Shoot Promos on Race, Class, Gender, Etc

"I am a series of small victories and large defeats and I am as amazed as any other that I have gotten from there to here." - Charles Bukowski The early 1990's was an interesting time to be introduced to comic books and superhero stories. In the context of the post-Reaganism, glorification of "yuppie" values (an obsessive devotion to career and materialistic lifestyle; think Gordon Gekko in  Wall Street  "greed is good" speech), and the AIDS and crack epidemics of the 1980's (thanks a f*cking lot Reagan, depending on how much you believe they were government conspiracies to specifically target Black, Brown, and LGBTQ communities), the early 1990's can be characterized by "grunge" and the popularization of gangsta rap, music genres and cultural subcultures characterized by a darker, edgier expression riddled with angst. The comics of that era with characters reflecting these darker themes of the supernatural and paranormal like The San...

"I guess that's the thing about a hero's journey. You might not start out a hero, and you might not even come back that way. But you change, which is the same as everything changing. The journey changes you, whether or not you know it, and whether or not you want it to." - Kami Garcia Growing up as an only child in the late 80's/early 90's, the highlight of my week was Saturday morning when I would have my bowl of sugary cereal, plop myself in front of the TV, and watch Saturday morning cartoons. Before my parents could afford cable TV, there were 3 channels (CBS, NBC, and ABC) and from an early age I would curate my cartoon consumption switching back and forth between channels based on when certain shows were on (which may explain why I continue to obsessively curate playlists with Spotify and watch lists with Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Max). Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry were on ABC, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Garfield were on CBS, and live action si...

Kumon math. Taekwondo. Piano Lessons. Cello Lessons. Flute Lessons. Noonnoopi. SAT Prep. I was one of many second generation AAPI who's parents insisted take up an extracurricular activity. Not only would it help it in the college application process (yes my tiger parents thought of this while I was still in elementary school) but it was a necessary diversion from me spending every afternoon watching television and playing video games.  None of those hobbies stuck for long. The one day I forgot to wear a cup to Taekwondo, I participated in a sparring activity and was promptly kicked in the groin. Seeing as that I was never going to become the next Bruce Lee, I quit shortly with a brown belt and ZERO ability to defend myself in a fight. As much as I loved music, I didn't have any talent to play it. I never learned how to read sheet music fluently so in between piano lessons, I wrote the letters of keys in my music book so I knew which keys to play. My parents invested in a small...