Congressional check-in, being Blaxican, and Colorism

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The 2016 Congressional election, an exhibition on what it means to be Black and Mexican, Zoe Saldana's casting as Nina Simone leads to a debate about 'colorism'.

Congressional check-in, being Blaxican, and Colorism

The 2016 Congressional election, an exhibition on what it means to be Black and Mexican, Zoe Saldana's casting as Nina Simone leads to a debate about 'colorism'.

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The 2016 Congressional election, an exhibition on what it means to be Black and Mexican, Zoe Saldana's casting as Nina Simone leads to a debate about 'colorism'.

Rep. Becerra on Flint, Exide clean-up and more

California Congressman Xavier Becerra will take part of a delegation to tour Flint, Michigan, to survey how lead-tainted water has affected the community.

Becerra joins Take Two for a preview of his visit and how to help those in Southern California looking for help to deal with their own local environmental crises.

Environmental contamination in LA

Here in Southern California, we've had our own share of environmental contamination.

Such incidents affect people of all ages but can often take an especially tough toll on kids.

Here to speak about the effects is Southern California Public Radio's Early Childhood correspondent, Deepa Fernandes. 
 

Highlights:

Residents in Flint are upset, they're scared... What exactly do we know about effects of lead on young children?

Damage done by lead is permanent and cannot be reversed. Lead does cycle out of the body, so child might have had it but after a period it is not detectible, but the health impacts can be life-long. Some say you can test baby teeth as lead will live here, but experts I talked to warned against this as a highly unreliable method, one expert even said there are shoddy operators who will charge a lot and say they can test for this but get unreliable results. For a parent who just wants an answer to why maybe their child is acting a certain way, you might just pay that money. 

Here in Southern California, where is lead poisoning the worst?

South LA & East LA. Zipcode 90011 is the worst, sits tucked between where the 110 meets the 10. 
Kids actually getting tested is the problem. Officials worry it may be much higher, but they just don't know bc in these communities there are a lot of kids who get very little healthcare. 

Hasn't it been a public health priority for years now to stamp this out? How are kids STILL getting lead poisoned? 

Yes, indeed it has. There have been CA DOH & LA City efforts. Old housing stock meets poverty, but it's no longer environmental causes that lead to most of LA's lead poisoning cases in children. 

To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.

Gold Line Foothill Extension opens this Saturday

Los Angeles adds 12 more miles to the Gold Line with the Foothill Extension opening this Saturday. Meghan McCarty got to preview the addition, but she also sat down with A Martinez to talk about whether the new line will help clear up congestion on the busy 210 freeway.

2016 is also a big year for Congressional elections

You'll be forgiven for thinking that the only important race in 2016 is for the White House.

But despite the jockeying between Trump, Rubio, Cruz, Kasich, Sanders and Clinton, there's another important contest to watch – for control of Congress.

Republicans currently outnumber Democrats in the Senate by 10 seats.

Meanwhile in the House, the GOP has 58 more members casting votes.

, joins Take Two to give us a breakdown about whether that make-up might flip after November.

Christian Bale hates talking about acting: 'I just want to push a pencil through my eyeball'

While working on "Knight of Cups," Terrence Malik's latest film, Christian Bale didn't have much to work with. 

"We would get on the set, they're already filming me [and] I don't know what we're doing," said Bale. "The only research that Terry really gave me other than our conversations — which were extensive — was the book by Walker Percy, 'The Moviegoer,' where he's on a search for who knows exactly what, but you know you must be on that search."

Bale, who's best known for his roles in the Batman series, "The Fighter" and his Oscar-nominated turn in "The Big Short," plays a decidedly different character this time: a screenwriter named Rick that has lost his way, spiritually and emotionally.

He spoke to Take Two about the film, which is set in Los Angeles, touching on the director's unique methods, filming with a confused cast, how conversations about acting make him feel and more. Listen to the full conversation above (he does a great Fabio impression). But here are the highlights:

On Terrence Malik's style:

On conversations about acting:

On filming with the cast of 'Knight of Cups':

On Los Angeles:

This story has been updated.

A tale of two cultures: 'Blaxicans' of LA speak out

Los Angeles is home to a plethora of racial groups, but there's one you won't hear much about: "blaxicans" — men and women, boys and girls of dual African-American and Mexican heritage.

This unique experience is captured in an online project and art exhibition called "Blaxicans of L.A." created two years ago by Walter Thompson-Hernandez . Through photographs and interviews, Thompson-Hernandez addresses many questions he had as a child, growing up in a Latino-centric household headed by his Mexican mother.

"I always wanted to know why I was a little bit darker than my friends or my relatives, why my features were a little bit different," Thompson-Hernandez says.

Eventually the confusion was cleared up for him. "My mom walked into my room one day and explained that I was an Afro-Chicano. At that point I didn't know what that meant."

"I'm Mexican and Black. As soon as I found out I was mixed it opened up my mind and I guess I was finally able to be me. When I was growing up, I was always the little dark Mexican, but once my mom told me I was black, I started to hang out with more black people and I stopped chasing the idea of proving to everyone that I was Hispanic."

