https://blackgirlnerds.com/podcast-running-for-senate-with-qasim-rashid/

BGN Politics is running for senate with Qasim Rashid this week!

We’re excited to bring to you this brand new podcast focused on the issues that impact our lives and the well-being of our families.

In this episode, Jamie Broadnax chats with author, human rights activist and attorney Qasim Rashid who is running as a Democratic Party candidate for the Virginia Senate District 28. Qasim is vying to become the first Muslim state senator — by challenging incumbent Republican state Sen. Richard Stuart, who has run unopposed since 2007. The last time a Democrat was elected in Virginia’s 28th state Senate district was 1975, over 40 years ago so Qasim definitely has some challenges here, but he’s up for it.

The Virginia Senate District 28 represents parts of Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, and Westmoreland Counties. In Virginia, all 140 seats are up for grabs on the Nov. 5 ballot. Republicans hold a slim majority in both the House of Delegates and Senate, so voters will determine who controls both chambers.

We discuss issues important to both Virginians and Americans like healthcare, gun control, and voter suppression.

For more info on Qasim Rashid, you can visit his website: rashidforva.com/

Music by: FilmStro filmstro.com/music
Support our podcast on Patreon: www.patreon.com/blackgirlnerds
For 10% off Better Help go to betterhelp.com/bgn

The post PODCAST: Running For Senate with Qasim Rashid appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

https://www.essence.com/videos/two-year-anniversary-me-too-movement/

Long before #MeToo went viral in 2017, there was the ‘me too.’ Movement. In fact, Tarana Burke, veteran organizer, activist, and movement builder, began this work in 2006 in order to help survivors of sexual violence—particularly Black women and girls—find ways to heal.

When #MeToo took off on Twitter, many survivors used it as a means to help tell their stories, thus breaking the stigma of silence most survivors of sexual violence are forced to carry. It has been two years since Burke and her epic movement were thrust into the spotlight—a place Burke tells ESSENCE she never wanted to be in.

“I recognize the need for me to stay visible in a particular type of way in order for people to talk about the movement. So I’ve embraced the visibility a little bit more now. I still don’t think there’s a need for a celebrity in this work, but I think that a person who is visible and vocal and consistent is definitely necessary,” Burke told ESSENCE.

And Burke has embraced her role in her own movement, realizing that it’s up to her to keep the momentum going. “Two years later, we have this amazing, global platform now to talk about sexual violence, to deal with sexual violence and to galvanize survivors. I’m excited about where we are. I wish we were a little further, culturally. I wish that the conversation around what the ‘me too.’ movement is, was different,” Tarana Burke shared.

Hearing the hashtag, and the movement, transformed into a verb in pop culture, i.e., “Me Too-ed,” is upsetting for Burke. She says that it makes the movement about taking men down, which is not what’s happening, nor is it her intention. She said, “It’s so diminishing to the people who have labored to come forward to even say, ‘me too.'”

Check out the video above to see what Tarana Burke hopes for the movement going forward and what advice she’d like to offer Black men.

The post Two-Year Anniversary Of #MeToo: What’s Next For The ‘me too.’ Movement? appeared first on Essence.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/bgn-explores-etan-comics-jember-and-hawi/

Etan Comics presents Jember and Hawi which tells the beautiful tales from the African diaspora.

While perusing the aisles at one of the summer conventions I attended, I ran across an unassuming gentleman. What caught my eye was a magnificent Black female superhero that adorned his booth and that some of his titles were not in English. While you occasionally run across a title here and there in Spanish, Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia) is not that frequent. The title available was Jember. It was created and written by Bererat Debebe, with the art done by Stanley Obende. There were two issues available at the table, so I took a chance.

It seems like our knowledge of the continent, not country, of Africa comes from the dictator-led violence on the news, the endless safaris on the nature channels, the focus on the grand ancient civilization in the northeast corner of the continent, or the fanciful portrayal of a fictional technologically advanced nation. While the major publishers tend to reinforce the stereotypes of Africa through titles like Jungle Action, which held the first solo story featuring the Black Panther, the routine life of people on the continent are normally ignored. There was an attempt at normal people for a time at DC Comics with the Batwing series in 2011, but the hero’s time in Africa was quickly ended as the character immigrates to Gotham City and another rises to take his place.

