#GuiltyPleasure:RHOA

As the title points out my guilty pleasure is Real Housewives of Atlanta.  Other women reality shows have burnt their bonds with me (Basketball Wives and Love & Hip Hop) but these Georgia Peaches do not give me Champaign bottle tossing and hair pulling brawls but they give me just enough drama to keep me wanting to tune in every week.  These past two weeks did not leave me disappointed.

Last week’s episode had the ladies back in Atlanta after their drama-filled trip in Africa.  Ms. Sheree “I have my Gucci bags and my dirt lot to keep me company” Whitfield comes back dishing all the tea and her tea is anything but sweet.  She informs Kim that Kandi was talking trash about how she could not see Kim holding “black babies.”  When they showed the flashback clip of the conversation Sheree is referring to, Kandi clearly does not say anything about Kim not wanting to hold a black baby.  Kim being naive believes everything Sheree tells her without even hearing Kandi’s side of the story.  (Just to remind you, about two or three seasons ago Sheree was trying to pull Kim’s wig off her head. Now they are best friends.)  But let’s keep it real, Sheree knows who butters her bread and that person is Bravo.  Sheree is trying to keep up the drama because she is not trying to get Deshawn Snowed (Remember her? If not, look at Season 1 line-up).  You all saw that dirt lot, Sheree cannot afford to get kicked off this show.

Something else that has happen is Nene’s  son, Bryson, went to jail for stealing razors from Wal-Mart (Two $14 razors to be exact).  These women, particularly Nene and Sheree, are not shy about talking about all their name brand clothes and handbags.  So it is hard for me to understand why Nene’s son shoplifted something so simple.  Razors? Really?! Bryson, I could have given you some change on a razor and I do not even get “Trump Checks.”  I agree with Nene, she should have left him in jail for the full 30 days.  By the way, I like Nene’s motherly side. 

Now let’s get to Cynthia.  I am really on the fence when it comes to Cynthia.  Cynthia is missing something…..ummmm, oh yea, a backbone.  Now I believe that you are suppose to respect your husband as head of household but when he convinces you to give him $1,000 of your own money so you can impress the guests who are going to be at the party that is where you should draw the line.  Peter going to have him and Cynthia in the poor house trying to impress the “socialites” aka posers of Atlanta.  And also, who throws a big fancy party for a ONE year anniversary.  Peter and Cynthia should have went to Red Lobster and called it a night.  After he spends all her money that is the only “fancy” restaurant they are going to be able to afford.  And how he called Mallory out at the party was so childish.  Peter needs a dose of “grow-up.”  I need Mallory to get her nose out of Cynthia’s marriage and let her [Cynthia] realize on her own that she has married a hot mess. 

Okay, guys I that was my recap of just some of the highlights of RHOA.  Stay tuned because I am sure that these ladies are going to give me more material to write on. 

#Kony2012

Diddy, Jennifer Hudson, Kevin Hart, and George Clooney are just a few celebrities that are bringing attention to the title of this post.  For a day and a half, #stopkony, Uganda, and Invisible Children have been trending.  On your newsfeed, you might have seen links to Youtube titled Kony 2012.  If you have not have not heard by now about what Kony 2012 is, then simply put, it is to make a man famous. 

Famous for what you might ask? Nobel Peace Prize Winner? Saved a baby from a well? Found the cure to cancer?  Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with anything positive or uplifting.  Joseph Kony has started a pointless war (as far as I am concerned most of them are but I digress) in Uganda where he abducts children from their homes and turn the boys into young soldiers and the girls into sex slaves.  In some cases, the soldiers have had to kill their parents.  If a child refuses to not be a part of the war effort, they risk being mutilated or killed.  The Youtube video says that he has accumulated 30,000 children for his unnecessary war. 

I have stated before that I do not write on current events or jump on bandwagons unless I have researched both sides of the story and considered everyone involved.  I was not a journalist major but I try to have a journalist approach with stories as sensitive as this one.  With that said the rest of this post is about what has been told to us and what others have had to say about the matter. 

Around March 5, a video was released on Youtube describing who Kony was and what needs to be done.  A couple of days later the video had over 1 million views.  The video instructs viewers to make the name known (do this by tweeting celebrities and contacting policy makers) so that policy makers will see that people care and possibly continue to send U.S. troops to Uganda to advise the army there, who are trying to catch Kony.    The video also ask viewers to donate what they can and then they will get an action kit.  In the action kit you get braclets, posters, and stickers that have Kony 2012 printed on them.  You are to put these items up in your community to inform those in your community about Kony. 

