deerstalker

https://blackgirlnerds.com/joseph-sikora-is-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with/

Power Book IV: Force is the latest installment in the Power universe. Centered around fan-favorite Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), this show has proven that Tommy can carry his own weight — no pun intended — outside of Ghost’s shadow. 

The series opens with Tommy leaving New York for good. He has California in his sights but is detoured in Chicago by an old wound that needs tending. He decides to put down roots after a few run-ins with local gangsters and drug dealers. As always with Tommy, trouble ensues as he fights for a place among Chicago’s heaviest hitters. 

Tommy has maintained the charisma that caused us to like this thugged-out white boy in the first place, but does he have what it takes to dismantle and take over a new drug scene? Force’s first season tests Tommy’s mettle, with players the likes of whom he’s never faced and family bonds he didn’t know he had. 

Force debuted with 3.3 million multiplatform views — the biggest premiere in STARZ history — which has secured the show a second season. Sikora spoke with BGN via telephone to discuss the success of the show’s debut, why we root for Tommy, and whether Tommy will ever find love. 

Was there a pivotal moment in your career that led you to the role of Tommy?

Maybe, it was a lack of something in my career that actually made Tommy accessible to me. Rather than somebody who’s been in the public eye from a very young age, I was incognito, observing life, so I was able to bring a lot of life to Tommy. 

I had been doing this for 25 years before I got Tommy. To have a character on the page as two-dimensional and to add the 360 degrees necessary to make him someone we can cry, laugh, live, hate, destroy, and kill with, you need a lot of light to bring into him. 

With Tommy essentially being a bad guy, why do you think the audience likes and roots for him as they do?

I think that there’s a practicality and mysticism in that. The practicality is that Tommy reminds us of ourselves. It’s that version of ourselves in terms of his loyalty, determination, and almost obsession at becoming more than he once was. At his worst, his rage controls him and he makes poor decisions in the land of love and in terms of trusting himself. 

There’s also a little bit of narcissism pushing his idea forward rather than him taking his time to listen. There’s a mystical kind of attraction for the bad guy, gangster, or really, more than anything, the anti-hero in not only our culture but in world culture. 

We forgive Tommy because we know that he loves, not that he just hates. We’ve seen what he loves. Tommy loves loyalty. Tommy loves family. When he loves, he loves deeply and hard. When you see that, it’s not only easy to forgive him, it’s easy to make plans for yourself. 

With Tommy being a fan favorite from the original franchise, were you surprised at the success of Force’s debut?

It was THE biggest. [Laughs.] I wasn’t surprised because of [the success of] Power — it is not my trophy to hang on my shelf. That prize of having the number one rated, most viewed premier in the history of the network is something that I have to very gratefully share with the man, the myth, the legend, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Courtney A. Kemp. Also Mark Canton, our executive producer extraordinaire, who really began this process with an idea. I share it with Gary Lennon, who is our showrunner and cultivator of the Tommy character. I also share this with Omari Hardwick and the entirety of the first cast. I’m just constantly filled with gratitude. I really love playing Tommy, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. That goes for the fans too.

I was nervous about Force, but my fears were allayed in the first few moments in the car scene. 

That was a moment! [Laughs.] That was a whole monologue without words. Larysa Kondracki, who directed it, did something that very few directors do. Gary Lennon did it in Power Season 5, Episode 9, when Tommy kills his father. We would do the scene and then sometimes do the entire scene again without any words. Larysa re-established that. You got to see that whole inner monologue from Tommy just through his emotions. It was awesome.  

How do you feel the shift from New York to your hometown of Chicago has affected Tommy?

I haven’t lived in Chicago for 23 years. New York is really home, but my hometown, my roots, everything is definitely Chicago. When we started filming, all these memories just came flooding back. I came to Chicago a month early to relearn the topography and the feeling of the city. Tommy was learning the city and I was really relearning the city at the same time. 

