kNOw Justice, kNOw Peace

Oh, I was going to get to this sooner or later. I held my tongue when Lupe came out with "Bitch Bad," a song that was supposed to hold a mirror up to Black society and preach about the abomination it's turning into, but was instead met with "Oh, shut up, Lupe." I didn't say a damn thing about the ignorant backlash regarding "Hunger Games" star Amandla Stenberg (a mulatta) playing the part of Rue, who readers had (mistakenly) thought was a precious White girl. Enough is quite enough.

Amandla Stenberg

Before you proceed, please heed this caveat and abstain from getting the idea that I am lumping any race into one category. When I say Whites, I am speaking of a very specific group of White people: those who perpetuate intolerance and/or ignorance. Back to your scheduled program.

On Sunday, Jamie Foxx was presented with the 2013 Generation Award at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards (which I don't go out of my way to catch anymore). As he walked onstage, he gave the cameras, and the world, a clear shot of his t-shirt: an homage to Trayvon Martin and the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Above a big portrait of Martin were the words "kNOw Justice" and below the photo the words "kNOw Peace." Surrounding Martin's massive portrait were smaller photos of the children who perished at Sandy Hook. 

The backlash was immediate and unfiltered. People (specifically, White people) on Twitter were pissed. How dare he wear a controversial Black face so proudly near his heart? What nerve he had to make Martin's face bigger than the innocent (mostly White) children. The audacity that he can't just let it go, that he's standing in solidarity with an important face of the Black struggle, the Black injustice, the Black truth.

Jamie Foxx at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards

Because that's always been a problem, right? It's seen as unity and comradeship when Asians help their fellow Asians, when Hispanics look out for their fellow Hispanics and when Whites support their White brothers and sisters. But when Blacks have each other's backs, we're being exclusive. We're racist. It's a problem. It's scary. That's why we've always been divided, isn't it? They love seeing us fight each other. They bring out their popcorn and enjoy the show, the gaping fissure they've created that causes tension, even hatred, among Blacks. The second we start getting along and banding together, we must be stopped. Stopped before we become too powerful. Before our voices are heard and the truth rings free, out in the open.

Some of the tweets that were publicized in reaction to Foxx's statement t-shirt were just ignorant and others were downright hateful and meant to be degrading. It doesn't surprise me that racial tensions are at an all-time high. In fact, according to a Huffington Post article I read a while back, the percentage of White racists today is higher than it was right before Obama was elected into office. Now, don't get me wrong, we've come a long way. And I have tons of White friends who couldn't care less about race. But in this day and age, we should be a little further along than we are collectively.

Then again, we are in the age of the Internet. Where people are free to say as they please. I believe what these people do is put out this vitriol under the cloak of anonymity just to ruffle feathers, just because they can. But they spend so much time doing so, they really begin to get sucked into the contempt they put out; they become the hate they create. Perhaps so much so, that they begin to live the atrocity that they had previously preached only for a reaction.

Most of the tweets that were highlighted in the article referred to Martin as a "thug," a "nigger" and a "criminal" who got what he deserved and was rightfully wasted from this world so that he could no longer carry out crimes that CLEARLY all Black men exclusively are bound to commit. They even called Foxx a racist who "wouldn't be wearing that shirt if Trayvon Martin were white." Again, standing up for each other is "racist." Would Jamie Foxx have worn that shirt if Trayvon Martin had been White? Honestly, probably not. Not because he's a racist, but because of the cultural significance the Trayvon Martin case had in America.

Just some of the Twitter backlash in response to
Foxx's shirt (Photo courtesy of Public Shaming Tumblr)

Black culture is riddled with adages made popular by 90s hip-hop like "fuck the police" and "the White man's always trying to keep the brothers down." Of course, many people have chosen to turn a blind eye to the injustices done to African Americans both through individual racism and systematic racism. These ideas have been brushed off as conspiracy theories and excuses made by the Black community to justify their servile standing in society. Imagine the guilt that would befall White people if they had to admit that the system was really designed so that Black people have to work ten times harder just to have a remote chance at the American dream. It's comfortable to live in ignorance. Ignorance, as they say, is bliss. 

