Occupy Wall Street

The Girl Effect

RAISING ARIZONA

The continual persecution and exploitation of immigrants continues to grow in the United States of America. Anti-immigrant laws like Arizona’s SB1070 and national initiatives like Secure Communities and the 287(g) program have set this country back 60 years to a civil rights crisis. Check out this song and video of Arizona Rappers that are protesting the immigration bill.

How 2 Really Start a Movement

Obey Giant Support Haiti

This print was made for www.artistsforpeaceandjustice.com. This is a collaboration with Studio Number One’s Cleon Peterson, Casey Ryder and Shepard Fairey. Photography by Tao Ruspoli. All proceeds go to Haiti.

18 x 24″ Screen Print, Signed/Numbered, Edition of 450

Click here to order

Obama Speaks to school children (save my children!)

I watch the news less and less these days, with the exception of Public Broadcasting, most cable network news is all spin this includes MSNBC, Fox is not even an after thought. For the sake of ratings they are willing to have the most assinign discussion this side of reality TV The latest is that Parent are Concern about Obama speech to Children Cuting to the quick, lets be clear the only parents concern about this speech are a minority, because the majority, especially people of color, the idea of their child seeing a president that looks like them encouraging them to study is a God send

more about “Obama Speaks to school children“, posted with vodpod

What is sad is that this small and small minded group has gotten so much attention, what should be highlighted is that these parents are doing themselves and thier children a major diservice, this country is changing and children will have to compete on a multitude of levels

And you know who else is watching? the rest of the world

Does Hollywood know that Asian’s go to the Movies?

Interersting question, apparently Hollywood dosen’t.  Look at movies, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter legend of Chun Li , Street Fighter, Dragonball Z and you start to see a trend, the absence of Asians. I wanted to do a blog on how  I hated what was happening to the Avatar the Last Air Bender movie but Angry Asian Man did a masterful job by Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man

There was a lot of uproar last month when it was announced that M. Night Shyamalan’s movie adaptation Avatar: The Last Airbender would star a lot of pretty white people, with no Asians in sight. The animated Nickelodeon show takes place in an Asian-inspired fantasy realm. Hollywood, of course, is a Caucasian-inspired fantasy realm. The controversy hasn’t really died down. Avatar fans are still angry. And one of the movie’s actors, Jackson Rathbone, who will play Sokka, seems to think he can easily pull off playing Asian with just a new hairstyle and a tan: ‘Twilight’ Star Jackson Rathbone Hopes To ‘Show His Range’ In ‘Last Airbender’.

Due in theaters in summer 2010, “Airbender” has already begun to face a bit of controversy over the casting of white actors like Rathbone, Ringer and McCartney to play Asian characters – a concern the actor was quick to dismiss. “I think it’s one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan,” he said of the transformation he’ll go through to look more like Sokka. “It’s one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit.”

No dude. The audience will have to suspend disbelief a lot. Or just not go see the movie. This is just another obvious, ridiculous example of how Hollywood studios are really not interested in casting Asians in roles, even when the parts clearly call for it. That’s racist! As I mentioned last time, a loud, vocal letter-writing movement, spearheaded by this site, is mobilizing to protest these casting decisions. We’re talking real paper snail-mail letters, because online petitions and emails are easily ignored. Write to: Mr Mark Bakshi President Features Production 5555 Melrose Avenue Shulberg Building Suite 211 Room 115 Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197 and Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall Kennedy/Marshall Company 619 Arizona Avenue, Fl. 2 Santa Monica, California 90401 If you wrote in the first time when this news surfaced last month, you may have noticed that these addresses are different. That’s apparently because both Paramount Pictures and M. Night Shyamalan’s office returned-to-sender the first wave of protest letters. Do they really not care that much? Everything you need to know about the Avatar letter-writing campaign is here. I’m seriously that the studio gives a crap, but it’s still worth speaking out. Click here for racialicious

The Truth Hurts: Black America’s 10 Biggest Lies

Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 2:31 pm
By: Tonya Pendleton, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Black America, are we lying to ourselves? It seems as though there are quite a few areas where we are not totally being honest with one another.

