A Win for being Black and Conscious

The NFL, Colin Kaepernick, and Eric Reid have finally reached a settlement over a lawsuit claiming teams of the league colluded to deny either a contract after both players kneeled during the national anthem. It was an act that sparked national protests and linked Kaepernick to protesting the national anthem instead of police brutality. Interestingly enough Kaepernick has been kept out of the NFL since 2017 while Reid was eventually able to sign with the Carolina Panthers. The settlement comes two years later and surely will serve as vindication for Kaepernick being denied to both earn an income and play the sport he loves.

As expected, the amount of the settlement remains undisclosed and the terms are subject to a confidentiality agreement, but according to the Associated Press, "the settlement could have climbed into the tens of millions."

Not playing in the NFL did nothing to stop Kaepernick's activism, momentum with community outreach, or popularity amongst his fans. After being blackballed by the NFL, Kaepernick was named GQ's Citizen of the Year and became the face of Nike's 2018 "Just Do It" campaign. And in the case of cosmic justice, the Colorado Spring's Prime Time Sports store that boycotted Kaepernick and removed all its Nike items in protest is now closing. The owner Stephen Martin believes his protest of Nike played a major factor in the store's closing.

While I am happy that both players received their due pay, there's a part of me that wishes that they wouldn't have taken the deal. Although reaching a settlement certainly points to guilt on the part of the NFL I believe it would have been more satisfying for the NFL to have to reveal all of their dirt and dirty tactics to keep the players out of the league. This confidentiality agreement limits both men from ever being able to speak any truths about the situation, which of course is part of the NFL's motive. Reports have begun to surface that Kaepernick is interested in returning to the field with the Carolina Panthers the top name being considered at the time. Whatever he does decide to do going forward Conscious America will surely continue to stand with him.

Jess Hilarious: Just a Mess

With homophobic thoughts and comments ending careers left and right nowadays, one would think that celebrities would be more cautious of their words, especially when it comes to the usage of social media. It seems as if every week there’s a new person in the hot seat for either their past or current comments; this week’s celebrity facing the wrath of the internet is comedian Jess Hilarious. Known mostly for her shade room commentary on Instagram, the comedian responded to a comment on a post, allowing her inner homophobia fly.

When fans began to call her out for usage of the slur, Jess initially doubled down with her comments, void of any remorse. It wasn’t until the sparks of a backlash grew into a wildfire that she offered an apology to the LGBT community, although there was no mention of the male she actually insulted.

While Jess has enjoyed a small rise to fame, comments such as these will undoubtedly stall, if not completely stop, her from reaching A-list celebrity status.

Black History Month Racism Rise

To say February has been purposed as a month to celebrate the achievements and contributions of African Americans, the first half of the month has been filled with controversial news stories that are reminiscent of post-abolition America. These stories continue to showcase the racist and highly dangerous world we African Americans live in. Such stories have highlighted ongoing issues with corporate racism and their lack of diversity, colorism, and other daily struggles of African Americans. It’s Black history month and America is reminding us she’s still as racist as ever.

Unprovoked Attacks

When slavery was abolished in 1865 the world became an even more dangerous for African Americans. Released into a land filled with contempt for the mere existence, African Americans were faced with violence, fires, and bombings by neighbors, random strangers, and groups like the KKK. A Black person could just be walking and attacked by a white person, and the act and thought process is still occurring to this day.

While making the rounds of his press tour for his new film, the actor revealed to the world that he once harbored thoughts of killing a Black man, and actually roamed the streets, armed with a club with the intentions of doing so. This occurred after learning that a good friend of his was attacked and raped by a stranger who happened to be black. According to Neeson, learning of this was enough to trigger the actor to go out for a week patrolling the streets with hopes of encountering a “black bastard” who would randomly start trouble with him (because that’s what Black men do) so he could kill him. Naturally, following the public backlash, the actor began his apology tour, where he reinforced his previous comments while also assuring that he was cured of such thoughts after seeking therapy and using power walking as an outlet.

Regardless of how one chooses to label Neeson’s comments, rather they are racist or not, what cannot be misconstrued is the fact for many African American’s skin color alone is enough to prompt a random, racist attack. Ironically Neeson’s comments come a little after a week following singer and actor Jussie Smollett allegedly attacked by a group of white men. Funny enough, however, Smollett’s encounter was met with criticism from some who questioned the authenticity of an unprovoked racial attack. For any who may believe that the idea of white men targeting and leading an unprovoked attack is too unrealistic for today’s society, refer to Liam Neeson.   

