Ep. 31 - Black & Brown Representation in Media 2.0 ft. Beezy

The full BrownTown diaspora unites to take on Black and Brown
representation in media in the follow-up to the podcast’s
inaugural episode. “Beezy” of BrownTown joins us to incorporate a
Pakistani perspective and experience into the discussion on Black
Panther, Coco, and Hasan Minaj to name a few. Where shallow
“diversity” efforts fall short, BrownTown unpacks the nuances of
the more representative media landscape and how to hold creators
and audiences accountable. Originally recorded January 4, 2019.



Since the first ever Bourbon ’n BrownTown recording on the same
topic in April 2017, we have witnessed new works in TV, film,
music, literature, and other art forms that present an
unapologetic, nuanced, multidimensional look at Black and brown
life in America and abroad. BrownTown understands a conversation
of this sort can go many ways, incorporating many worldviews. For
this episode, they primarily use their personal experiences as
Black, Mexican, and Pakistani men to analyze the content and
impact of more mainstream projects and media events over the past
year. As buzzwords “diversity”, “representation,” and “inclusion”
are employed more than ever in media, business, and politics (no
exception here), BrownTown dissects where these themes operate,
when they can be problematic, and, most importantly, how they can
be liberatory in implementation to not only better represent our
current social world but work toward towards a more equitable
future.


BrownTown starts by welcoming and getting audiences acquainted
with the little-known third member Beezy. Right off the bat, they
get into comparing sending petty work emails to communicating
with internet trolls and the difference between racism and racial
prejudice amongst marginalized peoples. As Beezy opens up about
his upbringing, it helps us understand his perspective regarding
pop culture and interactions with diverse groups of people as a
young adult. Piggybacking off of a conversation on Black Panther
in the Hip Hop 2.0 episode, the gang dives into the takeaways of
the film, both within the story itself and the broader cultural
impact. From here, Caullen pivots to the Black actors’ struggles
to obtain certain “color-blind” roles only after a years of work
and validation by mainstream white audiences. David champions the
authenticity and underlying message of the animated film Coco as
well as the importance of accessible language in film, TV, and
comedy. When Beezy positions himself as “anti-woke,” him and
Caullen explain how Hasan Minaj’s comedy can be both entertaining
to broad audiences, educational with a poignant agenda, as well
as culturally relevant to Indian/Pakistani peoples in a way other
comedians are not (Do you know what a lota is? Watch this.).


Finally, the team zooms out and positions pop culture as a
microcosm for our global society. With the resurgent backlash to
R. Kelly’s lengthy history of sexual abuse, autocratic rule of
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Chicago’s Black
alderpeople shutting out and ignoring young Black activists, and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s commendable work in congress, we can
understand that representation is by no means the end all be all.
SoapBox believes that art can be a the passport to radical
change, but one must still take the journey and challenge the
forces that made it so difficult to travel there in the first
place.


GUEST
“Beezy” is a first-generation Pakistani who grew up on the North
side of Chicago near Foster and Damen. He currently works in
financial services at an asset management firm, essentially
“playing in excel all day.” He once lived with both Caullen and
David at an apartment then-newly formed as “BrownTown.” The rest
is history…


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CREDITS: Intro song The Story of OJ by
Jay-Z. Outro music Stay Down by Big Sean. Audio engineered
by Genta Tamashiro. Episode art and Bourbon 'n BrownTown logo by
Desirae Gladden.


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