“Panic at the Disco” Part III: Exploiting v. Empowering Representation and Narrative Ownership
“Panic at the Disco” is an essay series that unpacks the impact of the Center Theatre Group’s new production of Here Lies Love. The critical journey will explore the complexities of artistic depictions of traumatic events and cultural figures in history and how it...
Are you ready for SXSW Film & TV Festival 2026?
SXSW can be an overwhelming experience. For 10 days, you are bombarded by a tsunami of media, films, TV, tech, music, culture, and queso... lots of queso. This year, the annual SXSW fest takes place between March 12–18, curating a seven-day instead of 10-day...
The Conflicting Joy of ‘Here Lies Love’
Thank you for being a subscriber to the DIASPORA newsletter! Help support our work and independent journalism by contributing to our GoFundMe as we enter our non profit era. If you want to have full, EXCLUSIVE access to articles like this and more thoughtful,...
LEGEND: Kiki Shepard
I remember watching Showtime at the Apollo late at night when I was growing up, and every time I watched, the host, which would be a revolving roster (including Sinbad, Mark Curry, Ricky...
Celebrating Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Historic Oscar Win and Ryan Coogler’s Vision of an Inclusive Hollywood
Thank you for being a subscriber to the DIASPORA newsletter! Help support our work and independent journalism by contributing to our GoFundMe as we build our nonprofit era. If you want to...
EVENTS
DIASPORA Calendar: March 9 – March 15, 2026
FILM Cult Classics Cinema presents B.A.P.S. - 6 PM, March 14: Experience an unforgettable night at Cult Classics Cinema, hosted and curated by DJ Rosegawd. This edition features the classic film, B.A.P.S (an acronym for Black American Princesses) is a 1997 American...
DIASPORA Calendar: March 2 – March 8, 2026
THEATRE Dragon Mama – March 4 - April 12: Broadway star Sara Porkalob returns to the Geffen Playhouse for the second installment of “The Dragon Cycle.” In this next chapter, Maria Porkalob, Jr. dreams of a bigger, gayer life beyond Bremerton, WA. But when an...
DIASPORA Calendar: February 23 – March 1, 2026
ART Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 - February 24 - June 14: Amid the turbulent decades of the mid-20th century, African American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora artists sought to celebrate Black culture and advance the struggle for civil rights....
DIASPORA Calendar: February 16-22, 2026
FILM Short Films Honoring the Day of Remembrance: Executive Order 9066 - 7 PM, February 19: On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the forced removal and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans—most of them U.S....
COMMENTARY
Celebrating Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Historic Oscar Win and Ryan Coogler’s Vision of an Inclusive Hollywood
Thank you for being a subscriber to the DIASPORA newsletter! Help support our work and independent journalism by contributing to our GoFundMe as we build our nonprofit era. If you want to have full,...
“Panic at the Disco” Part III: Exploiting v. Empowering Representation and Narrative Ownership
“Panic at the Disco” is an essay series that unpacks the impact of the Center Theatre Group’s new production of Here Lies Love. The critical journey will explore the complexities of artistic...
DOSSIER
LEGEND: Kiki Shepard
I remember watching Showtime at the Apollo late at night when I was growing up, and every time I watched, the host, which would be a revolving roster (including Sinbad, Mark Curry, Ricky Aviles,...
LEGEND: Sally-Tom
There is a limited amount of information that we know about Sally-Tom, a trailblazing Black trans woman who was born in 1839, who is one of the first – if not the first – trans person in the history...
THE DIASPORA LIBRARY
‘A Tiny Upward Shove’ by Melissa Chadburn
I am more of a non-fiction reader, but once in a while I will read a novel that just sticks to my soul. Melissa Chadburn's A Tiny Upward Shove not only sticks to my ribs but haunts me with its...
‘Censored: A Literary History of Subversion and Control’ by Matthew Fellion and Katherine Inglis
As journalism and media enter an era of highly scrutinized and policed through an authoritarian lens, Matthew Fellion and Katherine Inglis's book Censored: A Literary History of Subversion and...