The Beautiful Game

One of the biggest, most accurate videos of Soccer and its global impact ever made
Hats off to nike

Write The Future from Nalden on Vimeo.

I Guess Sistah's Don't Watch Block Buster Movies

I was planning on doing a blog on this but Margeaux Watson nailed it

It's Time to Put Black Actresses in Hollywood Blockbusters Margeaux Watson

I like Will Smith as much as any other black woman — as much, for that matter, as any person, given that he has once again proved that he is the most bankable star in the universe. But I did not like Hancock. (Spoiler alert!) Smith's relationship with Charlize Theron was just plain bizarre: She's secretly superhuman! They've been married for eons! She's also married to Jason Bateman! What gives?
But the duo bothered me on a deeper level, too. Why is it that once an actor like Smith reaches A-list status, Hollywood never seems to pair him with a black actress in a potential blockbuster? From Denzel Washington (Training Day) to Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson (The Game Plan), leading African-American actors have been increasingly matched with non-black love interests. The sci-fi comedy Meet Dave (out now) finds Eddie Murphy romancing Elizabeth Banks, while Smith is paired with Latina actress Rosario Dawson in his next film, Seven Pounds (out in December). It's obviously a strategy to make these films as accessible as possible to all audiences, but I think it also expresses an implicit fear: A film featuring the coupling of a black actor and actress is too ''urban'' for the masses.
Just imagine how refreshing Hancock would have been if Theron's heroine had been played by a black actress like Tracee Ellis Ross (TV's Girlfriends), Paula Patton (Déjà Vu), or even Smith's real-life wife, Jada. Would the movie have tanked? Will Smith's last seven films have opened at No. 1, and Charlize Theron didn't star in any of those.
I don't have a thing against Theron — I loved her in Monster. And I don't have anything against Will Smith, either — he's done an enormous amount for African-Americans in Hollywood by proving to studios that actors of color can open movies here and overseas. I don't even have anything against interracial couples on screen — in fact, that's a nice sign of progress. My beef is that Hollywood opts for these couples again and again. The result? Black actresses are getting the shaft, and reality as I know it is not getting portrayed on the big screen. (And please don't mention Tyler Perry's name to me — Madea doesn't represent me either.)
Right now, with the exception of Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, and occasionally, Beyoncé Knowles, African-American women rarely get above-the-title billing in mainstream movies that pull in big numbers. Even when they do end up in supposedly plum roles as the love interest of a white male, most of their screen time is spent talking about and dealing with the fallout of that relationship. Just look at Sanaa Lathan, who freaked out when Simon Baker discovered she wears a weave in Something New. Or Zoe Saldana, who struggled to get her father (Bernie Mac) to accept her relationship with Ashton Kutcher in Guess Who.
And Lord knows I can't wait to see Lakeview Terrace, due out Sept. 19. This thriller, which is produced by Smith, finds Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson playing an interracial couple living in L.A., suffering the wrath of their disapproving neighbor: an angry black cop played by Samuel L. Jackson.
C'mon, Hollywood, this is tired territory. Haven't you redone Guess Who's Coming to Dinner enough? Why can't black actresses play lead roles in benign romantic comedies like 27 Dresses and Made of Honor — or Hitch? Here's the real hitch: Until women like Nia Long and Gabrielle Union are cast opposite big guns like Smith and Washington, they'll never gain the recognition they need to open their own films. And until that happens, well, I'll always have Dreamgirls. nailed it

Memin in Context?

I made the same comment in yesterdays blog over at Glyphs, this was the response from Journalist Adalisa

Sorry it took me so long to come and comment here. First of all Rich, thank you for linking to my blog. I never expected so many people to read my post, but now that it has happened, I have a much better idea of what is going on, and what can be done to reach a better understanding on this tricky business.

@urbanhorror: I am afraid that we’re probably passing each other by with our mutual points. I’m aware,as I say in my post (Although I clarified it in an ETA after reading yours and other comments like this) that the image of Memin is offensive, and it draws from very racist stereotypes. I’m currently organizing with a friend a group of mexican artist to redesign Memin to take him away from those stereotypes. What I was trying to explain is why Mexicans say the story is not racist. because there are a couple of things that were completely distorted in the news report because of the language and cultural difference.

In Fairness Adalisa deserves the opportunity to put Memin in contest below is a snippet from her blog

This is not the first time that Memin has caused controversy on the states, but last time I held on hopes that someone from my country would step up and explain what Memin is about, but no one did. Most of the posts in México were about how hystericals americans were at some stuff, not delving in the fact that there's a huge cultural difference between the States and México, and that most of the problem American's have with Memin is due to those cultural differences click here for the whole article

Crash Course in Cultural Sensitivity

Its always an amazing thing when a group tries to explain to the offended party that their actions are not racist and that the offended party, just dosen't understand




The character spurred debate in 2005 when the Mexican government issued a stamp commemorating Memin. At the time, many U.S. activists and political figures called the character racist.

The Mexican government protested the characterizations, asserting that Americans simply do not understand Memin’s cultural significance in Mexico.

That debate spurred the publisher to re-issue the old comics in a collector’s series that are available for purchase in the United States as, well as Mexico.

Diversity in Entertainment: Why Is TV So White?

Cleveland Brown -- a cartoon voiced by a white guy -- is the only minority character to anchor a new series in 2008-09. What gives? As the broadcast networks prepare a predominantly white fall schedule, we examine where all the color has gone

CLEVELAND BROWN How did it fall to him to become TV's great black hope?

