Who Runs the World? [Color-Struck] (Girls)!

Um where to start...

The video has no point. Its a series of random costume changes in the desert. What was with all the male extras? If the theme is female empowerment then a danceoff would seem to be in order, that is, in the ridiculous vernacular that this video foists upon us.

The costumes were cute for the most part, but those boots? I can't, I JUST CAN'T!

My biggest problem with the video and the song, besides the fact that the song has absolutely no point, is Beyonce's look. She isn't even black anymore. Its easy to see over time a progression away from a more black, more ethnic lock. At first, I was willing to cut her some slack. With money comes the refinement that money can buy. Better makeup, better hairstylists, etc. But IMHO, she has gone to far. In the far shots, its hard to tell whether it's her, or Shakira or any of a dozen similarly blond and carmel-skinned women who arent black. At this point, Beyonce is almost in L'il Kim territory, albeit with MUCH better surgery and access to makeup and wigs and makeup and costumes and makeup (The bitch is wearing A TON of makeup in this video. Her neck and chest are a different color from her face! I have seen drag queens with a more natural look.)

I am certainly not a huge Beyonce fan, but neither am I a hater. She is a woman with a killer body and a truly great voice who seems to be using her money to run away from her physical blackness with all deliberate speed. This is the message she sends to young black girls, even if on a subconcious level.

Beyonce is a beautiful and talented woman. I am disappointed and saddened by her choices.

Phonics Lessons, part 1

From Wikipedia...

Phonics is a widely used method of teaching to read and decode words, although it is not without controversy. Children begin learning to read using phonics usually around the age of 5 or 6. Teaching English reading using phonics requires students to learn the connections between letter patterns and the sounds they represent. Phonics instruction requires the teacher to provide students with a core body of information about phonics rules, or patterns.

OK children, get your mothers, your sisters, your cousins, and your nieces in here. We need to go over some quick lessons.

1. You CANNOT make up your own silent letters. We have already agreed as a society what letters can be silent and in what combinations. You do not have the authority to change that agreement.
2. Apostrophes take the place of other letters. Other uses are wrong! De'rek is short for "De(my mother is uneducated)rek".
3. Random capitalizations are unacceptable. DeRek is unacceptable, as is LaNeeTreeya or any other such foolishness. We will address everything ELSE that is wrong with "LaNeeTreeya" in another post!
4. Lakeisha is an variant of Aisha (from the arabic for "alive and well"). Le'Qishya is some BULLSHYT!!! (See LaNeeTreeya)

For now, #THATISALL

Racist?

This ad went up about a half-mile from a Planned Parenthood facility on Bleecker Street, o the corner of Watts and 6th Avenue in NYC.

NYC City Council Member Letitia James says, "It is misguided to use Black History Month as a tool to promote this message. Every woman has the right to make personal choices in regards to her body, and I respect many different points of view, but to compare abortion to terrorism and genocide is highly offensive."

The billboard is sponsored by a group called Life Always. Their press release states, " There is a battle being waged in the United States that has taken more lives than any foreign war or act of terrorism. The enemy is abortion." Life Always board member Pastor Stephen Broden added, "During Black History Month, we celebrate our history, but our future is in jeopardy as a genocidal plot is carried out through abortion."

In response to the ad, a group called Trust Black Women posted this on Facebook: "Yesterday, racist billboards went up in Soho attacking black women and our human rights by claiming “the most dangerous place for an African American child is in the womb.” SisterSong, a coalition of 80 women of color and Indigenous women’s organizations, denounces this cynical attempt to use race during Black History Month as an excuse to assault women’s rights. Black women are not the pawns of these white people who erect such billboards. We find them offensive, racist, sexist and – most of all – disrespectful of our decision making, our 400-year history of raising and caring for black children, and our human right to make health care choices for ourselves."

Statistics from the NYC Health Department show that Blacks had the highest number of abortions in 2009, with 40,798. (Hispanics had the second highest at 28,364.) NYC's abortion rate was almost 40% that year, and the three Planned Parenthood facilities nearest the billboard reported nearly 17,000 abortions in 2010.

So...

I ask again, is the ad racist?

Well, it's definitely provocative, but racist? Not to me, but then again, I am one of those black people who don't see racism in every situation. To me, this ad shows the inflamed rhetoric on both sides that makes it nearly impossible to reach common ground.

Is any conversation on abortion about anything other than free and unfettered access an assault on women's rights? The author from SisterSong assumes the billboard's sponsors are white, when actually two are black. Is anything that paints black people or other minorities in a negative light racist, even if it is true?

On the flip side, do you know the agony that some women go through in making the decision to terminate the pregnancy? Do you have a plan to support those babies who come into the world either unwanted, or whose families cannot support them? Do you have any answers to abortion other than abstinence?

