f*cked up $hit

F*ck Justin Timberlake!

2009-04-05T21:21:00.001-07:00

Eat the Cake Anna Mae- on Chris/Rihanna and Violence Against Black Women

2009-02-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

summer m. wrote this. i think it's brilliant and want to share it with the world. Makes me want to know is violence an inevitable element of black masculinity? Wanted to get your thoughts.

And she became the most famous, richest black woman in the world. Does that mean anything?

"See, we could fight like Ike and Tina..." -- Alicia Keys, "Unbreakable"

Why is this your opening line, Alicia? And why would this song EVER be your jam?

The other day, a relative of mine asked me (Sum) what my opinion was of the Chris Brown/Rihanna saga. It was a curiously framed question that I didn’t quite understand. It had never dawned on me to have an opinion on the matter. Maybe this was because of the black interest blogs I read. On them, there are people actually choosing a set – Team Rihanna or Team Chris – and repping it. Besides, I had only been paying mild attention to the whole ordeal, and what I did know consisted of rumors and hearsay. And I’m not in the business of forming an opinion based on some shit some niggas might (not) have said. I was a nerd in a black high school for two years. I know how to avoid fistfights.

Though she probably wasn’t, at the time it felt like my relative was asking me pick a camp and join it. Choose which rumors to believe or not, and cast my allegiance accordingly. Misunderstanding or no, the question made me uncomfortable – so much so that I actually squirmed a bit. But it did get me thinking about black people, and (normalized) violence, and how and why the black public sphere reacts to domestic violence the way it does.

If there are any white people reading this (so doubtful), you’ll have to trust me on the following statement. (In this instance, my cultural capital is worth more than yours. Take that, suckas!) Black people – and yes, I mean all black people, including Michelle Obama – know and quote scenes from two movies: What’s Love Got to Do With It? and The Color Purple. On varying levels, both movies are concerned with violence against black women perpetuated by their male partners. To add, Tyler Perry, who is a descendant and beneficiary of the kind of influence these films have on black movie audience and black culture at large, is the most popular black filmmaker of the day; he continues to disseminate and profit from the collateral intimate knowledge of these movies provide. For instance, one of his most recent films, The Family That Preys, features a deliberately unlikeable black female character who, through her insubordination (shout out, moyazb for this line and so much more), emasculates (and therefore disrespects) her black, blue-collar husband. So much so that the climax of the movie is his justifiable reclamation of manhood via smacking the shit out of her. I say justified because members of the primarily black audience I was in the company of (don’t ask why I was in a theater to see a Tyler Perry movie) cheered when it happened. The homie, Maegs had a similar experience. I put up several blue chips that these aren’t statistical aberrations. So, really, what the fuck is this about?

“You told Harpo to beat me,” and “That’s all you got, Ike?” elicit two responses from black folk: laughter and the outward expression of our inner thespians. What we seem to forget in our collective re-enactment of these scenes is the violence against black women at the heart of them. That casual omission seems to suggest, on some level just barely beneath the surface, that domestic violence is not only normal and acceptable, but a source of amusement. I ask, as someone who has participated fully in these exchanges plenty of times, What the fuck makes this shit funny? No, seriously, that is not a rhetorical question. Why the fuck are we laughing? Why are these the lines we memorize?

We have to stop this trend of normalizing violence in the home to the point that it is a stock device that any black comedian can employ to garner a laugh. I see no irony in this, Chris Rock. We have to stop rewarding (NAACP, listen up) and financially supporting a man whose career is based on dressing up in drag and caricaturizing black women, recycling coonery for the 21st century, and perpetuating misogyny and a belief in a patriarchal structure that advocates violence if it means the reclamation of a (tentative-ass black) manliness. We need to check these black interest blogs for the way they deliver this “news” to us. (And I’m not making that last point because nobody is fucking with our shit, despite Sum-n-Saf's blatant genius.)

Most importantly, we have to stop normalizing this violence and responding to it (only) with laughter. My ex used to talk about how ironic it was that the only blacks on television starred in sitcoms, because there really wasn’t much funny about black life in America. Well, there isn’t anything funny about black women getting their ears boxed. And I see no point in choosing sides or turning this Chris Brown/Rihanna mess into t-shirts or Mortal Kombat sketches. I’m over it.

Here’s a dose of penicillin for that ass: How about we stop trying to make light of, debate and justify the actions of victim and/or victimizer of domestic violence, and fucking confront our pathology? WARNING: THIS MEDICINE WILL NOT CAUSE DROWSINESS, AND IT WILL NOT MAKE YOU LAUGH. IF ILLNESS PERSISTS AFTER SEVEN DAYS, CEASE TAKING MEDICINE, AND CONSULT A THERAPIST.

n.b.: This morning, I received this via email. See what I mean?

Please Sign!

2009-01-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

To: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
This petition has been launched to object to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' announcement that it will give Jerry Lewis its Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscar Awards ceremony on February 22, 2009.

During his decades of hosting the Labor Day Telethon, Jerry Lewis has helped to perpetuate negative, stereotypical attitudes toward people with muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. Jerry Lewis and the Telethon actively promote pity as a fundraising strategy. Disabled people want RESPECT and RIGHTS, not pity and charity.

In 1990, Lewis wrote that if he had muscular dystrophy and had to use a wheelchair, he would "just have to learn to try to be good at being a half a person." During the 1992 Telethon, he said that people with MD, whom he always insists on calling "my kids," "cannot go into the workplace. There's nothing they can do." Comments like these have led disability activists and our allies to protest against Jerry Lewis. We've argued that he uses the Telethon to promote pity, a counterproductive emotion which undermines our social equality. Here's how Lewis responded to the Telethon protesters during a 2001 television interview: "Pity? You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!"

Jerry Lewis has also made derogatory comments about women and gay men. His outdated attitudes and crude remarks are dehumanizing, not humanitarian.

Therefore, we the undersigned support the actions and arguments of the coalition group The Trouble with Jerry. We protest the Academy's characterization of Jerry Lewis as a "humanitarian." And we ask that the Academy cancel its plans to give Lewis the Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned

View Current Signatures

F*ck Burger King!!!

2008-12-20T14:47:00.000-08:00

I hate those damn whooper virgin commercials! it's the most absurd thing ever!!!

Shouts out to ann for posting this over at feministing. I can't believe that people don't understand why the shit is so problematic!!!!

Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson

2008-12-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A white social studies teacher attempted to enliven a seventh-grade discussion of slavery by binding the hands and feet of two black girls, prompting outrage from one girl's mother and the local chapter of the NAACP. After the mother complained to Haverstraw Middle School, the superintendent said he was having "conversations with our staff on how to deliver effective lessons."

"If a student was upset, then it was a bad idea," said Superintendent Brian Monahan of the North Rockland School District in New York City's northern suburbs.

The teacher apologized to the mother who complained and her 13-year-old daughter during a meeting Thursday that also included a representative of the local NAACP. But the mother, Christine Shand of Haverstraw, said Friday she thinks the teacher should be removed from the class.

"I think the teacher should have gotten some discipline," Shand said. "I know if that was me, I would be uncomfortable going back to that class. Why should my daughter have to switch?"

Monahan refused to say what, if any, measures were taken against the teacher, Eileen Bernstein, who was still working on Friday. The school district said she was not available for comment.

"We encourage our teachers to deliver the curriculum in a variety of ways, to go beyond just reading the textbook," the superintendent said. "We don't want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong because the student was upset."

On Nov. 18, Bernstein was discussing the conditions under which African captives were taken to America in slave ships. She bound the two students' hands and feet with tape and had them crawl under a desk to simulate the experience, Monahan and Shand said. Monahan said the girls were not the only blacks in the class.

Gabrielle Shand burst into tears at home, her mother said.

"There are other ways to demonstrate slavery," Christine Shand said Friday. "It doesn't matter the color of the kids, it's just not right to tie them up. My daughter is still upset, still embarrassed. She didn't go to school today."

Wilbur Aldridge, director of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the history demonstration, first reported in The Journal News, "went wrong when she started to do that binding."

"I don't care what color, no one should be put in the position of having their hands and feet bound," he said.

Aldridge said he feared that the teacher still "didn't get it" after their meeting. He said the teacher apologized "because Gabrielle was upset, not because she admitted she did something wrong."

Shand said she had not decided whether to take any further action, including filing a lawsuit.

WTF?!

2008-12-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

really T.I.? really?!

and can we just talk for a min. about what it means that this is the cover of Black Men's Magazine?!

F*ck Ugly Betty!

2008-11-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Now normally, I watch Ugly Betty, with a raised eyebrow and tempered laughter because where else are you going to see a queer and multiracial cast in prime time? Sure they've had questionable racial (and gender) commentary before but I'd been able to turn the other cheek, go to my happy place and laugh nervously at polished stereotypes of the hard working close knit Mexican immigrant family and evil black bitch.

But I have to say last night's episode hit a new low. Did they really try to claim that Betty was the affirmative action admission to the YETI program?! That Marc was overlooked even though he was the better candidate?! Who wrote this episode, bitter white U of M rejects? WTF?!

Betty's presentation apparently didn't warrant admission, nor did her family question the validity of this claim when she presented it. They wanted her to accept that if being Mexican helped in this one case she shouldn't care that she didn't actually "deserve" to be in the program. And Betty with her model minority heart of gold, turned down her acceptance!!!! Marc, an affluent white gay man that was able to wrangle Badgley Mischka to come to his presentation, not to mention his legion of Mode minions who were there to help as well, should have been accepted on merit. If that's not white privilege then I don't know what is! But of course there is no commentary on these resources at Marc's disposal. His ability to command a small army for his presentation compared to Betty's solo production is chalked up to his just being more prepared. The fact that Betty didn't even know about the competition until two days before the presentation deadline is treated as her bad, not the maintenance of the good ol' (gay) boys club that prevented the information from moving in her direction.

How is it that there is no commentary on Marc's white privilege but Betty's Latina heritage is the sole reason for her success? And we are also supposed to believe that all is forgiven by Marc's claim that he's not racist because some of "his hottest ex's were Latino" and Daniel's late but long winded letter of recommendation for his dutiful pet Betty absolves his neglect. It couldn't be that her magazine was actually interesting and represented a new way of imagining the women's magazine audience.

I'm not pleased. It dissapoints me too cause I thought Salma had more sense than that. Sigh . . .

It's just blatant these days!

2008-08-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

Dear VH1, WTF?!

You don't even pretend. The show is called I love Money and you have people "rescuing" a straight up coon doll out of the ocean!!! Where are the media watch dogs who will send you a bunch of angry letters about how offensive this is? I can't take it.

This is just too much.

Dear CNN

2008-07-24T09:07:00.001-07:00

Dear CNN,

F*ck you!

Sincerely,

Moya Bailey

j/k j/k! but no really. I mean seriously, what was up with Black in America?

I have to start even before the show with the months of hype, the screenings at movie theaters, the word poetry magnets with choice words like “struggle,” “pride,” and “Comcast,” the t-shirts, and then the countdown clock to airtime! CNN, don’t you think that’s all a bit absurd? So how many viewers did you get from this “unprecedented” event? How many more folks ended up watching this “CNNannigan” than would have without your hype men dispatched to the four corners of the earth?

When you begin with a black male spoken word artist to talk about “black women and the family” you are saying something about how you see “Black America.” Sunni Patterson, Staceyann Chin, Sarah Jones are all black women poets who could have offered something about black women, oh excuse me, “black women and the family” because apparently black women don’t warrant their own two hour special.

In a special called “black women and the family” I expected to see and hear from more black women. Soledad’s omniracial ass notwithstanding, the black women of “black women and the family” were in the last part of the segment. There was only one black woman was presented as an expert and that was Julianne Malveaux, who awkwardly tried to say that it’s not all bad for black women but there was no footage that was used to support her claim. What we saw, were black women failing to keep their kids motivated or in school, failing to keep a roof over their heads, failing to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, failing to find and stay with black male husbands (because apparently there are no queer black women in America), failing at life in general.

My brilliant friend Alexis who coined the term “CNNannigan,” also watched and had this to say:

“Since this first segment seems to me to be all about the danger of the black deviant mother (from the slaveowner's mistress to the absent mother of the soon to be homeless kids, to the struggling mother (also being evicted) whose life difficulties are explained by her unfulfilled craving for a strong male figure, to the regretful woman in the interracial marriage to the woman who's nails are highlighted while her paralyzed son's words are subtitled as if they aren't English) and how to insert a patriarchal figure
(from the obnoxious Harvard guy playing test-score sugar daddy, to f*cking "marry your baby daddy day", to the generous doctor who swoops in to save young men from the mothers who have failed them) reinforced by the highlighted black male preacheresque figures stating how if you are raised by a woman you're going to have bad sex and kill everyone and die of salt saturation or whatever...”

