The Niggabitch

The idea that black women are whores, welfare mothers and ghetto has gone worldwide. Pop star Rihanna was recently described by the editor of a Netherlands magazine as the ultimate niggabitch. Okay, who knows what a niggabitch is anyway but you can bet, it isn't anything good. Here's a translation of what magazine editor Eva Hoeke wrote:

“N—A B—H. She has street cred, she has a ghetto ass and she has a golden throat. Rihanna, the good girl gone bad, is the ultimate n—a b—h and displays that gladly, and for her that means: what’s on can come off. If that means she’ll be on stage half naked, then so be it. But Dutch winters aren’t like Jamaican ones, so pick a clothing style in which your daughter can resist minus ten. No to the big sunglasses and the pornheels, and yes to the tiger print, pink shizzle and everything that glitters. Now let’s hope she won’t beat anybody up at daycare.”

Hoeke claimed this piece was supposed to be a joke but only said this after Rihanna got wind of it and took to Twitter to air her thoughts about the piece:

“@evajackie I hope u can read English, because your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!! You ran out of legit, civilized information to print! There are 1000′s of Dutch girls who would love to be recognized for their contributions to your country, you could have given them an article. Instead, u paid to print one degrading an entire race! That’s your contribution to this world! To encourage segregation, to mislead the future leaders to act in the past!

“You put two words together, with the intent of abasement, that made no sense…”N—A B—H”?!….Well with all respect, on behalf of my race, here are my two words for you…F–K YOU!!!”

I applaud Rihanna for her eloquent response. Why does a black woman have to be a niggabitch? I don't see anything funny about this, sure it was translated but still nothing stands out as being the slightest bit comical. According to Hoeke, the word niggabitch refers to a style of dress in America. Really!? Where exactly? Things must be different in the Netherlands.

This incident just goes to show how attempts to appropriate someone elses culture without thoroughly understanding or knowing anything about it always goes wrong. The offenders only refuge is to cling to worn out stereotypes. In this case, black women as ghetto, highly sexed, babies mamas. The words, nigga and bitch are derogatory words and I don't use them. Black women are more than niggas and bitches but not everyone understands that not even people in the Netherlands.

RIP Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

 “[George W. Bush] is lucky to be governor of Texas. He is unusually incurious, abnormally unintelligent, amazingly inarticulate, fantastically uncultured, extraordinarily uneducated, and apparently quite proud of all these things.”

I became a fan of writer Christopher Hitchens when he wrote for The Nation, by then he had already honed his razor sharp wit. Hitchens was a heavy smoker and heavy drinker and seemed to be at his best when he was liquored up on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. While I didn't always agree with some of the things he said, I liked the way he said them.

Newt Gingrich Signs Marriage Pledge

Newt Gingrich and his third wife Callista

File this one under GTFOH*

I am so over politicians signing pledges. Lately it seems that Republican candidates are all about signing pledges whether it be for no taxes or moral values. The latest politician to sign a pledge is the morally and ethically challenged Newt Gingrich.

The twice divorced Gingrich has signed a marriage pledge. He has pledged to not cheat on his wife and uphold the institution of marriage. I guess this is supposed to assuage folks concerns about his suitability to be president. Marriage vows have never meant much to him so now I'm supposed to believe him because he's signed some stupid marriage pledge? I think not.

Pledges mean nothing because it's not about what you say, it's about what you do, it's deeds not words. If the past is any indication of future behavior, Newt Gingrich should not be trusted. If I were his wife Callista, I'd step up the surveillance because the man is up to no good. It will only be a matter of time before he resumes his philandering ways.

*get the f*ck out of here

More Fun and F*ckery

Lots of fun and f*ckery this week, from ridiculous comments about Palestinians to a meth lab in Wal-Mart. Here are my picks for the week:

Pure Fun

• Republican presidential candidate and C student, Rick Perry did not know the number of Supreme Court Justices (it's 9) or the name of the last appointee (Sonia Sotomayor). See for yourself here.
  I'd be willing to bet he knows more about guns than he knows about the judicial branch of government and how it works. The vacant look on his face is priceless.
  
