#Randa Borges

[mylivingwritemare]

Rion Amilcar Scott Essay: Final Lineage Essay

This is the last essay I wrote for the class. I really resonated with Rion. I felt comfortable talking to him, like I was talking to a peer and not a professional, which is a compliment because I found some of the other writers to be very intimidating in how professionally they came off. Rion was cool, easy-going and shared a number of my interests, including sports and rap. The fact that I could go up at the end of class and talk to the author of the book I had just read about growing up outside the city, sports and rap artists is amazing and was easily one of the coolest experiences I’ve had as an English student. It was a pleasure writing an essay about such a cool guy. There’s no grade to report for this paper yet, but I’ll let you know how I did on it when it comes.

Here’s my final lineage essay about Rion Amilcar Scott and his book, Insurrections:

Rhythm and Censorship in the Works of Rion Amilcar Scott

Rion Amilcar Scott believes that “to create literature is to help create an emotional and intellectual lexicon” and that “individual words are inadequate when it comes to defining our nuanced and ever-shifting emotional states” (Older). Writing to Rion is providing a clearer image and understanding as he says, “I want people to see this spectrum of black experience that I’m presenting…on a visceral level as well as an intellectual level” (Sterne). An understanding of a situation is incomplete without mention of the emotional states associated with it, and so he tries to strike a balance of information and emotion in his stories, especially in his first book, Insurrections. As a black man who grew up in Silver Spring Maryland, a suburb outside of Washington DC, Rion finds creative ways to twist his own experiences, whether they be emotional or factual, into stories that express the struggles and concerns of African-Americans (Lanard). He expresses that he didn’t start writing Insurrections due to any “particular incident of social or racial injustice”, but that the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of Trayvon Martin and a number of other occurrences, that happened after he began writing the book, served as inspiration and motivation for him to continue writing and had a profound effect on his work (Gillick). He said, “I forget often the influence the killing of Prince Jones (a Howard University student murdered by a Prince Georges County, Maryland police officer while I was a Howard University student) and the police killing of Sean Bell (both men were unarmed and minding their own business when killed) had on a story like, “Razor Bumps” on a story like, “Party Animal.” Those echoes were intentional. Perhaps I was looking for a catharsis of some sort.” He believes that many African-American men and women are speaking out because of the way in which America has abused and allowed the abuse of black people for so long and explains that he writes “black stories” as a way of “distorting and…flattening our humanity” (Ludwick). “I want to keep responding with complexity”, he said, and that complexity is no doubt the connection between the information and the visceral, emotional reaction associated with it. It’s not difficult to see Rion’s reflection in his writing. As a black man, he explores fatherhood, manhood, rebellion, perception and slavery, as he based Insurrections in the fictional town of Cross River, founded on a slave revolt. He admits that he did this as a sort of “wish fulfillment” because there were no successful slave revolts in America. With this, his characters and rhythm, Rion provides insights into the struggles of African-Americans (Lanard).

The Silver Spring native has accumulated a massive amount of success in so little time and at such a young age. His work has appeared “in publications such as the Kenyon Review, Crab Orchard Review, PANK, The Rumpus, Fiction International, the Washington City Paper, The Toast and Confrontation" and he won both the Mary Roberts Rinehart Award and a Completion Fellowship while earning his MFA at George Mason University (Ludwick). All of these accolades lead one to wonder what it is about Rion’s writing that is so good. He draws inspiration from a number of writers, including Edward P. Jones, Jorge Luis Borge and Randa Jarrar, whom he believes is “doing some of the most unexpected writing today” (Lanard). He even draws inspiration from poets such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Martín Espada, Derek Walcott and Pablo and believes that "Reading poetry every day makes your language more fluid. It makes you more attuned to the weight of words and more conversant with image and metaphor" (Packard). He goes as far as to say that the most important lesson he’s ever learned about writing is that “you’re only as good a writer as you are a reader of poetry”. This is why he reads at least one poem a day. Rion also draws a great amount of inspiration from hip-hop and hip-hop artists, his favorite, at the moment, being Kendrick Lamar (Sterne). While he draws inspiration from a number of great writers, poets and artists, the stylistic decision that makes Rion’s writing so popular is his ability to mimic rhythm and speech patterns.

