Afronerd Radio IsTaking A Break But We'll Be Back (Like the "Governator") Next Sunday......Meanwhile, Some Ruminations...

We're just taking break this Sunday folks but Afronerd Radio will return at our regularly scheduled time next week. But don't forget the team at The Comic Shoppe this Tuesday to get your weekly dose of pulp fiction, pop culture and fantasy analyses. Now on to some of the things that have been occupying my thoughts as of late. Kudos, salutations, crumpets and a "right on!" to President Obama for receiving such a noteworthy and prestigious award as the Nobel Prize. I make no bones about being an "Obamacan" the portmanteau for a Republican that supports our current POTUS, however my allegiance has little do with political persuasion. Of course, I would prefer that President Obama leaned a bit more to the right on the ideological scale, but the necessity of his historical presidency for its inspirational attributes as it pertains to people of color can not be discounted.

But back to the matter at hand-as expected, the de facto conservative talking heads have made it clear that not only was President Obama not deserving of the award but that his win somehow diminishes its importance and/or relevance. The reality is.... the previous administration was so inexplicably inept and ruinous toward global diplomatic relations, America's voting in a Black person assuages this international (Europe, more specifically) dissatisfaction and therefore explains Obama's win. Furthermore, the conservatives are being disingenuous in railing against the time frame that the Obama administration has been existence relative to the Nobel win and yet 10 months is supposed to be long enough to solve two wars,immigration, terrorism, Iranian/Korean nuclear encroachment, an unprecedented financial meltdown and an array of other issues that presently plague our country. You see....I can critique Republicans! That's the difference between having a political bent and being an outright ideologue. Next time, I'll talk about the progressives' putting our economy on layaway til the close of this century....

And now for pop culture concerns, I'm always complaining about the dearth of real musical talent with Black cultural sensibilities as it is currently presented for public consumption. I think a capitulation is in order. It really is a matter of exposure and fighting that vaunted monolithic "box" that Black artistic expression is forced to fit into. I implore our readers to start rummaging through the cyber aisles of Okayplayer.com and Afropunk.com. Case in point, check out some more footage from this past summer's Afropunk music festival, held on the Planet Brooklyn:




And then there are those the NY Times referred to as "blipsters," the frankenword nomenclature for Black hipsters. Again, Black folks rock, skate, ride BMX bikes, surf, purchase, collect and write graphic novels, preside over nations....and yet we continue to get culturally marginalized. It stops now! More from the '09 Afropunk festival....



And then there's the gentleman that started it all...