Vudoomunkyfut

14/10/2023

Our Latest!

On how losing may just be the battle for "the woke".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWUOwRkvl4E

12/10/2023

It would probably go without saying, given by what you may be able to discern about my politics from my videos, that I'm unequivocally in support of Palestinians.

In an interview on Sky News, Kamali Melbourne, a Black news anchor, asked the former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, about what would happen to people, most specifically babies, on life support without power. The PM began shouting at the anchor and asked if he was "seriously" asking about Palestinians right now. He then referred to them as N***s, and detailed their next steps as eradication of Palestinian N***s. He has named the stakes and the extent of violence he could tolerate (which seems without a ceiling).

The language of complete eradication and the disregard for all life is something that you might think an Israeli would be sensitive to, but when you understand the logics that hold together the very existence of "the nation-state", you can see that there is a much larger fight happening here. It's not just a fight for land, but the fight for the legitimacy of colonial conquest and the ability to build an entire world on the backs and out of the bodies and resources (and bodies AS resources) of other peoples. This was a complex of logics perfected during the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Which is why I want to talk to my Black folk right quick...

We should be in support of Palestinians. We should do it without the rhetoric of being anti-Hamas because no one gets to name the heroes and warriors of a people under extreme duress. No one, externally, gets to name or judge what levels and kinds of violence are necessary for freedom (excepting sexual violence which is ALWAYS unnecessary). But we should also remember that it was a Palestinian's anti-Blackness that led to a part of Frank Wilderson's thinking toward Afropessimism. Yes, Palestinians have shown support in our struggles here in the U.S. especially. I will say again...we SHOULD stand in solidarity...as we always have with the struggling peoples of the world, BUT we should do so inasmuch as these struggles intervene on anti-Black structures such as nation-states and processes like dehumanization (the process through which the human derives its coherence WITH 'the Black' being the paragon of denied humanity).

Remember, Palestinians and Israelis fight for a resource, land...and the capacities that come with it (sovereignty, world/state building, independence, membership in the global community, etc.). We fight as peoples marked AS resources and without those capacities. They fight for ownership and sovereignty while we fight as people without those capacities on a political level (though I'm not saying we should fight FOR those capacities). The fights look similar, but are not the same. And both are necessary.

29/08/2023

WHEW!!!

You WILL want to listen to the whole thing.

26/06/2023

Ooooooh let's talk y'all!!! Let me nerd out on you a little bit.

Many are offended at this man's (Ozy Worldy) work. He is a non-Black, Italian artist who wrote of these depictions as his "inner demons". He insists that his race isn't meant to characterize any race, and that none of his work is malintended. Some of his work very much relies on understandings of race relations in America, especially. However, I truly believe that he has been honest in a way that most artists won't...and I'm not sure he realizes what he's said regarding his inner demons and the "dark" and "visceral" side of himself and "man" writ large.

A few weeks ago, in a coaching session, I asked all the attendants why they always said that they were "getting back to themselves" when they were reclaiming motion toward "positive", normative, or even capitalist motives. What if me having a mean streak or being stubborn or reckless is actively part of who I am. Moreover, every behavior and even mindset I have, I can recognize the external influence on me. I, for one, laugh (when I'm really tickled) like my dad who got it from his grandmother. My curiosity about people and my ability to always have another question...I get from my mom. So then, I asked...what if, at the end of the day, the part of us that is uniquely us that is just "Preston" with no influence from anyone or anything else...that exists outside of time and social apparatuses...what if that doesn't exist? What if a unique and complete individual that is "me" is actually...not a thing...or nothing? What kind of terror does that invoke in the part of me that understands myself to be a self? Blackness which seems to also be coterminous with nothingness is precisely that terror. It is the part of us that either doesn't exist or is pure biological drive to eat, drink, be comfortable, and or**sm. That part of us that doesn't know sexual orientation and is not bound by societal constraints. We have imposed that on Blackness.

This is why Blackness...when imposed on people...becomes criminal, hypersexual, messy, disorderly, entropic. So then, what the white man's burden ACTUALLY is...is remaining sufficiently suppressed/repressed in order to maintain social order and "reign in" the chaos of Blackness through violence and policing. HOWEVER, there is also an envy there. While there is a belief that we, as Black people exist outside of the law and social norms, we "get" to experience life in abundance in ways that white people don't. This not only explains why Black people laughing or listening to loud music or barbecuing can meet with violence, but also why hip hop music is purchased mostly by young white males.