The video not only pulls, but grabs tightly at your heart strings.  When I was done watching the video I was ready to post Kony 2012 poster all over central Arkansas

With any cause you have your critics.  Some have said that the video makes it seem as if we kill Kony then the country of Uganda will magically become this booming society.  Others have said that the footage of Uganda we see in the video is over 6 years old.  And even others have said that the non-profit has spent more money on films, salaries, and office space than on the ground in Uganda.  The video is said to be misinforming people by saying that Kony is still in Uganda.  According to reports, he has not been in Uganda for years. 

Relief workers in Uganda have been in some way insulted by this video making it seem as if there has not been any effort done by those who are in Uganda such as Betty Bigombe.  I am not writing this post to make short of the efforts of Invisible Children but before you jump on any cause step back and see the bigger picture.  In this case, is finding and killing Joseph Kony going to poof-be-gone the problems in Uganda?

To read more about what is going on in Uganda, click here

#ByeMoesha?

So sorry for not making a post in awhile, but I have not had too much time to write.  With this being the last week in Black History Month, I am going to talk about my favorite black shows that did not get a last episode.  Back when we had actual sitcoms on television instead of all the reality TV mess (I’m over the Basketball Wives, Mob Wives, should be called Hot Mess Ex-Wives) there were some good TV shows.  The late 90’s and early 2000’s gave us some great shows like Moesha, Girlfirends, and Everybody Hates Chris.  And unfortunately all these shows went off the air without as much as a goodbye. 

Black shows leaving television without a series finale is not new.  In the 80’s, Sherman Hemsley better known as George Jefferson from The Jeffersons found out that the show was canceled by reading it in the paper.  I am not one to throw the “race card” but black shows do not always get the respecting farewell they deserve.  I will always have a bitter place in my heart for these shows’ abrupt exit:

Moesha If you were a young black person in the mid-90’s, every Monday night your TV was on UPN and you were glued to your screen watching the latest Moesha episode.  We literally watched Brandy grow up before our eyes.  We loved her girls, Kim and Niecy.  And toward the end we were torn between Moesha choosing between Hakeem and Q.  The last season the show took a very serious turn.  We found out that Dorian or “D-Money” was Frank’s son instead of his nephew and Moesha was in her feelings about that every week.  Then the next to last episode leaves us with a cliff hanger: Myles gets kidnapped.  Then the next week…… no show and no explanation of why there was no show.  I felt cheated considering that I had supported the show for so long.  Yes, I am STILL bitter about this.

Girlfriends I LOVED this show.  It was truly the black version of Sex and The City.  This show took not so famous black actresses and made them famous.  Joan, Toni, Maya, and Lynn gave us LIFE every week.  And William was freakin awesome considering the fact he was the only male lead on the show.  Every week we wondered if Joan would find love and we cheered Maya on for her book Oh, Hell Naw. The first downfall was when Jill Marie Jones (Toni) left the show.  William’s new wife I guess was supposed to take her place, but the show was never quite the same.  Then Joan finally got a man but in pure Joan fashion something had to be wrong.  In this case, her fiancé was in Iraq for the war.  So we were not sure if we would see her get married or not.  Around this same time, TV writers went on strike and some shows suffered including Girlfriends.  Girlfriends never got a finale but, hey, at least we got a spin-off, The Game (by the way, is anyone still watching that show?).

Everybody Hates Chris For this last show I might be at fault for this show not having a finale.  This show had a slow start. It was based off the comedian Chris Rock’s life.  Tichina Arnold (aka Pam from Martin) played Rochelle, Chris’s mom.   And she was just as hilarious on this show as she was Martin. Tyler James Williams played the title character and he was hilarious. Terry Crews played Chris’ penny-pitching dad, Julius (You just spilled 42 cents of milk on that table, lol).  The next to last episode left the same way Moesha left us, with a cliffhanger.  We were left wondering if Chris ever got his GED. What I do remember about this show is that it premiered during the transition from UPN to CW and CW started moving the black shows to all these weird times.  So honestly, I never knew the show’s timeslot.  By the time we realized this was a good show, it had already been cancelled.  But we can still check out the reruns on BET.

