From the mail bag, someone sent me a casting call for a new minstreality television show “Bust it Baby”. I saw this mentioned at other sites, but couldn’t quite find words to describe this. Harriet Tubman would be so proud.
I’m writing to you because I came across a disturbing video on youtube yesterday. Plies casting special for Bust it Baby showcases black women doing anything to get on this reality show.
Oh my god. I stopped towards the end when the panalyst were asking about swinging, but then I decided to bite the bullet and continue on with the video. I nearly cried towards the end, especially when they were asking what looked like an intelligent black woman a slew of inane, and profane questions. It really did look as if they were like “dance monkeys dance for the camera!”.
“Lemme ask you something how did you wake up with a penis in ya mouth?”-what the hell.
I haven’t seen any of the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ videos, but I have seen the commercials for them and you are right in a sense that this is the same kind of stuff that white girls are doing in those clips. However if this is going to be a network reality show then I think it extremely over the top. Please someone tell me this(scene&show) is only going to be put out as a special dvd, or just tell me its a joke, I like that idea better. I mean this is essentially the black ‘Girls Gone Wild’ video being marketed as the black version of ‘The Batchelor’. Dammit I can’t stop shaking. Anyways to address this question “white people are allowed to be individuals, black folks are not. you dont think thats wack?”
Yes it is unfornuate that black people have a social burden, but that is a reality that some(Plies!!!) black people are not quite understanding. I hope so much that this is NOT black people being themselves because it is truly saddening. And to think they had a sista doing the interviews. I know money is tight right now, but some people need to know when to say NO to a job.
To the reader, you assume that people do everything for money. In a celebrity obsessed culture everybody wants to be a star and we’ve had more than an few posts about women doing anything for the attention of a man. I’ve gotten emails about a recent story where a woman let her boyfriend move back into the home after he impregnates her 10 year old daughter.- this was after CPS said he had to stay away.
The baby’s birth at University Hospital on Nov. 4 was routine.What wasn’t routine was the fact that the infant’s mother was just 10 at the time, impregnated by her mother’s boyfriend. Now, social workers are trying to figure out how to unravel the mess involving one of the youngest children ever to give birth in Greater Cincinnati.
The girl’s mother was warned not to let any adult men in her Lockland home while caseworkers tried to track down the infant’s father.Prosecutors say the girl’s mother ignored that order, and when a caseworker made a surprise visit to her Lockland home Jan. 4, they found Chaffer. Two other men were eliminated as the baby’s father before Chaffer’s DNA was tested. SOURCE
We like to believe that everybody has the same basic value system. While you may have proved impervious to the stereotypes that the culture has created, taught and reinforced, everybody wasn’t. The real problem is that there is no counter culture. Not one that is as prominent and seductive as this one. Right now, if you want to go another way, you are out there on your own. We talk about out outrage and our value systems in private and on blogs, but they have no problem packaging their outrage and selling it to the world.
Who is going to come up with the reality show about Black women who go around to these casting calls shouting the foolishness down. Ain’t no shame in their game because they can do this all out in the open with no recriminations. The people who are shaking their heads just aren’t as bold in their outrage as this cast of characters is with their outrageousness.
Amazing how big corporate interests have been able to mainstream Black women volunteering to play roles we were once forced to play under threat of violence or death. Things aren’t going to change because we’re outraged. How many of you would have been willing to head down to the casting call with a bullhorn and some placards??? Who is breaking out the camera to do their own casting call for an alternative?
UPDATE: BlkseaGoat from Black Sapience has put up a reply to the “Bust it Baby” video on YouTube. This is a start.
Finally, last night we talked about super delegates on the podcast! Clarissa Goodlett, Membership and Outreach Director for Color of Change joined us for a discussion about Black political involvement.
She also answered questions about Color of Change’s work with the Katrina recovery and callers also asked about the who Jena 6 Kerfluffle. Listen to the podcast.
This election has officially jumped the shark. We’ve officially lost our minds. Mainstream media has finally caught up with the extremes to which supporters of various candidates have been willing to go.
“African-American superdelegates are being targeted, harassed and threatened,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), a superdelegate who has supported Clinton since August. Cleaver said black superdelegates are receiving “nasty letters, phone calls, threats they’ll get an opponent, being called an Uncle Tom. Politico.com
Mainstream media has finally caught up with the extremes to which supporters of various candidates have been willing to go. In addition to threatening their political futures, which I think is within the boundaries, you can’t go against the wishes of 80% of your constituents and think you aren’t going to face some trouble at the ballot box.
