Being more delibrate in my media choices
I’ve been tumbling primarily as a method of going “ooh shiny. Let me share.” I’ve decided to be more intentional about who & what I’m reblogging. Expect to see more dark skinned women, fatties, more gender variation, always more drag queens, and more superheroes who aren’t white.
I’ve been diving face first into reading YA books that have POC main characters and/or major characters who are POC. The results are … mixed. Not because these stories can’t be awesome, but because more of us (POC) need to involved in the media created about us. Nothing about us without us.
It’s really clear when white authors put effort into making realistic POC characters or when they go “fuck it. Um. Lets have a hispanic girl in the series. She was involved in gangs, shot some people, and then a nice white judge sealed her record and let her go. Lets see she should have long braids, a tear drop tattoo and drop random spanish into conversations. Obviously she also a good dancer and will perform minor criminal activities the white chicks can’t.”
This leaves me wondering does she identify as Latina, Chicana, or something else? Could she be Mestizo? Are there tejanos in her family? What about Dominican, Columbian, etc ancestry. What cultures does this chick come form? Where does she live?
Most importantly, is the author really going to pretend a large public high school in LA will have exactly one student who is Latin@? OK then. (Daughters of the Moon, you are on notice)
Instead of that nonsense, I’m giving you <a href=”http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3463179-soul-enchilada”>Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill</a> (link is to Good Reads) a YA novel whose lead is an afro-tejano young woman and her potential romance partner is a bruja in training. The story is solidly set in the land and culture of El Paso, TX.
There is snark, awesome cards, bantering, folk magic, the devil, Tejano culture, Coyote, and other delights like Supernatural INS (white vans and all). I loved this book and would gladly give this book to people. Also kudos to the white author David Macinnis Gill for writing a great story which included people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. It’s easier to whinge than to make change, and I’m glad you did.
