Racebending.com

Welcome to another Saturday Link Roundup!

• Meet Melissa! Love Her Like We Do – by Erin Khue Ninh of Hyphen Magazine
  
  If you support greater Asian American representation in the media, then check out this video. It’s about a woman in Houston running an entire Asian American film festival on a shoestring budget of $1500.
  
  Pretty insane. Watch it at Hyphen, learn about her cause, and – as always – support!
• Do Blacks Only Earn Awards for Negative Roles? – by Ayinde Waring of the Washington Informer
  
  Over the years, African-American actresses have received increasing recognition for their contribution to Hollywood in film and television. There is growing concern, however, that the roles being recognized and lauded are ones that perpetuate stereotypes. A revealing examination of the state of black women (and men) in Hollywood.
• The 50 Most Racist Movies – via Complex.com
  
  With descriptions and accompanying YouTube videos, Complex.com runs down the 50 most racist movies, featuring blatant uses of black and yellow face and terrible stereotypes.
• Personal Essay: “Yo Soy Boricua” – by Lala Vasquez from I Am Lala
  
  Lala Vasquez discusses problems she has faced when speaking about her Puerto Rican culture. Her authenticity is often questioned because she doesn’t look like our common perceptions of who is and is not Latina. It’s good to see high profile people acknowledge the problems of race and culture.
• Hong Kong animation retells Conan and Leno tug-of-war – by Amy Nguyen of Absolutely Fobulous
  
  If you’ve been living under a rock, you may be unaware of the late-night talk show war that has been going on for the past two weeks.
  
  Although things seem to have settled down (sort of) amicably, the American media explosion was so huge it stretched across the Pacific… where a news organization decided to “help” Chinese-speaking viewers understand what was happening with some animated dramatization of events. Completely hilarious and worth a quick watch.
• Russian ice dance tribute to Aborigines offensive to Aborigines – by Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo News
  
  In recent Ice Dancing competitions, such as at the European Championships, skaters must perform an original dance representative of a country’s culture. Russian world figure skating champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin decided to perform a set themed to Austrailian Aboriginal culture.
  
  Elders from Aboriginal tribes condemned the set, saying the dance movements, music, and costuming were not from their culture at all. The Russian skaters wear dark skin-toned body suits and skate to music from a UK pop star of South Asian descent.
• Talking Race in America – by Kim Leung of Campus Progress
  
  Campus Progress contributor Kim Leung interviews Carmen Van Kerckhove, the founder of well-known blog Racialacious. One of the highlights of the article is when she describes the challenges she faces as a social activist dealing with racism.
• Picture This: Chromatic Comics Remixes Your Fandoms – by Arturo R. García of Racialicious
  
  Racialicious spotlights Chromatic Comics, which re-imagines media casting using people of color. Featuring Vanessa Williams as Emma Frost and John Cho as Multiple Man – definitely check it out for an entertaining look at what casting could be like… and as fine examples of talented and capable actors of color.
• Worst Network Pilot Season For Women? – by Nikki Finke of Deadline.com
  
  Only a few pilots written by women made it this year. Perhaps some of you Racebending.com readers should politely chime in on the article?