Critical Race Theory Does NOT Focus on Individual Racist Actions of White People

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Explaining Critical Race Theory: What It Is and What It Is Not AOC Blackness

A June-release study from left-leaning Media Matters for America totaled up nearly 1,300 mentions of the term ‘critical race theory’ on Fox News in 4.5 months.

In academia, critical race theorists focus on how America's history of racism and discrimination continues to impact the country today, particularly in how racism may have been brushed aside in previous historical accounts.

Few Americans — including the folks on Fox News — can actually explain critical race theory, but its focus is institutional, systemic racism in government, businesses, and even religion.

Despite being the total boogeyman that Fox News, RT News and other right-wing media say — CRT does not focus at all on the individual actions of white people.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, a law professor and central figure in the development of critical race theory, said in a recent interview that critical race theory “just says, let’s pay attention to what has happened in this country, and how what has happened in this country is continuing to create differential outcomes. … Critical Race Theory … is more patriotic than those who are opposed to it because … we believe in the promises of equality. And we know we can’t get there if we can’t confront and talk honestly about inequality.”

Anne of Carversville has a long history of writing about race, religion and political activism. From the moment we saw a YouTube video in President Obama’s 2012 presidential reelection campaign calling him the Devil and featuring the KKK in Colorado, with torches blazing denouncing him as Satan, AOC saw clearly where America is headed.

Media Matters doesn’t have the video either, but their article In 2012, Breitbart tried to use ‘critical race theory’ to take down Obama. It failed miserably’ recaps the situation as AOC remembers it.

Trust Anne of Carversville

The battle is on. I’ve moved to Virginia to be closely involved in the fight for America’s multicultural democracy. AOC’s main focus is first and foremost the facts. The alt-right bullseye in Virginia is Loudoun county outside of Washington, DC and an area that has gone blue in recent years.

It’s hell in Loudoun County.

Children’s school books are being delivered today, so that I can understand precisely what is being taught in schools. AOC will share our learnings with readers, to help them make informed decisions about ‘critical race theory’ in a post-Jan. 6 alt-right, militia movement insurrection to overturn the 2020 presidential election world.

As a young girl in Minnesota, who wept when singing ‘America the Beautiful’, I never though I would see this America in 2021. My own American experiences have taught me that the US is a far more complex country than my first-grade vision

America is in a very, very serious place in our ability to continue on as a democracy. The Trump-voters assault on every political institution is epic, imo, and I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses.

Regular readers of AOC know that I do not hesitate to criticize progressives even though I am one. For this reason, AOC has always enjoyed a solid following and significant personal support for me, among educated, suburban Republican women.

Even Republican conservative women trust AOC’s telling of the facts. We may not agree on certain values-driven topics like Planned Parenthood. But no one has ever accused AOC of making up the facts. We are complimented for being accurate and fair. And we run on no-drama Obama type writing.

AOC hopes to earn that support all over again in the coming months, as America faces its biggest challenge to our imperfect democratic institutions since the Civil War. It’s a painful time in our country, and AOC seeks to be part of the positive solution of protecting our democracy. ~ Anne

Christian Louboutin, Irdis & Sabrina Elba's Monumental 'Walk a Mile in My Shoes' Campaign

Christian Louboutin, Irdis & Sabrina Elba's Monumental 'Walk a Mile in My Shoes' Campaign

Fashion designer Christian Louboutin collaborates with close friends Irdis Elba and his wife Sabrina Elba on a superb campaign to support Black activism and philanthropy. The English actor, writer, producer, rapper, songwriter and DJ is best known for his 2018 role in ‘Black Panther’. Elba played the ruler of Wakanda, a fictional African nation with the most advanced technology. French photographer and director Julien Vallon [IG] captures the campaign.

Sabrina Elba spoke with Glamour UK about the brilliantly-conceived ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’ campaign from Africa, where she is doing philanthropic work with IFAD — the International Fund of Agricultural Development and the UN.

In the month of May 2021, I found myself in a discussion on The Conversation about the impacts of racism on human health. A Trump-supporting white male piped up about American Blacks constantly playing the victims and my response was “Until you’ve walked a mile in the shoes of a Black person in America, do not be accusing them of playing ‘the victim’ card.”