Black Face Mockery

It’s Black History Month 2019 and there are still people in the world who are still refusing to acknowledge the racist history and imagery of blackface. Minstrel shows date back to before slavery was abolished, and used to insult African Americans and portraying the group as lazy buffoons. While the racist act normally doesn’t have to be addressed until Halloween the conversation has trickled over into the New Year with yet another international fashion brand invoking blackface imagery for the sake of sales.

Gucci set social media ablaze when images of a black face inspired sweater appeared on the company’s website. After the fashion brand was swiftly called out for the racist imagery the sweater was immediately removed from the website, followed by the usual generic apology. This comes only a few months after Prada faced backlash for using similar imagery for a product. If the sweater wasn’t enough of a fashion insult, Katy Perry released a new shoe that has many calling out its racist imagery. This item was also removed from the host website, but there hasn’t been any official word from Katy Perry yet.

 Colorism

Colorism is the discrimination of one based on skin tone. In Black and Latino communities, it’s a belief that fairer or lighter skinned individuals are better and more desirable than other members of ethnic communities. It’s a practice found predominately in areas that were colonized. It grew from slavery and plantations to extend to Greek organization on college campuses and is still used as a marketing strategy for companies. As damaging as colorism is for people of color we’re seeing proof that the mindset will be carried into the next generation.

NFL player Jahleel Addae and his Caucasian wife are receiving backlash after the couple uploaded a video of themselves and friends toasting to having more light-skinned children in the future. As swiftly as the video was uploaded,  Addae made his Instagram private to protect himself against was sure to be great ridicule from members of various ethnic groups. Even if the player does speak out and apologize it won’t change anything, we know how he feels now about himself and his race. 


Hopefully, the second half of the month will be more uplifting for African Americans.

Christian Keyes Is An Artist Not Ally.

While it's no secret that Hollywood loves casting heterosexuals to portray homosexual characters, one would think that most, if not all, actors who take on these roles would be 100% secure with their sexuality. Unfortunately, even in 2019 the male heterosexual ego remains fragile as ever, as showcased by actor Christian Keyes recent rant on Instagram where he addressed the unwelcomed attention he receives from gay men on his social media accounts. Link to video below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Br9tD4UgBMR/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=3kgpgytmez4e

 Aside from respecting his sexual preference, Keyes rant is damaging as it only further demonstrates the issues of casting non homosexuals to portray homosexual roles in film and television. As much as these actors respect others truths and appreciate the support the truth is often very few are allies of the LGBT Community. Surely Keyes knows he is not the first heterosexual male to be ogled and hit on by fans of the same sex. Heterosexual stars like actor Ryan Reynolds and R&B singer Tank are well known for embracing gay fans without taking offense to flirtatious behavior. Instead of ignoring male advances, or being flattered to receive them, Keys has to defend his fragile sexuality and in turn only alienates his fans and showcases a degree of homophobia.

The best thing Keyes could have done in this situation was to just ignore any and all messages received by males after all, at this point in his career any interesting opportunities wouldn't and shouldn't be presented via his inbox. Given that Keyes portrays a gay man on the CW series Legends of Tomorrow, one doesn't know how his comments will effect his work going forward considering Hollywood's low tolerance for any type of homophobia, no matter how blanketed they may be.

Analyzing America's Least Presidential Portrait

It has been a little over a month since the National Portrait Gallery unveiled the official portraits of former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama and while most of the world is captivated by Mrs. Obama's portrait the same cannot be said for her husband's. Like all art, the paintings are open to individual interpretation and critique, but it is obvious the former president' s portrait is a stark contrast to its predecessors. While artist Kehinde Wiley should be proud of his milestone accomplishment it must be acknowledged how damaging his painting is to Obama's legacy.

Wiley's painting of the 45th President is telling how many in the country perceive and continue to view and disrespect its first African American President. Unlike the first 43 presidential portraits Obama's is the first to feature the president in a setting other than the oval office. Instead Obama is painted against a background of flowers. For much of his presidency Obama critics often cited his position towards helping minority groups, especially the LGBTQ community, as grounds for their weak presidency claims. As a celebration of his advocacy Obama was even named the 'First Gay President' by Newsweek in 2012.  For years his masculinity was challenged and Wiley's portrait only continues this notion as he paints the president sitting among flowers. Thanks to the official painting we don't see a powerful and majestic commander in chief but instead a man lost in nature.

The portrait further insults the legacy of the president as the painting presents the president without a tie. With neckties being primarily seen as phallic symbols, the lack of inclusion in the presidents portrait further emphasizes the lack of respect for him and his presidency.

