The Black Snob Feed

The Snob Among Hello Beautiful's 25 Women to Know 2013

Danielle Belton — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:44:42 +0000

Yup. Yours truly, along with Francesca Ramsey, Patrice Grell Yursik (aka Afrobella), Awesomely Luvvie, Angela Yee, Necole Bitchie and many more were all honored by sites Hello Beautiful and Black Planet for being among the 25 Women to Watch in 2013. Last year (and this year) have been quite the years for the ol' Snob as I wound up in all sorts of places: editor-at-large for Clutch Magazine Online, quoted in Ms. Magazine, head writer of a TV show (that sadly was cancelled, waaaaaaaah!), a regular on NPR (Happy Birthday, Michel Martin of Tell Me More!), I'm writing a book (as always), I'm writing a TV pilot (that's new!) and I'm, as always, doing media appearances on any and everything while staying on my grind. It's not a bad life. So far I've managed to keep afloat without completely burning out, resorting to hysterics or starting a new life making my "livin's" via casino theme games. (Perhaps ones involving Spades as that's the only card game I know besides UNO and Go Fish. Can you get rich off Go Fish?) But life has been good to me and you guys, my readers, have been good to me through all the ups and downs and changes in job titles. I appreciate it. I hope I'm still doing things worth watching in 2014 and years to come.

TV on the Internet: An End to Awkward Black Girl, But A New Beginning For Issa Rae

Danielle Belton — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:01:20 +0000

The fourth in a series of stories on the people behind your favorite YouTube channels, new and old. Previous entries include Alison McDonald's "She Got Problems," Patti LaHelle's "Got 2 B Real," and Tanjareen's "The Celibate Nympho Chronicles." This time we take a look at the uber popular series by Issa Rae that wrapped this year, "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl."

Issa Rae, the writer and star of web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl went Hollywood as she wrapped season two of her show this February and continued to branch out into other YouTube series. She's pitching shows to major TV networks in Hollywood and blowing up, all because of the popular web series she created and launched.

Part of ABG's success was in how it struck a cord with decidedly uncool and awkward black people everywhere, excited to see someone telling their humorous story, showing a side of African American life that has nothing to do with all the popular stereotypes we often are tied to. If anything, the show played around with those expectations, mocking them and how they often show up in our lives in unexpected places and very awkward times.

Earlier this spring, Issa, who I got to work with back when I was head writer for BET's Don't Sleep, hosted by T. J. Holmes, answered some questions I had about Awkward Black Girl, going Hollywood and living and dying by the instant feedback of the Internet.

* * *

SNOB: There's a complete lack of scripted programming targeting black audiences on network and cable TV. Very different from how TV was when we were growing up in some ways as we remember the Cosbys and when FOX, UPN and the WB (both merged later to become the CW), were full of black shows and programming. Of course, those networks dumped that programming when it no longer fit into their branding. Where do you think programming like the shows you're producing and ABG fit as you use non-traditional means to fill a void?

ISSA: I think they fit everywhere! I just think that, as you said, a lot of networks and studios don't want to take a chance and risk the branding/advertising opportunities they have. I think that a lot of networks think that "white" is more relatable and more broad than color. And "broad," by their definition, means more money. And to quote a rapper somewhere probably, "green is the only color that matters, at the end of the day." So that's why you see a lack of shows of color, outside of VH1, BET and Univision.

SNOB: What has the response been like for season two and did you receive any negative feedback when your character picked White Jay? I had one particular friend who was all heated over it. Do you get viewer response like that?

ISSA: The response for Season 2 has been great. We got a LOT more major press this season and gained a really diverse audience. Some people felt like the second season wasn't as funny as the first, but we really focused on making the series feel like a television show the second time around. We wanted to focus more on getting to know J, as a person. Her fears and insecurities.

I got mostly positive feedback about White Jay. There were (and still are) those few commenters who maintain that I killed "black love," but I don't take it to heart because WHAT THE FUCK? As if a Web series could single-handedly kill Black Love. But we definitely get commenters who are SUPER into the series. Anytime I post a picture of me with a guy friend, I'm sure to see "That's NOT White Jay!!!!" somewhere in the comments. I take it as a compliment that people are so invested in the series. But it's also like, calm down, I'm a real person, too.