• Not quite but what would you think about a man who divorces his wife on the day she is having cancer surgery and marries his mistress? What about a man who divorces his wife after she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and marries his mistress?
  The way a person behaves in their personal life is a great indicator of their character or lack thereof. The former jump-off turned Mrs. Newt Gingrich had better watch her back and stay healthy 'cause how you get 'em is how you lose 'em. Newt Gingrich is moral equivalent of the third rail so look for him to stay away from issues like religion, family values and marriage because he is an example to no one.

• Mother Jones just released a list of the ten most sugary kids' cereals and a few of my favorites are on the list and an obvious one is missing.
  Where are the Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, don't see how they were not on this list. As a kid, I enjoyed Cap'n Crunch, Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries and Apple Jacks but I doubt they had as much sugar in the 70s that they have now.

Pure F*ckery

• Another thump on the head to Newt Gingrich and all his f*ckery and the false claim that the Palestinians are an "invented" people who do not deserve a state.
  It is safe to assume if this man's mouth is moving he is lying about something. I'm not a Palestinian but I found his comments offensive. Now if he had replaced the word Palestinian with Jew, there would be immediate outrage and demands that he apologize but since he's talking about Palestinians, it doesn't matter. The Palestinian people get no respect. Clearly a double standard here, journalist Helen Thomas got roasted over her comments about Israel last year but no one seems all that outraged or offended by Gingrich's comments except the Palestinian people.
  
• The Terrell Owens gravy train has come to an end. Owens was recently held in contempt of court for not paying child support to one of his four baby mamas (or is it babies mamas?). This man has paid out more in child support than I will earn in my lifetime.
  In what seemed like eighteen years of guaranteed monthly income has taken a turn for the worst for Melanie Page Smith, the last woman to have a child with Owens. Owens missed his December 1st deadline and is either unable or unwilling to pay $5,000 a month to stay out of jail. To be continued...

What The F*ck!

• A meth lab in Wal-Mart? According to the Tulsa, Oklahoma police, a woman spent more than six hours in her local Wal-Mart attempting to build a meth lab.
  File this under "Nothing Good Ever Happens in a Wal-Mart". Clearly this woman is a hard-core addict. A side effect of meth use is compulsive drug seeking which can affect the chemical and molecular processes of the brain.
  
• TJ Holmes is leaving CNN to join BET.
  I find that rather perplexing but I haven't watched BET in years, it's just another channel on cable TV I never watch. I always thought there was a color requirement for working at BET, there never seemed to be anyone hosting a show there that was darker than a brown paper bag. Things may have changed but BET is not known for their news coverage. Good luck with that TJ.

Voter Suppression is Alive and Well

An important petition being circulated by Color of Change about voter suppression. Perhaps your state has enacted one of those voter ID laws under the guise of stopping voter fraud, mine has. In my Republican run state, the photo ID law was enacted a few years ago. It requires voters to present either a state issued ID card or driver's license at their polling place in order to vote.

It's not so much fraud they are worried about but they want to prevent as many people from voting as possible. In 2012, the vote of blacks, Latinos and senior citizens will be more important than ever.  It has become a goal of the Republicans to make President Obama a one-term president and if they can prevent you from voting in the process, that's even better. We all know that blacks tend to vote for Democrats and knowing how critical these votes are, bills have either been introduced or enacted to make it more difficult for us to vote.

Please join me in signing this petition and share it with your friends:

Dear friends,
For years, the right wing has been trying to stop Black people, other people of color, young people, and the elderly from voting — and now some of America's biggest companies are helping them do it.

These companies have helped pass discriminatory voter ID legislation by funding a right wing policy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Voter ID bills linked to ALEC have already passed in seven states,¹ and similar voter ID bills have been introduced in 27 other states.²Supporters of discriminatory voter ID laws claim they want to reduce voter fraud (individuals voting illegally, or voting twice). But such fraud almost never actually occurs, and never in amounts large enough to affect the result of elections.³ What is clear is that voter ID laws prevent large numbers of eligible voters from casting a ballot, and could disenfranchise up to 5 million people.⁴ALEC's voter ID laws are undemocratic, unjust and part of a longstanding right wing agenda to weaken the Black vote. Major companies that rely on business from Black folks shouldn't be involved in suppressing our vote. Please join me in demanding that these companies stop funding ALEC:
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/alec

ALEC’s right wing agenda

The American Legislative Exchange Council is a behind-the-scenes group whose membership consists of legislators and corporations who work together to push legislation that benefits their interests. ALEC crafts model legislation, which its member legislators then introduce in statehouses across the country, without mentioning its corporate ties. The group has written legislation to impose harsher criminal penalties on juveniles, to privatize education, and to break unions.

