Not that they haven't before; c'mon, this is America. But you can best believe that they're not sitting at home next Tuesday, so why should you? I know it's become cliche that every election cycle is dubbed as crucial. But, this years midterm elections, more than ever, much like the 2008 presidential elections, is very crucial.
Big props to presente.org, as well as ColorOfChange.org for bringing this friendly reminder of what's at stake. If you haven't already, do vote next Tuesday. I can't tell you who to vote for; you do so in good conscience, on your own. However, after watching the above video, it shouldn't be hard to figure the right thing to do.
Last week, a victory for the government in a federal court case sent a signal out to the rest of the world as to how loosely we hold the ideals of "liberty and justice for all" In a decision that is not surprising AT ALL, Federal District Judge Barbara Jones determined that the Pentagon DOES NOT need to make public vital information pertaining to the prisoners held at the Parwan Prison on the Bagram Air Force Base outside of Kabul.
The ACLU filed suit demanding that such pertinent information as circumstances and location of "capture", the national origin and citizenship, and the length of imprisonment of detainees at Bagram be released. They were denied, under the guise of "national security". And, the judge also decided that there is no need to reveal whether or not the CIA is keeping captives there. It seems like after the debacles at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, the government is reluctant to share any details of the hundreds of people detained at Bagram. The ACLU believes that it is for fear that the public will find out that many people being held are, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing, simply victims of circumstance. Prisoners at Bragram DO NOT have the right to challenge their captivity in US Courts.
Like most people I saw the Antoine Dodson video a few months back. The one where he basically goes off about the home invader who tried to rape his kinswoman while she slept and was chased off. I too laughed at his interview, but more in a "This is really uncomfortable to watch" kind of way, as opposed to being truly amused. I mean, there's nothing really amusing about this woman almost being raped. There's nothing really funny about his painful interview either. It's nervous laugh inducing to me.
And here we are several months later, and Antoine Dodson is still hanging around these pop culture internet streets. He's even sponsoring a sex offender app and reaped the profits from The Bed Intruder Song (click here to listen) that garnered millions of views. He even got a milkshake at Millions of Milkshakes, and made it to the BET awards.
I get him hustling for money to get out of the projects. I appreciate that, but I can't help but feel there's something a little dirty about this; something wrong. You know the awkwardness of having a one-night stand, and them hanging around? You were hoping they would kind of take their leave, but they're still hanging around... This is what I get from Antoine Dodson and his dalliance with pop culture. They love him now--for reasons I'll get into later--but eventually he will be dropped like a bag of hot rocks and I find that unfortunate, considering what made him popular in the first place.
Speaking of elections, one phrase that continually pops up is “culture war.” This familiar expression is actually part of the problem. You see, the phrase suggests there are two sides of equal strength lined up, honoring more or less the same rules of engagement, wanting to conquer each other.
But what is called a “culture war” is nothing like that at all. Those who fear and hate sexuality (erotophobes) are attacking those who appreciate or tolerate sexuality (erotophiles). Erotophiles are not attempting to force erotophobes to live more sexually adventurous lives. In fact, erotophiles aren’t trying to make the erotophobes do anything they don’t want to do. However, erotophobes demand that both sides -- everyone -- live according to their anti-sex (erotophobic) values. For example, erotophiles say, “If you don’t want to go to a nude beach, don’t go, but don’t shut it down to prevent me from having that choice.” Erotophobes respond, “I don’t want to go to a nude beach, and I don’t want you to have the option of going either, so it must be closed.” In a similar way, erotophobes want to control and mitigate the sexual rights of those they fear. For example, erotophiles say, “If you’re against gay marriage, don’t marry one.” Erotophobes respond by waging campaigns of hate against the LGBT community.
I have NO IDEA how to be a girlfriend! A friend with benefits? Got that down pat! A booty call? Sure, no problems there! But a girlfriend? I am TOTALLY clueless!
My last serious relationship lasted for four years, and ended six long, lonely years ago. And even that relationship was not traditional. I won't go into details, but my ex and I definitely participated in some activities that were out of the norm. I never "cheated" during this relationship, because there was no need to, I was able to experience "variety" without telling lies or keeping secrets.
I have made some "interesting" choices in my dating/sex life over the years. If I was a man, I would have been called a "playboy", a "stud" or a "player", but since I am a female, I was looked at as a "slut", a "hoe" or a "freak." Serious double standard there, but that is for a whole other post!
Now I am at the point where I REALLY want a COMMITTED, LOVING, and LASTING relationship. Only problems is, I have NO IDEA how to go about transitioning from a "good time" girl to a "good" girl. I suspect the first step is to STOP having casual sexual encounters. I went from having sex on a regular basis to being celibate for the last two months. But, I feel like there is something wrong with me if I am NOT having sex. I read that the average single person has sex 49 times a year, which is roughly once a week, so I feel like I am doing something wrong by NOT participating in all the fun! I am used to being ABOVE average in all aspects of life, and being BELOW average when it comes to frequency of sexual activity is difficult for me to accept. Friends point out that over the years I have had enough sex for three lifetimes, but still, I don't want to "fall behind", dammit!
During the heated debate regarding the "Single, Black Male in Search of", Rippa asked the question: How did you and when did you "choose" or "decide" that being heterosexual was the thing for you?
Good fucking question!
Do people actually stop and ask themselves that question? Is there a time when a person questions what sexuality they are? I bet you don’t question your sexual orientation until you do something that makes you (or those around you) question your sexual orientation. I did think about it and came to the conclusion that there is no heterosexual answer to that question.
