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07-15-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
NEW YORKER MAG BLASTED FOR OBAMA SATIRE: Plus, Democratic nominee called "Oreo" by John McLaughlin.
*Within a span of 48 hours, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has been referred to as an Oreo by TV host John McLaughlin, and depicted as a turban-wearing, Osama bin Laden-worshipping flag burner on the cover of New Yorker magazine.
Obama's wife, Michelle, is also depicted in the caricature sporting a large Afro and toting a machine gun as she gives her husband a fist bump in the Oval Office. An American flag burns in the fireplace and a photo of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.
Needless to say, the magazine cover – described by the New Yorker as a satire of right wing-based rumors about the senator – has caused a media
firestorm and at least one call for a boycott of the magazine.
"We are calling on all advertisers, newsstands and stores to immediately pull the "New Yorker" magazine from shelves," read a statement from Los Angeles activist and Project Islamic Hope founder Najee Ali. "We are asking the public not to do business with stores that carry the offensive issue of the New Yorker."
The July 21 cover, titled "The Politics of Fear," was described by the magazine in a press release as artist Barry Blitt satirizing "the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign."
Editor David Remick defended the cover, saying, "Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to the absurd."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton, however, said: "Most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
Meanwhile, John McLaughlin of TV's Sunday morning political roundtable show "The McLaughlin Group" referred to Sen. Obama as an "Oreo" during a broadcast over the weekend.
While discussing recent comments made by the Rev. Jesse Jackson about Obama, McLaughlin said to his panel: "Question: Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside -- that an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for?"
Panelist and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Peter Beinart
answered: "Who knows what Jesse Jackson is thinking? But that's a completely unfair depiction of Barack Obama."
Later in the show, Michelle Bernard, president of the Independent Women's Forum, said: "I want to go back to the point you made about whether or not Obama is an Oreo, because if Barack Obama is an Oreo, then every member of this generation of African-Americans is an Oreo, because we stand on the shoulders of the people who fought for our rights, and all of us say that you cannot blame 'the man' or white racism for everything that ails the black community.'" View the entire "Oreo" exchange here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbqaHW9f0i8
MISS USA EXPLAINS FALL DURING PAGEANT: Crystle Stewart bit it, then recovered and applauded her misstep during Mrs. Universe broadcast.
*Miss USA Crystle Stewart phoned into NBC's "Today" show Monday to address her now infamous trip and fall during the Miss Universe pageant in Vietnam on Sunday.
She explained: "I walked out, I stepped on the step and my dress got caught in my shoe…and it was almost like I was on roller skates, and then I just fell."
After picking herself up off the stage, she smiled and immediately lifted her arms above her head to clap.
The tumble marks the second year in a row that a Miss USA has gone down during competition. Last year, Rachel Smith slipped and fell during the evening gown segment. Could it be a conspiracy against American contestants?
"You know, I don't know. It's like maybe someone dropped marbles or something," said Stewart. "It's just such a coincidence that two years, back to back, Miss USA falls. When I was walking out, the last thing on my mind was falling. One thing you don't wanna do in an evening gown is trip, nevertheless fall on your bottom."
"I think right now it's about how you handle it and how you pick yourself, just in life in general," she continued.
By the way, Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza ended up winning the pageant.
CHEADLE WEIGHS IN ON GENOCIDE CHARGES: Actor speaks to EUR about implications of UN's decision to target Sudanese president.
*EURweb caught up with actor Don Cheadle in advance of Monday's charges of genocide leveled against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
The actor has been calling attention to atrocities in the region and has co-authored a book with John Prendergast about their efforts in the region, titled "Not on our Watch." When news broke Friday of the United Nations planning to charge al-Bashir with genocide – which became official yesterday – we asked Cheadle about the implications surrounding the UN's decision.
"It's at a point in time where justice is justice and it is a component of what needs to be addressed in Sudan, obviously," he said. "There needs to be protection for the people. There needs to be a very strenuous peace process, but there also has to be justice for those who have been victims of crimes against humanity."
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is accusing al-Bashir of masterminding attempts to eradicate African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation. He asked a three-judge panel at the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir to prevent the slow deaths of some 2.5 million people forced from their homes in Darfur and still under attack from government-backed janjaweed militia.
Moreno-Ocampo was undeterred by concern that his indictment against al-Bashir might ignite a blowback of vengeance against Darfur refugees and spur Sudan to shut out relief agencies and possibly peacekeeping troops. Cheadle agreed that revenge violence in the region is a sure bet.
