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Six seconds well spent.
It was. It was.
Best six seconds of my entire week right here.
LOL this was wonderful
In #NYC, he’d be stopped & frisked for a nipple gun… #Silly
(via youngblackandvegan)
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Says Dr. Cornell West to The Guardian (UK) about President Obama.
If the subject matter wasn’t so serious, I would joke about how there’s nothing like a crisis to force those fabled post-racial green shoots to appear across the land. Oops…
song currently stuck in my head: “think tank” - pat martino
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My meme response to Arkansas Representative Jon Hubbard’s “Slavery is a blessing in disguise” comment, using this photo as my inspiration…
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VIDEO: Gabby Douglas Opens Up About Racism, Bullying from Fellow Gymnast
There seems to be plenty of name-calling in Post-Racial America…
Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas saw unprecedented success at this year’s Summer Olympics, becoming the first African American to win the individual all-around competition, and the first American to win both the individual and team competition. But Gabby didn’t always feel at home at the gym. In her upcoming interview with Oprah, Gabby opens up about the bullying and racism she experienced while training at a gym in Virginia. A fewllow gymnast routinely referred to Douglas as her “slave.” From the Huffington Post: “But it hasn’t been an easy road. Douglas opened up about her time training at a gym in Virginia, where she was met with racism and ridicule. She told a story how at one point she was actually referred to by another gymnast as their ‘slave.’ ‘I definitely felt isolated. I felt, why am I deserving this?’ she said. ‘Is it because I’m black? Like, those thoughts would go through my mind.’ Douglas felt so unwelcome in Virginia that she moved to the gym in Iowa where she blossomed into the gold medalist who wowed the world in London.”
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If this picture is not shocking enough, consider that black incomes started their recessionary free-fall from US$ 36,567 and is sitting at $32,498 for the moment. Meanwhile, the median household income for all Americans is $50,964, down from $53,508…
Is there a post, post-racial period we can look forward to?
Source: Economix…
song currently stuck in my head: “hey joe (live)” - led zeppelin
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This is about as relevant as Paul Ryan having daydreams of wrestling Japanese twins in axle grease with Strom Thurmond as his running buddy…
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![We can point the election of a Black President of the United States and the increase in the number of Black millionaires as evidence of post-segregation progress, but this chart serves as one of many reminders that America has to do more to avoid a collision course with a social crisis.
Source: Schott Foundation 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males [PDF]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7bb8azaI81qdnnn0o1_1280.jpg)
We can point the election of a Black President of the United States and the increase in the number of Black millionaires as evidence of post-segregation progress, but this chart serves as one of many reminders that America has to do more to avoid a collision course with a social crisis.
Source: Schott Foundation 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males [PDF]
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LATEST ONLINE ZIMMERMAN DEFENSE TACTIC - PROVE TRAYVON WAS A DRUG DEALER
Let’s assume for two minutes that you want to believe the Conservative Treehouse story about Trayvon Martin being a drug dealer who was also using and suffered lasting cognitive or behavioral damage from his drug use that subsequently led to his violent demeanor and demise, what does this story have to do with the young man being followed and shot by George Zimmerman? Martin “appeared” to be on his day off that night…
song currently stuck in my head: “atlantis” - mccoy tyner
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Nobody should ask Ray Kelly to apologize – he’s not going to and neither am I – for saving 5,600 lives. And I think it’s fair to say that stop, question and frisk has been an essential part of the NYPD’s work; it’s taken more than 6,000 guns off the streets in the last eight years, and this year we are on pace to have the lowest number of murders in recorded history. … We’re not going to do anything that undermines that trend and threatens public safety
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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg making an indirect reference to U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin’s ruling that the city’s police department’s controversial stop-and-frisk program has resulted in thousands of unlawful stops, which paves the way for a class-action lawsuit to occur.
Source: Associated Press
I decided play with Mayor Bloomberg’s quote a bit:
“Nobody should ask Ray Kelly to apologize [to Black people] – he’s not going to and neither am I – for saving 5,600 lives [from these Black people]. And I think it’s fair to say that stop, question and frisk[ing Blacks] has been an essential part of the NYPD’s work; it’s taken more than 6,000 guns off the streets [and away from Black people] in the last eight years, and this year we are on pace to have the lowest number of murders [by Black people] in recorded history. … We’re not going to do anything that undermines that trend and threatens public safety [from Black people].”
Or how about this one?
“Nobody should ask Ray Kelly to apologize [to Hispanic people] – he’s not going to and neither am I – for saving 5,600 lives [from these Hispanic people]. And I think it’s fair to say that stop, question and frisk[ing Hispanics] has been an essential part of the NYPD’s work; it’s taken more than 6,000 guns off the streets [and away from Hispanic people] in the last eight years, and this year we are on pace to have the lowest number of murders [by Hispanic people] in recorded history. … We’re not going to do anything that undermines that trend and threatens public safety [from Hispanic people].”
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Damn you, Bill Maher! Most intelligent black folks know that President Obama is saving the Black Agenda for the second term, and most mucous-minded, gun-polishing, tea-bag carrying, Small Town racists have been waiting for the Black Takeover since the beginning of the first term.
AND YOU LET THE SECRET OUT!!
Why do you think most of us never bothered to blog about it?
Go to Hell, man…
song currently stuck in my head: “joshua” - miles davis
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Via generalbriefing:
I’m bringing this back to the forefront because apparently people on tumblr need another lesson as to why blackface is racist as all hell and why it is IN NO FUCKING WAY comparable to “whiteface”. I’m starting to lose fucking faith in humanity here. READ THIS WHOLE THING BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH TO SPEAK!
So, I saw this on my dash and the first line literally made me drop my phone and walk away. I’m going to try to explain this as calmly as possible because I want to believe the person that asked the question did not mean any harm.