Fox
Cleveland Brown favors gentle words, and few words at that. He likes yellow T-shirts and baths. He is also fiercely proud of his African-American heritage, as evidenced by his ''Two Decades of Dignity'' board game and that nice talk he had with a racist cop about how a black bowling ball might feel when surrounded by white pins. It's a good thing, too, because Cleveland Brown is shaping up as network television's great black hope for the 2008-09 season — he's the only minority character anchoring a new series on the Big Five networks. Granted, his Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland Show, didn't even make it onto the fall schedule (it's slated for midseason). Yes, Cleveland himself is merely a figment of animation. And true, the person who provides his voice, Mike Henry, is actually white. But hey, it's a start, right? click to continue

Man-ning Up

Barack Obama told the NAACP that he’s not going to stop calling on African-Americans to take more personal responsibility even if it angers people like the Rev. Jesse Jackson. A Hardball panel debates: Has the torch been passed to a new generation of African-American leaders?

Baseless, Tasteless, & True

The New Yorker, a liberal magazine accurately depicted how many narrow minded, Fox News watching (because what other news organization has fanned fears more than Fox) Americans see Obama and his wife. A couple that depicts that the American dream is possible but who's color the racist underbelly of this nation can't swallow.

We R the Ship

An amazing book from an amazing artist with a true affinity for Negro League Baseball click here for the website

Conversation Race

Click here for complete conversation

OBAMA Makes HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obama Cinches the Nomination
A Great day for America, this nation has shown the world that it is ready for change

On & On Tarsem 1997

The BET

This is the banned Boondocks episode where BET is buffoon ed. The language aside this is one subject matter where Mcgruder and I agree

The Fellowship part II

Equiano’s exaltation when he was finally able to purchase his freedom for £40 on July 11, 1766 quickly gave way to the terror of shipwreck. However his determination to survive was, to put it mildly, phenomenal, and he finally, and with considerable relief, left “the American quarter of the globe” and returned to “old England”. There he became a hairdresser, and learned to play the French horn, but the pay did not compare with a sailor’s, so he was soon back on board ship, sailing to the Mediterranean, Turkey and Greenland, on an expedition on which the young Horatio Nelson was almost killed by a polar bear and they barely escaped death when their ship was trapped in ice.

To read the entire article click here

The Fellowship

Part One
Horror and Love

Charles Middleton, James Ramsay, Granville Sharp,
and Margaret, Lady Middleton

Introduction

We are inundated by reports from all over the world, and find it hard to remember the last atrocity while facing the latest. In the world of the 18th century, word on slavery was slow to arrive, slower to be heard. The evil of slavery was growing, but only whispers reached the shires, which were preoccupied with their own problems.

Those who learned about slavery and recognized it as an evil were few in number. These few formed a fellowship to abolish the slave trade.

They were brought together in ways that seem mysterious and inexplicable. Each person brought to the fellowship something only he or she could bring, and without which the whole exhausting, dangerous effort that came close to killing several of them might have failed.

click here for more

Clinton is No Brother of Mine

By SONYA ROSS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Imagine, for just a minute, the pain of America's first black president.

Not Barack Obama — Bill Clinton.

That's about the only explanation for Clinton's lack of brotherly behavior lately: He's in pain.

He is a figurative black man watching an actual black man soak in all the love that black voters used to save for him.

Suddenly, he looks oh so white.

The former president's love affair with black America hasn't soured to the point that he'll be chased out of his office in Harlem. But black people might revoke Clinton's honorary brother card if, out of his pain, he keeps hating on Obama. He's treating the Illinois senator like an unworthy heir to his racial legacy.
click here for entire article

Below Dick Gregory apologizes to Bill on the behalf of Black folks

The Definitive Creole Site

A one stop for all things Creole
Click here

The Audacity of Hopelessness & Other Thoughts

Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects continue to dim. The door is closing. Night is coming. The end, however, is not near. When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness

Click here to read David Brooks Article The Long Defeat

Listening to Senator Obama’s speech, it wasn’t Dr. King who first came to mind but Bobby Kennedy, standing on a flatbed truck in Indianapolis on a cold, windy night in April 1968. Kennedy had to tell a crowd that had gathered to hear him speak that King had been murdered.

"We can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.” Click here to read Bob Herbert' article With a Powerful Speech, Obama Offers a Challenge

The Big Picture. A More Perfect Union

For people who are looking for a more hopeful, unifying course in race relations — and for a broader healing in our society — Senator Obama’s speech will be long-remembered and oft-acclaimed. It was powerful, brilliant and effective. No matter what happens in the 2008 presidential campaign, it is an address that Americans will read and recall for generations to come.
Ron Klain NYT

Restvekes (AKA) Modern Slavery

Though the domestic institution of restaveks (live-in child labor) has its defenders, the abuse of these children is all too common click here for full worldlandi.com article

Father of Enviormental Justice

Robert Bullard says he was "drafted" into environmental justice while working as an environmental sociologist in Houston in the late 1970s. His work there on the siting of garbage dumps in black neighborhoods identified systematic patterns of injustice. The book that Bullard eventually wrote about that work, 1990's Dumping in Dixie, is widely regarded as the first to fully articulate the concept of environmental justice.Since then, Bullard, who is as much activist as academic, has been one of the leading voices of environmental-justice advocacy. He was one of the planners of the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, at which the organizing principles of modern environmental justice were formulated. Bullard later helped the Clinton administration write the watershed executive order that required all federal agencies to consider environmental justice in their programs. click here for full Grist article

View QuickTime video clips of Dr. Robert Bullard's lecture:Environmental Justice for All
What is Environmenal Justice?
1.5 MB
The Beginning: Houston, Texas [part 1]
2.4 MB
The Beginning: Houston, Texas [part 2]
1.5 MB
Warren County, North Carolina
1.8 MB
The Environmenal Justice Movement
0.7 MB
source http://africanamericanopinion.com/