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Blaxicans of LA/Walter Thompson-Hernandez

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Embracing another culture

Without his father in his life, Thompson-Hernandez says that he didn't embrace the African- American side of his racial identity until his family moved to West L.A.

"I really gravitated towards African-Americans and that experience," he says.

Making friends with more black people helped him expand his cultural references. "My mom's side, of course, was very Mexican. Chilaquiles, menudo, pozole, were staples in my diet growing up," says Thompson-Hernandez  "But [with] my black friends, I was eating soul food, greens, chitlins, listening to Al Greene."

But there were times when it wasn't easy being a part of both groups.

"When I was in middle school, there were race riots," he says. "That was the first time I ever understood that there can be tensions between African-Americans and Latinos."

"We will explicitly teach her to be proud of the fact that she is Mexican and to be proud of the fact that she is black."

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Blaxicans of LA/Walter Thompson-Hernandez

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Through "Blaxicans of L.A.," Thompson-Hernadez is now at peace with his duality.

"Being able to connect with other blaxicans has allowed me to see that in all of my conclusions and struggles, I was never alone," he says.

You can follow the Blaxicans of L.A. project on Instagram.

Duality: Blaxicans of L.A. is on display at Avenue 50 in Pasadena until Saturday March 5. 

Mexrrissey hits the studio with debut album 'No Manchester'

Why does Morrissey have such a large Mexican following?

Ceci Bastida, whose band Mexrrissey puts a spin on Morrissey's music, chalks it up to the melodrama.

"We are a country that loves drama," she said. "We love songs about sadness. We love ranchera music that is a lot about heartbreak or feeling lonely."

Bastida first heard his music on the radio as a teenager in Tijuana. She said that it was her way to connect with others when she felt like an outsider.

This week, her band Mexrissey released its debut album called "No Manchester." It's Morrissey reimagined with arrangement changes and classic songs and slang words from Mexico. 

"It takes [people] a few seconds to figure out which songs they are," said Bastida. "We just kind of took them and pulled them apart and put them back together."

For more about Bastida's love of all things Mexico and Morrissey and lyrical gender switching, listen to her conversation with Alex Cohen. And check out a couple of their tracks below.

Video

Video

Zoe Saldana: Young, gifted, but maybe not black enough to play Nina Simone

Few would deny that the late Nina Simone was gifted and black.

And so, when directors of an upcoming biopic about Simone announced in 2012 that actress Zoe Saldana would have the lead, fans of the singer were a bit concerned; Saldana is Puerto Rican and Dominican, several shades lighter than Nina Simone, and her features less pronounced.

Nina Simone (left) and Zoe Saldana

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Richard Chambury/Richard Chambury/Invision/AP

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Earlier this week, a trailer was released, and fans were given a taste of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3EWygLE_No

Reaction from black bloggers and commentators in the Twittersphere have been overwhelmingly negative. 

Even Nina Simone’s estate served up some cold shade against Saldana. 

The exchange elicited this fitting response by one Tweeter:

.

Tweets by NinaSimoneMusic

Tweets by zoesaldana

— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds)

.@NinaSimoneMusic @zoesaldana pic.twitter.com/uT78kPsBHn

— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) March 3, 2016

Why did Saldana’s appearance cause a social media upset? Possibly because it struck a long-sensitive nerve in the African-American community, and revived conversations around a word that's all-too-familiar in the black community: colorism. 

Screengrab of Oxford Dictionary definition of "colorism"

For more on the casting decision, Take Two spoke to actress Anne-Marie Johnson. 

Press the blue play button above to hear the interview. 

How does the viral Internet fame cycle end? With a backlash

It's easier than ever to become famous, or at least famous on the Internet, these days.

Take the case of California teens Daniel Lara and Josh Holz: 

The "Damn Daniel" video that blew up Twitter is just the latest craze to add to the long list of viral Internet sensations— think the "prancercise lady" or Alex from Target.

While the online fame can come with big perks, there's also a darker side— like getting hacked, "swatted," or harassed. 

Caitlin Dewey, digital culture critic at The Washington Post, joined Take Two to discuss "The dark side of going viral that no one talks about" and why it seems to be getting worse.

To hear the full interview, click the link above.

New Metro Gold Line art captures the spirit of the San Gabriel Valley

While the Gold Line extension may not be offering traffic relief, it will be offering beautiful art installations at every new stop.

These installations are all thanks to Lesley Elwood, art program manager for the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. The construction authority put out a call to artists across the nation to submit their art for the chance to have it showcased at these stops.

One of the artists selected, Jose Antonio Aguirre, drew the themes for his station from the history of the word 'Azusa' and the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe. Additionally, Aguirre called on the Azusa community and students at APU to help with the downtown Azusa station installation.

For more on the Gold line extension and the art featured Elwood and Aguirre joined the show to discuss.

For more on the art and the journey behind it, click here to listen to an audio tour. 

To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.