Edition
33 November 15th December 15th
2010
in a city rich in shades, here is a COLOR that includes all...
Plus:
LGBT Youth Suicides & Diversity: Are We Doing All We Can?
Vinay Mehra CFO WGBH
Beyond the Numbers
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE 3RD ANNUAL ALL-INCLUSIVE AWARDS DEC. 2ND 2010 SPONSORED BY:
Contents
November 2010
B e nc h m a r k s
5 Intervention Sparks Awareness: 25 Years of International AIDS Posters at MassArt
6 For Colored Girls: Tyler Perry’s Remake of the Iconic Play Resonates
10 Society: Silk Road Gala & Basic Black Mixer
Feature
12 Vinay Mehra, CFO of WGBH, sees Value Beyond the Numbers. 14 LGBT Youth Suicides and Diversity – the support is there, but is it misguided? A mustread perspective on this critical issue.
E n t e rta i n m e n t
L i f e st y l e
16 Raul Malo on his
8 Lifestyle Giving
new CD Sinners & Saints
Guide: Giving, Getting and Creating Fashion
20 Review: How to
18 Wine Wars: Terroir-itorial Disputes of Place, Politics and Profits
Read the Air, the latest from Dinaw Mengestu
22 The Painted Man: Saturday at the Park
21 Review: Daryll’s Corner Bar & Kitchen replaces iconic Bob The Chef’s, does it live up?
www.colormagazineusa.com November 2010
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Welcome
From the publisher
In a city rich in shades here is a color that includes all… Color Magazine is the premier all-inclusive monthly magazine that highlights and promotes professionals of color.
Dear friend,
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Lately, I have been on a quest for transformative experiences – although maybe I am going about this the wrong way and I should simply let them happen. A few months ago my boys and I went horseback riding in Vermont. It was a picturesque moment, until the horse I was riding bucked and threw me. As I was laying on my back on the dirt, I couldn’t help but feel vulnerable. The tears I couldn’t suppress must have gone nicely with my dirt-coated face and teeth. I briefly wanted to make it a Godfather moment, but regardless of how I felt, I knew that I had to get back on the horse. I pasted a smile on my face and saddled up again. I did it for my boys who were frightened and I did it for myself to overcome my fear. Afterwards I could barely walk, but what was I looking for what exactly? The fall turned out to be a transformative experience because, at that moment, I took stock of my life and thought what a lucky woman I am. Perhaps, the only thing that needed transforming was my perspective. Josefina
C ONTRI B UTIN G W RITERS
Publisher
Josefina Bonilla
josefina@colormagazineusa.com Editor
Michael Chin
michael@colormagazineusa.com Event Strategist
Desiree Arevalo Intern
Yiming “Coco” Yu Advisory Committee
Greg Almieda Ferdinand Alvaro, Jr. Daren Bascome Kim Dukes-Rivers Beverly Edgehill Yvonne Garcia George Gilmer Kimberly Y. Jones Samson Lee Brenda Mckenzie Juan Carlos Morales Oswald Mondejar Nereida Perez Russel Pergament Carol Sanchez John Sims Eduardo Tobon Leverett Wing Publisher
Color Media Group, LLC Distribution
GateHouse Media
Joanne Choi is a freelance journalist who also regularly contributes to AsianBoston Magazine. Her passion is staying up-to-date on people and society. She is working on her first novel.
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Aaron A. Arzu is a Le Cordon Bleutrained culinarian. A recovering lawyer, Aaron now spends his time arguing over the perfect spice blends instead of legal briefs.
MAGAZINE November 2010
Adaora Asala an awardwinning activist and community leader, is the founding director of Queer Women of Color and Friends (QWOC+ Boston), a nationally recognized organization that promotes diversity within the LGBT community. You can read more about her work at www. spectraspeaks. com.
Desmond Williams is a freelance writer and JUNO magazine columnist. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, is half of a mixed-race couple and father to a rambunctious, comedic and inquisitive kindergartner. Desmond is currently working on a graphic novel, The Painted Man.
Trond Arne Undheim is an entrepreneur, speaker and author. He lives between Boston and London, speaks six languages and has a Ph.D. in sociology. He writes frequently on wine and society.
Jay Calderin is the author of Form, Fit & Fashion, the upcoming Fashion Design Essentials,and an instructor and Director of Creative Marketing at the School of Fashion Design. Jay is currently the Regional Director of Fashion Group International of Boston and the Executive Director of Boston Fashion Week which he founded.
