This is where Baratunde blogs about things. He also blogs over on his company blog, Cultivated Wit, so check there too. Ooh, you can also get these bloggings via email.
I like Google+
I like any service that uses special characters in its name.
That's why I loved Yahoo! so much. It was exciting. But that was 30 years ago, and a lot has happened since then.
I'm definitely using Google+. I haven't been as heavy a user as I normally am with new services because I'm finishing my book writing in the next week, and I've found that using Google+ is highly negatively correlated with getting important things done.
"Part autobiography, part stand-up routine, part contemporary political analysis, and astute all over, “How to Be Black” might do more to expose and explore the shifting dynamics of race in America than all the Pew data of the past decade. Reading this book made me both laugh and weep with poignant recognition. Baratunde Thurston has given us a hysterical, irreverent exploration of one of America’s most painful and enduring issues. He captures the alchemy of familial narratives, community socialization, and individual volition that makes blackness a complex performance of the self. “How to be Black” is the must read text of the so-called post-racial moment."
- Melissa Harris-Perry, contributing analyst for MSNBC and columnist for THE NATION
"As a black woman, this book helped me realize I'm actually a white man."
- Patton Oswalt, author of Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
“If you don’t buy this book, you’re a racist.”
- Baratunde Thurston, author of How To Be Black
Have you ever been called “too black” or “not black enough”? Have you ever befriended or worked with a black person? Have you ever heard of “black people”? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you.
Raised by a pro-black, pan-Afrikan single mother during the crack years of 1980s Washington, DC, and educated at Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University, Baratunde Thurston has over thirty years’ experience in being black. Now, through stories of his politically inspired Nigerian name, the heroics of his hippie mother, the murder of his drug-abusing father, and other revelatory black details, he shares with readers of all colors his wisdom and expertise of how to be black. (Harper; January 31, 2012, $23.99)
Combining personal memoir, interviews, irreverent how-to, and resource guides to meet every reader’s blackness needs, this book offers practical advice on everything from “How to Be The Black Friend” to “How to Be The (Next) Black President” to “How to Celebrate Black History Month.”
For additional perspective, Baratunde assembled an award-winning Black Panel—three black women, three black men, and one white man (gotta have a control group. This is science!)—and asked them such revealing questions as “When Did You First Realize You Were Black?” “How Black Are You?” “Can You Swim?”
The Black Panel includes wisdom from:
The result is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply “how to be.”
Baratunde Thurston is the director of digital at The Onion, the cofounder of Jack & Jill Politics, a stand-up comedian, and a globe-trotting speaker. He was named one of the 100 most influential African Americans of 2011 by The Root, one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine, and will be giving the opening keynote address at SXSW Interactive 2012. Then-Senator Barack Obama called him “someone I need to know.” Baratunde resides in Brooklyn and lives on Twitter (@baratunde).
Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Stay Black.
"Part autobiography, part stand-up routine, part contemporary political analysis, and astute all over, “How to Be Black” might do more to expose and explore the shifting dynamics of race in America than all the Pew data of the past decade. Reading this book made me both laugh and weep with poignant recognition. Baratunde Thurston has given us a hysterical, irreverent exploration of one of America’s most painful and enduring issues. He captures the alchemy of familial narratives, community socialization, and individual volition that makes blackness a complex performance of the self. “How to be Black” is the must read text of the so-called post-racial moment."
- Melissa Harris-Perry, contributing analyst for MSNBC and columnist for THE NATION
"As a black woman, this book helped me realize I'm actually a white man."
- Patton Oswalt, author of Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
“If you don’t buy this book, you’re a racist.”
- Baratunde Thurston, author of How To Be Black
Have you ever been called “too black” or “not black enough”? Have you ever befriended or worked with a black person? Have you ever heard of “black people”? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you.
Raised by a pro-black, pan-Afrikan single mother during the crack years of 1980s Washington, DC, and educated at Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University, Baratunde Thurston has over thirty years’ experience in being black. Now, through stories of his politically inspired Nigerian name, the heroics of his hippie mother, the murder of his drug-abusing father, and other revelatory black details, he shares with readers of all colors his wisdom and expertise of how to be black. (Harper; January 31, 2012, $23.99)
Combining personal memoir, interviews, irreverent how-to, and resource guides to meet every reader’s blackness needs, this book offers practical advice on everything from “How to Be The Black Friend” to “How to Be The (Next) Black President” to “How to Celebrate Black History Month.”
For additional perspective, Baratunde assembled an award-winning Black Panel—three black women, three black men, and one white man (gotta have a control group. This is science!)—and asked them such revealing questions as “When Did You First Realize You Were Black?” “How Black Are You?” “Can You Swim?”
The Black Panel includes wisdom from:
The result is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply “how to be.”
Baratunde Thurston is the director of digital at The Onion, the cofounder of Jack & Jill Politics, a stand-up comedian, and a globe-trotting speaker. He was named one of the 100 most influential African Americans of 2011 by The Root, one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine, and will be giving the opening keynote address at SXSW Interactive 2012. Then-Senator Barack Obama called him “someone I need to know.” Baratunde resides in Brooklyn and lives on Twitter (@baratunde).
Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Stay Black.
I used Storify to capture my tweets and add commentary.
So I'll put the punchline up high:
In conclusion, I don't think Glenn Beck leaving Fox is a massive victory for the left, though pressuring his advertisers to stop backing super ridiculous and damaging hate speech is a victory of sorts.