Of course, it is important to note that flowers happen to be a reoccurring theme in many of the Wiley's works. So the flowers being used isn't too surprising. And the portrait was even hailed by an article in The Times; "Whereas Mr. Obama’s predecessors are, to the man, shown expressionless and composed, Mr. Obama sits tensely forward, frowning, elbows on his knees, arms crossed, as if listening hard.” Yes, as if listening to a very uninteresting subject. While Obama's portrait is indeed beautiful and original, it fails to capture the true regal essence that comes with being the leader of the "free world" and while Wiley's painting would be a beautiful personal portrait to hang in the Obama's study, as a presidential portrait it misses the mark.

Colin Kaepernick Channels Black Revolutionaries

By now Colin Kaepernick is a name almost all Americans are familiar with, regardless of his or her interest in Football. Ever since he eloquently voiced his displeasure with the American justice system and his rationale behind taking a knee during the national anthem, Kaepernick undoubtedly became the world's most interesting person culminating with GQ naming him the Citizen of the Year. The cover is a stark contrast to his previous feature as the athelete turned activist uses the shoot to embody past revolutionary individuals of the African American community.

GQ 2013 Issue

The new cover features no smile, a serious scowl and the athlete dressed in all black with an afro to match. The Black Panther Party, founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Sealea, quickly comes to mind. The BPP, famous for its ten point program and forming a community watch set on policing the police during the late 60s.

Kaepernick is also

photographed channeling the essence of Muhammad Ali. Ali, among many great

achievements and moments, like Kaepernick famously challenged the injustices of his time and protested the Vietnam war resulting in his arrest for draft evasion. Aside from a passion for civil rights and liberties both share a fondness for children and helping those in need.

GQ 2017

If there is anyone who deserves to be namdd Citizen it is Kaepernick who continues to act selflessly. Despite remaining unsigned to any NFL team Kaepernick has not let the league's missed opportunity slow his momentum of calling for social justice reform and continuing to help communities of color. Landing his second cover of GQ in only a sign of the greatness he has in store for the world.

Google so Racist?

What's the difference between being labeled an African-American and Black? Is there a difference? Will there ever be? These questions and more were brought up during a facebook discussion centered around the search engine Google and its implied distinction between the two terms. Close your eyes and imagine three black teenagers. Their activities and actions are completely up to you. So, what do you see? More importantly, how do you see them? According to the search engine, Google, it is not positively. When 'three black teenagers' is searched through Google images what appears is a yet another example of the discrimination person's of color (POC) face as compared to White counterparts. Whereas searching 'three black teenagers' pulls primarily negative, and somewhat stereotypical images, searching for images of 'three white teenagers,'  presents that there is a stark contrast to how Google sees the two groups.
Strangely, searching Google for images of three black teenagers pulls a majority of mugshots. In the above photo, a snippet of the collective images presented, only one is a staged model, unlike in comparison to the images presented when 'three white teenagers' is searched. A snippet of 'three white teenagers' search results shows a majority of staged models, smiling, hugging, and laughing; nothing remotely negative. Why the different imagery?

As the discussion continued there were, of course, those who came to the defense of Google. One facebook user wrote, "use the proper term and you'll get the proper results."  It seems when 'three African American teenagers' is searched the images are more positive, and by positive I mean the photos are of staged models. Let's be very clear, regardless of referring to the teens as Black or African-American, there is no difference or distinction, and to present two clearly different portraits for one race is racist on Google's part.

My mission became clear, obviously more had to be done besides a Facebook discussion and the first step was to call bring the discrepancy to Google's attention. I reached out on the company's official Facebook page but have yet to receive a response.

With no help from Google, I decided that the best place to find the answers to my questions was the company website. So I asked, "how does google determine what image to pull up?" It's an interesting, and short video. but here's a brief synopsis:
Google searches over 60 Trillion individual pages, where after going from page to page, they sort the material by content and "other factors' and keep it all inside The Index. Using programs and formulas to deliver the "best results possible" and algorithms to "better understand" what the user means, these clues helps to pull "relevant documents" from The Index. Google uses over 200 factors to rank the results, which are delivered in a variety of formats. Maintaining that the company fights spam 24/7 to "keep results relevant" if any spam is found manual action is taken. "And that's how search works." To watch the video visit: https://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thestory/

So out of 60 Trillion pages of material the best, relevant results of 'three black teenagers' are a plethora of mugshots? Not to mention there's even a noose if you scroll down past the third row of images, but that's an even bigger issue. Confused? Angered? Me too.
Google has been given the chance to respond and has yet to do so. It's time for our voices to be heard. In the past few days, the conversation has moved from Facebook to different platforms with even a youtube video being made on the topic. Google has still yet to respond, but to be honest we don't need one. What we need is for them to correct this error and acknowledge they made it, but at the end of the day you have to determine for yourself if Google is racist.

To Kill an Insect

Click here

What's the value of an insect's life these days?