All in all...I DO think that this artist's representations are anti-Black, but in calling these depictions his inner demons, I also think that he is truly one of the most honest artists that I've seen. He's admitting that he's wrestling with the parts of himself that society would not deem edifying...and then saying that he imposes that on Blackness...and because we understand our desires through our body...he gives this Blackness a body...and this is what it manifests.

He has shown us...first hand...how we became Black.

24/06/2023

I'm sorry to have to inform you that we're going to have to postpone tonight's BAWP. In trying to find a way to build community around Black media, in a way that is accessible and not a burden we failed in noticing that using Teleparty requires everyone to either have a subscription to the service on which the movie is being watched or purchase the movie that is being watched. So, we're going to re-schedule this by the beginning of the week so that we can either find a way to make it happen freely or allow everyone the opportunity to get whatever they need to situation.

I apologize because I was SINCERELY excited about doing this again. We're still learning how to make these virtual events happen, and in our newness...we overlooked this. Stay tuned our updates.

22/06/2023

Hey! We certainly hope you're planning on joining us this Saturday for the beginning of one of many Summer BAWPs (Black Ass Watch Parties). We invite you to come for the community and camaraderie and...good DRANK! In taking a look at media from across the Black world, we wanted to make this particular drink a part of a multisensory experience because, it too, is the product of the diaspora speaking back to itself. This drink was derived in Kenya inspired by the caipirinha, a drink made with cachaca which was first distilled by slaves in Brazil. The drink was rumored to have been medicine to deal with the Spanish Flu. Similarly, the word 'dawa' means medicine in kiSwahili. It can be made as suggested here, or as a hot medicinal (and non-alcoholic) drink with ginger. For a cold mocktail, swap the vodka for tonic water or Sprite.

Join us! Drink up! And let's CUT UP!

See you Saturday!

21/06/2023

Y'all ready for Saturday?! Let's get it in!!! It's the first of a few BAWPs (Black Ass Watch Parties) that we're doing for the Summer. Our focus for the next few is on Black, q***r diasporic stories. We're going to do this via Teleparty. Download the extension on your Chrome browser and...well...that's it! We're excited for this Saturday and can't wait to meet those of you we've yet to meet!

15/06/2023

Hey y'all! I just wanted to invite you to the first of a few of our Black Q***r Summer BAWPs (Black Ass Watch Parties). This is where we chat, watch, and discourse around movies from the global Black world. Make sure to watch out for more information. We'll be posting directions to get and use Teleparty, a curated Black q***r and Pan-Diasporic Spotify Playlist, along with themed cocktails, alcoholic and non. We look forward to seeing and meeting you!

STAY TUNED!

06/06/2023

We're back with the BAWPs! For those of you who weren't able to make our first one, it's a Black Ass Watch Pary! It's gearing up to be a very q***r summer! For the months of June and July, we'll be returning to the roots of Pride. Pride has become a hypersexualized, capitalist, and incorporationist affair. There are even Prides that sponsor or are sponsored by police departments! We want to return to the Black and Latin, trans femme, rebellious foundations of Pride beginning with Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Black q***r theory and Black feminisms have taken us down the path of questioning gender, gender performance and both their impositions on us and our exclusion from being able to identify, wholly, with cis-ness, trans-ness, gayness, and straightness. Join us as we watch and hold panel discussions on these movies from across the diaspora. We'll be beginning with Rafiki (a Kenyan story), Inxeba/The Wound (a South African story), and Moonlight (an African American story). Stay tuned for more information over the coming weeks and more opportunities to engage our community including perks like a Black q***r Spotify playlist and movie inspired cocktails!

25/05/2023

Anyone who knows me knows this...that when it comes to performing, to me, Tina Turner is the greatest to EVER do it.

In listening to her music, I'm not gonna lie...I'm fighting feeling teary.

Lacking the words right now...I'll lean on my all time favorite song of hers;

"Tears will leave no stain.
Time will ease the pain.
For every light that fades,
Something beautiful remains."

Thank you Tina for SUCH a generous, vibrant, and ROCKIN' life.