SNOB: Do you ever feel pressured to alter a script because there is so much immediate feedback online -- both love and hate?

ISSA: Absolutely. And I kind of love that about the Internet. White Jay was a result of Internet feedback pressure. He was only supposed to be a one episode guest and the audience went crazy for him in the comments section, so we expanded his storyline to one that ended up dominating the season.

Part of my biggest fear for season 2 was that we were writing and shooting half of the episodes in advance, so we wouldn't be able to rely on audience feedback as much. There are definitely things we did differently in the second half of the season, based on the feedback of the first half.

SNOB: What are the pros and cons of doing a show like yours on YouTube versus going through the network/cable system? From just getting it through the pilot/approval process to working with a network while trying to execute your vision if you were on air. What would change?

ISSA: Well, the immediate audience feedback like we talked about above is a huge pro of being on YouTube. I believe that a lot of the work on YouTube is the raw and unfiltered voice of the creator, which can be a good and bad thing (Good if it's good. Bad if it's wack). With YouTube, you can come up with an idea, shoot it, and put it up. Sometimes in the span of a DAY if you want to. With network, you have SO much input, a timeline, standards and censorship to adhere to. But the big thing that makes all the pain of network red tape worth it is the MONEY. That check will make people withstand a lot.

SNOB: What's your end game, long term goal with Awkward Black Girl? How long do you think you'll do the series?

ISSA: I never really planned to do ABG online for more than two seasons. I don't like to drag anything out unnecessarily, but if there's more story in me, we'll see.

SNOB: I know you're pitching some shows to networks right now. If one of your ideas gets picked up, how will that affect ABG?

ISSA: ABG is already on hiatus indefinitely. I'll probably do short spin-offs, but unless it goes to cable television or film, I don't see ABG, as it is now, continuing.

SNOB: What was the moment when you realize ABG was bigger than you'd anticipated in its following online?

ISSA: Man, when the first episode aired and I started getting all these emails from strangers claiming their new "Awkward" identity. All these blogs like that I frequented like Clutch Mag, Shadow and Act and BGLH were posting it and the comments were just ridiculously positive. Very validating.

SNOB: What been the best and the worst about working with networks in trying to get a show made?

ISSA: The best is the experience. Working with people who get what you're trying to do and having them bring the best out of you. The worst is the endless, differing voices and input. It made me realize how truly subjective comedy is, when you get a note that just isn't funny or doesn't align with ANYTHING you'd ever do. That can be frustrating.

SNOB: What's next for you in the online space? Are you producing more shows? What can we look forward to? Will you be doing more acting?

ISSA: In addition to creating more shows, I'm finding new voices online and producing and distributing content on my YouTube channel. I just collaborated with one of my favorite content creators, BLACK&SEXYTV to executive produce Roomieloverfriends on my channel. That was a major success and we're working on Season 2. I'm developing a show for Tracey Edmonds' AlrightTV called "The Choir." We just launched another collaborative show with a hilarious writing team called, "How Men Become Dogs." And there's plenty plenty more. I'm all about giving you the voices that mainstream media isn't.

As far as acting is concerned, I need more training. I just enrolled in a directing course. Then I'll tackle some acting courses and go from there.

SNOB: Do you consider yourself an actor who writes or a writer who acts?

ISSA: Definitely a writer who acts, sometimes.

SNOB: If ABG had existed during the 90s, the heyday of the black sitcom, which show would you liked to have showed up on for a cross-over? Would ABG get hit on by a college-bound Will Smith on the Fresh Prince? Would she hang out with the ladies of Living Single? Would she nerd bond with Urkel?

ISSA: Definitely Living Single. J needs some more friends and they were such a varied group of women. It would have been fun to see J and Maxine kick it. Cynical Sistahs Unite.

SNOB: When you deal with setbacks what is it that you fall back to or draw your strength from to keep moving forward and maintaining belief in your vision?