So shortly numbered, and unappreciated,

Yet overly publicized and criticized
By unsympathetic bodies and eyes
That take pride in declaring,
There is no place, here, for an insect. (SMACK)

Who would have ever thought that an insect,

So black, so small, so insignificant

Could cause such an uproar 

With its intruding presence.
Uninvited, and feared

Why kill an insect? (STOMP)

Is it in spite of the insect's resilience?
Conquering farms and dunghills with pride.
Or leisurely boredom that leads to deciding
There's no meaning to the life of an insect? (CLAP)

Still, insects continue to thrive
Only in the end to be recognized
                                                      By unsympathetic bodies and eyes

Declaring there is no place, here, for an insect. (SMASH)

The Ratchet Woman: America's New Comedic Symbol

It’s no secret that in the African American community women are placed on a pedestal, or at least once upon a time they were. Insert rap music and reality television and women have suddenly been demoted to “B****’s,” “hoes” and “thots.” As a fan of rap I give a certain pass to lyrics as it’s almost become mandatory to defame women in music, but recently it seems that the disrespect has reached more disturbing heights. Sure the rappers who promote such language are AA themselves but think about the label owners and stockholders; white men and women who make a profit from the defilement of AA women. Once the last remaining figure of hope for the AA community, this image has continuously been diminished and tarnished with only a comedic symbol remaining. In order to reclaim the prestige and once again become a strong symbol within the African American community, the community itself has to examine the portrayals that have somewhat become the “token” of African American female representation.

The world of reality TV aims to show authentic sides and lives of characters, but as with all things on television nothing presented is authentic; especially when it comes to African American women. As I’m sure there are plenty of earlier examples of the diminishing respect for AA women, however my earliest memory begins with the first season of the VH1 reality series Flavor of Love; a show where black women (the majority), were pitted against one another for the affection of a man; and by pitted I mean fist fight, bitch slap, and be spit upon. This group of women were the first of the new millennium to showcase the decline of the AA woman. While the masses laughed, AA women and girls received brainwashing that this type of behavior was not only acceptable but normal. Keeping in mind that all of the contestants on the show were aspiring models, actresses or singers, it’s easy to notice the lack of authenticity within the show, but the effects are long-lasting. For evidence log onto Youtube, use the correct choice words for searching and allow the disturbing truth to sink in.

Moving on from career hopefuls, the media focused on yet another subset of AA imagery, with Bravo’s third installment of the Real Housewives franchise, which to me only projected the imagery that AA women don’t need a male to influence animosity towards one another, but can fight over anything. The Real Housewives of Atlanta has been the most successful installment of the franchise and of the Bravo network, which is not surprising at all being that 90% of the cast are AA women. One step above the Flavor of Love hopefuls, this group of women claims to fame came through the presence of the man/men in their lives. At the beginning of the series, no one on the cast is “employed” or has a career of her own. Instead, they have achieved their “status” through marriage. One does not have to imagine the negative effect this placed on AA women and girls, the results are evident by the lack of focus on education and rise in aspirations to one day marry a musician, athlete, or any man with enough money to make her life as comfortable as possible.

In hindsight, these shows haven’t been all negative. While the rest of the world laughed, large portions of AA women became angry. Instead of standing by while the media continued to destroy their image, women grouped together to ensure that their voices were heard. Their anger reached it's peaked when AA women banded together to demand the cancelation of VH1 series, Basketball Wives.

 Following in the shadow of Bravo, VH1 once again used reality TV to portray a negative image of AA women. The show Basketball Wives was a paradox from the beginning being that a large percentage of the cast weren’t actually married. They were instead the baby mothers, girlfriends, or exes of players, with one thing in common; they were black women willing to be exploited. A success from its beginning Basketball Wives had it all: hair pulling, drink slinging, booty shaking, fist fighting and more. Despite major protest, VH1 has yet decided to cancel the series—but why would they? I’m sure we all know what type of person makes the final call. It can’t be a coincidence that shows such as these continue to follow the same suit. 

The media and society have always been set against the African American male; media portrayals and music does enough alone to obviously discredit and discourage AA men, that it goes without saying. The African American woman, however, remained a prominent figure in African American homes for years; symbols of strength and perseverance. Of course, the media can’t have impressionable girls gaining self-esteem and respect for themselves, so they place the most deleterious, toxic images they can find  on television, (in many communities the babysitter). Young girls grow up thinking that it’s okay to emulate such behavior and future generations will only think that it’s natural to behave in such ways.

You may not have noticed the correlation between the degrading of African American women for the amusement of white audiences, but it’s happening with alarming results. Next time you tune in and laugh at the buffoonery think about that there is someone profiting from this exploitation, and all the while the image of the African-American woman continues to erode. At the end of the day who is really getting the last laugh?