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17 Sundance Movies We're Eager To See

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Every January, throngs of movie lovers gather in the snowy hills of Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. It’s an 11-day preview of the year’s indie-cinema offerings, and a breeding ground for the brightest big-screen talent, both emerging and established. The Huffington Post will be there throughout the festival, serving up reviews, interviews and coverage of all the goings-on, which this year includes a Trump protest led by Chelsea Handler in conjunction with the Women’s March on Washington. 


With Sundance kicking off Thursday, we’ve rounded up 17 movies that have already piqued our interest. Some of these could become breakout hits, possibly playing a role in next year’s Oscar derby. That’s the thing with Sundance ― the lineup is always so stacked that it’s hard to know which titles will rise to the top and which will fall into the moviegoing void. For now, here’s a smattering of appealing picks.


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A Vengeful Arch-Nemesis Taught You Fake News About Edgar Allan Poe

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This is a true story about fabrications that improbably became common knowledge. The protagonist is a poet whose name you’ll recognize, but whose life is still widely mischaracterized. It would have been his birthday today, Jan. 19. The story’s villain is a poet whose name you won’t recognize, but is arguably the sole reason you believe the false information.


Perhaps a tale about two feuding poets is no spy story, but, ― but! ― its villain is very quirky. And the villain’s bizarrely obsessive hatred is so strong, that it’s almost endearing.


The story starts on Oct. 9, 1849, two days after Edgar Allan Poe’s death, when one of the most popular newspapers of the era ― the now defunct New-York Daily Tribune ― published an obituary for the writer.


It begins matter-of-factly, “Edgar Allan Poe is dead.”


But within the very first paragraph, the obit stated, “This announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved by it,” as well as, “he had few or no friends.”


Perhaps most ridiculous, the writer of this obituary described Poe as a person who “walked the streets, in madness or melancholy, with lips moving in indistinct curses, or with eyes upturned in passionate prayers, (never for himself, for he felt, or professed to feel, that he was already damned).”


This piece achieved a vast readership across America. The author, Rufus Griswold, was Poe’s arch-nemesis.



In broad-stroke descriptors of their relationship to each other, Griswold was a northerner, while Poe was a southerner. Both edited the same literary publication, Graham’s Magazine, at different times. Griswold published Poe’s work in his anthology, The Poets and Poetry of America. Poe made a habit of criticizing the merits of this anthology.


“Poe and Griswold might have just rubbed each other the wrong way,” Chris Semtner, a curator at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, explained to The Huffington Post. “Poe did not help by writing scathing book reviews attacking Griswold’s friends in addition to lectures ridiculing Griswold’s magnum opus, The Poets and Poetry of America.”


Poe even wrote a character into a story that gets dumber after reading Griswold’s work.


Ron Smith, a Poe scholar and former member of the Museum’s board, told Richmond’s Style Weekly in an article last year that Poe, although inarguably mean-spirited, did this in jest, or in an act of literary “sport.” But instead of ribbing back, Griswold plotted to destroy his foe. The famous Virginia writer became “the man [Griswold] hated most,” Semtner added. (The curator is an authority on the manner as The Edgar Allan Poe Museum has the world’s largest collection of Griswold’s personal items ― including letters, manuscripts and paintings. Certainly an ironic fate for Griswold’s legacy.)


After Poe’s death, Griswold convinced Poe’s mother-in-law to sign away the rights to the author’s work. Griswold went on to publish the collected works attached with his own biography of Poe that invented stories of his drunkenness, immorality and instability.


As Semtner described the biography, Griswold portrayed “Poe as a scoundrel who cheated a woman out of her money and who spends most of the time intoxicated.”


Perhaps most over-the-top in hilarious evilness are the made-up quotes Griswold attributed to Poe. “Griswold also added entire fabricated passages to Poe’s letters that he quoted in the biography,” Semtner said. “In the additions, Poe bestows fawning praise upon Griswold.” 



In the end, Griswold’s plan ended up back-firing. The tall tales of Poe being a scoundrel ― no matter how refuted ― transformed the writer into a legend, greatly increasingly his popularity.


Both men were popular in their day, but you only know Poe’s name more than a century later. That’s a shame, as Griswold had his own real-life struggles that were ripe for lore-making and certainly contribute to the legend of Poe, as well.


“Griswold was a bitter man who seemed to make enemies wherever he went, but he was also a complex individual who was alternately deeply devoted to his dead first wife, but seemingly neglectful of his living children,” said Semtner. “A month after his first wife died, he crept into her crypt and spent the night with her.”


During the eight years between Poe’s death and his own, Griswold may have spent much of his energy trying to destroy his nemesis, but in a way, he also clearly couldn’t quit him.


“When [Griswold] died, one of his prized possessions was a portrait of Poe that was hanging in his hall,” said Semtner. Griswold had stolen this oil portrait ― the only portrait made of Poe during his lifetime ― from Poe’s mother-in-law (along with those rights to Poe’s work).


“I wonder what went through his head when he saw it hanging on his wall,” said Semtner. “Poe was the one who had belittled and ridiculed him, but Poe had achieved international fame during his lifetime. Griswold was still best known as an anthologist of other people’s poetry, and he would soon be known only as his worst enemy’s biographer.”


Today, Griswold might suffer from the same fate he bestowed upon Poe, as he is also no longer here to defend himself. In part because of his own actions, only Poe scholars are around today to interpret Griswold’s life and write his history. As mentioned before, the largest collection of Griswold’s work now resides in a museum dedicated to his enemy.


The distinction between the hero and the villain is often ambiguous outside of stories. And the two roles need each other to become stronger. Sadly, in this case, Griswold became the footnote of the man he tried to stomp out. Despite the bitterness that led to making Poe immortal, Rufus Griswold is dead. 