Rion’s mission is to provide the truth so as to spread awareness about social issues surrounding race in America, and he does this by sharing black culture and, therefore, the black experience. One example is the chapter “Three Insurrections” in his book Insurrections. Rion himself grew up in an immigrant home. Specifically, his father moved to immigrated from Trinidad and as his stories find their basis in his life experiences, Rion featured a Trinidadian character. He admits that the difficulty in this was that he doesn’t speak ton his parents very frequently, but he wanted to give the most accurate portrayal of a Trinidadian so he interviewed his father, listened to many Trinidadian musicians and comedians and read a lot of Trinidadian literature, so he really researched the Trinidadian dialect and culture in order to make convincing Trinidadian characters (Lanard). An example of this is when Charles tells Kin “so you see how they do us? They kill a man of peace. What you think they do to regular negroes” (Scott, 178).

The influence of hip-hop and of what Rion calls “black English”, African-American vernacular, can be seen all throughout Insurrections. Rion even goes as far as to say that the town of “Cross River has its own music inspired by DC” (Lanard). An example of this is in “The Slapsmith” when Nicolette says “I’m not down for the count, uh-uh, the slapsmith bawled, slapping at the shadows. I can go another round. Another two. Uh-uh. That bitch nigga punched me! That bitch nigga punched me! Let me at him” (Scott, 63). This is the exact writing style one would expect from a guy who replied when asked if censorship was ever acceptable “it’s not” (Older). Additionally, the way Rion uses “uh-uh” as if to keep pace or rhythm along with the African-American vernacular paints the scene far differently than if he had just conceded and went with a less profane English. One can clearly see the effect of rhythm and speech patterns on the audience’s perception of Insurrections and by putting so much attention into rhythm and structure, Insurrections changes from this collection of short stories to an epic album, each story placed in musical accordance with the next to craft a complete, melodic whole” (Wabuke).

Works Cited

Gillick, Matt. “Rion Amilcar Scott 'Unapologetically' Broaches Racism and Oppression in 'Insurrections'.” BookTrib, BookTrib, 14 Sept. 2018, https://booktrib.com/2017/09/rion-amilcar-scott-boraches-racism-opression-insurrections/

Lanard, Noah. “Rion Amilcar Scott Discusses His Award-Winning Debut Short Story Collection | Washingtonian (DC).” Washingtonian, 2019 Washingtonian Media Inc., 10 May 2017, www.washingtonian.com/2017/05/10/washington-author-rion-scott-discusses-his-award-winning-debut-short-story-collection/.

Ludwick, Cameron. “UPK Author Rion Amilcar Scott Wins PEN/America Award.” UKNow, University of Kentucky, 28 Mar. 2017, https://uknow.uky.edu/professional-news/upk-author-rion-amilcar-scott-wins-penamerica-award

Older, Daniel José. “The PEN Ten with Rion Amilcar Scott.” PEN America, PEN America, 12 Dec. 2017, https://pen.org/pen-ten-rion-amilcar-scott/

Packard, Gabriel, et al. “Rion Amilcar Scott: Writers on Writing.” The Writer, The Writer, 2019, www.writermag.com/blog/rion-amilcar-scott/.

Sterne, Kevin. “The Rumpus Interview with Rion Amilcar Scott.” The Rumpus.net, The Rumpus, 6 Jan. 2017, therumpus.net/2017/01/the-rumpus-interview-with-rion-amilcar-scott/.

Scott, Rion Amilcar. Insurrections: Stories. University Press of Kentucky, 2017.

