• 500 Internal Server Error – 500 Internal Server Error
• 500 Internal Server Error – 500 Internal Server Error
• Sturm und Drang About Pint-Size Neighbors – "But advocates of more child care — an uncontroversial goal, perhaps — are facing the hurdle that many Germans, as the lawsuit would indicate, are increasingly allergic to the additional children this change implies."

Related posts:

1. Of interest from January 25th through January 27th
2. Michael Jackson Dead at 50

I knew it would be bad, but who’d thought it would feel this terrible?

One thing I know is this:

After the jokes, and even as we trigger back into all our various kinds of respect, you can’t help but feel that something else really terrible has happened, more than just his death.

The question is: what?

More later. For now it’s just the sad (and the smiles and the dancing and the listening!)

No related posts.

• NYC Baker who is selling ‘Drunken Negro Head’ Cookies – “Ted Kefalinos, the proprietor of a bakery in Greenwich Village (a neighborhood in New York City), can’t understand why the media is having such a field day over his Drunken Negro Head cookies.”
• Spotting the Stereotypes: He’s Just Not That Into You – “… after carefully showing the tortured romantic lives of Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Kevin Connolly, and Ginnifer Goodwin, the camera cuts to two heavyset black women sitting on a bench.One woman looks dead at the camera and says (to some unknown listener) “Girl, you better get yourself some ribs and some ice cream because you’ve been dumped!””
• Study Sees an Obama Effect as Lifting Black Test-Takers – “Now researchers have documented what they call an Obama effect, showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Mr. Obama’s nomination all but disappeared when the exam was administered after his acceptance speech and again after the presidential election.”

Related posts:

1. Of interest from January 28th through October 23rd

Something to shake when Guantanamo isn’t closed in a year. Someone to eyeball when we are still in Iraq in 2011…

Or, maybe, it can be one of those random things that get passed down. An heirloom…

Related posts:

1. Of interest from January 28th through October 23rd

You haven’t read Push?  Read it now. You can catch clips from the film after the jump.

Director Lee Daniels’ adaptation of Sapphire’s critically acclaimed novel, Push, has been awarded several awards at Sundance 2009, chiefly best drama. It has also won the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, and A Special Jury Prize for Acting. 

Daniels also produced Monster’s Ball, which means he was the first African American sole producer of an Academy Award–winning film. 

Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe stars as Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones, who, according to Push’s publicity, is “a high-school girl with nothing working in her favor.”

If you’ve read the book, you know that is an immense understatement. Black girl lost was at Sundance, and has a review on her site.

The film also stars Paula Patton and Sherri Shepherd, as well pop culture favorites Lenny Kravitz, Mo’Nique, and Mariah Carey. Kravitz plays a nurse, Carey the social worker who finally reaches out to Precious, and Mo’Nique plays Precious’ abusive mother in what Reuters is already calling “a bravura performance.”

!

I am on the board of directors of a small independent cinema. Here’s to working to make sure Push makes it into theaters! I’m sure the awards won’t hurt– but they aren’t everything.

Here’s a nice interview with director Daniels, with clips from the film. Did I mention you need to go and buy Push right now?

No related posts.

Jimmy Wang

I can’t post the video on $3.60, but click here to watch. 

NPR also had a nice story on Chinese rap group Red Star (pictured above), and The Lab, a nonprofit studio dedicated to developing hip-hop in China.

No related posts.

Hat tip to Jack and Jill Politics.

Please don’t front on Lashabama Barnes!

Related posts:

1. Of interest from January 28th through October 23rd

Well, I must say– that tux, that song: talk about bringin’ sexy back to the white house! 

(Okay, I’m pretty sure the “back” part is an overstatement! Still, don’t tell me some babies didn’t almost get made up in your house.)

Here is a video of the first dance, with Barack Obama’s “I’m gonna hide my nervousness by trying to be suave” intro, and Beyonce’s rendition of Etta James’ “At Last.” 