I however draw the line at making threats of physical violence. THATS why we have elections. Otherwise we should all just take to the streets and battle it out like we’re in some war torn third world country. Democracy includes people voting in a way that you disagree with. The solution is to vote them out of office or become more organized politically or challenge them in the public sphere, not use the same tactics that propped up the Jim Crow south.
Speaking of the Jim Crow south, somebody vandalized the Obama campaign headquarters in Longview, TX after an appearance by Samuel L. Jackson. The Racists are evolving, in stead of scrawling the N-word, they spray painted the words “Racist” and “Racits” on the building and vans of an Obama supporter.
w, I can not take my vans out with my technicians and service the good people of Longview,” said Towles.
Not only was the writing on the vans, but spray painted on the wall of the front part of the building.
The buildings owner, Eddie Towles says he feels the the racial remarks were directed towards him. “I am not a racist! I take this personally.
In addition to the vandalism and death threats, we had an actual stabbing. A Clinton supporter stabbed his brother in law for supporting Obama:
The Pennsylvania man allegedly stabbed his brother-in-law in the stomach after the pair quarreled about their respective support of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The irony is that if he is convicted of a felony…. he won’t be able to vote.
It is extremely dangerous to be a pregnant woman, not because of the health risks associated with pregnancy, but because it places you at extremely high risk of assault and homicide by the father of your unborn child and in some cases, your parents.
I am sure everyone has heard about Bobby Cutts, Jr. being sentenced to 57 years for killing his pregnant girlfriend, but you may not have heard of this story out of Sweeden.
In Sweeden, a man was recently sentenced to 18 months for grinding up abortion pills and mixing them in with his “lover’s” yogurt:
The court documents said the woman had decided to have the baby even though he felt he was not ready to be a father. The man ordered some pills on the Internet and fooled his doctor into prescribing others for another condition. The woman ate the yogurt and suffered severe stomach pains and vaginal bleeding.When she later realized what she had eaten, she decided to have an abortion, fearing that the fetus had been damaged by the pills. msnbc.com
This isn’t actually that rare. The number one cause of death among pregnant women is homicide. In 2005, Black women were three time more likely to killed than white women.
Most of the murdered women, 56 percent, were shot to death while the rest were either stabbed or strangled.Daily Times
Some studies show that pregnant Black women are SEVEN times more likely to be murdered than pregnant white women, but I doubt any of the trials of their murders will make national headlines. That isn’t counting the physical assaults.
The Cutts story also bring up the controversy in the 15 or so states that do not have fetal homicide laws and the increasing number of cases where the fetal homicide laws are being used to prosecute pregnant mothers who engage in behavior that ultimately leads to death or stillbirth. Not everyone supports a separate crime. I wonder why the crimes covering the mothers in some of these cases don’t carry sufficient weight to put a murderer away for life without the additional charges.
So apparently Gawker media’s “feminist” blog, Jezebel decided to celebrate Black History Month by asking Black women to send in their best and worst hairstyles so that they could hold an online exhibition.
Got a particularly fuzzy ‘fro from 1974 you want to share? Send it in. A crooked set of cornrows courtesy of your frazzled, multitasking mom? We want those too. Oh, and ladies: Jheri curls? Please???? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Jezebel.com
Well apparently, they are disappointed that Black women didn’t join in in their own mass mocking, objectification and humiliation. They can’t figure out why on earth, we wouldn’t want to play in their Black History Month reindeer games.
“Earlier this month, we decided to celebrate Black History Month (and the dearth of black models during Fashion Week) by asking for your best — and worst — black hairstyles. And the submissions uh, trickled in. Meaning we barely got any. Seriously, don’t black women read this blog?” Jezebel.com
Now they added the caveat that they wanted to celebrate the dearth of Black models AFTER the fact. But it is pretty clear from the first post what they were looking for. WAOD Reader SK is not happy with Jezebel and had this to say:
I am so tired of clueless white liberal indie/hipster women presuming that they don’t have to be racially sensitive and they don’t have to tread carefully around race because they have decided that there’s no way they could ever be racist — WAOD Reader SK
SK, Um I think the jezebel writer involved is an African American woman. If you would like to help Gawker Media out you can still get in your photo to be placed on exhibition.
Regarding whether Black women read jezebel.com. Of course we do- they have some good stuff on occasion- don’t judge reluctance to participate in an online mass mocking as not reading your blog. Can’t wait to see what they pull out for March, Women’s History Month- What kinds of pictures of their White readers will they solicit?