Or is that just me? I never recall thinking about my sexual orientation as one or the other. For as long as I can remember I’ve thought that men and women are both beautiful. I don’t see a difference between the two, I am visual by nature and attracted to aesthetics. If you catch my eye, gender is never more than an afterthought. I KNOW I LOVE MEN. I love men for all things that make a man a man and me a woman in his presence.
I love a man’s strength, his height, I relish in his firm touch, the way a man smells, and the bass in his voice, and the way his body moves between my legs and on top of my body. I love a man’s hungry kisses and the accompanying feeling of a growing erection through his pant. The feeling of security I have when I around with a man I have grown to trust and respect. The lines and cuts and angles of an athletic man’s body; his natural masculinity makes me joyful that I have sight. I love a man’s man; graceful, confident, commanding, capable and self aware. A man whose intelligent and willing to teach me, argue with me and dominate the situation if I allow him too. I absolutely love men. There is no question about that.
I love women for all that makes a woman a woman; I love women for all of the things that make me a woman. A woman’s body is soft to caress and touch (or at least the type of women that I like is); I am attracted to women that have bodies like my own. I find a woman’s voice is soothing; they smell like fruit, flowers and other pleasant things. Women giggle and are sensuous; women are affectionate in ways different than a man. They’re kisses are softer than a man’s; they’re bodies move differently than a man’s. Women are strong and offer security in ways that are unlike a male’s capacity to do so. Though to this day, whenever I am deathly sick with a cold the only person I want taking care of me is Mr. WGR. Women do everything differently than a man. I love women. There is no question about that. I recall crushing on girls at about the same time and for as long as I have had an attraction to boys. My sexual awareness was concurrent.
Because I love nothing better than a progressive discussion which advances issues experienced and not exclusive to the black community. I just wanted to take the time out to invite you to attend, and spotlight an even going down in New York City tomorrow night.
The event is billed as a "game changing dialogue," between one of my favorite black scholars, Cornel West, and Carl Dix, the national spokesman for the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. And it is scheduled for October 29th at 7:00pm, on Harlem Stage, at the Aaron Davis Hall, Harlem, NYC.
Here's an excerpt from last years conversation:
This is a conversation that we in the black community, who often exist as the canary in the mine should have. It is common knowledge that when America catches the common cold, blacks and other minorities come down with the bubonic plague. However, any policy that directly improves the lives of the least of us, translates into something positive and beneficial for society at large.
So let's have a conversation, and figure out a plan of corrective action so as to affect change.. in the age of Obama. Ironically the Obama administration has been reaching out to the black community of late, in an attempt to gain electorate support for next weeks midterm elections. Too bad they turn a blind eye to this:
Do you guys remember those crack babies of the 1980s we heard so much about back then. You know, that new subhuman species of black folks born into addiction to cocaine, and destined to be the scourge and destruction of society as we know it? Yep, remember them now?
They even became a running joke!
Have you ever wonder what happened to them? Surely you have because obviously everything wrong in society or the black community can be attributed to their existence, right? As destructive as crack was to the black community in the 1980s, one can only imagine just how they're all grown and running wild, right?
Now consider this for a second: Nobody ever talks about crack as a "problem" anymore. Yep, Nino Brown is dead, and I'm pretty sure the infamous "Carter Houses" now exist in a high-rent district as a result of urban gentrification. But today the scourge of the day is meth, but yet we never hear about "meth babies", do we?
Rape is a basic and necessary expression of human nature. Sexual assaults have been present in every society since the dawn of time. It is the natural drive of man to reproduce, to compete successfully for advantage in the marketplace of life and evolution. In fact, it is this innate compulsion to reproduce that motivates man to do anything productive and worthwhile in the first place.
It is this competitive drive that motivates man to aspire to greatness. Can you imagine men striving for greatness were they not motivated by their drive to reproduce by any means? Of course not, because the drive to reproduce is at the very core of mankind’s fundamental nature. As long as we disregard childish “God” superstitions and recognize that a man is ultimately responsible only to and for himself, we therefore recognize that any measures that attempt to suppress this natural and intrinsic drive to reproduce by any means are inherently wrong.
To suppress sexual assaults is the perverse anti-human dream of the superstitious rabble. In fact, no human society has successfully eliminated rape, despite innumerable measures designed to curb sexual assaults. If man were only truly free to pursue this integral part of his nature we would walk as the masters of the Earth that we are.
Anyone with a relatively functioning forebrain will immediately recognize that this is a excruciatingly faulty and dangerous chain of reasoning. Just because the drive to reproduce is inherent in humans, it doesn’t follow that sexual assault and rape stem from that drive and are a part of human nature. Furthermore, that the assumption every society has had sexual assault and none has successfully eliminated rape, doesn’t necessarily mean that sexual assault and rape are good things that should be encouraged; or that there wouldn’t be disastrous and apocalyptic consequences were people given carte blanche to rape.
Now, reread the paragraph but this time replace every occurrence of the words “sexual assault” with the words “free markets,” and replace every occurrence of the word “rape” with “capitalism,” and every occurrence of the word “reproduce” with “acquire wealth.” It is now word-for-word the position of economic neoconservative types. You will find this same line of thought in rationales against universal healthcare, for example.
Well, boys and girls: what have we learned? First, my aim here is not to equate capitalism with rape (though it wouldn't be so far-fetched). Rather, my aim here is to point out fallacious reasoning. Certain things might (or might not) be inherently part of human nature or cannot be completely eliminated, but that isn’t a sufficient condition for a logically cohesive argument that they should be encouraged. If you want to argue that they should be encouraged, you must give other reasons.
The only other reason I seem to get is the unthinking and reactionary response of “Communism doesn’t work,” which displays an ignorance of the enormous and diverse body of economic and ethical thought that is not neoconservative.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to speak to my local representative Steve Cohen (D-TN.) at one of his town hall meetings. We spoke about issue number one at that time then as is now, which would be, jobs.
