Contemplating "The Black Woman as a Vulcan"

There is much grace to be had in this world, and much of it is mine.  I am a lady, and my head is high.  I will pick up my skirts and bend in the wind, move with the flow and tides...but remain untouched.

I am not angry; I am indifferent.  Surely, you know the difference.

I am not a part of your conversation.  Like you, it is a passing season.  I am the statue, the stoic, the cynic...though my face is so thoroughly impassive you would never know.

At the Bar with Andrew Chen

It is with the absolute greatest pleasure that I present to you Andrew Chen, the leading man ("Dre") in Kelley Co. Productions' upcoming Blasian show Audrey & Dre. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Chen is an actor, writer, producer...and engineer. I completed this interview with him on July 28th, 2010.
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I was first introduced to you via previews of Audrey & Dre, and even though Ms. Kelley sent me the amazing synopsis, we’ll shy away from spoilers. *wink* So how about we start with you telling us a few things about yourself?

I am originally from Houston, TX where I was born and raised. As you can tell from the previews, I do not have a southern accent, but I do know how to ride a horse. =) I led a pretty normal life while growing up in Texas: I got good grades in school, played varsity tennis and did the things that every other young person did. Nothing out of the norm; although, I did have a desire to be in the entertainment industry. But of course being from an Asian American family, to pursue that in college would have meant disownment, so I studied chemical engineering instead.

Is Obama a Rented Negro?

We've had a good discussion so far, ladies (and occasional gentleman); let's see if we can keep it going.

Is Obama a Rented Negro?  Quick recap: a "Rented Negro" is a well-paid or otherwise compensated POC who applies their color to white agenda; they're basically "a black face on white opinion."  Their sole purpose is try to sell white agenda to POC (which, by the way, doesn't work).  Their existence has a really annoying side effect: they tend to confuse white viewers who see them on TV, but don't often meet POC like them in real life or online.  That's when the Loudmouths often emerge, because we're not - as Cinnamon would say - "bowing and scraping, shuckin’ and jivin’, skinnin’ and grinnin', or all around coonin' like a proper POC is supposed to do."

What They Say, What We Say

I've just gotta say somethin' 'bout Wonderful World.  Based on watching the trailer:

What They Say: Oh, goodie! Someone finally wrote a movie for the post-racial era!

What We Say: *twitch* A white person wrote this.

Contemplating "The Honey"

Thanks, Witchsistah!

“Years ago, when I first started talking to white folks about race, I used to tread lightly. I knew that the vast majority of white people can quickly get very defensive and shut down easily in discussions of race, so I bent over backwards to accommodate them. I would spend hours typing out huge responses that were as pleasant and non-accusatory and educational as I could possibly be.

“And what happened whenever I did this? I was accused of calling people racists, even though I had specifically gone out of my way not to do any such thing and never even used the word. I was accused of playing the race card. I was accused of being racist myself, because I dared talk about race and my experiences with race and didn’t pretend that race is meaningless.

At the Bar with Alex Chu

Alex Chu is an actor and voice over artist based in Los Angeles. He grew up in Canada and spent his childhood in Libya. Prior to LA, he spent the last decade living in Vancouver, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Singapore and Hong Kong. His previous credits include the television series Psych and jPod, and he will be in the upcoming Blasian show Audrey & Dre.  I completed this interview with him on July 25th, 2010.
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What got you into acting, and how old were you?

I was in musicals back in elementary school, but didn't act at all since then until after college. I was actually originally working on being a singer-songwriter, and one day over a smoke break a sound engineer I knew suggested I take an acting class when I was asking him about improving my stagecraft as a performing musician. So I took an intro acting class purely as a "why not?", figuring I would learn something new and an excuse to meet girls.

The decision to pursue seriously was a more gradual thing - there wasn't a singular moment. But from the very first time I stepped foot in that acting class, I knew acting was something I enjoyed.

At the Bar with Hollie Hunt

Actress Hollie Hunt has done numerous TV and radio voiceover commercials over the last 10 years, as well as various plays.  I completed this interview with her on July 24th, 2010 after being referred to her by the writer and producer of Audrey & Dre, in which she plays Dr. Carol Fischer.
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When did you start acting, and how did your family feel about your career choice?

I started acting while I was a sophomore in high school in Augusta, GA. I was a cheerleader at the time and I decided to take a drama class. They were casting “The Boyfriend” and needed some dancers for the production. I volunteered. Then I became really good friends with the drama crowd and grew to love acting. Then, I auditioned for the Governor’s Honors Program for Drama in Georgia. It’s a program for high school students who excel in a particular subject and go away to “camp” to study the subject in depth with professionals. I was one of 20 students selected to go for drama. That’s the summer I decided to pursue acting. My family was very supportive, however, they really hoped that it was a phase; encouraging me to teach or to go to business school. But ultimately, they always supported me in doing whatever I wanted to do.