Mickey Freeland Openly Discusses Race in Front of a Live Audience

Naomi Campbell is Not a Chocolate Bar

 

Our friend Nicky L. brought this to our attention, from this site: http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/now/naomi-campbell-vs-cadbury/123

posted by Claudine Zap, Yahoo! Buzz Log - Tue May 31 2011, 12:34 PM PDT

Model Naomi Campbell says she's considering legal action in response to an ad that compares her to a Dairy Milk Bliss bar. Dave M. Benett/Getty Images A new ad for Cadbury chocolate is leaving a bitter taste with Naomi Campbell. The supermodel is looking at "every option available," including legal action, in response to a promotion that compares the celebrity to a Dairy Milk Bliss bar.

The ad reads, "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town," and shows the candy bar nestled in diamonds. The campaign ran in supermarkets and newspapers in the U.K.

Campbell told the U.K. newspaper the Independent, "I am shocked. It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humor in this. It is insulting and hurtful."

The star, who has been the center of controversies in the past (forced community service for hurling a cellphone at her maid comes to mind), is this time being backed by the British organization Operation Black Vote. The group called on the U.S. company Kraft, which owns Cadbury, to apologize and is considering a boycott of the company's products. Worse, Naomi's mom is mad.

 

Here's the ad in question. The campaign ran in supermarkets and newspapers in the U.K.

Valerie Morris told the Independent, "I'm deeply upset by this racist advert. Do these people think they can insult black people and we just take it? This is the 21st century, not the 1950s. Shame on Cadbury."

Cadbury said in a statement that it had pulled the billboards with no plans to repeat the ad, and added, "It was certainly never our intention to cause any offense, and the campaign itself is a light-hearted take on the social pretensions of Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss." 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

Donald Trump: 'Great relationship with the blacks'

onald Trump says he's always had a 'great relationship with the blacks.'

By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY



Donald Trump said today he is troubled by President Obama's high standing among African Americans, suggesting he probably wouldn't get support from black voters that he believes he deserves.

"I have a great relationship with the blacks. I've always had a great relationship with the blacks," Trump said on Talk 1300 AM radio in Albany, N.Y.

Trump is considering running for president in 2012. He was responding to host Fred Dicker's reference to a recent Quinnipiac Poll showing Obama enjoys strong support from African Americans in New York state. That survey showed 95% of blacks in New York backing Obama. The real estate mogul said the numbers were "frightening."

More than eight out of 10 blacks nationally support Obama, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

This piece in the New York Observer goes into more detail about Trump's interview.

Trump has said he will decide by June whether to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. He has made Obama's birth certificate an issue in recent weeks and told USA TODAY's Jackie Kucinich in an interview this week that he believes the president is "getting a free pass."

Singer John Legend said this week he believes Trump's criticism of Obama and his birthplace is "racist b-------."

About Trump's political aspirations: Spokesman Michael Cohen said in a statement that Trump may announce the time and place of a press conference on the May 22 season finale of Celebrity Apprentice. At that news conference, Trump will make a statement "whether or not he will run for president."

Gypsies, Tramps and Theives

I saw this food truck today.

"How Do You Spell Nigger? OBAMA."

University of Kentucky officials are investigating two incidents in which someone hung signs that called President Barack Obama a racial epithet.

On March 15, a professor noticed one such sign hanging on a door to the UK School of Law on South Limestone. He turned it in to campus police, who are investigating, said spokesman Jay Blanton.

Early Thursday morning, third year law student Ches Clark said he found a sign affixed to a bus shelter on South Lime near Maxwelton Court. The sign said "How Do You Spell Nigger? OBAMA."

The letters looked to be cut out of a menu, glued to another piece of paper and photocopied, Clark said.

UK police could charge whoever posted the signs with third degree criminal mischief, Blanton said. It's not clear whether anyone from UK was involved, but police are investigating because the first sign was on UK property, he said.

Clark took the sign to his law-school class on racism and criminal law and posted a copy of it on his Facebook page.

His law professor, Roberta Harding, said the sign looked juvenile, yet someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make it.

The general sentiment in class was that whoever posted the sign should "get over" Obama being president, Harding said.

"I think people were upset in a positive way," she said.

In 2008, two college-age men were arrested after hanging an effigy of Obama from a tree on the UK campus with a noose around its neck.

The grand jury dismissed charges of second-degree burglary, theft by unlawful taking and disorderly conduct against Hunter Bush and Joe Fischer, who had graduated from UK.

Fischer and Bush expressed remorse but said they were reacting to news about a Sarah Palin effigy in California.