Wabuke, Hope. “Insurrections: Rion Amilcar Scott's Debut Short Story Collection Hits All the Right Notes.” The Root, Www.theroot.com, 12 Jan. 2017, www.theroot.com/insurrections-rion-amilcar-scott-s-debut-short-story-c-1790856222.

[thrandythefabulous]

Unfiltered: Amanda Nunes and Nina Ansaroff UFC News

UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and #14 Women's Strawweight contender Nina Ansaroff both join Jim and Matt in-studio to discuss a wide range of topics including Amanda's UFC 224 title defense against Raquel Pennington in Brazil, Nina's fight against Randa Markos in Calgary, who has a harder time being in the other's corner, Ronda Rousey, Cyborg, dealing with injuries and illnesses, sleeping in tents to avoid bugs in Brazil, and much more. Plus, the guys discuss Demian Maia stepping in for the injured Santiago Ponzinibbio against Kamaru Usman at UFC Chile, Ray Borg deciding to wi ... Read the Full Article Here from UFC News http://www.ufc.com/news/Unfiltered-Episode-192

[popradar]

Weekly Agenda: 13 of Our Favorite Events in Los Angeles, Jan. 29-Feb. 1

Here are 13 awesome things to do in Los Angeles this week. Follow @christine​ziemba on Twitter or Instagram for other happenings around L.A. And if you like what you’re reading, consider donating to Pop Radar LA to help defray the costs of running the site.

MONDAY, JAN. 29

REDCAT screens films by Pia Borg on Monday. | Image: Still from Abandoned Goods, courtesy of the artist.

STRANGER LANDSCAPES (Film)

Stranger Landscapes: Films by Pia Borg is at REDCAT in DTLA on Monday night. From REDCAT: “Pia Borg's haunting essay films combine striking elements - hidden historical documents, alternate world narrative and dreamlike visual fantasy - into unsettling landscapes of inner and outer worlds.” The experimental filmmaker will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion. 8:30 pm. Tickets: $12; members/students: $9.

LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS CEREMONY (Theater awards)

Kirsten Vangsness, best known for her role as Garcia on Criminal Minds, is a longtime member of Hollywood’s Theatre of NOTE. She’s hosting the 28th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards Ceremony on Monday at 7:30 pm at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The awards celebrate the best and most creative minds of LA’s theater scene. Tickets for the general public are available at the door.

IF YOU BUILD IT (Comedy)

If You Build It is a comedy show hosted by Kara Klenk that takes place at UCB Sunset on Monday at 8:30 pm. The lineup features the comedic talents of Matt Braunger, Guy Branum, Will Miles, Samantha Ruddy and Nina Daniels. Tickets: $7. 

HANGING OUT WITH PAUL SCHEER (Comedy + commentary)

Hanging Out with Paul Scheer is a comedic roundtable discussion, where each participant brings something interesting to discuss with the group. The latest installment takes place on Monday at 8:30 pm at Largo and includes Maria Bamford, Nicole Byer, and Chaos Chaos. Tickets: $30. 

TUESDAY, JAN. 30

REEL TO REEL: X: THE UNHEARD MUSIC (Music + film)

The Grammy Museum presents Reel to Reel: X: The Unheard Music on Tuesday at 7 pm. Held in conjunction with the museum’s current special exhibit, X: 40 Years of Punk in Los Angeles, there’s a screening of the rock doc X: The Unheard Film, followed by a conversation with director William Morgan, Associate Producer Alizabeth Foley and the Museum’s Executive Director Scott Goldman. 

FREYA RIDINGS + MOIRA MACK (Music)

London musician and songwriter Freya Ridings makes her LA debut at the Peppermint Club on Tuesday night with LA-based Moira Mack. 9:30 pm. Tickets: $10 in advance. Ages 21+. 

