Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Mold art, flying motorcycles, anthropomorphic canines and more from around the web

Lizzo Traces Twerking’s Black History + How it Became a Spiritual Practice In her first TED Talk, three-time Grammy-winner Lizzo traces the history of twerking to a West African dance called mapouka, traditionally performed by women to celebrate joy, marriage or as religious worship. When it was transported to American by Black women during the transatlantic slave trade, its ties to Black culture were erased …

Lizzo Traces Twerking’s Black History + How it Became a Spiritual Practice

In her first TED Talk, three-time Grammy-winner Lizzo traces the history of twerking to a West African dance called mapouka, traditionally performed by women to celebrate joy, marriage or as religious worship. When it was transported to America by Black women during the transatlantic slave trade, its ties to Black culture were erased and co-opted. But in Black communities around the US, big butts continued …

NYC’s Surf Collective Diversifies The Waves In Far Rockaway

Laru Beya Collective is a non-profit organization offering free surf lessons and water safety education to Black and Brown communities in NYC’s Queens borough. At Rockaway Beach, “environmental racism prevents access and comfortability: from lack of protection from lifeguards to poor beach maintenance, not to mention a stark wealth inequality along the channel.” This, coupled with a generational fear of water apparent in Black communities, makes …