benchmarks
Clockwise from top left: India, "People suffering from AIDS need love. Not disgust, not abandonment, but just love." (1995); Germany, Never Trust an Unknown Fix (1995); Portugal, Fight AIDS Not People With AIDS (2009); Trinidad & Tobago, Don’t be afraid (1994); USA Ignorance = Fear/Silence = Death (1989); AustraliaCondoman (1994); Caribbean United Against AIDS (date unknown)
Intervention Sparks Awareness Posters have to work very hard. Within a small space, amid the clutter and speed of everyday life, they have to captivate, impart messages, change attitudes, spark actions. Since the HIV/AIDS virus began killing thousands and infecting thousands more worldwide 25 years ago, AIDS posters that addressed the epidemic have had to work even harder – it was matter of life or death during the worst international public health crisis in modern history. Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985-2010 at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) through December 4, takes visitors on a compelling tour, continent by continent, of the diverse visual strategies employed by government agencies, community activists, grassroots organizations, and committed artists within their own distinctive cultural perspectives to educate and motivate their varied constituencies about AIDS. Featuring 153 posters from 44 countries, drawn from the large archive of AIDS posters of Boston-based poster collector James Lapides (founder of the International Poster Gallery, Boston), with selections from MassArt’s poster archive, the exhibition reveals the potency of graphics as, in the words of critic Steven Heller,
MassArt Exhibition of 25 Years of International AIDS Posters By Jack Curtis
“an information tool and intervention weapon” to address socio-political issues such as sexual education, discrimination and eradication. Here’s a sampling of an exhibition that must be seen – with family and friends because the images and accompanying labels are all conversationstarters: From the United States, we get iconic works such as the Keith Haring’s painting, “Ignorance=Fear; Silence=Death” (1989), which tackles the prejudice surrounding the growing crisis. From Australia, a series of posters, “Everybody’s Business,” uses the beautiful work of an aboriginal artist to stress education, prevention and caring (1992). A wild-eyed, frightened cartoonlike face screams at the inhabitants of Trinidad and Tobago, “Don’t be afraid, be aware” (1994). With its brightly colored headline, “Spread facts
– Not Fear!”, a Zimbabwean poster informs its viewers “You can not get AIDS from . . . ” (1993). Depicting a hand holding a flower and a condom, a Cuban poster asks, “How can I show my love?” (2006). A Zimbabwean poster, with its vernacular use of bright colors and woodcut illustrations, tells its viewers, “Care enough to love safely” (1993). “Fight AIDS; not people with AIDS” (the words crammed into an image shaped like the African continent), exhorts a poster from Portugal (2009). As Lapides writes in the exhibition catalog, “The posters are a way of remembering those who have died due to AIDS – a graphic quilt of a different kind. The poster itself once again should be celebrated for its central role in promoting awareness, saving lives . . . and speaking out in the face of this terrifying global disease.” Like the posters on display, Graphic Intervention also works hard – to focus on design and lifesaving communication, inform without preaching, and survey insights into various societies, popular culture, and contemporary morality. Above all, it shakes us, reminds us that AIDS posters, still facing enormous challenges, will have to keep right on coming and continue their arduous work to push awareness and caring.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston 02115. Through December 4, free admission. www.massart.edu
www.colormagazineusa.com November 2010
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benchmarks
Jo (Janet Jackson) and Carl (Omari Hardwick). (Quantrell Colbert)
Alice (Whoopi Goldberg, left) and Nyla (Tessa Thompson).
(Quantrell Colbert)
For Colored Girls Tyler Perry’s Remake of the Iconic Play Resonates John Black
T
he decision to make For Colored Girls, a cinematic adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s Tony-nominated play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, was an easy one for director Tyler Perry.
“(It) is a brilliant, important work that should have a place in film history,” he said. “It had been 35 years, and still it hadn’t been made into a film . . . I was nervous because it’s such a powerful, iconic piece and there are so many people who live, eat, breathe and die Colored Girls. I had to be sure I could get it right.” 6
MAGAZINE November 2010
Part of getting it right, the director knew, was putting together a cast of talented actresses who could not only create believable characters on screen, but who had the talent to make Shange’s poetry work on film. So he started working on finding the right talents to match each of the unique characters in the
film and eventually ended up with a truly great ensemble cast, one that’s almost guaranteed to be holding their awards high at The Golden Globes next year. Some of the women Perry turned to are actresses he has worked with before and felt comfortable asking them to take on the special demands of For Colored Girls. For the emotional center of the piece, Crystal, Perry picked Kimberly Elise, the young actress who anchored his early film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, so successfully. “We all know For Colored Girls. It’s sort of a rite-of-passage play for an actress of color (so) when Tyler called me and told me that he was going to be making a feature film of it, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it,” she explained. “For Colored Girls is such an important piece, but a lot of young people don’t get out to the theater and aren’t aware of it. To marry such magnificent material with a medium that will reach multiple generations seemed perfectly logical and totally appropriate and absolutely something I wanted to be a part of.” Janet Jackson, who worked with Perry on Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too?, was among the first to sign on to the project to play the part of Jo, a highpowered publishing executive whose husband is hiding a dark secret. “I remember the play being on Broadway when I was a kid; as a matter of fact, I came to visit my brother in New York when he was doing The Wiz, and it was playing then. I was ten years old. Thirty-three years later, to be part of a film version – it’s incredible,” Jackson said. “For Colored Girls is about bonds. This group of diverse women, most of whom don’t know one another, are brought together because of a tragedy. They become truly connected. They
Others Talk.
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www.mghfordiversity.org
2010
are really there for one another.” Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg, who had been in the midst of planning a Broadway revival of Colored Girls when the 2008 financial meltdown scuttled the project, was keen to be part of the film both for the chance to play the religiously fanatical, Alice, and to work with Perry. “You don’t see many moguls who have their own movie studio, and who are able and self-reliant. That’s an unusual person to me,” Goldberg said. “Alice is intent on purifying herself for God. In her mind, that means wearing white. Except she can’t quite give it a hundred percent, because she does like to buy odd, colorful socks. I think she gets them for, like, sixty cents, and it doesn’t matter what the pattern is. I think at one time she was all that her socks are; now the socks are the only sort of whoosh that exists for her.” The always delightful Loretta Devine was just a young actor in graduate school when Colored Girls became an Off-Broadway sensation in 1976. In fact, she successfully auditioned for a role, but had to turn it down when she was unable to obtain the scholastic leave of absence. So having Perry ask her to join the cast to play Juanita, a nurse who opens a health and wellness clinic in Harlem, was a dream come true. “Ntozake Shange was new to everybody, and it was really a revolutionary piece. At that particular time, there wasn’t any theater about black women and the things that concerned them most in their lives. Ntozake touched on woman’s true emotions and experiences; there were poems about race, about abuse, about love, about date rape, about abortion. She didn’t leave out anything,” she said. “Juanita’s an older woman that’s still trying to find someone to love her and she’s holding onto a lot of the things that a younger girl would hold onto. She wants to be attractive and vivacious, so she’s put her braids in and she has her green nail polish and short dresses and high heels. And she projects a happiness that may not really be totally true.” Now that the film is done and has been released into the world. Perry said he is proud of the final product and the hard work his ladies put into it. “These women are just stellar. I always respected the brilliance of what Ntozake had written. But until I heard those words spoken through these women with such conviction and passion, from such a deep and authentic place, I did not know how special the piece was,” he said. “The messages of the film are not mine. They’re Ntozake’s. They are messages of strength. They’re messages of hope. No matter what the tragedy, you can get up. If I had to sum it up one phrase, it would be: You’re not alone.”
