a tool for virtue signaling in consumer culture - simply to explore profit making WITH no other purpose makes the creativity of Black artists all the more precarious & nowadays it’s polarizing how that’s interpreted. Strange times w/ very little space held for critique. Ya got me thinking. Thank you for this.
I loved this post, thank you! so much insight and necessary discourse. Will read it again, and process, and let it sink in. Thank you!