THIS JUST IN…. ABC has announced that next year, they are going to remake Alex Haley’s Roots with Sean Combs reprising the role of Kunta Kinte, David Banner will play Toby, Beyonce will play Binta, Lil Boy Wow will play Fiddler, T.I ( if he can beat the charges) will play Bud and O. J. Simpson (if he can beat the charges) will reprise his role as Kadi Touray. Basically any Black non-actor with enough money to purchase an executive producing credit can be in ABC’s remake of “Roots” Just kidding, but I mean what great American classic is going to be butchered next?
You know how in professional sports, once a great athlete has retired, they will sometimes retire the jersey. Hang it from the rafters. They are basically saying that there will never be another player on earth quite as good as the guy who wore the jersey. They need to do that with movies too. In fact, they need to do that with every role Sidney Poitier has ever played okay. Can we just all agree that Sidney Poitier is a character career killer. Once he plays a role, its a wrap for all eternity. I could almost have seen Denzel MAYBE pull off Walter Younger, but PUFFY? Come on. Now to understand just how atrocious the ABC re adaptation was, take a look at the end of the original movie.
That was just painful to watch. Money may have purchased him an executive producer credit and an acting role, but it did not buy him TALENT. TALENT, y’all remember that? I am embarrassed for Puffy. I mean Sean Combs, I mean Walter Younger– and I am embarrassed for Phylicia Rashad for having to fix her lips to say that she has seen the growth in Puffy’s acting abilities. Really? He’s grown? I love Phylicia Rashad from her days as Clair Huxtable and I also loved those “Polly” movies she did with Keisha Knight Pulliam, but either it was written into your contract that you had to compliment Puffy’s acting abilities, you are an extremely nice person, or you are no judge of acting abilities.
If Sean Combs ( let’s use his “professional” acting name) was the only problem in the movie, then I could write if off as my anti-Puffy animus kicking in, on account that he is a practitioner of the Concubine Conspiracy and whatnot, however, it was not just Puffy’s horrific, truly dreadful, did I mention his tragic acting? Anywho, it wasn’t just Puffy’s act-by-numbers rendition of Walter, but Audra McDonald’s, Ruth Younger, can’t TOUCH Ruby Dee.
Sorry Audra, I love your voice and I love you in musicals, but when it comes to long suffering wives, Ruby Dee has you beat. On stage I am sure it worked, but on the tiny screen, I just couldn’t buy you putting up with Puffy. I mean Walter. It was like watching Baryshnikov star in a 5th grade dance recital. No matter how wonderful an actress you are, when your co star’s ability is so limited, you end up overpowering him and I know you tried, I know you do, but stick to stage. You have a gift. Television made for TV movies ain’t yours.
Sanaa Lathan, I can’t really say too much about you. Diana Sands was better just because she was first and she didn’t have to deal with that tragic wig that the Mickey Mouse network stuck you with the whole movie. It showed that you probably have a few movie credits under your belt, but you basically reprised your role in “Love and Basketball” and “Something New”. Watch out now or you are going to get type cast as the daughter who has conflict with your mother who doesn’t get you and you want more for your life blah blah blah. The only difference is that this time Alfrie Woodard didn’t play your mom the way she did in both L&B and “Something New”, although now that I think about it, she would have been a better casting decision than Phylicia Rashad.
Yes, I know, that brings me to Phylicia Rashad… Y’all know I loves me some Claire Huxtable and it just hurt my HEART to see you brought so low as to have to act opposite some young rap producer because he has money and ABC thinks that you can just throw any hip hop artist in a made for TV movie and it will be a hit. Forget the CRAFT of acting. Forget TALENT. Forget Training. Forget Diction. Forget it all! You were good… but I am sad to say, I liked the original Lena Younger better. When you slapped Sanaa Lathan, I mean Beneatha and said “Now you say after me. In my Mother’s house there is still GOD!” it didn’t quite carry the weight of the original version.
Claudia Mcneil’s Lena looked like she was going to put Beneatha in the ground.
Now some might say, “WAOD lady, you ought jes’ be grateful ABC don’ thought enough of ze’ Black people to do the remake” I call FOOLISHNESS. The truth is that ABC should have just re aired the original. THAT would have been Black HISTORY right there. Teaching these kids what real acting looks like and not the Tyler Perry squint your eyes and furrow your brow and look confused/angry method acting we saw in this most recent remake.
