(What's IJMSSMO mean?)
I've written before about one of my favorite new (to me) bloggers Ta-Nehisi Coates. Most recently, his posts about Big Love that led to discussion of his "non-traditional" family which led to his debate against conservative comments really spoke to me and led me to write:
The world might tell me that as a white gay dude with no interest in procreating that I'd have nothing in common with the family described [here], but the world would be wrong. I spent a lot of my 20s trying to figure out how to measure my worth after I threw away the stick the world expected me to measure myself by; this was especially hard because, when I started examining my own life, I realized my parents -- and their traditional values -- did such a good job somehow raising a man who was able to reject their path and still value himself. I wanted to do what they did without making any of the same choices. We're all just trying to make ourselves new surrounded by ancient songs we don't always realize we're hearing.
Similarly he wrote about how his belief on "my" family type are shaped by his own:
My personal feelings about gay marriage are deeply, deeply influenced by my family history. It's something to think of yourself as normal, and then go out into the world and find out that your style is actually frowned on. Families need to be utilitarian, not doctrinal. If it works, let it work.
His take on Alan Keyes was outstanding, and enjoyable to anybody who remembers his disgusting campaign for Illinois Senate:
...never confuse the ability to manipulate the spoken word, with wisdom, with deep insights, with original thinking... I thought about that lesson, when I saw Keyes fulminating against Barack Obama.... Obama, in Keyes eyes, is not the president of the United States, but "an abomination" who must be "stopped." Keyes, a product of the Ivy Leagues, has long been held aloft as some sort of intellectual of the far right. But anyone who's ever seen the wannabe Malcolms coming out of the prison talking "knowledge of self," anyone who's read Soul On Ice, knows exactly what Alan Keyes is--a highly articulate thug.
I also really liked what he wrote yesterday about black and white racial and ethnic identies
Thus claiming that Barack Obama saying "We straight," isn't black because white people get it, is like claiming enchiladas aren't Mexican because all the black people I know love them. Oy is still Yiddish--no matter how many non-Jews use the expression. These things tend to overlap, and allowing for the differences between a racial blackness and a cultural/ethnic blackness, we can see how a pound can be an African-American invention, and yet still be an act performed by the Duke lacrosse team.
For the record, I think this is one of the reasons why blacks and whites tend to talk past each other. We need to avoid this lazy idea that black is simply the opposite of white, and be conscious of when we're discussing ethnic identity, racial identity or both.
By now, you're asking yourself what this has to do with the graphic above, right? Both are represent something politically charged, genius, and something I like, but it's a little bit more direct than that.
It turns out Coates, despite his awesomeness and geek cred, has never read Watchmen, which led me to comment and reminisce about how I discovered it:
I'm very interested to hear what you think about it. I didn't read it when it originally came out, but I did read it in college in an original 12 issue set when a friend lent it to me. Though, at the time, I hadn't been "into comics" for years, I was -- and am still -- touched that he brought it back to school specifically for me because he thought it was important that I read it because he knew it was "my type of thing."
That said, because it has been described by so many as such a work of genius, I often wonder if those who haven't read it wouldn't think it would live up to the hype. But I've never met anyone who hasn't read it since the hype has gone so mainstream, so like I said, I look forward to your thoughts.
However, since I originally wrote this, I re-read Watchmen again -- in preparation for the movie -- which is stupid because the movie should get to stand on its own. However, though I'm sure I will love the movie, even if it doesn't hit all the right notes, the comic still lives up to the hype, and I find new things each and every time.
A little trivia about me: When I was courting PunkAndy and he was in need of some reading materials, I included my copy of Watchmen in my care package to him. While this may seem selfish -- and perhaps it is slightly narcissistic to see if a boy likes you by lending him one of your favorite things -- I was actually just trying to impress him.
Speaking of impressive, an impressive group of five are heading to see Watchmen tonight at midnight. I. Can't. Wait. (Though since it means we won't be getting out of the theater until nearly 3AM -- talk about your doomsday clock -- and I have to work tomorrow, it means I'll be taking a disco nap tonight after work.)
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