TOP
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DIVERSITY
By embracing diverse skills, perspectives and ideas, we choose to lead: EOE.
LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle Gift Guide
beauty, grooming and wellness are at the heart of being stylish, so a prepaid period of monthly J e w e l ry www.catalinadelatorre.com haircuts, manicures or pedicures will Wo r t h y C au s e s be a sure fire way www.dressforsuccess.org www.aac.org to give the gift that www.rosiesplace.org keeps on giving. roomtogrow.org The package Spa within a package: g2ospasalon.com contact a local emergespasalon.com designer or retailer www.exhalespa.com about making an Wa r d r o b e S t y l i s t appointment for a gotodesignstudio.com private shopping Classes experience. Add www.bcae.org some stylish transB u y DIY portation to the mix www.etsy.com and a great dinner out at a fashionable establishment, and you’ve got a sure fire memory in the making. Don’t forget that you can also make a contribution of time, money or goods to a charity that is meaningful to the recipient. Places like Dress for Success, Boomerangs, Rosie’s Place and Room to Grow are just a few establishments that can put funds as well as gently worn fashion to use in making a difference in people’s lives.
GETTING
The Gift of Lifestyle Giving, Getting and Creating Fashion B y J ay C a l d e r i n
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MAGAZINE November 2010
GIVING Those individuals who give great gifts are often the same ones who are great observers and not necessarily the ones with the deepest pockets. If you have not been particularly tuned in to what would be of interest to your friends and family, there are a few ways to still give thoughtful gifts this holiday season. Clothing is a very personal and sometimes even intimate direction to explore for a gift. Small token gifts, perhaps a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry accompanied by a gift card to purchase an outfit to go with it, allows them to enjoy the full extent of your generosity but also lets them know that you have some insight into their tastes. Any “of the month” club is certainly a quick fix for gift giving, but with just a little more thought you can really personalize the concept. Pamper the person you care about with a season or even a year-long series of experiences. Remember
The holiday season is almost certain to produce some stress. It’s important to remember to take care of yourself. Thinking of others also means being sure that you’re at your best when you’re involved in activities with family, friends and coworkers. The act of extreme self-care should be a priority at this time of year. Time is always at a premium but a massage or equally relaxing spa treatment can be a important service to budget time and money for. Taking a weekend to go through your closet and planning out a wardrobe for the season will make dressing to be hostess, guest or employee effortless. Hiring a local stylist to help you with this could be another investment in being good to yourself.
CREATING If you’re lucky enough to have the time to do it yourself, making gifts can be as enjoyable as giving them. You can take a class with the intention of creating a gift. A knitting class at the Boston Center for Adult Education might allow you to whip up the ideal accessory to defend your loved one against the harsh New England winter. If there is not enough time to do it yourself, you might want to support the designers and craftspeople at the heart of DIY movement, many of whom have set up shop on websites like Etsy.
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Society
Basic Black
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Meet and greet at WGBH Studios following the “Live Watch” airing of Basic Black on Oct. 28. Basic Black airs Thursdays on WGBH 2 at 7:30 p.m., streaming live at www.basicblack.org. 1 - State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz; Phillip Martin, WGBH Radio, Senior Investigative Reporter. 2 - Nancy Rousseau, President of the Young Professional Network of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts questions Robert Fortes, President, The Fortes Group. 3 - Basic Black’s Kim McLarin meets Live Watch guests. 4 - Sonia ChangDiaz with Basic Black contributor Bridgit Brown. 5 - WGBH’s Atrium
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(Photos by Stephanie Vieira)
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Silk Road Gala
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The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence’s (ATASK) 17th Annual Silk Road Gala held, October 23 at the InterContinental Hotel Boston. Stars included Jennifer 8. Lee author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles and Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. 1 - Mayor Thomas Menino and Chef Ming Tsai, 2010 Silk Road Gala Chair 2 - Linda Chin, ATASK President, Thaleia Tsongas Schlesinger, and Massachusetts First Lady Diane Patrick 3 - Laura Sen, President and CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club and Massachusetts First Lady Diane Patrick 4 - Kija Kim, ATASK Board Chair, and Atsuko Toko Fish, ATASK Chair Emeritus
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MAGAZINE November 2010
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WHO WILL BE YOUR NEXT GENERATION EXECUTIVE?
The only program designed to prepare multicultural leaders of color for executive level roles. Applications now being accepted! Session begins October 4, 2010. Learn more at: www.thepartnershipinc.org/train/senior_executives.html
Vinay Mehra By Michael Chin
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MAGAZINE November 2010
verseeing the finances and operations of the renowned public broadcasting station WGBH – which produces more PBS content than any other affiliate, including Nova, Frontline, Curious George and Antiques Road Show – is a fitting job for a man who sees the value beyond the numbers.
Prior to joining WGBH as chief financial officer in 2008, Vinay Mehra worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where his clients included The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Disney and Bellmark Records, which released hits from Prince, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” and Tag Team, “Whoomp! (There it is),” during his tenure. Surprisingly, when he began working in entertainment and media, Vinay knew next to nothing about the industry (one executive asked him if he knew who Prince was, he didn’t), but his curiosity and creativity allowed him to succeed. “Did I know anything about the business? I didn’t. But I knew how to think strategically about it. I knew how to learn as it was evolving,” he recalled, “They picked me because they said, ‘Here’s a guy who is more than a numbers guy.’”