A recent study proves that people lie to each other at least three times in a 10-minute period after just being introduced! The study also says that it’s difficult for even law enforcement personnel to know when someone is really lying.

With all of that in mind, what lies does black America believe most? We thought we’d do our own unofficial study to see what the record shows. What lies do we believe about ourselves or continue to perpetuate? Here’s our list of the top 10

Lie #1: Soul food is good for you. Our mamas, grandmamas, dads and uncles definitely loved us. So much, in fact, that they cooked chitlins and pig feet and hosted lavish barbeques featuring plates overflowing with delicious food like macaroni and cheese, candied yams, pork chops and fried chicken. Let’s not forget about those desserts like red velvet cake and peach cobbler – and that oh-so-good lemonade and sweet tea. The problem is that the soul food diet, as good as it is, is filled with fatty meats, fried foods, sugar, salt and a high percentage of dietary fat. Those are the very things that are causing record numbers of obesity in our community. Nobody’s saying you shouldn’t enjoy our cultural food every now and then. But a soul food diet all the time is a license for health problems down the line.

Lie #2: Baby mamas/daddies are okay. No, not every child in the world is going to come into the world with two loving, married parents. And even some who do may end up as children of divorce. There are no guarantees that an intact family will stay intact. But statistics overwhelmingly prove that children born to single, teenage mothers have a much greater chance of being poor with limited educations and a show a greater propensity for violent and criminal behavior. When did we begin to accept that having children was a random and thoughtless decision, particularly at a time when birth control is more accessible and easier to use than ever before? When did we start to believe, as both men and women, that it’s okay to bring a life into the world before either parent is able to truly handle the responsibility? Given the grim statistics, we need to look at what a costly lie this has become.

Lie #3: Celebrities are more deserving of forgiveness than others. Convicted felons Li’l Kim, T.I., Chris Brown and Michael Vick have something in common despite their legal issues – the support of the black community. Given their respective crimes of perjury, weapons charges, domestic violence and dog-fighting, you have to wonder if they would receive that same support if their names weren’t bold-faced. Think about it: If any one of your friends and relatives had done any of those same things, would you have been so forgiving? It’s amazing that black folks who have washed their hands of people in their own lives have embraced celebrities they don’t even know after they’ve committed some pretty disturbing crimes.

Lie #4: A hustler mentality is more important than a formal education. The black community loves its hustlers, whether it’s Diddy, Jay-Z, The Knowles family or 50 Cent. Hustle, hustle, hustle is the ethos that permeates black America. Sure, hustling has its merits – but is it the only way to achieve success? President Barack Obama is probably the most primary example of what an education can do. He and his wife are both proud Ivy League graduates with advanced degrees. Hustle may be reserved for the few with the charisma and stamina to take them to the top, but an education is something accessible to anyone.

Lie #5: Water and snow are for other people. According to USA Swimming, nearly 60 percent of African-American children can’t swim, which is why they drown at three times the rate of other children. Why is that? Because there still exists a mentality that says that water and swimming are for “other” people – and because there are still girls whose parents allow them to use their hair as an excuse for staying out of the water. Somehow or another, the myth of black folks not liking water or snow has become a fact. (Please note the miniscule amount of black families you see skiing together at any ski resort.) And sadly, USA Swimming’s study showed that it was the parents who needed to be convinced most. Many either didn’t swim themselves or were afraid to have their children learn. Unfortunately, this is a mindset with dire consequences for many of our kids.

Lie #6: Complexion is destiny. Do we still believe that skin color is relevant in the black community? Well, only if you think that the negative reaction to Michelle Obama was primarily based on her Princeton thesis. There are people who still believe that certain things are given to or withheld from people based on their complexion. There are still those who find dark-skinned men menacing and light-skinned women the epitome of beauty. In fact, both dark and light-skinned people can point to misconceptions about them based solely on their skin color, something that no one has any control over. So how long will we go on believing the same old lies? 