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Chrisette Michele Is Performing At Inauguration And Folks Aren't Happy

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Singer Chrisette Michele has confirmed via an “Open Letter” on Twitter that she will be performing at President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Friday. 


Without directly referencing the ceremony, Michele confirmed speculation that began circulating on Wednesday that she’d be performing at the inauguration of a president-elect who’s been vocal about his racism, xenophobia and misogyny


In the letter ― that begins “we can’t be present if we’re silent” ― Michele goes on to quote Martin Luther King Jr. to signify that her performance is going to serve as representation for black Americans and help to “build a bridge.”




“I am willing to be a bridge. I don’t mind these stones, if they allow me to be a voice for the voiceless,” she wrote in the letter. 


The announcement of her “representation” at the event was not well received on social media. Many of Michele’s former supporters, including director Spike Lee, were vocal about withdrawing their fandom of the Grammy winning R&B singer, Questlove even tweeted on Wednesday that he’d pay Michele not to sing at the inauguration.


As far as we know, Michele hasn’t taken Questlove up on the offer. 

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Artists Band Together With A Message For Trump: We Make America

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Now that we’re all painfully familiar with the slogan “Make America Great Again,” a group artists has come together to show Trump who’s actually doing the making in this country. 


We Make America is a community of artists around the country committed to using their craft to resist the exclusionary rhetoric and policy suggestions Trump has peddled. The group formed shortly after the November election, when many were left reconciling with an unexpected outcome.


According to a piece reported by Barbara Pollack for Hyperallergic, artists Joyce Kozloff and Maria de Los Angeles were the first of the group to take action, reaching out to other artists in their circles. The group began meeting just four days after the election, with 16 artists in attendance. At time of publication, the movement has over 2,300 members on Facebook.




The group recently set its sights on a single task: creating protest signs and costumes for the Women’s March on Washington and its sister march in New York City. Like the thousands of individuals marching this weekend, We Make America is taking to the streets in defense of causes threatened by Trump’s impending leadership, including women’s rights, immigration rights, freedom of speech and health care.


For their handmade protest gear, We Make America is taking inspiration from Lady Liberty herself. That means making lots of crowns and green gowns, as well as a 5-foot-tall torch made on a 3D printer.




In part, the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the historic role of immigration in U.S. history, as expressed in its inscription:



Give me your tired, your poor,


Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,


The wretched refuse of your teeming shore


Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me ...



She is also, of course, a woman, turning We Make America’s use of her image into a subtle dig at the future president who is known for his sexist comments




“We Make America is about diversity; it is about all of America,” de Los Angeles told Hyperallergic. “We are makers, and we can have a voice, and what we do in life can have an impact socially. It’s not just artists. It’s anybody who makes things — which is everybody — and by making things, we can transform reality.”



#Repost @jessililili ・・・ #wemakeamerica #HAAG #maryfrankstudio #smallobjects #womensmarch #liberty

A photo posted by We Make America (@wemakeamerica) on





#Repost @doeprojekts ・・・ #wemakeamerica #whyimarch #jan21

A photo posted by We Make America (@wemakeamerica) on




Anyone who wishes to march alongside this talented group of Lady Liberties is welcome to do so. They’re planning to meet in Washington, D.C., at 10 a.m. ET at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, and in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET under the clock in Grand Central Station. The group asks that participants RSVP on Facebook so they know how many to expect. 


If you’re not on the East Coast, you can follow We Make America’s work on Instagram and the hashtag #WeMakeAmerica throughout inauguration weekend. For more art-related Trump protests, check out any of these other powerful activist projects. And artists, keep on fighting. 

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'War On Women' Protest Signs Don’t Sugarcoat Gender Inequality

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In an effort to organize counter-programming during President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural festivities, a bevy of bands big and small will perform protest concerts benefiting organizations such as Planned Parenthood this weekend.


One such group, a self-described “feminist hardcore punk band” aptly called War on Women, will perform an acoustic show Sunday in Washington, D.C.


Their lyrics ― bluntly worded, logically argued dismissals of the patriarchy ― also apparently make for great protest posters. At least, that’s what artist Hexelot has showed us with her latest project, which turns the messages delivered by one of her favorite bands into visual rallying cries.


“I just really wanted to celebrate all women,” Hexelot told The Huffington Post in an email. “Whether that be women of color, women not born biologically female, women that practice religion outside Christianity. All women.”


The artist chose lyrics that she thought “really focused on the angst and frustration one can feel as a woman” but that were “still hopeful about the future.”


“I don’t want to flatter myself by saying I’m making their lyrics more powerful,” she said. “I think I just emphasized their original message by showing who this message is for.”


Lyrics like “Give! Us! The! Pill!” and “We are not weak, we are brave” are graced with girlish flourishes like hearts and exclamation marks in the works “because it made the drawings look a little gooey and traditionally (as much as I hate this word) ‘girly,’” Hexelot said, adding that she hoped to flip “the preferred image of women looking and acting a certain way.”


“I hear a lot of groups make songs nowadays that talk about equal rights, which is great, but the songs are always so calm,” Hexelot said.


Calm is not her speed. She’s concerned that there is no space to discuss and validate “true anger” of gender inequality, lest the women expressing it be labeled “feminazis” or otherwise not taken seriously.


“My overall hope for what people take away from my drawings and the music is that they don’t need to remain silent,” she added.


A timely message heading into the forthcoming march.


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Ironically Titled Library Book Finally Returned After 100 Years

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Some people just read more slowly than others.


The San Francisco Public Library newest book is actually one of its oldest: More than a century old.


The book was actually checked out of the library 100 years ago by Phoebe Marsh Dickenson Webb, according to local station ABC 7.


