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The possibility that our futures hold nothing remarkable for us can seem like a nightmare. In Saint Frances, 34-year-old deadbeat Bridget (Kelly OSullivan) is well aware shes not exactly where she should be in life, and anxiety over the fact cripples her self-esteem. Old friends are getting married, buying houses, and having babiesexperiences that for her seem hopelessly out of reach. An old acquaintance marvels at Bridgets ill fortune, claiming all her college peers supposed she would grow up to be the next Sylvia Plath. Yet Bridgets writing days are very far behind her. OSullivan, who also wrote the screenplay, and first-time director Alex Thompson arent interested in redeeming Bridget by tracing her triumphant return to the craft, by having her find love, or by breaking into a more impressive career. And Saint Frances, with its ample vulnerability and warm humor,is all the better for it.

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Kelly O'Sullivan, Ramona Edith Williams, Charin Alvarez, Lily Mojekwu

Select theaters February 28

We meet Bridget as things are looking up, despite her ever-present feelings of inadequacy. A new romance with Jace (Max Lipchitz), a quintessential nice guy several years her junior, has brought loving support into her life even if she denies his efforts to make their relationship official. But the plot mostly hinges on the summer job Bridget lands as a nanny for a wealthy couple. Relative to her crummy waitressing gig, nannying is cushy and lucrative. But her ward, 6-year-old Frances (Ramona Edith Williams), proves unexpectedly difficult. Bridgets new employers, Maya (Charin Alvarez) and Annie (Lily Mojekwu), are as progressive as they come in the affluent suburbs of Chicago. A Black Lives Matter sign figures prominently in their front yard, and the two women appear to have already instilled in their small but clever daughter ideas about race (Maya is Latina, Annie is Black) and feminine anatomy beyond her years.

Frances takes it upon herself to be as pesky as possible to her new, inexperienced nannyopening up and destroying her tampons, crying out that shes being abducted at the park. But Bridget, initially unreliable, succeeds in winning over Frances, perhaps because the she offers a certain vitality and a gleeful, punkish attitude otherwise absent from the kids home life. Child actors, who often rely on instincts more than training, can make or break the illusion of a film. Thankfully, Williams isnt overly self-aware of her own adorableness, which grounds Saint Frances in a sweet naturalism that makes it easy to overlook OSullivans somewhat lackluster performance.

So, too, does Alvarez, whose Mayastuck at home tending to her newborn son while her attorney spouse works long hoursbegins to experience severe postpartum depression. Its the films most affecting performance; so deeply does Alvarez convey Mayas melancholy that when the character steps outside for a rare group outing with Bridget and the kids, merely the light on her face seems to imply a remarkable, resuscitative effect.

As screenwriter, OSullivan hones in on the rich, beautifully messy, and occasionally painful experiences of the female body. Always forgetful about when her period will occur, Bridgets sexual encounters repeatedly result in blood-stained sheets. Theres also an ugly Fourth Of July encounter where a catty neighbor scolds Maya for breastfeeding in public. Bridget eventually realizes shes pregnant; avoiding expressing her feelings to the plaintive Jace, she opts for an abortion without much deliberation. The morality (or lack thereof) of this decision doesnt weigh on her. Shes more troubled by the way pregnancy underscores how out-of-sync she is with other women her age, who have careers and could responsibly accommodate a child.

Despite its title, Saint Frances isnt too concerned with matters of God and religion, seeking instead to develop an understanding of grace, love, and empathy on their own terms. At the crux of its philosophy is OSullivans treatment of the female body, as something too often marginalized or rendered taboo. (Mens attitudes towards sex during menstruation is a marker here.) Perhaps this is why young, rambunctious Frances is so important. She jumps into ponds, tears through stacks of library books, screams when she wants things her way. Whats more difficult to control than a childs body? At the same time, what body deserves more compassion and protection?

Stray elements, like Bridgets pursuit of a sleazy guitar instructor or a nature walk consultation with her wise parents, feel obligatory, betraying the films somewhat formulaic nature. Particularly in the films conclusion, there are moments between Bridget and Frances that veer too close to the artificially precious, undermining the power of the bond between nanny and discerning child that hadnt yet been fully articulated. Yet Saint Frances goes down easy. Its refreshingly small and intimate, and is specific on the lives of very particular women without overreaching to look more politically salient or strike zeitgeist concerns. Bridgets personal growth is understated, and so, for the most part, are the pleasures of Saint Frances.