I don’t pretend to know your intentions CNN but I’m wondering if you thought that someone (or groups of black women) would see this in the segment. Furthermore, do you care?

I’m at a loss as to how you can talk about black women and not talk about the sexism and misogyny that black women endure on a day to day basis. You’ve done stories on Sakia Gunn, not the Jersey Four but Megan Williams, not the attacks in Dunbar Village or the woman gang raped in her Philadelphia apartment, but covered the woman who died on the floor of an NYC ER while hospital staff looked on. Yet, these assaults on the humanity of black women are not part of the segment.

The systems that collude to demonize black womanhood remain obscured. Welfare reform, no living wage, the lack of affordable housing, gentrification, environmental racism (an important term you could of introduced when highlighting that a black woman can’t get a tomato in Harlem), inefficient public transportation, could all have been brought to the fore as opposed to the conclusion that black folks bring their hardships on themselves.

After watching this segment, I’m sure that this letter from a radical, single (and happy), queer, black woman may not be intelligible to you, as it was pretty clear from the segment that I don’t exist. But I’d like to send it anyway just so I know that I responded to my erasure by saying I’m (We are) still here.

Sincerely,

Moya Bailey

F*ck Darryl James!

2008-07-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

THE BRIDGE: The Hole In My End Of Our Boat
from EUR Report - http://www.eurweb.com/
By Darryl James
July 15, 2008

We can say that the Black woman has carried a great deal throughout our time in America.

Because the Black family has been under siege for that entire time, much was required of the Black woman.

Quite frankly, her strength is one of the reasons we have survived as a race where other races could not have.

We know that even up to and through the first half of the last century, the Black woman was holding things down while her man left psychotic violence and stark oppression in the South to pursue jobs and freedom for his family in the North before standing on the front lines in the Sixties to secure rights for his people.

But we also know that Welfare came to destroy the Black family by making it easier for the family to survive in the man’s absence.

And we know that integration helped to destroy the Black community, which was not prepared for Black flight or the devastation of Crack Cocaine nor the privatization of prisons.

We also know that feminist propaganda has silently polluted the minds of many Black women, who now view Black men as the enemy.

As a race, we’ve come through a great deal. And for the most part, we did it together.

The difference was that in previous times when Black men were under siege, Black women worked with them to hold the community together and we were all better for it. Now, many Black women feel that they have it all together, that they have done enough for “us” and that it’s time for Black men to get it together.

Any Black woman who is alive and under 50 today is under some beautiful delusion to pretend to be tired of suffering anything at the hands of Black men or tired of doing anything for Black men, because it just hasn’t happened in their generation.

Frankly, Black people as a race haven’t done anything for themselves in decades—it’s been all about self-preservation as individuals.

If you are a Black woman under 50 today, the heavy lifting was done by your grandmother, not even your mother. You haven’t run any slaves through an underground railroad, no one has legally raped and/or forcibly impregnated you, and you haven’t carried the burden of the race on your back.

Many of the Black women who claim to be tired haven’t even held a family together, if they even have a family of their own.

We didn’t begin to seriously deteriorate as a race—men or women—until the end of the Sixties, when many Negroes decided to become shiny and new and abandon everything remotely connected to the community.

Really, any contemporary Black woman who feels that she has been carrying the race is crazy because the race is doing worse than ever.

Yet, some of today’s Black women act so terribly put upon, as though they are perfect and Black men are holding back the race.

In response to my column called “Man Up,” chastising men to stand up and be men, one insane woman wrote “not only are we (Black women) ready…but a lot of ‘outsiders’ are ready for Black men to finally get their sh-t together, too.”

Really? Black women and the world are simply waiting for Black men to stop being lazy bags of crap? The answer, of course, is no.

But what is most disturbing is such a sentiment accompanied by little concern about the lagging of Black men.

Black women, even if you believe yourselves to be ahead of Black men, why aren’t you concerned about the hole in MY end of OUR boat? If you believe that we are sinking, you must realize that you will sink as well.

And while no thinking Black man has a problem with Black women working to improve the condition of Black women, the destruction comes with pretending that Black men are in some way holding Black women back.

Some Black women are even retelling the story of the Civil Rights Movement, claiming that it was oppressive to Black women, yet the only “evidence” of that is a quote from an obscure member of the Black Panthers, who admitted to being a rapist and a lover of white women, but who never represented any great portion of Black men--then or now.

In order to truly believe this lie, we have to ignore the Black women who were a vital part of the Movement. We would also have to ignore the FACT that the Civil Rights Act of 1965 was the first time that the rights of women were mentioned since they were enfranchised.

And, we would have to ignore the FACT that Affirmative Action benefited Black women more than Black men.

But, really, the question is this: Why are we even having that discussion?

The answer is that some Black women find power in their own victimhood, which gives them an excuse for poor behavior, while accepting no responsibility.

If they can assert that Black men fail to protect Black women and are generally the oppressors of Black women, then there is less responsibility for Black women in their own foibles, including out of wedlock pregnancy; inability to find and sustain relationships; promiscuity leading to sexual diseases; and so on.

These are the same problems we find amongst Black men, but instead of coming together to resolve these issues for the community, too many women are choosing to lay the blame at the feet of men, while attempting to solve the issues solely for women.

We can only resolve these problems together, because they affect us all—men AND women, instead of pretending they are the sole issues of Black women caused solely by Black men.

Sadly, too many Black women have spent time telling the world how horrible Black men are.

But guess who has been listening and who has bought into that?

A number of today’s Black men and Black boys, many of who have been raised by single Black women.

We all know that there are a number of Black men who are weak, sad and sorry. The problem is when Black women pretend that those weak men represent ALL Black man simply because these crappy men are all the men they know.

Evil, ignorant Black man haters take this to extremes, vacillating between telling men how horrible they are and demanding that those same men deliver the things they desire. In search of something called the “Benevolent Thug.”

If we believe what these women say, we must pretend that over the past thirty to forty years, the male side of the Black race has either by sheer will or by force of nature simply fallen down, while the female side has become better than ever.

Whatever the case, no one is asking Black women to fix Black men.

And no one is asking Black women to stop working to improve the lot of Black women.

Really, there are only two things that Black men need Black women to do.

1—Stop telling the world and us what horrible bags of crap you think we are.

2—Stop dating and having children with Black men you know are weak and sorry, so you won’t think we are all that way.

Now, before we all take sides and line up to lob more grenades across the gender divide, let me ask one simple question of the Black women who come off as singularly concerned about the plight of Black females: “Do you really believe that the race can survive if many of us are torn between raising the condition of the community and raising the condition of one sex within the community?

And, if you seriously believe that Black women are far out in front of Black men, are you concerned enough to take decisive and affirmative action to bridge the gender divide?

Contemplate these questions before you accuse me of hating Black women.

Unless you are willing to work for both men AND women, then you care nothing about our people.

This is about getting more of us to see each other. This is about getting more of us to talk to each other instead of at or about each other.

It is about us, which means that most of us should stand together.

The good news is that Black men across the nation are starting to realize that we must come to our own rescue and that we must take action, no matter who is coming to diminish us.

And, Black men are standing up. For the truth. For their families. For each other and contrary to popular opinion, for Black women.

Black men are creating mentoring programs, rites of passage programs and other programs designed to place more Black men in front of Black boys.

The only real assistance we need is to be left alone.

Even if you disagree with us, you should support us by stopping the lies and hate wherever they appear.

Or, you can sit back, hate us and do nothing.

I’m okay with that.

Just, please, don’t get in the way. And stop telling the world how much you hate us. It makes you look bad, too.

Black women, ask yourselves: Are you concerned with the hole that is in the bottom of my end of the boat?

If you are not, then do not complain, as we both continue to sink into a river of despair.

"We ourselves have to lift the levels of our community, the standard of our community to a higher level, make our own society beautiful so that we will be satisfied. We’ve got to change our minds about each other."

-Malcolm X

Darryl James is an award-winning author of the forthcoming powerful anthology “Notes From The Edge.” Discounted Autographed and Numbered Pre-Release copies can be ordered at www.darryljames.com. He released his first mini-movie, “Crack,” and this year, will release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.

WTF?!

2008-07-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm about to get a gun. no really i'm about to!

check out the latest from Plies.

My hands been gettin me in a lot of trouble so...

(Chorus)
Please excuse my hands
They just wanna touch
They just wanna feel
They don’t mean no harm
Baby just excuse my hands (whoa whoa)
Baby please excuse my hands
I apologize they have a one track mind
To squeeze on your behind
Baby just excuse my hands (whoa whoa)
Please excuse my hands

(Plies)
Wit my hands I can make u do a lot of thangs
Have u engagin in some activities u can’t explain
Leave my fingerprints on every inch yo damn frame
Wit dis one finger I could make u get off the chain
Get to lickin n my hands they get they own brain
They wanna touch ya they wanna rub ya they wanna feel yo frame
Run my hands through yo hair n go against yo grain
Let me message ya baby and help ease yo pain
You wanna get comfortable take your shorts off I can help you change
Wanna take my hands off but I cant they jus gon call yo name
If I can’t squeeze ya and I cant hold ya it don’t feel the same
It aint my fault baby my hands is the one to blame

(Chorus)
Please excuse my hands
They just wanna touch
They just wanna feel
They don’t mean no harm
Baby just excuse my hands (whoa whoa)
Baby please excuse my hands
I apologize they have a one track mind
To squeeze on your behind
Baby just excuse my hands (whoa whoa)
Please excuse my hands
[ Please Excuse My Hands lyrics found on http://www.completealbumlyrics.com ]

(Dream)
Imma do ya like this and do ya like that
I promise u gon like the way I touch on you
So jump up on dis biz and let me see that
I promise u gon like da way I feel on you
I’m gonna hump til yo body say "ohhh"
Imma do it til yo mouth breathes "no more"
I said excuse my hands she said "boy stop playin n make love to yo number one fan"

(Jamie Foxx)
Please excuse my hands

(Verse 2)
Before I kiss ya or make love to ya I wanna touch
Can you please face the wall u bout to get strip searched
My hands talkin to me they want now what’s under yo skirt
Let me be the one who do the honors n help u wit yo shirt
My hands don’t like to be unememployed they like to work
I been told my hands are lil Manish they like to flirt
God knows woman the sexy thing u put on is us
My hand cravin yo lil sweet body its gettin worse
I wanna thank you and your body fo helpin me write this verse
My hands will neva leave yo body baby they so loyal
Do me a favor look on the dresser and grab that baby oil
Aint got to be the one that do it my hands gon spoil ya

(Chorus)
Please excuse my hands
They just wanna touch
They just wanna feel
They don’t mean no harm
Baby just excuse my hands (whoa whoa)
Baby please excuse my hands
I apologize they have a one track mind
To squeeze on your behind
Baby just excuse my hands (whoa whoa)
Please excuse my hands

(Dream)
Keep doin it keep doin it keep doin it to me
Keep doin it keep doin it I swear I’ll neva leave
Keep doin it keep doin it keep doin it shawty shawty
Woke up in the spot ah
Yea the boys on fire
I’m wit my nigga plies

Here's what I sent to v103:

To whom it may concern:

I'd like to lodge a complaint as a listener. The new Plies song "Please excuse my hands" is beyond offensive; this song suggests something just short of rape! Are we as women supposed to "excuse" men's unwanted groping of our bodies?! Are we suppose to be cool with men feeling like they can touch us whenever they want? It really shows how men don't even think of women as human beings. If a man said to another man "please excuse my hands" you'd understand that to be a problem. Beyond the homoeroticism implied, men understand that you don't violate another man's personal space like that. Why is this same courtesy not afforded to women? Do women's hands, independent of their owner's instruction, find themselves groping men? Just about every song on the radio suggests that women are only valuable because of how they look and their sexual availability to men. The worse thing you can call a man is a woman or gay, which in our community is read as synonymous. This is crazy! Please read bell hook's essay "Reconstructing Black Masculinity" in her 1992 work Black Looks. she writes, "What might black men do for themselves and for black people if they were not socialized by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy to focus their attention on their penises?"

Hancock--some bull

2008-07-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Sooo problematic: race, class, gender, disability, magical negro syndrome. "Yessa massah, iz go ta jail fo' ya maaasah." The worst movie i've ever seen in my whole black life! Action: Write a letter and say a prayer

Michelle Obama

2008-07-10T11:46:00.001-07:00

What's happening to humanity?

