Rashid Darden

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Where in the World is Rashid Darden?

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Pictured above:  Me and my buddy Doug in Philadelphia.

A lot has happened since I last wrote.

But first of all, hey!  How y’all doing?  That’s good.

My life has been busy, eventful, and largely fulfilled.

In January, I made my first vision board.  We actually did them as part of the rush activities for my chapter of Gamma Xi Phi Professional Arts Fraternity – both members and prospective members did them.  On my board was several things, and I’m happy to say that by the mid-point of 2015, many of the things on my vision board have manifest.

First and foremost, I have broken through much of my depression and anxiety.  Not cured–never cured, perhaps–but less sad and less anxious.  Definitely grateful for that.

I got two part-time jobs.  One is as Outreach Manager for the DC Recovery Community Alliance, where I am doing communications and development work like I am accustomed to.  The other is a temporary assignment at the Life Skills Center of DC, where I will be doing operations and other things over the next few months.

I’m also still doing photography!  I had a gig a few weekends ago and another in a few weeks.

I have some much-needed leisure travel planned for the fall!  In fact, counting some fraternal travel, I may very well be in three different states in less than seven days!  More on that in a future entry.

Speaking of fraternalism, I got a national committee appointment in Alpha Phi Omega.  I am the Alumni Relations Chairman, which means I help Alumni Associations in the fraternity, among other policy issues.

And perhaps most excitingly I was elected National President of Gamma Xi Phi!  Our National Convention was in Philadelphia in mid-June and although it was a lot of work, it was also very fun.

I’m not dating anyone, but I’m committing myself to going out more so that I can actually meet new people in the flesh from time to time.  We’ll see how that works.

And as far as the writing goes, I suppose it’s official — I’m on hiatus.  I would surely like to continue work on Blood of a Dark Nation or Yours in the Bond, but the truth is a lot of other things are more important than that to me right now, not the least of which is living life and pursuing happiness.  I am always going to be a writer and I will complete my projects.  But perhaps not in 2015.  Maybe when I get more settled into my new positions.

I do appreciate all of your support and your patience!  Please stay in touch with me via social media–I’d love to hear from you.

Kids These Days: Best Practices for Youth Step Shows

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In February, I was asked to be a judge for a youth step show at my alma mater, Georgetown University.  As the founder of the GU Step Team (GUST) I was honored to come back and participate.

There were three teams: Dem Raider Boyz, the Lady Raiders, and the Lady Legacy Step Team.  I enjoyed the show and photos are below:

But I did want to bring some things up for people to consider when coaching teams or sponsoring step shows.

Always teach the history before you teach the choreography.  Stepping is an African American art form, first and foremost.  In its present form, it comes from African American fraternities and sororities via many other cultural traditions.  If any stepper does not know this, they should not perform.

There is a difference between boys’ teams and girls’ teams.  They should compete in their own divisions, not against one another.

You can have too much of a good thing.  Consider dividing your team into smaller squads.   Yes, large squads are impressive, but smaller squads are more versatile.

Stop appropriating traditional steps from fraternities and sororities.  Instead, go on YouTube and find videos of great choreography, period.  Beyonce does it.  So can you.  Incorporate moves from different time periods into brand new percussive steps.

You don’t have to grit.  And some teams are calling it the “stank face” which is even worse.  Gritting comes from the black fraternal experience and I am not comfortable with youth emulating it.  There’s a time and place to learn what gritting means and why it’s done.  High school is not that time.

Finally, know that there is life after stepping.  Stepping is a form of dance, and dance is an art, so that makes you an artist.  Take those skills with you to college and consider joining a dance troupe.  And obviously there are professional step teams and dance troupes to join after college, too.  if you are good, keep going!

I am looking forward to my next youth show.  Hopefully there will be many more teams that are ready to handle the stage.

Film Review: Rag Tag

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Rag_Tag_FilmPosterA few months ago, I watched a film called Rag Tag that had been in my Amazon wish list for literally years.  I hadn’t made a point of watching it because I hadn’t been given any particular recommendations to do so.  But thank goodness for Netflix.

I apologize for the sparseness of this review.  I had really, really intended to write a review within a week of watching it.  Then life happened.  Oops.

So Rag Tag is essentially a gay black love story set in the UK.  Basic premise:  two boys who are best friends are separated in their adolescence and reunited in their early to mid 20s.  Both have lived their lives trying to conform to heteronormativity, but have failed because they were essentially in search of one another.

The bad news is that this is a low-budget film which often looks like it.  But isn’t that the case with so many pieces of art that emerge in support of the black gay aesthetic?  Drawing on my own experience, I know that my first novel Lazarus was not a masterpiece, but it remains a sentimental favorite for many of the readers who knew me way back when.

Similarly, Rag Tag is not perfect, but it is necessary.  There is a dearth of black gay romance on television and in film, so this movie fills the void (somewhat).  It feels authentic.  It feels right.