"Will there be a blowback? Definitely there will be," he told us. "I mean, right now, a lot of the NGOs [non-governmental organizations] are taking out non-essential people that are in the country. There could be reprisals. Hopefully, there won't be, but people might be ousted or people might be jailed.
"It's an extreme situation that is not going to have results from this that are not extreme. But like I said, this is a component of all the things that have to be done to try and find a resolution in that area. Unfortunately, what happens as a result is just going to be a matter of historical record."
CYNTHIA MCKINNEY IS GREEN PARTY NOMINEE: Former Democratic Congresswoman chooses hip hop activist as running mate.
*At its convention in Chicago over the weekend, the Green Party selected former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia as its presidential nominee, with hip-hop artist, journalist and activist Rosa Clemente as her running mate.
In 1992, McKinney, 53, became the first African American woman to represent Georgia in Congress. She has been a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, has called for new investigations into the 9/11 attacks, sought justice for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In 2006 McKinney got into a scuffle with a Capitol Police Officer after passing through security without an identifying lapel pin. She later apologized on the floor of the House.
Clamente, 36, born in the Bronx and of Puerto Rican descent, became an activist and journalist after being angered by the Bush administration's response following Hurricane Katrina.
"I choose to do this, not for me, but for my generation, my community and my daughter," Clamente said of the nomination. "I don't see the Green Party as an alternative; I see it as an imperative."
On Saturday she described the campaign as an opportunity for the Hip-Hop generation: "We must remember that youth have always taken risks. From the Soweto uprisings in South Africa, to African-American and Mexicano children in the '50s and '60s who walked out of schools, to the 17-, 18- and 19-year old men and women who joined the ranks of the Student Non-Violent Coordination Committee, the Black Panther party, the American Indian movement, the Black Liberation Movement, the Young Lords Party - young people have always been the catalyst of change."
Green party ideals include environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and nonviolence.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG JOINING BROADWAY'S XANADU: 'View' co-host to play Caliope through Sept. 7.
*Whoopi Goldberg has signed on to star in Broadway's Xanadu for a six-week summer run beginning July 29.
The Oscar and Tony winner will play the role of Caliope through Sept. 7 while original star Jackie Hoffman is on leave to promote the release of her new CD "Jackie Hoffman Live from Joe's Pub." Hoffman is scheduled to return to the Helen Hayes Theatre on Sept. 9.
An Oscar-winning screen star for "Ghost," Goldberg was last seen on Broadway in her solo show Whoopi, which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event in 2005. Goldberg won a Best Musical Tony for Thoroughly Modern Millie. She hosted the 2008 Tony Awards telecast on June 15.
Xanadu currently also stars Kerry Butler as Greek muse Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mt. Olympus to Venice Beach, Calif. in 1980 on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time - the first Roller Disco. But, when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters – one of whom is Whoopi's character Caliope – take advantage of the situation and chaos abounds.
BILL RUSSELL PENNING BOOK ABOUT AUERBACH: NBA great's memoir to cover friendship with late Boston Celtics coach.
*Bill Russell is currently working on a memoir about his friendship with late Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who led Russell and his teammates to a string of championships during the 1950s and 60s.
"Red and Me" will be published by HarperCollins in Spring 2009, reports the Associated Press.
"Arnold Jacob Auerbach passed on Oct. 28, 2006 — almost 50 years from when I joined his Boston Celtics," Russell said Monday in a statement. "I felt a tremendous sense of loss, a huge void in my life. There was an empty space in my psyche where a special person had been. I thought about that at Red's funeral. And the fact that there was no logical reason why we ever should've become friends, because we came from such diverse places. I thought about how much I missed his friendship."
The 74-year-old former Celtics center for played alongside NBA legends Bob Cousy, John Havlicek and Sam Jones.
B.B. KING TO HOST WEEKLY XM RADIO SHOW: Music legend prepares to invade satellite radio this fall.
*Blues icon B.B. King will begin hosting his own weekly music show for XM Satellite Radio beginning in September 2008, with a broad mix of blues and gospel music chosen personally by the artist.
To promote the channel, which will also feature the musician reciting stories about the artists and other intimate anecdotes from his epic career, XM releaunched its dedicated blues channel "Bluesville" as "BB King's Bluesville" (XM 74) this week.