18/03/2023

Ah man, this loss stings. Not only was Lance Reddick an amazing talent , but he voiced characters in my two favorite games, and I owe a great deal of why I like those games to the distinctive style of and the depth of character he was able to bring through his narration.

Goodbye Mr. Reddick...

16/03/2023

Happening in 20 minutes!

Through the Looking Glass: On Matters of Representation

, or does it? In this video, I question the utility of representation. So often representation is treated as sacred such that it can't ...

16/03/2023

!!!

Something we're all in agreement with, right? Or are we? Maybe representation is yet another one of those things that we have passively accepted as a kind of op**te for the marginalized masses. But then, we do understand that representation saves lives, right? How should we feel about this axiom in a time that has seen both the success of movies like Encanto and Black Panther AND the backlash to Black characters in movies or books like The Hunger Games and the Harry Potter series?

How do you feel? Ahead of this video, we'd like to know your thoughts:

16/02/2023

In this video, I wanted to look at the reviews of the new game, Forspoken; more specifically, the commentary around and critiques of Frey, the protagonist. So much of the response to her, I would suggest, has been based in anti-Blackness, and I want to challenge us to get beyond "liking" (or not) these characters and being more introspective about what causes us to be uncomfortable or comfortable with characters...what structures how we think about characters, stories, worlds, and people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkmAGBlB9fg

14/02/2023

Greetings from the land of Athia!

We're previewing this month's video featuring Frey Holland from Forspoken! You've probably heard/read some of the rather harsh critiques both Frey and the game itself have received, and this video serves as a sort of meta critique of those condemning reviews.

If all goes well, this video should be uploaded to Youtube by Wednesday 2/15, but may be slightly delayed (like the game was... multiple times) due to shifts in our work schedules. Can't wait to get your guys' takes on this 🙏🏿

27/01/2023

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27/01/2023

I'm never crazy about these depictions of Black parenting.

1. Black parenting, when not conceived of as pathological is almost always about the amount of brutality that we can exact on Black children. Black children are to be whipped, punched, and tamed. Not loved, reckoned with, spoken to. This is largely because "the black" is not supposed to be a reasoning creature. Antebellum medical treatises often "prescribed" whipping and various other kinds of brutal treatment for our "capriciousness", "laziness", and "savage natures".

2. I would suggest that this picture is an extension of several misogynoirist tropes about Black women; that they are violent moms and often only act toward their children when punishing them (via the mammy trope); the idea that Black mothering leads to pathological children (rendering Black motherhood as pathological); and this picture, in particular, could be used to suggest that Black women emasculate their sons and are the disciplinarians in Black households because of the feminized and absent Black male (all Moynihanian myths).

3. It auto-assumes the violence of Black children, especially Black boys, and it makes the violence that IS perpetrated by Black boys an issue of Black boyhood...intrinsic to the person...instead of a product of various social, ideological, systemic, and epistemic factors.

The only kind of parenting or care that is celebrated, en masse, between Black adults and children (as a person who works in a youth prison) is violent, subjugating, and dehumanizing.

21/01/2023

So...I love this book, Sulwe, and it was one we were glad to get my nephew when we found out it was dropping...

But...

I'm not sure it does the work it is supposed to, at least not for little kids.

He still identifies Day as "the" beautiful one even though we and he recognize that they are both beautiful.

My sister and I agree that we have work to do.

And this makes me think about the latest video I did. How do we bear witness to trauma without leading with it?

I'm interested in your experiences with this book with children.

And I have an idea of how I would retell this story.

18/01/2023

New video debut tonight @ 7:30 PM EST on our YouTube channel. Topic: Anti-Black Violence. We're eager to see your thoughts on this one.

12/01/2023

Hey, y'all! We've taken time to discuss and determine expectations moving forward for the new year about the kind of experience we'd like to offer, so we wanted to share it with you all as soon as it was solidified. We're beyond excited for what's to come, and we're committed to fulfilling this and hopefully much more! (if our daytime jobs allow it..!) If you haven't done so already, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Patreon as well! More posts to come soon!