Ironically, the book is titled “40 Minutes Late.” It’s a collection of short stories that took a long time coming back to the library.


Dickenson’s great-granddaughter, Judy Wells, hopes people give her dear departed relative some slack, since Dickenson was 83 when she borrowed the book 100 years ago. She died before the book’s due date. 


“It’s hard to come back as a ghost and return your late library book,” Wells told ABC 7.


Another great-grandchild, Webb Johnson, found the book in a trunk of Dickenson’s things back in 1996. He kept it for a while and even read it himself, he told the San Francisco Chronicle.


Head City Librarian Luis Herrera didn’t read the family the riot act for keeping a book out for 100 years. He was just happy to get it back.


The current fine rate is 10 cents a day, which would work out to around $3,650, according to the Chronicle. However, the library’s current amnesty program for overdue books means Dickenson’s descendants won’t have to pay a fine at all.


Now, 100 years later, it’s possible that “40 Minutes Late” could go back in circulation, or be put on display. Dickenson’s great-grandson, Webb Johnson, recommends it highly.


“I really enjoyed reading it, it’s one of the reasons I held on to it,” Johnson told ABC7. 

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Wayne Coyne Wants More Futuristic 'Drugs That We Can Have Fun On'

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The inspiration for the title of The Flaming Lips’ new album, “Oczy Mlody,” came from inside Polish novel Blisko Domu, which frontman Wayne Coyne found at a used book store.


Going against conventional wisdom, he judged the book by the cover. “It has a really great painting of a slightly abstract woman’s face and you can’t tell if she’s sweating or she’s crying,” Coyne told The Huffington Post in an interview about the new album. “The fonts that they use and the coloring ― it was just something that aesthetically appealed to me.”


Coyne left the book lying around the band’s studio and in their downtime, band members would flip through the pages to find words that stuck out. No members of the band understood the language, and so any appeal to the words was entirely visceral.


Much later on, Coyne discovered that the phrase “oczy mlody” roughly translates to “eyes of the young.” He liked that.


“I think in the beginning, [with] ‘oczy mlody,’ we would joke about how it sounded like a designer drug that was made in the future,” said Coyne, who then explained how that was relevant to a more wide-reaching ethos for the band. “We are always kind of urging the pharmaceutical companies to make drugs that we can have fun on. Let’s just get on with it. Why do we have to pretend like we have some ailment so we can get the drugs that we all want to take?”


Although they didn’t know what the phrase meant, by attaching the belief it sounded like a futuristic drug ― while also knowing they might be alone in believing that ― the band was able to use the phrase as a metaphor for their philosophy in creating music.  


“It’s all a fantasy and it’s all just made-up stuff, [but] I think things like seeing the Polish words, it probably doesn’t trigger the same sorts of things for everybody, but that’s all you can have ― this little kernel of a meaning that pushes you forward into it,” said Coyne. “And we always approach our music like, of course it makes sense ― ‘Don’t you know what it means?!’”



With “Oczy Mlody,” the band continues its trend of embracing new production technology to evolve their music further from their more traditional rock band roots. Much like the futuristic drugs Coyne wishes pharmaceutical companies would put on the market, the singer’s goals for this latest Flaming Lips album (as it seems with all their albums) is to both mine familiar emotions while hopefully accessing new and foreign feelings as well.


“It’s always a little bit of a struggle to get both ― I mean reaching all the way back into your subconscious for some emotional thing [and] at the same time going as far into the fucking future, connecting the two and seeing if it can work,” explained Coyne. “I don’t know think it always works but sometimes it does.” 


A standout that certainly works on “Oczy Mlody” is the track, “The Castle,” which is both on the surface a sweet, straightforward-seeming love song with a rock melody and an electronic-filled multi-minute-long unleashing of sorrow. The song came out of a grieving period after a friend of the band’s committed suicide.


As Coyne described it, the song was much sadder in the first version. The band tried to make it happier to honor how they’d remember her in the future ― using fairytale-esque language the friend herself might use ― and found a perfect symbiosis between the competing ideas.


“Surprises can happen,” Coyne said earlier in the interview when talking about writing his songs. In those rare, but special moments when that happens, “It’s just so much more fun.”


Watch the video for “The Castle:”




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37 Feminist Onesies For Baby Girls And Boys

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There’s a big market for themed baby onesies. While some parents like to dress their babies in onesies with funny jokes or cute puns, others pay tribute to their alma maters or favorite pop culture phenomena. 


Still others like to choose onesies with empowering messages about equality and hope for the future. In honor of the upcoming Women’s March on Washington, we’ve rounded up some baby attire with those themes in mind.


Without further ado, here are 37 feminist onesies for your baby girls ― and boys!


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Trump Reportedly Plans To End National Arts Funding

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Well, having art and culture sure was cool while it lasted!


President-elect Donald Trump plans to dramatically slash funding for the humanities when he takes office, according to a new report from The Hill. In meetings with White House staff, Trump transition officials have reportedly indicated that the administration will shutter the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as privatize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


The Hill report notes that the floated budget cuts “hew closely to a blueprint published last year by the conservative Heritage Foundation.” It’s previously been reported that the think tank has been enormously influential in shaping Trump’s nascent administration.


In the “Blueprint for Balance: A Federal Budget for 2017,” the Foundation devotes one page each to the eliminations of the NEA and the NEH, which is more than enough to paint a chilling picture for supporters of public arts funding.


In its argument for closing the NEH, the Heritage blueprint proclaims, “government should not use its coercive power of taxation to compel taxpayers to support cultural organizations and activities.” On a similar note, it states of the NEA, “Taxpayer assistance of the arts is neither necessary nor prudent [...] Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for plays, paintings, pageants, and scholarly journals, regardless of the works’ attraction or merit.”