If we didn't flip the channel every time a poor child in tattered clothing in a third world country showed up on the TV screen, we'd be forced to think about the things we take for granted everyday. We'd have no choice but to rot inside at the thought of living our hedonistic, gluttonous, ostentatious lifestyles. So it's comfortable not to know. Because there's a certain discomfort that arises, a guilt, if you will, when our actions don't match our beliefs. This feeling of unease is cognitive dissonance. In order to alleviate this vexation, we pretend we don't know so that we don't have to readjust the way we live to match what we actually do know to be the right thing. 

Trayvon Martin wasn't harming anyone. Nor did he have any intent to harm anyone. What he may or may not have done at any point before that night had nothing to do with the fact that he was merely walking down the street minding his own business. What happened could have been avoided had George Zimmerman followed police instructions and stayed put. The consequences of his actions exposed on a national scale what Black people had been saying all along: we're targeted simply for being Black and in the wrong place. In a place we are not welcome.

Yet still, while most of America conceded that his murder was undeniably wrong, certain people sought any reason to demonize Martin. They dug up any dirt they could to assuage the guilt of witnessing the slaughter of a teenage boy who was armed with nothing but a few snacks. Rather than calling him a "guy," "young man" or a "person," they refer to him as "thug," "nigger," "criminal." Anything that takes away his humanity and replaces it with bestiality. And they wonder why Black people get so riled up about this.

One of my favorite books is Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, about a Black man trying to find his way in a society that consistently degrades him until he is forced to become a recluse and live outside the law. From that book comes one of my favorite lines: "To whom can I  be responsible, and why should I be, when you refuse to see me?" A perfect example of what sociologists refer to as the labeling theory. If you tell someone they are something enough, eventually, they will believe it and become the very thing you've labeled them as. You tell a woman she's ugly enough, no matter how scientifically beautiful she actually is, she will begin to see ugly every time she looks at herself. 

This is what Black people have succumbed to. So long have we been told we're not good enough, we're not worthy, we're not beautiful, we can't make it, being brutish is in our nature, that we actually start to believe it. Many of us either stop trying, dumb ourselves down, act out violently or start trying to live up to White standards of perfection. For example, Nicki Minaj, who fancies herself a "Barbie" and models her look after a European aesthetic (blond hair, blue contacts, light make-up, etc.). So essentially, White people paint a picture of who they think we are, we subconsciously live up to it, and they're provided with more ammunition to say "I told you so." It's like asking someone repeatedly to slap you in the face and then getting upset when they actually do it.

Great quote from a very wise man (Photo courtesy of
Interracial Dating Facebook)

When is it going to be okay for us to stick up for each other? We've been pitted against one another for so long because they fear that when we stand together, we will become a force. We will be powerful beyond measure. But we've bought into it. Light skin vs. dark skin, Black Americans vs. Africans vs. Haitians, upper class vs. lower class. We divide ourselves up into any category we can squeeze ourselves into. It has to be okay for us to come together. It's not a matter of gathering an army so that we can take over, but so that we can merely stand next to our brothers and sisters of all races and ethnicities in equality without any struggles for power and superiority.

I wish I could relay that message to these Internet gangsters. These people who feel so safe behind the veil of a computer screen that they can so easily spit quick, reckless, spontaneous bits of venom that spread like wildfire and become immortalized in the vast abyss of the World Wide Web. But I know many of them are far too proud, too resistant, too set in their ways to listen to reason. But I want them to know anyway, that we will continue to wear these bold displays of support for all of our brethren who have been wronged, be they Black, White, Asian, Green, Red or Blue. If there is no justice, there will be no peace. And until we know justice, we cannot know peace.

Young Black Hollywood

     As many of you might have heard, seeing as it is kind of old news, Vanity Fair's March issue featured what they referred to as the stars of "New Hollywood." The cover featured nine beautiful actresses supposedly on the rise, but there was only one problem...it seems they took the word "fair" quite seriously.

