Revisiting a sad and infuriating statistic

Hannah Upp. If you watch television, own a computer and especially if you live in NYC, there is no escaping this woman's name, face, story. She's missing! She's a school teacher! OMG, she lives in Harlem! The media who claim to be so compassionate about stories of missing people did all but print a story about her body being found somewhere. Notices went up on all the social networking sites, email vigils were forwarded to people's inboxes and then days later, Upp is spotted and then positively identified by her parents in the Apple store on fifth avenue.

Now, stories are surfacing that maybe she wanted to disappear from the face of the Earth, overlooking the small fact that her friends and family would be worried sick looking for her. I don't want to sound angry but bias is bias and when it's so blatant and no one takes accountability for it, it's hard to sympathize for one young woman going through a personal crisis, when there are families of hundreds of women of color who will never see their daughters again. I sincerely hope that Upp is okay and that she deals with whatever she is going through. Just like I sincerely wish the media would fairly cover all missing person's cases with the same fervor and round the clock coverage of a pretty white girl with a flower in her hair.

Passionate and informative video on the subject via Brave New Films after the jump:



Links via ABC news
Wikipedia

Hmmmmmm.......

It's no secret that, while conflicted about it, I am somewhat of a Disney groupie. Since I saw Lady and the Tramp when I was about 5, ( and when it's good, it's not all good) I've been hooked. (I also know at least two songs from every Disney musical ever made but shhhh...don't tell anybody).

So bear with me as I pause (kind of) to pass judgement on this new Disney film set in New Orleans featuring the first Black female princess. Not even out yet, The Princess and The Frog is already stirring controversy, as Disney literally had to go back to the drawing board after
originally making her a god damn maid. (Some studio exec probably rationalized: Hey, Cinderella was a maid! No one had a problem with that!)

So she's no longer a maid but the fact that it's set in a place and time where technically, princesses can't really exist bothers me. Why can't little black girls wander off into far away lands of unspecified origin in their daydreams instead of colonial America? Black people love escapist fantasy just as much as the next person. And even though Disney will make a killing off of the marketing and merchandise of this film because parents will buy their kids anything, isn't it a little too late for hand drawn animation? Wouldn't this have fared better pre-Pixar, say right after Mulan?

And then I come to what I know will ultimately piss me off about this film. The buck toothed, slack jawed, Sambo-like insect that I guess is supposed to invoke fond memories of Jiminy Cricket or Sebastian the crab but really is just some of the most ridiculous, stereotypical shit I have ever seen. I won't post any links to the trailer here, as I have already (unsuccessfully) tried not to pass judgement. Google it, and see for yourself.

And let me end with saying that Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters was and still is one of the most beautifully written, illustrated and imaginative children's books ever written. It should be required reading for every black mother who would like to have her daughter not grow up with identity/ self-esteem issues. (worked for me!) The story has romance, a handsome prince, drama, intrigue, talking animals and it's set in Africa. It's gorgeous and I've always thought it should be adapted to the big screen. But then again, if passed through the unrelenting stereotype machine that is American cinema, the end result would be nothing like the original. But I digress. Actually I don't.

Stuff this Black person actually likes

When I first clicked on this link, I was like, oh no, not another one! These Stuff (insert race) People Like blogs are popping up EVERYWHERE. However, I was mildly surprised when I realized that Stuff Black People Hate is ridiculously random, amusingly hateful (if there is such a thing) and actually kind of funny.

The guy who writes it reminds me of that one kid you knew in college who would chill in your room and crack everyone up as he sat there and went off for three hours about all the people and things in the world he hated and what he would do to them if he got the chance. It usually involved firearms or explosives. This kid would always be wearing the same thing and read alot of comic books and this gave you reason to fear him, just a little. He never understood why everyone found him so amusing but didn't care and would leave your room abruptly after stealing some Ramen noodles.

In other words, I recommend it.

The guy who started all of this (i think) just got a book deal. Finding out that he is Canadian doesn't seem to sit well with me though. Hmmmm......

links via: Stuff Black People Hate, Gawker

The Jena 6

The more things change, the more they stay the same...damn. Why did it take every major news outlet in the country to shed light on what could have been an overlooked blip in race relations in this country? Why, in 2007 is it still exceedingly difficult to overturn a blatantly racist, irrational verdict in a little nowhere town down south? No offense to the sensible people in Jena, Louisiana but are you kidding? For anyone who accuses Black people of living in the past, blaming everything on the faults of dead bigots, turn on the television. Google Jena 6, or better yet, Google "Brown vs. Board of Education." Remember that great legal event in history? We all grew up thinking, this was another point where America is going in the direction it should. Well, guess what? That milestone has come and gone. Just like the notion that if we ignore the past, then all of our indiscretions as a seriosuly dysfunctional country will go away. I love taking responsibility for myself and my actions, everyone should. But when our own government and smaller state governments that are so antiquated that they might as well not be a part of the union, take it upon themselves to "think" for everyone, well that is when we get ourselves in serious trouble. Part of me is like, why do these people stay in a town where one white resident referred to his Black neighbors as "people who know how to stay in their place"? Why put up with it when there are literally hundreds of thriving, successful small towns where students can eat at the same lunch table, have an integrated prom in the 21st century, not be in fear of nooses hanging from trees? And then the other part of me gets it. For better or worse, Jena is their home, and they can flee or they can stay and fight to live in a just world, which takes alot of damn courage if you ask me. I can complain about the subtle ways I'm made to feel inferior everyday in NYC but I would never trade it for anything resembling Jena. With that, I applaud the Black residents of Jena who won't back or bow down and the white residents who realize that the more things stay the same, the more they need to badly, change.

image via All About Race
links via Wikipedia, Huffington Post, All About Race, Cjonline