Reached via email, both the NEA and the NEH declined to comment specifically on the report. “We’re not speculating on what policies the president-elect (or the Congress) may or may not choose to pursue,” Victoria Hutter, assistant director of public affairs at the NEA, told HuffPost.


“We are not going to speculate on the policies or priorities of the new Administration,” NEH spokeswoman Theola DeBose reiterated.


The act forming the NEA and the NEH was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, in response to a movement to restore due attention and emphasis to the arts in an age driven by scientific innovation and exploration ― an imbalance that hasn’t gone away, as universities today focus on STEM and slash humanities funding.


Though the Heritage Foundation blueprint argues that the endowments can and should be replaced by philanthropy, the NEA and NEH serve a unique purpose. Relying solely on individual arts giving and spending can leave humanities institutions and creatives at the whims of the super-wealthy ― think Trump’s foundation purchasing a portrait of the man himself for thousands of dollars, or, more typically, a moneyed New Yorker donating millions to her favorite opera house ― but the NEA and NEH take on initiatives in partnership with state and local organizations to shore up arts and humanities access in underserved communities. Government grants are offered to cultural institutions and individuals who submit outstanding proposals that hold up to objective vetting and review. The NEH has supported the creation of 16 Pulitzer Prize-winning books and Ken Burns’ iconic documentary “The Civil War.” The NEA also helped get the Sundance Film Festival off the ground.


In a statement responding to the report, literary human rights organization PEN America denounced the alleged proposed cuts as a sign of a “new Dark Ages,” arguing: “The announcement that this is even under consideration casts a sinister cloud over our vibrant national culture.”


Of course, shutting down the NEA and NEH isn’t as simple as a presidential decree issued on Jan. 21. As writer Celeste Pewter pointed out in an extensive Twitter thread, any proposed cuts to various government agencies would depend on Congressional budgets and appropriation:






Much as floods of phone calls from constituents resulted in GOP lawmakers backing down from a secretive push to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics earlier this month, voters opposed to the drastic cuts reported by The Hill can make supporting those budgetary changes deeply uncomfortable for their representatives. For those worried about a possible impending “Dark Ages” of the humanities, repeatedly calling congressional representatives to vocally oppose shuttering the NEA and NEH is a clear and practical next step: It could help save them. 


Given Trump’s previously documented lack of interest in books and art that aren’t about himself ― as well as the Heritage Foundation’s power in his transition ― this latest report shouldn’t come as too much of a shock. But the drastic nature of the proposed cuts is nonetheless unsettling, and on the eve of the inauguration, offers a grim vision of what art and culture could face in Trump’s America if the people don’t fight hard to protect them.

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Gorillaz Debut New Anti-Trump Song 'Hallelujah Money' Before Inauguration

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On the eve of the Donald Trump inauguration, Gorillaz has returned from a six-year hiatus to deliver a single questioning the spread of power and corruption.


In the accompanying music video for the song ― titled “Hallelujah Money” ― English musician Benjamin Clementine sings in front of various imagery including a lobby resembling Trump Tower’s and (a bit confusingly) a march by the La Candelaria brotherhood, a Spanish group that dresses in white robes similar to the Ku Klux Klan, but has no affiliation.


Uproxx partnered with Gorillaz to premiere the song, revealing that the song’s intent is to highlight the “relationship between power, corruption and compassion in the wake of this undeniably historical moment.”


“Hallelujah Money” is meant to appear on the band’s new album later this year.


Fans of the group will notice that the animated figures that typically front the band are not featured in the video until a brief appearance by what appears to be the character 2D as a silhouette near the end.


Like Clementine, the real-life musicians behind the band Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are similarly English, but many would say that America could use all the help it can get.


And as the band tweeted earlier today, they seem to agree with that sentiment.





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Troye Sivan's New Video Honors LGBTQ People Throughout History

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Troye Sivan is back with a new music video, and its heartwarming, all-inclusive message couldn’t feel more topical. 


The pop star shares a tender embrace with a lover in the stunning, black-and-white clip for “Heaven,” which was directed by Luke Gilford. The video also pays tribute to LGBTQ rights activists throughout history, with archival footage of marriage equality protests and Pride parades. 


Featuring a guest appearance by Betty Who, the song itself hints at the struggle many LGBTQ people face in coming to terms with their sexuality. “All my time is wasted, feeling like my heart’s mistaken,” Sivan sings on the track, which he co-wrote with Jack Antonoff, Alex Hope and Claire Boucher. “So if I’m losing a piece of me, maybe I don’t want heaven.” 


The 21-year-old, who came out in a 2013 YouTube video, dedicated “Heaven” to “all who’ve come before me and fought for our cause and those who now continue the fight” in a statement sent to The Huffington Post.  


“We have always been here. We will always be here,” he said. “In dark and light times, let’s love forever.”


In other words, “Heaven” is a poignant reminder that the queer community has endured hardship before. As LGBTQ people head into an era of political uncertainty under the Trump administration, we need voices like Troye’s more than ever. 


For the latest in LGBTQ entertainment, don’t miss the Queer Voices newsletter.






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Touching Animation Recounts Story Behind Obama’s 'Fired Up, Ready To Go' Chant

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It was one of those rainy days, when nothing seems to be going the way it’s supposed to go, when Barack Obama first heard the chant “Fired up, ready to go.”


He was speaking to a small crowd along the primary campaign trail in Greenwood, South Carolina, in 2007. Not yet the 44th president of the United States, he was feeling exhausted and disheartened when a woman with a flashy hat and gold tooth cried out from the back of the room.


“Fired up, ready to go!” the woman, Edith S. Childs, said.


As if it were rehearsed, the people around her repeated the chant back, and the mood of the rally transformed. 