     You see, it just so happened that all nine of those gorgeous ingenues were white. They represented the ideal physical beauty that Hollywood is known to perpetuate: young, fresh-faced, fair-skinned, and thin. Actresses Abbie Cornish, Kristen Stewart, Carey Mulligan, Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Hall, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Evan Rachel Wood, and Anna Kendrick were apparently the only ones that Vanity Fair could think of. Some of these actresses I completely understand. Kirsten Stewart is everywhere, Carey Mulligan was exceptional in "An Education," Amanda Seyfried has made quite a name for herself, and Evan Rachel Wood is never too far away from America's conscious.

     But the magazine neglected rising stars like Gabourey Sidibe of "Precious" and Zoe Saldana when conjuring up their list. As I was reflecting upon this in disappointment, I wondered how long it would take for a major magazine to strike back with a cover full of ethnic, diverse women.

     Well, in August, someone finally decided to strike back. Publicist Arian Simone came out with her own, exclusively digital publication called "Fearless Magazine." On the premiere cover are eight of the most insignificant actresses in Hollywood.

     I know that may seem harsh, but they could have done wayyyy better. Lauren London, Monique Coleman, Tia Mowry, Tiffany Hines, Naturi Naughton, Kyla Pratt, Jennifer Freeman, and Chyna Layne are the eight black actresses gracing this cover, and only a couple of them are actually relevant. Many of you may remember Jennifer Freeman from the hit sitcom "My Wife and Kids," and most recently for abusing her NBA husband. I haven't seen Kyla Pratt in years, nor has Lauren London appeared in a film since giving birth to Lil Wayne's baby...you get the point. The point is...we failed to make a point with this retaliation.


  Who do you think should have been on Vanity Fair's cover?

Fantasia Barrino Continued...

     I apologize for the hiatus on my blog. As you may know, I am a college student and this week I served as a volunteer on campus to help welcome in the new freshman. So occasionally, I will be too overwhelmed with school and work responsibilities to update. But I'll try to get to it as much as I can.

     The reason I am doing this post is because my very first post was a comparison on how Fantasia Barrino and Alicia Keys, both allegedly in affairs with married men, were each treated by the media. In the post, based on an article I read on theroot.com, I mentioned how their skin color could possibly be one of the reasons Fantasia was treated much more harshly than Alicia. This article was a real debate-starter and got the wheels turning in my mind as well.

     Fantasia has just recently revealed in an interview with Vibe magazine that she believes the reason she was treated differently was because of her skin tone and ethnic features. In the interview, she takes it a step further, saying she believes her skin tone, ethnic features, and short hair also got her excluded from red carpet coverage spreads in popular magazines.

     In my opinion, Fantasia took something that the black media was saying in her defense and ran with it as far as she could. Now, while I do believe her skin tone played a part, it is very unlikely that was the whole reason she was treated differently from the Alicia Keys and Angelina Jolies. Fantasia claims that it was difficult being on American Idol, where everyone was "barbied out," as she she says.

     But she forgets to mention that she won the competition. Despite being a teen single mother, dark-skinned, and having a full nose and full lips, the American audience still voted her the winner. With all the pressure and embarrassment following her suicide attempt, I think Fantasia is now trying to play the victim card. And, in my opinion, all this press and all these interviews are putting her back in the spotlight conveniently close to the release of her album.

     Going back to American Idol, she is held to different standards than celebrities not affiliated with that name. And not only that, but her scandal, unlike the others, involved the possible existence of a sex tape. People want to know that the person they rooted for and voted for is not a sex-tape-making, shameless homewrecker. Alicia Keys got into this business on her own accord, and Angelina Jolie already had a reputation as a rebel. The American public feel like Fantasia was made into a star only with their support.

     Fantasia can use the race card as much as she wants, but there are many other factors involved that she overlooked in her haste to defend herself. And if there's one thing that annoys me, it's when people don't own up and try to play the victim instead. What do you think about the situation?
   

The "N-Word"...Again

     *Sigh* Countless discussions, debates, arguments have led nowhere apparently. I cannot recall how many times I have had this discussion with numerous people to no avail. And the word "nigger" keeps creeping up to the consciousness of our society again and again. This time, talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger is the bad guy who dared to not just utter the word, but blurt it out...over and over again. Eleven times, to be exact. After years and years of this issue being pummeled and beaten unconscious by society, it still has not died. In fact, I'm forced to accept that many white people, unbeknownst to us black people, use the word.
    
