In Spring of ’18, I produced a book club in order to promote Phillip Rodriguez’ PBS documentary on Oscar Zeta Acosta, The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo.
I’d encountered the gutsy and bellicose Acosta as an undergrad at #Oxy some 20 years ago, when my budding identity politics were rooted in a white, American, non-denominational evangelical, pseudo neo-Platonism that regarded racial identity not only as non-essential but as a spiritual encumbrance.
So, besides reading his Autobiography of The Brown Buffalo and Revolt of the Cockroach People for class, I really didn’t fux with it. I wasn’t ready.
Later (that’s another story), I’d come to embrace my brown identity and articulate my version of the brown experience through writing poetry, music, TV, comedy and documentary content.
For this project, I wanted to include several types of voices in the discussion. Off-top, I wanted to make sure there were strong female voices. That’s one reason why I invited poet Yesika Salgado and hip hop artist Reverie to participate. Their work pulls no punches. I was excited for my kids, especially Maya to meet them–even if their content is still out of her frame of reference. I also wanted to include a modern day embodiment of someone big and brown and down, which is why I invited the homie and actor Anthony Citric Campos to participate.
More from that discussion:
If you’re a student, fan or follower of Acosta’s thinking, be sure to follow the documentary’s social accounts for supplemental content.