“It just goes to show you how one voice can change a room,” Obama said in a speech recounting the story. “And if it can change a room, it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation. And if it can change a nation, it can change the world!” 



Twelve artists teamed up to animate Obama’s retelling of that fateful day, in the moving short above, directed by Dan Fipphen.


The artists, in order of their animations’ appearances, include Emily Eckstein and Ege Alper, Alex Silver, Lynn Tomlinson, Jovanna Tosello, The Duke and The Duck, Amy Lee Ketchum, Juan Camilo Gonzalez, Musa Brooker, Miguel Jiron, Sara Spink, Lou Morton, and Daniela Sherer.


Together, they contributed to the string of powerful visuals that bring Obama’s rousing tale to life. Aptly titled “Fired Up,” the short video was uploaded to Vimeo on Jan. 18.


It’s been almost 10 years since Obama first heard those game-changing words, but on the last day of his presidency, we’re replaying this beauty over and over and over again. If you’re looking to get fired up, we suggest you do the same. 


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One U2 Song Has Defined A Decade Of Important Moments For Barack Obama

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One song has threaded together the biggest moments in President Barack Obama’s career: “City of Blinding Lights” by U2, featured on the group’s 2004 album “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”


Obama first used the music when he announced his presidential campaign at a rally in Springfield, Illinois, in February 2007.


The distorted guitar, heavy bass and four piano notes at the start of the song quickly became synonymous with the then-senator’s campaign. It was frequently heard at Obama’s primary rallies, along with upbeat hits like Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and Aretha Franklin’s “Think.”





“City of Blinding Lights” played ahead of Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, when he formally accepted his historic presidential nomination.





And U2 played the song ― along with their hit “Pride (In The Name of Love)” ― at the “We Are One” concert to celebrate Obama’s 2009 inauguration.


While performing at the Lincoln Memorial in front of several hundred thousand people, members of the band thanked Obama for using their song during his campaign.


“What a thrill for four Irish boys from the North side of Dublin to honor you, sir, the next president of the United States,” singer Bono said.





“City of Blinding Lights” also played before the president’s speeches at the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions.





And in the final days of his presidency, Obama didn’t forget the song. It played once again ahead of his farewell address, which he delivered on Jan. 10 in Chicago.

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New Lifestyle Platform Aims To Empower Black Men, Expand Their Narrative

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Jason Rosario is bringing the narrative of black men to the forefront with his new online platform The Lives Of Men.


TLoM, which officially launched on Thursday, is a digital lifestyle platform that aims to further dialogue on topics that aren’t often discussed within black male communities such as homosexuality, self-esteem and mental health.


“It’s really a platform where men of all backgrounds can come and engage and interact on issues that are most relevant to them,” Rosario told The Huffington Post. “And if possible, gain inspiration and a sense of brotherhood as they navigate their life.” 



Rosario, who is a 37-year-old director at a real estate company based in New York, cited recent incidents of police brutality as a big part of his inspiration for creating the platform.


Terence Crutcher was referred to by a cop from a helicopter 100 feet in the air as looking like a ‘bad’ dude,” Rosario said. “It gives me pause when I hear people say things like that. I’m 6’ 4,” I’m over 200 pounds. It makes me feel uncomfortable when I’m walking down the street and people give me looks like I’m a bad dude...we are not being portrayed in a way that’s positive and empowering and inspiring.”


TLoM’s content launch currently includes a “Salute to Single Dads” and “An Open Letter To Black Men.” Rosario also made sure to kick-off the website with a sentimental video tribute to a man who has uniquely empowered men of color...President Barack Obama. From POTUS’ excellence to his vulnerability, Rosario said Obama is the embodiment of TLoM’s values.


In the timely video, various men of color sit down to discuss the impact Obama’s legacy has had on the formation of their identity. Watch below:





Rosario also hopes that TLoM will eventually move beyond its digital space and evolve into reliable resource for both men and women of color. Given the present political climate, he’s cognizant of the urgent importance of such a resource. 


“A lot of people have an understanding that the government isn’t going to take care of the black and brown communities,” he said. “We need to do it ourselves.”

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Teacher Responds To Betsy DeVos' Hearing With Scathing Song

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Following Betsy DeVos’ troubling confirmation hearing, a Long Island teacher and father of two performed a song for Donald Trump’s controversial nominee for education secretary.  


Alan Schwartz aka “Bald Piano Guy” posted a video on Facebook that shows him singing, dancing and playing the piano in a parody of Cole Porter’s “It’s De-Lovely.”


“The kids are young. Their future’s clear. Their public schooling will disappear. It’s demonic. It’s demeaning. It’s DeVossy!” he sings. “Setting schools up to crash, she can then open charters for cash. Undertrained, underpaid staff’s the new status quo!”


Driving his point home, he adds, “She’ll use her ties to legalize robbing your taxes to privatize!”


The video has reached nearly two million views since Wednesday. In the comments, Schwartz followed up by pointing out the opposition to DeVos’ appointment from parents, teachersstudents and administrators. He also noted that his opinion is not partisan and that he was also a critic of Obama’s education secretary picks, Arne Duncan and John King Jr.


Schwartz has been a music teacher at a public middle school for 22 years. He teaches band and orchestra and works as the music director for the school’s annual musical.





”It’s DeVossy” is not the teacher’s first brush with viral fame. Since 2015, he’s been posting music videos on Facebook and YouTube, including “Teacher vs. Governor,” which reached over 1.5 million views. His first video, “Opting Out,” was a parody of Billy Joel’s “Moving On Out” in support of the standardized testing opt-out movement in New York. Both songs made not-so-subtle jabs at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).  


“I get inspired to write satirical songs when I see hypocrisy, particularly in education,” Schwartz told The Huffington Post, adding that he’s written songs and parodies blasting both sides of the aisle. 