2008-07-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Woman Dies in Hospital While Staff Looks On

Thanks for fwd. this amy. What is wrong with the world today?!!

Brava!!!

2008-06-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

In my email today:

----

Dear Friends:

I am one of the contributors to the anthology Be A Father to Your Child,
which focuses on encouraging healthy fatherhood development in the black
community. We felt it necessary to issue the following statement and petition in
response to the recent verdict in R. Kelly's child pornography trial.

Please read and, if you agree, sign and forward this to your networks.

Sincerely,
Jelani Cobb

*Statement of Black Men Against the Exploitation of Black Women*

Six years have gone by since we first heard the allegations that R. Kelly had filmed himself having sex with an underage girl. During that time we have seen the videotape being hawked on street corners in Black communities, as if the dehumanization of one of our own was not at stake. We have seen entertainers rally around him and watched his career reach new heights despite the grave possibility that he had molested and urinated on a 13-year old girl. We saw African Americans purchase millions of his records despite the long history of such charges swirling around the singer. Worst of all, we have witnessed the sad vision of Black people cheering his acquittal with a fervor usually reserved for community heroes and shaken our heads at the stunning lack of outrage over the verdict in the broader Black community.

Over these years, justice has been delayed and it has been denied. Perhaps a jury can accept R. Kelly's absurd defense and find "reasonable doubt" despite the fact that the film was shot in his home and featured a man who was identical to him. Perhaps they doubted that the young woman in the courtroom was, in fact, the same person featured in the ten year old video. But there is no doubt about this: some young Black woman was filmed being degraded and exploited by a much older Black man, some daughter of our community was left unprotected, and somewhere another Black woman is being molested, abused or raped and our callous handling of this case will make it that much more difficult for her to come forward and be believed. And each of us is responsible for it.

We have proudly seen the community take to the streets in defense of Black men who have been the victims of police violence or racist attacks, but that righteous outrage only highlights the silence surrounding this verdict.

We believe that our judgment has been clouded by celebrity-worship; we believe that we are a community in crisis and that our addiction to sexism has reached such an extreme that many of us cannot even recognize child molestation when we see it.

We recognize the absolute necessity for Black men to speak in a single, unified voice and state something that should be absolutely obvious: that the women of our community are full human beings, that we cannot and will not tolerate the poisonous hatred of women that has already damaged our families, relationships and culture.

We believe that our daughters are precious and they deserve our protection. We believe that Black men must take responsibility for our contributions to this terrible state of affairs and make an effort to change our lives and our communities.

This is about more than R. Kelly's claims to innocence. *It is about our survival as a community*. Until we believe that our daughters, sisters, mothers, wives and friends are worthy of justice, until we believe that rape, domestic violence and the casual sexism that permeates our culture are absolutely unacceptable, until we recognize that the first priority of any community is the protection of its young, we will remain in this tragic dead-end.

We ask that you:

o Sign your name if you are a Black male who supports this statement:

http://www.petitiononline.com/rkelly/petition.html

o Forward this statement to your entire network and ask other Black males to sign as well

o Make a personal pledge to never support R. Kelly again in any form or fashion, unless he publicly apologizes for his behavior and gets help for his long-standing sexual conduct, in his private life and in his music

o Make a commitment in your own life to never to hit, beat, molest, rape, or exploit Black females in any way and, if you have, to take ownership for your behavior, seek emotional and spiritual help, and, over time, become a voice against all forms of Black female exploitation

o Challenge other Black males, no matter their age, class or educational background, or status in life, if they engage in behavior and language that is exploitative and or disrespectful to Black females in any way. If you say nothing, you become just as guilty.

o Learn to listen to the voices, concerns, needs, criticisms, and challenges of Black females, because they are our equals, and because in listening we will learn a new and different kind of Black manhood

We support the work of scholars, activists and organizations that are helping to redefine Black manhood in healthy ways. Additional resources are listed below.

Books:
Who's Gonna Take the Weight, Kevin Powell
New Black Man, Mark Anthony Neal
Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot, Pearl Cleage
Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality, Rudolph Byrd and Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Films:
I Am A Man: Black Masculinity in America, by Byron Hurt
Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, by Byron Hurt
NO! The Rape Documentary, by Aishah Simmons

Organizations
The 2025 Campaign: www.2025bmb.org
Men Stopping Violence: www.menstoppingviolence.org

R. Kelly Aquitted

2008-06-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with the world?! Any thoughts on how we should respond to this?

He's so smug about the situation too! In a recent guest spot on Raheem DeVaughn's "Customer remix" Kelly says "Thirsty? I got some bomb ass lemonade . . ." Really?!!!

Sasha and Malia Obama

2008-06-13T09:22:00.001-07:00

This is just painful. More at Michelle Watch

Miso’ Soup: On the liquid misogyny the media feeds us

2008-06-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I’ve got something new that I’m heated about. Tommy Lee and Ludacris have an ad on television promoting the new Planet Green TV Network. In it, they verbally spar over which of them is more “green” with Ludacris brandishing a chain purportedly made from recycle rims and Lee pointing to a tattoo of his etched with soy ink. Luda then says, “ . . . you remember the hot tub right? I filled it up with all women instead of water, saved 150 gallons.”
WTF?!
This pisses me off for several reasons.
1. Women < 150 gallons of water. I don’t think I can find a better example of men seeing women as objects rather than human beings. Women are used to replace water! They are in fact less valuable than water and therefore an acceptable, supposedly humorous substitute. I think there are a host of legitimately inanimate objects that could be used to replace water but what’s cleverer than having a rapper known for his problematic depictions of women delivering said phrase?
2. People green lighted this shit. Lots of folks saw this before it appeared on my television screen and apparently thought it was funny. This is really scary. This is yet another drop (or maybe splash) into the bucket of women’s degradation in the public sphere.
3. Male celebrities telling us how to be green, through a glorified pissing contest. I don’t really understand the green movement as being about one-upsmanship, particularly not among the wealthy who are the biggest users/abusers of resources in this country that uses/abuses more than any other. What about them setting some real goals that would make a difference like no more plastic bottles on tour, energy efficient stage lighting, or heaven forbid, no more private jet setting? The commercial sets up the green movement to be about reducing one’s individual impact instead of generating collective strategies for changing how we live and consume as a whole.
4. Why is there no public outcry? Even as I’ve mentioned it to friends I don’t get the level of outrage I’m expecting. Have we become so desensitized that even blatant woman hatred elicits no reaction? When did misogyny become so innocuous that it could be used to support social justice causes? This commercial maybe isn’t anything new in that regard; just think of PETA. But what does it say that our movements are so disparate that one will sell out the other for its own ends?

If you’re pissed please email Bryan Hughes, VP of Communications for Planet Green at Bryan_Hughes@discovery.com.

Why Al Why?

2008-04-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Why would this ever be an appropriate metaphor? I'm pissed! Aren't you supposed to pretend you care about women al?

Al on the "abortion of justice"

This is just too much!!!!

2008-03-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Do black children need this?!!! there aren't even words sometimes

Tyra Must Be Stopped!

2008-02-29T06:17:00.000-08:00

Ok this is just ridiculous!!! Really can we do a letter writing campaign please?! She is out of control!!!!

http://shoppingblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/02/americas-next-top-model-posing.html
http://crunktastical.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-must-i-sigh.html

Bros before Hoes

2008-02-05T18:07:00.001-08:00

I could not believe this image the first time I saw it (which was a few seconds ago). All I can say is wow. It's crazy that misogyny, patriarchy, and the overwhelming concept that race always comes first has created such an image (which is in reference to such an important political event). I know that some may just think its a cute little thing. However, for me I see the western worlds historical views, cultural values, and social hierarchy between race and gender clearly being displayed.

Western World Social and Cultural Values in Simple Mathematical Equations:

Male > Female
White > Black
White Male > Black Male > White Female (this one can be a little tricky depending on the situation at hand)
Black Male > Black Female < White Female
White Male > White Female
Black Male > White Female
Race > Gender

Packer Bikini Girls and Sissy's

2008-01-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday January 20th, while watching the NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers, I was reminded of the many ways that homophobia thrives within American society.

In an attempt to show their proud for the Green Bay Packers, a group of young women (Packer Bikini Girls) wore yellow bikini tops during temps of -4° and a windchill of -24° at the historically sold out Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In response to this, an anchorman said "Now doesn't that make me feel like a sissy." I couldn't believe it.

WTF?!!!

2007-10-31T05:44:00.000-07:00

Since when are these folks in any position to try and make a song about the trials and tribulations of sex work?

Artist: Wyclef Jean f/ Akon, Lil Wayne, Nia
Album: The Second Wind (2007)
Song: Sweetest Girl

Lyrics :

[Intro: (Wyclef Jean (Lil Wayne))]
Some live for the bill
Some kill for the bill
She wined for the bill
Grind for the bill
(and she used to be the sweetest girl)
Some steal for the bill, if they got to pay they bill
(and she used to be the sweetest girl)
Tonight Wyclef, Akon, Weezy and Nia

[Verse 1: (Wyclef Jean)]
High school she was that girl that make me do the hula hoop around the gym
(Just to get a peek again, she's a 10)
High school she was
That girl that make me do the hula hoop around the gym
(Just to get a peek again, she's a 10)
Never thought she would come and work for the president
Mr. George Washington (where my money at?)
She thought he'd call (where my money at?)
She had a good day, bad day, sunny day, rainy day
All she wanna know is (where my money at?)
Closed legs don't get fed, go out there and make my bread
All you wanna know is (where my money at?)
She ended up in a road car, bruised up, scarred hard
All you wanna know is (where my money at?)
She thought he'd call (where my money at?)

[Chorus: (Akon) ] (x2)
Cos I'mma tell you like you told me
Cash rules everything around me
Singin' dollar dollar bill yall(dollar, dollar bill yall)
Singin' dollar dollar bill yall(dollar, dollar bill yall)

[Verse 2: (Akon)]
Pimpin' got harder cos, hoes got smarter
On the strip is something they don't wanna be a part of
Rather be up in the club shakin' for a thug
For triple times the money and spending it how they wanna
They got they mind on they money, money on they mind
They got they finger on the trigger, hand on the nines
See everyday they feel the struggle, but staying on they grind
And ain’t nobody takin’ from us, and that’s the bottom line

But I know there's a drop in the block
You move slow
You getting' pressure from cops
you don't know not to lay low
Because 25 to life is no joke
To all my real gorillas thuggin'
On top of corners every day strugglin'
All the beautiful women getting' money
Washin' them dollar bills like laundry

[Verse 3: (Lil Wayne)]
(Weezy) She used to be (she used to be the sweetest girl)

She used to be the sweetest girl ever
Now she like sour ameretta
She wears a dress to the T like the letter
And if you make it rain she will be under the weather
She used to run track back in high school
Now she tricks off the track right by school
She takes a loss cos she don't wanna see her child lose
So respect her, I'll pay up for the time used
And then she runs to the pastor
And he tells her there will be a new chapter
But she feels no different after
And then she asks him…

[Chorus: (Akon) ] (x2)
Cos’ I’ma tell you like Wu told me
Cash rules everything around me
Singin’ dollar dollar bill y’all (dollar, dollar bill y’all)
Singin’ dollar dollar bill y’all(dollar, dollar bill y’all)

[Outro: (Wyclef Jean)]
Some live for the bill
Some kill for the bill (where my money at?)
She wined for the bill
Grind for the bill (where my money at?)
Some steal for the bill, if they got to pay the bill (where my money at?)
Tonight Wyclef, Akon, Weezy and Nia

My People, My People

2007-10-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

You thought paper bag tests were over? Think again. A Detroit nightclub promoter released this flyer for an upcoming party. (After a huge internet backlash, the party has been cancelled.)

Hip Hop vs. America

2007-10-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

October 3, 2007

Dear Debra Lee:

As two of the so called “Nelly Protesters,” we feel compelled to speak after the egregious presentation of “Hip Hop vs. America” on BET. Though purportedly trying to redress the sexism, misogyny, and materialism of hip hop videos, the program actually reified all of these by not engaging with feminist women panelists, or panelists that did not invoke a kind of celebrity worship. Once again the voices of young black women were marginalized in preference for a largely older black male voice of authority. Even the women panelists who were present were talked over and addressed less.

