It has been a pretty rough couple of weeks (months/years/centuries) to be black. I will expound more about what I call “Oppression Fatigue” in another post, but let’s go down the list:

• The shenanigans around the George Zimmerman Trial, complete with inappropriate knock-knock jokes and the media pathologizing of Rachel Jeantel, friend of Trayvon Martin and the last person to talk to him before he was murdered.
• Paula Deen first justified, the apologized, then again justified her using the N-word and planning slavery-themed events.
• Nelson Mandela is on life support.
• Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was struck down, meaning states that have historically made laws to hinder/prevent black Americans from voting no longer have to have their voting laws approved by the federal government.

Yes, DOMA and Prop 8 were struck down, which is an important victory for same-sex marriage, but as Saeed Jones of Buzzfeed so eloquently put it, this has also been a conflicting week to be African-American and gay.

I admire the league of cyber-scholars and activists that tackle and write about these issues of a regular basis. Let me be the first to say that I am not cut out for this work. I’m sensitive and I am prone to depression.
How do I cope? I find Youtube videos that make me laugh. The awesome awfulness (some are more one than the other) of these videos is not only entertaining, but it’s a reminder that we all create our reality. It doesn’t matter if people see us as Michael Jackson’s girlfriend in Thriller, Donkey from Shrek, or our karaoke-singing, pop-locking uncle, how we see ourselves and our world is what matters the most. Even if others must suffer for it.

Freedom’s current struggle video rotation:

Ola Ray- Remember

Perhaps feeling guilty for taking MJ’s estate to court two months before he died, this week, 80s PYT Ola Ray released her tribute to the King of Pop, complete with a computer-generated rendition of Prince’s bedroom, a see-through dress fit for only the classiest of brothel madams, and her daughter’s middle-school dance troupe. And After Effects. So many sins against After Effects were committed in the making of this video.

Eddie Murphy feat. Snoop Lion-Redlight

Taking a cue from the video for “Party All The Time,” Eddie needs you to know HOW this song was made. He’s playing the guitar, and Snoop Lion is smoking and reading off of yellow legal pad paper. No Blackberries here! They are real musicians at work. The thing that gets me about this track is that it’s kinda alright. If they were playing it in the background at the roti spot, I wouldn’t think twice about it.

Sean Fury-They Keep Talking

The man who brought the world “Biracial Girl” is back, and he’s mad. Mad at all the haters on the internet. Mad at the janky tripod that messed up his opening tracking shot. Mad that he still hasn’t mastered how to use natural light for his videos (although the reflector is a step in the right direction).