Well, from what I'm hearing, Tea Party folks in Ellison's district aren't too happy with him. Yes, it would appear that they don't have a jobs problem; evidently unemployment isn't a problem there in the land of 1000 lakes.
I mean, anytime they send out emails urging voters to vote for the Tea Party candidate not Ellison because he's a Muslim and 'supports' terrorists. Obviously they're not concerned about the economic welfare of their residents.
But hey, can't have terrorists purifying themselves in Lake Minnetonka like Appolonia. So I suppose the best way to ensure victory for your Tea Party candidate, Lynn Torgerson, is to send out an email chock full with the tried and true fear-mongering, by having them believe that Ellison is, well, check it out via ThinkProgress:
In an attempt to avoid making judgment calls of people by relating personal value to skin color, there are those that fall victim to the very thing they detest. While in a self appointed quest to acknowledge the injustice of one group by members of another group people miss the opportunity to discover the human wrapped inside the ectodermic tissue.
A subconscious focus on skin color leading to a set perception of a group is nonetheless a viewpoint that can be considered racist though the person may not necessarily associate negative connotations with that race.
White guilt (or white blindness) is not a phenomenon fueled solely by racism or bigotry; instead it is a self serving and equally damaging perception that whites may develop to counter the feelings of conflict and guilt associated with the collective white racist view and treatment of blacks (or the ‘other’). These whites feel guilty about the historic treatment of blacks, therefore they befriend the blacks, champion the cause of blacks and side on the black team as they vigorously admonish the past ills of the white race.
The paradox is that while embedded in a quest to display solidarity with blacks these whites over look blacks as true members of the human race. To these whites, blacks remain a race that is in need of, deserving of and is worthy of white respect but only after the white has taken up the charge of the black cause. Blacks do not deserve respect by their own merit; rather, blacks deserve respect when a white person decides they should. This type of personal value assignment is counterproductive since it allows the whites to decide and barter black human worthiness for their own personal conscious salve.
The whites that break their necks to befriend, protest on behalf of, marry and reproduce with blacks as proof of their un-racist views of blacks still manage to offer us a tangled version of division. I would prefer if one marry whom they fell in love with, befriend who is compatible and fight on behalf of a cause because it’s the right thing to do as it relates to all humans. Not because they are rallying against all they feel is wrong within their own white race.
With midterm elections exactly one week away, to say things are getting kinda hectic would be an understatement. Case in point: the horrible assault of MoveOn.org activist Lauren Valle outside of the Rand Paul-Jack Conway debate in Lexington, Kentucky last night (watch video at the end of this post).
Apparently in Kentucky there's a new dance called the "Rand Paul Stomp". Yeah, a more Caucasian/Tea Party friendly, Kirk Franklin approved version of the "A-Town Stomp" I suppose. Apparently getting crunk in the club or gettin' stomped in the club is not only a act exclusive to Atlanta rappers like Lil Scrappy.
As the candidates arrived, a group of Paul supporters pulled a female MoveOn member to the ground and held her there as another Paul supporter stomped on the back of her head and neck.
According to the Louisville Courier Journal, "Lauren Valle of MoveOn.org approached Paul and tried to give him an "employee of the month award" from Republicorp...a fake business MoveOn created to symbolize what it says is the merger of the GOP and business interests controlling political speech."
Now, I'm gonna say that it probably wasn't a good idea to attempt to run up on Paul and give him the "employee of the month award" from Republicorp the way she did. But, even so, there's no excuse for the treatment she received at the hands of Rand Paul's Tea Party Secret Service employees supporters.
To Paul and company I suppose this is no big deal given his response to it on Fox where he dismissed the attackbecause she got what she deserved. But to me, this is yet another example of just how despicable members of the Tea Party actually are; and it's appalling that arrests have yet to be made.
Oh well, "Don't Start No Shit, Won't Be No Shit," isn't just a Black thing, I suppose. Who knew the Tea Party had so much in common with grimmey Atlanta rappers. One thing's for sure, I doubt they'd be quick to run up on a brotha with that shit. But then again, this is the Tea Party, and they're not racist.
Speaking of which (yes I gotta throw down a race race card) can you imagine black people at an Obama rally getting away with some shit like this were the victim a fun loving Tea Party activist?
The best analogy I’ve come across regarding the neoconservative (now teabagger) movement is the one using the nesting habits of the cuckoo bird comparison. Cuckoos employ a rather interesting reproductive strategy involving what is known as “nest parasitism.” Briefly, the female cuckoo lays an egg in the nest of another species of bird (after first removing an egg from the host’s nest). Upon hatching, the baby cuckoo goes on to banish the remaining eggs and hatchlings of the host, at which point it becomes the sole focus of the host parent’s interest.
By now you’re probably asking why the host parents don’t banish the alien egg before the troubles begin, or at the very least abandon the parasitic baby cuckoo once it has grown to a size far larger than host parents themselves.
The problem, of course, is that birds lack the thinking skills necessary to recognize the parasite. They take note of the eggs, of the sight of a baby bird’s features and cries, and follow a “care for egg/hatchling in nest” instinctual pattern. It does not demand much of a masquerade on the part of the cuckoo to abuse the host’s instincts. All that is necessary is the initial neural imprinting by the parent host on the baby parasite’s signals.
One cannot help but be struck by the remarkable parallels between the nesting line of attack of the cuckoo and the infiltration of the conservative movement beginning in the 1970s by neo-conservatives (“neocons”) which has now been itself been taken over by the teabaggers.
On several occasions over the past week, I have had to sit and reflect on the media brainwashing that reinforces white supremacist ideology. Note the above photos, from the coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The captions that accompany the pictures both reflect AND influence the way people perceive racial differences.
