icymi: february 2023

news and pop culture updates from last month

whew…how is it already march? although i’m thrilled that it’s pisces season and my favorite month of the year (because of my birthday), i can’t help but to feel worried that the year is going to accelerate, causing it to be summer in the blink of an eye.

last month, i released my new series for this newsletter, icymi (in case you missed it) of things i saw in the news, pop culture trends, and things i read/watched. read january’s edition of icymi here.

here’s february’s *very late* installation of icymi — enjoy!

disclaimer: these are not in chronological order. also, there will be a mention about the shooting at michigan state university and sexual assault revolving around r. kelly and harvey weinstein’s updated prison sentences in this month’s edition in case you need to click off this post.

• beyoncé announced her tour dates, and chaos immediately occured on ticketmaster (i got tickets though and talked to huffpost about my anxiety-ridden, sleep-deprived time doing so)

• netflix unveiled their plan to crack down on password sharing, and obviously nobody wants it (frankly, it doesn’t make that much sense either)

• the biden administration gave the state of the union address. here’s some takeaways from the event

• at the grammys, and harry styles’ harry’s house won the award for album of the year, clearly snubbing bad bunny’s un verano sin ti and beyoncé’s renaissance. here’s more of my thoughts on why renaissance should’ve won

• viola davis achieved an egot status. in the words of ariana debose: viola davis, my woman king!

• a handful of albums were released: kelela, paramore, liv.e, bktherula, and gorillaz

• the nintendo direct happened in early february and announced future titles coming to the switch, including a sequel to my childhood fave, professor layton

• on february 3, a norfolk southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in east palestine, ohio, subjecting the town to more than 100,000 gallons of chemical residue. i highly recommend reading this article by prem thakker about how the residents (and their sick animals) are recovering post-derailment

• architectural digest released a tour of david harbour and lily allen’s home, and the controversial carpet in their bathroom rightfully received a lot of backlash

• rihanna performed at the super bowl halftime show and announced that she’s pregnant with her and asap rocky’s second child. *sigh* also, they were featured on the cover of british vogue with baby fenty, which unfortunately led to this photo. there’s false claims by delusional black men and women that rocky — and black men, in general — are being emasculated, but you can read this article by tayo bero to hear more about why the emasculation of black men isn’t real

  

• the mississippi house of representatives has voted this jim crow-esque court system in jackson, mississippi: “the capitol police, run by the state of mississippi, will have jurisdiction over all of the capital city if mississippi senate bill 2343 becomes law. the legislation would grant currently all-white state officials control over policing in the 82% black capital city of the 38% black state. the capitol police would work alongside locally elected law enforcement officials.” this excerpt was written by kayode crown for the mississippi free press

• nearly 200 contributors to the new york times signed an open letter to call out the legacy newspaper for their transphobic coverage

• in a big W for the marvel cinematic universe, steven yeun has been casted in a mystery role for the thunderbolts

• microsoft and nintendo have negotiated a ten year contract to bring call of duty and other xbox games to nintendo consoles

• florida college students held a statewide walkout on february 23 to protest the desantis administration for their recent actions against queer and bipoc communities

• after 66 days on strike, the 250 unionized employees at harpercollins publishing reached a tentative agreement for their proposed contract

• two media sites were shuttered in february: gawker and catapult. after their short-lived (18-month) revival, bustle digital group decided to close gawker, and catapult will be closing its online magazine and writing classes

  El Norte Recuerda @Vanessid

  Catapult was one of the very few avenues BIPOC and working-class writers could access to the literary world via classes or generous editors who took a chance on pitches. I just feel so much for the editors, writers, and teachers, and the huge loss this means for us all.

  

  Publishers Weekly @PublishersWkly

  The decision to suspend the publisher's editorial and educational arms will "consolidate our efforts around our book publishing program," the publisher said in a statement. https://t.co/DkYiQn0CGC

• the descendants of malcolm x announced their plan to file for a wrongful death $100 million lawsuit against the nypd, state of new york, fbi, and cia for the mishandling of his assassination in 1965

• a mass shooting occurred at michigan state university on february 13, critically injuring five and killing three. you can read more about the three victims here

• dylan lyons, a tv news reporter for spectrum news 13, and t’yonna major, 9-year-old girl, were two victims of a shooting in orlando. this cnn article details the string of events that started with the shooting of nathacha augustin. t’yonna’s mother and dylan’s photographer were also injured on the scene, and there is a gofundme available for both families

• r. kelly — who is already serving a 30-year prison sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking — has received an additional 20-year sentence for child pornography crimes. harvey weinstein — who is also already serving a 23-year sentence in prison for rape and sexual assault — is likely to be spending the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced to 16 additional years for more sex crimes

• there’s beef between selena gomez and hailey bieber, and i don’t quite know what’s going on, but maybe these explainers by cosmopolitan and rolling stone can help you figure it out. i’m going to mind my black business!

• ant-man and the wasp: quantumania was released in theaters, and the movie was catching multiple strays for its storyline, graphics, evangeline lilly’s anti-vaxx nature, and similarity to the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl

  tony🗣 @ratatatvandal

  white family confronts and harrasses successful black man in his own home

  

• angela bassett did the thing!

things i wrote

• markus klinko reflects on 20 years of 'dangerously in love' for paper mag

  i really enjoyed profiling markus and hearing his story about shooting the infamous, glimmering cover of bey’s dangerously in love

what i loved reading in february:

• the grammys call dr. dre an icon. dee barnes calls him an abuser by mankaprr conteh

• with raven, kelela reclaims dance music for black artists and looks to the future by jaelani turner-williams

• young, gifted and black: meet the next generation of black hollywood by ruth e. samuel

• how usher became the new king of vegas by hunter harris

• sza has always been alternative—you just weren’t listening by sydney gore

• how the peacock chair became a symbol of black power and liberation by j. nailah avery

• why black families are leaving new york, and what it means for the city by troy closson and nicole hong

• composing climate change: the radical legacy of black musicians by jaelani turner-williams

• the underbelly of stan culture: the psychology, legality, of the stan experience by daric l. cottingham

• one of the nation’s top skiers is just 12. she’s among a wave of black athletes aiming to dominate the slopes by tatiana flowers

• my meet-cute with jonathan majors by tahirah hairston

• what really happens if a bear does cocaine, explained by an ursinologist by alex abad-santos

• ordinary black lives should be remembered, too by gabrielle ione hickmon

• yes, please, we should ALL be masking in public: an open letter to empathetic people by sydney n. sweeney

• the divine delusion of gender by

  Cafe Hysteria

what i loved watching in february:

• sharper

• harley quinn: a very problematic valentine’s day special

• cocaine bear

• puss in boots: the last wish

• marcel the shell with shoes on

what i loved listening to in february:

• nasty dancer by flo milli

• ghost in the machine by sza ft. phoebe bridgers

• raven by kelela

• this is why by paramore