What does Black History Month Mean to You?

     I lived in Australia for several years. My time there allowed me a taste of what it's like to not have a Black History month. To be perfectly honest, I forgot all about it.
In Australia, The Civil War, The Civil Rights Movement, and even Obama becoming the first Black President isn't "black history," it's all part of America's history. I look forward to the day when "Black History" is told and taught along with everyone else's history in America.

The presence of a "Black History Month" or any other  "Minority History Month" means that there is still an "us and them" type mentality in this country; so much so that minorities need their own history separate from the rest of America's History. 
This isn't as negative as it sounds, though. It also means that America as a nation agrees that minority contributions to America's history are important enough that  at least a month's recognition of them annually is necessary. 

That said, here's my final question for this year's Black History Month:

"What does Black History Month mean to you?"

Here is what some of them had to say:

Black History Month 2013: Role Models?

A cast of diverse characters allows for a diverse audience to have the opportunity to relate with any of those characters. Factors like the character's appearance and/or their situation or circumstances are among the most popular reasons someone would relate with a particular character.

This week's question is:

"What black toon do you most identify with?"

When I asked this weeks question, I couldn't help but think about how I'd answer. I struggled to settle on one. I have always been obsessed with the elements, so I've "identified" with most characters with elemental powers , regardless of their race. My lightning fetish would lead most to think that toons like Storm or Black Lightning would be an obvious choice, but in reality the toon I sincerely identify most with would be Foxy Love from Drawn Together. 
I can totally identify with how ghetto fabulous and slutty she can be! Haha!

Here's how some other black creatives answered the question...

Black History Month 2013: STEREOTYPES - The Good, The Bad, The Truth?

I once had a conversation with an Asian friend (who has a big dick) about stereotypes and asked him, "Which do you think is worse- being black and having a small penis or being Asian with a big dick?" 
The black man with a small penis will never live up to the expectations society has put on him and the Asian with a big dick will always have to prove it.

Regardless how false or exaggerated stereotypes may be, they exist for one reason or another. Some work in our favor, some do not.  I, myself, measure up to many of them and yet I'm still surprised when people are shocked that I don't really care for watermelon or fried chicken or that I can swim. 

This week's questions were:

What 3 stereotypes about blacks are actually true about you? 

and

What  stereotype about blacks is the most false about you?

Here is what some of the Erotic Arts black creatives had to say...

Happy Belated Presidents Day

Well I had planned a big presidential blog celebration for this years Presidents Day, but due to technical issues, I am now 2 weeks behind on blog post.

I will reserve the planned celebration for next year's President's Day and just share the caricature I had planned. 

4 years ago, when I first started this blog, I did a toon of President Obama. 
At the time, I was just getting back into illustrating and learning how to color digitally.
You can see how far I've come by comparing this one with my first attempt.

UPDATE: What's The Hold Up?!

Hey Everyone,

I've been having some computer problems. I think the worst has been resolved and I will resume regular posting shortly.


-Jezza

Supporting Our Cheerleader, The Dinosaur Prince

   

  A little over two years ago when my dad died, you guys sent messages and emails full of love and support. I can not and will never be able to express how much that helped me through one of the most painful times of my life. 
Yesterday The Dinosaur Prince unexpectedly lost his father. The Dinosaur Prince has been a huge support to erotic artist through patronage and promotion. I am posting this today in hope that you will rally around him and support him with the same love that you showed me when I went through such a devastating time. 
In times like these, it's not easy to know what to say. When I went through it, I did not know what I wanted to hear, but anything positive was helpful to get through each day of pain.
Please take a minute to contact The Dinosaur Prince and give him any words of support or wisdom that you can offer. You can email him here.

       Because I don't want this post to get overlooked, I will postpone my scheduled postings for today till tomorrow. 

Boy Meets Hero - 20 years of Love and Art

In 4 years of JezzLoads, you've never seen a Valentine's Day post. I personally feel Valentine's Day has to be the most redundant of holidays. People who are in love know they're in love and don't need a holiday to remind them. And if they did, they have birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas - come to think of it; most holidays are designated as a time to remind loved ones you love them. Valentine's Day appears to be a big commerical ploy to get everyone to spend money and is used too often as a means to make single people feel bad about being single. 

That said and out of my system, this Valentine's Day serves as the perfect occasion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the boys behind Boy Meets Hero. 

The creators of Boy Meets Hero, Chayne Avery and Russell Garcia, both recently celebrated their 40th birthdays and next month will be celebrating their 20th Anniversary.