In terms of its effect on Tommy, in that first episode Vic actually got the drop on Tommy. Everybody forgets that. That was a real wake-up moment. From that moment on, I decided for every scene that Tommy always had his head on a swivel. He’s always taking information in and always clocking things. He’s like a mathematician, but Tommy calculates by feeling. 

Also, the only way for Tommy and Tariq to live was for Ghost to die, making him a martyr. It renewed this second chance. Are Tommy and Tariq going to squander this second chance, or are they going to be able to fulfill whatever their ultimate dreams or desires are? A big shout out to Michael Rainey Jr. because he’s doing a tremendous job carrying the show. 

Tommy has been unlucky in love. Do you have a hope for Tommy in that area?

I wonder if Tommy has hope for Tommy. If Tommy finally gives up on love, love might find its way. 

When you asked me about the career thing, I got the Tommy character right after I got married. Part of that was because I loved something more than I love acting for the first time. When you’re not looking and you’re not desperate, things find you. 

With Gloria, Tommy wasn’t looking for anything — he was trying to get a drink and some mannish water or pepperpot stew. Unfortunately, she was already spoken for, and that sets up a huge amount of the problems in Season 1. Shout out to Gabrielle Ryan, who is absolutely beautiful and talented as a person. We’ll see. If he keeps looking for love, he might find it in the wrong places. 

The first season of Power Book IV: Force is currently available on STARZ. 

http://www.afronerd.com/2022/04/thor-love-thunder-trailer-dc-discovery.html

 

Afronerd Radio can now be heard LIVE courtesy of Apple Music/Itunes

Hey, folks!  Let's just get into it after our brief preemption for the Easter break. Welcome to the latest installment of Afronerd Radio's Mid Week in Review airing each and every Wednesday at 8 p.m. eastern on the BTalk 100 internet broadcasting platform.  Join your cosmic-engineered/Afronerdist hosts as they decipher this (mid) week's topics:  well, we almost forgot that there was another Marvel movie slated for release after Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness but Thor: Love and Thunder DEFINITELY stirred the cinematic pot quite a bit with a new trailer:   

Recent reports on the Discovery and WarnerMedia merger are asserting that the newly-aligned executives are looking to overhaul DC Entertainment, including finding someone to fulfill a role similar to Marvel's Kevin Feige;  and speaking of WarnerMedia, their upcoming "multi-universal" Flash film may be in jeopardy due to their star, Ezra Miller, purportedly getting into violent altercations and subsequent arrests-we have our thoughts; Moon Knight , episode 4 from Disney plus was released earlier today and again, we give you our impressions; A recent Mediaite piece highlights a report that the African-American mayor of Livingston, TN, Curtis Hayes, has proclaimed April to be Confederate History Month and many onlookers are scratching their heads in bewilderment;  Dburt tripped over another interesting anime series, Spy x Family:

There is, a new funk music anthology graphic novel series, by The Time drummer, Jellybean Johnson and FairSquare Comics, entitled, We Can Funk, 

And lastly, our thoughts concerning growing criticisms of the Showtime series, The First Lady, and specifically, Academy Award-winning actress, Viola Davis' portrayal of former FLOTUS, Michelle  Obama.  Something appears "off."  But we will discuss..    

 

One thing that Dburt is doing (finally) is investing in cryptocurrency, courtesy of Roundlyx. We would implore our followers to investigate, discern and then explore by using our referral code: afro-87A4BF

https://blackgirlnerds.com/recognizing-and-coping-with-racial-trauma/

Has there been a time when people of color weren’t experiencing racism? According to Pew Research, the mistreatment of Blacks by police and the criminal justice system happens more amongst Black individuals.

Police brutality, hate speech, and other racist moments leave recipients feeling traumatized. This type of trauma is known as racial trauma or race-based traumatic stress.It can become ingrained in the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, or BIPOC. It can lead them to live in fear, feel hopeless about the future, and prevent them from living out their potential. For those experiencing racial trauma, it’s important to understand the signs and symptoms. This knowledge can lead to better support, recovery, and mental peace for BIPOC communities.

