Another Poor Excuse

Ms. Krish blogs:

It wasn’t always like this. From 1998 to 2003, female rappers such as Lauryn Hill, Eve, and Missy Elliott were among the genre’s most bankable artists. But nearly all of their successors — including Lil Mama, Kid Sister, Ms Dynamite, and Jean Grae — have struggled to connect with listeners. And it’s harder than ever to launch new talent. ‘‘Hair and makeup is killing female hip-hop,” says a source. ”The grooming cost to break a female rapper versus a male rapper is 10 times as much per appearance. That tends to have an adverse effect on a record company’s willingness to even entertain a female rapper.”

So let me get this straight: there aren’t any women MCs out there because they don’t want to foot the bill for a glam squad? But, somehow, Hollywood tends to make a killing suiting and booting these white girls while their careers, talented or not, skyrocket?

Intervention in Zimbabwe: Humanitarian and Otherwise

Pauly blogs a rebuke to the BBC’s Sir Ronald Sanders argument for intervention in Zimbabwe:

Take Sanders’ own Great Britain, for example. As James Fiorentino points out in Socialist Worker, British banks have been investing heavily in Zimbabwe, extending credit to members of Mugabe’s inner circle. Additionally, the British mining company Rio Tinto has been heavily involved in the diamond industry in Zimbabwe. Far from asking his government to intervene, Sanders should demand that his countrymen get the hell out.

FISA, Tortoises, Obama

JanInSanFran blogs on the recent FISA law passed by the House:

Trusting souls we if we look to Democrats to safeguard liberties. They won’t. At root, they don’t believe that any significant number of their base cares enough to make them uncomfortable when they go along to get along. They trust their white skins and their money ensure their privilege. This seems rather stupid, but one of the features of privilege long-enjoyed is stupidity. An animal without predators ceases to be wary like those poor Galapagos tortoises that stick their necks out to meet humans.

Die Linkspartei Under Attack From Media

Mick Hall writes:

The growth in working class support for Germany’s Die Linkspartei, [The Left Party] as expressed in recent regional election results and national opinion polls has clearly rattled Capital and its gofers in the Bundestag and media. This time in an attempt to halt the party’s rising popularity, reactionary forces have been rifling through the dustbin of history and dug up an old story about Gregor Gysi, one of the Left Party most charismatic leaders, who at one time was a member of East Germany’s Socialist Unity Party. [SED]

Unsurprisingly, as all of these parties have suffered at the ballot box due to the rise of the Left Party, politicians from the Christian Union parties, the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the FDP have called for for the head of Gregor Gysi by demanding that he should submit his resignation from national political leadership.

“Globalize” resistance and protest

Carol P. Araullo, the chairperson of BAYAN, a large umbrella front of progressive and left-wing organizations in the Philippines, blogs on the food crisis and the culpability of President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines:

But this time around, we can readily agree that the rice/food crisis is happening worldwide and its immediate causes and historical roots cannot be strictly confined to the specific policies and concrete situations obtaining in particular countries. Indeed, the international agribusiness cartels such as the small clique of corporations that control the world’s fertilizer and pesticide market, the largest seed companies (e.g. Monsanto), the largest grain traders (e.g. Cargill) and the world’s big food processors (e.g. Nestle), their local business partners in third world countries and the homegrown trading cartels (e.g. in rice) have made a killing in the midst of growing hunger, food riots and panic buying by governments and households.

Having said that, we reiterate that the Arroyo regime is not blameless, in fact it must own up to and be held accountable for the neoliberal policies and programs it has perpetuated and even accelerated in implementation that today aggravates the rice crisis.

The Blogosphere and the Super Bowl

Some reaction from progressive and anti-racist bloggers:

Angry Asian Man:

Look at us. We’re mad, we’re talking about the damn ad, and now they’ve got another story about their company in the New York Times. Hell, they didn’t even have to hire an ad agency. With the announcement that they’re pulling these ads, there will now be legions of folks who flock online to watch the commercial and see what the fuss is about. All this, and now you’ve got a lot of people suddenly aware of a no-name company nobody would’ve given a crap about in the first place. Nobody’s sorry about anything here.