I have to say, I have a hard time imagining being with anyone for 20 years, but seeing these two guys interact with each other certainly inspires me to try. 
I have the privilege of hanging out with these guys regularly. They are a team; both romantically and professionally. They're not one of those annoying TV couples that finish each other's sentences or always bicker. Instead, they interact like best friends - an interaction that is more romantic than any of the hollywood interpretations I've ever seen. 
I had to know, how do they make it work?! Here's what the two had to say when I questioned them separately...

A JezzLoads Valentine Bonus: Interviews with 3 Creative Couples Who Make Love Last Easily

I was so amped up from the Boy Meets Hero interview that I sent a few of the same questions  to some other Creative couples that have been together 10 years or more.

Artist, Choklit Daddy (right), and his husband,Greg, met at a Glee Club audition at UCLA in 1975. They have been together almost 37 years and are legally married.

Will O. Tyler of Carabosse Comics (right) and his partner, David, met on the Metro in Washington, D.C. and have been together 12 years as registered domestic partners.

Everyone should have someone they can be silly with.

Patrick Fillion (left) and Robert Fraser of Class Comics were introduced through a straight friend of Fraser's. Last year they celebrated their 10th anniversary by getting married.

Here's how they separately answered some of the questions I asked them...

Black History Month Spotlight: Dr. Ravi Prince and Paris Prince

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Valentine's Day is tomorrow. So I'm spotlighting the couple, Dr. Ravi Perry and Paris Prince, who were part of history last year when JET Magazine profiled their wedding in their popular "Weddings" section.

When it comes to the topic of gay marriage, the African American community has been slower than the rest of America to change their attitude about the issue. According to a Pew Research Poll from October 2011, 62% of black protestants oppose same-sex marriage. 
Isn't that crazy?! Blacks more than anyone in this country should be more empathetic to the concept of equal rights for all. 

I'm not gonna dwell, though. We are progressing. With the President's supportive stance on same-sex marriage,  Black organizations like the NAACP have progressed to a more supportive role in favor of gay marriage while more current surveys are showing an increase in the number of blacks in support of gay marriage.

So, back to Dr. Ravi Perry and Paris Prince. As JET Magazine's first gay male couple to be celebrated, they've give a face to homosexuality in the black community. By doing so, they've inspired other black gay couples to stand openly and proud while dispelling or at least putting in perspective the destructive stereotypes of black men on the DL.

JezzLoads Q&A with LUCKY SANFORD

Valentine's day is approaching and this month's featured Creative is single. So, you'll excuse his Grindr-esque profile card. :P 
Seriously though, I learned of Lucky Sanford when we were both featured in Class Comic's Halloween special, Meaty #3. His work reveals a style that includes all of my favorite elements - cartoony, sexy, and colorful. 
Here's what I learned when I got to know him better...

Black History Month Spotlight: Ru Paul

Some of the greatest achievements in progression for any oppressed group have come from the powerful influences of music, humor, and art. Entertainers have a way of challenging their audience's perspectives and presenting relatable situations. Ru Paul is one such entertainer.

RU PAUL:

Ru Paul has earned a great deal of respect from me. There are more than enough challenges in America for black gays. To embrace femininity in such an extreme way while attacking those same challenges takes balls! 

Prior to Ru Paul's Drag Race, I didn't understand drag and often dismissed it as silly or unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, I would watch a drag show and be grateful for the entertainment, but I shared the same appreciation for clowns at the circus.

During the first season of his show, I found myself in awe and inspired by the artistry involved with doing drag. Around this same time, a few friends of mine "came out" to me as drag queens. I was initially shocked and a little disappointed that they felt like that was something they couldn't share with me. As often as I used to preach about how hateful and segregating the gay community can be, I learned I was displaying some of those same traits when ever I changed the subject or dismissed anything to do with drag queens. 

Through his music, Ru Paul promotes positive and encouraging messages about empowerment and unity. With every season of Ru Paul's Drag Race, Ru introduces to the world to a crew of gays that don't always fit into the "comfortable" categories of gays that the world or even fellow gays are used to. Ru Paul has been a major player in giving gays a common place in any community. 

JezzLoad Quickie: How does being black influence your art - or does it?

  

This year, as part of my blog celebration of Black History Month, I surveyed a variety of black creatives with an assortment of questions. I will be sharing what they had to say through out the month.

This week's question:

How does being black influence your art - or does it?

It's obvious that it influences my work, but not as heavily as you might think. 
When I made the commitment to become an erotic artist, I had a goal to showcase underdogs. I say underdogs because as a general category, I used the groups that tend to get dismissed more often on the online dating/hook up sites. You know - the groups covered in the "No Blacks, No Asians, No Fats, No Fems, and no one older than..." clause.