It was very disheartening to hear Nelly completely misrepresent the events leading up to the so called Nelly Protest. Upon hearing about Nelly’s desire to do a bone marrow drive on campus, the Spelman Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance placed signs on campus calling attention to his misogynistic lyrical and video content. Apparently, the foundation had been to campus earlier that week and seen the signs that the FMLA put up all over campus. They scheduled an emergency meeting with the Spelman Student Government Association and requested that no protesters be at the drive. SGA could not provide this kind of guarantee. The foundation then left the room so that SGA could vote on whether or not the drive could continue if, at the foundation's request, Nelly agreed to participate in a forum to address student concerns. Despite a unanimous vote to continue with the drive under the new stipulations, when the foundation came back they had already decided to cancel the drive. Our intention was to do exactly what Nelly stated on the program. We planned to have him come to campus and meet with a small group of concerned students, something he was unwilling to do. Not only that, we still had a bone marrow drive and all the students initially involved registered to donate bone marrow! The foundation was apparently so upset about this issue that THEY went to the press, saying that Spelman canceled the drive because of the video "Tip Drill."

Aside from this factual error, both Nelly and T. I. continued to skirt the issue of their own responsibility. Yes, America is racist and sexist. Yes, America is materialistic but that doesn’t make it right! That doesn’t mean that we as black women should have to negotiate a world that has historical portrayed us to be less than human and continues to do so in a genre that should counter that stereotype.

We aren’t asking for “positive” images as we know that this does not necessarily ensure representations that reflect the multitude of ways black womanhood is embodied. But why is it that the only way T. I. and Nelly can talk about or depict us are bitches and hos? How does framing the conversation as though they are not talking about us make it ok? If you are talking about any women in a derogatory way it’s a problem.

We understand that to some extent, rappers are the puppets and ideological whipping boys of a largely untargeted white capitalist power structure. We know that Philippe Dauman of Viacom, Doug Morris of Universal Music Group, and Rolf Schmidt-Holtz of Sony/BMG names aren’t often mentioned when we discuss the problematic state of rap music though we do realize and wish to hold them accountable for their own culpability in all of this. Unfortunately Nelly and T.I. missed an opportunity to recognize their own role in supporting and perpetuating misogyny in hip hop on the program. Their role may be that of individuals, but it is still crucially important. It is absurd for these artists not to recognize their complicity. Seduced by financial incentives, these artists are participating in the production and distribution of these images at the expense of all black people.

These images and lyrics, that suggest that black women are only hypersexual objects for male enjoyment are broadcast globally and are the primary images and representations of African-American women that people see. It reinforces stereotypes that white Europeans had about black women since we were “discovered” on the shores of Africa. Black men are portrayed as violent, brutal, equally hypersexual, and materialistic. It suggests that we have no hopes no dreams outside material gains and sex.

It makes it seem as though black musicians can’t rhyme about anything other than sex, money, and violence. We are tired of trying to defend hip hop when it becomes indefensible. We are tired of hearing music that assaults our very humanity. We are tired of hearing girls complain about being assaulted in clubs, or by partners, or strangers, of being called bitches and hos, of being cursed out because we didn’t want to give someone a number, of trying to reason with record companies and artists and convince them their actions impact the daily lives of black women in this country and abroad.

Now we find it is no longer a racially unifying act of resistance to challenge these images within the black community, but rather a divisive battle that pits black men against black women, artists and cultural critics, etc. The very title of the program “Hip Hop vs. America” presented a different agenda and encouraged this division which contributed to the defensive manner of some of the panelists. Spaces for unifying conversations and healing must be generated, where perspectives from women are equally honored and respected. Panelist who can speak to that sort of nuanced and complex conversation were not present. What about hip hop scholars Joan Morgan or Tricia Rose, MC and hip hop activist Toni Blackman, self-proclaimed feminist men Byron Hurt and Mark Anthony Neal?

We speak out because once again our actions were silenced and misread. We speak out because once again we are talked about instead of being included in the conversation. We speak out so that we can say we did, even if no one is listening.

Sincerely,

Moya Bailey and Leana Cabral

Moya.Leana@gmail.com

Rape in W.V.

2007-09-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

From NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/12captive.html?ex=1190260800&en=f20ce746d6e4b5fa&ei=5070

Woman, 20, Was Imprisoned and Tortured, Police Say
By CHRIS STRATTON and IAN URBINA

LOGAN, W.Va., Sept. 11 — A 20-year-old woman was held captive for more than a week in a mobile home, where she was raped, stabbed and tortured by at least a half-dozen people, the police said. Sheriff’s deputies rescued her on Saturday, and she remained hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for more than 30 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything of this nature,” the Logan County sheriff, Eddie Hunter, said.

Six people, including a mother and her son and a mother and her daughter, have been charged in the case.

The police said the people charged, all of whom are white, yelled racial slurs at the woman, who is black, during some of the attacks. The woman endured horrific torture, according to court documents. She was raped by multiple men, some of whom poured scalding water on her during the assaults, according to the criminal complaints.

She was forced to lick up blood, eat animal feces and drink water from a toilet, the documents said, and she was also stabbed repeatedly in the leg and was told that if she tried to leave, she would be killed.

The police said that more than a week ago, the victim went with Bobby R. Brewster, 24, who she believed was a friend, to the trailer where he lives with his mother, Frankie Lee Brewster, 49, in Big Creek, in the northern end of Logan County.

On Tuesday, the police were interviewing the victim further about two more people she said were involved.

On Saturday, Logan County deputies received a tip about a woman being held against her will at the Brewster residence. A person working in the area had heard disturbing noises coming from the trailer and seen the victim with cuts on her leg through the window, the police said.

“Upon the deputies’ arrival, they found Mrs. Frankie Brewster sitting on the front porch,” a police report says. The deputies asked Mrs. Brewster if anyone else was at the residence and she said she was alone.

As she was talking, the police documents say, Mrs. Brewster got up and stepped toward the door, when a woman inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out and said, “Help me.” The woman’s eyes were bruised and she had four large stab wounds on her left leg, the police said.

Police documents say Mrs. Brewster admitted to holding the victim at the trailer against her will and beating her.

The victim was taken to Logan Regional Hospital and then to the General Hospital of Charleston Area Medical Center, where she underwent surgery for her leg wounds.

Mrs. Brewster was charged with sexual assault, kidnapping, malicious wounding and giving false statements to an officer. Mr. Brewster was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.

The Brewster family and their trailer has a history of violent crime, the police said.

Mr. Brewster killed his stepfather there when he was 12, the authorities said, and served time at a juvenile correction facility.

In July 1994, Mrs. Brewster shot and killed an 84-year-old woman she was looking after, also in the trailer, according to court records.

Mrs. Brewster, who was charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served six years at a state correctional facility. She was paroled in 2000.

In 2005, two men got into a fight outside the trailer, the police said, ending with a fatal stabbing.

In January, the police were again called to the trailer, where they found a man who had been slashed across his abdomen; the man survived, according to court documents, and Mr. Brewster was a witness in that case.

Also being held in the case of the young woman were Danny J. Combs, 20, who was charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding; George A. Messer, 27, who was charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery; Karen Burton, 46, who was charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony; and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, who was charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery. The four were being held in $100,000 bond each.

The Brewsters were being held pending bond hearings.

The authorities said they were still deciding whether to file additional charges, of hate crimes, against the defendants.

“The whole family is shocked,” a sister of the victim said.

Relatives said the victim has mild learning disabilities but graduated from high school. The relatives would not comment on whether the victim was living at home or had a job.

Chris Stratton reported from Logan, W.Va., and Ian Urbina from Washington.

CONTEXT for the NY Post, post

2007-05-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

After reading a sister's comments. I realized my lack of responsibility here in not giving context for my intentions with that post. Here is my response:

Thank you so much for commenting on fucked up shit, the blog.

Your remarks make me realize that sometimes I do need to give context for what I do post, I thank you for that.

Having said that I would like to note that I don't know what text was written within the New York Post. My concern was the text of the cover of the post. I think your comments reflect exactly the sentiment The Post wanted to evoke: Yeah Don Imus got fired for racist/sexist comments but look at who we are dealing with, black women who lie about rape. Therefore prompting us not to " care" what is in the Post (which is shoddy journalism anyway) but able to walk away "mad that she lied."

Did she lie is the real question? Since when do the voices of white boys and a white judiciary system actually reflect the truth of what happens when Black women are the victims of sexualized or any other kind of violence? Society will tell us no. Black women don't get raped... they are all too willing to give it up. History will tell us otherwise, that the nation, and in many cases our own communities are complicit in violent acts against Black women.

The Post cover is an explicit example of how mental, institutional, and intimate violence is excused when it is perpetrated on the bodies of Black women. Of all the characters on the front of the Post: Imus, The Duke Rapists (if they can call her a lier I can call them rapists), and the Student from NCC, the student from NCC is the villain. This is entirely intentional.

Again thank you for bringing my attention to the fact that visual analysis is necessary for accompanying my posts. I was lazy and frustrated at the time of the post, and simply had no words. I will post my comments here, so that my intentions will be better understood.

My Girl Onome said it best

2007-04-13T12:01:00.001-07:00

As if the NY Post could be any more crass...

free Shaquanda Cotton

2007-03-17T07:03:00.001-07:00

this is the "fabulous" state of texas that i live in... (taken from another blog) we need to start a letter-writing campaign to give her support through this

paris, texas. in plain view

March 13th, 2007 Fredric · 37 Comments

the one thing i love most about reading online is the ability to find little nuggets of information or interesting stories without having to flip through a giant stack of recyclable paper with messy ink. yesterday was no exception when i stumbled upon a story in the tribe (may need free signup) about a small town in texas that seems to relish in its violent racial past.

paris, texas is the home of the Paris Fairgrounds, a stage where thousands of white ’spectators’ would gather to burn and lynch blacks as if at some sort of carnival. today, it is a highly segregated town that has implicity dared anyone to question how it chooses to treat blacks that live in the area.

the facts:

“black parents have filed at least a 12 discrimination complaints against the school district with the federal Education Department, asserting that their children, who constitute 40 percent of the district’s nearly 4,000 students, were singled out for excessive discipline”
the paris public schools are under investigation by the U.S. Education Department
19-year-old white man, convicted last july of criminally negligent homicide for killing a 54-year-old black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck, was sentenced in Paris to probation
judge chuck superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family’s house, to probation
a 14-year-old black freshman, shaquanda cotton, shoved a 58-year-old teacher’s aide at paris high school in a dispute over entering the building before the school day had officially begun. she was tried in march 2006 in the town’s juvenile court, convicted of “assault on a public servant” and sentenced by the same judge chuck superville to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21

yes, you read that last part right. i’ll let it sink in for a second.

so its 2007, one state is drafting formal legislation to apologize for slavery, and another is trying to flex its ‘dont mess with texas’ ego. while i complained earlier of how dismayed i was that some black blogs tend to be angry, this type of reality justifies that sentiment, and rightfully so. while i’ve never been the most articulate when it comes to expressing the complete shock of ‘in plain view’ racism, i can honestly say that this type of white arrogance and hate needs to be called out and handled swiftly. but how? the article mentions that naacp is on the case (rolling eyes), but i feel like more, MUCH MORE needs to be done.

if you get to the end of the article, the turmoil suffered by shaquanda in juvenile prison, where 95% of the offenders are repeat and violent (read: real crimes), has caused her to attempt suicide on her life 3 times. 3 times! a 14-year old, my little sister, is trying to kill herself because a racist bigot of a judge put her in prison for shoving someone. SHOVING!

so what can be done? link to this article. publicize this story. let’s see what blogging black can really do. go to the governor’s page at http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact and let him know how you feel and how this is completely bullshit.

free shaquanda cotton. NOW!

i ask that some of my more articulate readers post a statement in the comments that we can all use on the contact form on the texas governor page.

Smack that all on the floor

2007-02-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Akon has his own diamond mine!

Black Snake Moan

2007-02-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.moanmovie.com/

I don't really even have the words

"But i didn't say Nigger . . ."

2007-01-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

I've seen two recent pop culture incidences of white people not saying nigger.

In a segment on Best Week Ever Doug Benson, the Pop Culture Bachelor did not give a rose to Tigger because he punched a kid in the face at Disney world. The segment ended with Benson saying "Tigger, please!"

I also Subscribe to an environmental pop culture e-zine and this was the blurb on one of their more recent stories.

Art attack

With more subtlety than a "wash me" message, reverse graffiti artists have hit the streets to take a bite out of grime. And as to the softer side of urban art? Knitta, please.

Is it just me or is this a sign of worse things to come?

controversy

2007-01-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

"omnipotent administrators...are generally considered... weak, delicate, and effeminate, with the affectations of demonstrative homosexuals. the serfs and peasants are...physically strong, sturdy, hearty, fecund--'supermasculine.'" --e. cleaver, soul on ice

*note: omnipotent administrators-- white men

(take a hint from your own picture, ike.)

i just can't believe all the things people say...