"I love the blues and am looking forward to sharing my passion, stories and my favorite music with all the folks who listen to XM, one of the few places where the vibrant sounds of the blues still thrives," said King.
In the meantime, Geffen Records will release B.B.'s newest T Bone Burnett-produced album, "One Kind Favor" on Aug. 26, and, on Sept. 13, King will preside at the opening of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in his hometown of Indianola, MS.
NICOLE RICHIE'S BOOK HEADED TO TV: 'Truth About Diamonds' tells story of woman who was adopted by a music superstar at age 7.
*Nicole Richie's semi-autobiographical book "The Truth About Diamonds" is about to become a television show, the author tells E! News.
Her 2005 coming-of-age novel "The Truth About Diamonds" tells the story of twentysomething Chloe Parker, who was adopted by a music superstar when she was 7 and as a young adult finds herself running with an elite Hollywood party crowd in between run-ins with the police, tabloid rumors and a stint in rehab.
"I would definitely produce and definitely be in the show," said the former "Simple Life" star. But, she added: "I don't know if I need to be the star of this show.
TOO SHORT'S NEW STUDIO IN JEOPARDY: Rapper may be forced to close facility due to $1 million judgment.
*A $1 million judgment against rapper Too Short, stemming from a 1991 car accident, may force lead to the closing of his two-month-old recording studio in Oakland.
The Oakland Tribune reported that the artist owes over $700,000 dollars to a family, after his GMC truck was involved in a 1991 head on collision with a Mercury Cougar. Too Short was reportedly fleeing the scene of a previous accident where he clipped a park car, when the Mercury crossed over the center divider and the two vehicles crashed, head on.
Although he was not responsible for the accident, Too Short, born Todd Shaw, did not have insurance and was legally drunk at the time of the deadly crash. He was later sued by one of the families for $17 million dollars, but agreed to an out of court settlement of $1 million dollars.
According to court documents, Too Short has paid over $282,000 dollars over the last decade, but has yet to pay the remainder.
If he fails to fork over the balance, The Alameda County Sheriff’s office will seize the equipment in the rapper’s Oakland-based UpAllNite studio, which opened in May, the Tribune reported.
Allhiphop.com is reporting that Too Short has already moved the equipment out of the studio and to an undisclosed location in case the facility is raided. The rapper is due back in Oakland Superior Court on Aug. 13.
NAOMI CAMPBELL SHUNS RETIREMENT: Supermodel says she won't leave industry until more blacks appear on runways.
*Why does Naomi Campbell continue to work the runway at age 38, when her former colleagues of the supermodel era – including Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington – have all retired?
The model with the hair-trigger temper tells Reuters that she'll keep accepting shows until there are enough black models in the industry to carry on the torch.
"I'm very grateful for my career, but I worry for the girls after me for the opportunities they get -- the way they get treated. And this is one of the reasons I still do what I do," she told Reuters in a weekend interview in Nigeria.
Campbell, who as a teen was the first black model to grace the covers of the French and British editions of Vogue magazine, said many fashion designers still prefer fair-skinned black models over their dark-skinned counterparts.
"I don't do so many shows anymore, but I do count how many girls of color they use in the shows. It happens to be last year New York was the worst," said the British model. "Now at Paris Haute Couture there was only one black girl out of all the shows. It cannot be a trend."
Campbell said she's pleased that Italian Vogue decided to use black models in its July edition to highlight the problem.
"For me, it is something that is history-making. Something that I'm going to keep forever," she said about the magazine, which has a photo of her on one of four different covers.
Campbell was in Nigeria over the weekend to help kick-off a series of summer concert and fashion shows. The festival, sponsored by Nigerian newspaper This Day, will make stops in Washington next month and London in October and aims to showcase Africa's best music and fashion.
SANAA LATHAN, NIA LONG JOIN 'FAMILY GUY' SPINOFF: Plus, black actor to voice white redneck character in Fox's 'Cleveland.'
*Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Kevin Richardson have been added as voice talent for the upcoming "Family Guy" spinoff "Cleveland."
The African American pal of "Family Guy's" Peter Griffin moves with his son to Stoolbend, Virginia and shacks up with his high school sweetheart Donna, voiced by Sanaa Lathan. Nia Long will voice Donna's unruly teen daughter Roberta.