As a bonus, the viewer will also get to see this story unfold on two continents, neither of which includes the Americas.  The portion of the story centering on Africa drags at times, but it so important in deepening the story of Rag and Tag.

Rag Tag didn’t win any Academy Awards, but it did remind me that it will have a special place in the hearts of every black gay boy who needed to see themselves depicted in a positive and realistic way.

Find it on your favorite streaming video platform or be a pal to the filmmakers and purchase the DVD.

 

Me and Paul Beatty

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In case you missed it, I met my literary hero Paul Beatty this week at DC’s Politics & Prose.  I’m still beaming on the inside.  Here are the photos:

Family and Lovers

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Today’s “Tarot Tuesday” entry will be a little different.  I want to delve into my philosophy and synthesize a few readings I’ve recently conducted.

Someone recently asked me if my Tarot readings were “real” or if I cheated somehow.  I suspected that they wanted to know whether I practiced the art (science?) of “cold reading.”  According to Wikipedia, “Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, mediums and illusionists to determine or express details about another person, often to imply that the reader knows much more about the person than the reader actually does.”

I wasn’t offended by the question.  There are a lot of charlatans out there.  And for what it’s worth, I don’t think I have some peculiar gift that nobody else has.

I listen.

I listen to what the universe is trying to tell me through the cards and I pass it along to whoever is asking the question.

swords04A young man I know recently embarked upon a professional journey which took him overseas.  For him I drew the four of swords.  This typically means a period of resting or recharging after a period of challenges.  But something about the position of the swords themselves was puzzling me.  Then it occurred to me that the swords represented his family.  Father, mother, and sister were heading in one direction and he was heading in another, not only physically, with his move, but philosophically, politically, you name it.

He’s doing well with his move and I’m happy I was able to give him some reassurance in that process.

More recently, I had a conversation with a woman who was having some internal debate regarding her future happiness.  I drew the ace of wands in the reversed position–a card of exhaustion and a loss of enthusiasm.  From there, she and I had a revealing conversation (details that will not be shared here) that culminated with me reminding her that she has to take care of herself before she can help anyone else.

People only ever really want to know about love, family, and career in these readings.  I’d love a reading that was about passing a class or writing a book.  But it is what it us.

I don’t find readings about love, family, or careers to be challenging.  People come to those readings already knowing their personal truths.  They’re just buried deep inside them and the cards show them symbols that help them make connections that are important to them.  That part is easy.  Doing the work to change your life for the better–that’s the hard part.  And a Tarot card reader can’t do that for you.  But we can point you in the right direction.

I give Tarot readings that begin at $45.  Send me a message if you’re interested!

I can’t trust white women, either: #SAEhatesme

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Yesterday, Dr. Frances Becque posted a brief essay on her website about the Sigma Alpha Epsilon situation at Oklahoma.  I had huge problems with it when I initially read it, but I decided to wait a while before I posted my response.  I have immense respect for Dr. Becque’s research and promotion of fraternalism.

However, her essay is a prime example of what I spoke about yesterday on the issue of people of color being able to trust that white people won’t be racist in closed company, among other things.  Yesterday, I spoke mainly about the aggressors.  Today I will speak about bystanders.

What troubles me most about Dr. Becque’s post is not that she fails to use the word “racism” in the entirety of the post.  (What I liked about the response of both SAE and the President of OU is that each was quite clear that the acts we saw on film were racist and bigoted.)  No, it doesn’t surprise me at all–I am used to white people, well-meaning and otherwise, removing the “race card” from play even though it’s the only card that’s been dealt.

I suppose I could also be upset that she refuses to label those young men “men” and instead makes an intentional point to call them boys, as though to absolve them from the ownership of their words.  (And let’s be clear that it’s not the words that hurt–it’s the environment that the young men perpetuate that hurts their chapter, their campus, and their community.  Racism hurts black people, but racism also hurts white people.)

And sure, I could be upset at Dr. Becque’s appeal for calm, to remember that these “boys” are not “monsters.”  (One could make a very strong argument that racists are monsters.)

What troubles me the most about her essay is that I’m not troubled at all.  It’s just another symptom of white supremacy and patriarchy manifesting itself in the Greek community, perhaps where it spreads most efficiently.

To paraphrase Iyanla Vanzant, let’s call a thing a thing.  White men who exist in white spaces that empower them to be racists are monsters.  White women who empower those men in those spaces are bigger monsters, because they have the ability as parents to raise them right in the first place, but choose to coddle and protect them, to preserve the very patriarchy that continues to subjugate them.

I have no empathy for racists.  It is not my job to fix racism.  It is the job of white people to fix racism.

So fix it.

Stop empowering racists.  Stop trying to appeal to a sense of calm when your “boys” are the ones in chaos.  We will continue to march.  We will continue to protest.  And we will continue to call racism out where it happens and where it is coddled.