(don't know who to begin your essay? try an anecdote.)

the first time anyone ever called me a nigger, i was eight years old. though they had married in january, my mother and stepfather took their honeymoon in the summer of 1988, and my grandmother was put in charge of my sister and me. one day, we headed to the big lots at southgate plaza, a shopping center on the south side of fort wayne, indiana near many black--and white--neighborhoods. as we walked towards the store, i noticed a young white boy sitting on the hood of what was presumably his parents' car; i could see who i assumed to be his father through the dirty windshield, sitting in the driver's seat. the boy, undoubtedly younger than i, lay on the hood, in black sneakers and shorts, and shouted towards us, "hey, you niggers!" my grandmother instructed my sister and me to ignore him, and ushered us into the store.

my second brush with racist banter was a few years later at camp potawatomi. this time it was a bit more insidious, subtle. my parents had sent my stepsister and me there for a week during the summer between my fifth and sixth grade year. one day, the camp counselors instructed us to return to our cabins and clean up a little, as we would be having guests at the campsite. as my white friend and i trudged back to our cabin from the dining hall (funny. i guess i've always had a one white girl quota.), we complained about having to get cleaned up (as well as two young campers could) for a group of potential strangers. after i said something to the effect of, "we don't even know who these people are," she replied, "yeah, i mean, they could be black or something." realizing, albeit too late, that her eleven year old compatriot was black, my friend immediately apologized for her remark. outside of mumbling, "it's ok," i didn't say much after that.

i was twenty-three the first time anyone ever called me a dyke.

an ex-girlfriend and i were in my car, heading back to hyde park after having a sunday night dinner on the north side of chicago. it was a relatively pleasant summer evening, and as we drove south on lake shore drive, my then-girlfriend leaned over from the passenger's side, and kissed me. just as she did this, i noticed the headlights of the car behind me moving out of my rearview, and into my driver's side mirror. the driver sped up, and as they passed us, the black woman in the passenger's side of the car leaned her head and chest out of the car window, and yelled "dykes!" i went cold. my girlfriend, having neither seen nor heard the utterance, questioned my sudden change in mood. i didn't tell her. i couldn't.

what i remember most about that summer evening four years ago was my response. i was as silent, as shocked, as nervous, as confused, and as numb as i had been when i was eight and eleven. i often suggest that sometimes someone can say something to you so insensitive, so racially charged that you are shocked into silence. i think about the time a fellow student in a english class sought me out to talk about how she had the greatest fried chicken and collard greens during her trip to the southside of chicago as an example of this; weeks later she would take it upon herself to add her version of "negro dialect" to a story i'd written about an obviously middle class black family. yet i was just as upset when a black woman--who had gazed into the privacy of my car-- screamed a homophobic epithet at me. and it is with this that i think of isaiah washington.

the long-windedness continues here. or here.

Sick Sad World

2006-11-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

Mom charged with baby's microwave death

This story disturbed me for the following reasons:
1. There is something wrong in the world when anyone puts a baby in a microwave.
2. The final statement of the article seems to say "Well another mother did it, she could've done it too."
3. The CNN video cast started with a Lexus Ad!
4. Is it me or did this story not seem balanced?

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- A mother was arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn daughter by microwaving the baby in an oven.

China Arnold, 26, was jailed Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month-old baby to a hospital. Bail was set Tuesday at $1 million.

"We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death," said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office.

He said the evidence included high-heat internal injuries and the absence of external burn marks on the baby, Paris Talley.

Arnold was arrested soon after the baby's death in August 2005, then was released while authorities investigated further. Betz said the case was difficult because "there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings."

The death was ruled a homicide caused by hyperthermia, or high body temperature. The absence of external burns ruled out an open flame, scalding water or a heating pad as the cause, Betz said.

Arnold's lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said his client had nothing to do with her child's death and was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved. (Watch the mother's lawyer insist she's innocent )

"China -- as a mother and a person -- was horrified that such an act could occur," Rion said.

The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child's father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said. The mother didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.

Arnold has three other children.

In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven. Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999.

Experts said that Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.

You Tube is the best Pedagogical tool ever!

2006-11-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

I love it!

Just when I had convinced myself to vote

2006-11-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

this fuckin campaign commercial comes on

Are you fucking serious?

.......

F*ck Luda!

2006-10-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

This song makes me so angry. it's Luda's attempt at redemption. it's his way of saying he cares about the little girls he's telling to shake their money makers (literally played two songs before this one on V103). I've added my comments in red.

(feat. Mary J. Blige)
Ye..and it go a lil sometin like...
[Hook - Mary J. Blige]
Runaway love
Runaway love
Runaway love
Runaway love
Runaway love
Runaway love
Runaway love
Runaway love

[Verse 1 - Ludacris]
Now little Lisa is only 9 years old
Shes tryin to figure out why the world is so cold
Why shes all all alone and they never met her family
Mamas always gone and she never met her daddy
Part of her is missin' and nobody will listen
Mama on drugs gettin high up in the kitchen
Bringin home men at different hours of the night
Startin with some laughs--usually endin in a fight
Sneak into her room while her mamas knocked out
Tryin to have his way and little Lisa says 'ouch' (WTF!)
She tries to resist but then all he does is beat her
Tries to tell her mom but her mama don't believe her
Lisa is stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothin else to do but some get some clothes and pack
She says shes bout to run away and never come back.

[Hook - Mary J. Blige] (so is this song telling these little girls that they should run away from home?)
Runaway love [x8]

[Verse 2 - Ludacris]
Little Nicole is only 10 years old
Shes steady tryin to figure why the world is so cold
Why shes not pretty and nobody seems to like her
Alcoholic step dad always wanna strike her
Yells and abuses, leaves her with some bruises
Teachers ask questions she makin up excuses
Bleedin on the inside, cryin on the out
Its only one girl really knows what she about
Her name is lil Stacy and they become friends
Promise that they'll always be tight til the end
Until one day lil Stacy gets shot
A drive by bullet went stray up on her block
Now Nicole stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothin else to do but some get her clothes and pack
She says shes bout to run away and never come back. (run away to where?! and do you think by just telling these stories you've done something? What are we supposed to do now that we know about Lisa and Nicole?)

[Hook - Mary J. Blige]
Runaway love [x8]

[Verse 3 - Ludacris]
Little Erica is eleven years old
Shes steady tryin to figure why the world is so cold
So she pops x to get rid of all the pain
Plus shes havin sex with a boy whos sixteen
Emotions run deep and she thinks shes in love
So theres no protection hes usin no glove
Never thinkin bout the consequences of her actions (right b/c the 11 yr. old girl is the one who should be thinking about consequences, not the 16 yr. old boy!)
Livin for today and not tomorrows satisfaction
The days go by and her belly gets big
The father bails out he aint ready for a kid
Knowin her mama will blow it all outta proportion
Plus she lives poor so no money for abortion
Erica is stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothin else to do but get her clothes and pack
She say shes about to run away and never come back.

[Hook - Mary J. Blige]
Runaway love [repeats til end]

So of course when you go to a lyrics site they don't have everything and often mess up and omit things, so I wanted to provide the ad libs.

luda says I want you to close your eyes, and imagine that you are running away with me and when we come back, everything will be all right, open your eyes . . .
WTF!! these pre-teens are supposed to runaway with a grown ass man, and when they come back everything's all right? Ludacris that's ludicrous!

Mary sings Don't Runaway . . . I'll runaway with you if you want me too . . . (3x)
Which is it Mary?! Should I stay or are you coming with me?

This song is just social irresponsible. What real solutions are offered? What is a girl going through these things supposed to get from this song? They should runaway? to where? And if they did, Mary and Luda won't be there!!!

Stripper Pole for girls

2006-10-31T08:34:00.000-08:00

Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of "destroying children's innocence".

UT Law School...

2006-10-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

A little long, but worth the read...

When one of the first-year University of Texas law students who
participated in a "ghetto fabulous" party posted pictures on the Web, we
saw the ugly face of white privilege and the racism in which it is
rooted. But the depth of the white supremacy problem at the University -
and in mainstream institutions more generally - is also evident in the
polite way in which the University administration chastised the
students.

While the thoughtless actions of young adults acting out the racism of
the culture are disturbing, the thoughtful, but depoliticized, response
from the law school is distressing. The actions of both groups in this
affair are a painful reminder of the depth of white society's commitment
to white supremacy.

This controversy is not unique to UT. It seems that every year students
at a prestigious university - the University of Chicago last year,
Cornell in 2004, and Texas A&M in 2003 - hold one of these parties, in
which white students revel in what they believe to be the behavior of
the black and brown people of the "ghetto."

The student from the UT party who posted the photos has taken them off
the Web, but news reports describe a party in which the students
"carried 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor and wore Afro wigs, necklaces
with large medallions and name tags bearing historically black and
Hispanic names." No one has contested that description.

The motivations and views of participants may vary, but these parties
have two consistent features: One, white people mock African-American
and Hispanic people through stereotypes of the residents of low-income
urban areas, while at the same time enjoying the feeling of temporarily
adopting these poses. Two, the white folks typically do it without
pausing to ponder what right they have as members of a dominant racial
class to poach in this fashion on the lives of people in a subordinated
racial class.

In other words, white people find pleasure in insulting non-white people
while at the same time safely "slumming" for cheap thrills in that
non-white world, all the time oblivious to the moral and political
implications.

Also typical is a tepid reaction from administrators, who tend to avoid
the contentious race politics at the core of the problem. At UT, the
e-mail that went out to all law students from Dean Larry Sager is
revealing.

Let me be clear that this critique is not focused on the dean, or any
other administrator involved. Sager has a distinguished record as a
teacher and is a widely recognized constitutional scholar who has
published important work on civil liberties, especially freedom of
religion. He consulted other administrators and students before
communicating to the entire student body, and his commitment to equality
and diversity is clear.

Still, Sager's characterization of the incident is troubling. His e-mail
to students doesn't use the terms "racism" or "white supremacy." The
only reference to the racial politics of "ghetto fabulous" is the
description of the party as being "named in a way that was easily
understood to have negative racial overtones" and a reminder that being
"racially insensitive" is inappropriate. While many of the students at
the party may not have thought they were being racist, it's essential
that we name such activities as rooted in white people's sense of
privilege and entitlement, the result of historical and contemporary
racism in a white-supremacist culture.

This language is crucial. Even with the gains of the civil-rights
movement, U.S. society is still white supremacist in material terms
(there are deep, enduring racialized disparities in measures of wealth
and well-being) and ideology (many white people continue to believe that
the culture and politics of Europe are inherently superior). To pretend
that things such as a ghetto party are not rooted in those racist
realities is to ignore fundamental moral and political issues in an
unjust society. It's not about "negative racial overtones" - it's about
racism, whether conscious or not. It's not about being "racially
insensitive" - it's about support for white supremacy, whether intended
or not.

The dean's e-mail to law students goes on to give three reasons the
party was "thoughtless."

First, Sager suggests that some students "might be seriously offended by
the party, and especially by the pictures taken at the event." No doubt
many people were offended, and we all should avoid unnecessary offense
to others. But the key problem is not that such images are offensive but
that they are part of an oppressive system of white supremacy. In a
pluralist society, we all can expect to be offended by some things other
people say and do. Such offense becomes an important political issue
when connected to the ways in which some people are systematically
devalued and discriminated against.

Racist, sexist, and heterosexist images and words are a problem not
merely because they offend but because they help keep non-white people,
women, and lesbians and gays in subordinated positions. Framing the
problem of oppressive systems as a question of offensiveness often leads
people to argue that the solution is for the targets of the offensive
speech or actions to be less sensitive, rather than changing the
oppressive system. Sager's e-mail doesn't suggest that, but it could
play into that common feeling among people in the dominant classes. We
live in a world in which the legitimate concerns of non-white people
about racist expression and actions are often met by white people
saying, "Stop whining - get over it." In such a world, white people
trying to resist racism should be careful not to do anything that could
contribute to that.

Second, the e-mail suggests that the partygoers didn't consider "the
potential harm they were causing to UT Law" by doing something that
could make some people "feel uncomfortable simply because of who they
are." Most would agree that it's important at a public institution of
higher education for all people to feel accepted as part of the
university community, but the real harm is not to the institution but to
the people who are targeted. By highlighting the effect of this on "UT
Law," Sager risks elevating the institution above the principles
involved and may well leave people wondering if the university isn't
worried most about its image.