VIET THANH NGUYEN (Lit)

On Tuesday at 7:30 pm, the Hammer Museum’s literary series Some Favorite Writers returns with Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen. He’ll discuss his latest book, the short story collection The Refugees, with series organizer and author and UCLA professor Mona Simpson. Thanh Nguyen's older works include The Sympathizer, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. Coffee, tea and, book signing with the author follows. Free. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31

THE ALIENIST: SKETCHBOOK TO SCREEN (TV exhibition)

The Alienist: Sketchbook to Screen Exhibit opened earlier this month at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The new TNT series (which is a heck of a psychological thriller, btw) is set in New York’s Gilded Age, and The Alienist exhibition includes costume creations, photography, illustrations and more from costume designer Michael Kaplan, whose credits include Star Wars sequel trilogy, Blade Runner, Fight Club and Flashdance. The exhibition is free to attend, and it’s open Wednesdays to Sundays noon to 5 pm. 

THE SLURRING BEE (Comedy)

The Slurring Bee returns to The Virgil on Wednesday night. It’s exactly what you think it is—a spelling bee taking place in a bar. Contestants pay $5 to compete and then get your first Slurring Bee Shot. Then, shoot it. Spell something. For every round contestants stay standing, they get more Slurring Bee nectar. Keep spelling till a king or queen bee is crowned. Win half of the the $50 pot. Free admission. 

THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE SISTERHOOD (Storytelling)

The inaugural meeting of The Secret Society of The Sisterhood—a new monthly, storytelling event where special guests read or perform something related to the theme of the evening—takes place on Wednesday at 8 pm at The Masonic Lodge in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Hosted by Trish Nelson, the event features special guests Mara Wilson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Jade Chang, Our Lady J, Busy Philipps and Randa Jarrar sharing stories with the theme, “Reclaiming my time.” The stories are followed by complimentary wine and hor d'oeuvres at the after-show gala located in the Eastern Star Room. Tickets: $25, $30 at the door.

THURSDAY, FEB. 1

A show by artists to benefit artists affected by the Thomas Fire begins this week. | Image: Gary Lang, Stars, 2013

THOMAS FIRE ARTISTS’ RECOVERY EXHIBITION (Art)

The Porch Gallery in Ojai and The Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation open the Thomas Fire Artists’ Recovery Exhibition on Thursday. The grassroots art show features a couple dozen artists with sales benefitting the Thomas Fire Artist Recovery Fund, which raises, matches and distributes cash grants to artists in the Ventura and Santa Barbara communities seriously affected by the Thomas fire. The opening reception takes place on Saturday from 5-7 pm, and the works will remain on view through March 11. 

ALLAH-LAS (Music)

LA’s own Allah-Las plays three nights at the Lodge Room in Highland Park beginning on Thursday night. Opening acts are: Gabrielle Cohen, Tim Hill (Thursday); Hand Habits, Paint (Friday) and Big Search, Sk. Kakraba on Sunday. Tickets: $25. The shows are all ages. 8 pm. 

BERNSTEIN'S MASS WITH DUDAMEL (Classical music)

The LA Phil performs Leonard Bernstein's Mass, Thursday to Sunday nights, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and staged by director Elkhanah Pulitzer, the “rarely-performed, unabashedly eclectic, and highly dramatic theater piece includes a huge cast of over 230 people, featuring singers, dancers, rock band, marching band and orchestra.” The piece focuses on a crisis of faith experienced by a priest celebrating mass. Performances at 8 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday. Tickets: $72 to $118. 

—by Christine N. Ziemba

[thesportssoundoff]

When your main event obfuscates how great your show is: The UFC in Nashville!

Joey

April 20th, 2017

Well I mean this has been a while, eh? After taking a pseudo break to just get away from the wackiness of MMA, it's time to get back to the grind (one supposes) and look at another UFC event! Live from Nashville, this is a really good card with an utterly perplexing main event. For free TV, there are three types of fights that really hit the spot in terms of being a nights worth of viewing. The first are fights that pit two names you know with divisional relevance duking it out. The second are fights that pit prospects you care about in fights that should showcase them either against names I know or vs other prospects. The third are fights that pit names I know against one another in fights that lack divisional relevance but have a great potential for action and excitement. All jokes aside, this card has all of that. It just has a very....odd main event. Let's get to it!

