From ‘The Zombification of Whitney Houston’ on Refinery29 Unbothered: In Haitian mythology, the idea of what we now call zombies emerged from enslaved Africans’ deepest fear: not even death would bring freedom. Though suicide was common on the brutal French enslavers’ plantations, the enslaved feared suicide would leave them trapped in
From Refinery 29 Unbothered: *Spoilers for Season 1 of The White Lotus The White Lotus is the latest HBO prestige dramedy satire on whiteness. A mix of its predecessors Succession and Search Party, The White Lotus centers rich, messy white people, their children and one acceptably Black friend, Paula, on a vacation at the titular resort in
For Refinery 29 Unbothered: “They don’t know I do it for the culture, goddamn,” Lizzo sings on her newest single, “Rumors.” Though it’s the opening line of the upbeat pop song about rising above haters who start ridiculous rumors about her, this clear callout about who Lizzo’s music is for didn’t
A public service announcement and letter to our community. Dear reader, We are Evan Starling-Davis and Brooke Obie, two members of La Maison Baldwin’s 2019 writers-in-residence cohort, as well as inaugural members of La Maison Baldwin’s board of directors. After much thought and consideration, we resigned from the governing board
From Black Film: In addition to [Keke] Palmer [the new Creative Advisor], Unbothered has hired award-winning author and entertainment journalist, Brooke Obie, as Deputy Director. In the role, Obie will oversee the execution of Unbothered’s editorial strategy and drive its day-to-day content operations. “At Unbothered, we’re dedicated to celebrating moments of joy, sharing our collective
UPDATE: BOOK OF ADDIS has now advanced as a semifinalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft TV Pilot Screenplay Competition. Previously: Out of 5,000 submissions, Brooke Obie’s screenplay adaptation of her award-winning debut novel BOOK OF ADDIS is a quarterfinalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft TV Pilot Screenplay Competition. The judges for the
‘Lovecraft Country’ Showrunner Misha Green on the Season One Finale and Growing Through Critique The writer and director talks to Shondaland about her hit HBO drama and how her show is in conversation with its audience. Black women showrunners are on a critically acclaimed roll this television season, and Misha
From ZORA mag: We Need ‘Slave Movies’ — Just Not the Ones We’re Getting In light of ‘Antebellum,’ it’s time to rethink the slave film genre At the announcement of any new “slave movie,” the online groans from Black audiences are nearly audible. While most people would be hard-pressed to name
On Aug 11, 2020, Brooke’s piece Beyonce’s Black Is King Offers a Blueprint for Decolonizing Black Masculinity was published on Esquire Magazine: In April 2016, Beyoncé stopped the world with the drop of her visual album Lemonade. Though the film chronicled Beyoncé’s cycle of grief and healing after her husband Jay-Z’s infidelity, Lemonade is
Every Man Should Be Watching I May Destroy You The groundbreaking HBO series is an excellent tool to help men understand what constitutes rape and the culture that perpetuates it. BY BROOKE OBIE JUL 28, 2020 Content warning: discussion of rape and sexual assault. In the new HBO series, I May Destroy You,