That thing you said

Thanks to rootsinthecity for passing this gem along. There's a video blog sweeping the web entitled "How to Tell People They Sound Racist." I like the whole notion of holding people accountable for their actions, rather than zipping off into outer space so the racist fool can tell you how many black, latino, gay, etc. folks are their friends. (You know I had to throw sexuality up in there too!) This response makes me think of that old Pat Parker poem, "For The White Person Who Wants To Know How To Be My Friend."

The first thing you do is to forget that I'm black.
Second, you must never forget that I'm black.

You should be able to dig Aretha,
but don't play her every time I come over.
And if you decide to play Beethoven -- don't tell me
his life story. They make us take music appreciation, too.

Eat soul food if you like it, but don't expect me
to locate your restaurants
or cook it for you.

And if some Black person insults you,
mugs you, rapes your sister, rapes you,
rips your house or is just being an ass --
please, do not apologize to me
for wanting to do them bodily harm.
It makes me wonder if you're foolish.

And even if you really believe Blacks are better lovers than
whites -- don't tell me. I start thinking of charging stud fees.

In other words -- if you really want to be my friend -- don't
make a labor of it. I'm lazy. Remember.

Thank You for Being a Friend

Estelle Getty, perhaps most famous for playing feisty senior citizen Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls, passed away yesterday.



As a kid I loved this show, and I still do. Although I must admit I did not get all the raunchy jokes back then. Who knew four single seniors in South Florida were dropping it like it's hot like that?

Tatted Up

This is a bit of old news, but I just ran across this.

Yep that's right. Jill Scott got a teeny, tiny tatt of her boo's name behind her ear. I'm generally against the name tattoos, but I'm a let her slide this once--especially since she made it small and tasteful. If she wants to express her love in ink, it's, in the words of Bobby Brown, her prerogative.

Would you ever get tatted up in honor of your boo?

The Only Bad Luck in the World

Ran across this little gem, courtesy of Bossip. Apparently, fashion designer Braun, born Doron Braunshtein, has been crafting (I'm using the word very loosely) similar items (other "designs" include slogans such as, “Jews Against Obama,” “Obama = Hitler” and “Who Killed Obama?”) to reflect the opinion of "ordinary WASPs." Last time I checked, "WASP" stood for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. I'm just saying. Braun also reveals:


“For a lot of people, when they see Obama, they see a slave. People think America is not ready for a black president,” the Israeli-born designer said.



“I can’t stand Obama,” Braun says, but claims that it's not because the candidate is black.


“That’s the only thing I like about him. He opens the door for other minorities.”


“He reminds me of Adolf Hitler,” Braun explained, adding he does not like the Illinois senator because “he is a Muslim” — a myth that Obama apparently cannot escape.


There's a lot going on here. Where do I begin? While in some ways this is an extreme situation, one need only consider the Obama Sock Puppet and the Obama/Curious George iconography out there as further evidence of the palpable discomfort some (very vocal) folks have with a black man running for president. At least have the decency to lambast him for his economic credentials or foreign policy. Oh, and the whole thing about him being a Muslim, which clearly in this day and age is akin to being a devil-worshipping child molester in some circles, boggles my mind. And how is Obama like Hitler, who, to my recollection, was neither Muslim nor black?!

To add injury to insult, a woman wearing the Obama Slave tee was assaulted by four teenage girls who succeeded in "shoving her, pulling out her earphones, and spitting in her face." And now this woman is suing Braun. What a world!

Source

Preying

I have my critiques of Tyler Perry's work (although I must admit that I enjoyed Why Did I Get Married? if only for Jill Scott going upside that fool's head), but I have to say that this preview looks intriguing.

No Magic Bullet

Recently, the New York Times published an article entitled "Poll Finds Obama Isn’t Closing Divide on Race." The title alone struck me as a piece of folly. Reading between the lines, it sort of implies that Obama has the power to close the divide on race. Or that, perhaps, his presence indicates racism is dead. (Yes, we've come far, but we still have a ways to go). I just find that so interesting. Now, not only is he an agent of change, but he's also imbued with superhuman powers of post-raciality! I wonder if he shoots beams out of his eyes or something. I mean, honestly.

Beyond the title, the article does reveal some interesting findings. For example, blacks and whites differ (vastly) in their interpretations of the world and de facto segregation is rampant:

Nearly 60 percent of black respondents said race relations were generally bad, compared with 34 percent of whites. Four in 10 blacks say that there has been no progress in recent years in eliminating racial discrimination; fewer than 2 in 10 whites say the same thing. And about one-quarter of white respondents said they thought that too much had been made of racial barriers facing black people, while one-half of black respondents said not enough had been made of racial impediments faced by blacks.

