#tee noir

[blackqueernotables]

Tee Noir: content creator

[claracedar]

OMG SO TRUE “it makes it so that all a man needs to evade suspicion for his suspicious behavior is to personify the material desires of the masses. So actually, I think that answers my question from earlier: that’s the price. That’s what the safety of young women is worth in our society. Across cultures. The personification of our material desires.”

[imonlyadumpling]

A comment on Tee Noir’s video called Lizzo & Lost Virtue.

Probably one of my favourite YouTube comments in a long while

Because yes, why can’t we expect the bare minimum of goodness from people?

[vivangelist]

Cash Grab Carter: A Parasocial Introspection | Tee Noir

Cowboy Carter has had me thinking about Beyoncé's politics, or rather, her aesthetic of politics. And this video essay does a great job of showing how much consumer and media projection has magnified and distorted Beyoncé's rather vague, contradictory and substantively conservative political performances.

Her takeaway from the 2016 CMA's says enough. It's widely acknowledged that the racist reaction to that performance was a catalyst for her 'reclaiming' country music. An added layer, though, was that she performed with The Chicks (formerly, the Dixie Chicks), who were also ostracised from the genre, and general American life. Obviously not for race, but for taking an early, strong and consistent stance against the American invasion of Iraq. They endured years of sustained attacks, defamation and exclusion. The power of them partnering with Beyoncé was that it shone a light on how racist and jingoistic white mainstream country music is, and has been. Those two features are inextricably linked.

We're now seven months into the genocide in Gaza, for which the US is the main facilitator, benefactor, promoter, denier, defender, etc. Why are we crediting sound political ideas to someone (and her massively excellent team) who has refused to make that connection? She's released an explicitly political work, but the political ideas are largely defanged and moulded around her personal grievances. While their sources are systemic, her analysis and solution are personal — they're addressed to the extent that her position is vindicated, but not to the extent of their full liberatory power.

[cluethegirl]

I love listeing to black feminists because they're always the ones who come in without judgement, without this tendency to establish themselves egotistically unlike a lot of white feminists that i see, and explain theorietical concepts with pied-a-terre articulation. I think this comes from the everpresent oppression they face, in particular how it necessitates the cut-clear type of explanation that a listener with little to no background in feminism or social justice issues can easily visualize, since it is so high-stakes that this message is communicated properly. They say what they need to say, they show you, not tell, that it is reality, and It's what leftism and especially feminism needs right now.

anyways, go subscribe to Tee Noir on Youtube, this was a proper breakdown of the kardashian rise to pillar of the culture. Very impressed with this girl.

[khizuo]

okay, here's a list of Black youtubers that I watch because why not (not gaming/mcyt, but still awesome nonetheless)

note: I am a non-Black person of color; I'm only sharing this list to encourage people who may not know of these youtubers to check them out, but Black people are welcome to critique this. If you think I shouldn't be speaking about this as a non-Black poc, I will immediately take this down.

Intelexual Media: Maybe my favorite channel at the moment, I love her so fucking much. Lexual does videos focused on history, pop culture, sexuality, Black issues, current events, and women's issues; all of which are entertaining, impeccably edited, and very informational — they clearly take a lot of research to make. I love history youtube because I'm a bit of a history nerd, and I love the topics she chooses to present, and the way she often traces a theme through time. She does discuss sexual topics and potentially triggering content, so be careful.

Khadija Mbowe: Also does a lot of videos on history and black issues, but with a more chill, casual, video essay-ish vibe than Intelexual Media. They actually put out videos at an astonishing rate considering the quality of their content. It's always in-depth, well-researched, topical, and interesting. I honestly need to catch up on their latest videos.

amandamaryanna: She makes mostly vlogs and commentary videos. Her vlogs are always beautifully shot and edited, and her commentary on all sorts of things—from Instagram to the obsession with elite colleges—is insightful to listen to.

Jade Fox: A Black lesbian creator who usually makes content centered around being lesbian, vlogs, and just general commentary. She's hilarious and down to earth and her videos are so fun to watch.

