Culture Vulture Edition Volume 3 - Gatekeeping, Stereotypes, POC Solidarity + More.

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Hi, it's me, the anti-black Barbie, the all-watchful eye of anti-blackness.

[00:00:06]I hope everyone's enjoying their weekend so far. Since we're back to our regular programming, it means we're going to be seeing a lot more colorist collection editions, performative activist editions, and for today, we're going to be adding back into our culture vulture edition.

[00:00:20]So, a culture vulture is a person or entity that selfishly exploits a cultural style, fashion, language, or artistic form, often from a marginalized group, for personal gain, fame, or financial profit without respecting, understanding, or contributing to the source culture. It's mainly used as a criticism of cultural appropriation.

[00:00:41]This behavior tends to involve exploitation, trivialization, stereotypes, and a variety of other tactics that end up not only disenfranchising, but also creating a power imbalance for the marginalized group that's involved.

[00:00:54]So, I'm sure you all are wondering what has prompted me to make this video. If you don't follow me on Twitter, which you should, you more than likely would have noticed that I've been going on a little bit of a rampage for the last 48 hours over the situation around an Asian man being centered at a black pride event. And no, this is not the same situation that we talked about last year around the exact same time, but there are a lot of parallels that are similar.

[00:01:16]So, I just thought to myself how great of an opportunity this would be to have another conversation around gatekeeping and why I think it's so important. So, what is gatekeeping? Gatekeeping is the act of controlling or restricting access to and defining the legitimacy of cultural practices, knowledge, or norms.

[00:01:33]It involves gatekeepers, typically individuals or institutions, determining who belongs, which cultural elements are accepted, and who can represent them, often to protect heritage, maintain authenticity, or exert power.

[00:01:47]To give you a little bit more context about the situation, one of my favorite Twitter mutuals, which you all should follow, saw this Asian man on a poster for a black pride celebration event.

[00:01:56]Naturally, they were met with confusion as to why this was happening. After seeing the post, they asked a valid question. Can someone explain to me why Deviant got an Asian boy as a promoter and host of a black gay event? And this is my exact question as well. If we understand that black people are marginalized and these spaces are meant to create opportunities in which they would typically be overlooked, why are we using this specific platform to give visibility to a non-black person? And it's not like she's just promoting it. I mean, they have her on the front cover and she's hosting the event as well. So, from my perspective, this is already too much.

[00:02:31]At some point, the person who was on the poster, who we now know goes by the name of Alfredo Marcelo, responds.

[00:02:37]Let me hop on the chat real quick. Crazy concept. People of different races can support black queer spaces without taking anything away from them. I was invited because I bring value, energy, and community, not because I checked a box. Instead of worrying about why I'm here, ask yourself what you've done for your community besides talking [ __ ] about a crew creating a safe space for everybody. I help promote the event. I support the community. I show up consistently. That's the value. If black queer organizers themselves had an issue with me being there, I wouldn't be there. It's really that simple.

[00:03:10]Just say you can't afford a ticket. I probably could have gotten you into the event for free, love. [ __ ] I might even be able to get you into all the events for free. Love how people hide behind fake accounts, fake profile pictures. I actually enjoy talking face-to-face. See y'all Memorial Day weekend. People don't have 9-to-5 jobs anymore? So, this was the general response to someone asking a very valid question around why they are being centered at a black pride event.

[00:03:36]And these kinds of reactions are why a lot of black people are resistant to having non-black people in our spaces.

[00:03:41]Despite us being marginalized, there are still benefits that non-black people of color have over actual black people.

[00:03:47]Because we live under the blanket of white supremacy in in things like colorism, texturism, racism, featurism exist, black people are naturally going to be disenfranchised as a result of it.

[00:03:58]And I don't want to minimize the fact that non-black people of color are also are punished under the blanket of white supremacy. But again, if we use probability and factor in all of these systems and structures, the only real conclusion that you could come to is that black people, in terms of social hierarchy, are always going to be placed at the bottom. As to who is in the middle, that's not really my concern, but we know that white people are going to be at the top. So, if we understand the basic of how these hierarchies work, it shouldn't be a question as to why the most marginalized group would want at least one private space for themselves.

