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The Trope of Black Women’s Elevated Status Romantically and Socially in Zombie/Survivalist Settings

So, this bit of meta has been knocking around in my head for quite a while. 

I’ve been a huge fan of the zombie genre for a looong time.

Before I even jump into this, I think it’s important to note, that basically the beginning of the modern iteration of this genre Night of the Living Dead and subsequently Dawn of the Dead, used it to upend social taboos for black men and make very risky, and even to this day super-relevant on-the-nose statements about black men in America.

In 1968′s Night of the Living Dead:

a black man leads

punches a white man

slaps a white woman

is the last person standing

and eventually the movie ends in such a way that remains very much spot-on resonant, then and even now, regarding today’s Black Lives Matter movement  

***this movie is available to watch for free on youtube. anyone with any interest in social metaphors about black people on film needs to make it their mission to watch this movie at least once.***

I think that it’s important to note that the dawn of the modern zombie genre began with breaking HUGE racial taboos.

Now, with this background, I want to talk about one particularly interesting pattern to ponder regarding black women’s presence within the zombie genre.

I’ve noticed that within the zombie genre (and by extension survival/apocalyptic “last people” scenarios), black women go from being virtually invisible in a romantic sense in “normal narratives” to being the top pick as a partner in all respects in these scenarios.

The first example I can remember was in 1971′s The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston and Rosalind Cash, an early adaptation of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, and potentially the instigator in the trend:

Both characters are the last humans alive, tough and able to defend themselves in this harsh world populated by a new other (humanoid vampire-like species which shuns light).  And eventually they become romantic partners.

This is noteworthy, as this movie predates the height of the blaxploitation era, coming right at the heels of the apex of the Civil Rights Movement.

Keep reading

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oh also one more thing on richonne: the hatred towards michonne IS RACIST. like y'all are pissed off that your aLpHa mALe rick grimes (even though that isn't really who he is, but that's for another day) is in love with a dark skinned black women and has a black child with her. like y'all should really reflect on why one of the first things said about rj when he was introduced was that he was a michonne hallucination or that he wasn't ricks (please go to hell you racist pos). and why some of y'all can't seem to wrap your racist brains around the fact that michonne is soooo much more than a "killing machine" or the black women with a sword.

like i remember seeing the way other white people talked about michonne online when she first came onto the show and even the way other white people in my school talked about her. and don't even get me started on the idiots that say richonne came out of nowhere even though there was SEASONS of build up and the fact the if it was a white women y'all wouldn't bat an eye, y'all just didn't want a dark skinned black women finding love.

anyways stay mad cause richonne is #real love.

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cry with me....

twitter source: @swaying_daisies

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Michonne by Andrew Cehelsky

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They see it. They are being willfully obtuse. I just ignore them now. 1.1 million viewers on Sunday saw it. Screw the em!

I just don't understand people who say that Richonne came out of nowhere. Like, were they watching the same show as the rest of us? It blows my mind every time I hear this sentiment. There was a spark from their very first meeting at the gate to the prison. I felt that through my television. Then, when Rick checked out her butt inside the prison, well, that just cinched it for me. I could go on and on about their chemistry in numerous other scenes. But this would be 20 pages long. I feel sorry for those poor blind fools. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

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from southern cop with a housewife and son to a feral axe wielding anti military girl dad with a black wife… this is the woke agenda conservatives talk about and I am so in love with it

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This is exquisite. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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A post shared by Bee (@thecityb33)

And if you go, I want to go with you. And if you die, I want to die with you. Take your hand and walk away.

✨ 🐝 Commissions | Instagram | Buy Prints 🐝 ✨

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I am currently seeing a lot of males fans of twd complaining about this so-called "couple without chemistry that was forced by the showrunners" when it comes to richonne. It is exactly what is happening to the bear and sydcarmy (although they are not currently together). What is funny to me is to see how entitled they are to both storylines. These people don't see chemistry because they don't even know how it work if we're perfectly honest. Romantic love content is most of the time made by women for women. If you don't see chemistry or romantic love between 2 characters, it is ok, but why always deny the existence of it as if everyone else (mostly women) are crazy and stupid for seeing it ? Why is it so difficult for you to accept that the strong male lead you happen to admire so much connects deeply with a black woman outside of the male gaze ?

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Can’t wait!!!

After a long hiatus, we’re back! Watch my channel for our next discussion on TWD: The Ones Who Live Episode 1 “Years”

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DADDY…..Mmmm

The Ones Who Live - 1x01 - Years

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https://t.co/W2KXsythPK

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a list of names from star wars and their cultural origin (just so we're clear that these names aren't actually funky sci-fi names that Lucas and Co. made up, but names that come from actual irl peoples and cultures and were left mostly uncredited read: stolen)

padmé; from padma, or lotus flower, another name/symbol of the hindu goddess lakshmi

pooja; (padmé's niece) means 'prayer' or 'an act of worship', usually associated with hinduism

ahsoka; most likely inspired by the indian emperor ashoka

aayla; a turkish muslim name which means 'a ring of light around the moon'

barriss; turkish in origin, means "peace"

smhi; most likely a form of the name lakshmi, a hindu goddess

shaak ti; from the name 'shakti', an Indian name which means "energy"

depa; obviously from the words 'deepa' which means "light/lamp"

yoda; possibly from the punjabi word 'yoddha', which means "warrior"

jamillia; from 'jamilla/jameela', a Muslim name which means "beautiful"

tatooine (planet); literally an actual city in tunisia

mustafar (planet); from the arabic word 'mustafa', meaning "chosen one". note the symbolism that darth vader made it his home

jedi; from the arabic 'al-jeddi', meaning "master of the mystic warrior way"

din; although pronounced differently at times, din is a muslim word of arabic origin which means "way/creed/path of life"

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Chadwick Boseman: Mourning Black Royalty and Collective Black Grief

“I am crying as I write this. Not sobbing, but the slow, searing flow of tears that burn as they fall. I don’t have the strength to sob, and honestly, the burn is helping. It means that I can still feel something. This is not about me, though. This is about Chadwick Boseman. This is about the collective Black joy that he brought to us. This is about collective Black grief we all are experiencing right now.

Chadwick Boseman played James Brown, Thurgood Marshall, T’Challa (The Black Panther), and so many more. 

He brought us Black king, after Black king, after Black king. Chadwick Boseman was–no, is–a Black king now ascended to the ancestral plane. …”

Keep reading blerdgalaxy.org

[SuperheroesInColor faceb / instag / twitter / tumblr / pinterest / support ]   

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To be young, gifted and black, Oh what a lovely precious dream

Nina Simone

“We all know what it’s like to be told that there is not a place for you to be featured. Yet you are young, gifted and Black. We know what it’s like to be told there’s not a screen for you to be featured on, a stage for you to be featured on. We know what it’s like to be the tail and not the head. We know what it’s like to be beneath and not above. That is what we went to work with every day. Because we knew … that we had something special that we wanted to give the world. That we could be full human beings in the roles that we were playing. That we could create a world that exemplified a world that we wanted to see.”

Chadwick Boseman (1976–2020)

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I want to watch but I can’t. Sigh. 😢

And it will be commercial-free

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