Shanspeare: They make video essays on all sorts of topics, from Lana Del Ray to linguistic discrimination. They also makes fashion videos!

Tee Noir: She's been really growing in popularity and I love it! In her words, her channel centers around "Culture, commentary, Black womanhood", and she is also queer! I love her energy and vibes.

Sensei Aishitemasu: A Black American youtuber/writer who mostly discusses Black American issues. She also produces history videos on Black American history.

[ohshitthisbloghasothercolors]

I think a BIG part of the reason the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation so often get blurred with white people is because of how we are taught about different cultures in school, ESPECIALLY in elementary school.

Like, thinking back to my elementary education in the mid-90's in a small rural town and the way we were taught about other cultures was basically like..."here's some really shallow, surface-level explanation of [insert any culture]'s customs. Let's engage with it as a fun activity!" The whole "melting pot" idea was really romanticized and sold to us as an absolute good, with no attention paid to the negatives.

And looking back on this now as an adult who has been educating myself, I can see how absolutely backwards and awful that is, but like...I didn't know this stuff as a kid, and there wasn't really an easy way to access that kind of information back then. This was in the early days of a internet. There was no social media. And that kind of stuff just wasn't talked about in small rural towns. There were only 3 black kids in my entire school district at the time I was there. All of the teachers were white.

So having a white teacher teach all of their almost entirely white student body a bastardized, white-washed version of another culture's customs, and encouraging them to engage with/in it... You get conditioned to think about other cultures in a weird way. Like, I've always had an appreciation and reverence of different cultures. I like learning about how other people view and navigate the world, traditional dress, history, religion, customs, etc. But I still really have to fight against the instinct to automatically want to engage with/take part in other cultures because that's what I've been taught to do.

Like, my intent is always to be respectful and to learn. But I have to fight against this idea that's been engrained in my head that taking part in something from another culture is ALWAYS the respectful thing to do. Because it really depends on the culture, the situation, and the context! And my first instinct CAN'T be that it's automatically okay for me to take part.

This is what it means when people say that everybody is racist because our society and institutions are inherently racist. I've absolutely engaged in cultural appropriation in my life, and that's a hard pill to swallow because in came from a genuine place of appreciation and reverence. It's so easy to do racist things without racist intent because the educational framework of how we teach children to engage with other cultures is in and of itself racist. The road to Hell really is paved with good intentions.

Basically it's like this:

What I Think I'm Communicating: "I want to show you that I am appreciative and respecting of your culture by experiencing it with you and learning it from you."

What I'm Actually Communicating: "I feel entitled to take part in this whether it's appropriate or not because I'm white."

This is why teaching Critical Race Theory and Racelessness Theory in schools is so important. And this is why the Right is so opposed to it being taught. Because the way things are taught now feeds into white supremacy and that's their bread and butter. And the most insidious part of this is that it creates white people who engage in racist behavior, and they don't even know they’re doing it. And when they get told that it's racist, they resist and react because they didn't have hateful intentions.

I'm guilty of this, and that was really gross of me. It's really easy to be so preoccupied with what your intentions are that you don't give enough consideration to how your actions affected the other person and really listen to them. Especially when your intentions and your actions don't align and you're completely ignorant to that.

What I had to learn was that yes, intentions matter, but that doesn't mean that someone has to automatically forgive you if you hurt them. Intentions matter in the sense that your intentions should inform how you handle the situation. If your intention is to be respectful and to learn, then you need to be respectful and listen to them so that you CAN learn. Apologize for the offense, and ask how you can modify your language or behavior going forward. Research and educate yourself. Don't get offended and defensive, apologize and listen.

Learning and Un-learning these things take time and unfortunately no ally is perfect and going to get it right every time. The best that anyone can do is to do the best with the information you have, to listen, and to always be willing to learn more.

I honestly cannot recommend Khadija Mbowe and Tee Noir on YouTube enough. Their videos are amazing and great resources for learning.

[vyvesvi]

she never misses