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Saint Frances finds grace, humor, and an ode to the female body in a familiar indie premise - The A.V. Club

Photo: Mario Tama (Getty Images)

Im obsessed with race.

After much self-reflection and receiving no less than 2,238,934 accusatory emails, tweets and DMs (not that Im counting), I am willing to admit my personal preoccupation with racial issues.

Its not my fault.

Being a black man in America may partially contribute to my mania, but I had very little input on that decision. Much like the people at ESPN who are obsessed with sports, or the Fox News analysts who are obsessed with whiteness, the fact that The Root actually pays me to talk about race contributes greatly to my negro-centric neurosis. So, if youre reading this, youre part of the problem.

Because of my poorly funded fixation, I have noticed that the political narrative about raceespecially during this election cyclehas focused almost exclusively on four issues:

If one is lucky enough to catch the 91 seconds during each debate when candidates are asked to address racial issues, it is easy to assume that the entirety of black America is either poor, uneducated, unemployed, in jail or running from Nazis wearing MAGA hats. Debate moderators, media outlets and candidates condense the concerns of black voters down to four categories because they really dont care about black issues. They just want to look like they care.

In response, some of the presidential contenders usually resort to a sympathetic but canned aphorism about why they believe black lives matter. Others (Im looking at you, Bernie) contend that their economic plans to address all poverty will help all black people, even if their policies arent intentional about addressing institutional racism.

But the rising tide that lifts all boats only raises the vessels that havent been riddled with the holes of racism. This performative patronizing to people of color is not only reductive, but it also lets everyone off the hook from confronting, discussing and ultimately fixing the underlying causes that fuel white supremacy.

So, just in case you were wondering, as I sipped Hennessy and sorted through cookout invitations, I came up with a list of black issues that dont have anything to do with mass incarceration, cops or why LaKeisha cant read.

I know what I just said, but hear me out.

Whenever there is a discussion about education and race, white America tends to focus on the children who are left behind. We already know that majority-white school districts receive $23 billion more than nonwhite school districts, according to a groundbreaking study by Edbuild. Thats $2,226 per student per year. Even poor white districts get better funding than the average black school. In a quest to eliminate this disparity, educators and politicians rightfully focus on literacy scores and math proficiency, but there is another insidious injustice that we never discuss:

The smart, black kids.

Children who attend majority-minority schools have fewer honors and Advanced Placement (pdf) courses. And, according to the Department of Education (pdf) and the Federal Civil Rights Data Collection, even when they attend good majority-white schools, high-achieving non-white students arent selected for these courses, even if they test as well as their white counterparts.

For instance, most college-level courses require two years of algebra. Sadly, less than one-third of high-percentage minority-serving high schools even offer a second year of algebra, The Atlantic reports. So, even if a smart but marginalized black kid makes it to college, they are less prepared and less likely to earn scholarships because white privilege is baked into the system.

Again, its not class, its race.

Speaking of education, lets say those smart black students made it to college. How do they pay for it? Twelve years after finishing college, black grads owe 113 percent of their original student loan debt while white borrowers owe 65 percent of their original debt.

Earlier this month, the Student Borrower Protection Center released a study that explored another systematic inequality. They created a profile of a recent college graduate making $50,000 per year. Aside from changing the college attended by the hypothetical student, every other attribute was identical. Using these identical profiles, the researchers applied to refinance their student loans as graduates from predominantly white schools, HBCUs and even Hispanic-serving institutions.

They discovered that students who attend HBCUs were charged higher interest rates than any other category of schools, even when they had identical income. Simply attending school with black people means you incur more debt. Part of your credit score calculates debt. So, simply being blacknothing elsemeans you automatically have a lower credit score.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that auto lenders charge black borrowers higher rates but Congress rolled back these protections in 2018. When the Center for Investigative Reporting looked at 31 million mortgage loans (essentially every conventional home loan over a two-year period), they found that black borrowers were denied at three times the rate of white borrowers. A Berkeley study concluded that even when black borrowers applied for mortgages online, they were charged rates that were 5.6 to 8.6 points higher interest rates.

Over the course of a home, auto or a student loan, that is thousands of dollars in debt incurred by black borrowers for nothing except being black. Yet the Trump administration is erasing fair lending regulations.