Here's how some other creatives answered today's question:

Black History Month 2013: Changing The World Through Art, Comedy, and Porn

Today's Black History Month spotlights are on 3 Afro-Americans that made it easier for blacks to mainstream in art, comedy, and porn.

Augusta  Savage:
(No - there isn't any sound to this video, but it's a lot more informative than the alternatives)



As one of the leading artist of the Harlem Renaissance,  Augusta Savage's accomplishments were many. Through a lifetime of struggling, she remained an activist for equality while becoming a renowned sculptor and art teacher which would lead to her establishment of the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts. She helped countless young African American artist and was a key player in founding the Harlem Artist's Guild. It is because of people like Augusta Savage that there would be a a Civil Rights Movement in 40 years and in 90 years black artist, like myself, would be able to create and share our work with a greater audience.
Read more about her here.

Dick Gregory:


Dick Gregory pioneered the way for black comedians and has been a huge influence on breaking barriers between race while using his comedy to voice political messages on civil rights. Dick Gregory paved the way for African American greats like Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and President Barack Obama - Yup! President Barack Obama. Gregory has been such a zealous activist, he had the balls to attempt to run for president in 1968.
Read more about him here. 


Jack Simmons:

Sean Michaels is regarded as the first African American porn "SuperStar." Try searching for the first gay porn super star and you'll end up with a bunch of open ends ...no pun intended. Seriously though, out of all of the awards given and titles handed out, it isn't clear who was the first gay black super star. So I started looking more closely at the awards given out.  Jack Simmons aka Buck Stradlin, stood out among the more mainstream porn stars. 

Jack started out in 1995 as Buck Stadlin and changed his name in honor of one of his predecessors, Joe Simmons. Jack is regarded as the first African-American to work for major studios, including Falcon, Titan, and All Worlds. 

Mainstreaming has been a controversial task for black porn stars. While it isn't easy to get work with major studios, black and latino audiences appear to shun those that do and accuse them of being sellouts. I, personally, don't feel that way, which is why I'm spotlighting Jack today. It is because of stars like Jack Simmons and Race Cooper, blacks don't have to play stereotypical roles like prison inmates and thugs all the time. They destroy the taboo of interracial mingling and portray us as people and not forbidden objects. 

Black History Month 2013 Kick-Off

History of Black History Month:

     This is an erotic art blog. So, I'm sure you didn't come to this page looking for history lessons; unless it had something to do with sex or art maybe. Well, this Black History Month I'd like to focus on the contributions of those who have influenced just that - sex and/or art.

Black History Month was very repetitive for me growing up. Every February, we learned about the same people: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, etc. While I mean no disrespect to any of these figures who played extremely important roles in what  made it possible for me to even be writing this right now, there are a lot of great people who get left out or over looked while we receive repetitious reminders of the amazing contributions from the same people. 

Before I get to those who have more direct (or current) influences on things more geek, gay, or porn, here are a couple of African Americans who need to be recognized more often.

February 2013

Nothing says "I love you" like flowers and chocolate! 
Happy February, Everybody!

Here's this months Birthday Creatives:
Class Comics and DNA magazine's Leon De Leon will be 28 on the 7th
Writer, Justin Hall, turns 42 on Valentine's day (the 14th)
and blogger, Viktor Kerney aka Wonderman, will be 39 on the 16th

Ok. I have a got a MONTH of goodies in store for you! 

I interviewed some of the hottest talent among African-Americans in the erotic and/or geeky arts with questions about Black History Month. I will be posting their responses weekly in what I will be calling JezzLoad Quickies. 
I'll be sharing some experimental art pieces and fan art as well in celebration of the occasion.

I also have a Valentine's Day special in the works for you that you won't wanna miss.

AND - I have a JezzLoad interview with this month's spotlight creative, Lucky Sanford!

I'm packin a lot in a tight little...month. 
It's gonna be great and you're gonna love it.
Have a great February, Folks!
-Jezza

BUYAKASHA!!!

I LOVE the new TNMT on nickelodeon! I LOVE IT!
This is the first incarnation of the series that I actually love ALL of the Turtles. Mikey has always been my favorite and remains so, but I greatly appreciate the exaggeration of each of their personalities in the new series. Donatello is adorably nerdy. Leo is a lot less uptight and more relatable; plus I love that he's a total fanboy! Raphael was always my least favorite until now. He's not just hotheaded, he's funny and we see his softer sides a lot more often. Even Master Splinter is more entertaining with a smart-ass wit. 
This cartoon makes me feel like a kid again, so I had to whip out some fan art. 

For those of you who were expecting or hoping for something with a lot more dick - I did ask for suggestions. :)