Critical Hits and Misses #5: July 16, 2016



Two powerful pieces about Black Lives Matter, fear, hurt—and Pokemón GO:
Pokémon GO and Choosing the Blackest Joy by Lauren Bullock and Warning: Pokemon GO is a Death Sentence if You Are a Black Man by Omari Akil. (Tova, Dominik)


And another piece about how Pokémon GO is creating a barrier for gamers with disabilities (by Selena Larson)—and a potential solution in Pokemon STAY: Playing Pokemon GO From Home by A.J. Ryan. Another solution I found on Tumblr: e-mailing Niantic (the game developers) with proof of disability (which is something that you shouldn’t have to prove, to be honest) and they will change the settings of your game so the Pokemon will come to you. (Dominik)

And here’s a cute and analogue way to play Pokémon GO: Pipkemon Go by Philippa Warr. (Dominik)


Not new but definitely relevant: this article on NPR's Code Switch explains how TV shows can play a crucial role in reducing prejudice and improving empathy towards minorities and people different from oneself. The author starts from his own childhood as an Indian kid watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and then goes on to describe different examples of media and psychology research on the connections between pop culture representation and real world attitudes. (Tova)


"We're going to stand up as a community and fight against anyone who believes that murder or any violent action taken by those who are sworn to protect us should consistently go unpunished." On Beyoncé’s website, she urges people to contact local politicians and legislators about police killings in the US. (Tova)


A friendly reminder that there’s not a single black female writer at Marvel.(Tova)
If you still haven’t seen it, go watch or read Jesse Williams’ acceptance speech from the BET awards. (Tova)