“Although I was a supporter of President Obama, I vehemently disagreed with Arne Duncan and John King as Education Secretaries, particularly for the lack of teaching experience,” he explained. “Imagine hiring a non-doctor for Surgeon General, or non-lawyer for Attorney General, or a non-military person for Joint Chiefs of Staff? A President would be blasted. Why then is it perfectly all right to hire someone who has never taught a single class to be the virtual boss of every teacher in America?”


But rather than brood, Schwartz says he vents through music and sardonic humor. He told HuffPost he hopes people find his videos entertaining but more importantly, thought-provoking.


“I want people to see that there’s a unique way to express their thoughts, and they can do it in a polite and respectful manner while poking fun,” he said. “I want people to have a dialogue. I will be the first to say that I do not have the monopoly on what is correct. NO ONE has it.”


Added Schwartz, “The sooner we all realize that, the sooner we can sit in a room and say, ‘Listen we disagree with each other, but let’s put our swords down and talk. I’m sure after awhile, I will come closer to you, and you will come closer to me, and we’ll have a unique solution that we have created together.’”

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Zoe Saldana Explains Why She's Placing Her ‘Faith’ In Donald Trump

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Zoe Saldana is planning to give Donald Trump a chance.


Shortly after her controversial comments on why she feels Hollywood has “bullied” the president-elect, the actress spoke with Univision’s Jorge Ramos about why she’s going to give Trump the “respect he deserves.”


Saldana appeared on Ramos’ Sunday show “Al Punto” to discuss her new movie “Live By Night.” During the interview the host asked her about how she’d previously said she’d leave the United States if Trump won.


“I know, and I think I have to wait and see when things start happening,” Saldana said in the interview, translated from Spanish by HuffPost Latino Voices.


“I think it’s my duty as an American to stay here, and see what happens: to unite my voice and my job and my actions to all the people who are trying to push forward, because if I leave in reality I’m not going to be helping this country to continue progressing. I think this country has been successful because those who’ve stayed have kept fighting.”


But the actress went one step further and explained why she is giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.


“I have faith in him because he is the president of my country and I wasn’t raised to prefer one person over another,” Saldana added. “I was raised to be an American and to give my duty and my respect, which is why I’m going to give him the respect he deserves until the other shoe drops, how we Dominicans say.”


Saldana had repeatedly criticized Trump during his campaign, endorsing letters blasting the GOP candidate with both actress America Ferrera and her “Star Trek” cast members. But on Saturday she appeared to have changed her tune when she spoke about the president-elect in an interview with AFP.


“We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies,” Saldana said. “We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong,” she continued, “and that created empathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises.”


Watch the actress’ Spanish-language interview with Al Punto here.


(H/T Latino Rebels)






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10 Striking Reflections On Obama's Presidency From Black Change-Makers

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Alas, the time has come. 


Thursday marks Barack Obama’s last full day as president, a role he has carried out with respect, dignity and pride over the last eight years.


At the time of his election, Obama symbolized hope and promise for a brighter future, especially to black Americans who desperately sought a leader who not only looked like them, but listened to them. Now, at the end of his presidency, many black Americans look back and continue to wildly embrace the powerful symbolism of having a black family in the White House. Of course, that did not occur without criticism from some who disapproved of his approach to and solutions for issues of race in America (because, after all, black Americans can and should be able to appreciate and share critique of Obama at the same time.)


But as we reflect, we are mostly buried with uplifting and unforgettable memories of Obama’s presidency ― and to black Americans, there are some moments that stand out more than others. So The Huffington Post reached out to a diverse group of notable black writers, influencers and journalists and asked them to share their reflections on any particularly striking moments from Obama’s presidency they will always remember and to highlight what his legacy means to them: 


Janet Mock, Transgender Activist and Author




There was a moment in his 2015 State of the Union address where President Obama stated, ‘I have no more campaigns to run,’ which triggered applause from a group in the chamber, likely the same Republicans who refused to govern during his presidency and work with him on behalf of the country. I felt deeply disrespected at yet another attempt to put Obama ‘in his place.’


Obama let them enjoy their moment before simply stating with such black cool, “I know because I won both of them.” This garnered an even louder applause. He smiled, winked and laughed ― reminding me to never let anyone’s vitriol or attempt to bring em down a notch make me question what I have done, my worth and my own sense of greatness.




Vanessa De Luca, Editor-In-Chief of Essence magazine





I will never forget when President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which was passed by Congress in 2010. Knowing that this law would have an impact on millions of Americans―and that our commander in chief cared enough about all of us to fight for a plan that would allow people to both survive and thrive―let me know that he was intentional about the mark he wanted to leave on this country.



Damon Young, Editor-in-Chief of Very Smart Brothers




Over the past year ― assisted by the words and work of people like Kirsten West Savali and Kiese Laymon ― I’ve learned to be less hagiographical and more critical when discussing President Obama and assessing his position, his work, and his legacy. This was a necessary evolution; one that I needed to make in order to retain and expand any measure of editorial and personal credibility. 


But, even though the criticism stems from love ― a distilled and pragmatic love that attempts to abstract Barack Obama the transformative figure from President Obama the politician ― it’s still quite difficult to be consistent with it. Because the psychic and spiritual impact he’s had on me is so vast and superseding that I have to work to convince myself that objectivity is useful. Even as I’m gradually allowing myself to admit that he could have done more for back and other vulnerable people while in office, I’m reminded of the first speech he gave the night he was elected President. And I remember how warm I felt while watching him, and how that warmth was accompanied by a dread that something would happen to him; that someone would snatch that feeling and that moment away from us. And I’ve been both inspired by him and fiercely protective of him ever since. 




