Keef’s outlook changes when cops-racially profiling him as a local mugger-mistakenly tackle him to the ground. Both OJ and MJ remained apolitical for fear that such heady subjects would tarnish their brand. Docuseries like “OJ Simpson: Made in America” and “The Last Dance” provide sports examples of the phenomena. ![]() ![]() The former sometimes offers a quicker path to wealth. When navigating white America, Black creatives must either suppress or express their racial politics. I like to keep it light.” Keef would rather save his energy for Golden Con, the event where Bloom & Hill will announce his syndication, than rock the boat. For instance, when approached by Ayana ( Sasheer Zamata, a series highlight), the assertive activist-editor of the local San Francisco newspaper The Bay Arean, to create drawings imbued with social commentary, Keef declines. Though none of these characteristics decide Blackness, politically, Keef is untethered from his culture. Walking around in a Dead Kennedys t-shirt and a flat cap, with a satchel bag across his shoulder, he’s a non-threatening hipster. ![]() To most white people-especially his agents at Bloom and Hill syndication-Keef isn’t Black. While the eight-episode Hulu series “Woke” satirizes the definitions of Blackness and artistic integrity, its inert discussions lead to few laughs. Most of all, he grapples with his perceptions of Blackness in a gentrified San Francisco. He works through a mental health crisis and wonders aloud what his art should say, even while he’s afraid to say anything of note. He loses his syndication deal and his inspiration.
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