ISSA: I always think about the fact that I wouldn't want to do anything else. Ever. And that everything happens for a reason. Soooo many negative things have led to positive outcomes, so that silver lining keeps me going.

The Snob Quoted This Month In Ms. Magazine

Danielle Belton — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:42:54 +0000

Guess which story I was interviewed for? Durr. Beyonce. It's always Beyonce.

Point #1: I like how Ms. found one of the most conservative photos ever of King Bey. It's like a photo from the time she got bored and decided to enter and win the Miss America beauty pageant.

Point #2: That headline is missing a question mark as in the interview with author Janell Hobson we were debating if Beyonce's actions and lyrics could be considered feminist. VERDICT IS STILL OUT!

Check the magazine out on newsstands this spring and summer.

I'm also quoted this week in an article about black people and mental illness on The Root, written by mi amiga Keli Goff. Check that out as well here.

The Snob Talks Danny Brown and Consent on NPR

Danielle Belton — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:25:37 +0000

Rapper Danny BrownThis Wednesday on NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin, I was on discussing rapper Danny Brown being fellated by a fan from the audience as he was rapping on stage. Rapper Kitty Pryde, who is touring with Brown, condemned the act, calling it sexual assault. For me, this was about consent (which is the basis of sexual assault). Whether Brown enjoyed it or not is a non-factor as he had no way of consenting to anything if he was on stage performing. Despite popular belief, men (especially black men) are not sex automatons, ready to go at anytime incapable of being molested, assaulted or raped. They do get a say about who they want to have sex with and when.

Check out the convo, featuring myself, Prof. Mark Anthony Neal, Deputy Director Malik Washington of the William Kellibrew Foundation, and Village Voice music critic Jessica Hopper.

Nobody's Mother on Mother's Day

Danielle Belton — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:55 +0000

My mother and her baby (my baby sister) who eventually went on to be the only one of us to have a baby."Happy Mother's Day!" He said, so happy and bright and full of expectation.

In the past I used to say, "Oh, I'm not a mother" but that seemed to endlessly disappoint the black men who said this to me with all the vigor saying it to their own beloved mothers. So now, unless someone on Twitter or Facebook says it to me (aka, my friends who should know I ain't birthed nobody's baby), I just smile and nod and go on.

But this happens because I'm in my mid-30s and, statistically, I should be someone's mother by now. I'm a once married (more than a decade ago) African American woman over 30. How did I make it this far without a kid? The answer is an easy one.

Modern science + chronic singledom + workaholic + barely dating + occasional long periods of abstinence = no baby.

I mean, you do have to DO something to get a baby and I don't do the things you need to do to end up with child. I have no steady boyfriend nor that thing you have when he's not your boyfriend, but you still "do it." I have no husband. I only recently started dating again. I realize people like to pretend like black women get pregnant all on their lonesome, but you really do need some man (or at least his sperm) to be involved to make that baby happen. Right now, I'm still in "keeping these eggs to myself" mode. Which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that I actually want children.

I love children. I love babies. Heck, on certain days when they're not of the surly variety, I like teenagers. I love kids. But I don't have any of my own out of fear of having kids with the ... dun dun dun ... wrong person.

Nothing terrifies me more than sharing DNA with someone who turns out to be a lunatic, or abusive, or a magician pulling disappearing acts, and skipping out on raising his kid. I realize that most men are not these things. But then there's the issue of just pure compatibility and love. I want to have a kid out of love, within the confines of a loving, healthy relationship. Hahahahaha. I might as well say I'd like to have a child on the moon since those are also really hard to come by. It's not that people don't have them. I see people in relationships. Some very happy and functional. But I know a lot of unhappy, dysfunctional ones too.

Love is a crap shoot. I don't care what all those Steve Harvey books say. Some of the worst people ever have a partner. They didn't follow not nary one tip anyone ever gave. They had sex on the first date. They met in the club. They didn't watch Oprah. They read no books. Yet they ended up with someone, sometimes someone ten times better than their sorry ass deserved. So you end up saying dumb crap, like, "I'm going to be a bad boy/bitch because women/men like bad boys/bitches." But you're still neither of those things, so you just suck at it and people can see through you, then run away because you're creepily inauthentic.

