If you passed Trina Robbins on the street, chances are you wouldn’t suspect she was the foremost pop historian of women in comics. Nor would you peg her as the author of Go Girl!, an offbeat superhero comic book aimed at adolescent girls. Today most comic books featuring female protagonists are written by men and depend heavily on the fetishized sex and violence that give television hits like Xena and Buffy a certain cross-gender appeal. But Robbins–whose last major mainstream effort was a Wonder Woman comic about domestic violence–is fighting to prove the commercial viability of comic books that neither burlesque nor hyper-sexualize their female characters. Continue reading “Pretty Persuasion: Going for the Girl Market”
Month: January 2001
World Conference Against Racism 2001
Deal Reached
DURBAN, South Africa (Sept. 8) – The World Conference Against Racism adopted a declaration Saturday recognizing the injustice of slavery and colonialism and the “plight” of Palestinians after nine days of contentious debate and brinksmanship that repeatedly threatened to unravel the gathering. Continue reading “World Conference Against Racism 2001”
About Black Folks and Buddha Dharma: An Interview With Bell Hooks
Q: In re reading the chapters in remembered rapture about faith & writing and how you came to your own philosophical synthesis, it occurred to me that you’ve already done the work of syncretizing in your own spiritual practice something that I’ve been beginning to call “black dharma” even though I know the term will be controversial and loaded for some who hear it. Especially when I compare your take on Buddhist Philosophy to that of Jan Willis, Angel Wiliams, Alice Walker, and other black female activist/ intellectuals. Buddhist philosophy seems to be the next step in their evolution as they engage it during their 30s, 40s & 50s. Continue reading “About Black Folks and Buddha Dharma: An Interview With Bell Hooks”