Note that the photo of the young Black man uses the term "looting", while the text printed next to the white couple reads "finding". They are doing the EXACT SAME THING... carrying bags of food that they liberated from the ruins of a drowning city. But, the Black man is criminalized, while the white couple is made to look "enterprising".
The difference in the way these two pictures are described is just one example of the programming that the media reinforces in order to perpetuate a system of white supremacy.
On to my second piece of evidence. Earlier this week, Eminem was interviewed by Anderson Cooper. He made the off the wall claim that he was treated more harshly by the media and the general public as a result of his race. His claim was that Black artists have said worse things than him in their lyrics without being called to the carpet. First of all, this is utter bullshit, because Black rappers are CONSTANTLY scrutinized and excoriated for their lyrical content.
Second of all, Eminem has benefited IMMENSELY from his skin color, much of his popularity is based on the fact that he is a white man in the rap game. Yet he has NEVER acknowleged the BENEFITS and PRIVILEGES his skin color has bestowed upon him. Rather, he chooses to play the victim in the new "white men are oppressed" game.
As we near the November election, many right wingers are getting more insane and nutty in their rhetoric. The most offensive part is that they do so with the Holy Bible in their hands and are followed by people who claim to know Jesus.
Rather than just give a bunch of verses from the Bible that could easily be dismissed and taken out of their context, I will instead offer words spoken by Jesus himself. Though many will find excerpts from their own verses to refute many of the points offered below, the fact remains, based on his direct words, JESUS himself would not agree with the RIGHT WING.
I hate to belabor a point, but this Juan Williams thing has been bugging me. Not that I'm losing sleep over it or anything, but it's like I've been having this conversation all week and all through the weekend. The thing that bugs me about it, is that the people with whom I've been engaged over this, fail to see it the way like I do.
Not that I expect you to agree with everything I've said; nope, never that. However, in my opinion, if there's anything the Juan Williams debacle has shed light on, is that hypocrisy isn't partisan. I rail against right-wing hypocrisy on this site, and I'd be just as blind as our right-wing counterparts to not point out leftist hypocrisy.
Yet what had Williams done, exactly? He acknowledged his own biases, and then explained the fallacy embedded therein. He was being honest, and in so doing, demonstrating an important fact that the nice white liberals who predominate at NPR try to deny, especially for themselves. Namely, that even the best of us can be taken in by racism, by religious bias, by ethnic chauvinism, by prejudice. No matter our liberal bona fides, the bottom line is this: advertising works, whether for selling toothpaste, tennis shoes, or stereotypes.
Putting aside for a moment the irony – after all, much of the most crass anti-Muslim invective has been provided by the very people at FOX who pay Williams’s bills – the point remains: no one can completely avoid ingesting some of that to which we’re subjected when it comes to racial or religious “others.” Years of research bears out this fact, indicating that wide majorities of us have internalized implicit biases against all types of people: African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, women, LGBT folks, persons with disabilities, and others. Not because we are bad people, let alone bigots, but because we’re imperfect beings who despite being pretty decent, nonetheless can find ourselves stuck in the cognitive traps laid for us by the larger culture.
Like for example, remember when Bill Maher used the word "nigger" on Larry King several weeks ago in a conversation on Tea Party racism? Well, I don't recall any of my leftist brothers in arms taking issue with him using the word. Of course not; Bill, like all white liberals are the epitome of what is right about white folks.
Every year, over 1,500,000 women are victims of violence at the hands of their intimate partners. Most people are well aware of initiative to combat violence towards women. However, how many people know that over 800,000 MEN are victims of domestic violence annually? Yes, there ARE female batterers. Most organizations that deal with domestic violence do not speak about this issue, because often they believe that exposing the truth about male victims somehow negates the experiences of women who are abused. Stop Abuse for Everyone is one of the few resources that I have come across that seems to deal with the issues of male victims WITHOUT coming across as being "anti-women".
Since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I wanted to address male victims of female batterers. At first, I did not want to discuss this dynamic, simply because often men who batter women use the rationale that "women do it too" to make their actions more acceptable. But, in light of the recent story about Amber of "Teen Mom" fame abusing her boyfriend on camera, in front of her child, I decided to mention it.
Amber did not lightly slap her boyfriend. She did not gently nudge him. She did not react to violence perpetrated by him with her own use of physical force. Amber ASSAULTED her boyfriend on more than one occasion. She battered him. She grabbed him by the throat. She pushed him, slapped him, punched him numerous times, and kicked him. She BEAT HIM. And, he did not raise a hand against her, nor did he defend himself in any violent manner. The camera crew of "Teen Mom" did nothing to intercede on behalf of her boyfriend Gary, EVEN THOUGH their child witnessed the abuse. And during the reunion show, Dr. Drew Pinsky treated her more as a sympathetic victim under stress than as an abusive individual.
Memphis 9th District Republican Nominee Charlotte Bergmann
Seems like some of our cousins aren't happy with the Republican party. Yeah I know, hard to imagine, right? I mean as inclusive and ethnically diverse as is the republican party, it's kinda hard to understand why some of our proud black republican skinfolk are grumbling with party leadership. Hell, in this new age of post-racial politics, the last thing you would expect is a few of them upsetting the GOP apple cart, no?
Three long-shot African-American Republican House candidates are fuming at national party leaders for not doing enough to help get them elected.
Campaign managers for Chuck Smith in Virginia, Charlotte Bergmann in Tennessee and Marvin Scott in Indiana all said the support they’ve received from GOP leaders this cycle has been dismal. They added that there could be consequences for the party if they are elected to Congress next year.
Smith’s campaign manager, Lisa Creeden, said she wishes her boss could count on the party’s help; no Republican has held Virginia’s 3rd district in 18 years.