Definition of racial trauma

Mental Health America states that racial trauma is the mental and emotional damage caused by racial bias, ethnic discrimination, hate crimes, and racism. It is experienced through direct means such as receiving acts of violence or discrimination.

It can also be experienced through indirect means such as watching racist moments on the news or being around others who don’t take racism seriously. Although there are many ways to experience this trauma, it is not considered a mental health disorder. Nonetheless, it is a condition that requires proper attention and care.

Living with racial trauma

Because BIPOC are the recipients of racism, it can negatively influence the mind and body. During trauma, the body releases cortisol, a hormone that prepares the body to react. In moments of stress, anger, or anxiety, the body will either combat the situation, pause, or run away. Also known as fight, flight, or freeze.

Constant exposure to racism, such as microaggressions at work, leads to an overproduction of cortisol. Without time and support for the body and mind to process these events and higher levels of cortisol, it can lead to problematic behaviors. Behaviors such as greater apprehension, anxiety and depression, nightmares, aggression, and substance abuse.

Greater apprehension: Events like the death of Ahmaud Arbery and the attacks on elderly Asians all contribute to heightened fears. This can manifest as tensing up when hearing police sirens or not engaging with certain people. Another manifestation includes avoiding everyday routines such as going for a jog or to the supermarket out of fear of racial attacks.

Anxiety and Depression: This can look like feeling anxious when hearing about an act of discrimination and extended periods of depression.

Substance abuse: Turning to alcohol and drugs to cope with the effects of trauma

Aggressive behavior: Feeling the need to show aggression or resistance to protect oneself or loved ones.

Black women can experience this trauma two-fold because of both racial and gender discrimination. Black women can carry a higher allostatic load according to a 2006 study by Trusted Source. This load refers to the “wear and tear” on the body.

With so many damaging side effects BIPOC must have systems and resources in place to cope with this ongoing trauma.

Coping with racial trauma

Coping with racial trauma is best combated in two ways. Supporting oneself and seeking professional support. Here are some examples to follow

Maintain a healthy lifestyle: With all the stress on the body, acts such as eating healthy and getting a full night’s rest can seem simple. Yet when healthy habits are consistent, they can prevent many severe health conditions.

Support a good cause: Activism, volunteering, and any similar community work can help one feel as if they are making a difference. It can offer a sense of control. This type of work is necessary but also very demanding. It’s important to balance this work with other hobbies and enjoyable activities.

Connect with others: Having a strong support system can provide a safe space for those experiencing racial trauma. Meeting with close friends, family, and members of different organizations is a great way to foster these connections.

Seek professional help: More organizations are forming and are in place to provide mental and emotional support for BIPOC. Some of these organizations include: the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network, Therapy for Black Girls, Therapy for Black Men, Therapy for Muslims, Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American (APISAA) Therapist Directory, Therapy for Latinx

It’s vital to recognize that racial trauma is a real issue affecting many BIPOC communities. A starting point is becoming aware of situations and people that may trigger negative responses. Awareness is powerful and allows one to either confront or avoid triggering situations.

Racism is something that can change over time. But in the day-to-day fight, taking care of oneself supports the long-term battle. For anyone experiencing racial trauma, remember to turn off the news when feeling overwhelmed. Cultivate joy daily. Maintain healthy relationships with friends and family. Continue to pursue goals because the hope and dreams of BIPOC are important and valid.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/soft-and-strong-with-geffri-maya-of-all-american-homecoming/

First things first, it’s Geffri Maya, not Geffri Maya Hightower. This is the first thing I learned.

And, no, “Geffri” isn’t a stage name. Her mother liked the juxtaposition of masculine and feminine names and the combination of “soft and strong,” so they landed on Geffri. With her Instagram handle being “girlwithaboysname,” it seems like she’s owning it.

In fact, “Soft and strong” might be the best way to describe both Geffri and her All American: Homecoming character Simone. 