In perhaps the most interesting casting decision, black actor Kevin Richardson has signed on to voice white redneck Lester, who is Cleveland's next door neighbor. As previously reported, Cleveland is voiced by the show's executive producer Mike Henry, who is white.
Lathan will be seen next in "Wonderful World." Long was recently in the feature "Are We Done Yet?" and last season's ABC drama "Big Shots."
NAS SAYS JESSE JACKSON IS A 'HATER': Rapper opens up about civil rights vet dissing Obama; plus, artist sets tour behind untitled CD.
*Nas says there's no need for hateration in the dance-arie when it comes to Sen. Barack Obama.
The rapper recently weighed in on the uproar surrounding Rev. Jesse Jackson's disparaging comments about the Democratic presidential candidate.
Last week, Jackson thought his microphone was off during a commercial break on Fox News when he whispered to another guest: "See, Barack's been, um, talking down to black people on this faith-based ... I want to cut his nuts off."
"I think Jesse Jackson, he's the biggest player hater," Nas told reporters in a conference call, according to BallerStatus.com. "His time is up. All you old n****s, time is up. We heard your voice, we saw your marching, we heard your sermons. We don't wanna hear that sh** no more. It's a new day. It's a new voice. I'm here now. We don't need Jesse; I'm here. I got this. We got Barack, we got David Banners and Young Jeezys. We're the voice now. It's no more Jesse. Sorry. Goodbye. You ain't helping nobody in the hood. That's the bottom line. Goodbye, Jesse. Bye!"
The rapper also said he wanted to criticize Jackson on a track from his upcoming Untitled album.
"It was like, 'How bad should I bash Jesse Jackson?' " he said. " 'How bad should I go after the corny motherf***ers out here? How do I just stay on my game and kinda ignore some of the sh** and get my opinion off?' It was a lot of ideas of how this could've went -- real street, real disrespectful, real vulgar. I just wanted to get my sh** off."
In other Nas news, the rapper just rolled out an itinerary for his upcoming 21-date North American tour in support of his new untitled album, released today via Def Jam.
The trek visits primarily clubs and theaters, beginning July 22 at the Metropolis in Montreal. From there it hits such markets as Atlanta, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Houston, Detroit and Chicago, before wrapping Sept. 9 at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
Along with Nas, the Guerilla Union-produced Jones Experience tour will feature support acts Talib Kweli, Jay Electronica and DJ Green Lantern.
EUR FILM REVIEW: Garden Party
Ensemble Drama Dissects a Day in Life of 21st Rebels without a Clue
Film Review by Kam Williams
*When April (Willa Holland) catches her pervert stepfather peeping at her in the shower again, she decides its time for her to leave home.
However, the spunky runaway soon discovers that it’s hard for a 15 year-old girl to find a decent-paying job that doesn’t involve taking off her clothes or worse.
Although she can make $450 per session posing for nude photos, she’d prefer to survive without relying on the sex industry. Consequently, wandering the streets leads April to the sleazy side of Sunset Boulevard where her path crosses with other rudderless rebels without a clue pursuing a bohemian lifestyle.
For instance, there’s Sammy (Erik Smith), a just off the bus, struggling street musician hoping for superstardom.
And Todd (Richard Gunn), a porn-addicted artist, finds himself like putty in the hands of powerful realtor Sally St. Clair (Vinessa Shaw), a seductive temptress with a knack for spotting lost souls. Nathan, (Alexander Cendese), an aspiring dancer from Nebraska, makes ends meet as Sally’s assistant, helping his devious boss implement her kinky agenda.
A seemingly endless stream of such morally-compromised characters dominates the screen in Garden Party. These unfortunate individuals share a certain desperation which suggests that present-day L.A. is a place where far more dreams are being dashed than realized.
Written and directed by Jason Freeland the film paints a convincing, if dizzying picture of Tinseltown as a dangerous den of iniquity that eats away at one’s optimism until you capitulate and become just as jaded and hardened as the vultures who have made a career out of preying on the naïve and needy. Not exactly a feelgood drama, but nonetheless an eye-opening peek at the ugly underbelly of a merciless metropolis that could care less about the fate of the least of its brethren.