     Honestly, why should we blame them? Why are we being so hypocritical and childish, demanding that we have free use of the word to our hearts content yet no one else should have the audacity to merely think about using the word. Can't we just retire it completely?

     What do we really get out of using that word? A lot of black people defend the usage, saying they are reclaiming the word when it just appears to me that they are simply keeping it alive. When a white guy is listening to rap music in the privacy of his bedroom, do you think he skips over the n-word knowing that no one is around? And what happens if he then accidently blurts it out while no longer in the confines of his room? He's a racist, right?

     Some black people even now put their own twist on what the word means. I recall back in middle school I was friends with an Asian girl who was well-known among the black community as "one of us." She talked like us, dressed like us, listened to the same music, and lived in the same poverty. One day, as a group of us were standing around checking out the cute guys passing by she  shouted out, "Damn, that nigga is fine!"

     I looked around immediately, fearing that the black girls around her would be angry, but no one seemed to mind. I later approached on of my black friends who had witnessed the occasion and asked why that didn't bother her. "Who cares?" she said. "'Nigga' is just another way of saying 'good-looking guy'."

     It seems that every black person has a different  opinion about the word, and that's when the debate gets messy. After reading a post on theroot.com about the incident with Dr. Laura, I must admit they made a good point: Why do we give people like that the power to work our nerves?

     Dr. Laura has since quit her radio show because of all the backlash from the word, but why do we allow that word to get us so riled up? And it does give them an awful lot of power knowing that by merely uttering that one word, they can ruin our entire day. What people neglected was that in the same day, Dr. Laura went on to accuse the majority of the black population for voting for Obama only because of his race.

     People were so blinded by the word, that they failed to recognize how much more insulting that is to our intelligence and our integrity. We don't just vote for any black person who runs for office. Condoleeza Rice is a black person, however, she does not have much support from the black community. Why? Because black people tend to be Democrats and vote that way.

     I'm retiring this issue for now with this final thought: It's not that serious. Stop using it if you don't want to hear it. Enough already.

Alicia Keys Vs. Fantasia Barrino

     Hey, guys! So, this is officially my first blog post! I am no stranger to blogging, so I suppose it's not that big of a deal, but this is my first personal blog, so I am completely responsible for making it a good one.
  

     To start off, I would like to address two stories that have been taking the media by storm: Fantasia Barrino's appalling affair with a married man, and Alicia Keys' fairytale ending with a man who she allegledly began dating while he was still married. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've seen these stories plastered on the cover of tabloids galore. But an important question to ponder: these two ladies are in the same situation, so why are they being treated completely different by the mainstream media?
    
     As I was reading an article on theroot.com this morning, they dared to delve deeper into this by posing the question: "Is it that Keys is too pretty to be pummeled?"
    
     With this, the author carefully approaches the topic of beauty in our culture, considering that the reason might be Alicia's ethereal biracial looks compared to Barrino's tatted, dark-skinned appearance. Could it be that the media melted at the sight of a goddess-like, slightly tanned Alicia sealing the romance with a beautiful wedding in which she donned a gorgeous white dress and adorable baby bump as opposed to Fantasia sealing her romance with a tasteless tattoo of the man's last name on her shoulder?

     Or, the author suggests, is it the antithetic backrounds and rise to fame of the two stars? While both are extremely talented, only Keys has risen to superstar fame and is on the road to possible legendary status. Could it be that our culture respects Keys' struggle as she fought her way into the music industry like so many artists do? And although she was raised in Hell's Kitchen in New York by a single mother, it is notable that Keys did graduate as valedictorian in her performing arts school at the age of 16, going on to attend the prestigious Columbia University. All that while Barrino lived in poverty, being molested as a child, never having graduated from high school, barely being able to read, and being a teen mother. Yet, Barrino had an almost easy ride to the top, being catapulted there by a winning stint on American Idol.

     The article is truly an insightful and eye-opening one for those who have never given this issue much thought, and I encourage you to read it in its entirety.