[00:04:27]In our day-to-day lives, whether it's employment, whether it's dating, whether it's education, we are consistently reminded that we are not society's first, second, or even third option. So, the fact that I have to sit on here and explain to a non-black person of color why I, as the most marginalized group in society, should have their own space is not only ridiculous, but flat out disrespectful.

[00:04:51]So, as you can imagine, a lot of people did not take well to this, and it was met with a lot of backlash. So much to the point that one of the people and their close friends shared with everybody on Twitter what they were saying privately on Instagram. They reposted this really interesting comment saying, "Broke [ __ ] was out yesterday drinking like a Mexican when they need to be working like one." Which naturally rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. If you consider yourself to be an ally of the black community, I'm really kind of failing to understand why you would repost something like this, especially with it saying the word [ __ ] in it. And again, this is why a lot of people are resistant to wanting to be in spaces with people like this.

[00:05:24]One of my favorite Twitter mutuals by the name of her black men only also found their private freak account, in which they informed me there was a lot of posts where they were saying that they were looking for BBC. So again, this is not somebody who is an ally. And I mean, the fact that their first response is to say that we can't afford the ticket, that speaks volumes to the type of person that they are. So, with all of this information at our disposal, it's extremely challenging to see why anybody would want this person hosting a black pride event of all things. Now, I didn't get to see the tweets with my own eyes, but I do trust my sources and there was multiple different people who told me that they saw the hashtag BBC's in their sister's profile. So, I'm inclined to believe that it is accurate, but I just really fail to understand what is prideful about allowing somebody Asian who fetishizes black men host a black pride event as well as being centered promoting the imagery as well.

[00:06:13]Like, it's one thing to promote it, why do you need to be the face of it?

[00:06:17]And again, it just more or less speaks to the entitlement that a lot of non-black people have to our spaces and the level of vanity that typically tends to come with it. And I mean, honestly, can you blame this person for behaving this way? If I had an abundance of black men kissing my ass and doing everything in their willpower to defend and uplift their racist behavior, I probably would have an inflated ego as well. And I would like to show you all some tweets to highlight what I'm talking about. One of the first colonized people we're going to discuss is this person who goes by the name of DJ Creole Anderson. His response to all of this happening was, "I wasn't even going to say anything, but if you know Fredo, then you know he works in and around the community, which makes him part of the community whether people like it or not. We all know he's not black and nobody is confused about that. I've personally hosted a few of Fredo's events in DC, so I really don't understand why this has turned into such a big discourse. It honestly feels like people are just bored and looking for something to argue about." In which I respond, "It's a no for me, hun." In which he responds, "We don't care." And while he doesn't really need to verbalize it, I think that this is indicative of how a lot of black men feel around these kinds of conversations. Most of them really don't see the issue with it because a large portion of them are already conquered.

[00:07:23]And I just really find it funny because this is the same person who was going back and forth with people on the timeline willing to fight in public over someone sharing a negative opinion about him. So, the fact that he's willing to come online and try to derail conversations about actual valid issues that are happening in our community really just highlights where his priorities are at. You're willing to fight for petty drama and insults, but when people are being racist and taking up space for actual black people who care about the black community, now all of a sudden you don't see the importance of having a discussion about this topic.

[00:07:52]And this is why I call a lot of them Zeus network gays. They prioritize petty drama and fighting over real systemic issues. And unfortunately, we've done a really bad job of platforming these people. This is somebody with over 29,000 followers. So, when people come online and ask me, "Why do you care? Or why does it matter?" It matters because this messaging is going out to almost people. So, I mean, yeah, I'm going to respond to what's being said to offer some kind of counter narrative. Anybody who would see somebody with that large of a platform and chooses not to say anything is not only a coward, but you're borderline complicit. Because allowing people that have this much reach to go unchecked is extremely dangerous and irresponsible to the general collective of our community.

