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  Posted By:
  ririjam at 06/12/2008 6:51:14 PM
  Comment:
  Seriously!!! This is awesome!!! Some of them I was familiar with, but some I wasn't. Very eclectic. I am going to get the music, the books mentioned and watch the films that I haven't seen. Awesome!!!!
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  Posted By:
  joy08 at 06/07/2008 11:58:34 AM
  Comment:
  I enjoyed your list of phenomenal young African-American/Black/Biraical/Multiracial artists. I saw Sarah Jones performed at a special commissioned performance for an elite group of public health experts a few years back, and she was EXTRAORDINARY!! I agree with another comment that this list only touches on "entertainment" but I think this was VC's intent. Many of whom do not have the high visibility as those that are proliferated in the media (i.e., pop culture) and argubaly less unique.
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  Posted By:
  Carlito at 06/05/2008 2:37:32 PM
  Comment:
  I get a little uneasy when any one person purports to know how another person (or group, or race, or nation, or...) feels or may feel regarding anything. (Examples: blacks vs. whites; females vs. males. Article example: "While it is true, I'm sure, that my white contemporaries write with the inspiration of Henry James, William Faulkner or Virginia Woolf, I am not sure that the inspiration feels so direct and personal. For me, black geniuses of yesteryear ??? Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, James Baldwin ??? do not feel like distant icons, they feel like family"). Why doesn't the writer just state her strong connections to certain others--without giving a 'flavor of elitism?' Need being a genius be polarizing?
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  Posted By:
  Eclosion at 06/05/2008 2:01:39 PM
  Comment:
  this is "genius" ??? sad. Is this really all that African Americans can aspire to - sports and entertainment? This is so pathetic. You are just helping to enslave black people to celebrity cult. Shame on you.
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  Posted By:
  Trey at 04/23/2008 11:05:50 PM
  Comment:
  Wonderful work, Veronica. Lists are always just a beginning, begging to be added to and I love the breadth of your categories. And thank you for mentioning Joe. He pops into my head at the strangest times.
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  Posted By:
  RP at 04/19/2008 1:08:19 AM
  Comment:
  This list is genius! Fantastic mix.I would add STEW aka Mark Stewart the creator of Passing Strange, a rock musical that turns the form on it???s head not only because of its head banging music and cast of chameleons who play everything from mamas to ???jet black deacons with their don???t you do that frowns??? to Berliner anarchist artists, it also embodies celebrates and the ways in which black folks limit and expand the very definition of blackness with references to ???King James Baldwin, Queen Josephine Baker,??? Fellini and punk rock. Much like other geniuses on this inspired list Passing Strange tells the story of all of us in way that is specifically universal.
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  Posted By:
  RP at 04/19/2008 1:00:41 AM
  Comment:
  This list is genius! I would add STEW aka Mark Stewart the creator of Passing Strange, a rock musical that turns the form on it???s head not only because of its head banging music and cast of chameleons who play everything from mamas to ???jet black deacons with their don???t you do that frowns??? to Berliner anarchist artists, it also embodies celebrates and the ways in which black folks limit and expand the very definition of blackness with references to ???King James Baldwin, Queen Josephine Baker,??? Fellini and punk rock. Much like other geniuses on this inspired list Passing Strange tells the story of all of us in way that is specifically universal.
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  Posted By:
  laurahs at 04/18/2008 2:03:50 PM
  Comment:
  I would add to the list Tananarive Due, for her genius in science fiction writing. Following in the footsteps of Octavia Butler, Due manages to intertwine amazing pros with a well needed glimpse into the black experience worldwide. Thank you for writing this and provoking all your readers to probe the limitless possibilities of black genius!!
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  Posted By:
  Oldmanmike at 04/17/2008 9:35:06 PM
  Comment:
  