02/01/2023

Happy New Year, everyone! 🥳🎉🎊

Thank you SO much for the engagement you've given to our content! Your support truly motivates and inspires us to do even more. Which is why you're seeing this post! 😎

My name is Eduardo, the man behind the camera! (second pic) Preston, the lovely and brilliant thinker you see in the videos, happens to be my partner of nearly 9 years. Him and I started creating these videos around the time COVID began, (as a way of coping with those uncertain times, but also as a new creative outlet to express thoughts, ideas, etc. that we were passionate about.)

You can probably tell the difference in quality and pacing as you watch more recent videos (Like "Unfortunately, Paris Never Burned.")

With the coming year, we hope to vastly improve the overall experience you'll have with us. I cannot emphasize how much I truly appreciate your guys' feedback about everything from the video content, commentary, to some of the more.. unfortunate.. technical issues we've been experiencing.. (We're working on the audio, I promise!🙏🏽😅)

All of that is to say.. THANK YOU. I think of myself as primarily a photographer, but seeing how overwhelmingly positive the responses have been from you all have motivated me to do my best at putting even more effort into better quality visual experiences. I'll think of it as a personal challenge in 2023.

We wish you all the very best this year. 💗
Here's to growing our capacities in radical thought.. together. 🙌🏽

16/12/2022

I've been working on ways to learn to see and love and regard Black peoples more intentionally. Sylvia Wynter, in her letter to her colleagues now famously referred to as "No Humans Involved" talks about restructuring the inner eye.

This is what VudooMunkyFut seeks to do as, eventually, we'll be producing animations and various other kinds of media that will seek to subvert Western meaning making out of and around Blackness.

But first and foremost..I'm thinking about how WE are doing.

is for us; an embrace of and reminder to challenge the "inner eye" and learn to see, and more importantly, regard Black people in our near infinite manifestations.

16/12/2022

HEY! Have you had questions about what Afropessimism is? Interested in what the radical possibilities of Afrofuturism are?

Make sure that you grab your fave bottle of...whatever...grab a notebook, and join me and T. Elon Dancy for VudooMunkyFut's FIRST Study Sesh!

We'll be discussing Afropessimism and the Limits of Afrofuturism!

Fill in the Google Form that also has the videos we'll be discussing attached prior to the Study Sesh.

This isn't purely instructional. It's about YOUR thoughts, YOUR ideas, YOUR questions as we think against and with each other and other thinkers.

13/12/2022

Alright...so!!!

Coming this Saturday at 7pm EST, we'll be hosting a study session, via Zoom, with a guest facilitator. Be on the look out for more information each day!

Bring your thoughts, quotes, questions, and resources for communal study with the hopes of building a community that is devoted to understanding various arenas of Black thought and coming with ideas as to how to mobilize them!

More information will be posted on our page:
Vudoomunkyfut

And our Patreon:

www.patreon.com/vudoomunkyfut

10/12/2022

bell hooks and ballroom. Here, we discuss ballroom culture, its beginnings, and its possible aspirations. Formed as a space of survival and resistance, has ballroom culture lived up to its radical potential, or have the desires and aspirations of the disempowered community always been toward incorporation and normativity?

https://youtu.be/rPJKIE7s_k0

I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Also, starting in 2023, we'll be beginning regular study sessions. Sign up with our patreon! We want to be able to not only garner actual space for studying and creating, but also to pay guests for their time.

www.patreon.com/vudoomunkyfut

21/11/2022

“I am no longer willing to endorse a cultural norm whereby artists & artist-educators passively participate-in, and benefit-from institutions born and bolstered through the justification, and/or ongoing practice of exploiting and destroying Black and Native life,”

~Esperanza Spalding

This week, Esperanza Spalding decided to part ways with Harvard citing the above after the institution determined that her proposal called “Black Artist-Educators Decolonizing and Placemaking.” didn't meet the priorities of the university (big surprise, right?).

In the proposal, she called for moving beyond "metaphorical commitments" to addressing the lingering benefits to the institution from land theft and slavery. She called for the ceding of land for the purposes of creating space for Black and Native artists to determine.

I'm intrigued in what the role of the artist is in combating overarching systems of oppression (to include almost all knowledge production).

I'm also interested in what happens, but moreover, WHEN the "ask" becomes a "threat". Their "no"s become our cages, restraints, and constrictions. Just by saying no, they foreclose our possibilities and control our mobility.

"If we can't have it, you can't have it either, cuz we're gonna tear it up."

~Fannie Lou Hamer