Steven Hale
1 min readJun 16, 2021

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Here's an example of the complexity of diversity (not necessarily representative of all cases):

In 2015, the Euro (i.e. White) Brazilian singer Clarice Falcao released a cover of Destiny's Child's "Survivor." Falcao used clips of women of various ethnicities (some Afro-Caribbean, e.g.).On Falcao's YouTube site, an Afro-Caribbean feminist reproached Falcao (as a White woman / feminist) for exploiting Black feminism.

A number of Falcao's fans attacked the Black feminist for her condemnation of their idol.

But Falcao herself joined in the fray to ask her supporters to consider the validity of the objection to her video (i.e. she defended the validity of the critique of her work).

Every artist steals from previous artists.

But if we can see the "appropriation" as an invitation to examine perspectives and legacies, and if we can do so honestly and (as much as possible) objectively, then borrowings can become a window into a fuller appreciation of our common humanity and the individuality of our identities as humans.

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Steven Hale
Steven Hale

Written by Steven Hale

Music: Discovering the lost and forgotten. Politics: Exposing injustice. Screenwriting: Emotional storytelling.

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