- This is who we are
- This is who we are not
- The rules
- “… truth of the matter is …”
- The Elders of the Soul Review Board
- Contact us
The following is a living document, a definition of who really is Komplicated. We welcome your suggestions and contributions to further mark our intellectual and cultural territory.
This is who we are:
- we don’t all wear glasses
- we’re Black, no matter who clowned us for how we talk, what we like or where we’re from
- we love Star Wars more than anything
- we love Star Trek more than anything
- we don’t have any feeling at all for either of the previous two franchises
- we see no reason all three of the previous things can’t be true at the same time
- we’ll get over being called “nerds”
- we have the tune to our favorite theme song playing in our head when we’re bored
- when we think “voice of authority,” we’re thinking James Earl Jones
- we’ll always love Nichelle Nichols for showing us we can make it to the future
- we miss Octavia Butler, Dwayne McDuffie and Gil Scott-Heron
- we are technical
- we felt quiet pride in Lando running a whole city, even if he did kinda play out his kinda shifty friends
- we are both prepared to and ashamed of “code-switching” to stay safe and keep the checks coming
- we can have emotional reactions, reading a comic book
- we are passionate
- we know that a lot of our audience is not Black
- we don’t care about that at all, nor does it mean we have to change what we do, what we like or how we behave
- we don’t care that wrestling is fake
- we can’t dance
- we can’t stop dancing
- we can’t sing
- we can’t stop singing
- we don’t mind how many of the previous four points happen at the same time
- we might wear a cape or other genre-themed clothing every day if we thought we could get away with it.
- we are geeks
- we are proud
This is who we are not:
- we are not covering the works of Tyler Perry, or works reminiscent of his mass market madness. Ever. Even if he’s in a Star Trek movie.
- we are not people making apologies for who we are or what we like
- we are not “the blacks” — we’re people, not shades
- we are not sellouts, even if we have money and don’t hang around the block anymore
- we are not people to pick on, because we have long memories
- we are not incapable of getting any
- we are not interested in any documentary about hair texture or skin tone that covers ground we’ve already covered — this is not our first time at the rodeo
The Rules
At Komplicated, we try to follow four simple rules for most of our non-editorial content …
- There’s no “I” in “team” — unless we’re doing a specific editorial, and we mostly would save that for the weekend webcast, we never use the first person perspective in a web piece. Makes things more professional.
- The John Holoman Rule — Our editor Hannibal Tabu worked for a paper named the Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch, and the publisher John Holoman had a rule: if they’re not actively, openly doing something detrimental to Black people in general, DON’T SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE. It’s not worth it. Black characters (David Liss, Jonathan Maberry and the travesty of T’Challa, for example) are fair game. Actual people? Nuh uh.
- The Johnny Carson Rule — if it couldn’t be said on the Tonight Show during Carson’s reign, we can’t print it. Why? That’s the money spot. We are an eyeballs-driven business. We don’t change what we do, but we can change how we say it (profanity is a crutch for the weak or the frustrated, they taught emcees when rhyming at The Good Life) and “go head switch the style up, if they hate then let ’em hate and watch the money pile up.” Alternatively called “The Cosby Rule,” except we have a late night sensibility.
- Be interesting — speaks for itself.
“… truth of the matter is …”
The following is a poem written by Komplicated co-owner and editor-in-chief Hannibal Tabu, trying to encapsulate some of the Black geek experience.
Third in line under pouring rain for latest iDevice.
Cosplaying meticulously crafted Chun Li costume,
but in red velvet instead of blue
because color works better.
Patiently giving directions to technophobic mother
who doesn’t know what street she’s on.Glancing around for best spots to hide cables,
listening to Michael Davis panels in San Diego
embarrassed
again.
Cursing at clock
determined to keep moving towards “late for work”
while one last mission keeps Playstation humming.Why are we doing this?
Meticulously organized collections
of Babylon 5 folder icons
or Vertigo trade paperbacks,
we’re Bigger Thomas invisible
in convention photo galleries,
Friends and Seinfeld populations
drifting by background scenes
so rarely we’re easy to miss.We’re still at blockbuster opening nights,
still making sure we have just the right snarky t-shirt
still secret fuel for Matrices and Mace
because possibility is often better than reality.
@tombrevoort says market isn’t interested,
Nielsen pretends we don’t exist,
beyond modern chitlin circuit cinema.
Jetsons and Flintstones say
we have no future nor any past
but we receive Nichelle Nichols hailing signals
And Lando lines from clouds
like phaser beams and @lupefiasco lasers
dancing in darkness.
Mocking laughter needs a higher THAC0
to put dirt on true Wakandan shoulders.We are, in a word, komplicated.
Dubois dreams in @donaldglover reality,
incapable of being wedged into stereotypes,
our shape defies Euclidian geometry
because we know its Imhotep root.
Outcasts amongst outcasts
listening to Outkast
hyper-text hip hop rocking like Vernon Reid.
We have to do this,
creating ourselves
in worlds that deny our existence.“Komplicated”
By Hannibal Tabu
We’re here to stay.
The Council of Elders (or The Soul Review Board)
Komplicated is overseen by a Council of Elders, Black people experienced in a variety of fields who have agreed to maintain a level of quality control over what’s done here. Among their number …
- Paradise Gray [Twitter]
Paradise Gray is a pioneering hip hop journalist (from The Source to VH1’s 30 Years of Hip Hop), photographer (two presidents, actors, sports figures and of course musicians), DJ, producer, manager, artist, curator (maintains The Paradise Collection of photos and memorabilia, last at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh, PA). He was entertainment manager and host for NYC’s legendary Latin Quarter club and helped form the Blackwatch Movement with Lumumba “Professor X” Carson, spawning X-Clan. He was also dirctor of urban music at MP3.com and currently manages artist Jasiri X. - Kevin Grevioux
An actor, screenwriter and comic book writer best known as “Raze” in the Underworld movies, producing and writing the screenplay for the first film. He’s also a Howard university graduate (BS microbiology), has studied advanced genetic engineering, created Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel for Marvel Comics and is adapting I, Frankenstein with Lakeshore Entertainment. - Marsha Mitchell Bray
Marsha Mitchell-Bray: wife, mother, community activist, journalist, writer, student and fan of Komplicated. Once upon a time, she was the Empress for Rap Pages. - Regina Davis
Semi-retired entertainment publicist following passion for metalsmithing creating one of a kind jewelry with a twist on contemporary by designing wearable works of art for www.bejeweledbygina.com. - Frank Higginbotham
With a background of more then 20 years in the music industry, Frank Higginbotham brings his promotions and marketing experience to Komplicated and clients of all sizes while volunteering for political campaigns and human rights. He resides in California with his wife and two children. - Sonya Donaldson
Tech Editor & Writer. Ph.D. Candidate in English @UVA. Writing on Afro-Germans, Black Diaspora, Technology, and the Black Press in the 20th Century. - Pam Noles [Twitter]
Pam Noles is a former cop reporter. Do not ever ask her why Grendel should have kicked Batman’s ass during that crossover unless you have a lot of time on your hands. - David Walker [Twitter]
David Walker is a journalist, filmmaker and writer. He is so bad, he should be in detention.
Contact Us
Something to say? Say it here.
[Source: Poem by Hannibal Tabu, image courtesy of Cory Thomas]