ALEC is funded in part by the Koch Brothers, the same family that funds the radically conservative tea party. It also receives funding from large corporations, many of which are household names.

"Voter fraud" and discriminatory voter ID laws

Supporters of discriminatory voter ID laws say it’s needed to stop "voter fraud." The fact is that voter fraud rarely occurs, and when it does occur it does not happen at a scale that would change the outcome of an election. The kind of voter fraud addressed by the ALEC voter id bill happens as infrequently as death by lightning.⁵Over and over again, the myth of widespread voter fraud is used to justify stronger restrictions on voting and voter registration (like voter ID laws), as well as voter roll purges. It has also been used to attack organizations which register large numbers of low income and minority voters, by painting simple mistakes made during registration drives as organized efforts to commit voter fraud. These kind of made up scandals have helped the right wing convince the public that voter fraud is real and voter ID laws are necessary to protect the integrity of elections.

The truth is that voter ID laws are discriminatory — Black people, Latinos, the elderly, students, people with disabilities, and the poor are all less likely to have the photo IDs necessary to vote under these laws.⁶ For example, if you've recently moved because of foreclosure or some other economic circumstance, you're more likely to have recently ended up in a new state which won't accept your out of state driver's license. If you don't have a car, you're less likely to have a driver's license in the first place.
In many states, it can be expensive and time consuming to secure the proper ID. Even when the ID itself is free, it often requires supporting documents like a birth certificate which cost money to achieve. There are already stories of voters who have been eligible for years struggling to navigate a frustrating bureaucratic maze in order to vote. Requiring ID to vote amounts to a modern day poll tax. And that's the real purpose of voter ID laws - they are an important part of the modern effort to suppress the votes of groups that usually vote against right wing politicians.

These laws are part of a long history of voter suppression directed at Black folks and other underrepresented groups. No longer is the Black vote suppressed through violence, intimidation and literary tests. It’s now suppressed through laws that make it burdensome and difficult for many Black folks to vote.

Corporate-backed voter suppression

Some of the companies supporting ALEC may simply be unaware that the group is involved in voter suppression. Others might think that voter suppression will benefit their political interests, and hope that they can get away with supporting it because so few people have even heard of ALEC.

Adding our voices to this campaign will help convince these companies that continuing to support ALEC will hurt their reputation with consumers. Please take a moment to join me in standing up to corporate-backed voter suppression.
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/alecThanks.

References
1. http://www.campusprogress.org/articles/new_evidence_of_alec_connections_in_all_successful_voter_id_legislatio/
2. http://www.economist.com/node/21529061
3. http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_myth_of_voter_fraud/
4. http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/10/gop-alec-could-make-it-harder-5-million-cast-ballots
5. See reference 3.
6. http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/d/download_file_39242.pdf

To find out more about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), please click here.

Blame It On Obama

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Convicted cop killer and unapologetic black militant, Mumia Abu-Jamal has had his death penalty commuted to life. After thirty years, the Philadelphia district attorney's office decided to drop their bid for the death penalty and settle for a life sentence. I know that's going to make some people angry and others glad but I know one thing. Some politician somewhere will find a way to blame President Obama.

There plenty of Republicans out there that have politicize every issue and blaming President Obama has become a popular past time for folks who still haven't gotten over the fact that a black man was elected President of the United States. For these people, Obama is to blame for everything. And yes, three years later, some folks still don't like it.