Indeed, the poll showed markedly little change in the racial components of people’s daily lives since 2000, when The Times examined race relations in an extensive series of articles called 'How Race Is Lived in America.'

As it was eight years ago, few Americans have regular contact with people of other races, and few say their own workplaces or their own neighborhoods are integrated. In this latest poll, over 40 percent of blacks said they believed they had been stopped by the police because of their race, the same figure as eight years ago; 7 percent of whites said the same thing.

Nearly 70 percent of blacks said they had encountered a specific instance of discrimination based on their race, compared with 62 percent in 2000; 26 percent of whites said they had been the victim of racial discrimination. (Over 50 percent of Hispanics said they had been the victim of racial discrimination.)

And when asked whether blacks or whites had a better chance of getting ahead in today’s society, 64 percent of black respondents said that whites did. That figure was slightly higher even than the 57 percent of blacks who said so in a 2000 poll by The Times. And the number of blacks who described racial conditions as generally bad in this survey was almost identical to poll responses in 2000 and 1990.

I quote this article at length because the information is pretty revealing. In terms of the respondents' perspectives, it seems like folks are living in different worlds. Then again, considering how few of us really, truly intermingle, that makes a whole lot of sense. I remember when I went away to college (a tony, Seven Sisters, liberal arts school), it was the first time I was in close quarters with a large number of whites. It was eye opening, to say the least. I was certainly disabused of certain misconceptions, while also finding myself the object of scrutiny, exoticization, and all types of nonsense. Oh, my first year roommate! But, I digress. Quiet as it's kept, race still matters.

Source

Good Enough to Eat

I was lucky enough to win something pretty fabulous when I was in New Orleans the other week and, no, it wasn't at the slots at Harrah's (unfortunately). I won a gift pack from Carol's Daughter!

Now I'm walking around smelling like almonds and sugary goodness. In some respects, I can be a pretty frugal woman (some, who shall remain nameless, have even called me cheap), but one thing I don't like to skimp on is lotion and bath products. But this gift pack (Almond Cookie Indulgence, to be exact) is worth $90. Let's keep in mind educators don't make enough for such indulgences. So, I was indeed blessed and highly favored to have won. I mean, I could've bought say, the lotion, and that would've been it. A sistah is on a serious budget. Can we say "student loans"? Yes, we can!

I am absolutely in love with Carol's Daughter's products (the Hair Milk does wonders) since I began using them almost eight months ago. I even did away with my Paul Mitchell, after having a religious devotion to The Conditioner for about five years. (It's not a real breakup though; we're just seeing other people). You know I like to support the black-owned businesses, especially when they keep my natural tresses looking great and healthy. Feel free to add "vain" to "frugal."

Spotlight

Jennifer Hudson's long awaited debut album seems like it's gonna drop soon. Her publicity team just released her album cover.

Is it me, or is this picture a little fishy?

One thing I like about Jennifer Hudson is that besides actually being able to sing the rafters off of any place she's in, she's "real-sized." That is, while not morbidly obese, she clearly eats sandwiches with full fat cheese on them. You know what I mean. Moreover, she also speaks in complete sentences without generally embarrassing herself. I think those are all good traits.

So, back to the picture. JHud looks good. But bless them if they didn't photoshop the poor child within an inch of her life. They (drastically) cinched her waist, minimized the girls, and shaved off a little wobbly arm.

So much for real-sized.

NOLA

I'm in New Orleans (until tomorrow, anyway) for the Essence Music Festival. It's been quite a time. I think I have red beans and rice coming out of my ears. And the bread pudding?! Oh my my. I guess I'm going to have to be extra good when I get back to Sweet Home, Alabama.

Traveling tells you a lot about yourself, I think. I'm a pretty laid-back, go with the flow type person in general, but I get a little type A in traveling. I think it goes back to traveling abroad in college. That was the first time I'd ever been anywhere (significant) when the planning was all up to me. I remember obsessing about the best way to get from London's Gatwick Airport to the University of Kent in Canterbury. It was not rocket science but, at nineteen, I was so afraid of being a lost black girl in a foreign country. I figured there'd be no team looking for my behind if I disappeared. Or maybe I'm just an anal control freak. I think it's a lot of the former and a large pinch of the latter.

But, back to the Essence Festival. The music was pretty fabulous. I came to see Jill Scott, but all the other acts last night--Musiq Soulchild, LL Cool J, and the incomparable Miss Patti LaBelle--were all wonderful. I mean, LL looks better now than he ever did. He was just, oh my! The stuff at the convention center seemed a little haphazard (I missed Bill Cosby talking about pound cake and so on because there were no itineraries online. Hmph), but, overall it's been a good experience. I'm hoping that my boy Maxwell will grace us with his presence next year, cause I'll be back!