“First of all… how good lookin’ is my wife?” Hmmm-hmm:

The Mail also has some spectacular ball pix, one of the best assortments I’ve seen.

In the meantime, here is some music for you to listen to while you flip through the pictures and just imagine… imagine a better future for America, silly!

No related posts.

… high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse. Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

Clearly ahead, it was 59-0 at halftime, the winners beat rival Dallas Academy in what the losing coach Jeremy Civello described as an ongoing “layup drill,” running the ball with full-court presses and three point shots.

Now, it seems, everyone is a bit embarrassed about the tackiness fest that the game seems to have devolved into. 

Nice! Here’s the full story.

No related posts.

According to Rock’s publicity:

When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl’s head!

I have sneaking suspicion Rock knows, but I’m interested in seeing the film anyway!

Bellasugar has a nice definition of good hair, just in case you were wondering.

If you’ve never heard it yourself, labels of “good hair” and “bad hair” are often provided by strangers, stylists, and even loved ones in the Black community based on the texture, thickness, and the styling ease of one’s hair. Even though it’s not always said in a derogatory way, Chris Rock gathers stories and observations to find out exactly what this is, why it is, and what it means for the esteem of the people who receive these unwanted titles.

I know I’ve been saying it over and over again, but check out my post, which touches on the question of beauty in clack communities.  Bellasugar also has this clip, in which Rock says more about the film:

Related posts:

1. Sapphire’s Push awarded top prize at Sundance

Meanwhile, the Pope has also weighed in on the whole facebook thing, essentially saying that it’s all pretty cool (really, that’s what he said!), but that we best be careful, lest we obsesses, marginalize, and isolate others through our online socializing. In other words, lest it reproduce our less savory tactics in the tactile world.

Oh, and speaking of tactile:

He urges producers to ensure that the content respects human dignity and the “goodness and intimacy of human sexuality.”

That’s hot.  

Here are the stories:

• Facebook Murder Reflects Cultural Shifts – “The integration of new social networking into the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world is dramatically changing communication and introducing unknown new dynamics into ages old-interpersonal issues, including psychosis and violence. There are new questions to ask.”
• Wife murdered for Facebook status – “A man murdered his estranged wife after becoming “enraged” when she changed her marital status on Facebook to “single”.”
• Report: Over 8 in 10 corporations have tax havens – “Eighty-three of the nation’s 100 largest corporations, including Citigroup, Bank of America and News Corp., had subsidiaries in offshore tax havens in 2007, and some of the companies received federal bailout funding, a government watchdog said Friday.”

Related posts:

1. Of interest from January 28th through October 23rd

To be honest, I’m hard-pressed not to see this as pretty shameless. But, at the same time, my perusal of the comments at sites like Huffington Post gets me feeling a little bit suspicious in the other direction. Most of the comments there and elsewhere, are pretty, well, poopy. A little more mean in spirit than snark; a vague hostility whose target is unclear. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

While poking about, sussing out my thoughts, I come across this website, called Dolls Like Me.

I must say, in the context of this site, Sasha and Malia dolls resume being awesome. Now they remind me of all the dolls so many Americans have wanted to exist for so long: black dolls, relevant dolls, gasp– dolls like me!

(Or maybe you.)

As you might know, “like me” has a solid history as a catchphrase for describing the dilemmas faced by parents of non-white children in the United States. One of its most well-known uses is probably Bill Cosby’s PSA, “A Boy Like Me,” which describes the negative ways black children are affected by living a world in which cultural objects of affections–dolls, stars, book characters, for instance–are all white. 

Also, in 2007, a young black filmmaker named Kiri Davis picked up on the Cosby line, and produced a short independent film titled, “A Girl Like Me.”

(The Cosby and Davis videos are at the end of this post; I’ve also said more them here.)