Fights: 13

Debuts: 1 (Cindy Dandois)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 1 (Jorge Masvidal/Demian Maia moved to another event)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 12 (Cub Swanson, Joe Lauzon, Diego Sanchez, Al Iaquinta, Jessica Penne, Stevie Ray, Jake Ellenberger, Thales Leites, Alexis Davis, Ovince St. Preux, Eddie Wineland, Jon Dodson)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (Ovince St. Preux, Jessica Penne)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 6 (Cub Swanson, Al Iaquinta, Artem Lobov, Eddie Wineland, Brandon Moreno and Sam Alvey)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 11-9)- Cindy Dandois

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 6-10)

Second Fight (Current number: 11-12)- Matt Schnell, Michael McBride

Twelve Precarious Ponderings:

1- So the main event. Let's talk about that and let's try to be mature while we do it. The most obvious issue is that Artem Lobov is headlining an event. That's a tough pill to swallow for hardcore fans although I'd argue we've seen worse main event slots given out to less deserving folks. Whatever the case may be, there's two distinct avenues at play. The first is that Cub earned a main event slot because Cub's fight with Doo Ho Choi was amazing and worth re-watching on a loop over and over. As such this is a chance to reward Cub Swanson and if you had some bad vibes about Conor McGregor, you get to watch a loyal dude kick his ass and make him look like a goof in front of a captivated audience. The second is that Conor McGregor wanted his buddy to headline an event and so the UFC was just like "Sure thing!" and here we go. They're gambling on Lobov outlasting Cub or that Cub Swanson is washed after a brutal as hell fight. Either way it's a frustrating thing that kind of hampers an otherwise good card.

2- If Cub Swanson does what he does and they put a live mic in front of his face and he does not mention Conor McGregor at least once then he deserves to be buried to the prelims forever. You don't have to BEG for the guy but try it at least, shit.

3- Lost in the drama of Al Iaquinta's layoff was how damn good he was looking prior to that. Even if you feel like he lost vs Masvidal (an opinion I'd value but maybe not share), you still have to acknowledge that he's refined some of those wacky scramble based holes in his submission game and his striking has come a looong way. Iaquinta was really zooming up the ranks then he hit the wall about the UFC---and then he came back. Diego Sanchez is a good test for him in many ways, the most obvious being that if Iaquinta is rusty, Diego's pace and versatility (strike a bit, wrestle a bit, grapple some) will be a good test for how quickly he can shake that rust off.

4- The real co-main event in my eyes is the Joe Lauzon vs Stevie Ray fight. Stevie Ray's arguably one of the better unheralded lightweights on the UFC roster; a 27 year old Scot with a good overall game and room to grow as he continues to work with TriStar MMA. Joe Lauzon's kind of become what most long term "job for life" lightweights; he always has exciting fights, he's always going to be somewhat limited vs the better athletes coming up in the division and he's going to win some close fights and lose some close fights. Stevie Ray is coming off a weirdly important win over Ross Pearson on short notice but there's so much to Joe Lauzon's game that'll test Ray's development. Wins over Lauzon and Pearson would set Ray up to maybe start dabbling with guys at the lower half of the top 10.

5- I'd really hope Eddie Wineland has a plan to deal with Dodson that doesn't involve eating 100 leaping hooks. Wineland's made an amazing career comeback but I have serious fears and concerns for him vs a younger faster equally powerful guy in Dodson.

6- Speaking of which, why have people forgotten about Dodson in a crowded 135 lb division? He probably beat Lineker, he's got the speed and his power has migrated up with him as he jumps up 10 lbs. I don't think he's ever going to challenge for the title with Dillashaw, Cruz, Rivera and Garbrandt manning the top 30 but I think he can fight plenty of folks in the top 10 and give almost all of them a run for their money.