It is time to retire “A Raisin in the Sun”. Either play the original movie version, or don’t air it at all. Seriously. ABC should burn the remains of whatever that was they aired tonight because I could have gotten a group of high school kids to put on what we saw tonight. To all of you who said you were not going to watch because you were such fans of the original version. YOU WERE RIGHT! Lord Y’all were right. To all the critics who praised this movie, y’all are either blind or y’all are under the same contract poor Phylicia Rashad signed not to trash Puffy’s acting.
But sreiously, if they remade “A Raisin in the Sun” what’s next?? Roots? Imitation of Life? The Grinch that Stole Christmas? Oh i forget, they already remade that one… and it sucked too!
Did you know that 1/3 of the children that go missing in this country are Black children?? ONE out of THREE.
Another hat tip to Mz Deidra over at Black and Missing. She truly has a calling on her life because she is a crime blogger and she manages not to let the sad circumstances that she routinely covers drag her down.
The founder, Janice and her staff are so dedicated in what they do that they not only report on missing black children but they also take the time out to contact the families and make sure that they are doing whatever they can to find their child. Black and Missing
Right out the gate, they featured Chioma Gray, but the really struck me was the story of Rilya Wilson. Y’all remember Rilya? Now if her name was Rilya Jon Benet Wilson, we’d still be seeing news pieces about her. They also include tips to teach and protect your children.
It takes a special calling to do what they do. Each of you can do something similar in your own community. It isn’t about doing what someone else does, but finding something you feel passionate about and using what you have to do what you can. To learn more about “Saving Our Children” you can go to their website. They also have a podcast called Peas in a Pod. They also have a Myspace page.
Take a moment to give them a holla’ and a word of encouragement. I thought I would be sad looking at the site, but actually, it is heartening that someone has dedicated their life to this. So if all you can give is encouragement then give that!
As part of Black History Month , which by the way is almost over, ABC is airing A Raisin in the Sun tonight at 8:00PM EST. Of course all of the pre movie buzz is about Sean Combs, who we sometimes refer to as “the Johnny Appleseed of Sperm.” But hey, it is getting press for the rest of the cast.
Set in 1950s Chicago, the drama centers on the Younger family, who anxiously await a $10,000 insurance check _ and the ensuing squabbles over how to spend it. Combs plays Walter Lee, a role made famous by Sidney Poitier.
Looking to assert his manhood and to use the money to finance his dreams of owning a business, Walter Lee finds himself at odds with his widowed mother, Lena (Rashad), his ambitious sister, Beneatha (Lathan) and long-suffering wife, Ruth (McDonald). Huffingtonpost.
Audra McDonald was on The View last night talking about the creative conflicts with Walt Disney and ABC about the use of the N-word ( Disney only let them use it once). Interesting how we’ll let it be dropped right and left to talk about each other, but when it comes to reflecting its original meaning, folks get the jitters.
Over the weekend, I put up a post about Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union, and right out of the block, the first comment was from our blogging god father, The Angry Independent He can be testy at times, but he never fails to get a reaction, The Angry Independent left a comment over the weekend that I think is worth some additional discussion.
“Yeah… it’s a b@#h being Black, but I believe today, the source of most of the grief comes from within, particularly from the Black elite…. and not from “The Man”, Jim Crow, or the KKK.
So What is the State of the Black Union? Is there such a thing as Hurricane Negro? Should you evacuate or shelter in place and ride it out?
If you want to see video of the event, Jack and Jill Politics had some up if The Smiley Group hasn’t yanked them yet: After the fact, I realized that CSPAN is offering the entire morning and afternoon sessions in their entirety. So my cable or schedule impaired people, you can relive the majic.
Clip # 1 Baratunde clowns Tavis because of the huge sponsor logos behind his head. Clip #2 Dick Gregory goes off on a riff asking about what they put in Malt Liquor- Dick Gregory cut up incluing a Kobe Bryant rape joke, reason number 13,245 why Barack Obama was MILES away from Chocolate City that weekend. Can you imagine the headlines. Clip# 3 Shelia Jackson Lee… She DID say that she was FULL about three dozen times, Baratunde asks full of what. Clips 4,5 6 – Al “MISSING IN ACTION” Sharpton makes some point about how he is going to get al gangsta’ on the DNC if they seat Florida and Michigan… oh yeah, that’s likely to help a brother out. Just what he needs Rev. Missing in Action marching in circles around the DNC. Clip #7 Nicole Lee from Trans Africa- she was the only person i heard speak who I wante dto hear more from, but due to the format which is to get a bunch of Black folks who love to talk and give then 2 minutes to speak, we heard more Dick Gregory when we should have been hearing from this lady.