So, I guess as with so many products in our world, it’s what we do with it that matters, right. So, yeah, you better go and buy a doll. For yourself, for that special someone, for Larry King’s son (did you see this, that after Obama’s inauguration, his son has declared that black is “in,” and that he wants to be black? Let me know how it works out, player.)

Here are the videos, first the Cosby video,

and then Kiri Davis’ film:

Related posts:

1. Sapphire’s Push awarded top prize at Sundance
2. Of interest from January 28th through October 23rd

New role models? A pleasing visual jolt? A new sense of racial pride? Vague feelings of vindication, that black is indeed quite beautiful? 

Sure, you can have all those things. But, most importantly, you can package it all up and have it in a doll!

According to this AP story, Ty Inc., maker of Beanie Babies, has released two new dolls: “Sweet Sasha“ and “Marvelous Malia.”

Part of me wants to rebel. I mean, could you get commodified any faster? But, then I must admit, I’m saying this to myself as I click around, trying to get my hands on one. I imagine feeling a bit teary-eyed when I open the box. And I don’t even like dolls!

Oh, and case you were wondering, the dolls aren’t really representations of Sasha Obama and Malia Obama. They’re just two soft little chocolate dolls, who happened to be named, um, Sasha and Malia!

And, since we’re on the subject of the cuteness of all things Sasha and Malia, check out this story on the Obama’s girls’ inauguration fashion! There’s also some clips on Michelle Obama’s inaugural outfits.

If you haven’t had enough, or just need to see this thing thru to its gooey end, click here to read the Bush twins’ open letter to the Obama girls. 

No related posts.

• Students Covering Bigger Share of Costs of College – “College students are covering more of what it costs to educate them, even as most colleges are spending less on students, according to a new study.”
• This Inauguration Is Inspiring Classrooms Nationwide – NYTimes.com – “The inauguration of America’s first African-American president has captured the imagination of students and educators with an intensity that surpasses  previous ceremonies, and schools from New Hampshire to Florida to California are working to bring the excitement and pageantry, the sheer history of it all, to life in the classroom.”
• Study: You Touch It, You Buy It – “But this study, conducted by researchers at Ohio State University, is the first to show “mine, mine, mine” feelings can begin in as little as 30 seconds after first touching an object.”

Related posts:

1. Of interest from January 25th through January 27th
2. Of interest from January 28th through October 23rd

No, Miss Obama doesn’t refer Michelle Obama (and who would have the nerve to call her such a thing anyway?!). No, “Miss Obama” is what France has dubbed Chloe Mortaud, the first woman of African descent to be named Miss France. So I guess she’s Barack Obama’s sister!?

But, no, the “new” also isn’t about Mortaud being mixed race and bi-cultural, with a white French father and an African American mother. If she’s Obama’s sister, it’s in the good ole fashioned political sense. And that, I think, is a big step for France, which officially adheres to policies that do not  acknowledge racial difference. (Race riots? What riots?) 

But back to Miss France.

W. Hassan Marsh over at The Root has an interesting take on French race relations via Mortaud’s ascendency as Miss France 2009. According to Marsh, there are a few things “new” to talk about, particularly how her crowning is yet another indicator of how Obama’s election has affected France: “Thanks in part to the Obama effect, French blacks who have traditionally been divided by designations like Caribbean, African or mixed ancestry, have started to make claims on transnational “blackness,” a feeling of a mutual experience if not shared origin.”

Funnily enough, I think that means that America becoming post-race would in fact mean us becoming exactly that which Europe is hopefully coming to see as a kind of denial! And when people say post-race, don’t you find it suspicious that they never say post-racism?

Marsh rightfully picks up on Asad Haider over at mugwump jissom, in “Is Fey the New Palin”: “The Sarah Palins of television had better move over, because it’s time to celebrate a new mainstream. Black is the new America.”

Unfortunately, we also know that Palins are not going down without a fight. Maybe 30 Rock’sTracy Morgan can save us:

No related posts.

]]>