XicanoPwr (Hat Tip: Inteligenta Indigena):

Of course, the stereotypes and jabs aren’t always so blatant, though they can be just as unsettling. True, there are people who do think a Ghandi-like Indian accent or a Chinese “ching chong” are hilarious, but, the sad truth is, they are missing the point. When a stereotypes are repeated, those stereotype do become the norm and a frame of reference for a person’s entire cultural group and ultimately it becomes more difficult to avoid the stereotypes and clichés from our current racially biased system.

Understanding racial cues is very important, because depending how we interpret these cues will shape our opinions towards members of racial and ethnic groups. When commercials like these air, they tend to make explicit references – either by visual or auditory cues – to race, which then trigger racial thinking by activating past information held within our long-term memory about that racial and ethnic minority group. In other words, racial attitudes are primarily based on personal experiences, salient facts or events.

Bae Gang Shik:

While there has generally been some backlash against SalesGenie for their slew of offensive commercials, nobody dares mark this as racism within popular culture. In fact, it seems that in most analyses the ads are only seen as “cultural insensitive” or “inappropriate.”

I’m sick of nobody calling these sort of media portrayals as they are, Racism!

KoreanPower999:

Also, there is something disturbing in the fact that they thought it was ok to stereotype Asians in this commercial because I would doubt that they would do that for African Americans and Jewish people. They know if they did this to other groups, there would definitely be a backlash. It just tells you that it’s ok to be racist against Asian Americans in this nation and we saw it on display in the biggest television event of the year. I just shutter to think how many millions of people watched that and just laughed and thought nothing of it. We got a long way to go in this nation on the issue of race.

Fire in the Delta

Black Looks blogs on the situation in the Niger Delta and posts a video:

In 2005, the High Court declared gas flaring illegal yet both the Nigerian government and oil multinationals have ignored the court ruling. Last year the Nigerian government once again promised to stop all gas flaring on the 1st January this year – a promise that goes back nearly 40 years. Companies defying the order were to be shut down. Once again the government has shown complete disregard and insensitivity to the communities in the Niger Delta and given into pressure from Shell, Chevron, Elf etc. The date has now been set for the end of the year but no one really believes that the government will once again bow to the oil multinationals.

[Hat Tip:  Change Seeker]

Minners’ Safety

Cross-posted from The Ghost of Tom Joad.

I haven’t been blogging lately because I injured my back at work.  Not a serious injury, just a back sprain.  I’ll blog more on that latter.  In the mean time, some workplace safety issues I just read up on regarding miners.  UPS has a lot of safety issues itself and I should know since I’m the union representative on the local safety committee.  More on all of that latter though:

The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA’s) foot-dragging on developing new mine safety rules mandated by the 2006 MINER Act and other legislation has caught up with it. Now, the agency is begging for help.

Congressional Black Caucus Week

The blogger for What About Our Daughters writes:

I don’t usually do politics, but when I was in DC a few days ago, everybody kept asking me is I was staying for CBC Week. I was like Um NO! They were disappointed. Apparently CBC Week is like the Super Bowl of the Black Elite Establishment inhaling drank and vittles from corporate America, oh yeah and they have workshops too! The theme this year was “Unleashing Our Power!” Honey, don’t I KNOW it.

Well some Black bloggers have a WHOLE LOT to say about the CBC and the Annual Legislative Conference so I did a little research…

Robert Murray Uses Tragedy to Attack Unions

Mike Hall blogs about Robert Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy, which owns the mine of the six trapped (or possibly dead) Utah miners. The mine was a non-union mine and used an extremely unsafe method of mining called “retreat mining:”

Murray has also used the spotlight to:

• Deny reports that a type of mining called retreat mining, that many safety experts warn adds danger to an already dangerous underground workplace, was being used at the Utah mine. But federal safety officials confirm retreat mining has been used at Crandall Creek.
• Dispute scientists who say that seismographic readings at the time of the collapse came from the magnitude of the collapse, not an earthquake that caused the collapse.
• Attack reporters and accuse them of posing questions provided by the Mine Workers (UMWA).
• Rant against the UMWA and its leaders, saying the union wants organize his workforce and “want to damage Murray Energy, Utah American and the United States coal industry for their own motives.”

It’s not the first time Murray has drawn down on the UMWA. The relationship between Murray and the UMWA goes back to1988 when Murray purchased an Ohio coal mine that came with a 300-strong UMWA-represented workforce.

