Good Hair

Chris Rock's last comedy special didn't do it for me. Specifically, Chris Rock continually depicts Black women in a negative light. He, like countless other Black male comedians, entertainers, politicians, and leaders have focused so much on race and competing with and/or deconstructing whiteness they either a.) are oblivious to gender completely or b.) feel blameless when dismissing gender or even being misogynistic because their experiences and perspectives of being a Black man in America warrants sympathy in regards to certain behaviors (i.e. Chris Rock's bit on not having a Black first lady in office). So, when I saw this trailer it eased my concerns and created a renewed enthusiasm in his work to see him getting his "Bluest Eye" on. Hopefully, his perspective in this documentary is that identity is complex especially in a country that has historically devalued anything Black. So far the trailer looks good. Also, don't take the Toni Morrison reference too literally. We know he is coming from a place of comedy so we can only wish the intricacies of race are discussed. We'll see.

Even though this post is about gender, I can't go two minutes without a race analysis (old fashioned race man, sorry). Check Rock's segment on HBO's "The Black List". He never really fails when it comes to race. His thoughts on equality being the ability to "suck like the whiteman" is brilliant.


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