‘The Simp’: A Delightful and Painfully Accurate Depiction of Identity Politics, Absurdity, and Caucasity in Hollywood
There was a cathartic validation while reading Roshan Sethi’s debut novel, The Simp, a searingly realistic tale about the absurdity of Hollywood in all its white splendor. The Simp follows the aforementioned Raj, an unemployed actor who lands a job as an assistant to...
The Spectacular and Sensitive Silliness of ‘Maddie’s Secret’
In 1986, a movie titled Kate’s Secret was released on NBC. It was an era t ripe with primetime lineups that included movie-of-the-week programming and specific networks promoting a “very special episode” of the latest hit TV show. There are scenes from Kate’s...
‘Stop! That! Train!’ and Hollywood’s Desperate Need for Stupid Fun Cinema
The first footage of Stop! That! Train! that I saw was a visual gag where train stewardess DeeDee (Jujubee, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 2, All Stars season 1 and 5, UK vs the World series 1) directs a passenger to their seat, saying, “You’re sitting next to the...
‘The Odyssey’: A Glorious Epic With Spectacular Stunt Casting, an Insufferable Hero, and a Colonialism Problem
SPOILER ALERT: This article includes details about The Odyssey. There is a specific moment in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey that made me realize that the film’s hero, Odysseus, is an...
Community, Interrupted: A New Column
I have lots of opinions. Lots of them. It’s embedded in my gay genes. That is why I love critiquing and analyzing film, TV, media, and all that informs culture. Culture is a shared system...
EVENTS
DIASPORA Calendar: July 13 – July 19, 2026
FILM Juice with Ernest Dickerson – 7:30 PM, July 16: The directorial debut of Ernest R. Dickerson, who previously lensed Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing (1989) and Malcolm X (1992), trains its sights on four Black teenagers in Harlem. While Q (Omar Epps) is obsessed...
DIASPORA Calendar: July 6 – July 12, 2026
FILM Killer Klowns from Outer Space – 4 PM, July 11: Join Gardena Cinema for The 3rd Annual Killer Klowns Punk Rock Fest on July 11 from 2-10:30 PM. 2:00 PM: John Massari opens the event with an incredibly rare screening of Mike Jittlov's zany 1988 film The Wizard of...
DIASPORA Calendar: June 29 – July 5, 2026
FILM Cats + Vidiots’ Jellicle Ball 7:30 PM, July 1: Meow! You are cordially invited to the feline ball to end it all when Vidiots goes full Jellicle with a special screening of the all-star furry film meowiscal bonanza Cats! No one thought this Andrew Lloyd Webber...
DIASPORA Calendar: June 22 – June 28, 2026
FILM The Goonies in 4K – 11 AM, June 27: On the last Saturday of every month, the museum's Family Matinee is an accommodative screening where we offer open captioning, keep the theater dimly lit, and maintain a lower volume specifically for neurodivergent viewers....
COMMENTARY
‘The Odyssey’: A Glorious Epic With Spectacular Stunt Casting, an Insufferable Hero, and a Colonialism Problem
SPOILER ALERT: This article includes details about The Odyssey. There is a specific moment in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey that made me realize that the film’s hero, Odysseus, is an asshole. When...
Community, Interrupted: A New Column
I have lots of opinions. Lots of them. It’s embedded in my gay genes. That is why I love critiquing and analyzing film, TV, media, and all that informs culture. Culture is a shared system of...
DOSSIER
MUSIC: Toshi
During the late '90s and early '00s, I was very much into the neo-soul scene. I was obsessed with artists featured on Okayplayer and beyond. I loved vibing to music from D'Angelo, Floetry, Les...
LEGEND: Jackie Ormes
The character of Black Panther was a watershed moment in comics, but there were many comic books for and by Black artists and cartoonists. One of them was Jackie Ormes. Born in 1911, she worked as...
THE DIASPORA LIBRARY
‘In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror’ by Anthony D. Romero and Dina Temple-Raston
Since the world is less-than-desirable when it comes to civil rights as of late, I recommend the book In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror by ACLU Executive...
‘Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines’ by Joy Buolamwini
AI is all that anyone can talk about, but no one is really saying anything. Enter Joy Buolamwini, author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. As a graduate...