I didn’t add “those words reveal your own ignorant racism”, but that thought was going through my mind.

Amanda Gorman Great American Poet Inspires Reckoning of Conscience

Amanda Gorman Shocks America with Soaring Poetry

Millions around the world were shell-shocked when 22-year-old poet and Harvard grad Amanda Gorman arrived on stage to read her original poem, titled “The Hill We Climb”. Gordan was a true Goddess Rising, wearing a sunny yellow Prada coat, gifted to her as a virtual guest of the brand’s Spring 2021 show.

Paper Magazine writes that Gorman was also a speaker at the Prada Group's 2019 "Shaping a Future Sustainable Society" conference held in partnership with Yale and Politecnico di Milano. The young poet held a round table to discuss the ways businesses can navigate the changing landscape.

Amanda Gorman, the 21-Year-Old Poet Using Her Words as Weapons for Change Document Journal

Gorman, 22, is the youngest inaugural poet , following in the footsteps of other famous poets like Maya Angelou and her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” and Elizabeth Alexander.

Opray Winfrey gifted Gordon her jewelry: Nikos Koulis earrings and an Of Rare Origin “caged bird” ring, paying tribute to Maya Angelou. Oprah had gifted Maya Angelou the coat she wore at Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration and wanted to give one to Gordan as well. The young poet with multiple godmothers had already settled on the yellow Prada coat, a decision also influenced by Miuccia’s feminist credentials.

“I would be nowhere without the women whose footsteps I dance in,” Gorman tweeted. “Here’s to the women who have climbed my hills before.”

Michaela Coel Covers W Magazine 'The New Originals' November, Lensed by Tim Walker

Michaela Coel Covers W Magazine 'The New Originals' November, Lensed by Tim Walker

British actor Michaela Coel is on every list that matters this fall. She covers the current edition of W Magazine with its focus on The New Originals. The June, jaw-dropping debut of Michaela Coel’s ‘I May Destroy You’ HBO hit also put her in the current WSJ Magazine Innovators list and earned her a spot on the TIME 100.

‘I May Destroy You’ narrates the story of Coel’s own sexual assault after her drink is spiked at a bar. A long list of critics bears witness to Coel’s leader of a generation talents and her ”unique ability to distill what could have been an unbearable treatise on the nature of trauma into a sharp, funny, complex, deeply personal show about the nature of existence.”

In her groundbreaking lecture at the 2018 Edinburgh International Television Festival, Coel spoke about her assault publicly for the first time. Not dwelling on the blast of authentic, personal history permeating through her audience, the actor then used the rest of her 53 minutes address share her experiences with racism growing up in London, enrolling in a mostly white drama school, and also as a young actor and TV writer.

The entire video is shared in yesterday’s article about the event, in which Coel also held her audience captive with the story of more than one bag of shit left at her family’s front door and also in the mail box.

Photographer Tim Walker captures these intense portraits of the actor for the November issue of W Magazine, with styling by Sam Walker. Playwright, actor, producer and now budding director Jeremy O. Harris, whose Broadway stunner ‘Slave Play’ earned an outstanding 12 Tony nominations, interviews Michaela Coel. / Makeup by Sam Bryant; hair by Cyndia Harvey

How Michaela Coel Stunned the British TV Industry, Calling Out Racism and Sexism

How Michaela Coel Stunned the British TV Industry, Calling Out Racism and Sexism

As the Edinburgh TV Festival delegates took their seats for the 43rd MacTaggart Lecture, you could hear the murmurs of anticipation. For the first time since these lectures began in 1976, the keynote speaker was young, black and female.

At last the British broadcasting industry was acknowledging the need to address issues of diversity and inclusion from this prestigious platform by inviting a young British comedian from east London to take the floor. As he introduced her, Philip Edgar-Jones from Sky Arts acknowledged that the choice of Michaela Coel “truly breaks new ground, making you wonder what we’ve been doing all these years”.

Over the next 45 minutes Coel gave a brave and challenging talk, presenting a revealing account of her own journey as a young creative talent from an immigrant Ghanaian family in Tower Hamlets. Famous as the award-winning screenwriter, producer and star of the E4 sitcom Chewing Gum, her skin colour, gender, age (just 30), and the relatively short time she has worked in television, all indicate very different credentials that set her apart from her predecessors.