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 89 minutes
Studi Roadside Attractions
To see a trailer of Garden Party, visit:
http://www.gardenpartymovie.com/gardenparty.html#trailer
ITTY BITTY BITS: Yung Joc sued; 40/40 lawsuit shakedown?; Rice, Lopez at Women's Conf.; Forman Grill's Web series; Kimora's fertility; Janet songs on 'Dance Crew'
*Yung Joc was due in an Atlanta courtroom yesterday in a battle against the owners of Stereotypes, a high-end stereo company who accuses the rapper of failing to pay for nearly $25,000 worth of electronics they installed in his ride last year.
*The New York Post's Page Six is reporting that the boss of Jay-Z's 40/40 nightclub has threatened staffers who are targeting the venue in a class-action lawsuit. Desiree Gonzalez, the general manager of 40/40, told an employee she would "f*** up his tax life" for getting involved in the messy legal action, according to a letter filed in court by the lawyer for the workers. Gonzalez allegedly told another staffer she'd "lock him up" if he didn't sign a release from the suit, which accuses the club of paying waiters, bartenders and other staffers below minimum wage.
*Condoleezza Rice and Jennifer Lopez are among the more than 50 speakers confirmed for The Women's Conference 2008, hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver and scheduled for Oct. 21 and 22 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Marian Wright Edelman and Russell Simmons are also scheduled to speak at the event, which is expected to include the same empowering experiences, fascinating speaker pairings, and once-in-a-lifetime conversations that have become the conference's trademark under Shriver's leadership. Tickets are available at http://www.californiawomen.org.
*Applica, the maker of the George Foreman line of grills, has created a show dedicated to the brand's health-focused principle, launching a nationwide effort to help contenders and at-home viewers alike lose weight.
The Web series "Knock Out the Fat With George" kicked-off last Monday with real-life husband and wife hosts, fitness and nutrition experts Michael Feigin and Lawson Harris, guiding viewers as they follow four contestants on a six-month weight-loss journey. The online show is designed to entertain, motivate and educate viewers through friendly competition, recipes and healthier cooking methods from the George Foreman brand. The series premiere of the George Foreman Web show can be viewed at www.KnockOutTheFat.com.
*The New York Daily News is reporting that Kimora Lee Simmons is actively trying to have a baby with boyfriend Djimon Hounsou, but has not been successful. "She has been trying in-vitro fertilization," one source close to the Baby Phat CEO told the paper's Full Disclosure column. "She tried as recently as last week." Kimora's camp denies any fertility intervention and says the couple is content to continue trying to conceive, "au naturel."
*Janet Jackson's music will be featured on Thursday's broadcast of "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew," airing at 10 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. According to Billboard.com, the dance crews must choreograph moves to songs from Jackson's discography, including "Control," "Nasty," "If," "All Nite (Don't Stop)," "I Get Lonely," and "Black Cat." In addition, all crews will perform their combined efforts in dancing to Jackson's "Rhythm Nation."
THE BRIDGE: The Hole In My End Of Our Boat
By Darryl James
*We can say that the Black woman has carried a great deal throughout our time in America. Because the Black family has been under siege for that entire time, much was required of the Black woman. Quite frankly, her strength is one of the reasons we have survived as a race where other races could not have.
We know that even up to and through the first half of the last century, the Black woman was holding things down while her man left psychotic violence and stark oppression in the South to pursue jobs and freedom for his family in the North before standing on the front lines in the Sixties to secure rights for his people.
But we also know that Welfare came to destroy the Black family by making it easier for the family to survive in the man’s absence.
And we know that integration helped to destroy the Black community, which was not prepared for Black flight or the devastation of Crack Cocaine nor the privatization of prisons.
We also know that feminist propaganda has silently polluted the minds of many Black women, who now view Black men as the enemy.
As a race, we’ve come through a great deal. And for the most part, we did it together.
The difference was that in previous times when Black men were under siege, Black women worked with them to hold the community together and we were all better for it. Now, many Black women feel that they have it all together, that they have done enough for “us” and that it’s time for Black men to get it together.
Any Black woman who is alive and under 50 today is under some beautiful delusion to pretend to be tired of suffering anything at the hands of Black men or tired of doing anything for Black men, because it just hasn’t happened in their generation.
Frankly, Black people as a race haven’t done anything for themselves in decades—it’s been all about self-preservation as individuals.
If you are a Black woman under 50 today, the heavy lifting was done by your grandmother, not even your mother. You haven’t run any slaves through an underground railroad, no one has legally raped and/or forcibly impregnated you, and you haven’t carried the burden of the race on your back.
Many of the Black women who claim to be tired haven’t even held a family together, if they even have a family of their own.
