The dap, the fist bump, the black power handshake. It goes by many names and carries many meanings. Photographer LaMont Hamilton is devoting his research fellowship with us to unearthing stories about the dap for his project Five on the Black Hand Side.

Such events, combined with the racism and segregation faced by black G.I.s, created a pressing need for an act and symbol of unity. The dap, an acronym for “dignity and pride” whose movements translate to “I’m not above you, you’re not above me, we’re side by side, we’re together,” provided just this symbol of solidarity and served as a substitute for the Black Power salute prohibited by the military.

Allen Jones

Secretary

You’re All Using The Term ‘Throwing Shade’ Wrong and Need to Stop Immediately

"The limits of my language," wrote Ludwig Wittgenstein in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, ”means the limits of my world.” I was exposed to this quote as a freshman in college, and I understood immediately what it meant: words, phrases, and idioms have very, very particular meanings. Every construction we employ in our daily conversations has a whole body of history behind it, and that history defines how we use different phrases and aphorisms, what they mean, and what they might mean to us in the future. I cite my single experience with Wittgenstein for only one reason, really (well, two, if you count wanting to sound like an insufferably pretentious asshole, which I do): to justify why I’m so put off by how people use the term ‘throwing shade’ online.

(above: usage of ‘throw shade’ and ‘throwing shade’ on Twitter in the past four weeks) 'Throwing shade,' as defined by the authoritative online repository for modern language of the Internet age (the Urban Dictionary), seems like a relatively straight-forward term: “to talk trash about a friend or acquaintance, to publicly denounce or disrespect,” or, more colloquially, “to hate on someone for acting a fool.” The phrase has been in use since at least the early 1980s, but the term has only really enjoyed a serious revival in the past year, peaking two weeks ago with the Gawker article “Watch Michelle Obama Throw World-Historical Shade at John Boehner" which captures Michelle Obama flashing a stink-eye at Speaker Boehner on Inauguration Day

(above: search volume on Google for ‘throwing shade,’ January 2008 through January 2013)

Many commenters noted that the use of the term was incorrect:

While it is a lively term “throwing shade” is not appropriate here. In this instance Michelle is definitely interacting with an Enemy whom she chooses to ignore with prejudice because she is classy and wonderful and because John Boehner is not worth the energy it takes to turn one’s head. John Boehner is the Enemy of All the Free People of Middle Earth and Michelle has no other recourse than to ignore his Necromancerty.

Throwing shade is a perfectly wonderful term of gay-vogue era that Gawker keeps desperately trying to revive with honorable intentions but incorrect usage

My Twitter feed is now full of people who didn’t read into the comments field (pro tip: always read the comments), have no idea what the term means, and use it interchangeably with ‘shit-talk’ or ‘hate on.’ But, as my gay and lesbian friends have pointed out to me, the proper use of the ‘throwing shade’ requires a bit more understanding. 

The origins of the term ‘throwing shade’ can be traced to LGBT ball culture in the 1980s. One of the earliest explanations of the phrase appears in Paris Is Burning, a 1990 documentary by Jennie Livingston that chronicles New York City ball culture during mid-to-late 1980s and the African America, latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it. Drag queen Dorian Corey explains the evolution of the term: 

"If I’m a black queen, and you’re a black queen, we can’t call each other black queens. That’s not a read that is just a fact. So we talk about your ridiculous shape, your saggy face, your tacky clothes. then reading became a developed form where it became shade. Shade is, ‘I don’t tell you you’re ugly, but I don’t have to tell you because you know you’re ugly.’ And that’s shade."

'Throwing shade,' then, is significantly more nuanced than conventional, aggressive shit-talking. Desson Howe was careful to draw out this distinction in his 1991 review of Paris is Burning for The Washington Post

Corey explains other voguing terminology, such as “reading” and “throwing shade.” To read is to insult imaginatively — in opposition to the blunt gay-bashing taunts of the straight world. Reading is gay-to-gay sparring. Thus, when two black queens call each other “black queen,” says Corey, “that’s not a read, that’s just a fact.”

Throwing shade is reading at a refined level; it’s the curve to the pitch. If someone says they won’t call you ugly because you already know, well, you just got thrown a shade. When enmity reaches fever point and pride is involved, it’s time for voguing. This is direct competition, when contenders take their fight to the ball floor: the equivalent of jousting, dueling or stepping outside the bar.