Imagine…Being Your Husband’s Very Own Baby Machine

Holly, at Feministe, blogs about a new Nintendo DS game called “Imagine Babies:”

That’s right… it’s a game about TAKING CARE OF BABIES! I’ll give you one guess who it’s aimed at. OK, I’ll just tell you: it’s part of a series of games aimed at girls from the ages of 8 to 14, from video game giant Ubisoft — better known as the publisher games like Splinter Cell, Myst, Rayman, and Prince of Persia. According to their press release, the other titles in the series will include Imagine™ Fashion Designer, Imagine™ Animal Doctor, Imagine™ Master Chef, and Imagine™ Figure Skater.

Wow, Imagine™ all the things a girl can do! Making food, and making clothes, and making babies!! What’s next, Imagine™ Shoe Shopping and Imagine™ Housecleaning?

Link via Apurva.

Imagine…Being Your Husband’s Very Own Baby Machine

Holly, at Feministe, blogs about a new Nintendo DS game called “Imagine Babies:”

That’s right… it’s a game about TAKING CARE OF BABIES! I’ll give you one guess who it’s aimed at. OK, I’ll just tell you: it’s part of a series of games aimed at girls from the ages of 8 to 14, from video game giant Ubisoft — better known as the publisher games like Splinter Cell, Myst, Rayman, and Prince of Persia. According to their press release, the other titles in the series will include Imagine™ Fashion Designer, Imagine™ Animal Doctor, Imagine™ Master Chef, and Imagine™ Figure Skater.

Wow, Imagine™ all the things a girl can do! Making food, and making clothes, and making babies!! What’s next, Imagine™ Shoe Shopping and Imagine™ Housecleaning?

Link via Apurva.

National Day of Music Outrage

Bronze Trinity posts a press release from Al Sharpton:

“Reverend Al Sharpton, Founder and President of National Action Network (NAN), along with Tamika Mallory, Director of NAN’s Decency Initiative, has announced a national “Day of Outrage” against the continuous use in the music recording industry of the words “nigga,” “bitch” and “ho.” Reverend Sharpton, who has persistently challenged the entertainment industry on denigrating lyrics, will use August 7th to call for the withdrawal of public investments from companies that won’t clean up their act.”

The Hostility of the Hospitality Industry

Jan In San Fran blogs about hospitality workers taking on Woodfin Suites in the blog Happening Here:

The struggle of workers at Emeryville’s Woodfin Suites Hotel for a living wage and a measure of respect has taken some wild twists and turns in the last few days. I’ve written about this previously here, here, and here.

Like much of the “hospitality industry” this hotel keeps up its profit margin up by paying low wages to immigrant workers to do the dirty stuff. The city of Emeryville, collectively, said “enough already,” in 2005, and passed a living wage ordinance. The hotel unsuccessfully contested the law in court; workers brought a class action lawsuit for back pay. All of a sudden, the hotel began to question the workers’ immigration status, citing problems with their Social Security numbers.

Fighting for Fightings Sake

Will, over at KABOBfest, posts:

NOW Magazine in Toronto reports that Palestine solidarity activists from the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid have launched a boycott campaign against the chain of Indigo and Chapters bookstores, Canada’s largest bookseller. Its owners run a scholarship fund for Israeli soldiers without family in Israel — in other words, Zionuts who travel to Israel just to fight for the Zionut vision of an exclusive ethno-religious state that suppresses and dispossesses the native Palestinians. Which is, in a word, racist.

The Fashionability of Domestic Abuse

The blogger Vox at the blog Vox Ex Machina writes about a recent ad campaign by United Colors of Benneton:

Domestic violence is not fashionable. Violence in general is not fashionable, nor is rape. But, as a society, we are taught that fashion is, well, fashionable. Mixed messages, right?

If women and girls are constantly shown images of dead women, beaten women, bound women, raped women and ARE TOLD THESE WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL by the industry that DEFINES beauty, then eventually, some of them are going to start believing it.

And since we’re also taught from a young age that beauty is everything, with women’s magazines focusing almost exclusively on what bathing suit best flatters your frame, how to make your eyelashes look longer, choosing the right foundation, the best type of squats to get rid of butt flab, the best breakfast to help you lose weight … what higher goal does society dictate a woman should have, after over 150 years of women’s rights movements, than to be beautiful?