Kyra Kyles, Editor-In-Chief of Ebony magazine 






President Obama’s highly personal reflection on the killing of Trayvon Martin marked a milestone. He had dealt with race as deftly as he could, given his own (true) statement that ‘I’m not the president of black America. I’m the president of the United States of America.’ However, in that moment when he spoke about this teenager shot down by a self-appointed ‘neighborhood watchman,’ you saw not just a commander-in-chief, but a black father. When he asserted that if he’d had a son, he’d look like Trayvon, it was extremely poignant and compelling. 


I believe it lent momentum to the powerful and needed Black Lives Matter movement, by showing how anyone can be touched and destroyed by this toxic fear of brown men, women and even children. Some of us were still delirious with the promise of a post-racial nation that if the head of a world power could totally empathize with and imagine the loss of his child due to racism and bigotry, there was still much more work to be done. Sadly, as Martin’s death has been followed by far too many others in racially charged encounters with citizens and police, it’s a painful lesson we are still learning as a nation.





Michaela Angela Davis, Image Activist and Writer





It is a small yet profound moment, involving a small boy making a small gesture which had enormous impact. When the President bowed down to let the little black boy feel his hair, he affirmed they are made of the same ‘stuff and illustrated there must have been a time when the president of the United States was once a little black boy just like him. 


It was loving, gentle and yet so powerful. I learned, or rather, was reaffirmed of, the importance of our young people seeing themselves reflected in places of power and dignity. Images are critical to our collective self esteem and in a time when we have witnessed the casual slaughter of young black males, this tender moment was healing.



Rhonesha Byrd, Founder of Her Agenda 





Obama is unmatched in terms of intellect, class and realness. In terms of unforgettable moments, it’s hard to decide between the day he won the Election and the moment he spoke about the murder of Trayvon Martin. In my memory it was the first time he acknowledged his vulnerability and humanity as a black man in America on the world stage. 


In a world where black men are often not valued and those black men in positions like Obama are looked at as the exception rather than the standard, it was a major reality check to America that black men are deserving of life, and yes, Obama is a black man.





Donovan Ramsey, Journalist, Demos Emerging Voices Fellow





It all seemed to come crashing down the moment Joe Wilson shouted, ‘You lie’ at President Barack Obama. Halfway into the joint session, Obama stated as a point of clarification that his reforms would not provide undocumented individuals with health care. ‘You lie,’ Wilson yelled in the middle of Obama’ sentence while pointing a rigid finger at the President. In the wake of the event, reporters justifiably honed in on how unprecedented the outburst was. Some Republican lawmakers even censured Wilson for his lack of decorum. Still, the incident shook me in a way I’ve only recently come to understand. 


In violently interrupting the nation’s first black president, Joe Wilson gave us a glimpse into this country’s deep hatred of black progress—something that became more and more evident as time went on.As a student considering a career in public service, the ‘you lie’ moment taught me a powerful lesson: that anti-blackness and white supremacy weren’t byproducts of the American democracy but its organizing forces and that no one man, even one as brilliant and talented as Barack Obama could change that.



Richard Brookshire, Writer and Host of Reparations Podcast




Obama’s 2015 State of the Union clapback at applauding conservatives jeering the President’s declaration that he had no more political campaigns to run - always sticks out in my mind as a favorite of the Obama years. After unparalleled political hostility, birtherism, blatant racism and the constant intentional undermining of his presidential authority - President Obama dismissed once and for all claims of illegitimacy levied by Republicans in 8 words during one of the most significant addresses of his tenure  -  ‘I know ‘cos I won both of em’. Simple, decisive and cutting.


If that moment taught me anything - it’s the universality and political potency of black dialect and code-switching that made this moment so memorable. Speaking his blackness aloud in the face of white angst and disrespect was one of the defining moments of his presidency. And for one shining moment, the world basked in the art of the clapback.



Hari Ziyad, Editor-in-Chief of RaceBaitR




The most unforgettable moment of Barack Obama’s presidency for me was when he told the world he could have been Trayvon Martin. By then, I’d begun to lose whatever faith I had that any president could truly champion the struggles of black folks and make a significant dent in addressing the over four centuries of anti-blackness sanctioned by that office. 


I learned from the Trayvon moment the true and sad depths of the impossible bargain he and so many others attempt to make with whiteness. For all of his failures, I think Obama was earnest in the belief that he could work with White America on its terms and still come out with gains for black people. He gave them so many moments of centering their comfort, and believed it might gain us this one brief relenting, this one moment to feel as though someone with power to make it so believed our lives mattered. And they answered him with pitchforks and knives, and then with Trump. I think that was the first and last time I cried in pity for that man. But I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t try this bargain many times myself. And sometimes I still do. Perhaps it’s because we aren’t given many examples of folks doing anything other than that, of black people refusing this grand and futile bargain with whiteness. But if this moment, and Obama’s presidency, taught me anything, it’s that it’s about time we give those examples to ourselves.



Ifeoma Ike, Strategist, Professor & Co-creator of Black and Brown People Vote





The Obama administration will largely be seen as one that sought to advance hope for the future. But there were also key moments where hope was restored for forgotten generations. In 2010, President Obama signed what is commonly referred to as the Pickford v. Glickman bill, setting in motion a ten-year old settlement directing the United States Department of Agriculture to monetarily restore black and Native American farmers who were denied government loans and subsidies afforded to White farmers. The $1.15 billion fund did not erase the discrimination experienced, the loss of income and homes, and for most, the pain of being completely disenfranchised from the agricultural market. In fact, on average, each black farmer only received about $50,000.


