DAMN. And the Consumption of Black Art
how Blackness is selectively celebrated (and contained) within the white imagination.
Ruha Benjamin • Imagination: A Manifesto (A Norton Short)
Speaking on this subject, Amiri Baraka offers an invaluable quote: “All cultures learn from each other. The problem is that if the Beatles tell me that they learned everything they know from Blind Willie, I want to know why Blind Willie is still running an elevator in Jackson, Mississippi.”
Cathy Park Hong • Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
Here we see a really pivotal moment of change, when art must become something that does not make people uncomfortable, so that they will spend money. The kind of person who is expected to consume art is transformed in the mind of the producer. The people who might very possibly love being expanded by what they see are never given the chance.
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