Coming to America
During the partition of India in 1947, Vinay’s parents emigrated from what is now Pakistan to India. When Vinay was a teenager his father decided that his son needed to go to America in order to make something of himself. So Vinay applied to MIT, receiving a scholarship. Despite the concerns of his mother and his family’s lack of money, his father had faith that Vinay would, as he puts it, “figure it out.” “I think what was most amazing for me was to see that opportunity existed for me irrespective of my caste or my color. In India, if you are born into a certain caste or income level, it’s very hard to get to the next level,” he explained. He admits that he wasn’t the smartest kid in school (claiming he was lucky to get C’s), but it was his enterprising spirit that allowed him to succeed and the reason his father was adamant about him going to America. “I think for me and for my father, it was ‘Go and make something of your life.’ As I look back most people say you have to be doctor or an engineer, or you have to have a specific career in the sciences. My father never told me that. He said, ‘Go. Get on that plane. I know you don’t even have enough money to make it to America but that’s your final destination.’” After arriving, Vinay worked odd jobs (from washing dishes to the Hare Krishna movement) to get through college. He eventually found himself working as an accountant for PwC where his boss took Vinay under his wing. What his boss saw in him and what Vinay has now brought to WGBH, is the ability to see beyond the numbers. And after working for many years in the private sector, Vinay seems happy with what he is seeing beyond WGBH’S $170 million budget, which is the largest of any public station in the country. “The employees over here stay at ‘GBH and put their heart and soul behind the mission because they are able to relate what they are doing to creating value in the outside world. Where as in the commercial world it is harder to understand how the strategy is able to link to the bigger, more human aspect. That’s one thing that has blown my mind when I’ve come in over here. The employees are passionate about what they do, they care about they do.”
As CFO, Vinay is charged with keeping the business strategy true to the mission of WGBH, and he understands that he is beholden to the stakeholders. Only at WGBH the stakeholders are the public, the individual donors and foundations who support the programming. “We have a responsibility to make sure we are using the money the right way,” he said, “How do we make sure we are able to do more and deliver more to our audiences, so that they feel the same passion we do in creating this content and want to give back to us?” The answer lies in the myriad of programming WGBH produces to serve its audience, from Arthur to María Hinojosa: One-on-One, Basic Black to Simply Ming. “Diversity is a fundamental principle in how we operate the business . . . I think you can see it reflects in the content we produce which is for every kind of community out there.”
News radio
A little more than a year ago, WGBH made a major move in Boston’s radio market. They took their singular radio station, which was a mixture of news and music, and created two stations, an all classical station (99.5 FM) and a full-time news station (89.7 FM). The expansion meant they were going to be directly competing with the longstanding and successful WBUR, turning Boston into one of the only cities in the country with two public radio stations devoted exclusively to news. It is clear that Vinay and WGBH felt that it was a calculated risk that met a need in the community and WGBH’s mission. “We looked at the opportunity in the market, not just the competitive aspect. There was a need and hunger for news, and there was a need for a pure classical music station,” he explained. So far, the move seems to be working. “Of course it’s a journey, a strategy doesn’t get executed on day one,” he added, “We certainly had a vision, we spent a lot of time researching our audience. Remember we had a radio station so we were not going into a new business. That’s what I call a calculated risk.”
Show me the value
Even mainstays like WGBH feel the effects of a down economy, and making cuts is part of that reality, but Vinay is far from an austere numbers person you might expect in a CFO. “Our biggest asset is our people . . . Having a strategy is not enough, [you need] the skill sets to execute against the strategy. I would rather have the right people on the bus then have the right number of people. I know the long term success of the business is dependent on having the right people.” In the end, WGBH is still a business that needs to be financially viable. But Vinay is quick to explain how he sees feasibility in creating value first. For example, for more than 30 years WGBH has taken the lead in developing technology and programming accessible to the deaf and the blind; it’s easy for him to see the value in it socially and financially: “There is a direct correlation between their mission and the financial contribution and the goodwill this company earns from the public. If I put together a balance sheet of the work they are doing with technology for the deaf and the blind, I can tell it would be a very profitable business. If you start by asking, ‘Where is the money?,’ you won’t be able to define the value. If you are able to show the value, the money will come. A lot of CFOs don’t think that way. The first thing you have to show is the value.” www.colormagazineusa.com November 2010
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LGBT Youth Suicides and Diversity The support is there, but is it misguided? By Adaora Asala
In
September, just short of one month into the new school year, five out of the nine reported youth suicides were confirmed to have been motivated by “anti-LGBT” bullying. The result has been a strong sense of urgency to end what is currently being referred to as an “epidemic of LGBT youth suicides” that has led to a push for more LGBT-based protections and formal support systems (e.g. the creation of more Gay Straight Alliances in schools and colleges). However, these singular-identity based solutions often fail to adequately address the problem of providing comprehensive support systems to youth of color due to their multicultural identities.¶ As an activist, I understand the LGBT community’s natural inclination to respond to the recent tragedies via overtly LGBT-specific suicide prevention campaigns, particularly as we face budget cuts to AIDS/HIV research programs, delays in ending employment-based discrimination in the workplace (ENDA) and in the military (DADT), and setbacks to the fight for federal equality via equal marriage. But as a queer woman of color – and a survivor of attempted suicide – bearing witness to passionate, yet single-issue LGBT political rhetoric that continually fails to include the voices of people of color, on top of the lack of response to this issue from communities of color, has been extremely frustrating. 14
MAGAZINE November 2010
Single-Issue Politics Alienate People of Color
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recently participated as a feature speaker at a “Candlelight Vigil for the Victims of Anti-LGBT Bullying” in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse. I was delighted to see more than 400 people in attendance and a crowd rich in cultural diversity, sexual orientation, age, etc. Yet, despite a very diverse turnout, all but one of the speakers before me had placed nearly all of their emphasis on political/policy improvement action as it affected LGBT youth specifically, from “increasing funding for Gay Student Associations (GSAs),” “introducing tougher legislation to protect youth from harassment based on their sexual orientation (via the Safe Schools Improvement Act),” to “calling state senators and demanding LGBT equality.” It seemed that yet again, the LGBT movement was on the brink of being consumed by the same single-issue politics that spear-headed Prop 8 into a brick wall and then
“We must put as much effort in expanding the reach and improving the relatability of formal support systems as we do in creating them.” blamed the African-American community for not standing by LGBT rights, as though they didn’t acknowledge African-Americans as an intersecting sub-population of the LGBT community or recognize how the language of the Prop 8 movement, which talked about equality but framed it specifically around marriage, failed to align with or resonate with their (and other groups’) cultural values. In the case of the vigil, our country, almost overnight, had received a shocking message (or reminder) that LGBT youth weren’t just at “greater risk of attempted suicide” as compared to their peers (a stark 4 to 1 ratio), but that this already alarming statistic had moved from clinical euphemism to harsh reality: LGBT youth were no longer just at risk, they were dying, and we needed to do something about it. Given the impact of these events on the LGBT community specifically, vigils and rallies such as the one that helped bring Boston’s community together in response to these tragedies, have played a critical role in building momentum for change. However, like the gay, white marriage movement, the collective call to legal arms and protections misses the mark by alienating people who are put off by political jargon but are empowered by the idea of more personal, direct, empathic and inclusive strategies to create safe spaces for all of our youth; one that, for instance, recognizes that transgender youth are marginalized within alleged LGBT-friendly spaces, and that the voices of people of color are often muffled by the cultural incompetencies of organizing strategies; one that is aware that equal protection as described by mainstream LGBT activists doesn’t automatically guarantee equal protection for the people who fall into any of the afore-mentioned identity groups.