7- Mike Perry vs Jake Ellenberger is going to be a fun fight while it lasts. I just have questions or rather I have serious concerns about what Ellenberger has left at this point. Jake's always been a fighter who runs hot or cold but it's fair to wonder if a long career from a young age and a wealth of action fights have left him pretty much spent. Similarly I have questions about the upside of Mike Perry after "Platinum" spent  his entire fight vs Jouban looking utterly perplexed that a karate guy can attack from a variety of angles while also not standing there flatfooted for one of your wacky ass haymakers. This is one of those fights where it's sort of win/win for the UFC. If Ellenberger wins then you can always repackage him off a win for another top fighter. If Perry wins then a promising (on paper) prospect gets a big name on his resume and a chance to rebound a little.

8- Buried on the prelim slate is a REALLY great 125 lb between Dustin Ortiz and Brandon Moreno. Thus far Moreno has been a revelation for the UFC, a TUF 125 castmate who essentially flopped on the show (finished in the first round vs Alejandre Pantoja) before winning two fights in a row including the super scalp of Louis Smolka in the first round. Dustin Ortiz is a rough tough guy to beat as evidenced by his pretty spiffy record with wins over Ray Borg, Justin Scoggins and Zach Makovsky. His losses are to bigger flyweights (Wilson Reis or John Moraga) or better grapplers (Jussier, Benavidez) and Moreno is neither of those. It's a damn fine test for a guy playing with house money. If Moreno wins then he's got a major scalp on his resume and maybe you can toy with the idea of him fighting MM for the title soon. If he loses? Well Ray Borg and Justin Scoggins were able to bounce back from that so why wouldn't he?

9- OSP vs Marcos Rogerio De Lima is such a 205 fight I can't even begin to discuss it in words. The guy who has lost three in a row and 4 of his last 5 while also having obvious notable flaws (poor wrestling vs elite comp, awful cardio) vs a guy who just beat up a blown up 185er while also missing weight whose best win is Clint Hester. What a fucking wacky deal to be third on the main card and yes, I know OSP is from Tennessee but still!

10- Cindy Dandois makes her debut on this card and she's either going to flame out in two fights or fight for the title. There's really no middle ground here. Also why isn't this at 145 lbs? Isn't this why we have this division now?

11- If you want an example of how the UFC responds to you if you're good, not thrilling and kind of annoying; check out where Bryan Barbarena is coming off a loss.

12- Alexis Davis has struggled to keep herself relevant at 135 lbs but she's normally a fighter who gives an honest effort in each fight. The same could be said for Jessica Penne who has had a lot of tough fights since her UFC debut. She fought Randa Markos, Joanna Champion and Jessica Andrade in the UFC and they've all been tough fights. She gets a bit of a step down, well a major step down, in Danielle Taylor.

Must Wins:

1- Cub Swanson Dude there's just no excuses here. Cub Swanson cannot lose to Artem Lobov because if he does, they'll be no coming back from that. You can't do that.

2- Jake Ellenberger This is probably the last chance for Jake Ellenberger to really keep his grip on a UFC roster spot. Mike Perry is not going to confound him with angles or wrestling. He's just going to come down and throw punches and see who goes down first. Ellenberger CAN win that kind of a fight and if so, he probably lives to fight another day. This is similar to the Matt Brown fight except Perry's noway near as proven or talented as Perry.

3- Alexis Davis This is kind of crazy but the 135 lb landscape is wide open. Alexis Davis beat Amanda Nunes once upon a time and so if Davis can fight with the slightest bit of frequency, there's nothing stopping her from having another run in the division.

Five Underlying Themes:

1- Will the UFC try to paint this main event as anything other than an intriguing if not nonsensical action fight?

2- Will we get some announcements regarding the UFC 212 and the UFC 213 PPV cards?

3- Whether or not Stevie Ray can build on his big win over Ross Pearson and make it two veteran scalps in a row.

4- The potential impending ends for two amazing long time action fighters in Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanzhez.

5- Whether Al Iaquinta can get his carer back on the right track after a self imposed hiatus.