Billie Eilish in British GQ July-August 2020 | Eilish Supports Black Lives Matter

Billie Eilish in British GQ July-August 2020 | Eilish Supports Black Lives Matter

Billie Eilish covers the July/August 2020 issue of British GQ. Danielle Levitt is behind the lens with styling by Samantha Burkhart.

If you’ve never read a Billie Eilish interview, then this one is for you.

Written by Jonathan Heaf, it’s long and very in-depth. In 2019 at age 17, Billie Ailish’s album sold more than any other in America and she hit six billion streams on Spotify. This year she is tagged as the youngest artist to win four Grammys at once. And her classic Bond theme ‘No Time To Die’ morphs into a Boomer-approved musical panorama with widespread appeal.

At this moment (6/16/2020 2:07 PM) Billie Eilish is in a rage over the Friday night murder of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Generally-speaking Eilish has joined the army of white people disgusted with white people. AOC has been in that camp since our founding in 2007, and we’re devoted to turning the tide of racism in America and beyond.

Octavia Spencer Stars As Madam CJ Walker, First US Woman Self-Made Millionaire on Netflix

In 1910, Madam C.J. Walker, the black haircare pioneer and business mogul, became America’s first female self-made millionaire. Note that she did not become the first black woman millionaire, but the first WOMAN, American-made millionaire.

The daughter of former slaves, Madam Walker was born into freedom, just a few years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by US President Abraham Lincoln, abolishing slavery as America approached its third year of a bloody Civil War.

The four-part series is inspired by the biography,’ On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker’, written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. Actor Octavia Spencer stars as the iconic businesswoman, Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, and Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia. 

The series will premiere on March 20 on Netflix. Watch this interview of A’Lelia Bundles about Madame Walker by economist, writer and syndicated columnist Julianne Malveaux.

Michaela Coel Launches Hugo Blick Netflix Drama 'Black Earth Rising' On Rwandan Genocide

Michaela Coel wears Asai top and pants, and Georgiana Scott earrings. Photographed by Laura Coulson, Vogue, February 2019. Styling by Charlotte Roberts.

The February 2019 issue of Vogue US touches base with writer and actor Michaela Coel in a small cafe near her London apartment. AOC first met up with the Bafta-winning actor Coel in the February issue of British Vogue. Her essay ‘Flight Or Fight: Michaela Coel On Why We Need To Talk About Race’ was calming, as she dug deeper into the topic of ‘white privilege’ and racial stereotypes than the usual talking heads. I can learn from Michaela Coel.

"We are not campaigning for you to hand over your money, job, Upper Class flights and land... rather it’s the freeing of your minds from history we want"

Coel, now 31, rose to fame in Britain in the “semiautobiographical and widkedly funny TV series ‘Chewing Gum’. After dropping out of university twice, Coel ended up in drama school. So totally disenchanted with the roles offered to her, she wrote her own one-woman theatrical show, one that eventually became ‘Chewing Gum’.

‘Black Earth Rising’

Her latest TV project ‘Black Earth Rising’ is an eight-part drama by Hugo Blick, in which Coel plays Kate Ashby, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. The series will debut on Netflix January 25.

Kate is raised as the adopted daughter of Eve (Harriet Walter), a British barrister, who joins forces with her colleague Michael (John Goodman) take on the prosecution of an African warlord who played a role in ending the genocide.

In the series, Kate has to reevaluate her ideas of right and wrong, which is perhaps why she wrote such an insightful essay on race a year ago. “This role changed me as a person,” she says.

Her next project is a twelve-part drama looking at sexual consent in the #MeToo era. Cole is the sole writer for the series, one that is inspired by her own experience of a 2016 sexual assault by strangers. “It was horrific,” Coel says about the attack. “I needed two and a half years away from the event to write about it.” Coel engages—on Instagram—with her fans, many of whom have shared with her their own experience of harassment. “I really wish to give this as a gift to them,” she says. Read on at Vogue US.

Actor Michael Coel photographed by Laura Coulson, Vogue, February 2019 Styling by Charlotte Roberts.