‘I think the Republican Party is going to damage themselves with the African-American community,’ Creeden said. ‘I understand part of it is they are focused on races they can win easily, but our point is we couldn’t necessarily win this easily, but we can still win it. The effort to reach out to the African-American community will pay out in future elections. (source)
Wait, they're running in Tennessee, Virginia, and Indiana? And they're not getting any love from party higher-ups? And they're upset? Hell, the GOP probably doesn't know there're black people living in those states much less black people willing to dance the jig while tarred and feathered actually run on the republican ticket!
I think maybe I need to stop dating. Stop having sex. Stop trying to befriend members of the opposite sex. It is simply not worth it. I do not want to have to worry that any man I date or have sex with is dating me because of deep seated psychological issues. I do not want to believe that a man chooses to get involved with me simply because he has a conscious or subconscious belief in the superiority of a white woman. It is not healthy. I do not want to have to contemplate every contact I have with a man in order to figure out if he is dating me because of the color of my skin.
I always thought the men who date me do so because I am an open, good hearted person who is fun to be around. Now, I am starting to believe that it has nothing to do with my personality. It has nothing to do with my intellect. It has nothing to do with any characteristic that makes me who I am. Instead, it has to do with my race.
I fought against this idea for the longest time. I did not want to believe that the partners I have been with were buying into the “white is right” idea foisted upon them by this society. But, when I hear the same thing from a million different sources, I have to consider it. So, maybe I need to stop dating Black men. And since I am not attracted to white men physically, mentally, or emotionally, that means I would need to stop dating entirely.
I do not want to contribute to weakening the Black community or the Black family. I am a firm believer in Black love, and have always been pretty much against most interracial relationships, which it seemed MOST PEOPLE were involved in for the wrong reasons. But I always thought I was an exception to the rule. I thought that since I am a “conscious” white woman, and I do not date men who express a single minded preference for white women, somehow I was not doing any damage. But maybe I cannot think that way anymore.
After reading a post that appeared at theFreshXpress.com titled “Why Do Big Girls Get a Bad Wrap (Big is Beautiful)” I felt the need to address a few issues. The piece sought to analyze societies feelings towards larger people; why do some people prefer large lovers and why others choose to overlook them as potential love interests. The piece was written in a neutral tone so as not to offend any reader. At some point in the comments section commenters began to debate over the difference between what is considered ‘thick’ and what is straight out ‘fat’.
I am a thick girl and often find myself caught in the middle of a description debacle. I have thick legs and wide hips. I’ve been a terrible disappointment to a few blind dates who broke the news to me that I “wasn’t big enough for them”, apparently my size 12 was anorexic. I consider myself always a few pounds (!?) off from the weight I would like to be.
Strangely enough, there are men who I’ve met that think they are scoring points with me by telling me that they “love to watch their woman” eat. Or that they would “like to fatten me up by cooking for me or taking me out to dine often”. Surely the screw face expression I gave them let them know that I wasn’t the slightest bit turned on by the concept of encouraged gluttony. Who does that!?
There is a campaign in place that promotes body acceptance of people whose body type is not considered ‘the standard’. I’m all for body acceptance for any group of people who fall outside of the currently acceptable norms EXCEPT for fat people. I know I”m gonna catch hell for this one but I could give a dam.
My favorite "Respectable Negro" of all time, Chaucey DeVega, has an awesome post up which addresses the new viral video smash making the rounds on the internet that satirizes Barack Obama [read here]. In a parody of Hip Hop's latest epic failemcee slow-bus-sounding, "I dropped out at kindergarten," Waka Flocka Flame. The producers of the video cleverly extrapolate the perceptions held by many of Obama's success.
Check it out:
Now, I offer no apology to the members of the black delegation for finding humor in the above video. Yes, I realize that some of you are still shaking your heads after watching that. But as a a person with a penchant for the tragicomic, and a love for everything Aaron McGruder, I laughed my black ass off at the above video. I mean let's be honest, isn't this how "certain people" have viewed the man who sleeps in the White House?
Moving right along because there's a point to this post, checkout the following video that I also found to be hilarious. I discovered it over at a blog I stumbled upon last night called Angry White Dude. Um, yeah, with a blog name like that you can only imagine the racism content or the political leanings of Mr. White Dude:
I found this to be just as funny as the Baracka Flocka Flame video. I mean, it's not like racism isn't a marketable commodity in America, right Tea Party/GOP? Yes, racism too can be a consumer commodity much like the White Woman Workout exercise video. Hell, Angry White Dude thought it was funny and had this to say about it in response:
One question I have for Ty Bowmann. Is it exercise combined with racism as you say? Or is it exercise combined with experience and common sense? Let’s not split hairs here, Ty. Look at the crime data about black men attacking white women and then compare the crime data of white men attacking black women. Go ahead, I’ll wait. The numbers become even more meaningful when one considers black men make up less than 6% of the US population. Even then, some of that 6% are the very young and elderly. I don’t think it’s racism if white women avoid black males. I’d say it’s pretty damn good sense…according to crime data. Still, pretty funny video.
Yes, Angry White Dude saw the racism and of course found it to be funny just like I did. But of course I'm neither angry or white, so the humor of the video is and was internalized differently by the both of us. Which is funny because I doubt members of the black delegation upset and disappointed with Baracka Flocka Flame, feels the same way about Ty Bowman's video, wherein the joke is on the white women, and not black men.
So this week the NAACP released the results of a recent study which links the Tea Party to several racist orgs and groups in America. Just like I mentioned in that post this week, I expected the information to be met with skepticism, and downright idiocy by some of the people I expected to comment on it (read: wing-nut trolls).