Blog Reactions to State of the Black Union Melissa Harris Lacewell echoed some of my sentiments listening to these folks try to out do themselves. At times it was cringe worthy:
It was so sad as to be funny. Na’im Akbar admonished the audience not to be fooled by the “black face” of a candidate. Seriously, is an Africana Black Nationalist telling us that race doesn’t matter? Donna Brazille told the audience to “submit to the Covenant.” Ah…no. I am a democratic citizen who enters into the social contract as an equal decision maker, not a subject in monarchy who must submit to a covenant that has no structure of accountability. Reverend Sharpton has put his finger in the air since last year’s SOTBU and felt the Obama winds blowing. So he rocked the crowd with his impassioned defense of Barack’s candidacy. But even that felt comedic after last year’s critique. Melissaharrislacewell.com
BWHAHA.
The Conservative Republic Blog Hot Air is notable not for the post, but the comments are worth reading. You think the Clintons have irritated some of y’all. Wait till you read the comments thread over at Hot Air.
She isn’t alone MSM is starting to run with the narrative that the Obama phenomenon looks like a cult or something like what hit the nation during the Beatles craze. I saw a piece on Night Line that basically said as much. just do a Google news Search for “Obama cult” (Oh forget it, I did it for you). They are starting to refer to him as a messiah… and Obama’s campaign, rightfully, is beginning to get alarmed:
Now critics are quietly voicing the fear that Mr Obama and his campaign have deliberately adopted the tone and tactics of an evangelical preacher, whipping up “Obamamania” at the expense of more serious discussion of policy and government. There is “something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism” deployed by the black senator and his supporters, observed Joe Klein,…
A senior Obama official, who would talk only on condition of anonymity, told The Sunday Telegraph that the campaign was worried that the cult charges would stick and harm their candidate. He acknowledged that Mr Obama generated wild enthusiasm and devotion among young fans – most of them voting for the first time – but insisted this was due to the senator’s “charisma and the political inspiration that informs his speeches.” The Sunday Telegraph
so Hillary is picking up on that riff. Hillary Clinton in a campaign appearance in Providence Rhode Island basically indicated that Barack Obama wanted to part the sky and wave a magic wand to solve problems. She is tapping into a common criticism of Barack Obama non-stans.
Now the folks over at Jack and Jill aren’t pleased. I think that their reaction should be different, this could be a “Howard Dean Scream” moment. It will no doubt be a You tube Hit. But to answer their question. NO, she doesn’t take him seriously. They think he is a light weight who came out of nowhere to steal her thunder.
And, worst of all for Bill and Hill, the Dems found a new star – their first in 16 years. Look at it from Hillary’s point of view: She’d expected to run against the likes of Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd – the usual mediocrities and misfits. Then Barack Obama came along, and did what the Clintons did in 1992 – saw his opportunity and seized it. All of a sudden, she’s the Bill Richardson – worthy but dull, earthbound and joyless, lead weights round her ankles.
I had been thinking the same thing. Hillary could have run in 2004, but she did take her chance when she would have run against a group of men with little to no charisma and would have likely won the nomination. but she hesitated and she waited. But history is strewn with failed Presidential hopes because a candidate got in too early or too late. By not running in 2004, she too a huge risk that she would have another window of opportunity and the risk she ran was that someone would come along who could beat her. That person is Obama who did just the opposite of what she did.
Obama is in the same position she was in in 2004 IDENTICAL- partially through his first term as a Senator and instead of waiting and hoping that the window of opportunity would be open in four years, he took a chance and went for it. So She isn’t just dealing with a string of ten defeats, but probably kicking herself for not taking her moment 4 years ago.
Sometimes when a window of opportunity opens, it is only open once and you either crawl through it or you miss your shot. He crawled through. She didn’t she waited and that has GOT to be additional salt in th wound.
That being said. This thing ain’t over until I hear a concession speech outta one of them.
There appears to be a wave of blogging blues going around. It is okay to pause and catch your breath. Blogging ain’t easy.
Hat Tip to Mz Deidra over at Black and Missing, this was playing on her myspace page and I was like “Man I needed to hear that.” I had forgotten about this Yolanda Adams song.