Finally, and most important, the dean's message warns the partygoers
that they failed to consider "the extraordinary damage they could do to
their own careers" in a society in which those who employ lawyers might
not want to hire people who engage in such conduct. Sager warns that it
is "genuinely foolhardy to engage in conduct (and even more foolhardy to
proudly disseminate proof that you have done so) that could jeopardize
your ability to practice law." That's certainly true, though it's also
true there are many places in Texas (and around the country) where the
good old boys in power would find no problem with this kind of "harmless
fun." There are no doubt lots of practicing attorneys who enjoy similar
kinds of fun themselves.

But whatever the case, should we be stressing to students that the
reason they should not be white supremacists is that it might hurt their
careers? What does such a message convey to students and to the
community?

Framing the problem of oppressive systems as a question of offensiveness
often leads people to argue that the solution is for the targets of the
offensive speech or actions to be less sensitive, rather than changing
the oppressive system. Sager's e-mail doesn't suggest that, but it could
play into that common feeling among people in the dominant classes by
focusing on offensiveness instead of racism and white supremacy.

What's missing in this official response is a clear statement that these
law students, many of whom go on to join the power elite running our
society, have engaged in behavior that is racist. Whatever their
motivations in planning or attending the party, they have demonstrated
that they have internalized a white-supremacist ideology. When these
students are making decisions in business, government and education, how
will such white supremacy manifest itself? And who will be hurt by that?

Here's what we should say to students: The problem with a racist ghetto
party isn't that it offends some people or tarnishes the image of UT or
may hurt careers. The problem is that it's racist. When you engage in
such behavior you are deepening the racism of a white-supremacist
culture, and that's wrong. It violates the moral and political
principles that we all say we endorse. It supports and strengthens
social systems and institutions that hurt people.

These incidents, and the universities' responses, also raise a
fundamental question about what we white people mean when we say we
support "diversity." Does that mean we are willing to invite some
limited number of non-white people into our space, but with the implicit
understanding that it will remain a white-defined space? Or does it mean
a commitment to changing these institutions into truly multicultural
places? If we're serious about that, it has to mean not an occasional
nod to other cultural practices, but an end to white-supremacist
practices. It has to mean not only honoring other cultural practices but
recognizing that the wealth of the United States and Europe is rooted in
the destruction of some of those cultures over the past 500 years, and
that we are living with the consequences of that destruction.

We white people can't simply point to the overt racism of neo-Nazis as
the problem and feel morally superior. We can't slap a few law students
on the wrist with a warning about being thoughtless and think we've done
our job. The problem is that most of us white people, myself included,
are reflexively hesitant to surrender control of institutions which,
presently, are predominately white. Real change - the process of truly
incorporating a deep multiculturalism into our schools, churches, and
businesses - is a long struggle. The more I make some progress in my own
classes, for example, the more I see how much I have left to do and the
more aware of my mistakes I become.

An easy place to start is by clearly marking racist actions for what
they are: expressions of white people's sense of entitlement and
privilege that are rooted in a white-supremacist system. We can start by
saying - unequivocally, in blunt language - that such racism is morally
wrong, that white supremacy is morally wrong, and that we white people
have an obligation to hold ourselves and each other accountable until we
have created a truly just multiracial society.

We'll know we are there not when white people have stopped throwing
ghetto parties, but when we have built a world in which there are no
ghettos.

We have a long way to go.

Jensen is an associate professor of journalism.

no longer desperate...

2006-10-02T08:54:00.001-07:00

i woke up just in time for my weekly dose of desperate housewives. and it might just be the last time that i watch the show, at least for awhile...

1. the portrayal of the estranged baby mama as white trash, immature, and hypersexual to the point where it's ok for lynette to manipulate her into dating men who are abusive

2. susan's high school aged daughter is hit on by edie's nephew, clearly older and "more experienced"/less innocent that her character. isn't she a little young to be seduced? isn't this what we're trying to move away from.

3. gabrielle and edie, the hypersexual women on the block are the only two without children in the groups. edie remains an outsider. gabrielle is unable to have children. and, given the chance to have a child using the body of her illegal immigrant asian maid (also sexualized, but here blatant racism is permitted from one minority to another), do they finally give her a baby? of course not. instead, the baby born from the maid is BLACK; america's biggest nightmare. so not cool...

2006-09-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Snoop and leashed women at the 2003 MTV VMA's

From the recent MTV article, "Spankin' Free LP Preview: Snoop Reunites With Dre, Improves Macking Mojo On Tha Blue Carpet Treatment" (9.26.06)

Other unexpected collaborators include Young Jeezy and Ne-Yo, who produced a track called "Put This Thing on You." "Normally, I don't make records for the ladies because I like being real derogatory towards the women, but I've been working with Pharrell and getting a little older and wiser," Snoop said. "So what I did on that record was I went and got one of the specialists at making songs for the ladies,'cause I'm kind of, like, lacking on my macking."

I think I still have the Doggystyle CD in my childhood bedroom, offensive CD artwork and all. It's mysognist. I know and knew but I held onto it since its a musical marker of a slice of my youth (The future is too bright to call them better days.) Even as I renounced and refused to dance to a host of riduculous songs ("Ugly"-Bubba Sparxxx, "Oochie Wally"-Nas feat. Bravehearts) I still hoisted my drank to "Ain't No Fun." But its a wrap. Negroes been lost they minds. The hull did it. Then the centuries of unfree labor. Then Jim Crow. Then the post civil rights movement de facto bs of now. But this willfull insanity is too fucking much. I mean "I never was a follower of Reverend Butts," to quote Big L,* but damn if Snoop's CD's don't need to be steamrolled. Nothing he participates in will I buy, dance or even nod my head to ("Drop it Like it's Hot" included.) Nor will I allow his name to come out my mouth unless absolutely necessary. He's not worth my breath.

But this isn't about him. It's about a nation of his kindred, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces who casually express their affinity for misogyny daily. Absurdity at its direst.

I'd also like to open up a conversation about the freedom to express oneself by creating a misogynistic character and assuming that persona in one's musical narrative vs. the freedom to to not be aurally assaulted by foolish ass negroes.

* And yes I am aware that approx. 7 lines later in this famed freestyle Big L rhymes "all I got for hoes is hard dick and bubble gum."

F*cking RadioShack!

2006-09-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

I can't stand this radioshack commercial with this black man telling his girlfriend to go to radioshack so that she and the radioshack people can figure out what kind of phone he wants because it's too much for him to figure out on his own. "Bluetooth . . . What is it? I don't know!!"

1. Why does he have to be so extra?
2. Why is he incapable of picking out his own cell phone?
3. Why?

Somebody get Tyra!

2006-09-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 11th

"Racism: Who Has It Worse?"

Season two kicks off with the audience divided into racial groups of White, Black, Muslim, Latino and Asian people. In one of Tyra’s most heated shows ever, she tries to determine which race has it worse. Tyra sits down with five women of different ethnicities, who participated in a focus group experiment with shocking results, proving racism still exists. Tyra also examines intra-racial conflicts that occur between two Latina sisters, two African American women and two Muslim women.

SEE THE VIDEO

Special Thanks »

F*ck voting!

2006-09-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of black people and other bleeding heart liberals telling other black people that the solution to their woes is to vote for one of these moderate people pleasers in blue. Let's assume for the moment that the democrats were to put up the pro-choice, anti-war, pro- reparations, anti corporation, pro-working class, free health care/education/childcare believing, semi-socialist candidate of our dreams. Even if we were to vote in record numbers, the electoral college still decides who takes it all and our votes do little more than make blue states bluer! blue people in red states move to blue states. No one wants to stay somewhere where they feel marginalized if they don't have to.

Why don't we put energy behind things that might actually make a difference, like a voting holiday so people don't have to try to get off work to vote, or eliminating the electoral college all together? Why is election day on a Tuesday?

Work Out

2006-08-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

Why does Jackie have a vintage statue of a black waiter holding a tray at the entrance of her house? It's painted coal black and has a red suit on and an ear to ear grin. Do white people just have functional pieces of racists memorabilia in their houses?

Can anyone find a picture?

Monster house

2006-08-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

So I saw monster house, which I thought would be a rather innocuous kids movie. It ended up having this strange fat phobic plot and the cooniest character this side of the 1960's. Along with rehashing the same old skinny friend hero/main character with the fat/slower comedic best friend, the story centered around the "monster house" that had taken on the soul of a deceased obese woman who hated kids and would swallow them.

The only character of color in the film is the bumbling, slow witted, scared, assistant cop voiced by nick cannon (surprise, surprise). There's one point where he actually says "you've got to listen to the boss." referencing the white cop who is his superior. I didn't know you could make a character buck their eyes in animation but Sony Pictures succeeded. The character has all the classic markers of the kind of portrayal you'd expect to see in ethnic notions!

Activist Damage Control

2006-07-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is the spittin' image of a post in my blog.

Keith Boykin has responded most astutely to LIFEbeat's recent concert endeavor. LIFEbeat is an organization dedicated to educating youth about HIV/AIDS. Wonderful, fabulous, important (life or death important) cause. This of course goes with little saying. However, LIFEbeat's choice of artist for the concert is problematic. While HIV/AIDS has ended the lives of countless gay men and women, LIFEbeat goes on to allow two acts who promote the murder of gays and lesbians. (IF we don't die one way we should die the other?)

This isn't a blog to talk about the controversial choice and how to fight it or whether or not LIFEbeat is wrong for inviting these fools (uh, yeah). My interest in this is how activism meets pop culture. We ran into the very issue Boykin is facing here in the Spelman/Nelly protest, where you have a misogynist rapper promoting a worthy cause. How can an activist comfortably speak truth to power in such a situation? Either way, the activist looks like they are 1) out of touch with the "rest" of society. 2) Less than concerned about the philanthropic issue at hand (i.e. Leukemia or HIV/AIDS) 3) Too sensitive about an issue that is less important than the above.

I am one that believes that hatred, whether towards women or Queer folk is ruthlessly pervasive, and I would venture to say that such instances where pop culture that promotes hate meets these very important health causes is not a coincidence. It merely reinforces for mainstream society the validity of misogyny, racism, and in the case of LIFEbeat, homophobia. It presupposes that homophobia is an issue that can be separated from HIV/AIDS research (hmm... tell that to folks who died of an under-researched disease called the gay plague). Or that leukemia can be separated from feminism ("Nelly, we love your sister, why don't you love ours?"). Such events make the oppressed and marginalized folk look crazed, (really who would protest against such a good cause if they weren't crazed?) Unsympathetic to the more "important" issue, and too wrapped up in their own gay/feminist agendas to see the importance of such issues.

It's called crazymaking--and just as it exists in personal relationships--it exists in the larger world as well.

The dilemma for the activist is then, how to fight your battles when you've picked them. I believe, fighting the bullshit where it is born is oh so important, but the battle is not in how one speaks about their issue (images of black women in the media or gay bashing), but how one has devised a damage control plan. The health organization or media will always jump to the assumption that the activist wants to end the good cause, instead of reading into it that the activist is calling for a reconsideration of the hateful artist. This is my damage control template:

When writing first letter to organization with good cause, always stress how important the cause is to you, and how you as an activist are dedicated to the cause and would like to offer your support for said cause.

Use intersectional analysis for that ass. Why the person they've blindly invited actually confuses the message of the cause, and who it needs to be sent to. (I mean really, they must assume only straight homophobic kids need to hear an HIV/AIDS awareness message. Or that gay youth are ignorant of the hateful messages these artists promote towards their well being.)

After discussing the problematic speaker/star/"artist" fervently suggest an artist/speaker/star with an equally if not bigger crowd-drawing capability. A person or group with a track record of helping in this issue would be best. Stress this person. Maybe hint at why you don't even understand why they didn't think of this person in the first place. (A little crazymaking of your own.)

Shake the haters off. They are like hungry rodents. Answer to few. The comments will be the same and will basically be around the theme of: "Get over it its a good cause." As if a good cause couldn't be problematic. Remind yourself of the many movements that gained increased visibility because of strife within other movements (White feminism, Black feminism/Womanism, Black Nationalism, etc.)

Have any of your own?

"All you wonderful people out there in the dark."

2006-07-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Elvis Mitchell sat down with veteran screenwriter Wesley Strick for a recent episode of his KCRW radioshow The Treatment. They dicussed Strick's debut novel, Out There in the Dark, and in the course of the conversation they teased out the nature of Hollywood from the production and audience perspective and really spoke to the fraught American character.