We didn’t begin to seriously deteriorate as a race—men or women—until the end of the Sixties, when many Negroes decided to become shiny and new and abandon everything remotely connected to the community.
Really, any contemporary Black woman who feels that she has been carrying the race is crazy because the race is doing worse than ever.
Yet, some of today’s Black women act so terribly put upon, as though they are perfect and Black men are holding back the race.
In response to my column called “Man Up,” chastising men to stand up and be men, one insane woman wrote “not only are we (Black women) ready…but a lot of ‘outsiders’ are ready for Black men to finally get their sh-t together, too.”
Really? Black women and the world are simply waiting for Black men to stop being lazy bags of crap? The answer, of course, is no.
But what is most disturbing is such a sentiment accompanied by little concern about the lagging of Black men.
Black women, even if you believe yourselves to be ahead of Black men, why aren’t you concerned about the hole in MY end of OUR boat? If you believe that we are sinking, you must realize that you will sink as well.
And while no thinking Black man has a problem with Black women working to improve the condition of Black women, the destruction comes with pretending that Black men are in some way holding Black women back.
Some Black women are even retelling the story of the Civil Rights Movement, claiming that it was oppressive to Black women, yet the only “evidence” of that is a quote from an obscure member of the Black Panthers, who admitted to being a rapist and a lover of white women, but who never represented any great portion of Black men--then or now.
In order to truly believe this lie, we have to ignore the Black women who were a vital part of the Movement. We would also have to ignore the FACT that the Civil Rights Act of 1965 was the first time that the rights of women were mentioned since they were enfranchised.
And, we would have to ignore the FACT that Affirmative Action benefited Black women more than Black men.
But, really, the question is this: Why are we even having that discussion?
The answer is that some Black women find power in their own victimhood, which gives them an excuse for poor behavior, while accepting no responsibility.
If they can assert that Black men fail to protect Black women and are generally the oppressors of Black women, then there is less responsibility for Black women in their own foibles, including out of wedlock pregnancy; inability to find and sustain relationships; promiscuity leading to sexual diseases; and so on.
These are the same problems we find amongst Black men, but instead of coming together to resolve these issues for the community, too many women are choosing to lay the blame at the feet of men, while attempting to solve the issues solely for women.
We can only resolve these problems together, because they affect us all—men AND women, instead of pretending they are the sole issues of Black women caused solely by Black men.
Sadly, too many Black women have spent time telling the world how horrible Black men are.
But guess who has been listening and who has bought into that?
A number of today’s Black men and Black boys, many of who have been raised by single Black women.
We all know that there are a number of Black men who are weak, sad and sorry. The problem is when Black women pretend that those weak men represent ALL Black man simply because these crappy men are all the men they know.
Evil, ignorant Black man haters take this to extremes, vacillating between telling men how horrible they are and demanding that those same men deliver the things they desire. In search of something called the “Benevolent Thug.”
If we believe what these women say, we must pretend that over the past thirty to forty years, the male side of the Black race has either by sheer will or by force of nature simply fallen down, while the female side has become better than ever.
Whatever the case, no one is asking Black women to fix Black men.
And no one is asking Black women to stop working to improve the lot of Black women.
Really, there are only two things that Black men need Black women to do.
1—Stop telling the world and us what horrible bags of crap you think we are.
2—Stop dating and having children with Black men you know are weak and sorry, so you won’t think we are all that way.
Now, before we all take sides and line up to lob more grenades across the gender divide, let me ask one simple question of the Black women who come off as singularly concerned about the plight of Black females: “Do you really believe that the race can survive if many of us are torn between raising the condition of the community and raising the condition of one sex within the community?
And, if you seriously believe that Black women are far out in front of Black men, are you concerned enough to take decisive and affirmative action to bridge the gender divide?
Contemplate these questions before you accuse me of hating Black women.
Unless you are willing to work for both men AND women, then you care nothing about our people.
This is about getting more of us to see each other. This is about getting more of us to talk to each other instead of at or about each other.
It is about us, which means that most of us should stand together.
The good news is that Black men across the nation are starting to realize that we must come to our own rescue and that we must take action, no matter who is coming to diminish us.
And, Black men are standing up. For the truth. For their families. For each other and contrary to popular opinion, for Black women.
Black men are creating mentoring programs, rites of passage programs and other programs designed to place more Black men in front of Black boys.