(http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/25/1683593/uk-police-investigating-signs.html)

Lovin' My Man

This isn't racist, it's just baffling.

Speaking of Ling, Ting, Tong...

Ching Chong Ling Long Ting Tong

Another wonderful example of someone sharing their views of a different culture in an appropriate and thoughtful manner.

Her name is Alexandra Wallace and if you can pull your eyes away from her propped up cleavage for a moment, you can absorb the privileged sludge that is seeping from her glossy sparkled mouth.

Here's the latest:

LOS ANGELES — A student who posted an Internet video of her tirade against the Asian population at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Friday night that she is leaving the school, despite the university's decision not to discipline her.
In a statement to the Daily Bruin campus newspaper, Alexandra Wallace said she has chosen to no longer attend classes at UCLA because of what she called "the harassment of my family, the publishing of my personal information, death threats and being ostracized from an entire community" in the wake of the three-minute video.
"In an attempt to produce a humorous YouTube video, I have offended the UCLA community and the entire Asian culture," Wallace said in the statement, her second apology of the week. "Especially in the wake of the ongoing disaster in Japan, I would do anything to take back my insensitive words. I could write apology letters all day and night, but I know they wouldn't erase the video from your memory, nor would they act to reverse my inappropriate action."
Earlier Friday, university officials said they would not discipline Wallace because her video was an exercise of free speech, not hate speech, and it didn't violate the student code of conduct.
UCLA's vice chancellor for student affairs, Janina Montero, said in a statement that campus officials were "appalled and offended by the sentiments expressed in the video," but it did not seek to harm or threaten a specific person or group.
In the video, Wallace said her complaints aren't directed at any individual and people shouldn't take offense, but "the problem is these hordes of Asian people that UCLA accepts into our school every single year."
She says the numbers would be fine if Asian students would "use American manners" and goes on to complain about Asians frequently talking on their mobile phones while she tries to study. At one point she mocks them with gibberish.
Wallace suggests in the video that people calling to check on the fate of Japan's tsunami victims go outside so they won't freak people out if they get bad news.
Wallace took down the rant shortly after posting it Sunday, but it had already gone viral and sparked a strong reaction at UCLA, where at least 37 percent of the school's 26,000 undergraduates are Asian, 32 percent are white, 16 percent are Hispanic and 4 percent are black.
Wallace could not be reached for further comment.


(The Associated Press)

Rastas 4 Christ

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

2012 or ZOIN?

London Olympics: Iran to compete despite logo complaint

  

 

Iran has indicated it will attend the 2012 Olympics in London, despite complaining that the Games logo resembles the word "Zion".

Last month the Iranians complained to the International Olympic Committee and called for the graphic to be replaced.
They objected on the grounds that its resemblance to the word Zion - a Biblical term for Israel - was racist.
But now the Iranian-backed Press TV has quoted an official as saying Iranians will "participate gloriously".
The report by Press TV quotes the secretary of Iran's Olympic organising committee, Bashram Afsharzadeh, as saying: "Our decision, to partake [in the] Olympic Games, has nothing to do with the UK politicians.
"We will make co-ordination with officials of the International Olympic Committee and we will participate and play gloriously in London Games."
In its original letter to the IOC, Iran had called for the Games logo to be withdrawn and its designers "confronted".
There was also a suggestion that Iranian athletes would be told not to attend.
At the time, IOC president Jacques Rogge told BBC Sport: "No, it can't be serious. We will quietly reply, telling [Iran] the logo has nothing to do with racism or any political connotation."
The complaint was also dismissed by Prime Minister David Cameron, who said the Iranians would not be missed if they did not attend.
In an interview with the London-based paper Jewish News, Mr Cameron said: "It's completely paranoid. If the Iranians don't want to come, don't come - we won't miss you.
"It would be a crazy reason for not coming."

BBC NEWS (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12724166)

The Battle of the Bling

Kenya MP Gidion Mbuvi to fight for right to wear bling

 

 

A Kenyan lawmaker thrown out of parliament for wearing ear studs and sunglasses says he will fight to change the dress regulations.