The Use of “Ghetto Chic”

Wendi Muse, who writes for Racialicious, blogs about the term “ghetto chic:”

Over time, the term “ghetto” has been used in a way that separates it from its history, a dark one of ethnic exclusion (i.e. forced isolation of Jewish communities) and government-sanctioned segregation (i.e. communities of color in the United States). Little thought is given to the true meaning of the word and how people ended up in ghettoes to begin with when it’s used. Along the same lines of a proposition made by Robert B. Moore in his essay “Racist Stereotyping in the English Language,” I’d like to make a little proposal of my own. Moore challenges typical methods of teaching and discussing the history of the United States by making his readers take a closer look at those who were oppressed in order to create it. He suggests that the “next time [we] write about slavery or read about it, try transposing all “slaves” into ‘African people held in captivity,’ ‘Black people forced to work for no pay,’ or ‘African people stolen from their families and societies.’” Imagine if we replaced “ghetto” with something like “the only place African-American men (who had fought for their country’s freedom from totalitarianism) and their families were allowed to live due to redlining, racist real estate monopolies, and restrictive covenants” when used as a noun. Or what about “a type of behavior I associate with the poor even though I don’t know anyone who lives in the projects or has had to struggle to make ends meet”/ “a style of dress that I associate with poor blacks and Latinos becauseI am racist and classist deep down inside, but cover it up by using this word instead of saying what I really mean because it’s more socially acceptable” when used as an adjective. So that’s a little harsh, but it would put a whole new spin on saying something or someone was “ghetto,” now wouldn’t it? It might make people think twice before applying it to any and everything that they deem as sub-par.

The Use of “Ghetto Chic”

Wendi Muse, who writes for Racialicious, blogs about the term “ghetto chic:”

Over time, the term “ghetto” has been used in a way that separates it from its history, a dark one of ethnic exclusion (i.e. forced isolation of Jewish communities) and government-sanctioned segregation (i.e. communities of color in the United States). Little thought is given to the true meaning of the word and how people ended up in ghettoes to begin with when it’s used. Along the same lines of a proposition made by Robert B. Moore in his essay “Racist Stereotyping in the English Language,” I’d like to make a little proposal of my own. Moore challenges typical methods of teaching and discussing the history of the United States by making his readers take a closer look at those who were oppressed in order to create it. He suggests that the “next time [we] write about slavery or read about it, try transposing all “slaves” into ‘African people held in captivity,’ ‘Black people forced to work for no pay,’ or ‘African people stolen from their families and societies.’” Imagine if we replaced “ghetto” with something like “the only place African-American men (who had fought for their country’s freedom from totalitarianism) and their families were allowed to live due to redlining, racist real estate monopolies, and restrictive covenants” when used as a noun. Or what about “a type of behavior I associate with the poor even though I don’t know anyone who lives in the projects or has had to struggle to make ends meet”/ “a style of dress that I associate with poor blacks and Latinos becauseI am racist and classist deep down inside, but cover it up by using this word instead of saying what I really mean because it’s more socially acceptable” when used as an adjective. So that’s a little harsh, but it would put a whole new spin on saying something or someone was “ghetto,” now wouldn’t it? It might make people think twice before applying it to any and everything that they deem as sub-par.

White Privilege, Diversity, and Anti-Racist Work

Lainad, of the blog BlogHer, writes about whites “legitimizing” diversity programs in the coroporate world and takes it one step further by stating:

In discussing race relations, do we value the opinions of POC bloggers less than we do whites, such as Tim Wise? Do people feel more comfortable and feel that their sentiments are more astute? While bloggers who choose to write about race and have formed opinions from their lived experiences, is it more palatable coming from a percived “more objective” viewpoint?

Limbaugh and “The Magic Negro”

Afro-Neitzen blogs about the differences between Limbaugh’s “magic Negro” theme song and Imus’ “nappy-headed ho’s comment in the blog of the same name:

Rush Limbaugh’s racist “parody” called “Obama the Magic Negro”, is set to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”.

Will Clear Channel-owned Premiere Radio Networks (which also distributes Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Keep Hope Alive radio show) cancel Rush’s show? You’re kidding me, right?

So, why was Imus sacrificed, but Limbaugh will likely prevail, you ask?

…

The entity that distributes Limbaugh’s show is owned by conglomerate, Clear Channel Communications. So, what does that mean? Some of your favorite “Black” radio stations/shows that so many African Americans listen to everyday will have a conflict of interest if they were to call for terminating Premiere’s distribution of Limbaugh’s show because — like Limbaugh’s show — they too are owned by Clear Channel!