Lack of Cultural Competency within Formal Support Systems
W
hen I left Nigeria for the world’s largest melting pot, I was met with a shocking reality. Ironically, a group of African-American students – the students who actually “looked” like me – became my biggest bullies and oppressors for the two cold years I spent at a boarding school in New Hampshire. Go figure, my African accent and cultural mannerisms were target for ridicule in a racially diverse
school with almost no Africans represented. I received daily hate mail in my PO Box with words that would be inappropriate to disclose, a group of girls began spreading nasty rumors about me, and they sang profane songs with my name inserted whenever I was in sight. This soon escalated to more physically aggressive attacks – name calling in the cafeteria, stalking me back to my dorm, shoving and worse. I remember staying in my room for two whole days, starving, because I was afraid of running into them in the dining hall. I felt completely alone. My family was halfway across the world, worried enough that their 16-year-old was on her own in a foreign country. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that staff from the “multicultural students office” (a school-sanctioned support system for students of color) to whom they’d entrusted me had accused me of “constantly evoking aggression by asserting my African identity all the time.” They frequently dismissed my pleas for intervention for fear of “making other students of color look bad.” When my dormitory head noticed my mood (and school performance) were on the decline, she encouraged me to see student counseling because I knew the school policy on harassment but didn’t want to get anyone suspended or expelled. Unfortunately, the counselor’s casually expressed class prejudices about the “poor” and “unexposed” black students who were bullying me (even though they were, in my defense) made me uncomfortable. Needless to say, I never went back. To the outside world, it would seem that my prestigious boarding school did provide me with sound systems of support: a multicultural students office, a resident authority figure in my dorm, unlimited access to confidential counseling services and much more. But none of these formal support systems were equipped to deal with me wholly. In fact, they contributed to the feelings of isolation I felt by warranting that I fragment (or silence) parts of myself to receive the aid and support I needed. They couldn’t appreciate the complexities of my experience as an international student, or a student of color who wasn’t American, nor as an African student struggling to define herself in a world where even black people saw me as an “other.” The lack of diversity within the formal support systems in my school meant that resources became inaccessible to me. I didn’t trust anyone to
understand what I was going through. In addition to cultural barriers, their incessant recommendation of resources – brochures, peer hotlines, counselors etc. – felt too much like a doctor who prescribes Ibuprofen before you disclose your symptoms. In high school, too often I was told what to “do” – report the bullies, stand up for yourself, ignore them – to counter one part of my problem, when all I needed was someone to listen to me, acknowledge the entirety of my experience rather than offer me impersonal “resources” for select parts of my identity.
Lack of LGBT-Awareness within Multicultural Support Groups
T
wo years later, a really diverse orientation week at my new college campus confirmed that I no longer had to suffer the loneliness of being an “other.” There was an African students association, a Black Student’s Union, and even an International Co-Ed living group that I decided to join. Moreover, my dormitory housed multiple language houses, which further satisfied my need for a cross-cultural community. I made friends easily and figured it would be smooth sailing to graduation. But just when I thought I’d finally arrived at a point in my life where I could fit in, I began to question my sexuality, which alienated me almost instantly from all of the affinity groups to which I belonged. The most cited approach to LGBT suicides is the creation of more GSAs. I won’t speak for every student, but for me, as a person of color, I never sought out the GSA because every flier, brochure or representation (in the form of students or faculty) that I came upon didn’t resonate with me. I often asserted to myself that those weird people that hung out in some lounge on Thursday evenings didn’t have anything in common with me. They talked about shunning their families for independence and recreating families from a network full of strangers, a philosophy that clashed too much with my cultural beliefs. But even with my initial resistance to my school’s GSA, I’m sure that I’d have visited at least once if, say, the director had been a person of color. Conversely, the black student union was no better. I never felt comfortable among devout Christians who went Continued on Page 23 www.colormagazineusa.com November 2010
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entertainment
Raul Malo
Sinners & Saints
F
By John Black
rom his days singing with the innovative country music group The Mavericks and throughout his solo career, Raul Malo has always been looking to challenge himself, always been on the lookout for new sounds to explore with fellow musicians. ¶ When it came time to make his latest CD, Sinners & Saints, he challenged himself by not going into the studio with any other musicians. There was no one to bounce ideas off, no one tell him what was good and what was bad, what worked and what didn’t. There was nobody there but himself, his instruments and his voice. ¶ And the process thrilled him. ¶ “It was a pretty exciting way to do things,” Malo admitted. “Musically, it led me back to my roots. A lot of my music is Tex-o-centric, but growing up in a Cuban neighborhood in Miami gave me a Latin soul that really came out in the new music. ¶ “The lyrics were a big change this time around, too,” he added. “I think the music inspired me to be more open and honest in my lyrics than I’ve been before. I really felt that I had something to say this time around, something that I needed to get off my chest.”
