Disturbed @disturbedkid - Tumblr Blog

Re: Last night

Not funded by Gilead Sciences

Funded by Blonded, independently

Let’s just get that out of the way.

Club culture around late 70s and 80s nightlife in NYC was a special, much talked about and written about thing. From the star studded midtown clubs like studio 54 and the first danceteria to the downtown clubs like Mudd + paradise garage. The figures, the music, the looks, the lack of regulation haha. I recognize NY wasn’t all lasers and disco lighting and that simultaneously, there was a lot of crime and poverty and that a huge part of club culture, the gay community, at that time were being wiped out by HIV + AIDS. Now in 2019, there’s a pill you can take every day that will at a better than 90% chance prevent you from contracting HIV. This pill was approved by the FDA in 2012. The pricing strategy behind it is malicious in my opinion and so it’s public perception is marred and rightfully so. But the fact remains that despite price being a very real barrier to this potentially life saving drug for some, the other very real barrier is awareness. I decided to name, what was otherwise going to be a night of lights and music inspired by an era of clubbing that I loved PrEP+ because while designing the club which is inside of an old glass factory basement in Queens (shoutout to The Basement that runs a very awesome techno night on Fridays after us) I started to imagine in an era where so many lives were lost and so much promise was lost forever along with them, what would it have been like if something, anything had existed that in all probability would’ve saved thousands and thousands of lives. I’m an artist, it’s core to my job to imagine realities that don’t necessarily exist and it’s a joy to. A couple days before we threw the party, I was discussing this subject with my team and one of the architects I work with thought that PrEP as a drug had reached ‘100% saturation’ so far as awareness. I thought he was dead wrong so I asked a friend (who I won’t name haha) if he knew what PrEP was and his response was ‘isn’t that some type of viagra or something’. My ex who I was with for several years didn’t know about it when we first met at a gay club in LA. Awareness isn’t always what we’d hope it would be. But anyway, I’m ranting. I’m happy that folks are talking about the subject in the first place. Thank you to everyone who came out and danced with us last night. Y’all were beautiful and the energy was right! Thank you Bouffant Bouffant, Sango, Justice and Sherelle for your sets last night they were soo good man. Oh one more thing, I saw someone say that this was a PR stunt etc etc, pshhh bitch pls come get a drink next time and I’ll put several barstools out so you can have as many seats as you need. All my love everybody really. Stay safe.

BRL ALTERCATION BLAQBONEZ VS HOLYFIELD NIGERIAN RAP BATTLE

This boy Holyfield! Damn.

humansofnewyork

“I grew up in an orphanage with only boys. I always wanted to learn some type of fighting. But I got married and had kids, so I just never had the time. But when I turned forty, and all the kids were finally grown, I decided to learn Judo. There weren’t many women in the class. A few girls came in, but they never lasted. They’d get married, have children, and eventually drop out. But I kept going. I became a brown belt. I’d spar against men. Sometimes new people would wonder what the old lady was doing there, but they learned soon enough. I only stopped a few months ago. But I’m still strong. Feel my arms. Notice I’m sitting alone right now. I’m not afraid. Everyone knows not to mess with me. They can see in my eyes that I’m not scared. I may be eighty-six but I could lift you off the ground and throw you over my shoulder right now.” (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

humansofnewyork

“I grew up in Hungary. Back then we were cut off from the world. We could only visit other socialist countries. We were always told: ‘The country you live in is enough. You don’t need more. Everything coming from the outside is not good.’ So we were always ten years behind in music. But if you stayed up late, you could listen to an underground radio station from Germany. The frequency barely came through. But I would listen in the kitchen when my parents were asleep. And if Pink Floyd came on, and you managed to record it, it was like gold. You could trade the tape with your friends. My older sister left Hungary when I was nine. She didn’t tell anyone. The police came and questioned our entire family. They called her a dissident. But she’d send me packages from the other side of the Iron Curtain: chocolate, dolls, cool t-shirts. She sent me so many different kinds of things. In our shops at home we only had two choices: this or that. But my sister seemed to live in a place where she could choose anything. And I also wanted to choose. So when I turned twenty-two I hitchhiked to London. And when I arrived, I found choices everywhere. You could buy anything. Study anything. Wear anything. It’s not that I wanted something specific. It had nothing to do with greed. It’s about choice. It’s about knowing that if you want something badly enough, you can get it. It’s an energy. The energy of knowing that the option is there.” (London, England)

chidofauxreal-deactivated201910

onlyblackgirl

Light Skin People: I don't have any privilege!

30 Light skin Privileges Light Skin Blacks Have

Having the ability to deny or not acknowledge that colorism exists.

Be recognized as a symbol of post racism.

It is assumed that you are race neutral when issues of race are raised.

Being standard of beauty in the Black and Latino community.

Being called Black based on the antebellum era one drop rule.

Being racially ambiguous.

People automatically assuming you are mixed and it is seen as a positive attribute.

It is automatically assumed that you are more intelligent than the darker members of your racial group.

Not being seen as angry unlike the darker members of your racial group.

Being considered less threatening by the Eurocentric mainstream based on the color of your skin.

People not making the assumption that you grew up poor unlike your dark skin counterparts.

Being allowed to recognize the variety of your racial/ethnic heritage without ridicule.

Within African American culture being called a “redbone” is regarded as a compliment while being called “darkskin” is considered derogatory.

Having someone tell you that your light skin is better than dark skin.

Can color, dye, relax, or weave your hair without it being seen as an act of self-hate.

The assumption that your relaxed hair and chemically processed curls are your natural texture.

Not being told that, “You are pretty for a dark skin girl.”

Your skin color being valued by some who purposely wants to erase their ethnicity and hates their own skin color.

Taking advantage of skin color privilege depending upon the situation. For example, applying for scholarships for African Americans and Latinos and later passing for other than a minority.

You have a better chance of landing a job than a darker person with the same credentials.

You have better opportunities for education and jobs prospects.

Because of your light skin your relatives may of have had access to Black sororities, fraternities, and other organizations that promoted intraracism.

Your images are reflected in all forms of the Black and Latino owned media.

People who look like you rarely portray the stereotypical maid, downtrodden, Sapphire, and dysfunctional Black women roles on television.

You always play the Black and Latino wife on television.

Being able to be biracial, multiracial, or light skin and still play a Black, Asian, Latino and White person on television when people of a darker hue cannot.

Not having people in entertainment making songs or comments disrespecting your skin color.

If you are light skin Latino you don’t have to prove it.

If you are a light skin Latino it is automatically assumed that you speak Spanish.

You or your family have much more likely have immigrated to America leaving your darker skin counterparts behind.

Brown Paper Bag Test

J. Cole: I Might Not Be as Successful If I Had Dark Skin

us light skinned redbones look way better than them dark skinned girls

Study Claims People Remember Educated Black Men As Lighter-Skinned “You’re Pretty for a Dark-Skinned Girl”: The Continuing Significance of Skin Tone in “the Black Community” We are all Black but you as a light skin person are benefiting from light skin privilege.

CNN’s Don Lemon: “Anchors of Color on Television Are Light-Skinned”

AfricaSpeaks.com – Dialogue on Colorism - Part 1

onlyblackgirl

I can keep going…