It's Akilah, Obviously!

Let me preface this commentary by stating that I have the utmost respect for Issa Rae and the entire ABG crew. I’ve been a fan for years, and maybe that’s the reason why this bothered me so much…

So I saw that Issa Rae posted on her tumblr about having people RSVP for a free advanced screening of the first episode of the new season of Awkward Black Girl. I was super excited and immediately sent in my RSVP. For those who don’t know RSVP stands for Répondez s’il vous plaît or “please respond/reply.” It is used to reserve a spot.

I got a confirmation email that said my RSVP had been received for me and a guest, but to note that it would not guarantee me a spot. I acknowledged this, but figured that since I was going alone anyway this would not be a big deal.

I get there at 6:30, and there’s already a HUGE LINE. Like enormous. I even saw Issa Rae sneaking in a side door, and was just getting super excited. I made friends in line, and figured that this would be a really good event all around.

After standing in the heat and humidity (for some reason no one thought to wrap the line indoors) for 2 hours, I was starting to get discouraged. We’d barely moved at all, and the event was set to start a half hour earlier. Something was amiss.

Fast forward to someone who works for the theater cutting off the line 30 people in front of me because the theatre was at capacity. It was officially a wrap.

There were many alternatives to this situation that could have made this experience better for the 200 people who stood in line for 2 hours who didn’t see even a minute of the web series:

(1) They could all not have jobs and therefore get there way earlier to get in line, thus making a different group of 200 not get in

(2) The event planner could have cut off the RSVP list if it didn’t mean anything anyway. At 225, tell people it was at capacity and stop getting their hopes up.

(3) Someone in her camp could count heads at the event and tell people they could go home because they couldn’t find a way to make it work.

(4) It’s a 10-20 minute premiere, maybe use another theater (hint, it was totally dead there aside from this), to show the episode right afterwards. This required about 40 steps and someone to rewind the film.

(5) Anything at all.

I’m not even mad anymore, but I am surprised by the lack of logic or problem-solving skill executed at this event. You had a free event in Harlem, what did you think the turn-out would be? I have a lot on my plate right now, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who lost 2 productive hours of life waiting for something that never happened. And why couldn’t someone from her camp come and apologize? Why send someone who works at the theater as a scapegoat?

Like I said, I enjoy ABG and I will watch the premiere and rest of the season online, but the display was absolutely pitiful last night, and supremely unprofessional from a group that has so much funding and support. It could have gone off without a hitch.

As I’m sure you all know (since I’ve beat this dead horse to the point of it coming back as a zombie now…), I moved to New York about 6 weeks ago. One thing I had been ultimately unsure about was if I’d have to absentee vote again this year (I was in Disney World during the presidential election of 2008) or if I’d have to get a New York State ID to be able to vote here. I was clueless until Chescaleigh posted on her blog about hosting a voter’s registration event for the Andrew Goodman Foundation.

For those of you who don’t know, I am an avid YouTuber hoping to start making videos full time in the near future. Of course I adore Chescaleigh! Her videos are great, and she seems to have a level head on her shoulders. What’s more, she was hosting an event that I needed to attend, in an area of town I hadn’t yet explored (Greenwich Village is so my style), about an organization that I much admire.

The Andrew Goodman Foundation aims to help disenfranchised groups register to vote, and to educate them on policies and procedures that may hinder their ability to vote on election day. Andrew Goodman himself was fighting for that cause in the 60s when he was kidnapped and murdered by the KKK. The event’s purpose was to not only register unregistered voters, but also to inform them about current voter laws being proposed across the US.

So I met Chescaleigh, and she was bubbly and adorable (and tall, I didn’t think she’d be tall), and she gave me super advice for starting improv courses at Upright Citizens Brigade. Maybe if I’m lucky we can work on a sketch together. Hint hint hint. (I really hope she reads the tag “chescaleigh” on here…)

Unless you live under a rock don’t follow me on Twitter and my other Tumblr accounts, I’ve announced that I’m going to be doing daily videos Sunday-Thursday during the month of May!

The most obvious reason I wanted to do this was that more content = more viewers = hopefully more subscribers = more ideas for content.

But more importantly, I’m doing this as a challenge to myself. I want to finish one of these month long meme type challenges darn it! 

Anywho, wish me luck, and don’t forget to comment and subscribe!