![]() ![]() ![]() Many of these areas are where Confederate flags and anti-women’s rights sentiments fly in church parking lots. It’s easy for my West Coast friends to forget sometimes that Atlanta is a city that happens to be inextricably linked to a whole lot of smaller towns and counties that surround it, you know … the state. That amazing filming location that makes first class on Delta’s LAX to ATL route routinely look like the Soho House elevator while at the same time making Hollywood very uncomfortable because, well, Georgia. Oh Georgia, that wonderful giver of tax credits. I recently put out a social media call to action for hate crime legislation in Georgia. When you are so far behind in almost every area of real advancement as it relates to one specific race of historically disenfranchised people, you don’t get a victory speech. We want our successful parallel parking adventure on Ventura splashed across THR. Hollywood has mastered the art of self-congratulation. Mind you, the chasm between the sincere desire to foster change and true substantive progress can be infinite, and that work is what will ultimately define this moment. I have actually had some promising high-level conversations with folks in this town who are showing interest in enacting real change. Still, there is reason to believe that this moment may be a real catalyst for change. ![]() The cumulative effect of decades of racial conflict and angst is wearing on us all. Weary, fatigued police officers were called in to quell disorder. Fed up and tired, protestors flooded the streets. An unarmed black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a police officer. Speaking of exhausting, as I typed this parts of my home city of Atlanta were burning … again. Of course, one can do both, and I pride myself on doing just that, but the point is … it’s exhausting. Well, wait a minute, aren’t I there to be successful by Hollywood’s economic standards so that I can empower, enrich and open the door to many more Will Packers? If I’m not doing that, then what am I there for? Obviously! That’s why I’m in those rooms. Umm, no, who has the energy for doing that all day? Besides, I need that energy to keep overachieving at the highest levels.ĭo I urgently raise my voice in my professional capacity to ensure my perspective - whether popular or not - is represented in rooms where I’m the only Black person? Umm, yeah, otherwise the offenders won’t even know they’re doing it. I find myself having robust internal debates:ĭo you push back on all the microaggressions? The constant mental pressure of feeling the need to overachieve, justify your value, justify your purpose (hell, your existence) has a vertigo-like effect. That lifelong, worn-down feeling manifests itself in strange ways. What we’re watching now are descendants hundreds of years later saying, “ Enough, damn it!“ The more accurate analogy is if you punch someone in the face for a lifetime and they die, then you repeatedly punch their kids in the face and they die. Someone used the analogy that if you punch even the most docile person in the face long enough, eventually they’re going to say enough is enough. There’s this generational weariness that weighs on Black people. Like having a dull headache that’s always there, but you go on about your life, so when it flares up into a skull-crushing migraine, “surprised” isn’t an appropriate word. There’s this kind of unspoken constant discomfort that Black people live with. It’s very different with my Black friends. Unbelievable, horrific, inconceivable … all words my white friends and colleagues have used when speaking to me about the George Floyd video. “ Where are we on the Girls Trip 2 ideas? “ “ And that brings us to the end of act one!“ “ … And all this happens before the George Floyd murder video is circulated worldwide? “ “ Well, the way white privilege works …” I start to say. So this random woman who has no relevance to the story of 2020 before this point … (checks notes again) weaponizes her white privilege? But doesn’t she know she’s being filmed? “ Ari Emanuel Talks Yoga, Anger and Whether He Enjoyed 'Entourage': "That Show Gave Me Anxiety" ![]()
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