I am tired of all this U.S. debt ceiling talk. Let's just default already and start a #NewAmerica somewhere else. We'll need bacon. And whisk(e)y. And freedom. I recently asked Twitter about the pros and cons of forming a #BaconWhiskeyFreedom party.
All pros. So let's start building it.
Tonight I'm performing in the final Laughing Liberally show of the summer in NYC. The first 50 people to email laughingliberallynyc-AT-gmail.com (and get a confirmation) will get in for free. Either way, you should come. I'll talk about bacon and whiskey and freedom.
Teresa was feeling pressured by the hyper-targeted, often sexist Facebook ads rubbing her nose in the fact that she wasn't engaged or married, that she needed to lose weight and that she was doomed. Here's a sample
The Solution:
With the democratization of marketing made possible by Facebook's self-service ad model, Teresa made her own ads targeting women. She describes them as ads "telling women the things I wish somebody had told me." Here's a sample.
The Presentation.
It's five minutes. Watch it.
Conclusion:
As someone who has done a fair amount of media hacking myself (Twitter Swine Flu, Foursquare mayoral campaign, etc), I'm already a fan of the method, but the message itself is so worthwhile I can only express my utmost pride and respect for Teresa's work. Well done!
I shot this with my iPhone 4 back in March during a massive, surprise hail storm in New York City. I was in Times Square. Listen closely to the audio. Play the video fullscreen. Allow mind to go somewhere much cooler and more refreshing.
This beautiful three minute film juxtaposes the blanket anti-Muslim hate gripping much of America with the reality that Muslim Americans are just that, Americans. It's part of the My Fellow Americans project which "calls upon concerned Americans to pledge and spread a message that Muslims are our fellow Americans. It asks people of other backgrounds to pledge, and share a real life story about a Muslim friend, neighbor, or colleague that they admire. Using the power of social media, My Fellow American seeks to change the narrative – from Muslims as the other, to Muslims as our fellow Americans."
If "Muslims are the new black" then we, as the original blacks, fully understand the position many of our fellow Americans are being put in. We have and continue to suffer the slings and arrows of exclusion, otherness and doubts about our status as full members of this nation. The idea that our black president is a Muslim conveniently combines two forms of ignorance into one low-priced fear. So let's lend our credible voices to this worthy cause.
It's not enough to avoid doing harm. We should actively do good, and this seems to me to be a very good thing. This week, I'm finishing the manuscript for my forthcoming book, How To Be Black. In the process I interviewed several people, including comedian W. Kamau Bell. He had a perfect, modest proposal relevant to this post which I have to share:
I think that all people who are fighting for oppressed people should only be allowed to work for the group that's one over from them. Black people should only be allowed to work for the Mexican immigrants' struggle in America. Mexican immigrants should only be allowed to work for gay marriage. Gay marriage should only be allowed to work for black people, etc. I feel like if we all just stepped one group over, I think we would get things done a lot quicker.
So step one group over, and take the pledge:
Muslims are our fellow Americans. They are part of the national fabric that holds our country together. They contribute to America in many ways, and deserve the same respect as any of us. I pledge to spread this message, and affirm our country’s principles of liberty and justice for all.
I've got a loud speaker set to deliver me from my slumber, but the soft opening in this tune eased my transition between worlds. For a few moments, the the distinction between dreaming and waking states evaporated. Good morning, Universe!
I read pretty much all of the Tin Tin comic books as a kid along with the Asterix stories. I preferred Asterix. I remember getting so deep into one reading session that when I looked up from the page, I asked, "Who turned off the television?" The art and story were that compelling. I'd actually prefer to see a movie about Asterix. The idea of a micro-sized human being drinking some magical steroid punch and beating the crap out of everyone around him just appeals to me.
Asterix books contain 704 victims of brain injury. Most were male, many Roman and more than half were attacked by Asterix and Obelix themselves ... medical academics get their heads around violence in the Asterix comics
I saw this headline about Bachmann signing some pledge calling for the ban of pornography. I thought, "Well, she just lost half her base." Then I read the complete pledge and found that it is full of far more disturbing language than just the porn reference.
For example, it binds the signer to oppose Sharia Law, because you know, that's a huge threat in America right now. I recalled that I stopped buying hot dogs from the halal food cart outside my office because it always came with a side of Sharia Law, and don't you just hate when Sharia Law spills all over your shoes? It's so irritating!
The pledge also refers to something it calls "the intimate fruit of conjugal intimacy." This is pledge-writers' way of saying "children." The "intimate fruit of conjugal intimacy" sounds like something an alien race studying humanity might say because where they come from, there is no such thing as sex. Here on planet Earth, we do have sex, and lots of it. Sometimes sex results in "children," which is a word we have, also here on Earth.
Last night, I shared my screen with the world, and I allowed people to get a writer's-eye view as I completed one of my chapters for my book, How To Be Black.
I'm Mister Digital Interactivity, but even for me, this was a big step. Prior to this, I'd experimented with a few interactive digital bits outside of the book's core content. In part, the book itself even exists because of a hashtag battle I started with Elon James White over the #HowBlackAreYou hashtag. I spoke about this battle in a talk I gave at Web 2.0 which earned me a meeting with my now-publisher, Harper Collins. Since then, I've tapped my online networks to help with photo shoots, and I've shared full, rough chapters to my email list and excerpts to Facebook and Google+, but I had never let anyone in on the actual writing process, until last night.