Lie #7: Marriage isn’t important anymore. The rate of black marriage continues to decline, as this depressing statistic shows – the percentage of African-American women who are married declined from 62 percent to 36.1 percent between 1950 and 2000. Apparently, the black community has decided that marriage is no longer a priority. Yet, if you look around, you’ll probably see the most financially stable people who lead the most productive and happy lives and who raise decent children are generally married. No, it’s not a sure-fire thing, but what is? In our community, the financial edge would certainly go to the two-income couple who can command greater stability just by having someone to share bills and child-rearing responsibilities with. That being said, why are so few of us overall choosing to walk down that aisle?

Lie #8: Obesity is not the most serious health care issue in our history. Black women and the men who love them have never accepted the European aesthetic that mandates that women be super-skinny. Our African ancestors passed down their curvaceous bodies, complete with round hips and full backsides. But somewhere along the way, obesity became the new “thick.” We’re not talking a big booty and a frame fuller than the average celebutante It girl; we’re talking women who are 100-150 pounds over a healthy weight, with rolls of fat and distended stomachs. We’re talking men who are so overweight, they are taking on female characteristics like breasts. Our children are experiencing obesity at ever-younger ages, yet this health crisis seems to be going unnoticed by most African-Americans who continue to eat unhealthy diets. (See #1.) It appears that although we survived slavery and Jim Crow and more, black people will finally be felled by food poisoning, which is exactly what our diets have become. 

Lie #9: We are descended from royalty. Too many of us don’t know our history, so too few of us can make this claim with any real, absolute certainty. Indeed, it was Africa, not Europe or Asia, that had the oldest empires in the world. Many of us, as African people, did, in fact, descend from kings, queens and creators of art, music and architecture far superior to what the European culture would devise later on. Too much of African history has been lost or suppressed to promote European culture as the world’s most sophisticated. In 2005, Philadelphia’s public school system became the first in the country to require students to take a course in African-American history to graduate. Educators say that not only did it provide a much-needed addition of historical accuracy; it also helped increase self-esteem in a largely black public school population. As they say, if you don’t know your history, you are doomed to repeat it.

Lie #10: Black men don’t have emotional needs. Somehow, our community has come to the conclusion that black men don’t have emotions. The recent scorn which greeted public tears by basketball players Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson, as well as comedian D.L. Hughley, made it seem as though the stereotypical image of strong, silent black men is alive and well. We offer much support in the way of girl’s emotional needs, with programs targeted to increase their self-esteem, but what about our boys? Given the fact that the violence in most of our cities is perpetuated by and on young black males, shouldn’t we be considering how to meet their emotional needs instead of just locking them up? If we could start acknowledging those needs earlier and helping them learn how to deal with feelings, we might all have a brighter future. After all, these are potential fathers and husbands!

Black America Web

A Thought

Great minds discuss ideas.

Average minds discuss events.

Small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Roosevelt

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Girl, your hair is fine!!

Chris Roc’s new movie Good Hair explores the myth of  long, straight hair, beauty, and black self identification.  Beauty is an ongoing conversation in the black  community, but to outsiders like Koreans , Black beauty is more about taking profits from our notions of beauty and placing it anywhere but our communities

CNN Black in America

CNN touches on the stereotypes and what black women go through with their hair.

Good Hair ” Official Trailer [ 2009 ]

When Chris Rocks daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, Daddy, how come I dont have good hair? the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl’s head! Director Jeff Stilsons camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture.An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people.

Korean Takeover of the Black Hair Industry

This documentary reveals the real story behind the African-American (Black) Haircare products industry. Who controls this industry? It’s not who you think… see this documentary and you’ll see who’s really making money in the African-American (Black)Haircare products industry.Did you know that African-American women make up 7% of the U.S. population but purchase 70% of the wigs and fake hair in the U.S.?

Afro-Saxons Trailer (2008)

Angela is a braid stylist to the stars. Wayne and Cyndia are the leading junior stylists at the UK’s biggest chain of Afro hair salons. George and Apple are a Thai couple obsessed with Afro hair. Michael is Birmingham’s leading Afro stylist who is out to beat the all-powerful London salons. Afro-Saxons is a sharp and funny observational documentary that follows all of these stylists as they enter the Black Beauty and Hair awards – the biggest Afro hair competition in the UK.