Aurelia Belfield

BGT Bonus Episode 8: Nerd Files

In honor of the new season debuting in January, Aurelia and Fatima are on nerd duty this week, discussing all things X-Files, including its stellar trench coat game; why the only black people on it were ghosts, ghouls and goblins; why modern day Scully is probably thriving and Mulder is probably broke due to financial domination; some of their fave episodes and what they’d like to see this time around.

X-Files theme remix used in this episode.

Episode 51: BGT’S FAVORITE THIIIIIIIINGS!

We’re taking a break from current events and all related messiness in favor of some much needed US time. Join us as we each discuss 3 things that we are loving at the moment from face masks to crystals to HAMILTON and the return of Janet Jackson. If we had the juice like Oprah you would totally be getting free Hamilton tickets with this episode! 

References:

Episode 50: Nobody Puts Cookie in a Cage

Episode 49: Tami Winfrey Harris

We're excited to be joined by Tami Winfrey Harris, author of The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America! Join us as we delve into Tami's book and chat about her inspiration, respectability politics, reality tv and wonder when baby oiled up Steve Harvey is going to slide off of the earth. Stay tuned to the end for a special treat!

Episode 48: The Serena Beat w/Britt Julious and Kyrell Grant

We’re talking all things Serena! We discuss Serena dominating life on and of the court, the teachings her father installed in both her and Venus as children while wondering how prepared you can really be for racism and, yeah, making out with Drake over porterhouse steaks (this is BGT, y’all).

LIVING HER BEST LIFE

References:

Video of Baby Venus
The Meaning of Serena Williams by Claudia Rankine
Serena and Aubrey 4EVR

Bonus Episode #7: #DRAKEWATCH

In this extra special #DRAKEWATCH, Alesia is joined by Senior Drake Correspondent Kyrell Grant and Michelle Ofiwe. We discuss Champagne’s recent feud with Meek Mill (is Drake a bully???), the post-Meek backlash (why???) and of course Queen Nicki. Michelle also gives us some background on her amazing piece, Are We Witnessing the Return of the Hip Hop Girlfriend and we all wonder what’s so bad about being soft? #TEAMVULNERABILTY

An Interview With Dear Kate Models Roxanne & Ty

 An Interview With Dear Kate Models Roxanne & Ty

You’ve listened to our chat with Dear Kate founder and chief creative officer, Julie Sygiel, and heard how we fell in love with the different shapes, sizes, and stories of women brave enough to strip down to their underwear to model the different Dear Kate styles on the website. We were lucky enough to speak with two of those models: Ty Alexander, the creator of beauty and lifestyle blog Gorgeous In Grey, and Golly magazine founder and editor-in-chief, Roxanne Fequiere. Here’s what they had to say about representation in media, beauty icons, and of course, underwear.

The 'Grim Sleeper' and Expendable Black Women

 The 'Grim Sleeper' and Expendable Black Women

“The police don’t care because these are Black women.” 

Thirty minutes into documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield’s latest film, Tales of the Grim Sleeper,we hear these words uttered by Pam, one of the film’s most compelling figures, as she and Bloomfield are driving down the streets of South Central Los Angeles. The documentary follows the case of a South Central serial killer dubbed the Grim Sleeper by the media due to the belief that the killer waited 14 years between murders. Pam is a former sex worker who had multiple dealings with Lonnie Franklin Jr, the man arrested and charged with 10 counts of murder, and one charge of attempted murder. Franklin is believed to be the Grim Sleeper and responsible for the murders of over 100 women and girls (victims’ ages ranged between 14 and 36) in South Central between 1985 and 2010. In the scene preceding Pam’s comment, Broomfield is conversing with Margaret Prescod, founder of the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders and Laverne Peters, the mother of one of the victims, Janecia Peters. The Coalition has been advocating for justice on behalf of the victims since the 1980s. Earlier in the film when we’re first introduced to her, we see footage showing a younger Prescod handing out leaflets outside of a grocery store as she talks to patrons about the murders of young women that, at the time, have been happening for three years

Grime, Black British identity & Kanye's Brit Awards Performance: an interview with Rianna Jade Parker & Selina Thompson

Grime, Black British identity & Kanye's Brit Awards Performance: an interview with Rianna Jade Parker & Selina Thompson

I was curious about people’s thoughts on Kanye’s Brit Awards performance last week and took to Twitter to hear about people’s reactions, which resulted in some great responses. I also had a chance to check in with the lovely Selina Thompson and Rianna Jade Parker and get their thoughts on the performance, Black British identity, diaspora, and the importance of disrupting white spaces. - Fatima