The only real assistance we need is to be left alone.
Even if you disagree with us, you should support us by stopping the lies and hate wherever they appear.
Or, you can sit back, hate us and do nothing.
I’m okay with that.
Just, please, don’t get in the way. And stop telling the world how much you hate us. It makes you look bad, too.
Black women, ask yourselves: Are you concerned with the hole that is in the bottom of my end of the boat?
If you are not, then do not complain, as we both continue to sink into a river of despair.
"We ourselves have to lift the levels of our community, the standard of our community to a higher level, make our own society beautiful so that we will be satisfied. We’ve got to change our minds about each other."
-Malcolm X
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the forthcoming powerful anthology “Notes From The Edge.” Discounted Autographed and Numbered Pre-Release copies can be ordered at www.darryljames.com. He released his first mini-movie, “Crack,” and this year, will release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Hotel Horror Stories
*My mother is the kind of person who likes to attend other people’s family reunions. Except for the time she and my father lived on a military base in another state, she has lived in the same city all her life. So it gives her a chance to visit new places, meet new people while being chauffeured around and collect cool T-shirts. She’s already attended three reunions this summer.
Unlike wedding crashers, she always knows at least one person attending the reunion. She even pays her part of the reunion fee so as to be included in all the activities. The only thing she can’t control is the pre-selected hotel, also known as reunion headquarters.
Even though reunion season is in full bloom, I want to take this time to warn about the pitfalls that come with hotel room rentals. My mother and I have spent a good amount of time in hotels, and I used to work as a hotel housekeeper when I was in undergrad.
Most people have watched undercover news reports about common unsanitary housekeeping practices that occur from one to five-star establishments. Although a visual inspection of a hotel room might put most people at ease, ultraviolet light inspections or video from hidden cameras during daily cleaning tell a different story.
The most common transmitters of germs are the toilet seat, telephone receiver and the television remote control. Never use the toilet without using seat covers or cleaning it yourself. The same goes for the phone and remote control. It seems most house keepers – I never did this, but apparently some people do – use the same damp cloth to clean the bathroom and then wipe down everything else including the inside of the glasses and ice bucket. Yuk!
Most hotel regulations require reusable items such as dishes to be cleaned in high temperature hot water. But if they clean at all most housekeepers just use water from the bathroom basin and call it a day.
Use your own disinfectant to sanitize whatever you might touch.
Another potential germ spreading item is the top bedspread. It’s called a bed spread because it spreads germs all over the bed. Some call it a quilt. Whatever it’s called, most hotel chains don’t change it from one customer to the next. At best it’s changed once a month or whenever it’s visibly damaged by cigarette burns or stains of a mysterious nature. Yikes!
When I stay in a hotel the first thing I do after I put down my luggage is remove the spread from the bed. I don’t sit on it and I don’t sleep under it. I use disinfectant wipes everywhere and I wear shower shoes around the room.
The truth is as much as I like to travel, I’m never really comfortable in a hotel room because there's something always there to remind me that someone else was there before me. In Roanoke, Virginia it was the half-eaten crab legs discarded behind the night stand.
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist living in the Dallas, TX metroplex. Send your questions and comments to her at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com.
Anthony Asadullah Samad
BETWEEN THE LINES: Come On, Jesse: Don’t Hate The Playa, Hate The Game!
*Jesse Jackson, Sr.’s “live mike” comments about Barack Obama reminds us that there’s always someone laying in the cut to divide and conquer black America. For once, Black America seems to be all on the same page in Obama’s quest to become the nation’s (real) first black President.
Remember, the only reason the statements even came to light in the first place was because conservative talk show host, Bill O’Reilly, intended to out Jesse (and swiftboat Barack) on his show last week — but Jesse came forward first with the apology and it became a non-story.
For O’Reilly, who has made it a full time occupation to sink Obama’s election chances, it would have been the “bomb of all bombs” and it would have been dropped — not out of his mouth but — from a credible black leader’s mouth. It’s the kind of bomb that the Republicans are praying would come out against Barack who Rush Limbaugh continues to call, “the Magic Negro.”
Had this kind of bomb dropped two months ago, Hillary might still be in the race and Jesse would be an honorary Clinton today. Thank God for bad timing. Loose lips, even today, still sink ships. All you say is, Damn, come on, Jesse!!?? Don’t hate the playa—hate the game, the same game that has been run on your daddy and your grand-daddy. Divide-conquer.