Even my parents, who have a great marriage going on 41 years, met purely be accident. My mother showed up at my father's apartment one day and that awkward, sweet little pretty woman turned out to be the love of his life. He didn't know it was going to last forever. No one can game these sort of things. And being it was the 70s, they got engaged after six months and were married six months later. I know folks who've been with the same person for a decade and are at Chrissy Jones-levels of "DAMMIT, MARRY ME" and the relative Jim Jones in their lives are like "Errrruuuuhhhh."

When I asked my father for dating advice he actually gave me the "It happened on accident" story and told me all I could do was try to level my playing field. That I wasn't doing anything right or wrong because there's no right or wrong way. It's a crap shoot, so maybe be the best you, you can be and meet more people, was his advice.

None of this ends up with "baby" at the end though. None of this guarantees motherhood in the very specific way I want motherhood. But in my desire to have what I truly want, will time tick away my chances at having a kid? After all, I can meet the love of my life at 50, but my chances of pushing out a baby at 50 (or still wanting to at half-a-century) are nil. Hopefully if I end up never being anyone's mother, the sacrifice will be worth it. As in, maybe I gave up having a kid to pursue my dreams and if my dreams come true I can just adopt.

Of course, as my sister says, I'll always have my nephew, who will greatly benefit if he continues to be the only child in this family full of aunts with disposable income and no kids. That kid's going to grow up thinking "aunties" don't have children, they have nephews.

And he's going to give me that look like, "And really, isn't that enough?"

Reason #367 Why You Don't Have A Job? You're Black and You Don't Know the Hook Up

Danielle Belton — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:26:11 +0000

Nancy Ditomaso on The New York Times Opinotator blog writes how "Black" Twitter and your Facebook friends who put extra sayings in their names like Natasha Ohsofine Washington, are not helping you get a job. This is because they don't know anyone. This is unlike your friends on "White" Twitter and their Facebook friends who don't have clever handles because they might know someone who has a job connection and everyone knows fancy job places don't hire people with elaborate nicknames as googleable public record.

As if it weren't hard enough with black unemployment at 13.2 percent, now you have to worry about how you don't know anyone who, as 90s era Master P would say, "got the hook up."

From The New York Times:

Favoritism is almost universal in today’s job market. In interviews with hundreds of people on this topic, I found that all but a handful used the help of family and friends to find 70 percent of the jobs they held over their lifetimes; they all used personal networks and insider information if it was available to them.

And ...

Help is not given to just anyone, nor is it available from everyone. Inequality reproduces itself because help is typically reserved for people who are “like me”: the people who live in my neighborhood, those who attend my church or school or those with whom I have worked in the past. It is only natural that when there are jobs to be had, people who know about them will tell the people who are close to them, those with whom they identify, and those who at some point can reciprocate the favor.

Because we still live largely segregated lives, such networking fosters categorical inequality: whites help other whites, especially when unemployment is high. Although people from every background may try to help their own, whites are more likely to hold the sorts of jobs that are protected from market competition, that pay a living wage and that have the potential to teach skills and allow for job training and advancement. So, just as opportunities are unequally distributed, they are also unequally redistributed.

All of this may make sense intuitively, but most people are unaware of the way racial ties affect their job prospects.

Before the whole "blacksnob" thing happened and back when I used to look at Essence Magazine and The American Prospect and other magazines and wondered how people got to be writers there, I used to say my parents' only sin was that they didn't know anyone. And by "anyone," I mean I grew up in the Midwest with an engineer father and an ex-school teacher mother who had no connections to the worlds of art, television, journalism, film and writing I wished to be part of. So even though I was writing my first crappy novels at 13 and drawing elaborate cartoons and art pieces even earlier than that, I didn't get much more than a nice pat on the head and some attaboys.

What to do with my talent? No one really knew, including myself. We would go to the occasional art show or writing competition and just marvel at how everyone seemed to be in on something but us -- the only black people there.