Lastly.

Black people, yes slavery was awful. I read the journals about the biggest bucks being forced to breed in order to insure a strong "crop" of new slaves. I read about women who were raped by their masters and then had their bellies cut open to kill the bastard child. I know we have a history of Jim Crow oppression and racisim and that serious inequities and worse still exist in this country,

BUT,

at what point are we, as a people responsible for our own choices. When is it no longer directly or indirectly, the fault of The Man?

Tacky is as Tacky Does

Many of you have probably seen the pictures from the wedding of Michael K. Cole and Jamil Smith Cole. If not, let me refresh your memory:

 

Now that your eyes have stopped burning from the opulence, I only have one thing to say, GUUUUUUURL!!!!

I salute them for their commitment. It is rare to see two black gay men making such a public statement, but this is some hot gay ghetto madness. Get into handmade couture gown with the train arranged elegantly on the step. The beard! The hair! the eyebrows! I love how Shaniqua and Dayquanna are standing there with that "I know I look good" face.

Two of my good bristas got married in Boston this summer. They rented tuxes and had a beautiful simple ceremony under the trees in Boston Commons, followed by a carriage ride. SIMPLE. ELEGANT. CLASSY. Yes I am hating, but not like the woman at Morehouse who made homophobic comments and got fired. My hate comes from a place of "Chile Cheez!"

By contrast, my wedding will be a simple affair, in my signature colors of blush and bashful!

I Don't Give a Shyt!!!

Is Dorion Standberry from College Hill gay? I DON'T GIVE A SHYT!!! Until yesterday, I didn't even know who the hell he was. Now that I am aware of him, still don't care. Even if there were pics of him getting his back dug out (evil wistful grin), I would be only mildly interested. As for whether he is gay or not, as Lisa Stansfield would say, "You can't deny it baby." This gurl has an AKA tattoo above his pubics. Is he about to SKEE-WEE up in here?

Are Jon and Kate and her awful, awful haircut getting a divorce? I DON'T GIVE A SHYT!!! It is fucked up though. How the hell are you gonna bring 8 children into the world AND THEN decide you don't want to be together. They should have their children taken away.

Is Ricky Martin gay? Although I don't really give a shyt, but CHILE CHEEZE.

No Speekee Ingarish - A rant...

A couple of days agoI was watching NBC Nightly News and there was a segment on the children of immigrants. In the story, this 17-year-old young man, let's call him Flaco, was forced to grow up early because he functioned as the head of household because neither of his parents spoke English.

Now here is the fucked up part. Flaco's parents came to the United States from El Salvador IN THE 1980s. His father said they found English too difficult to learn so they gave up before the boy was born. Furthermore, they forbid any of their six kids from speaking English in the house. Now kids, what kind of fucked up bullshit is that?

We can deduce a couple of things about Flaco's family. First of all, his parents are most likely borderline retarded. How can you live country for almost 30 years and not even pick up a pidgin understanding of the language? We can also deduce that Flaco and his brothers and sisters will jet the moment they turn 18 and I can't blame him.

This used to be a country where people aspired to be better. People used to come to this country speaking no English and within a couple of months or a year, they were conversant. Now we have people who have lived here FOR DECADES and still speak almost no English. In some parts of the country, you would think you were in a foreign land because the street signs and other landmarks are in a foreign language. This is ridiculous.

This is America and the official language of this country is English. But no, you say, there is no law mandating English as the official language. Well, darlings, if the laws are written in English and ignorance of the law is not an excuse, then the language the laws are written in is the official language.I am typically a very tolerant person, but I have a problem with people who live in this country that don't speak English.

I am the prototypical Ugly American. I am the guy who will not speak to someone I can't understand. I will be dismissive of them and ask to speak to the manager, until I get someone who speaks English that I can understand and who understands me. When I call my credit card company and "Heather" or "David" answers the phone, I will refuse to speak with them and insist on being put through to a Level Three Manager (Levels One and Two are usually in India or wherever the job has been outsourced to) who is in the United States.

This is not because I am racist or a xenophobe or anti-foreigner. I just don't have time to deal with a customer service person or other people with whom I can't communicate. We have all been in the situation where you are trying to resolve a dispute with someone and you can tell by the look in their eye that they don't understand a word you are saying. Fuck 'em. I call the manager. Am I wrong? Or am I just not being politically correct?

I will give these people one thing, they have got balls. I could never move someplace where I did not speak or understand the language and get a job that requires me to interact with people. So as La Washington might say, "Well God bless 'em." Just don't come up to me on the street and as me for shyt because I am gonna tell you to go find someone who knows what the hell you are talking about!