So anyway, not that I'm working overtime trying to prove Tea Party racism because, well, it just doesn't exist. But I'd be remiss if I didn't bring to you my dear right-wing nutjob internet trolls readers, this story out of Houston, Texas, which involves a local Tea Party faction and their acts of intimidation related to voter registration via TPM:
A group trying to register voters in Houston received threats and emails containing racist slurs after being targeted by a local tea party group accusing it of "voter fraud."
In emails obtained by TPM, the group Houston Votes was accused of being "a bunch of white guilt ridden assholes, NIGGERS and greasy mexican spics," "fraudulent Marxist pigs," and "American hating A-holes."
"We received a couple of threats and several harassing e-mails," Maureen Haver of Houston Voters told TPMMuckraker. "There have been several efforts, I think, just trying to race-bait and stir racial tension and part of that I think is just based on what we've received in messaging from them."
"It's really had a chilling effect on our office," said Haver, adding that one of the e-mails was reported to the FBI.
Now of course this is no indication that the entire Tea Party is hell bent on bringing back slavery and Jim Crow laws should they "get their country back." But as the recent NAACP report (and all the anti-Tea Party posts on this site) pointed out, there is no denying that racist groups and orgs feeds and fuels the Tea Party.
“I like a woman with two arms, two legs and a pussy. And the arms and legs are optional.” Yes, I actually had a man give me this response when I asked him what type of woman he was typically attracted to. I never forgot that comment, because even though I was unable all through high school to find "boyfriend", while in college I realized that if you are a woman, getting laid is one of the easiest things in the world. Now, finding "love" is a whole other story, but getting laid? Anyone can do it!
Doesn’t matter if you are tall or short, skinny or fat, old or young. SOMEONE out there WILL fuck you. More than one someone, actually. Getting laid is one of the easiest tasks a woman can pursue. But for some reason, women have been convinced by societal standards that casual sex, while so easy to obtain, is somehow OK if you have a penis, but evil and wrong if you have a vagina. I simply am not buying it.
Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
-- Harry & Aristotle
Well, actually, Harry (the character from that intolerable movie, When Harry met Sally) and Aristotle did not say this, but, as I hope to show, Aristotle and Harry seem to sleep in the same philosophical bed (pun intended). Our sexual/ romantics relations are the way they are today not because that’s “how they have always been,” but because we live within a cultural context. Philosophy matters, my dear friends, more than we know…
When Harry met Sally begs the question: can men and women be friends and then answers it so: “Men and women can’t be friends -- because the sex part always gets in the way.”
But is this true? Are there reasons friendship between men and women isn’t possible? Or more to the point: are there reasons why friendship between men and women are more difficult to maintain than same-sex friendships?
I have this Black male guy friend. He just landed on the opposite side of 30 and finds himself single. Very marriage minded; he eagerly waits for the day when he can meet that special lady and have children. He’s a successful entrepreneur in New York City. He has a devilish sense of humor. He LOVES his Momma and always conducts himself as a gentleman.
His body is cut up like a Greek statute thanks to his daily body building and yoga routines. His smile can light up a room. And above all else he is a man of principles; this guy is honest and refuses to play games with a person’s heart. So Single Black woman having trouble finding a ‘Good’ Black man…interested yet?
This worldly Libra has his own place in Brooklyn (with Brooklyn swagger included). He enjoys spoiling a lover with time, affection and attention. He travels frequently and runs in some very interesting circles. He’s also a personal trainer so you know he’s got ‘stamina’ and what Good Black woman doesn’t want that in a man?
He shoots hoops with the (equally fine) fellas! He’s a collector of African art! He’s a writer, poet and photographer! He’s also a very active and in demand MODEL!!!! Are you sold yet? Oh, yeah. There’s one more thing I forgot to mention. This single, marriage minded, eligible Black man is also bisexual. That’s not a problem, right? Because he still possesses ALL of the qualities listed above, doesn’t he?
He wants to marry a woman and have kids some day soon. Like any other man, he wants to make a baby and one day be known to the world as ‘Daddy’. He has everything these single Black women say they want in a ‘Good Black’ man, no?
Last week when Rick Sanchez publicly apologized for what I saw as no-wrong-doing, or anti-Semitism, I said I was gonna stop defending minorities caught up in the media spotlight. I said that because it's common knowledge that whether right or wrong, one thing's for certain, they will apologize because it's the politically correct and acceptable thing to do. So here we are another week, and I'm gonna renege and defend Juan Williams.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Being a regular reader of this site it's probably stuning that I'm gonna come to the defense of someone who is a) a slave catcher in the eyes of many, and b) an individual who is a regular staple over at Fox News Channel. Yes, I realize that me defending him can be construed as slave-catcher behavior on my part, but dammit I gotta do what's right or else my wife won't give me any at night.
So Juan Williams was fired by NPR for what was perceived to be the expression of anti-Muslim rhetoric while doing his usual gig on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor. So what exactly did Williams say that warranted his dismissal from the good folks over at NPR? Well, here's what everyone is focusing on as being anti-Muslim:
I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country,” he said. “But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they’re identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous. Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts.
Now look, the way I see it, there's nothing anti-Muslim about Williams' remarks above. I think over the course of the last few months, our political discourse exists as an example of just what anti-Muslim actually is, when it centered on a proposed mosque being built at Ground Zero that's not even at Ground Zero. I mean, add to that the "Burn A Quaran Day", or the slashing of the neck of a Muslim New York cab driver, and... Well, you get the picture. Shit, I'm nervous at the ATM here in Memphis, does that make me a bigot?