What this fund signified, however, is something we in the legal community call ‘damages,’ a recognition that one ought to be compensated for loss or injury by the party that committed the harm. President Obama, with the power of the pen, simply showed the world what reparations looks like. The lesson is simple: We cannot ‘program’ or ‘policy’ our way to progress. In order for America to achieve equity, elected officials must prioritize repairing black and Native communities for their stolen labor and land, respectively. I am grateful that President Obama left an example for others to follow.



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This Artist's Dazzling Travel Journals Will Inspire Your Next Trip

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Some travelers document their trips on Instagram or Snapchat, but not Dina Brodsky. The New York City-based artist has a delightfully old school way of charting her journeys: the humble sketchbook journal.


Both abroad and at home, Brodsky layers sketches of the places she’s visited with private thoughts in long, looping handwriting. The result is a collection of exquisite journaling inspiration for travelers of any artistic ability:




Even non-artists can copy Brodsky’s method. First, find a sketchbook you love ― “After all, it’s something you’re going to be spending a lot of time with,” she told HuffPost ― and fill it with sketches of your surroundings. Color as you please with paint or pens, and add words as they come to you.


The idea isn’t to make the journal look perfect, but rather to tune in to the world around you.


“Training yourself to truly pay attention to your surroundings, whether it be your everyday life or more exotic travel locations, is a way of bringing more magic and awareness into your life,” Brodsky said. 


After seeing her results, we’re inclined to agree.



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Netflix Predicts HBO Will Soon Take A Page From Its Binging Playbook

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As Netflix smashed expectations, announcing Wednesday that it added just over 7 million subscribers in the last quarter of 2016, CEO Reed Hastings said he expects one rival might begin taking a cue from his company soon.


Noting in a letter to shareholders that the BBC is reportedly set to “go binge-first” with new seasons of certain shows, the Netflix exec said we can “presume HBO is not far behind.”


Although HBO has been in the premium TV game far longer, Netflix has been quickly catching up with buzzy shows like “Stranger Things,” “Orange Is the New Black” and a number of others, with their episodes released all at once.


“In short, it’s becoming an internet TV world,” Hastings wrote. 


Does that mean the rumored “Game of Thrones” spinoff might land online all at once? Maybe not. Cable viewers are still an important part of HBO’s business, and in that format episodes are best released one by one, week by week. And it clearly serves Netflix’s interests for its CEO to proclaim a new age of internet-friendly entertainment.


But as Netflix inches closer to 100 million subscribers across the world, traditional networks are undoubtedly paying attention.

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There's No Such Thing As 'Traditionally American' Music

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When asked this week by CNN’s Erin Burnett whether Kanye West would be performing at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration ceremony on Friday, Tom Barrack, the chairman of the presidential inauguration committee, at first offered up a response that seemed suitable enough. 


“We haven’t asked him,” Barrack said. “He’s been great. He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it’s not the venue.”






Barrack could have stopped there and moved on easily enough. But he didn’t. Instead, Barrack tacked on one more reason that West, who met with the president-elect as recently as December, had not been invited to perform.


“It’s going to be typically and traditionally American,” he said. 


The remark has since provoked swift anger online, as many people interpreted Barrack’s use of the phrase “typically and traditionally American” as little more than racially coded language meant to imply “white,” first and foremost. West, in the way Barrack speaks of him, is not just a representative of hip-hop, but a representation of something standing in opposition to a more homogenous version of America that so many white Americans want to believe existed, but never really did. 


Whatever you think of West and his music, it should not distract you from the fact that the criticism of Barrack is not only correct, but necessary. By making the remarks on CNN, the chairman of Donald Trump’s inauguration committee perpetuated a fundamental misinterpretation of the history of American music.


Simply put, “traditionally American” music doesn’t exist. And for Barrack to imply that such a thing can only be defined by white artists is for him to continue on with one of America’s actual traditions: whitewashing the contributions of African-Americans and other cultures out of American history. 


Whenever the U.S. has come close to a “traditionally American” music, it has almost always come from black America. The banjo, so closely associated with bluegrass, has its origins in West Africa. “The Entertainer” and “Maple Leaf Rag,” two of America’s most defining tunes, were created by Scott Joplin, a black man. 


Blues, rock and roll, soul and hip-hop all have their roots in black culture, not to mention gospel and R&B. Jazz, that beautifully chaotic and winding musical form, referred to by some as  America’s classical music,” is certainly not what Barrack was thinking of when he referred to “traditionally American” music. For if there has been an American musical tradition, it has been white performers popularizing and profiting from black music, from jazz to Motown, as black musicians turn and create a truly sound different once more. 



In the early 20th century, black contributions to folk music were minimized by white historians to more closely align the sound with the rural white man. Today, in the 21st century, black Americans are struggling to have their contributions to country music ― a genre often seen as just as white as folk ― recognized in much the same way.


Even some of America’s earliest popular songs weren’t American at all. “Barbara Allen,” sung during Colonial times, actually originated in England, as did the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner.” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” one of the most American-seeming songs of all time, was originally sung by the British soldiers before the Revolutionary War as a way to mock the simple-looking Americans. 


In truth, perhaps the only traditionally white American sound was so explicitly racist that few would dare associate with it today. At minstrel shows in the 19th century, Northern white people dressed up in blackface and sang songs like “Zip Coon” and “Oh Susanna” while mocking black people and black music their characters were based on. The music became popular — so much so that in a sick turn, black Americans felt compelled to eventually impersonate white Americans’ humiliating impersonations of them for a chance at success in the entertainment industry. 


The history of music in America is much like the history of America itself. It is shameful, chaotic, messy and confusing. And somehow, simultaneously, it is rich, creative, energetic and intertwined, too. It is a pot of culture, constantly melting together to create something thats fights against tradition, and, from time to time, creates something new.


But make no mistake: There is no such thing as traditional American music. And to believe there ever has been is to misinterpret what it is that makes America great. 

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