Maybe someone could ask one of these questions:

We often talk about voter purges, but whats rarely mentioned is that black voters wait longer; polling places in black neighborhoods have longer lines, fewer voting machines and less reliable technology. Felony disenfranchisement may be related to criminal justice but it also is a political issue that disproportionately affects black voters. Most of the 1,200 polling places closed in recent years were disproportionately located in the minority areas of Republican states

But gerrymandering may be the most important political issue of our time. There are only six states that use bipartisan commissions to draw their political maps. And, while these maps are often challenged in court, Trump has filled federal benches with right-wing, inexperienced judges who always favor the GOP efforts to eliminate black voters, giving them advantages for years to come.

Every single form of voter suppression disproportionately affects non-white voters.

Yet, there has been nary a question about plans to revive the sections of the Voting Rights Act that were dismantled by Shelby v. Holder. Has anyone asked candidates about their proposal to standardize and secure voting machines? Why hasnt any candidate said that states that require voter ID should have to provide free identification cards? Why hasnt anyone proposed a standardized early voting period and procedure?

Its easier to vote for the Masked Singer than the president

Unless youre a Russian hacker.

You can vote for the Masked Singer, right?

This is a little wonky but, if youre not familiar with the concept (sometimes called adverse impact, or (disproportionate impact), allow me to explain the concept with another, more appropriate synonym:

Structural racism.

While most people have been led to believe that racism has something to do with hate, intent or belief, that is not the case. Legally, a policy, rule or action can be declared discriminatory even if the rule or policy itself doesnt have any discriminatory intent. If an action has a disproportionately negative effect on a legally protected group of people, then it is illegal, even if it is not intended to discriminate.

The concept is simple. Even if a thing is not meant to be racist, it is still racist if it systematically affects a protected class of people. It was enshrined in Title VI the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has stood as a bedrock principle and the legal test for prejudice ever since.

Until the Trump administration.

Under Trump, officials at the Department of Justice, Education and even Housing and Urban Development have been searching for ways to subvert and eliminate the principle. Thats why they fight against affirmative action, race-inclusive admissions policy, housing regulations and race disclosures in financial institutions.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. I havent even gotten to environmental racism, access to nutrition, maternal and birth rate disparities or the fact that Rihanna stubbornly refuses to release R9 (theres gotta be something the president can do).

How many times must we bear the repeated dissection of the infinitesimally small differences between Joes public option, Sanders Medicare for all and Buttigiegs Medicare-for All-Who-Want-It-Unless-You-Dont-Want-to-Think-About-It-In-Which-Case-Its-Fine-As-Long-As-You-Vote-For-Me? When will it be black peoples turn?

Are non-criminal, educated, middle-class black people invisible? Has racism been eliminated except for black people who arent in prison, on food stamps or in high school? Did I somehow miss the memo?

But you know me, Im obsessed with race.

I just wish the future president was, too.

See original here:
Dear Debate Moderators, There Are More 'Black Issues' Besides Crime and Poverty - The Root

Black Lives Matter is a worldwide association that originates from the African-American community. Formed in 2013, the association campaigns against racism and violence aimed at the black people. It was inspired by other movements like Black Feminist from the 1980s, Black Power, the Civil Rights Movement, and the LGBTQ social movement.

The Black Lives Matter movement was started in 2013 by three women; Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. These three women met through a national organization that trains individuals as community planners. They began questioning how they would counter the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had been accused of killing Trayvon Martin, something they had seen as devaluing of black peoples lives. Gaza posted on Facebook to which Cullors replied with "#BlackLivesMatter" while Tometi added her comment.

When they started it, they claimed it was an online platform whose main aim was to provide activists with a set of goals and principles. They operate without a hierarchy or central structure, and the local BLM chapters are asked to commit to the guiding principles. Some of the notable Black Lives Matter activists include a writer Shaun King, lawyer Marissa Johnson, and transgender woman Elle Hearns.

BLM, as it is popularly referred to, holds protests regularly to speak out against police brutality and killings of blacks. This covers the broad subjects like racial profiling and inequality in the justice system of United States of America. On its website, however, it states that Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution which goes beyond extra-judicial killings of black people by police and vigilantes. It also says that it embraces intersectionality, affirming the lives of disabled folks, black, queer and trans folks, women, undocumented black folks, folks with records, as well as black lives along the gender spectrum.

Black Lives Matter activists planned their first physical, national demonstration on August 14th after the gunning down of Michael Brown, and more than five hundred people took part in the non-violent protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Many groups demonstrated against the shooting, but Black Lives Matter stood out as the most organized as well as most visible, something that made it be recognized nationally and worldwide.