When I was a college student, I was caught with half an ounce of marijuana in my dorm room. From what my neighbors told me, you could smell the blunt I was smoking all the way up the hallway and into the elevators. The dorm adviser came to my door with two police officers and told me that if I had anymore drugs in my room, I needed to turn them over to the police. I went into my room, grabbed the rest of the bag, which I had purchased just hours earlier, and handed it over to the police. They had a look of surprise on their faces and asked me why I just handed the bag to them, and I responded that the dorm adviser had told me to. They looked a bit uncomfortable, wrote me a ticket to appear in court, and left the premises. The whole dorm knew about it the next day. Most of the people I associated with laughed at me because I had done nothing to keep from getting caught. Some of my friends were angry. I did not understand why at the time, but I look back now and understand the reason for their frustration. In two, simple, but very charged words: White Privilege.
Studies have shown that white people are actually MORE LIKELY than Black or Hispanic people to participate in drug related activities, including possession, use and distribution. Yet, our jails are filled with Black and Hispanic men, victims of a so-called “War on Drugs” that is waged predominantly in minority communities. What my friends in college knew at the time, but what took me many years to realize was that my white skin is the reason that I was not handcuffed, arrested and placed in a cell that night. It was also the reason that a month later, when I was caught shoplifting, I was written up, again given a ticket to appear in court, and sent home. Not arrested, not handcuffed, not sent to spend the night in a cell. When it came time to appear in court, the marijuana possession charges were dismissed. I had done some research, informed the public defender assigned to me that the dorm adviser was acting as an agent of the state, and had told me to turn over any drugs in my possession without first informing me of my rights. I now believe that the charges were dismissed not because of the cogency of my argument but because of white privilege.
With less than two weeks before the 2010 midterm elections, the NAACP today released a report compiled by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Titled 'Tea Party Nationalism', the report analyzes the six factions that make up what is known aand exists under the umbrella of the Tea Party. In the report, links to various white supremacist groups, anti-immigrant organizations, and militias.
Its findings cite that members of groups such as the Council of Conservative Citizens, which opposes all efforts to "mix the races of mankind," have become involved in tea party chapters, and that posters on the online white nationalist Web site Stormfront.org have written of "inflitrating" tea party events.
The report was issued by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, which is funded, in part, by the liberal Firedoll Foundation. The paper was authored by Devin Burghart and Leonard Zeskind, both of whom have written widely about white nationalism.
The more formalized and politically active tea party organizations have made statements repudiating racism; the report focuses primarily on the more diffusely affiliated tea party networks online and in county-level chapters throughout the country. It also singles out five members of various tea party groups, one of whom has been expelled from the movement, as having ties to anti-Semitic, militia or white nationalist groups.
One person highlighted in the report is Roan Garcia-Quintana, a member of ResistNet who served as media spokesman for a 2010 Tax Day Tea Party in South Carolina and is running for state Senate. He has also been active with the Council of Conservative Citizens. (source)
Now of course much of this has been covered and discussed on this site. But I'm just a blogger, and obviously easily dismissed as yet another leftist loon by many who visit this site. I suspect the same sentiment would be easily developed by some after watching the following interview with NAACP President Ben Jealous, and co-author of the report, Leonard Zeskind with Amy Goodman of the program Democracy NOW!
Oh man this years midterm election shenanigans are indeed a gift from the comedy Gods. Everyday it would seem like there's some goofy story centered on said upcoming elections. Filed under the "you can't make this shit up", or more appropriately "WTF!", comes this story out of the capital of political corruption in America. Only this time, this was an honest mistake that today has left Illinois voters shaking their heads.
CHICAGO (AP) - An Illinois gubernatorial candidate's name was mistakenly listed as "Rich Whitey" instead of Rich Whitney on thousands of Chicago electronic-voting machines and will be corrected, elections officials said Thursday.
Chicago elections board Chairman Langdon Neal said crews will work overtime to reprogram and retest 530 machines being used for early voting and an additional 4,200 destined for the Nov. 2 election. The mistake in the Green Party candidate's name appears on a review screen that allows voters to double-check their selections and not on the screen where the vote is registered. It also is not on paper ballots, Neal said.
He said the board became aware of the typo Wednesday and called Whitney's lawyer Thursday morning. But Green Party Chairman Phil Huckelberry said a party member found the mistake Tuesday and was brushed off by city election officials for a day.
"We don't have any idea what affect that has had on voters," Huckelberry said. "I think something needs to be done above and beyond what they're doing."
Not only has the mistake made Chicago a laughingstock, he said, but "our candidate ... has been tagged with a name that really isn't that nice." (source)
Now the thing that makes this hilarious, is the fact that this actually happened in Chicago, Ill. It could have happened anywhere as an honest mistake I suppose. But it happened in the county with the largest black population per capita. Can you imagine the faces of black voters in particular after seeing the name "Rich Whitey" as a gubernatorial candidate? Yep, and he's running on the Green Party ticket? Green Party, get it?
Now it's not like we've haven't voted for "Rich Whitey" before. Let's face it, with the rising cost of political campaigns, I seriously doubt we'll ever see a "Poor Whitey", or worse, a "Rich Negro" or "Po' Coon" on the ballot ever.
I'm as sure of the separation of intelligence and conservatism, as I am of the separation of church and state per the United States constitution. But don't tell that to Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell (R-DE). According to her and, well, some of the idiots baptized by Ronald Reagan with whom I have engaged, there is no separation of church and state. Which of course explains why right-wing religious fundamentalists feel justified in being the moral authority of our nation.
Now look, before now I haven't paid much attention to Christine O'Donnell. Yes, I am now aware that she's a walking gaffe machine, but I'm just not sure if much of what she says can be considered as gaffes. To put it mildly, I think she's the second coming of Sarah Palin, with one exception. That would be, O'Donnell makes Palin look like part Rhodes Scholar, part thermonuclear physicist and MIT graduate. I know, scary thought isn't it?