What I liked most about Jember was that it went through the day of a normal man, Amanuel Tilahun, who happens to be in Addis Ababa, the capital of the country of Ethiopia. After a day of job hunting, he is playing football (soccer in America) with his friends. He scores, and the ball (as they tend to do without a net) goes off into a ditch. Everyone else calls it a day, but Aman does not. He retrieves the ball, but the ground disappears beneath his feel and he discovers something that changes his life forever.

The second issue is a great way for the newly minted hero, Jember, to find out about his new abilities. The cohesiveness of Debebe, Obende, and the colorist Akanni Akorede enhances the storytelling. There is a page in the first issue where the character is playing football that really makes you feel the action. With two issues in, there is a reasonably likable character who gets powers, explores them, and has to use them to clean up a situation he created — think Greatest American Hero or the more recent Shazam movie. The source of the abilities, an ancient civilization that existed partially in Ethiopia and Eritrea, is hinted at but not really explored or explained. Also at this point, Jember seems to want to do good, but his motivations still remain unclear. I gave my issues to my brother and his comment was, “Black Panther without all the royal stuff.” I can’t argue with that, so I will just leave it there.

Although not head-over-heels with Jember, I remembered the magnificent Black female superhero and wondered about the status of the release of that title. I was in luck. It was available on the Etan Comics website and the Kickstarter was active. The hero is Hawi, and it is also by Debebe and Obende. The first issue starts with the early life of Ement Legesse and the mysterious death of her father in Ankober, Ethiopia. Not willing to raise her child in Ethiopia, her mother moves her family to the United States. A relative’s death leads Ement back home to Ethiopia, where she discovers her father, her friends, and several mysteries. Unlike Jember, Hawi seems to establish the conflict up front with the mysterious death of her father rather than focus on the supernatural abilities. I also found the ending compelling as we, like Hawi, have a WTF moment after she takes a literal leap of faith without any thought for the consequences and ends far from where she ever imagined.

There is something for everyone in the Etan Comics Universe, but the one I constantly watch the website for updates is Hawi. The Kickstarter is doing well, with them working on the stretch goals as they are at four times their goal the last time I checked. So if it is not clear, take a chance and support the Kickstarter or purchase either at the Etan Comics website. Of all the Black indy titles I read, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hawi is the one we see one day on the screen.

E.Angel is an engineer and holds a BS in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. In her spare time, she works at her comic book store — Brainstorm Comics and Gaming — when she is not writing. She’s a real nerd who loves all things Star Wars and Star Trek, and is an avid gamer. E.Angel can be reached at e9of10@gmail.com or on either game platform as Bunnehs Sister.

The post BGN Explores Etan Comics: ‘Jember’ and ‘Hawi’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

https://nerdist.com/article/is-zoe-kravitz-returning-fantastic-beasts-3/

Zoë Kravitz will star as Selina Kyle in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but the announcement goes well beyond Gotham’s city limits. Her casting might have also revealed some unexpected news for the wizarding world. Variety‘s Justin Kroll says Kravitz had been atop the filmmakers wish list to play Catwoman since the summer, but it wasn’t clear she’d be available thanks to her Fantastic Beasts 3 schedule. That wouldn’t be a big deal if Kravitz’s Leta Lestrange didn’t seem to die in The Crimes of Grindelwald. But if she wasn’t really killed by the Dark Wizard, what exactly happened to her? The answer won’t be easy for the Scamander brothers to hear.

Couple things regarding this casting. Seems Kravtiz has been high on the list for some time going back to August but the worry was always scheduling with her FANTASTIC BEASTS schedule, which has caused talent like Ezra Miller to pass on things in the past

— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) October 14, 2019

There have been no previous reports that Kravitz would appear in another Fantastic Beasts movie, though it’s always been possible Kravitz could appear via flashbacks. The Harry Potter franchise has used them frequently, including in The Crimes of Grindelwald. But if her shooting schedule is potentially cumbersome enough it almost prevented her from playing Catwoman, it seems unlikely she will only be filming a handful of flashback scenes for the third installment. With Warner Bros. being the home of the Fantastic Beasts franchise and The Batman, it wouldn’t be a challenge to work out a way for her to have a small role in one film while also starring in another.