Since the Black Lives Matter Freedom Ride to Ferguson, the movement has successfully planned thousands of demonstrations and protests. The media too has been phenomenal as renowned entertainers have Black Lives Matter in some of their releases. Beyonces Lemonade features the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Rown, and Eric Garner holding their late sons photographs. A documentary film about the movement named Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement starring Jesse Williams has also been released.

Black Lives Matter has been credited with the protests that have gone beyond streets, notably the 2015-2016 University of Missouri protests. So popular has Black Lives Matter become, that in 2014 the American Dialect Society chose it as the word of the year. Yes! Magazine listed it among the 12 hashtags that changed the world in the same year. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter had been tweeted over 30 million times by September 2016.

Excerpt from:
What is the Black Lives Matter Movement? - WorldAtlas.com

The College of Education will host an interactive keynote, "Teaching for Black Lives," on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m., in the Carney Family Auditorium.

In this presentation, Dyan Watson and Wayne Au, two of the editors of Teaching for Black Lives, will discuss their book and the overall project of making black lives matter in schools.

This event includes a discussion between Watson and Au, a classroom activity and an audience question and answer session followed by a book signing and reception.

A former public high school teacher, Au is a professor in the School of Educational Studies and currently serves as the dean of diversity and equity for the University of Washington Bothell (UWB). He is a long-time editor for the social justice teaching magazine, Rethinking Schools, and his work focuses on both academic and public scholarship about high-stakes testing, charter schools, teaching for social justice and anti-racist education. Recently, Au has been working in the Seattle area to support the Black Lives Matter campaign and ethnic studies in Seattle schools and surrounding districts. His recent books include Rethinking Ethnic Studies, co-edited with Tolteka Cuahatin, Miguel Zavala, and Christine Sleeter; Teaching for Black Lives, co-edited with Dyan Watson and Jesse Hagopian; A Marxist Education; and Reclaiming the Multicultural Roots of the U.S. Curriculum, co-authored with Anthony Brown and Dolores Calderon. He was honored with the UWB Distinguished Teaching Award in 2015, given the William H. Watkins award for scholar activism from the Society of Professors of Education in 2017, and was honored with the Distinguished K-12 Educational Leader Award from the Evergreen State College MiT program in 2019.

Watson teaches at the Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling in Portland, Oregon. She teaches methods classes for pre-service social studies teachers, research methods classes for doctoral students and researches how race mediates teaching. Watson began her professional career teaching math and writing for young mothers working on their GEDs in Portland, Oregon. She taught social studies at the high school level in a suburb of Portland before pursuing her doctorate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Watson is an editor for Rethinking Schools, and the author of Urban but not too urban: Unpacking Teachers' Desires to Teach Urban Students, Norming suburban: How teachers talk about race without using race words and A Letter from a Black Mom to Her Son; as well as the co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives; Rethinking Elementary Education; and Rhythm and Resistance: Teaching Poetry for Social Justice.

Link:
Teaching for Black Lives: A Keynote Event with Wayne Au and Dyan Watson - UMass News and Media Relations

17 February 2020, 17:22 | Updated: 17 February 2020, 17:33

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You isn't just about Lara Jean, Peter Kavinsky and John Ambrose' love triangle.

To All the Boys 2 shines light on some important social justice messages in and amongst Lara Jean's romantic escapades.

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is out now. After months of anticipation, Netflix released the long-awaited To All the Boys I've Love Before sequel last week (Feb 12) and it doesn't disappoint. Not only does To All the Boys 2 show us much more of Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) but also introduces us to John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher).

READ MORE: QUIZ: Would you date Peter or John Ambrose from To All the Boys 2?

Much like the first film, there is plenty of drama to be found in To All the Boys 2 but there are also some key hidden details in the movie that you may have missed. The film references Black Lives Matter, Trans Rights and the Me Too movement.

If you look closely at any of the dining hall scenes in To All the Boys 2 you will see that the room is covered with posters that contain messages about social justice on them. For example, when Lara Jean is signing up to volunteer at Belleview, you can prominently see a Black Lives Matter poster in the background. There is also a Believe Women poster.

Later during the Valentine's Day segment, there are posters saying Justice for All, Trans Rights Are Human Rights and Hate Is a Choice, Being Trans Is Not. The posters seem to make clear that there is no room for racism, transphobia or sexism in the To All the Boys universe.

While To All the Boys 2 doesn't explicitly deal with any of these topics, or feature any trans characters, it's great to see a teen rom-com champion these causes and sentiments.

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To All the Boys 2 contains Black Lives Matter, Trans Rights and Me Too easter eggs - PopBuzz