Like a mutant Japanese monster, though, Beck may simply become stronger. His GBTV positions him as a sort of digital Oprah, with his own virtual network and shows, not all hosted by him.
The clothing is weird, but so is Newman's salad dressing. The inspiration behind it is interesting. Beck has built not just a loyal following but a business empire, freeing him to do even more of what he wants than a cable network might allow.
I don't agree with the man. I've seen him try and partially succeed to destroy the life of a friend. But there are lessons to learn from his strategy. Beck talks up to his audiences. He broke many rules of television, selling complicated ideas in long form. He got people away from their televisions and into the streets, and now he's setting up his own platform with digital and physical monetization which will free him even more to realize his dream.
I only wish his dream were more along the lines of a rocket ship and less about half-plagiarized conspiracy theories seeking to explain why "they" want to take "your America" away.
(to make more sense of this, re-live the coverage below)
Vlix is a new mobile video editing platform. Shorter: it's instagram for video. I just rode my bike home and noticed horrible traffic on the southbound side of Manhattan's FDR Drive.
Here's the original clip with no effects.
Here's the footage with "Cross Process" filter applied.
And here's the same video with "Thermal" applied
This is my rapid response to an instance of stupidity.
On the Amtrak from DC to New York yesterday, I saw this opinion piece by Karen Spears Zacharias posted on CNN: "Go the F*** to Sleep" not funny. This title struck me as the opposite of the truth and thus worth getting riled up over, so I read it and indeed got riled up.
Go The Fuck To Sleep is a bestselling parody of a children's book. It reflects the frustrations of a parent trying to get his or her child to, well, to go the fuck to sleep. It's absurd and hilarious. The audiobook version is read by Samuel L. Jackson and is available for free, making it even more awesome. Here's a sample of the format:
The cats nestle close to their kittens now.
The lambs have laid down with the sheep.
You’re cozy and warm in your bed, my dear.
Please go the fuck to sleep.
The windows are dark in the town, child.
The whales huddle down in the deep.
I’ll read you one very last book if you swear
You’ll go the fuck to sleep....
The flowers doze low in the meadows
And high on the mountains so steep.
My life is a failure, I’m a shitty-ass parent.
Stop fucking with me, please, and sleep.
When I read the CNN piece, I became increasingly concerned that the author had failed to grasp the concept of the written-for-adults parody. See a few amazing quotes from the op ed:
The violent language of "Go the F*** to Sleep" is not the least bit funny, when one considers how many neglected children fall asleep each night praying for a parent who'd care enough to hold them, nurture them and read to them.
Ok, no joke is "the least bit funny" if you keep the dark and dramatic image of neglected children in the foreground of your mind. I'm more concerned for the jokes that wake up each night, sweating and terrified over being treated with the seriousness of child abuse.
Author Adam Mansbach is undoubtedly the kind of father who heaps love, affection and attention upon his daughter. (He reportedly had the idea to write the book because of his exasperation with her at bedtime.) But sadly, his book accurately portrays the hostile environment in which too many children grow up.
No. No it doesn't. Zacharias is forcing a connection. Mashbach is using hyperbole and parody, which are two common literary devices that this critic, the author of three books and adjunct professor of journalism at Central Washington University, should be familiar with by now.
[Joan Demarest, who loved the book before reading it,] has good reason to be concerned about the message behind such a parody. Demarest was the prosecuting attorney in one of Oregon's most high-profile child murder cases. She understands the fear that far too many children endure because the lines of what's appropriate parenting have become blurred.
Nobody is suggesting that there's a connection between Adam Mansbach's book and child abuse or child neglect.
You are! You just did it in the previous paragraph! Dude, we can see your words. Right. There! Why would you involve the prosecutor in a child murder case in a discussion about a parody of frustrated parents?? That's like asking the investigator in a grizzly (oops, not bear-filled!) grisly plane crash to comment on Patton Oswalt's hilarious Jetblue joke. "Well, it's just that every year many people come to a fiery end, so it concerns me that Mr. Oswalt would make light of an airline's safety precautions."
"Imagine if this were written about Jews, blacks, Muslims or Latinos," says Dr. David Arredondo. He is an expert on child development…
This does not follow. Arredondo may be an expert on child development, but he's an ignoramus on common sense and lightening the fuck up.
The author of this piece is so earnest, I thought for a moment her criticism itself was a parody of some humorless human that couldn't possibly be real, but I think she actually believes what she wrote. It's fucking stupid. I'm not generally prone to such heavy use of profanity myself, but I'm just so fucking irritated. Fuck!
Given Zacharias's response to the book, I can only imagine that she'd respond to my own criticism of her by citing the violent horrors endured by poorly-reasoned writers who don't know how to take a fucking joke. Given her propensity to overanalyze and misinterpret the world, however, I think reasonable people can agree she should simply shut the fuck up.
Thus, my response poem:
You're taking this too seriously
There's no need for a fuss
You clearly just dont understand
So please shut the fuck up
No parent lives by this advice
It's just to vent and stuff
It's obviously a fucking joke
Seriously shut the fuck up
Connecting parody to child murder
Is just too much for us
Please don't teach your kids like this
For their sakes, shut the fuck up
his first day on the show with a blazer!
and those are even my tweets on the wall behind me! #walltweets.