For one, you can’t just paint your face, put on some stereotypical “ghetto” clothes and be black. For you paint yourself and “be black” for one day and just wash it off and go back to your privileged existence is very insulting. My skin color never goes away. No matter how many showers I take or how much soap I use, I will always be black.
I will always face discrimination based on my skin tone. By wearing blackface, white people can make fun of the stereotypical black person. I have to live that. Every time I go out with my son, I get the looks of disgust and pity. They don’t have to say anything, but I know exactly what they’re thinking.
“There’s another black single mother.”
“I wonder where the father is.”
“Does she know who the father is?”
“He’s probably in jail somewhere.”
“I wonder how many other kids she has.”
“She’s probably on welfare. She’s just abusing the system.”
Funnily enough, some of those things have been said to me. By painting your face black and pretending to be me, you belittle my experience. You make my existence as a black woman in America a joke.
Secondly, there’s the history of the practice itself. The practice of white men applying burnt cork their faces and pretending to be “black people” originated in the minstrel shows of the 1800’s. The practice became so ingrained in American culture that we still use terms originated in those shows today. For example:
- Jim Crow — This term originated in 1830. A white minstrel show performer Thomas “Daddy” Rice put on blackface and danced around on stage sing the song “Jumping Jim Crow”.
- Zip Coon — This character was first performed by George Dixon in 1834. It was meant to be a mockery of free blacks. He was arrogant, dressed in high style and spoke in puns that undermined his attempts to appear dignified.
- Coon — The characters Jim Crow and Zip Coon eventually merged into one stereotype and that’s where we get this term.
- Mammy — She’s the wise and very independent old black woman. You can still see her face on pancake boxes today.
- Uncle Tom — He was the good, religious and sober man. You can still see him on boxes of rice today.
- Buck — The big, menacing, proud black man who loves white women.
- Wench and/or Jezebel — She’s the temptress. In the minstrel era, she was played by a man in woman’s clothing.
- Mulatto — The mixed race male or female. They usually passed as white in the shows until it was revealed by another character that they had “negro” blood.
- Pickaninny — They were the children with unruly hair, red lips and wide mouths in which they usually had a slice of watermelon.
All of those stereotypes started in minstrel shows, carried over in to film and are most likely recognizable today. Blackface is not as simple as putting on a costume and having fun. It is a horrible act with a very painful past. The stereotypes started in the minstrel show era are the stereotypes that I have to fight against on a daily basis.
If you didn’t read all the way through this or don’t have the time, at the very least check out these links to see exactly why blackface is racist and harmful.
Seriously. Just google Blackface or type it into youtube. You’ll see in 5 minutes why black people hate it.
I really appreciate the way you have broken down the history of “blackface” performance and why it has been so damaging and why it is so offensive now. When I read about the Billy Crystal performance I was absolutely appalled that he thought that that would be perfectly acceptable. (On a side note: I don’t think “the Biebs” looked to good in participating in the skit either.) It’s not like this decision wasn’t reviewed. No one stopped and said “Hey this may not be such a good idea. At all.” Seriously?! No one? Sounds like they need more minorities working on the Oscars at the very least.
It seems one of the reasons that it was approved was Crystal had done the same bit in the late 80s on SNL. But you’d think we had grown in the past 30 years… apparently not. It’s sad really. Every time we think we have moved forward, we’re just knock right back down on our knees.
(Source: brashblacknonbeliever, via mauricesmall)
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STUDY: BLACK AND LATINO KIDS LESS LIKELY TO GET MEDICATION IN HOSPITAL
[Setting: Hospital emergency room in Anytown-You-Can-Think-Of, USA]
Nurse: Doctor, we have a 7-year old with severe abdominal pain. What medicine should I dispense –
Doctor: [Interrupts] What color is the child?
Nurse: Black.
Doctor: [Silent]
Nurse: Doctor?
Doctor: [Remains silent]
Nurse: DOCTOR!
Doctor: Give the little bastard a hot water bottle…
The dialogue might be different in real life but the outcome remains the same – Black and Hispanic kids are less likely than White kids to receive medication for stomach pain in the emergency room, says a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Damn, y’all – even if you doctors have insurance beef, don’t you think your collective moral judgment is on display right now?
Another part of me wonders how many persons of color would want to trust hospitals with medication given this mess.
Wait…that question has already been answered. Look here and here…
song currently stuck in my head: “solid” - mandrill -
Tiger’s failure to be a “good role model,” to continue to dominate the golfing world, and to now fulfill the promise of redemption impairs the ability of fans and the media to cheer for Tiger . .. err America’s post-racial utopia.
—Mark Anthony Neal, African and African-American Studies professor at Duke University, writes about how the American media has inextricably linked Tiger Woods’ recent lackluster performance and frustration on the golf course, his infidelity from more than two years ago, O.J. Simpson, and the nation’s vigilant watch for any evidence of a post-racial icon to Woods’ social value. That’s a heavy load for any athlete or spectator to carry, folks…
Read No Victory, No Redemption: The Continued Demonization of Tiger Woods
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The mean intelligence of blacks is much lower than for whites. The least intelligent ten percent of whites have IQs below 81; forty percent of blacks have IQs that low. Only one black in six is more intelligent than the average white; five whites out of six are more intelligent than the average black. These differences show in every test of general cognitive ability that anyone, of any race or nationality, has yet been able to devise. They are reflected in countless everyday situations. “Life is an IQ test.
— The words were published in 2012, courtesy of John Derbyshire. And that’s not all..(Source: takimag.com)
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I have a very short list of TV shows that fit the category of Must Catalog Every Episode for the Ages and Gil Noble’s Like It Is show has unquestionable entry. I think Noble is one of the most important journalists in American History.
Rest in Love, Bro…