[00:08:30]Another raccoon that we'll be discussing is this person who goes by the name of Andre Harris. Similar to the last person, he has a very large platform, around 10,000 followers, and he decided to use that reach to say, "This tweet kind of reeks of jealousy because if he was invisible, nobody would care. The issue is that he's clearly visible, successful, and welcome there." And which I respond, "Jealous?" when it's actually just a valid question around why an Asian man is being centered at a black pride event. I try to tell people to be very cautious around individuals like this because anybody who is willing to reduce conversations around erasure, representation, cultural appropriation, gatekeeping down to someone being bitter, miserable, or jealous is typically going to be the main proponent of the issue that we're discussing because there is no reason for your immediate reaction to assume that someone is jealous when they are asking a very valid question. And a big part of why they always go immediately to the jealous talking point is because they know that they don't have any real foundation to support their claims. So, they immediately try to appeal to an emotion-based argument. It's almost kind of just like audacious that this person would even suggest this because to me it's really not rocket science. If you are having an event that was specifically catered to uplifting women, why would you put a man on the cover you're promoting? This space is not for men, so why is he here? Like, why do you feel so entitled to this space? You are essentially trying to override the prerequisites in order for you to be there. And I don't really care if a black person offered them to be on the front of the cover. If they were a true ally, they wouldn't want the visibility.

[00:09:57]If you understand that this space is meant to uplift black imagery, people, and their culture, why would you want to be the face of that? Nothing about you is black, nothing about you has ever been black, and nothing about you will ever be black. So, quite frankly, it's not making sense to me. Another person that really stood out to me is this person by the name of J.A. Carvels. His response to finding out that Alfredo was saying the N-word and his close friends were immediately leaning into stereotypes, calling black people broke, was to say that I stand with Fredo, [ __ ] the ops.

[00:10:27]He then proceeds to follow up by saying, "Some of you couldn't gatekeep your last sexual partner, let alone a damn party.

[00:10:33]STFU." I think that last bit about him telling people to shut up really is indicative of how a lot of chronic swurlers feel about these conversations.

[00:10:41]Most of them don't want to engage with these subjects because it points to their anti-black behavior. So, rather than acknowledging the issue, they'd much rather silence the person who's talking about it. However, those days are gone. The era of them walking around blindly and sprouting anti-black rhetoric is no more. Their way of handling things clearly hasn't worked, so unfortunately, there's new management in charge. And no matter how much they cry about it, it's not going to be changing anytime soon. Before I get too carried away, I want to read off some of the tweets so you all are able to get a general understanding of what the vibe was like surrounding this discussion.

[00:11:12]One of my Twitter mutuals by the name of Indisguise says, "Ew, so you really made an account just to come out popping [ __ ] showing attitude to black gay men who asked a question? Instead of explaining calmly and not seeming threatening, you went for a 'What are you going to do about it?' approach, then wonder why people feel wary of you." Another Twitter mutual says, "Being black isn't a performance contract. Just because you host sex parties and get [ __ ] by black men doesn't put you on a pedestal. A black person simply living and existing in this anti-black world, being unapologetically their black selves, has more impact than you ever could for the black community."

[00:11:45]Another Twitter user by the name of Resistance Shawn says, "He felt so confident responding the way he did because he has said those things and worse around other black people who laugh and validate his behavior." Which I think is a brilliant point, and which I responded, "You better call posting it in his close story, knowing what he's saying is inappropriate, really speaks volumes to his awareness that he shouldn't be doing it, but posted it anyways.

