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Mike Barnet of Brmrtn Blk Mkt Creates Hub of Black Community
Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich

Mike Barnet of Brmrtn Blk Mkt Creates Hub of Black Community

I had the pleasure of attending an event called Brmrtn Blk Mkt (Bremerton Black Market). It took place in Downtown Bremerton’s Quincy Square and per the website was “an open-air market celebration in Quincy Square of Black-led businesses, food vendors, doubledutch performances and live entertainment!” This free market allowed me to engage with and support my cultural community and I left, purchase-laden, feeling invigorated and refilled. 

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‘Sinners’ in the LGBTQIA+ Lens, Part 3: Agency
Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich and Parker Dean Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich and Parker Dean

‘Sinners’ in the LGBTQIA+ Lens, Part 3: Agency

Sinners continuously highlights the power and danger in refusal. This is an underrated technique that women, marginalized races, the Queer and Trans community, and anyone else that the world actively rejects have to learn if they expect to survive—when all options have been systemically stripped from you. 

When your voice is not only ignored, but silenced… There is power in saying “No.”

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‘Sinners’ in the LGBTQIA+ Lens, Part 1: The Grift
Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich and Parker Dean Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich and Parker Dean

‘Sinners’ in the LGBTQIA+ Lens, Part 1: The Grift

Grifting, originally used to describe someone who swindles others, is now colloquially used to describe someone whose political, spiritual, or cultural views have shifted outwardly to appease those in power, even if they do not truly believe in those views. Often, these people are left-leaning to start, and ‘grift’ to right-wing political views as a way to gain favor with the current right-wing politicians in power. A grifter is usually someone who has positioned themselves as a strong voice in their community, as an activist, a social media icon, or some other persuasive voice.

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‘Sinners’ in the LGBTQIA+ Lens: Introduction
Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich and Parker Dean Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich and Parker Dean

‘Sinners’ in the LGBTQIA+ Lens: Introduction

 Setting a record with 16 Oscar nominations, Sinners proves that there’s a reason why everyone is still talking about the film. In the current sociopolitical climate, only a year later, many deeply entrenched systemic inequities highlighted in the film are being exposed as foundational U.S. beliefs merely receded, biding their time in the shadows until they felt welcome again. But despite what conservative influencers and pundits would have you believe, the hate that they justify is neither superior, nor even the majority-held value system in this country. 

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Dark and Tender: Healing Black Men with The CUT Project
Reviews, Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich Reviews, Points of View Raegan Ballard-Gennrich

Dark and Tender: Healing Black Men with The CUT Project

Aaron Johnson (he/him) is on a mission, the type of undertaking that comes to you through lived experiences. Ben Wilson (he/him), the producer of and participant in the short film Dark and Tender, invited me to attend the film’s screening at the Seattle Black Film Festival. The film, which aims to be a larger documentary, tells the story of the CUT Project.

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