  Amazing list, VC! Love the international flavor. To which end I'd submit an appendix: Oswald Boateng for making orange suits look peculiarly British, and Sade, the glacial queen of constant sorrows. Am thinking hard since reading this about what exactly is the "genius" part in these individual accomplishments. And what comes first, the genius or the blackness? Erykah Badu is like Wynton Marsalis: a traditionalist, a champion of predecessors, influence, generations of form and reference. Her art is classical. Maybe that's how to be modern these days. But it's interesting to put her work next to, say Jimi Hendrix's, which was upending tradition in search of the new form. His only real peer in art was Muhammad Ali who also made daring the black artform par excellence. The new generation goes at things in a lower key, no? Which is their right, but their genius strikes me as control. There's something institutional in it. Maybe it's their grounding in the schools and programs black kids are now free to go to. Hell, even Tupac went to art high school. Maybe black genius doesn't need to be dangerous anymore. Good news, I guess. Still, fine, fine piece!
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  Posted By:
  mumblerlbg at 04/17/2008 8:04:40 PM
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  While I won't argue with Badu's inclusion as genius, i do have a quarrell with her inclusion based on her latest cd. after my first few listens, the cd seems to be missing what made her previous two cd's genius to me, and that is the sort of collaborative organic sound. New Amerykah sounds like it was pasted together at random. Or it might be that i am not giving it enough play because she is getting pushed out by two artist who I think should be included as genius for their body of work and their latest in particular, Lizz Wright (The Orchard) and Me'shell Ndegeocello(The World Has Made me the Man of My Dreams), For me these two are really pushing their artistry with out regard to commercial concerns right now. Give them a listen.
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  Posted By:
  mumblerlbg at 04/17/2008 7:50:16 PM
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  While I won't argue with Badu's inclusion as a genius, I do have a little quarrel with her inclusion based on her latest, my first few listens, the album seems to be missing the genius of her previous two albums in particular. Maybe its because her cd has been taking a back seat to two artists I think should be included as genius, one especially for her latest(Lizz Wright) and another for her body of work(M'shelle N'dgeocello)
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  Posted By:
  Garrett2008 at 04/17/2008 6:09:01 PM
  Comment:
  I love the idea of the list (the tribute) and the actual list, especially featuring Badu and Glover and the black British actors...I might add the singer Seal and the band Gnarls Barkley and the writer Percival Everett and the film critic Mark Reid and Denzel and Wynton and Cassandra Wilson, and a couple more but I think it's a pretty good list...Thanks for the pleasant reading...Inspiring...
  
  http://www.offscreen.com/biblio/phile/essays/iconography_pt1/
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  Posted By:
  Garrett2008 at 04/17/2008 6:05:50 PM
  Comment:
  I love the idea of the list (the tribute) and the list that Chambers has come up with, especially featuring Badu and Glover and the (black) British actors...I might add the singer Seal and the band Gnarls Barkley and the writer Percival Everett and the film critic Mark Reid and (always) Denzel and, of course, Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson...
  
  DG
  
  
  http://www.offscreen.com/biblio/phile/essays/iconography_pt1/
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  Posted By:
  crjackson54 at 04/17/2008 4:28:59 PM
  Comment:
  This was an excellent article. We love to hear more!
  Christina Jackson
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  Posted By:
  ZuriNayeem at 04/17/2008 2:01:10 PM
  Comment:
  Love the article Veronica, but you did forget:
  
  Thandie Adjewa Newton for the Black British actors section. She doesnt work often (definitely falling victim to "black actor" syndrome). But, when she does, she's always on point and always pitch perfect in her roles: Her turn as Christine Thayer in the overhyped and so poorly written CRASH should have merited her a best supporting actress oscar; Beloved (1998), Besieged (1998), Shade (2003), etc. are all roles where she has shined and then some....
  
  She'll be back on the screen this fall in Guy Ritchie's Rocknrolla and is in theatres now as Libby in Run, Fatboy, Run.
  
  Love site and I have been enjoying your posts..and you have another cooking enthusiast here, so keep the recipes coming!
  
  Ryan
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  Posted By:
  jclampet at 04/17/2008 10:05:13 AM
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  There's some more smart Erykah Badu discussions over at Electric Roulette: http://www.electricroulette.com/2008/04/has-black-music.html
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  Posted By:
  samuelt at 04/16/2008 4:31:14 PM
  Comment:
  test
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  Posted By:
  jsantos at 04/16/2008 3:36:34 PM
  Comment:
  KUTGW (Keep Up The Good Work)
  JS
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  Posted By:
  jsantos at 04/16/2008 3:33:38 PM
  Comment:
  Test JS
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  Posted By:
  tatiana811 at 04/16/2008 10:54:54 AM
  Comment:
  I know it may seem foolish to confer the title of "genius" upon someone under the age of 35, but I think Lupe Fiasco deserves to be on this list. I consider his work the hip-hop version of literary fiction--his work is created in search of truth as opposed to in pursuit of money. He also manages to present his art in a way that isn't preachy or pedantic. It's actually d@mn cool. Feels like Walter Mosely for my ears. Listen to his song "Intruder Alert" to get a sense of what I'm talking about.