I mean I think the mistake that everyone in the book makes is that they mistake the glittering images on the big screen for reality. Those images are more beguiling than real life. And just as Ronald Reagan ultimately conflated, and quite successfully, the roles he had played in Hollywood with his career to the point where I think most of the American public would assume that Reagan himself had been a war hero simply based on the fact that he made war pictures when he was here in Los Angeles during the forties. The fact is, and I discovered in researching the book, he never left Los Angeles. Not only did he not serve as an active member of the armed forces. He never left L.A. He didn't even go on a U.S.O. tour. He stayed in the boundaries of L.A. county for 4 years.

...Best of all having not even left L.A. during the war, he would talk in interviews after the war, "when I came back." He would say, "Jane and I had a hard time adjusting when I got back." Back from Culver City? Exactly what was he talking about. Back from Burbank?

He couldn't have better elucidated how the artifice of Hollywood and by extension mass media entertainment, permeates and confuses identities and realities. It's not a game when activists protest, speak out, abstain from consumption of Film, TV, Music, etc. or when organizations Boytcott networks that refuse to represent America in their programming. It's strategic, politically, and defensive, even a question of self-preservation, psychologically which leads me to this B.S.:

Jolie to play widow of journalist Daniel Pearl
Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:28 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Angelina Jolie will star in a movie as the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Thursday edition.

"A Mighty Heart," adapted from Mariane Pearl's memoir of the same name, will begin shooting within the next five weeks, the paper said. The book details Pearl's search for her husband, who was abducted and beheaded by militants in Pakistan in early 2002.

"I am delighted that Angelina Jolie will be playing my role in the adaptation of my book," Daily Variety quoted Pearl as saying. "I deeply admire her work and what she is committed to."

English filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, famed for such war-based films as "Welcome to Sarajevo" and "The Road to Guantanamo," will direct. Jolie's boyfriend, actor Brad Pitt, will serve as a producer of the project, which is set up at Paramount Vantage, the art-house arm of Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures.© Reuters 2006.

What better example of our (and by "our" I mean people of color) erasure from the big screen. I remembered seeing a picture of Ms. Pearl and recognized her to be a woman of color. I was a little aghast at her ecstatic reaction to Jolie's casting but figured she was undoubtedly flattered and honored that an actress with her box office draw would be playing her but after Googling her I can see why Pearl, according to the above report, is unconcerned that in a disturbing ahistoric turn a white woman is playing her colored behind.

With regards to Ms. Pearl's ethnicity: her father was Dutch and her Cuban mother, Marita Van Neyenhoff's ethnicity is obliquely accounted for in this feature for Glamour magazine,

"She grew up with a father who was a handsome mix of Cuban and Chinese, and who, one day, decided to stop talking altogether, although he wasn't mute. Her mother, meanwhile, was a hard-core gossiper who spent the entire day with rollers in her hair and loved nothing more than makeup, clothes and sexy jokes."

It is unlikely that Van Neyenhoff's father was the descendant of a mainland Chinese and a "Cuban". I suspect that he was the product of a Cuban of Chinese descent and a Cuban of African descent. Notice the decision to refer to race with regards to the non-Black lineage and nationality with regards to the Black lineage, a choice that obfuscates her own visibly dusky descendancy. I do not know if Pearl has discussed the Black part of her ethnic make-up and being that she is a French citizen with Latin American parentage it is understandable why she doesn't want to go there since both cultures, for decidedly unprogressive reasons, don't like to talk about Blackness. I honor the right of all people to honor and live in the fullness of their complex idenities but the diminishing of her Blackness is annoying if expected given enduring and virulent anti-Black racism. Maybe that is why she was so crunk upon having Angelina Jolie play her in an upcoming adaption of her memoir, A Mighty Heart. Wouldn't Thandi Newton be better? Salli Richardson, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Michele, or the host of talented bi-racial, black and Latina actresses of her complexion (and notably, in a number of the stated cases, lighter with less kink in their hair) who can't get a job to save them from the black Church play circuit or greasy Playboy spreads? You think Eva Mendes would ever be cast as Nancy Reagan? What about Lucy Liu as Teresa Heinz-Kerry or Salli Richardson as Anna Wintour? Colorblind casting generally ensures people of color won't be in movies even to play characters of color. It scarcely works vice versa. Still if not for the few times a casting agent cast Don Cheadle for a role (as a cop or a crook) written for a White he'd barely break even. All the actors are White, all the movies are wack and some of us are dead tired of the whitewashing of our consciousnesses and imaginations. I can't wait for the day M. Night Shyamalan enacts his vision with American actors of South Asian descent but damnit noone, not even South Asian Americans, would probably watch. Folk wouldn't be so eager to pronounce his name correctly. He'd be comparatively broke. He woudn't be in American Express ads. I know he threw Sam Jack in Unbreakable and even underemployed Sarita Choudry in his new pic but the Sam Jack casting doesn't count on account of his horrible flat top wig.

As Ida B Wells would say...

2006-06-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes I want to wrap my arms around my people and fly away."

One of the lacross players is reinstated at Duke.

Full story here: "The Duke University lacrosse player who was suspended for sending a crass e-mail message about killing and skinning strippers has been reinstated to the university, according to his attorney..."

I have no words.

you're a shining star!

2006-06-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

so i'm not a fan of star on any other day but watching the larry king interview made me sympathetic. The whole thing reminds me of invisible man (a reference spurred by a subway ride with Jah & co). Why be nice to people who have publicly denounced you?

I say it's reparations...

2006-06-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

But then again I've used this excuse to cut white people in Bethesda off in traffic, to cut in line at the grocery store, numerous things that I won't name here so that I may not incriminate myself. Gotta give mad respect for damali, who chooses to panhandle for them. I am referring to a recent article in the washington post, that talks about the African American community's confusion about Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's choice to have a fundraising campaign hosted by Floyd Brown's Citizens United Political Victory Fund--this the same folk who produced the Willie Horton ad in the 80s ...

Full blog available at www.ablackgirl.com.

Imaginary terrorists

2006-06-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

I mean maybe i'm going out on a limb here, but why am I left with the impression that the FBI is trying to create terrorists?

Indians are so hot right now!

2006-06-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

As a single, attractive, professional in Washington, D.C., Monica Grover is fed up with all the non-Indian men who are all too excited about her being Indian. Tired of American men feigning culture to woo her, Grover put up the following disclaimer as part of her profile for a popular online dating site: “I’m sorry, but don’t expect me to be impressed if you’re into yoga, love Indian food or are taking beginner’s Hindi. I don’t practice yoga, I don’t speak Hindi, and who doesn’t love Indian food?”

Amisha Upadhyaya’s fine-featured dusky face and cascading waist-length black hair would turn any man’s head. But Upadhyaya, a young New York-based writer-director, admits it helps that Americans consider Indian women to be beautiful and strong. This favourable reputation has certainly contributed to propelling Indian women’s success in the United States, she says.

Indian women are the saucy new dish on the American dating scene. Until recently, American men had a taste for east Asian women — Japanese, Chinese, Korean and so on. Now, their appetites whetted by Aishwarya Rai’s pout in popular fashion magazines and hip hop artist Maya Arulpragasam, aka MIA’s, gutteral crooning, Western men are craving desi babes.

It may have taken a light-eyed Indian beauty to capture the hearts and minds of American men, but when Rai took the Miss World crown in 1994, it raised the profile of south Asian women outside their own region.

Since then, September 11, the dotcom boom and bust and the sweeping tide of globalisation have changed the way Americans perceive India and the nearly two million Indians who live in the US. All the while, a sizeable second-generation of educated south Asians — desi in appearance but with American ways — has come of age.

According to the latest census data, interracial dating and marriage is on the rise in America. In the US south Asian community, interracial relationships are more common within the second generation. Recent statistics on interracial marriages compiled by Vietnamese-American researcher C.N. Le show that Indian American women born or socialised in the US who marry outside their racial group are more likely to marry white men (21 per cent) than men of other racial groups. Indian women also marry men from other racial groups — Latinos (1.6 per cent, African American men (2.5 per cent) and other Asian American men (4.1 per cent).

Growing up in Indiana, photographer Matt Todd lusted after what was familiar: Farrah Fawcett-types. However, after a two-year stint in West Africa with the US Peace Corps, Todd’s preference shifted from the all-American model-actress to Chinese-American actress Lucy Liu. “I moved to Washington, D.C., craving diversity,” Todd says. Having casually dated numerous Asians, and recently, three Indians, the 33-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed American admits he is attracted to “exotic women”.

US navyman Tim Franz began dating women of different ethnicities as a student at Boston University. Coming to a diverse university campus from New Hampshire, one of the most Caucasian states in the US, Franz says he wanted something that didn’t remind him of his home town. He describes the few Indian women he has dated as attractive, intelligent and motivated. “The fact that Indian women come from such an old and deep-rooted culture makes them all the more interesting,” he says.

In general, American men perceive Indian women as being feminine, demure, sensual and family oriented. A typical Indian woman’s physical characteristics — straight hair, sharp features, petite form and lighter skin tone — are valued among other minority groups.

So it is no surprise that as south Asians step out into the American mainstream, it is the Indian woman who is leading the way, perpetuating an image of a desi woman that is at once feminine and empowered.

Actress-model Padma Lakshmi, musician Norah Jones, writers Arundhati Roy and Jhumpa Lahiri and actress Parminder Nagra are accomplished, independent, and not too hard on the eyes. Similarly, the female protagonists in the popular movies of Indian filmmakers Mira Nair, Gurinder Chadha, Deepa Mehta and others have helped to associate fearlessness and independence with south Asian femininity and sexuality.

As part of the “model minority” in the US, the context of inter-racial relationships for south Asian women are markedly different from all other racial groups. According to Susan Koshy, Asian American studies professor at the University of Illinois and author of Sexual Naturalization: Asian Americans and Miscegenation, Indian women have become the possessors of significant “sexual capital” in the US. “Asian American women, in general, have greater sexual capital than the women of other racial groups [such as] African American, Latinas and native American women,” she says.

Koshy notes, however, that south Asian women do not have this history of sexual relationships developed in the context of military and political dominance with the US, as women from east and southeast Asia have as a result of US military involvement in the region. “Instead the exoticism of south Asian women in the US took place in a more amorphous and less freighted way through popular culture — Hollywood movies, and more recently through Bollywood, fashion, and pop music.”

But Indian women complain that they often find themselves caught between two worlds. Ritu Maghera, 26, dated interracially while she was in school but now dates mostly Indian men. A non-Indian would have a difficult time fitting into her traditional Punjabi Sikh family.

However, finding the right Indian man hasn’t been easy, either. “Indian guys who have grown up here don’t necessarily want an Americanised Indian girl,” Maghera observes. “They’ll either date an American girl or they want an innocent, virgin girl straight from India.”

In between puffs of her cigarette, Monica Grover describes herself as the “antithesis of a typical Indian girl.” The 28-year-old project manager for a Washington, D.C., non-profit organisation has tried to keep her mind and options open while dating men both in and outside of her race. Still, she has found that Indian men look down upon her American-side, while American men fail to understand her Indian-ness.

“Indian men don’t like the fact that I can’t speak Indian languages or cook, and that I curse and smoke. And an American guy thinks it’s weird if our date runs late and I have to call my mom.”

Ultimately, Grover and Upadhyaya predict they will most likely marry non-Indian men. Given their “sexual capital” and generally affable reputation they’ll have no shortage of dates and little trouble roping in an American stud. Their problem, however, is finding “the one”.

And that’s an age-old conundrum confounding race.

"protecting our borders"

2006-06-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

full article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5040372.stm

Web users to 'patrol' US border

Web users worldwide will be able to watch the Texas border

A US state is to enlist web users in its fight against illegal immigration by offering live surveillance footage of the Mexican border on the internet.

The plan will allow web users worldwide to watch Texas' border with Mexico and phone the authorities if they spot any apparently illegal crossings.

Texas Governor Rick Perry said the cameras would focus on "hot-spots and common routes" used to enter the US.

US lawmakers have been debating a divisive new immigration bill.

The Texas governor announced his plans for streaming the border surveillance camera footage over the internet at a meeting of police officials on Thursday.

"A stronger border is what Americans want and it's what our security demands and that is what Texas is going to deliver," Mr Perry said.

The cameras will cost $5m (£2.7m) to install and will be trained on sections of the 1,000-mile (1,600km) border known to be favoured by illegal immigrants.

Web users who spot an apparently illegal crossing will be able to alert the authorities by telephoning a number free of charge.

Mr Perry, a Republican, is running for re-election in November.

Deployment dispute

Meanwhile, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has sent National Guard soldiers to his state's border with Mexico, ending a weeks-old dispute with US President George W Bush.

President Bush announced plans on 14 May for thousands of soldiers from the Guard to be sent to bolster security along the Mexican border.

