The Melismatic Melanatic

@jamesbennettii.bsky.social. James Beard award nominee. now: who knows//then: arts/culture @gbh, fellow @thisamerlife, @wqxr. fellas, its too rough to feed ya

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

Pears are apples with graduate degrees and good credit

[brian b.dot™️ miller @bdotTM]

this looks like when they tried to integrate schools in the south.

[𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 @andrejgee]

indie writing is the future of hip-hop media.

idk if it looks like a newsletter for you, but there’s no reason for anyone to live &die off the approval of an editor who probably doesnt even love your culture

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

Zappin’ straight to black hole hell

[𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 @andrejgee]

tacky as hell. dont start that

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

A decade ago it was the same dude

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

This would have been an impeachably scandalous thing for a president to say even a decade ago.

[Jemele Hill @jemelehill]

The way some of y’all don’t know shit about Black people is truly amazing.

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

Real talk, after taking like eight steps back, I think it’s easy to see why voters gave this a Grammy win. I don’t think it was a case of “no one listened to anything on GKMC.” It was a case of voters not getting what made it special

[Jasper @Jasp3r_0]

Jokes aside how does a person with a functioning brain hear this and then listen to S.A.M.I.D.O.T. and give the award to this

[fonz 🥭 @fonzfranc]

white people always get to fail upwards

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

Reeks of desperation, impressive really

[el.cine @EHuanglu]

they say AI is slop

they know nothing

[Desus MF Nice💯 @desusnice]

we knicks fans need to have a very uncomfortable conversation about KITH

[Van Lathan Jr @VanLathan]

If there isn’t investment into new creative voices, if all the opportunities are consolidated into a handful of people, Black up and comers will suffer disproportionately…

Listen I know there’s a contingent of Ringer content fans who are straight up racist, I hear from them EVERY DAY. LIKE EVERY DAY. So let me say something to you guys…

I was raised in South Louisiana, my father was from Maringouin, a town inhabited by descendants of slaves sold to bail out Georgetown university. My upbringing in both Baton Rouge and with my family in Maringouin was shaped around observations into what Black people didn’t have. My great grandfather was born in 1900, his kids between 1923 and 1938. Being that my father was adopted by his Grandparents, these were my aunts and uncles. They wanted me to know what they’d been through, and why they were proud to have family, history and tradition in spite of it all.

So If it’s annoying to you, or anyone else that I continually point out disparity, bring up race, or inject it into things in jest or seriously, know that it WILL NEVER CHANGE. EVER. Because those people who raised me, and my sister, purposely engineered people capable of speaking about them, TO YOU.

They made sure I could read really well, speak well enough, but more than anything, they made sure I wasn’t afraid of white people.

They are all dead now. Including my father, which steels my resolve. So, It’s not that I reflexively inject race into everything. It’s not that I do it subconsciously. I do it very deliberately and intentionally ON PURPOSE. Because if someone doesn’t, you guys get to pretend like what has gone on in this country historically, and in present day, is okay. And it’s not. It never has been.

I’m not asking you for guilt, but I am demanding a conversation. And if you don’t have it, I’m going to keep fucking with you.

Forever.

[She’s Fishy ➐ @ShesFishy]

Someone make sure she don’t wear this in LA

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

SIMON SAYS shut the fuck up

[Rep. Andy Ogles @RepOgles]

WAKE UP NEW YORK!

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

I gotta get in the grifting game the riches are generational

[Councilwoman Inna Vernikov @InnaVernikov]

Tonight, on the third night of Chanuka, I am at the @NYYRC Gala proudly wearing a dress emblazoned in the flag of Israel 🇮🇱. So many Jewish New Yorkers & Jewish college students all over our country are afraid to display their Jewish identity, wear a Kipa, a Star of David, or express support for the great state of Israel. We cannot be afraid! We cannot remain silent! Be Jewish, Be Loud, Be Proud! This is where we live and we will not be intimidated!

PS: This dress was created by an incredible Project Runway winner & celebrity designer Irina Shabayeva who pulled it together in less than 24 hours. Irina, I am beyond grateful for your talent and tenacity. God bless America & God bless our only true ally in the Middle East- Israel! 🇮🇱🇺🇸 עם ישראל חי

[Brandon Streussnig @BrndnStrssng]

What is Mayor Mamdani’s plan for extending AMC windows for movies that aren’t blockbusters? I didn’t movie to NYC to have movies hit 10pm or bust by Thursday. Where are the benefits that come with being a Coastal Elite

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

KEEP GATEKEEPING CULTURE KEEP LETTING EVERYONE IN THE REPLIES BE DUMB

[demi adejuyigbe @electrolemon]

NEW YORK CITY YOU LISTEN TO ME. IF YOU'RE NEAR A CONVENIENCE STORE RIGHT NOW, ANY TYPE OF 24 HOUR STORE, GO INTO THE STORE RIGHT NOW, AND PUT YOUR HAND IN THE CASH REGISTER FOR NO REASON. THEIR MONEY IS YOUR MONEY AS OF RIGHT NOW

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

Idk PTA pulled off a master stroke with OBAA by making a pretty good movie that lead to one Having Thoughts about the Black people which cannot be dissected with the average annoying ass PTA stan

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

@History__Speaks Well, is it wrong?

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

The Everyman ain’t in the private equity game. That’s it.

[Amanda Killian @eroscestlavie_x]

App icons. It’s app icons guys. The logos are now squares because of the prevalence of mobile ordering and square places in digital wayfinding UI because physical signposts and discernment between architecture are not how people wayfind anymore. I feel like I’m going nuts

[The Melismatic Melanatic @jamesabennettii]

boutta write a children's book: "Omar Finds His Code!"

[doomer @uncledoomer]

its a good thing thing there arent hundreds or even thousands of parables through history across all continents and cultures that warn against using dark sorcery to raise a simulacrum of the dead