Hear, Hear
In response to the whole Don Imus fiasco, Oprah held 2 townhall meetings this week on her show. Did any of you catch it? Quite frankly, I was not impressed. The theme for her first meeting/show was "What's Next?" and well, I still had the same question after watching her show. While some of the panelists were honest and had some good points regarding misogyny and actions that need to be taken by many in the music industry, the show left much to be desired. It all seemed so contrived and everyone kept beating around the bush to get to their points. Instead of having an active dialogue, at times, I just felt that it was just Oprah and her panelists voicing their beliefs (but bypassing any serious, complex issues such the business side of the industry, the purchasers of the music, the reason some of these women act the way they do in these videos, etc) followed by a round of applause from the audience, with random audience opinions here or there, and mostly all by black people. Cuz, you know, this isn't just a societal issue, it's just a black issue. AHHHHH!!! I just got so aggravated while watching it. Anyway, I'm not saying that there's any simple, single solution to the some of problems in mainstream hip-hop, but I do think that it's much more complex and there's much more that can be done, than what was revealed in these 2 townhall meetings. And, why, dear god, why has it taken Oprah so long to have this conversation on her show??? She should have done this years ago, and her excuse that she "didn't want to fight it alone" was such a cop-out. Well, anyway, the fantastic racialicous has a wonderful post addressing this and one that states how I felt about the shows much more eloquently! Also see my previous post on that wonderful hip-hop documentary that aired on PBS: Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and RhymesLabels: angry rants, Brown, Color-Race-Politics, Music to My Ears
Spread the word...
My peoples in Illinois, time to step up! Especially Illinois Desis:Call, email, write to local veterans organizations, media outlets, and the police department in Joliet. Most importantly, spread the word. At the least, they'll be a full investigation to find out what exactly happened. Take a step towards eradicating racist, xenophobic behavior! This cop needs to go back wherever he came from!. Via: http:www.saldef.org/content.aspx?a=1682SALDEF calls for immediate probe into assault and the xenophobic, anti-immigrant statements by police officer against bronze star recipient.Washington D.C., April 11, 2007 -- The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the country, today called upon the Joliet Police Department to investigate the actions of one of its officers when patrolling a local neighborhood. On Friday March 30, 2007 at around 3:00pm, Mr. Kuldip Singh Nag, a Sikh American who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Navy during the first Gulf War, was at his home in Joliet, IL when a local police officer noticed that a van parked on Mr. Nag’s private property had expired registration tags. Upon being confronted with this, Mr. Nag’s wife, Vera Kaur Nag, informed the officer that the van is parked on their driveway and was inoperable. Mr. Nag then came outside to answer the officer’s questions regarding the van. The Joliet police officer then demanded that Mr. Nag park the van inside his garage and not on the driveway, to which Mr. Nag responded to the officer that it was not possible and that regardless, the van is parked on his private property and he has a right to park it on his driveway. At this moment, the officer pulled out his pepper spray and attacked Mr. Nag. As Mr. Nag screamed in agony, the officer removed his baton and violently struck Mr. Nag numerous times until he fell to the ground. While the assault ensued, the officer was reported by both Mr. and Mrs. Nag as saying, “You f****** Arab! You f***** immigrant, go back to you f****** country before I kill you!” Mr. Nag's wife and six year-old child both witnessed the violent assault, which resulted in Mr. Nag immediately being admitted to the hospital where he stayed for five days due to complaints of intense pain and head trauma. Mr. Nag also received numerous bruises and a serious head injury which have caused him to go blind for several minutes at a time “This case seems to be a clear incident of police misconduct in Illinois,” said SALDEF Managing Director Kavneet Singh. “We are horrified at the anti-immigrant sentiment the officer allegedly used as he violently accosted Mr. Nag, and further that his six year old son was a witness to this violent assault. We call upon both Joliet and Illinois officials to investigate this incident and for the Illinois community to stand in solidarity with Mr. Nag.” SALDEF has garnered the strong support of the Illinois Sikh American community and is currently working with The Chawla Group Ltd to represent Mr. Nag in a criminal case brought on by the City of Joliet.Labels: Be the Change, Brown, Color-Race-Politics
An amusing flow chart
Saw this over at Boing Boing and felt the need to share:
Summing up Bush's presidency:http://www.wellingtongrey.net/miscellanea/index.htmlThe best flowchart I've seen all semester! :)Labels: Amusements, Color-Race-Politics
Look through these lens...
Independent Lens that is.
Last night on PBS's Independent Lens, I saw this wonderful documentary, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes . I really enjoyed watching this documentary. Filmmaker and narrator, Byron Hurt, talked about making conscious hip-hop and confronting issues within hip-hop culture such as misogyny, homophobia, and violence.
I really liked how he interviewed various rappers including Chuck D and Mos Def as well as academics, students, and journalists/pop-culture enthusiasts who cover hip-hop in the media. The diverse perspectives were interesting and particularly, the fans who don't find anything wrong with many of the rappers' lyrics. Also, an amusing moment in the movie occurs when Hurt interviews a white man from Columbus, OH who claims that he too can claim hip-hop music as his own (which is fine)....and it's not just for the "colored folk." Yeah. He seriously said that on air. Hurt responds by saying something like, "Did you just say "colored folk?!" Very funny. And awkward!
While the documentary really didn't give any clear solutions or answers to solve these issues, it did promote a much needed discussion and possibly hope for those of us who are hip-hop fans but are disgruntled with the current direction of mainstream hip-hop music and the social attitudes and stereotypes that some rappers promote.
By the way, I would recommend that you watch Independent Lens in general every Tuesday evening at 10/11 EST. Independent Lens promotes thoughtful, eye-opening, and unique independent film-making. Here's a schedule of their upcoming programs: program guide.
Check it out!
Labels: Color-Race-Politics, Music to My Ears, visual appetizers
MAC-up
I read this article today in the Chicago Tribune and found it rather interesting: Ethnicity plays a role in beauty habitsWhile some of the results were pretty obvious, it was interesting to see the statistics/breakdowns:Asian: The most likely to use sunscreen and after-sun products. They also are most likely to use facial moisturizers, cleansers and lip-care products. In color cosmetics, Asians are the most likely to use bronzers and shimmer sticks every day.
Hispanic: The leaders in everyday use of mascara, blush, eyeliner and lipstick.
Black: The most frequent wearers of lip gloss and fragrance.
White: The most frequent users of foundation, with 43 percent of Caucasian makeup wearers using foundation every day.
I wonder what the survey would be like if it was more narrow and looked at particular communities such as South Asian women. Just from my observations, I'd say South Asian women are more likely to use foundation, lip-care products, eyeliner, and mascara.
What do you think? Plus do you think it's hard to find a good shade of brown for all of us when we're searching for foundations/cover-ups? I find mixing different shades helps. I guess, much like our personal diversities, no one shade that can truly cover up our physical ones!!
Labels: Color-Race-Politics, Girl Talk
Article on Racism
Here's a great article I read today in the American Chronicle on racism in American politics:Read here.Looks like it's going to be a long and challenging campaign season for Obama.Labels: Color-Race-Politics