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MAGAZINE November 2010
Fans reading this who think Malo has gone off the deep end this time around can relax. Some of the music and lyrics on Sinners and Saints may be a bit of a departure for Malo, but longtime listeners know it’s just his way of expanding his horizons and will be more than willing to follow along with him. His voice is still great, and he uses it particularly well on the new disc. One listen to to his version of the soulful Spanish classic Sombras will put their fears aside. His guitar playing, often overlooked because of his voice, is strong, too. What is most exciting to Malo, though, is the way his approach to Sinners & Saints has led him to create something he never imagined: his first Spanish-language CD, which he plans to release in 2011. “Recording Sombras really opened up something inside me,” he said. “I grew up listening to Spanish music on the radio and recording Sombras brought back a lot of memories of that time. There was always music playing on the radio back then, either authentic Spanish and Cuban music or American music translated into Spanish. Music is music, but there’s something about singing a ballad in Spanish that really hits the heart, so I wanted to explore that and see what I could discover about the music and about myself and my culture. “It was an amazing experience,” he said. “I recorded Strangers in the Night in Spanish and it became a much more menacing, meaningful song. It gave me chills.”
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LIFESTYLE
Wine Wars Terroir-torial Disputes of Place, Politics and Profits By Trond Arne Undheim
W
ine used to be simple. You liked it or you didn’t. You could afford it or not. You could buy it in your local shop or you couldn’t. Easy. Wine is not so simple any more. Are you confident you drink the wine you believe in? The terroir police are after you. Drinking wine these days is an ideological choice. Do you buy global or local? Do you prefer US, international or a regional style? It’s time to decide what side you are on. Do you pledge allegiance to big business or with the small farmer? How do you even know which is which? This is complex, but you can crack it.
Power of Place Terroir, in its simplest definition, means sense of place. Whenever you can recognize something, a product, or most importantly a living thing, as being distinctly from a particular place, you have discovered its terroir. Although terroir may refer to climate, sunlight, and geology, to many winegrowers, everything is about the soil. As Joseph Macari Jr., proprietor of the relatively young wine terroir at Macari Vineyards on Long Island, says: “I have been working on my soil for 12 years. My soil is sacred. It is alive. Maybe I should move on to the vines, but there is so much work left on the soil. Wine is generational. It takes a lot to know what’s right and what to plant. You cannot rush it. But feel this soil, isn’t it soft. Smell it, isn’t it fragrant?” The vineyard’s 180 acres of vines, producing 17 thousand cases a year are enriched by biodynamic composts with fish heads, manure, horns, kelp and nettle tea and is home to cows, goats, Sicilian donkeys and ducks. This recreation of a pastoral past is mind blowing for a place near New York City. But this is not the Age of Innocence. Terroir is about possession. If you possess terroir, you have power. The power of place. Just ask Scarlett O’Hara.
The Politics of Wine The first wine war was French and political to the bone. In 2001, Californian-based wine producer Robert Mondavi tried to establish
have changed that? Would the terroir be the same? Surely not. Terroir is political.
The Economics of Wine
business in Aniane, a small, wine-producing village with two thousand inhabitants, in the Languedoc region in the south of France. The leader of the revolt was Aimé Guibert, a local wine-grower violently opposed to “industrial wines” and himself the producer of one of France’s best wines, Mas de Daumas Gassac. Mondavi failed. The village soon after accepted a deal from French wine tycoon Bernard Magrez instead. Magrez, one of the biggest Bordeaux négociants, partnered with actor Gerard Depardieu. Who won? Hard to say, but Magrez’s wine is a luxury good and Aniane and Languedoc are slowly gaining recognition around the world. Would Mondavi
Subscribe to Trond’s Sociology of Wine blog (sociologyofwine.com) to satisfy your wine itch between issues.
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MAGAZINE November 2010
The second wine war is global and economic to the bone. In an upcoming book on the Wine Wars (2011), wine economist Mike Veseth will explore the last decades’ globalization of wine. As the quality of wine has improved, and that it can be shipped across large distances, some worry that cheap, global wine brands will take over the market. Flying winemakers, such as Frenchman Michel Rolland, have homogenized taste and micro-oxygenated much of the world’s wine, although also claiming to improve terroir in the process. American wine critic Robert M. Parker has for 30 years praised fruity, oaky wines. Does wine now taste the same everywhere? One might ask what is to become of poor, unconnected, non-commercial local producers. Will their terroir survive? The short answer is: yes, if it is worth anything. Good inherent terroir is a strong factor in good wine. However, anything can be improved by making an investment. Terroir is economic.
Trond’s Picks
Left to right: Horn Compost at Macari Vineyards; Macari Vineyards; Tasting room; Juan Eduardo MicieliMartinez
The Sociology of Wine The third wine war is local and social to the bone, or so it seems. Terroir is a hotly contested term subject to activism, marketing, and manipulation. Terroirists, originally wine makers who protest wine reforms in the South of France, are now part of a global movement of local wine producers. They side with the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre (Brazil) and not the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland). Alice Feiring, for instance, the terroir and natural wine fanatic wine critic, desires wines that make her “think, laugh, and embrace sex.” Local regions who never had much of a tradition for wine are reinventing themselves with a terroir based storyline and territorial marking. This is not to say that terroir is a scam. Terroir is real enough. However, even though few succeed, all can claim it. For instance, lets consider Long Island local, Mexican-born winemaker Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez of Martha Clara Vineyards (aka Juanmaker). His vision is to become the most recognized brand on the East Coast, modelling Gallo, a family friendly vineyard, selling “wine for everybody.” The third wine war is actually not so local after all. Contrary to what one might assume, terroir is not a term or a practice reserved for
local activists. Conglomerates use it, too, sometimes because they have bought some old terroir, other times because they are inventing terroir for marketing purposes. Why would that change the situation? Also, and this one is hard to accept, terroir is not uniquely French and it is not even only a term reserved for wine. In a recent book, American Terroir (2010), food writer Rowan Jacobsen describes salmon from Yukon river, coffee beans from mountains in Panama, maple syrup from Vermont and avocados from Mexico’s Michoacán as possessing superior terroir. Research indicates that our perception of product quality has something to do with nostalgia. Products with believable terroir not only have a strong link to their place of origin, but also to traditional trade and skill, and most importantly, perhaps, to time, culture, history and ritual. Does all of this take generations? Does it transfer between owners? You are the consumer. You decide. For example, I have great memories from my family’s trip to Beringer in 1990. Do I still feel the same now that the winery is owned by Australian conglomerate Foster’s? Maybe.