[00:12:08]Another Twitter user says, "Let me draw you a picture. A black man is put on a poster for a Chinese gay Asian event in San Francisco. Do you think that would ever happen in a million years? No. We are the only people who allow such [ __ ] and defend it." So, I think it's safe to say that the general collective was not very happy with the way that um Alfredo responded, and I don't really see why anybody would be happy about the way that they responded. It was just flat-out disrespectful. One other Twitter user who really captured my attention, who goes by the name of Ferg Quee, says, "By the way, I stand with Fredo. He does more for the community than a lot of other promoters. Let's start there and I'll leave it there." In which this person by the name of I break holes says, "He does more for the community by what? By bouncing on BBC? He's hosting a sex party, not a Stonewall riot." And that is an extremely valid point. I'm really trying to understand what about hosting a party where he gets plowed by an abundance of black men is doing for black people. Nothing about this is progressive. So, the idea that you have some level of importance over another black person is obscene to me, especially when she apparently is saying BBC and leaning into very racist stereotypes. If anything, this person is probably negatively contributing to these spaces, perpetuating stereotypes and fetishization, uplifting anti-black ideologies. The idea that someone being broke because they have a valid criticism around you being centered in a space that's not meant for you, really highlights how quickly they are to lean into anti-black stereotypes. And if they're able to behave this recklessly publicly, nobody is going to be able to convince me that their behavior is any better privately. Alfredo, like a lot of non-black people, resort to anti-black racism whenever they feel like they need to put a black person in their place, which is why I don't subscribe to POC solidarity. Obviously, not every Asian person or a white person or a non-black person of color is racist, but I think that as a general consensus, there is a problem where a lot of non-black people feel like it's okay to behave this way when a black person voices their concerns around their questionable behavior. I know for a fact that if I posted in my close friends saying racial slurs about Asian people that may rhyme with mink, Alfredo would immediately understand that this is a problem. Yet because racism is so normalized, they didn't think anything of it. If you yourself don't like when people call you racial slurs, then you don't need to be reposting it in regards to me. I don't care whether or not he verbally said it out of his own mouth. As I said before, if I was caught reposting a racial slur saying the C-word, I know for a fact that he would have a problem with it.

[00:14:33]So, what I'm not going to do is let people play in my face and downplay the severity of their actions and how this behavior negatively impacts the black community.

[00:14:41]One little caveat that I just kind of want to throw in is that when I was going through Alfredo's page, I didn't really see them in community with Asian people, which is just yet another pattern that I've noticed that a lot of non-black people exhibit whenever they seem to frequent these spaces. A lot of the times they do it because it's easier to be centered in black spaces than it is to compete in their own.

[00:14:59]At some point, the organization that was hired by DVN ended up responding saying, "Anybody that has something to say about us booking Fredo cuz he's not black can swallow an eggplant emoji." And there it is.

[00:15:11]Responses like this are a big part of why myself and a lot of black people have just started to disengage from a lot of black events because a lot of the people at the top are colonized and it's just really no other way to put it. The fact that you're hosting an event for Black Pride and you don't understand why people are upset as to why Fredo was booked really just speaks volumes to a level of failure all throughout that organization.

[00:15:33]And I just saw this tweet that really resonated with me in regards to the situation where it says, "LGBTQ+ nightlife organizations often times profit heavily off black queer people and center non-blacks in their hiring, platforming, or paid opportunities.

[00:15:46]Black founders often favor non-black people due to proximity to whiteness and their own fetishized desires, deviant behavior." And that's just really the vibe that I'm getting from this situation. Whoever made that post is more than likely conquered and it explains as to why Fredo was put in that position in the first place. And the response, I mean, it's just pitiful. No acknowledgement, no apology, no understanding of why people were upset, basically just telling us to choke on an eggplant emoji. These are the people who are running these organizations. And it's a big part of why we're not getting the representation that we so desperately deserve. At some point after them posting that, they got dragged from hell and back.

[00:16:21]And I'm assuming it got to the higher-ups who actually hired them at Deviant.

[00:16:25]In which they followed up with a different response saying, "Firstly, we'd like to apologize for the contentious responses and take accountability to those who expressed valid concern regarding Fredo being a part of this Zesti World DC Black Pride lineup. Fredo has been an invaluable thought partner in organizing this event as we enter the DC nightlife space.

[00:16:43]However, we hear the severity of the community's concerns and promise to prioritize black creatives for future black pride events. Initially, we weren't aware of his close friend's comments and are in conversation with him regarding this matter. We are committed towards holding ourselves and others accountable for how we show up in community and on social media. Thank you so much for being a part of Zesti World community and we look forward to seeing you back at Black Pride."

[00:17:06]From my interpretation, it seems like Deviant more than likely found out about the comments that Zesti World was making and more than likely forced them to apologize because they realized that it wasn't good for their general brand.

[00:17:16]Deviant hires a variety of different promoters and organizations to host their events, so it really doesn't make any real sense for them to try and affiliate themselves with SD World making these comments, unless they end up apologizing. It's generally bad for business, and because Deviant is hosted across a variety of different states, the only logical conclusion was to apologize. But, I think that it's just sad that it took that level of backlash and outrage for them to be able to understand where they went wrong.