As I was writing this post I realized all these shows were on the once UPN network.  This was the channel that was giving our shows a chance to thrive and get a fan base.  These shows showed black people in a positive light and I will always love these shows for that.  I hate they did not get their farewells but I like to think that these casts will reassemble and give us the finale we (or at least me) want to see.  *crosses fingers

#WhitneyHouston:LegendAndLesson

February 11, 2012 we lost a legend in the music industry, Ms. Whitney Houston.  No matter race, nationality, gender, age, or music preference, all knew Whitney Houston and her music.  Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, Ms. Houston became an international star.  People could not believe such a huge, beautiful voice came out of such a small woman.  Whitney could hit notes very few vocalists could.  I have many memories of listening to my Whitney Houston tapes (yes, I am a child of the 90’s) in my room and trying my best to hit the notes (and failing terribly) the way she did.  Over and over again, I would sing How Will I Know, Greatest Love of All, Saving All My Love, and You Give Good Love.  I had both Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack on tape and listened and learned all of Whitney’s songs.  As a child, I wished I had just a 1/4 of what Whitney had. 

Like me, many artists also looked up to Whitney Houston.  Jennifer Hudson and Brandy are artists that have said that Houston was one of their early influences. No one in the industry can deny that Whitney Houston was one of the greatest voices of our time.  Houston made it possible for Beyonce and Rihanna to crossover from R&B to Pop.  Along with her music, she has starred in classics like Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher’s Wife and The Bodyguard.  And we cannot forget her signature hit I Will Always Love You, which very few vocalists are able to cover. 

But along with her success she also had her struggles.  Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother, once said in an interview that she did not want her daughter to get involved in the music industry because of the dangers of it.  We were given a front row seat to those dangers.  Whitney would admit in interviews with Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey about her drug use.  Magazines and blog sites showed us pictures of Whitney being at a frightening small size and sweating profusely.  She had started to cancel shows and when she would do a show her voice was not the same big, beautiful voice that we remembered.  Some blamed her now ex-husband Bobby Brown for her behavior.  Regardless, we saw a singer we all know and love be broken down by something that was bigger than her.

Since her passing, some would prefer that her past with drug abuse not be brought up in conversation.  I also agree that we should remember more of her successes than her struggles but her struggles should at some point be discussed.  And not to taint her memory but so anyone struggling with addictions can see what could happen to them if they do not get their life in control.  I know that the autopsy reports have not come back so we do not know the cause of her death.  But let her struggles be a reference of how a substance that can fit in the palm of your hand can take down even the biggest stars.

I Will Always Love Whitney Houston

#AmosAndAndyBannedBlackHistory

I originally wrote this back in July 2011.  To jump off Black History Month, I have chose to repost for your enlightment.  Read futher about how NAACP banned a piece of Black History

"Today I watched a documentary on the first all black cast tv show 'Amos and Andy'.  This past June the show turned 60 years old.  If you have never heard of the show, it's excusable.  The show has not been seen in syndication since 1966.  The NAACP had it banned from tv forever because they felt it portrayed black people in a "negative light."  Well, I got to see an episode and I have to admit that I did not share the same conclusion with the NAACP.  So I have to ask, was it really necessary for the NAACP to ban this show?
Let's remember that the show was made in the 1950's, not the most political correct era.  The premise of the show was Kingfish was always doing these get-rich-quick schemes and most of the time he would dupe Andy in the scheme.  Amos was the narrator in the show.  Let it be known that none of the actors or actresses in the show ever felt degraded while playing these characters. They were actually proud to be on a show where black people were being depicted as professionals rather than maids and butlers.  Were they being silly and exaggerated?  Well of course, it's a comedy!  Ernestine Wade, the actress who played Sapphire, brought out the point that you don't watch a comedy to be educated.  Marla Gibbs, best known as Florence on The Jeffersons and Mary on 227, also brought out that it was a good show and the show was not saying that this was how all black people acted.  But that we all knew someone who acted like these characters. 
Which brings me to my next point: was it really necessary to ban the show from tv forever? As stated before the NAACP fought CBS from the show's premier to get the show off the air.  They saw it as an extreme negative portrayal of black people.  What they did not see was a show that was making it possible for future shows like 'I Spy', 'The Cosbys', 'Family Matters' and 'The Game'.  They did not see a show that broke the stereotypes by providing roles to black performers where they were doctors, lawyers, and businessmen.  All they could see was black people being silly on television ( as I stated before the show was a comedy). 
When I watch television today I'm more appalled at what we do allow on tv to represent black people ( Real Housewives of Atlanta, Basketball Wives, Soul Plane).  All these shows set our race back a whole lot further than 'Amos and Andy'.   What the NAACP did was ban a part of black history.  I think the NAACP needs a sense of humor."