This game of divide and conquer of black people at the leadership level is not new. We’ve seen it so many times that, like a re-run on television, we can tell what’s going to come next. After 150 years, we should know the game by now.
150 years ago, Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany had a very ugly public debate about Lincoln’s proposed colonization plan (Should we stay or should we go). For those of you who still purport that Lincoln freed the slaves, know that every abolition plan Lincoln considered had a colonization component — voluntary at first, but permanent in Lincoln’s mind, to resolve America of its “Negro problem.” Lincoln was killed before it could be flushed out, but Delany’s position was that Blacks should leave, while Douglass maintained we stay and it ruined their friendship. A half century later, Booker T. Washington suggested we accept segregation as a phase-in to equality. Like Jesse—the other day—W.E.B DuBois thought that Booker T. had lost his mind, and he said so. It started a fifteen year feud where Washington refused to participate in the Niagara Movement and the founding of the NAACP because of DuBois’ presence. Booker T. almost singlehandedly shut down the NAACP, choking off its funding. The NAACP only grew and prospered after Washington died in 1915. DuBois would have a similar public feud with Marcus Garvey, where Garvey called DuBois a “rabid mulatto.” Almost a half century later, civil rights leaders Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young thought direct action protest in the South was suicide, and thought that Martin Luther King, Jr. was crazy, and that Malcolm X was even crazier. But twenty years later when a student of King’s ran for President, Black America was determined not to play that game. Malcolm protégé, Louis Farrakhan came to Jesse’s aid in the middle of Reagan madness, helped bring back hostage, Robert Goodman, from Syria, defended Jesse’s “Hymietown” comments, registered to vote for the first time and took on the wrath of the Jewish community—over his solidarity with Jesse, even in the light of a later repudiation. Jesse has had his own “divide and conquer” struggles, first with Al Sharpton, and now with Barack Obama. And he knows the media is always looking to fan the flames of discontent and disunity throughout our community. Jesse is a student of the struggle, now a patriarch in the struggle, who has navigated many a trap. Why fall into this one?
More troublesome than the timing of Jesse’s comments is the crudeness of his comments. Of all people, Jesse Jackson should know the historical connotations of castration and the role it has played in the emasculation of black men. “Cutting off his nuts” was usually the crowning glory of a lynching, the aftermath of which led to the dismemberment of their black victim. It wasn’t uncommon to see penises and testicles displayed in the offices of civic leaders just 50 short years ago. I saw it for myself some 25 years ago on a trip to the South. The symbolism of castration is every bit as painful as the act itself—to know that someone’s manhood was trophied for social sport. Why would Jesse even suggest such a thing—in the middle of the nation’s political “hunting season”? If you disagree with Barack on a certain point, just say so—not suggest harm to the man.
While many people have their views about what Jesse is (or ain’t), I like him and give him mad credit for getting us to this point in the struggle for political equality in America. For real, y’all—do you really think Barack Obama would be as far as he is if Jesse had not done what he did 20 years ago? We can’t forget that. On the other hand, there’s no reason for Jesse Jackson to continue to step on his d*ck like he has over the past few years. But don’t throw him away yet. He can be the elder statesman of the movement, and play a lesser role with dignity and credibility. However, in his senility, he can’t afford to get caught up in a game so many of us have hated for so long. We have to remind Jesse that this is 2008, not 1988, and there’s a new player on the field.
Jesse should be shoutin’, “Play on, Playa!!” Instead, he’s acting as Jill Scott suggested, “Hate on, Hater.” That’s not a good fit for someone who has done so much for black people and the nation.
Barack Obama is not a threat to Jesse Jackson, or his legacy. Divide and conquer is the biggest threat to Jesse Jackson and his legacy. If Jesse can’t control his hateration, the game wins.
Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a
cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve. " — John Maxwell
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
July 15: R&B singer Millie Jackson is 64. Actor-director Forest Whitaker is 47. Actor-comedian Eddie Griffin is 40.
Singer Kia Thornton of Divine is 27.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Independent author Jenna Marie Christian's wants you to know her mission is to Inform, Entertain, and Uplift her
community. You can support her at: www.missjenaamarie.com
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
July 15, 1864: Gen. A. J. Smith, with 14,000 men, including a brigade of black troops, defeated Nathan B. Forrest at
Harrisburg, near Tupelo, Mississippi. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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