The Consumer Conundrum Welcome to the consumer side of the Wine Wars. Wine is political, economic and social. You cannot escape it, and there is no neutral position. There is no monopoly on the power of place. You have to feel it, explore it, and then decide what you believe. Every sip you take rips up some vines and not others. Do you like a wine because you really like it or because you feel you should? Under these conditions, wine can become a cultural quagmire. Are you caught, yet?
Lavoro Syrah Sonoma (2007, $45, 89/100) Mexican-American Alex Beloz and his wife Jen, also a winemaker, have produced only 100 cases of this luscious wine with a luscious, fragrant bouquet. With 98% Syrah and 2% Carignane on 50% new European oak, the wine got 22 months of barrel ageing. Great anis and tar aromas rush to the palate as dark fruits, blackberries and ripe plums provide the background. Tannins are velvety and smooth, although the ageing potential is evident. The oak is nicely integrated and yields roasted coffee beans, vanilla and licorice. Jammy, yet refined, this is concentrated stuff done well.
Bergen Road Meritage Macari Vineyards Long Island (2007, $46, 90/100)
Complex, warming in the mouth with great, sharp tannins, Bergen Road is only made in vintage years. This Bordeaux blend of 42% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot is full bodied indeed. Wonderful berry, dark chocolate and integrated tannins and a smooth finish.
Black Coyote, Cabernet Reserve (2006, $85,
90/100) Winemaker Tim Milos has quite simply made a great wine from this Napa Valley, Atlas Peak appellation. Describing it, one could mess about with many impressions, but blackberry, dark chocolate and truffle come to mind, which is not bad at all. The wine changes for minutes in your mouth, with a forest of flavors such as dark fruit, sandalwood, cherry, and cedar. Only 600 cases produced. The wine has spen 22 months in 100% French, of which 85% was new oak. Well done.
Online Terroir Here is a small selection of sites that discuss how terroir matters to consumers. American Terroir (book): www.rowanjacobsen.com/books/american-terroir
Bernard Magrez: www.bernard-magrez.com Juanmaker: www.youtube.com/user/JuanMaker Mondovino (film): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondovino Terroir and Consumer (article): aof.revues.org Macari Vineyards: www.macariwines.com Martha Clara Vineyards: www.marthaclaravineyards.com Mas de Daumas Dassac: www.daumas-gassac.com RollandCollection: www.rollandcollection.com Sociology of Wine: www.sociologyofwine.com Wine Economist: wineeconomist.com Dr. Vino (political scientist): www.drvino.com
www.colormagazineusa.com November 2010
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LIFESTYLE
Review:
Darryl’s Corner Bar and Kitchen Replacing an icon is never easy. By Aaron A. Arzu
B
ostonians are nothing if not creatures of habit;
we crave the familiar, and once an establishment has earned our loyalty, we are loathe to try anything new. So when longtime Boston institution Bob the Chef’s closed its doors in 2007, Hub foodies were desperate to find a replacement for the home-style Southern cuisine which Bob’s had been dishing up to soul food aficionados for close to twenty years. ¶ Now, after several fits and starts, Boston restaurant impresario Darryl Settles has Darryl’s Corner Bar introduced the latest entrant to regain Bob’s southern-fried and Kitchen at 604 Columbus success with his eponymous Darryl’s Corner Bar and Kitchen. Located Street, Boston, MA 02118. With a makeover in both design and menu, DCBK aims to take For reservations call 617536-1100, or check out their Southern cuisine upscale, while providing the comfort and website at darrylscornerbarboston.com. familiarity of Bob’s traditional soul food. ¶ 20
MAGAZINE November 2010
The décor is befitting DCBK’s trendy South End location; exposed brick and prints of classic jazz artists give way to a modern bar design; the indirect lighting lends an air of sophistication. The space is cozy and intimate, but a split dining room gives the illusion of space, and provides a place for larger groups of revelers to entertain, and be entertained. One drawback of the design, however, is that the live music (a hallmark of Settles’ establishments) is presented in the center of the dining room and can be overpowering for such a tight venue. Overall, DCBK has successfully created an atmosphere equally congenial for groups of socializing friends and colleagues, or for intimate dinners for two. However, DCBK is not nearly as successful in achieving its culinary goals, and the reason is simple; DCBK’s menu doesn’t adequately prepare the diner for the food about to be served. Anticipation and expectation play a great role in how we perceive our dining experience; diners are accustomed to relying on menu descriptions and sense memory to prepare them for the upcoming meal. At DCBK, what the waitstaff brings to the table is often not at all expected from the description in the menu, let alone our preconceptions of what that dish should be. In trying to keep to its purported updating of
Ever dreamed of making the world Southern classics, DCBK felt bound to include various regional descriptions of the dish, even when those descriptions bore no resemblance to the actual dish, such as a “North Carolina” style pulled pork sandwich, which was slathered in a sweet, spicy, Kansas City-style sauce, instead of the regionally authentic vinegarbased sauce I was expecting; a “Maryland” crab cake with a soggy crust and no lump crabmeat (and entirely too much cayenne pepper); or an disconcertingly deconstructed jambalaya, that bore much more of a resemblance to a paella than anything served down on the bayou. A perfect example of this disconnection between menu and plate was the “blackened” sirloin; I was anticipating the dark, rich, caramelization that occurs when food is covered in spices and seared at extremely high heat. I received a moist, juicy steak, absent any char, blackening or even color. Despite the fact that the food was tasty, well-prepared, and flavorful, my major emotion was not the satisfaction of being served good food, but rather, disappointment at the lack of authenticity promised by the menu. The balance of the meal continued in that vein; diners expect fried food to be fried; the “pan-fried” trout was delicious, with a delightful sauce and an attractive whole-fish presentation. What it was not, was fried. Diners expect blackened food to be, well, blackened. As noted above, the blackened sirloin was not, and neither was the excellently seared, but completely misnamed blackened tuna. DCBK’s otherwise tasty, flavorful food was held hostage to its concept of elevating “traditional” soul food in such a way that neither traditionalists nor foodies are likely to be satisfied. That’s not to say that the food itself was terrible; on the contrary, despite a tendency to be heavy-handed on the heat (note, wherever you see “Cajun” prepare for a blast of cayenne), the food was often well-prepared and elegantly presented (with a few exceptions, see the aforementioned soggy crab cakes). DCBK’s cocktail list is extensive and the desserts stack up favorably with any from Bob’s kitchen; the red velvet cake is a rich, decadent, and satisfying ending to a savory but frustrating meal. While DCBK is showing some success in reinventing itself as a nightlife hotspot popular with an ethnically diverse clientele, in presenting itself as a culinary successor to Bob the Chef’s, DCBK’s cuisine suffers from the inevitable comparison to Bob’s tasty and authentic soul food, which is a shame; if DCBK could separate itself from Bob’s legacy, and adopt its own identity, it might develop the same loyal following; after all – Bostonians are creatures of habit.