#RedTailsAStoryofRacisimForChildren

This weekend I had the privilege of watching Red Tails.  George Lucas stirred a lot of controversy when he mentioned in interviews that Hollywood would not fund this movie because executives believed that a movie with an all black cast would not make any money (this made me raise an eyebrow.  Remember Dreamgirls).  Black people (and possibly other races also) determined to prove Hollywood wrong came out and made this movie number 2 at the box office for its opening weekend.  Side note: one of the original Tuskegee Airmen was at the Red Tail showing right before mine. 

Even though the movie critics have bashed this movie for its “full of clichés” script, bland cast, and one-dimensional characters, I still loved it.  Matter of fact, I loved the movie for all the reasons the movie critics hated the movie.  Beside the corny one-liners and horrible southern accents, I enjoyed the script from a family stand point.  Honestly, it is so hard to take children to the movies these days.  Even the movies that are made for children have adult content in it and full of sexual innuendos.  This was a way for the kids to get a history lesson without all the bad language and the over usage of the n-word.  I love the fact this movie did not smack you in the face with racism.  When I left The Help I was mad at all white women everywhere. 

This movie left a door open for parents to discuss the issue of racism with their children on their terms.  It also showed the realities of war without being so gruesome which was something else I loved about the movie.  Even though we did see soldiers being killed, we did not have to see guts spilling out all over the screen.  Another reason I wanted to support the movie because Lucas said that if this movie did well, he would make two more movies about the Red Tails.  Now I am not a fan of prequels and sequels but the idea of doing a movie of the Tuskegee Airmen when they were in training and another of their lives when they came back home after the war seems interesting to me.

As much as I loved this movie, I know there are no Golden Globe or Oscar nominations in its future.  I have to admit that this was not Cuba Gooding, Jr’s or Terrance Howard’s best performances.  And every time Neyo open his mouth with that ratchet southern accent I wanted to scream.  But I did like this film and look forward to the other two installments. 

#BlackHistoryMonthIsApproaching

Karibu!! Or Welcome in Swahili!  Yep, it is that time again when every college in the U.S. will have at least one black speaker.  Black choirs will be working overtime singing old Negro spirituals that you probably never knew the words to in the first place.  And little children will be in programs at local churches and recreational centers portraying past civil rights leaders.  Even BET will have quality programming for the next month.  If you have not guessed by now, I am speaking of Black History Month.

Black History Month was originally Negro History Week celebrated the second week of February founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, NAACP leader and historian, in 1926.  His purpose of this week was not to celebrate  “Negro history but the Negro in history.”  Dr. Woodson picked February because of the two birthdays of people that fought for slaves’ freedom: Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas.  In 1976, it was expanded to the whole month of February.  Since then this month has been used to reflect back upon the achievements of black people. 

To be honest, I cannot watch too many clips of the marches or demonstrations of the freedom fighters.  When I see them being attacked by the dogs or water hoses being sprayed at them, my chest starts to tighten.  It brings up a lot of anger because they were not asking for much, just to be treated with dignity.  But what I do like about this month is all the speakers.  I could be showing a little favoritism but the University of Central Arkansas (my alma mater) has the best Black History Month speakers.  They have had Soledad O’Brien, Malcom Jamal Warner, Martin Luther King, III, and Spike Lee to name a few.  This year they will have Afeni Shakur-Davis, former Black Panther and mother of legendary and controversial rapper Tupac Shakur (I will be in attendance).  It is always cool to hear the stories behind the speakers even if I do not necessarily agree with their message.  It is always cause of good conversations with my girls. 

I advise you to find some speakers this month that tickle your fancy and hear what they have to say.  Or go to a museum or program and learn a little something.  I pretty sure there will be more than enough activities to participate in the next month.