Whether it be Rush Limbaugh or someone on Fox News, I clearly expect for them to blame Obama for Abu-Jamal's life sentence. Heck, it might even be at the next Republican debate because I know it's going to happen. Right now I've got my money on the current Republican front-runner Newt Gingrich; he wants to abolish child labor laws and put inner city children to work as janitors so they can learn their place in this country but then again you've got the desperate Rick Perry and the crazy Michele Bachmann; with this bunch you never know.  If Herman Cain was still in the race, I would expect for him to do it, for now I'll settle for Newt.

The rationale is easy, since the President is a secret Muslim and Mumia Abu-Jamal has one those Muslim sounding names, it's an easy connection to make. As ridiculous as it sounds, I'm just waiting. Oh yeah, and it's a black thing! There goes Obama looking out for one his people. 

Herman, You Played Yourself

Republican Herman Cain and his wife Gloria.

Dear Herman,
I'm sorry to see that you are dropping out of the Republican presidential race. You have been a constant source of amusement and embarrassment. From your ridiculous comments about non-existent racism to that foolish 9-9-9 tax plan spoon fed to you by the Koch brothers, you have done nothing but jig since you came on the scene.

The first nails in your campaign coffin began when claims of sexual harassment by former female employees swelled from one to four. Of course, we know they were all lying and it was some kind of ill conceived plot to besmirch your impeccable character but if I were you, I wouldn't be settling lawsuits if I were innocent.

I guess those who witnessed your inappropriate comments and that tawdry story from that blonde who hired Gloria Allred didn't help your case either. Sadly, you were still as arrogant and cocksure as ever but that was a few weeks ago. Things have changed. Your credibility was further questioned when you  didn't even know what was going on in Libya or anything about foreign policy. You might be able to pull this off in a board meeting, but not in a serious interview. The liberal media couldn't even make a story like that up, seriously.

All those women could not have been lying and your memory wasn't that bad. You can't always blame the liberal media for your problems, what about accepting responsibility for your own inappropriate behavior. This ordeal is all a result of your own doing. Perhaps you never learned how to behave appropriately around women but either way, you are an embarrassment to yourself and your family.

And lastly, I don't know how you were expecting to keep your thirteen year friendship with Ginger White a secret and still believe you could be a serious candidate for president. *sigh* Mistresses and jump-offs have been known to derail many a promising political career and yours is no exception. For someone running such a high profile campaign with a such a big arrogant mouth, you should have expected this.

I'm not going to miss you, you were a token and validated the fact that if Republicans can support a candidate like you, a self-loathing black man who is as bigoted, intolerant and Islamophobic as the rest of them. Who's going to put a black face on this hate now that you are gone? You can't expect Mitt Romney, Rick Perry or Newt Gingrich to say the same stuff you said and be able to get away with it.

Just what are the Republicans going to do now? Who's going to assuage their concerns about being a party of racism and intolerence now that their black poster boy is gone? Guess they'll have to find another magic negro. So go back to Georgia and make amends with your wife and family. If I were your wife, I'd probably have all your shit out on the front lawn but she's probably a better woman than I. She's been married to you for over 30 years and probably knows all about you.

You have become yet another politician undone but his poor judgment, arrogance and indiscretion. First "hip hop" Michael Steele, and now you, the Republicans have lost yet another magic negro. Ann Coulter was wrong, Republican negros aren't any better than the rest of our Negros.

For everyone's sake Herman, please be quiet and go away. Maybe you'll get a job being a political analyst on Fox News, but I'd wait for all of this bad publicity to die down first.

All the Best,
Kimberly

Dictators Never Have A Sense of Humor

The South African fast food restaurant Nando's thought this advert would be pretty clever and it is. It shows Robert Mugabe, President-for-Life of Zimbabwe frollicking with dictators past. Some said the ad was insensitive given that most of the dictators he's shown with are now dead.

Well, I understand Mr. Mugabe is in ill health and has not always treated his own people well, so before people get all up in arms over a fast food commercial, they might want to give pause to the many human rights abuses and atrocities that have taken place under his reign.  Most people in Zimbabwe live in a state of perpetual fear.  They are subjected to abductions, torture, intimidation and even murder for something simple as criticizing the president or for supporting the wrong person in their rigged election.

Word to Mr. Mugabe: Dictators rarely get to live out their last days in office, they are either thrown out or carried out but they rarely get to walk out.