Mr Schwarzenegger had opposed the plan, describing it as a "Band-Aid solution" - or a temporary fix.

He said he did not want to place his state's National Guard soldiers - many of whom would have already served in Iraq - under additional strain.

On Thursday, the governor said he would send the soldiers to the border and the cost of the deployment would be shouldered by the federal government.

Meanwhile, a group of US civilian volunteers that has been patrolling the Mexican border began last week building a fence along a section of the frontier.

The Minutemen group started erecting the fence on privately-owned land in Arizona on Saturday, saying it is "doing the job the federal government will not do".

The Minutemen are allowed to report illegal crossings to border police but have no right to arrest suspects.

Human rights groups have accused the group of xenophobia towards illegal immigrants - but the group denies this.

Wow!

2006-06-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

Just got this from Jah. What is happening to the world?

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hosts of a chat show on a Hong Kong radio station apologized Tuesday for an Internet survey asking its listeners to vote which actress they would most like to sexually assault.

The Commercial Radio poll drew widespread criticism last week, with teachers, legislators and ordinary citizens slamming it for advocating violence against women and for corrupting youth.

"The program hosts and co-workers publicly apologize for any offence that the Internet poll 'Which female artiste would you most like to sexually assault' caused to female artistes and everyone in Hong Kong," a message posted on the radio Web site said.

The hosts also promised to be more careful in selecting the content of its shows in future.

Warning!

2006-06-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Franco Cufar/AG.Sintesi
Marc Zoro, right, an Ivory Coast native,
was a target of racial slurs from the home
fans in Messina, Italy. Adriano, a star with
Inter Milan, tried to persuade him to stay
on the field.

On the eve of the World Cup, 'Negro' soccer/football fans should be advised:

In mid-May, a former government spokesman, Uwe-Karsten Heye, caused a furor when he tried to assist visitors by advising that anyone "with a different skin color" avoid visiting small and midsize towns in Brandenburg and elsewhere in eastern Germany, or they "may not leave with their lives."
Jere Longman, "Surge in Racist Mood Raises Concerns on Eve of World Cup"

Now, I should acknowledge that "these remarks received blunt criticism from high-ranking German officials" according to Longman but this story from the NYT forwarded to me by writer/filmmaker/cultural critic Courtney Young tells a frightening but not all that surprising narrative of anti-black racist abuse at European soccer matches. There is no reason, despite German and Fifa official statements/deflections, that these human rights abuses won't continue into the World Cup. I was desperately trying to hit this up but my finances refused to cooperate. And I can't say "maybe it was for the best" 'cause I'll be damned if some brutish Europeans prevent me from carrying on at a football match with a cold cup of Foster's (Australian for beer).

Click here to read the full NYT article.

duke. DUKE. duke.

2006-05-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

over at feministing, samhita posted an entry regarding the women's lacrosse team decision to wear wrist-bands with the word "innocent" on them, in a show of solidarity for the male lacrosse team.

first off, i agree with samhita, that the fact that these women are showing their "solidarity" only aids in their own oppression to the white male patriarchy. i am not saying that because a woman was allegedly attacked, they must stand in support with her simply because she is female. if that were the case, then the innocent arm-bands wouldn't have even been introduced. however, it is telling of the state of white america in general, where these women could support their men, who have proven to cause harm, physically and verbally, towards the non-white, non-heterosexual "other." (i am specifically speaking of the racial slurs and the gay bashing by the "innocent" male players)

second, it's interesting to note that some people continue to say the alleged rapists are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law--that's the beauty of our (in)justice system. and yes, i do agree with that, even though i still believe that something disastrous did happen at the party--however, it is those same people who ignore the tired diatribe of "innocent until proven guilty" and claim that the accuser is guilty of lying--where is the justice in that? where is her right to remain innocent of lying?

it seems from this case, that it is obvious that white men are innocent until the justice system, controlled by other white men, exonerates them of such charges. black women, on the other hand, are automatically deemed guilty when we defy this system. we are guilty when we challenge the white privilege of innocence. we are guilty simply because one of us has the courage to say that something DID happen.

to the (white, i assume) folks who continue to advocate the "innocent until proven guilty" speech, the main point is that you guys are hurt, aren't you? it hurts to know that these young boys face the possibility of prison, registering as sex offenders and shaming their rich, white supporters. it hurts white supremacy in general, to face the accussations of a black, poor, stripper who may or may not be lying, but the fact that she accused WHITE MEN maks you guys feel the deepest pain inside of your souls, huh?

trust me, us brown people know that pain. we live that pain. we eat that pain. we breathe that pain. how does it feel?

Technorati Tags: duke+rape, feminism, duke, black+women, patriarchy, white+supremacy

2nd grade girl attacked

2006-05-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

When JB posted this on her blog, I was horrified. How bad has it gotten that 1st and 2nd graders could do something like this? What can we do to keep this from happening again? May I also suggest think about how to talk about this and an action that we can do this is one incident that's indicative of many others.

silent hill:what the hell

2006-05-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Sony Pictures describes "Silent Hill" as an Action/Adventure, Suspense/Horror and Adaptation film. The movie is based off of the video game under the same title. Based off of the popular video game(s) and comic book(s), Sony decided to create a movie. A brief synopsis is as follows:
After the continuous sleep walking episodes of Sharon, the young daughter of Rose Da Silva, the decision is made to take Sharon to the place only mentioned in her restless dreams- Silent Hill. However, the road to Silent Hill is anything but easy to access, and Rose creates a high speed chase between herself and a police officer only to end in a crash for them both. When she wakes up, Sharon has disappeared and Rose is at the entrance to the deserted, dream-like town of Silent Hill. A woman named Rose, desperate to find her child Sharon, finds herself trapped in an alternate dimension as she searches for her daughter in a world of decay inhabited by strange beings. Over the protests of her husband, she flees with her child, heading for an abandoned town to which the child seems drawn. Sharon disappears in the town, and Rose follows what she thinks is her daughter's silhouette into what seems like an alternate reality. It's soon clear this place is not like anywhere she's ever been. It's smothered by fog, inhabited by a variety of strange beings and periodically overcome by a living Darkness that literally transforms everything it touches. Joined by Cybil, a local police officer, Rose searches for her little girl while learning the history of the strange town and realizing .
- Taken from http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718754/details
and http://imdb.com/title/tt0384537/plotsummary

Within this movie, most of the main characters are women. The following is a list of photo's and names of characters in the movie.

-Rose Da Silva

- Sharon/Alessa

- Cybil Bennett

- Dahlia Gillespie

- Christopher Da Silva

The movie is made of many scenes containing Cybil and Rose on a quest to find Sharon. The first time the audience sees Cybil is at a gas station. She pulls up to the station on a motorcycle in a tight leather outfit. Thoughout the movie we see Cybil in a tight police uniform with, unusual pair of high-shine, glossy leather pants and an extra tight shirt.

Set out to be seen as a lesbian, Cybil stood out as a woman who is as strong as a man. She protected Rose till her the very end of her life. Accused of being a witch by Silent Hill citizens, Cybil was burend on a ladder.

Other then the dynamics held between Rose and Cybil, there were many scenes where women's breast were out of this world. Rose, Cybil, Dahlia, the bed side nurse, and the group of nurses all had shoots where their breast were front and center. It just didn't make any sense what so ever.

This movie upset me for a few reasons:
1. It wasn't well written. A lot of key elements were left out while adapting this once comic book and video game to the big screen.
2. Too many breast shoots. To be a horror movie I saw so many push-bras being used in costume I thought I was seeing porn or the Nelly "Tip Drill" video, it was crazy.
3. I paid to see it and I want my money back.

Al Roker why?

2006-05-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm watching the food network and Roker on the Road is on. He's going around New England finding good sea food. He's in New York City and says he's headed to grand central station's world famous oyster bar so he can "learn to shuck and jive like the best of them!"

He says this with a straight face and he's smiling!!

On that Immigration tip...

2006-05-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of this minutemen craziness? One would think that within the very history of minutemen (manifest destiny, unwanted folks in the Western part of what is now the United States), the creators would see the bullshit ass irony and pull the plug, but when nationalism gets to be what it is today one is willing to walk into fire without feeling the heat. The immigration issue is frought with so many contradictions on all sides. While attending the rallies here in DC (which has a largely Salvadorian population) immigration continued to "look" Mexican. What does this say about immigration policy? Historically immigration reform has always been targeted at specific groups. The late 19th and early 20th century saw reform directed towards Asians for example. But this legislation trancends the U.S./Mexico border.

Finally to agree with Moya and to take it to another level, (and in the spirit of a oft. repeated refrain by Dr. M Bahati Kuumba) the U.S. is an illegal occupation state. Created only by the assumption of white supremacy. At the root of this immigration issue, and within the very popular discourse surrounding it is white supremacy plain as day.

more on the issue here: http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/05/03/44588c4f871d1

Immigration

2006-05-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Did everyone in the U.S. forget how this country was founded? there should be no such thing as an illegal immigrant in this country unless we are talking about the white people who stole this land in the first place. The border war just seems so ridiculous in light of the fact that the border was formed in an unjust war. I wonder what indigenous folks have to say on the issue . . .

yo mamma

2006-04-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

in addition to being 20 years, late, not funny, and sporting a "culturally inapropriate" host, Yo Mamma on MTV is a vehicle for the safe delivery of white boy racism. How is a black boy to battle a white boy armed with "you're so black" jokes? there is no equivalent "you're so white." The show ended up lookinging like a scene straight out of bamboozled.

F'ck Amp'd Mobile

2006-04-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Amp'd Mobile has these ridiculous comercials that suggest people are entertained by watching people fight, hurt themselves and engage other humiliating antics at anothers discretion. In one of these comercials a black woman is instructed to shake her junk for a white man.

And the phenomenon shows signs of crossing over into the mainstream. Witness a recent Amp'd Mobile commercial. In it, a guy standing on a bus is playing with some device, when he commands two guys in the back to start fighting; they comply. He then tells some guy with a boombox to crank up some old funk tune; up comes the beat. Then he turns to a black woman and commands, "You, shake your junk". She gets up, grabs the pole that's conveniently right there, and turns the bus into a stripper's workout room, shaking her prodigious junk for all it's worth (and I'll argue that only until pornified rap videos became commonplace did a whole lot of people know this colloquial meaning of "junk").
It's hard to isolate the more troubling part of this brief scene: is it that a white man can command a black woman to "shake your junk" as though neither of them had ever left the strip club (or worse, the plantation), or that she does it without complaint? At least she keeps her clothes on. Then again, this is a 30-second ad for a mass-market product, not an offering from Lil' Jon and the Ying Yang Twins or some other strip club-influenced rap act, and I don't think the spot would have passed prime time muster had our girl been wearing a thong.

- Mark Reynolds @ Pop Matters

pr@ampdmobile.com and inquiries@ampdmobile.com

f*cked up $hit

F*ck Justin Timberlake!

Eat the Cake Anna Mae- on Chris/Rihanna and Violence Against Black Women

Please Sign!

F*ck Burger King!!!

Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson

WTF?!

F*ck Ugly Betty!

It's just blatant these days!

Dear CNN

F*ck Darryl James!

WTF?!

Hancock--some bull

Michelle Obama

What's happening to humanity?

Brava!!!

R. Kelly Aquitted

Sasha and Malia Obama

Miso’ Soup: On the liquid misogyny the media feeds us

Why Al Why?

This is just too much!!!!

Tyra Must Be Stopped!

Bros before Hoes

Packer Bikini Girls and Sissy's

WTF?!!!

My People, My People

Hip Hop vs. America

Rape in W.V.

CONTEXT for the NY Post, post

My Girl Onome said it best

free Shaquanda Cotton

paris, texas. in plain view

March 13th, 2007 Fredric · 37 Comments

Smack that all on the floor

Black Snake Moan

"But i didn't say Nigger . . ."

controversy

Sick Sad World

Mom charged with baby's microwave death

You Tube is the best Pedagogical tool ever!

Just when I had convinced myself to vote

F*ck Luda!

Stripper Pole for girls

UT Law School...

no longer desperate...

F*cking RadioShack!

Somebody get Tyra!

F*ck voting!

Work Out

Monster house

Activist Damage Control

"All you wonderful people out there in the dark."

As Ida B Wells would say...

you're a shining star!

I say it's reparations...

Imaginary terrorists

Indians are so hot right now!

"protecting our borders"

Wow!

Warning!

duke. DUKE. duke.

2nd grade girl attacked

silent hill:what the hell

Al Roker why?

On that Immigration tip...

Immigration

yo mamma

F'ck Amp'd Mobile