Like Simone, Geffri has attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU). While Simone attends the fictional Bringston University, Geffri graduated from Clark Atlanta. I’m confused when she tells me this because multiple sites have painted her as a twenty-two-year-old, and I’m shocked someone so young could be this accomplished and composed. It turns out, according to Geffri, “that’s very incorrect,” but she’s not upset at the mistake. 

This seems to be a running theme with Geffri: she is driven towards success, but she understands the occasional need for compromise. 

Take, for example, the story of how she landed the role of Simone on the original All American.

Simone was originally written as a three-episode character, “maybe five.” Still, Geffri saw the silver lining: “In a sense, [a supporting role] is attractive because, if you’re connected to a lead, then you know you have some importance, and you know that you’re at least gonna be there for a while.”

“Long enough to at least pay your bills,” she adds. 

Beyond the financial, however, Geffri saw the cultural importance of the role. When I ask what attracted her to the role, she clarifies that, although Simone’s original limited run didn’t have her necessarily sprinting to the audience, All American as a cultural phenomenon did. 

“I was attracted to All American… It was one of those things where it was like, ‘I have to be on this show,’ because it’s about Black people, and I wanted to be a part of it because it had such an impact on the culture.”

With this, I see the “soft.” 

The “strong,” though, comes out moments later when she describes the benefits of being on a popular program. “All American has a huge fanbase: from men to women, Black to white, rich to poor. That’s attractive in general because it allows you to solidify your legacy, in a sense” — the strong — “and to be a part of something that makes people feel good.” The soft. 

Talking to Geffri, I begin to better understand Simone as a character. 

Simone’s arc throughout the season has been one of moving on and growing up — the commonplaces of a college experience. But, of course, hers has been a different journey than that of the college students we usually see on television. She was married, then divorced. She had a child, and then she placed him with an adoptive family. 

She comes from a nuclear family, but “nuclear” means something entirely different when it concerns her combative mother. Though Geffri has had a very different life from this, coming from a single-parent household in which her grandmother was also one of her primary caretakers, she still brings a lot of her own vulnerability and steadfastness to Simone. That said, Geffri is still learning about the character.

“Starting off All American, she was a fixture, to a degree, and support for a lot of different characters’ storylines. But now that we have Homecoming, it’s amazing to actually have an opportunity to get to know her, her experiences, her triggers, and how she moves with the ebbs and flows of being a college student, [with] being a young adult. 

But I think that the most fun aspect of being to grow with the character is that you kind of creates this person. So, it’s kind of like everything that Simone is — to All American, to Homecoming, and to me — I just naturally pull from myself. So it’s fun to add little bits and pieces of Geffri to the role I’m playing because it makes it light-hearted, and it makes it authentic. And that’s what really matters.” 

We discuss Homecoming’s focus on Black Excellence as a theme. When I ask Geffri about this phrase and her relationship to it, the soft and the strong cohere in a way that makes each one indistinguishable from the other. 

“I just think that time has always been now for Black people to be celebrated for who we are. Like, truly authentically. [We’re] not looking to be received under a certain gaze. Unfortunately, we’ve had this mindset that for us to be taken seriously, we have to have our hair a certain kind of way; it has to be a certain kind of length; we have to have a certain kind of skin tone. All of that has been devastating for a people to try to progress past. But,” she adds, “I’m so proud of us as a community, as artists, as movers and shakers… there are so many things we as a people have done and continue to do.”

We circle back to HBCUs and their impact.

“I want kids to be excited to explore and experience what it may be like to be educated by people who look like you. To be in classrooms with people who predominantly look like you.”

The soft and the strong remain cleaved together as she makes a final statement: “I want kids to know that there’s not one type of way to celebrate being Black, to be a Black person. I just want Black people to remember we’re on a steady climb. But we’re here, you know?”

All American: Homecoming is shown Mondays at 9pm on The CW and The CW’s streaming service.

“We’ve always been here.”