You’ll notice that throwing shade is defined in opposition to the directness and cruelty of gay-bashing. It’s more artfully executed, more dependent on constructing a veiled (or not-so-veiled) insult rather than relying on obvious crudities and innuendo. Throwing shade requires wielding your words like a rapier rather than a cudgel. So why the sudden resurgence? The second coming of ‘throwing shade’ is likely rooted in the mainstreaming of gay culture, but its widespread usage is more easily tied to the popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The show, featuring renowned drag queen RuPaul, premiered on Logo in February 2009, coinciding almost perfectly with an uptick in Google searches for ‘throwing shade’ (as noted above). But despite the show’s popularity, most outlets continue to conflate throwing shade with the basic act of shit-talking (as MSNBC did after Michelle Obama’s now-infamous eye-roll). Even The Daily Beast, in a fucking post describing the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Dictionary’ in 2011, oversimplified the term:

throwing shade (v.): the art of insulting (see also read)

Example: “Oh, honey. I need to duck and cover because you all bitches be throwing beaucoup shade.”—RuPaul in Season 2

Sarah Lewis, author of the indispensable The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, in conversation with Anna Deavere Smith at the New York Public Library. 

For more of Lewis’s insights on the difference between success and mastery, read this.

I don’t have a holistic view on this complicated subject. What I can offer are some fragmented thoughts —some of these points may be gross oversimplifications or contradictory because again, as I have said, I have yet to come up with an all encompassing or nuanced opinion.

— You cannot compare an internship in most cases to a traditional Mentor-Apprentice model where an apprentice trains and develops skill under the watchful eyes of a Master, as similar as they seem.

— The traditional Mentor-Apprentice model has its merits and has repeatedly proven itself in the history of Craft. This model is not dependent on capitalism.

— The internship model differs from the Mentor-Apprentice in a few ways, most importantly its existence is a direct consequence of capitalism. 

— In the general sense, an internship exists to fill in the gaps left uncovered from the modern art education. 90% of the gaps are products of capitalism—the do’s and don’ts of client relations, optimized workflows, adjusting an office environment, etc.

— Most, if not, all internships do not live up to the requirements or the spirit of a Mentor-Apprentice model which require extreme dedication from both parties and an intimacy level rarely achieved in a studio or agency environment.

—It is because of this that many internships end up become cheap labor.

— The education in internships is largely split into two main categories: indirect learning, and commanded learning.

— An example of Indirect Learning: The intern learns about a few Photoshop shortcuts while observing a junior designer at work.

— Commanded Learning: The intern learns about how to print out a PDF and display it properly on foam boards at the studio because it is their standard practice and a presentation is coming up. The intern has been told to do this because the job needs to be done.

— I am fine with engaging in market values and capitalism but I believe that appealing to a young student’s hunger and passion as an excuse to exploit them is unethical.

— I believe an overt awareness that an internship is part of capitalism helps in separating reality from the false idea that an internship is an inherent rite of passage because all too often it excuses exploitation.

— I have done many things for free because the compensations and benefits of the project outside of the financial were deemed worthy. But that is a personal decision and one I evaluate on a per-project-basis. A business entity cannot make you come to that conclusion and implying that it is a dangerous grey area.

— Internships can hurt mobility especially to students of color and those from low-income backgrounds.

— The practice of keeping long-term interns (over 6 months) makes it harder to justify the existence of entry-level salaried jobs. Furthermore, there is a rising trend of graduates completing 3 or more internships after school before finding employment because the role and responsibilities of interns have grown faster than the traditional agency model.

— Unpaid internships contribute to structural unemployment and recessions as much as they are caused by them. “An increased supply of free labor tends to displace full-time workers and increase unemployment, which contributes to worsening economic conditions and failing to reach one of the macroeconomic goals of full employment.” (Source)

— Unless college credit can be obtained, I will personally not take on any interns until I can afford to provide that person an admittedly less than glamorous, but ultimately livable wage. I would instead, contract that student as a freelancer.

— If we must accept the notion that internship is an inherent part of a design practice then we can only conclude that the main benefactor should the student and not the studio. This thought should be the driving force behind each decision from the studio. Who is really benefitting from asking the intern to stay late tonight to finish a job?

“The passage into mystery always refreshes. If, when we work, we can look once a day upon the face of mystery, then our labor satisfies. We are lightened when our gifts rise from pools we cannot fathom. Then we know they are not a solitary egotism and they are inexhaustible.”

—Lewis Hyde, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World, (Vintage Books, New York, 2007) p. 25