"I represent the youths who elected me to parliament," Gidion Mbuvi, 35, told the BBC.
"This is our generation. It is our time," said the MP who drives a Hummer car, like many US rap stars.
He says MPs should be allowed to wear "extras" such as sunglasses and earrings, as long as they wear suits.
'Rich and flamboyant' He said that Kenya had been governed by old men for too long.
"I'm trying to prove to the world that it is the right time for the youth to be in charge of our nation," he said.
He was thrown out of parliament on Tuesday after other MPs decided that the way he dressed offended the dignity of the assembly.
Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim said the house had never before been entered by a male lawmaker wearing earrings.
But one Kenyan reminded people on the internet that the speaker wears a white wig made of horsehair - and questioned who looked more ridiculous.
Mr Mbuvi is popularly known as Sonko - a Swahili term describing a rich and flamboyant person.
He was elected to parliament last year to represent a constituency in the capital, Nairobi.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says Mr Mbuvi is a colourful character with an even more colourful past.
He has been questioned by police over allegations of involvement in the drug trade, which he vehemently denies.
He has also been sent out of parliament for accusing government ministers of links to the drugs trade and has pending court cases over fraud.
Mr Mbuvi says he has done nothing wrong.
Our correspondent says debate will continue as to whether Mr Mbuvi aka Sonko is suitable material to be an MP.
In Kenya, though, the bar is pretty low, he says, and many feel the title "honourable" is hugely inappropriate.

BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12625748)

Did You Ever Wonder Why Black People Do The Things They Do?

Here you go, a book that will answer all your questions about these strange black beings who inhabit our earth. What is the deal with these people? Kevin Moore has the answers:

"What would you do if you could ask any question you ever wanted to about a group of people but were afraid to ask? Would you ask it? What if the question was not politically correct? What if the question might be perceived as offensive? What if the question might sound stupid? Would you ask it? Like most people, you are not alone in the struggle between having questions and seeking answers. And, like most people, you probably won't ask. However, the struggle is over. With this book, you can silently enjoy (unless you read out loud) answers to some of the most widely "wondered" questions about black people in America. About the Author: Kevin D. Moore is the President of Knowledge Driven & Moore, LLC (a motivational speaking and consulting company), a Chief Information Officer (CIO), and a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science (1985). He is married with three children and lives in the vicinity of Chicago, Illinois"

He is a black man, by the way.

Interesting....

Speaking of Masks - Black/White Man Robs Banks

This is kind of old news, but Mickey's post reminded me of this crazy thing that happened last year. A polish man named Conrad Zdzierak bought a very realistic looking silicone mask from this company SPFX Masks called "The Player". Yes, a black man mask called "The Player", which Zdzierak used to successfully rob four banks, a credit union and a CVS pharmacy in Cincinnati, Ohio last spring. According to ABC, "police arrested an African-American man who'd been picked out of a photo line-up by several of the victims and identified by his mother, who thought she recognized her son in a bank surveillance photo shown on TV." Turns out, this actual black man just really really looked like the mask. Anyway, they caught the real criminal and he pleaded guilty to the charges.

So is this situation racist? I don't know if Zdzierak decided to specifically purchase this $690 mask because it was a black man mask and he knows people may make certain assumptions about a black man's tendency to commit crimes as opposed to a white man. I mean, you have to admit, it's a pretty smart idea... using someone else's face and race to conceal your identity. Luckily, the man who weirdly resembles the mask wasn't wrongly prosecuted further. (Eww it would be so creepy to see someone wearing a mask of your face. Uh.) Is the fact that the mask is called "The Player" racist? The company also makes a mask called "The Inbred", which depicts a white disturbed individual... that could be seen as offensive to some as well, right?

 

Although I may not have a super strong opinion on this one, I thought is was a crazy story worth mentioning.

Either Emily or Travis hipped me to this a while back. It's a mask for sale on a costume site on Amazon and it is listed as Plain Brown Wrapper (Rapper) Adult Halloween Mask. Not too much else to say, really. Wooooooo!


-Mickey

First Post - The Help

So, I stumbled upon an article today about this book called The Help, which came out in 2009 and was written by Kathryn Stockett. It is a novel "set in Jackson [MS] in the 1960s [and] focuses on the relationships between African-American maids and affluent white families that employed them". Which is cool, I guess. A potentially uncool thing would be the lawsuit a woman named Ablene Cooper is filing against the author for using her as a basis for one of the main characters. Apparently Cooper was once Stockett's brother's maid and the lawsuit claims the character "Aibileen" is based on her. It appears as though the fictional character shares a life story and certain characteristics with Cooper, but unlike the real person, she speaks in "a thick ethnic vernacular" and has "a skin color [similar] to that of a cockroach." Not the most flattering way to describe a brown person.

Not having read the book, it's kind of hard for me to make an educated decision about the racist or non-racist merits of the book or the lawsuit. I'm just going to put this one out there.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Gawker