The irony of her recent revelation is the fact that she touts herself as an expert on the damn constitution. I don't know about you, but I'd like to think that the people elected to create laws and government policy, are knowledgeable of the very constitution they all swear to uphold. I mean shit, if not the entire damn thing, they should be at least be able to to recite the friggin first damn amendment... and know what it means!
It's been said that there's a disconnect between the Obama administration and us regular folks here in America. One way to fix this be it a media driven meme or not, is to employ Jimmy McMillan as White House press secretary [read more about him here].
Yes, say buh bye to Robert Gibbs, folks. Life would be better with a guy like McMillan at the helm. Hopefully somebody up there in DC takes notice of this, and sees the value of this brothas message. Here he is at New York's gubernatorial debate last night:
Surely this guy is seen as a joke by many, but I assure you he's no Alvin Greene; not in the least. Ok, yeah, so the creepy Black Colonel Sanders-Hulk Hogan mix can be off-putting, though reminiscent of something from Parliament Funkadelic. But, there's no denying that this guy's message is clear:
The Rent is too Damn High!
Not as blunt as Ieshuh Griffith's "Not The White Man's Bitch," campaign slogan. But I think his message and his political party, is one that we all can get behind, no? Say what you want about his chances of becoming the next Governor of New York. But there's no denying that Democracy is sooo friggin' awesome.
I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to add to this.
You know, going natural has not always been easy. It was very hard in the beginning. It was difficult, not to deal with other people because that was the easy part, but to deal with myself. I did not realize how many years of mental conditioning I'd experienced until I went fully natural back in 2008. It was a process for me to learn to say, "I love my hair" and truly feel it.
I finally decided to see what everyone was talking about yesterday, and the hype is well deserved. I don't know why it brought tears to my eyes really. After all, it's just a Muppet. But there was so much joy in the little girl's voice, and there was so much to rejoice over.
It was such an unusual show of self-love directed at young black girls. Most of what we heard growing up was the usual message about how our hair was bad, or too difficult, in need of taming. I don't ever recall anyone, not even myself, saying, "I love your hair" or "I love my hair."
It brought tears to my eyes because clearly there is some kind of shifting toward the right direction and our children will benefit from that. I'm hopeful.
Show this to your nieces, daughters, cousins, sisters, grown and old. The lie that our hair is this "one trick pony" that can only do a certain thing has always been bullshit. We need to get to a collective point where we all can say without a doubt that we love our hair.
So it's often said that all black people look alike, but of course we all know that to be untrue. Hell, as a black man I've always been told I look Asian. So see, there's no way I can possibly fit the stereotypical big nose big lip mold; and, I even have the small Asian penis to prove it. Yes Sharron, like you and the Latino students you were speaking to, I too look Asian. Not sure how; but I suppose it's something they put in the chicken fried rice.
Yes Sharron, just like black people Asians eat chicken too:
Nice one Sharron! Way to go defending yourself to those Latino students at Rancho High School for your recent campaign attack ad against Harry Reid. I mean claiming Reid to be soft on immigration might have been a good move politically. But all those poor Latino kids wanted to know was:
"Why is it that in all of your commercials you have the image of Latinos? What do you see when you hear, and I quote, 'illegal aliens?"
Now of course you could have been honest. You could have told them something that explains the racist and xenophobic nature that has been the impetus of the anti-immigrant movement. Further, you could have told them that it's important to you and the rest of the Tea Party and GOP to further polarize America. But I understand, Sharron; The truth is, you're really a nice person, and you didn't want to hurt their innocent Latino feelings.
Instead, you tell them that you're not sure just exactly what a Latino looks like. I mean there's no way they can say that the "illegal immigrants" in your campaign ads are in fact being portrayed as criminal Latinos much like they're characterized in David Vitter's campaign ad (seriously, that Vitter knows how to do the racism thing.). Instead Sharron, you tell them that they could have perceived to be Asian, just like yourself. Here's to hoping you don't meet with black students anytime soon. I'm not too sure about you pulling off looking black.
You've probably never heard of "them", but they are deserving of my slave-catcher award this week. Which is a first, because I'm used to spotlighting individuals and never before an entire movement. Yes, an entire friggin movement, folks. A movement aptly titled Operation Black Storm.
So who is Operation Black Storm? Well, it's only a political action committee (PAC) that's put together to raise funds all the while promoting 15 black republicans running for office in the upcoming midterm elections.
I have no problem with a bunch of "brothers" getting together and pooling their resources in an effort to advance a cause; even if it is one of political and social conservatism. However, when your site says, "Tired of being called racist? Do something about it today! Help us elect qualified Conservative candidates," and urge people to donate, that qualifies slave-catching behavior in my book.
"My aim is not to provide excuses for black behavior or to absolve blacks of personal responsibility. But when the new black conservatives accent black behavior and responsibility in such a way that the cultural realities of black people are ignored, they are playing a deceptive and dangerous intellectual game with the lives and fortunes of disadvantaged people. We indeed must criticize and condemn immoral acts of black people, but we must do so cognizant of the circumstances into which people are born and under which they live. By overlooking these circumstances, the new black conservatives fall into the trap of blaming black poor people for their predicament. It is imperative to steer a course between the Scylla of environmental determinism and the Charybdis of a blaming-the-victims perspective." - Dr. Cornel West (Race Matters)
To not acknowledge the racist tactics employed by your political affiliates, to only turn around and "pimp" race or play the "race card", which is a move they despise, to raise money... how else could they be seen as anything but slave-catchers, sellouts, and Uncle Toms? But yet people like me are wrong about them.
“He who warned uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed.” -- Sarah Palin on Paul Revere
.jpg)