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entertainment
Review: How to Read the Air
D
By Joanne M. Choi
inaw Mengestu’s debut novel, The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears put him on the literary map in 2007, separating him from his previous existence as a struggling writer in a shared Brooklyn apartment. In June 2010, he was selected on The New Yorker’s list of 20 fiction writers under 40. The mention won’t guarantee a bestseller, but it is prestigious nonetheless – past lists included Jhumpa Lahiri and Juot Díaz.
Dinaw Mengestu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1978. He came to the United States at the age of two with his mother and sister to join their father, who had already left the country to escape the communist regime. Mengestu’s Midwest childhood was all American, though he now resides in Paris with his wife and two sons. When asked about mainly living and writing in France, he explained, “I’m far more compelled to write about a place once I’m no longer living inside of it. The absence creates a space that your imagination and memory can fill.” His latest work, How to Read the Air (Riverhead Books) toggles between Jonas Woldemariam’s unraveling marriage to Angela, a lawyer in New York City, and the imagined fly on the wall view of his immigrant parents’ union. Jonas recreates the narrative of his parents’ relationship as they take a road trip to Nashville, Tennessee. It seems he did this in the hopes of figuring out the true origins of Yosef and Mariam’s unhappiness and inability to function as a couple. Through these complex narratives, Mengestu, is free to explore how certain couples can’t live together because they have dissimilar rhythms and deep-rooted needs, while tackling how cultural baggage only adds to the brewing relationship mess. The union of Yosef and Mariam is doomed partly due to the ongoing domestic violence while the absolute lack of insight and giving from both husband and wife is the final nail in the coffin. In essence, both are hiding from 22
MAGAZINE November 2010
one another while being separated from their culture, family, friends and security. The disconnect that began with Yosef and Mariam in one generation continues in their only child’s life and relationships. Angela notes his ‘unusual reserve’ but Jonas does not recognize it in himself, as it is what he grew up with. It is sad to think that the promising relationship of Jonas and Angela began with them walking all over New York City to find their own special bench, and ends up like Jonas’ parents relationship, filled with tension and disappointment. They both need each other but struggle to function as a couple and handle the challenges and growing pains that time brings. Lies are used to avoid reality, beckon in fantasy and temporarily soothe. Jonas is aware that his lies will be found out eventually but that doesn’t prevent him from uttering what he knows Angela wants to hear about his job and his future plans. It begs the question: What is the real function of his dishonesty? Is it wish fulfillment, simple avoidance or the easiest way to bring about personal and professional changes without being direct? The fictitious tales about his father that Jonas tells to his students gain him an approval that was lacking in his life. But does he really just need a priest, Prozac or pity? Mengestu explains that “the fictional worlds Jonas creates allows both him and his audience to enter personal and physical landscapes that while perhaps not real in the technical sense, nonetheless have a vitality and truth to them.” In the end, Jonas was simply unreliable and emotionally unavailable – just as his estranged wife thought. The sympathy or understanding that should have arisen in me did not materialize. My real feelings were oddly not reserved for Mariam either; a young pregnant wife always running from her husband. Counterintuitively, it was for the abusive husband Yosef. Here was a man who had to go through so much to reach the so-called promised land and never was able to adequately re-invent himself in the land of reinvention. Like so many others, there is no real American dream for this man and he dies a lonely and broken man.
entertainment
Continued from Page 15
Be Yourself
to church as a group every Sunday, then casually expressed their homophobia over brunch, along with a tirade of derogatory comments made about my African heritage. In a campus that was overzealous with providing resources, support groups, and counseling, I faced the same issue I’d experienced in my high school: lack of diversity within each formal support group, which left me feeling isolated, fragmented, and one night, without any hope. I attempted suicide.
iversity is about perspective. None of the formal support systems at either of my schools had been equipped with adequate perspective to empathize with my needs and so they failed in supporting me. It isn’t going to be enough to just harp on administrators and legislators to act quickly to improve anti-bullying policies and create more formal support systems if students with multiple identities continue to fall out of the scope. We must put as much (if not more) effort in expanding the reach and improving the relatability of formal support systems as we do in creating them. Hiring more people of color staff – not just “white allies” – to increase
Diversity Saves Lives –
D
cultural competency in LGBT spaces is a good start. But communities of color must also commit to developing LGBT leadership within people of color spaces if we are to achieve full equality for all. And yet, while we support the efforts of school administrations and advocacy groups, it is important for all of us to be open, transparent and visible, so that kids and teens don’t feel so alone, or like their struggles can’t be overcome. It is hard to know which parts of identities a young individual may need to see to feel real hope. But diversity begins with the courage to present all aspects of ourselves to the world, all the time, and without fear. So for the sake of our youth, we must be brave enough to be ourselves. www.colormagazineusa.com November 2010
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