Melvin Backman
Tina Rudasingwa, Malcolm-Aimé Musoni, Crwpitman
You work at Vulture. For a lot of writers, working at a big publication is the dream. Do you feel like you’ve made it in terms of solidifying your career and being this voice that is needed? Can you just rest and be?
Melvin Backman: Not really. I kind of feel like the way the media industry is set up now, it’s very difficult to feel like you can arrive and just be able to rest. If it were in the eighties or the nineties where the business was steadily growing, you could always be like, “Okay, cool. There’s another perch that I can ascend to.” Now, the places where you can go and feel secure are getting fewer and fewer. With that comes the fact that you have to do more and more to secure one of those spots and keep it. And even then, if your company goes through layoffs, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be able to keep that job.
Around 2016, a lot of writers pivoted to tech because there was better money. Everyone called them sellouts. What keeps you in media? You’re very talented and have a lot of different interests; it would be very easy for you to go to any other industry. But you still write, and you still edit. You’re still pursuing this thing that many people have given up on. Why?
It’s a combination of laziness and luck. I have wanted to be a journalist since I was in high school or even maybe a little bit before that. When you have your eyes set on something for a long time, and then you get it...if it’s not destroying you inside to stay, then you don’t want to leave. If I can keep doing it, then I’ll keep doing it.
This week, we saw Kanye go on this online campaign harassing Gabriella Karefa Johnson, Vogue’s Global Fashion Editor-At-Large. People have used that as a jumping-off point to say that the Black critic is under attack in America. Currently, there are not that many staffed Black critics at publications. Do you feel like the Black critic is under attack, or are we just in a different time where the Black critic has gone to a different place and has their own thing? Like, a Substack...
The Black critic has always been under attack. It’s never been a comfortable place for outspoken Black writers who do meaningful critiques of the things that they watch. James Baldwin was on an FBI watch list. Existentially, the Black critic is as under attack, maybe as much as they’ve ever been. I think it’s something that comes with the way that media is consumed now. You can see a lot more. Back in the day, James Baldwin, you see his byline in Vogue or Mademoiselle or wherever, and it’s like, “Oh, I like that James Baldwin cat.” But now, if James Baldwin were alive, he’d have maybe a Twitter account or an Instagram and a lot more visibility. You would see people calling him out of his name all day and maybe watch him react to the stresses of that.
Tina Rudasingwa, Mwiza Rudasingwa, Malcolm-Aimé Musoni
People are now able to easily critique the media and have their critiques heard and understood. People who have really dumb problems with things are able to get attention too. James Baldwin could say, “Water is wet,” and whatever conservative person could then go on Tucker Carlson or Instagram or Youtube and say, “I can’t believe this Negro says that water is wet. Water is definitely dry.” And then people can run up the score on that. There’s just another layer of visibility to it.
Now it’s harder for you to find a home for the thoughtful Black criticism you were putting together. It’s harder for you to find the kind of economic peace of mind that you need to devote all of those hours to studying the things that you’re thinking about.
How do you maintain any level of sanity? You’re extremely online, you know, a lot. But you’re also extremely private. You don’t post a lot about your wife or your kid. There is a sense of balance; you don’t overshare in the way many people do for personal branding. How do you create joy while working in these systems and doing important work in the midst of real-life shit happening? If you close your laptop, this shit isn’t real. It’s not happening.
I think a big part of it is compartmentalizing stuff. When I was younger, I feel like “journalist” was a much bigger part of my identity. So, of course, I’m going to be plugged into this stuff all the time and let it sit on my soul. Because if I’m not paying attention to these things, how can I show that I am this thing that I say that I am? But the older you get, the more you realize that it’s an industry and it’s a job. You have to recognize that and put a limit on how much you engage with it.
Last writing question. Do you have any writing tips for anyone who’s going to read this and wants to be a writer?
Read a lot. The easiest way to create a thing that people are going to click on is to give them something that’s either 1) way better than everything else that’s out there or 2) way more interesting and unusual than what’s out there. In order to do that, you have to know what’s out there.You have to ask yourself, “What do I feel like people want to hear about but nobody is talking about?” And then go write that. When you read a lot, you will find people who regularly write the best thing, and you’ll realize this is how they put these sentences together and this is the way that they describe these objects.
If you were stuck on an island and had to pick one of these three people to be stuck with, which one would you pick? The people are Kamala Harris, Nicki Minaj, and Kanye.
Probably Kamala. They’re all people who need attention to be able to excel in their fields. If you’re a politician, you are more oriented towards some kind of problem-solving. Also, she’s a grown woman who is more or less chill. Granted, she is who she is. But a lot of people probably have aunts, grandmothers, moms, sisters, and cousins who are like her. As far as I can see, she seems more or less the most normal. I mean, nobody at that level is normal in any real sense.
You have a daughter; what has it been like raising a baby during the pandemic, and has she impacted your work in any way?
We got very lucky with the timing. She was born in 2019, and most of the intensive stuff where we needed people around was done when you could still breathe around people. So we got lucky there. Having a child definitely gives you perspective. It changed my perspective on my work. I’m doing things that matter to a lot of people. But at the end of the day, if baby girl wants to go to the playground and I’m trying to figure out where to put this comma? I’ll just put it somewhere and go to the playground.
What’s a life lesson you learned from your mother and have carried with you everywhere?
My mom is a very thoughtful and considerate person. She was always the one coming through and being like, “Hey, you got these graduation presents. You need to sit down and write these thank you cards.” Or, “So-and-so hasn’t heard from you in a while. You need to call them up.” She really makes sure I’m good and stable, and she taught me to be a lot more thoughtful.
Is there anything else you would like to say or discuss while you’re here? We can talk about Kanye if you want…I would not like to, but we can if you want…
We’ve entered a period of racial backlash, and it is not one that is necessarily going to be held back with appeals to logic and “decency.” I just encourage all Black people to look out for each other, and not on some, “Oh, this Black person is doing a thing, so I have to support them.” But just really think every time something is happening with Black people, “Is this either contributing to or helping dismantle the systems that make so many things bad for Black people?” Yes, Kanye’s a Black man who may or may not have faced difficulties in the various creative industries he’s devoted himself to. Is supporting him going to support other Black people if he’s out here with White Lives Matter shirts and getting interviewed by Tucker Carlson and doing all this stuff? No. So move on. Is The Black Film Archive creating a place where people can come and learn about all Black representation? Not just the good ones and the “bad ones,” but all representations of Black life in film? Can you learn from that and apply the things that you see there to help change your mindset and change other people’s mindsets and work towards making things better for Black people? Yes. So pay attention to that.
This interview was conducted in October before Melvin left Vulture and has been edited and condensed for clarity. Download issue 7 of Blacks Rule as a PDF for free here and buy a physical copy here.