Leta Lestrange is almost certainly alive if she has a lot of shooting to do in Fantastic Beasts 3 (we doubt she’ll show up floating around like Nearly Headless Nick). According to Kravitz herself the original plan was for her character to survive The Crimes of Grindelwald. As Hypable noted, last December Kravitz told her Fantastic Beasts co-star Dan Fogler on his 4D Xperience podcast that Leta was initially supposed to survive. “I think it was kind of a last minute change that she gets toasted,” Kravitz said when discussing her character’s fiery end.

Warner Bros.

In the moment, Leta’s death was weird. The character’s importance had been teased in the first movie, and she became a major figure in the second, with a lot of the film dedicated to her tragic past and her relationship with Newt. It seemed strange J.K. Rowling took all that time to establish her history and connection to the Scamander brothers only for her to die so quickly. Leta’s role in the franchise makes way more sense if Rowling’s plans for the character extended past The Crimes of Grindewald. If Leta is alive, the obvious question is “how,” since the last we saw her she appeared to disintegrate in Grindelwald’s swirling blue flame. Unless that’s exactly what Grindelwald wanted it to look like.

Gellert Grindelwald is one of the most powerful wizards ever, and the raging magical blaze he created was unlike anything we’ve seen a magical being conjure before. It overtook and consumed numerous aurors before a team of wizards led by Nicolas Flamel was able to put it out. That fire had multiple properties though. It burned Grindelwald’s enemies, including his follower Krall whose devotion was in question. As Krall walked through it he screamed in pain as his body was torn to shreds.

via GIPHY
Those loyal to Grindewald though, which came to include Credence and Queenie, safely walked through it unharmed without Grindelwald doing anything to keep them safe.

Neither of those things happened to Leta however, at least not the exact same way. As Grindelwald focused his flame on the Scamander brothers, Leta called out to Grindewald. When he turned his attention to her, Leta’s fiancé Thesesus Scamander screamed her name, which Grindelwald had a strange reaction to. The Dark Wizard seemed caught off guard by their connection, as though it was new information he quickly processed as worth knowing. And anything worth knowing is worth exploiting.

via GIPHY

After pretending she was joining Grindelwald, Leta went on the attack so Newt and Theseus could escape. Over matched, she was quickly enveloped by the blue flame, but it didn’t immediately destroy her like it did the others. It was only when Grindelwald pointed his wand at Leta that she was “killed,” breaking apart like Krall, but without the pained scream.

via GIPHY
Why did Grindelwald need his wand to kill Leta when he didn’t need it to kill Krall? The obvious answer is because he didn’t kill her. Grindelwald’s followers were safely being transported out of the middle of the crypt with magic while the blue fire raged. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to also send the pure blood witch who he had hoped to recruit somewhere else, especially moments after realizing how important she was to the Scamander boys. Grindelwald knows how confident Dumbledore is in Newt’s ability to stop his’s war, so it would make sense to take a prisoner who could cause the Scamander family tremendous pain. Who will Theseus side with if the love of his life is still alive? How willing will Newt be to fight Grindelwald if it might result in Leta’s death? She’s more valuable to Grindelwald alive than she ever would be dead.

The final scene from The Crimes of Grindelwald takes place in the Austrian Alps at Grindelwald’s headquarters, Nurmengard Castle, which will one day become the prison he dies in. We might learn it might also be where he kept a presumed dead Leta Lestrange captive, an important insurance program against his enemies.

Hopefully not even a magical prison can keep Catwoman locked up.

Featured Image: Warner Bros.

The post Is Zoë Kravitz’s Leta Lestrange Returning for FANTASTIC BEASTS 3? appeared first on Nerdist.