Vote, in Retrospect

Bruce Davidson USA. Alabama. 1965. The Selma March. /Magnum Photos

Coil Review

recently discovered this online magazine

Love for

the Irish.

Wow

90% of Black children in the United States are estimated to soon be on Food Stamps as result of the economic recession. Recent research also suggests that more than 40 percent of U.S. children will live in or near-poverty by age 17.

Not to be facetious but maybe Americans should start planting victory gardens again, a lot of the food we eat is toxic and overprocessed anyway.

Who Shot

I’d like to see this exhibit at the BK Museum.

Andy Earl (British, born circa 1955). Bow Wow Wow, 1981 (printed 2009). Inkjet print. Courtesy of Andy Earl

At Night

This photo I took the day after seeing the Georgia O’Keefe exhibit on her abstract drawings. I particularly liked the paintings she did in Santa Fe, such as the one below.

Sophie Okonedo

Sophie Okonedo stars in the upcoming movie, Skin, to be released today in Manhattan. This is an excerpt from an interview with her in The Guardian:

In your new film Skin you play Sandra Laing, a black woman born in 50s South Africa to Afrikaner parents. Does her story tell us anything about race today?

Oh God, don’t ask me questions like that. I don’t know. What interests me is that I’ve been brought up in a white family, and, being black myself, I can really relate to that side of it – questioning your heritage and where you’re from; asking, “Is this really my parent?” Particularly when you’re young, and everyone says, “That can’t be your mum.” Nowadays everyone’s mixed race, it’s not such a big deal, but in the 70s when I was growing up it was more unusual. I used to say, “Mum, am I adopted?” So I can really relate to that – knowing something’s not quite right but not being quite sure what it is. My mother’s Jewish, so my family is Jewish, and it was hard to believe this young girl with a huge afro had a Jewish mum. But nowadays, anything goes.

Are you political?

I will keep that to myself.

That sounds like a yes.

[Laughs] Of course I’m political. I’m a black woman living in London, but I’m not going to go into what I think. There’s nothing worse than actors spouting about what they think.

Have you found the industry to be racist or sexist?

My personal view is that it could be, but I haven’t really noticed it with me. I’m successful, so I haven’t really come across it. I love the industry I’m in and it’s been really generous to me.

Nina Simone

It’s a laugh, and yes it’s true.

Monty Python

First Lady

First Lady Michelle Obama -- cover of Glamour, December 2009