Well, amores, I have a new gig. I'm a weekly commentator on race, pop culture, and the media at Vocalo.org (89.5). I just recorded my second appearance, talking about things ranging from the controversy over a school mural in Prescott, Arizona to the victory of GOP gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary. So far, there hasn't been much discussion of the "pop culture" part of the above description, which makes sense because I love to be critical of systems of power except as manifested in the movies, magazines, and television shows I love. When faced with blatant racism or sexism in, say, an action movie, I pull out my soapbox and go to town. But when Sex and the City 2 features the ladies on camels and making fun of women in burqas, I find the anti-racist in me locked in a teeny-tiny trunk while the fashion lover in me is just DYING to see what they are WEARING on those camels. And under those burqas. Or I find myself doing this bit of rationalizing: before I accepted my new gig as a commentator, I was pretty resolved (to my great dismay and sorrow) that I would not see the movie. I mean, there's NO WAY to ignore that the premise of the film is, to put it lightly, "problematic." But now that I'm in the business of talking about pop culture, instead of just the habit, I really must see the movie, right? So I can talk about it? Break it down? Drool over the shoes? I mean, challenge our cultural investment in promoting upper-class white American visions of pseudo-feminist liberation at the expense of culturally sensitive representation and non-Orientalist discourse? Right? Right?

Sigh.... What to do? What to do? Oh... I know!!!!!!!

I'll ask the Race Crisis Hotline... a brand new website offering helpful advice to people who are having race crises, written by some of my favourite pop culture mavens. The Lovely and Talented Coya Paz may or may not be a guest contributor there as well, but listen... shameless self-promotion is probably to be expected on my own website... Besides, the project wasn't my idea. We owe that to the queen of pop culture analysis, Rachel Caidor, as well as to the ever persistent and media savvy Nina Xoomsai. So there, nothing too shameless about promoting this at all! Send in your questions. Our operators are standing by!