[00:17:41]Whether or not they saw Fredo's comments in their close friends on Instagram does not make their appropriate. Everything about the way they responded was filled with anti-black racism and microaggressions. So, there is no scenario where they should have immediately came to their defense.

[00:17:55]Deviant ends up coming out with their own response saying, "Deviant is adamant about being an inclusive, intentional, and brave space specifically for the black and brown LGBTQIA+ community. Bringing these voices and experiences to the center has been our constant mission since day one.

[00:18:12]Unfortunately, we missed the mark in our actions to contract a non-black person of color during Black Pride Week. While we always aim to be inclusive, we recognize that Black Pride Week is not the appropriate time or space to showcase someone who is not of the community.

[00:18:26]We recognize our mistake. Our goal is to ensure psychological and emotional safety. To that end, our space must remain free of prejudice, bias, and harmful stereotypes. We wholeheartedly agree with the frustrations expressed by our community. To protect the spirit of empowerment and joy that Black Pride represents, we will be introducing a new host in the coming days. We look forward to celebrating with you." Some point after being removed as the host, it seems like Fredo all of a sudden understands how to apologize, in which they say, "I want to sincerely apologize to the black community. I recognize that my recent post was offensive, harmful, and irresponsible. Regardless of intent, I understand that reinforced harmful stereotypes and contributed to rhetoric that continues to harm and hurt black people. I was wrong, and I take full accountability for my actions. I understand why people are hurt, angry, and disappointed in me. After speaking with the promoters and organizers, I have decided to step down from hosting all Pride Week events in DC.

[00:19:20]I do not want my actions to distract from the purpose of Pride or take away from the joy and community these events are meant to celebrate. Over the years, many black people have supported me, embraced me, and welcomed me into their spaces and communities. That support should never be taken lightly.

[00:19:35]This experience has reminded me that being part of a community also comes with responsibility to listen, learn, and move with greater care and respect.

[00:19:43]I know an apology does not undo the harm that I've caused, but I am committed to learning from this and being a better ally moving forward. Alfredo.

[00:19:51]So, in conclusion, he can take his apology and shove it up his ass with the other 10 BBCs he's going to take after all of this blows over. As he said at the end of the statement, none of this undoes all of the hate that he's put out into this universe. And the only real reason I think he even apologized is because they removed him from the position. Had they not done that, he would have continued running his mouth like the entitled and obnoxious racist that he is. I don't take apologies. I take cash, card, and credit. What actions are you going to do to reverse the negative impacts that you placed on the black community? What black organizations will you be donating to?

[00:20:22]What black youth groups are you going to be working at? What anti-black structures are you going to help dismantle? Because if we're not discussing anything related to that, I'm simply not interested. Ultimately, I view this entire scenario as a success.

[00:20:33]I need people to understand that there are strength in numbers, and we need to continue growing our platforms and working with each other in order for us to dismantle these kinds of structures.

[00:20:41]If it was just one or two people being upset in the comment section, none of this would have happened. But because so many people came out and mobilized using their platforms, their times, their resources, their credibility to push back on this very, very anti-black person, we were able to get something accomplished. That's why I say a retweet, a comment, a like can go a very long way. Because the more people who push back on these anti-black ideologies and structures, the easier it is going to be for us to be able to dismantle them. People like Alfredo thrive in black spaces like ours. They have so many high profile people backing them up that one or two people saying something is not enough. This is our second or third time in a row having a conversation similar to this, but this is the first time that I actually think I've ever seen any real action being displayed. So, it gives me hope for the future going forward. One video that I really want to recommend to you all is this one that I made a long time ago called the elephant in the room. It was made this time last year kind of revolving around the exact same subject.

[00:21:34]So, I just think it's a really fun way to kind of look to see where we were then in relation to where we are now.

[00:21:39]Because ultimately this page is to document how far we've come or not at all. But, I think we've covered just about everything. If you enjoyed the video, like, subscribe, and comment, and I will be happy to see you in the next one.