Connections are how you get jobs. But you can't make connections unless you either are A) born into them B) go to the right schools and live in the right neighborhoods or C) get the right kind of jobs where you meet people. But often you can't get the "right" kind of job unless A or B happens. You need the connection BEFORE you get the job to get the job with all the connections in the first place. Since I went to Budget University and was not born in a major east or west coast city and my first gigs were in Midland, TX and Bakersfield, Calif., I needed an equalizer to get out of obscurity.

For me, that was the Internet and blogging, but I STILL needed to move to New York and Washington, D.C. to make the connections you need to get work, to stay in the forefront, to get offers and gigs and opportunities. I needed that network and I could only get it by going out there and creating it.

The same exists for jobs in engineering and accounting and other white collar positions where family and friend networking hook-ups are crucial in a work environment where black unemployment is more than 13 percent.

In the same piece, Ditomaso writes that for workers: "70 percent of the jobs they held over their lifetimes; they all used personal networks and insider information if it was available to them."

That's a lot of friends and family helping friends and family. And when so much of life is about who you know, what do you do when you don't know anybody?

The Snob Talks Cleaning Out Your Closet on Tell Me More

Danielle Belton — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:12:11 +0000

Image via California ClosetsOn NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin Wednesday, we were talking about closets! Namely how much clothes in them we actually wear. (Not a lot.) Why we purchase so many clothes. Why living in a town with an extended social season will result in you owning an inordinate amount of dresses thanks to all the fashion snobs. And why that is so annoying. Featured Beauty Shop segment chatters were yours truly (coming in from NYC this time), Pulitzer-winning fashion writer Robin Givhan and a woman who really enjoys the smell of throwing out useless things in the morning, author and life coach Gail Blanke.

Clutch Magazine: Reality Shows Are the New Soap Operas

Danielle Belton — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:01:43 +0000

For Clutch Magazine on Tuesday I penned a piece on the new season of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta and how terrible/good it is, in the sense it is a trashy dime store romance, masqurading as "All My Non-Rappers" in a nice casserole made with nothing but Velveeta, it's so cheesy. Here's a snippet:

Dubious pregnancies? Scheming family matriarchs? Love quadrangles? Torrid affairs? All familiar territory for a soap. Heck, there isn’t any even real “hip hop” in the Atlanta version unless you count Rasheeda’s stalled rap career or Chris Brown’s DJ fighting with his baby’s mother as an “insider” look at hip hop. Nothing is hip hop. The show is the Velveeta of hip hop in that Velveeta is distinctly not cheese but a cheese-like “food product.” Love & Hip Hop Atlanta has just enough sprinkling of “urban” flavor that it marginally passes as something maybe a rapper watches on a day when he or she is home with the flu, but later denies it to friends because it’s too embarrassing to admit one in hip hop watched something that had nothing to do with the genre.

Read the full story at Clutch Magazine Online.

Clutch Magazine: With Retirement Uncertain, We Fantasize About Being "Done"

Danielle Belton — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:23:05 +0000

Monday for Clutch Magazine Online, I wrote about the desire to be free from the burden of making sure you don't starve to death in a world where retirement seems more myth than reality. Here's a snippet: "Thanks to today’s 'new' economy where we’ve all be turned into contractors and freelancers without benefits, job security is a dream and retirement quickly becoming something no one can afford, being 'done' seems more elusive than ever. My father, thanks to more than thirty stable, profitable years with the same aerospace company and a pension, was able to retire at 57. The world I live in is full of 30-somethings who’ve already cashed in their meager 401k’s in order to survive being unemployed thanks to the 'Great Recession.' Savings? What savings? Retirement? Ha. All we see is work and more work and work and then a hope that Social Security isn’t completely dead before we are."

Read the full post at Clutch Magazine Online.

The Snob Is Heading to New York City This Week

Danielle Belton — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:01:15 +0000

Birds gotta fly. Bees gotta sting. And I gotta move around every couple weeks or so or I get bored. Yours truly is heading back to New York City this week both for work and to catch up with old friends. (And to get the rest of my stuff finally out of my roommate's apartment.) So if you barely hear from me this week, that's the reason why. I'm off gallivanting and grinding, getting my job on. And visit on. Amongst other things.