The Four Color Media Monitor

CBR paid lip service to the writers of a comic called "Black", which appears to draw from the mindset of Black Lives Matter propagandists:

Kareem Jenkins is a young black man in New York City. He’s not a saint, but he’s a pretty good guy overall. Unfortunately, one day he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time and, bang! He’s dead, gunned down by an overzealous and scared police officer. Game over.

Except — it’s not. Kareem wakes up and finds that he can do things he never imagined possible. Now, with everyone out to get him and show him that there is much more to the world than he ever realized, he has to ask himself what he wants to do about the state of that world.

So what we have here is the usual anti-police stance in motion. Here's more on the political allusions from the interviews about the book:

He’s gunned down in a case of mistaken identity. Violence against the black community seems to reflect of a societal fear of black men, so how does the world react to black people with superpowers?

Smith 3: Kwanza will answer this one best, as he is writing this out, and I don’t want to give too much away. I’ll say that the world is never, as a whole, ready for anything to disrupt the norm. Well, most of the world. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take steps to make things better. I can only imagine that if I found out that a group of people were able to do extraordinary things and I could not, I would be concerned for myself and my family. And to double that, if it’s a group of people that’s been targeted and oppressed for years, I would either start making some new friends, or buy extra locks for my door.

Osajyefo: “Black” is a science-fiction articulation of race issues. I think that is why it immediately resonates with people as a concept — they know the reality it is based on. If cops are scared of an 11-year-old with a toy gun, how does one deal with an adult black male that can fly and shoot lasers from his face?

Oh, I get it. This is just a vague X-Men variation, only with far more leftism thrown in. So what the interviewer is saying, is that whites everywhere are chattering in their socks about the presence of black men anywhere. How stupid and insulting. Predictably, no discussion of any of the anti-white racism that's become more of a problem today than before.

“Black” seems very timely given the profile of Black Lives Matter and far too many recent headlines, but these themes and this violence are nothing new. The Civil Rights Movement never really stopped, did it?

Osajyefo: The sad thing is that it isn’t timely. These issues have existed throughout U.S. history. The difference is we have documentation devices in our pocket. A woman can easily live-broadcast her boyfriend bleeding out in the driver seat his car — with a child witnessing it in the backseat — due to wounds inflicted by a racially biased officer.

Smith 3: That’s just it; it’s been happening for years and years. This goes back generations. It’s a new paint job on the same busted house. But the internet, cellphones, comic books (yes even comics), and overall awareness are keys to opening the door for all to see live and in primetime. It’s not just black people; it’s all kinds of people, from color to faith. Lives are affected by misunderstanding and ignorance. “Black” is a comic that builds a fantasy world from a current, yet sad, state of affairs in our country and outward. A condition that many other people of any color can relate too.

They're oblivious to how people like Michael Brown were acting violent, and he injured Darren Wilson, ditto the vandalism that erupted for all the wrong reasons, and don't even consider some of the violent attacks that took place recently against police officials by armed criminals in the streets. Who's the real misunderstanders then? Despite what they say, I don't think anybody could relate to this product.

How do you confront institutionalized evil like this in a superhero-styled comic?

Osajyefo: Evil is a strong word. I don’t think the aforementioned cop I alluded to is evil; I think he is biased. Family and society impress ideas upon individuals both purposefully and passively. That’s the thing about institutionalized racism: once it reaches that level of normalcy for people, it’s hard for some to determine right from wrong. The challenge to that can be anything from protest, to policy, to revolution — depends on what’s required.

I'm sorry, but I don't see how it's hard to make distinctions when somebody's either assaulting you like Brown did with the officer, or even committing armed robbery/rape and endangering innocent lives. In fact, what makes this so much more worrisome than black-vs-black crimes that take place in the USA? In fact, what kind of people crowdfunded this kind of project on Kickstarter? This is what some people had to waste their money on?

Once again, we have another example of how the medium is being misused for some pretty narrow projects, and only undermines the art form's reputation even more.

Labels: indie publishers, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, politics, violence