Limbaugh and “The Magic Negro”

Afro-Neitzen blogs about the differences between Limbaugh’s “magic Negro” theme song and Imus’ “nappy-headed ho’s comment in the blog of the same name:

Rush Limbaugh’s racist “parody” called “Obama the Magic Negro”, is set to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”.

Will Clear Channel-owned Premiere Radio Networks (which also distributes Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Keep Hope Alive radio show) cancel Rush’s show? You’re kidding me, right?

So, why was Imus sacrificed, but Limbaugh will likely prevail, you ask?

…

The entity that distributes Limbaugh’s show is owned by conglomerate, Clear Channel Communications. So, what does that mean? Some of your favorite “Black” radio stations/shows that so many African Americans listen to everyday will have a conflict of interest if they were to call for terminating Premiere’s distribution of Limbaugh’s show because — like Limbaugh’s show — they too are owned by Clear Channel!

Russell Simons: Hypocrit or Real Reformer?

Ivonne Salazar blogs about Russell Simons’ recent statements on words such as “ho” and “bitch” to be “extreme curse words” that should be banned from hip-hop in the blog WIMN’s Voices Blog:

Simmons’ statement is the first attempt by hip-hop insiders to acknowledge the need to clean up the lyrics, but as author Joan Morgan puts it, the announcement “amounts to nothing.” Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down, was also featured in the article and she believes the recommendations are “short-sighted at best and disingenuous at worst.” In her opinion, the announcement is an “anemic, insufficient response” that failed to address homophobia and other issues in certain strains of hip-hop culture and rap music. She said that calling for the removal of these words assumes that “all of the violence, misogyny and sexism in hip-hop are only expressed in those words.”

The State of Corporate Hip-Hop

Paris speaks his mind about the current mainstream hip-hop scene in the blog Black Agenda Report:

The argument in response could be made in defense of labels that if they don’t respond to the streets then the music will just go underground. Huh? WHAT underground? Do you know how much good material is marginalized because it doesn’t fit white cooperate America’s ideals of acceptability? Independents can’t get radio or video play anymore, at least not through commercial outlets, and most listeners don’t acknowledge material that they don’t see or hear regularly on the radio or on T.V. Very few of us are willing to actually seek out material and messages to identify with. As with anything in our fast food culture, we want our entertainment choices fast and in our collective face. For most listeners, all the rest need not apply.

Corporate Rap and Violence Culture

Kai posts a blog on America’s culture of violence and the white hypocrisy in criticising the Black community for “tolerating” gangsta rap:

We live in a culture which celebrates the machinery of mass violence and extols the heroic virtues of war. We live in a culture where misogyny is the norm, where women are raped and battered and objectified and demeaned and otherwise abused every day, every hour, every minute, without much ado. We live in a society whose leaders speak of killing and humiliating their enemies with chest-thumping glee and juvenile posturing. We live in a society whose budgetary priorities demonstrate a psychotic obsession with body-shattering weaponry and a distinct lack of interest in the health and well-being of human beings.

So I agree with those who are saying that it’s time for all of us to confront the virulent culture of violence and misogyny and crime that is polluting our world. And it begins at the top: with the corporatist kleptocracy of the US government, the global gangster state which dominates and exploits through violence and intimidation and the hoarding of wealth, granting favors to loyal subjects, issuing threats to the unruly, and killing rivals. If we can eradicate the culture of violence and misogyny and crime at the top of our society, then just maybe we’ll have a shot of eradicating it at the bottom too.

White Stripes Support Coke Union Murders!

Victor S. of the blog The Apostate Windbag writes about the appearance of the White Stripes in a Coca-Cola add:

(Well, apart from the libellous hyperbole, that post-heading’s essentially true)

…

Coca-cola, always teaching the world to sing, in per-fect har-mon-ieeee (The updated ‘Teach the world to sing’ ad for Coca-Cola Zero now includes a ‘rap’ bit and Hootie-and-the-Blowfish-style non-threateningly dressed minorities who look like they go to a good university). What a promoter of peace and love. And isn’t what the world needs now, love, sweet love? What a paragon of compassionate capitalism. A very model of corporate responsibility. Except in Colombia, where union leaders and organisers are regularly assassinated at Coke bottling plants while the anti-union parent company turns a blind eye to collusion between paramilitaries and the plant managers. But still, you know, apart from that, they’re a regular bunch of hippie peace-freaks, Coke.