Hey guys, Im in class right now but I had a great thought I wanted to share. I want to know what "color" YOUR name is...No, I dont mean what color pen you use or anything like that lol.

I will share my experience and I want to know if any of you have had the same thing happen, etc.

Okay so I am dating a girl named Keshia. I was talking to an African American lady and she asked what her name was and I said, "Keshia." She responded, "She uh black gurl?" I laughed and said "No, shes about as white as they come!" And she went on telling me about how she had never met a "white Keshia".

So, this made me wonder.. why is there so much diversity in peoples names based on race or ethnicity?

If your a white girl have you ever wondered why your name isnt Tralonda or something!? lol.. Why is it that names just sounded like the person is a certain color? Like a white guy named Tra'Shon and a black guy named Justin or something? Do you see what I am saying? Why is it that we have different names for different races and ethnicity? 

For example, people who live in different countries often have what an American would consider a "weird" name. Like Russians or Chinese or Japanese or German..etc..

Also, I would like to know, would you ever name your child something that was not considered a name of your race, ethnicity, country, etc?? For example, I LOVE Hawaii.. and I LOVE Hawaiian names like crazy! However, alot of Americans from the main land do not have Hawaiian names unless they are originally from Hawaii or thats there heritage etc... However, I when I have kids I have a few Hawaiian names picked out already. Like "Kai" or "McCai"(middle name) or... a few others I cant remember. (Im at school so I dont have my "Baby names" list with me! lol

What do you think about the names versus race, color, ethnicity, heritage, country of origin, etc??? And tell me what your name is and lets see if your color(etc) is related to it!

Thanks for reading! I made a list today of things to blog about so I should have quite a few new blogs posted soon. You would be amazed at the ideas you get just from walking around a college campus! Peace out! :) 

 

This week over on Womanist Musings guest contributor femonade blogged about Nike's latest commercial featuring NFL running back Adrian Peterson.  The commercial centers around Peterson's agile athleticism and uber strength.  One problem, though, according to femonde:

"[The commercial is] so horrible, I literally have to turn my head whenever it comes on.  WTF?  A black man can't be a great athlete without likening him to…an animal?  An alien?  Something inhuman, and some manner of scaly-skinned freak?"

Femonade criticizes Nike for perpetuating dangerous stereotypes, citing historically degrading tropes that always seem to creep up now and then in American popular culture; animalistic, barbaric, scary, dangerous, dark black guys. Pretty much opposite everything nice, tame, and um, light. Femonade also mentions the traditional practice of skin-branding that's been a commonplace in African and African-American culture. 

Femonade writes:

"In my estimation, the best-case scenario here is that Nike wanted not to give a black man animalistic or inhuman qualities, but used “texturized” black skin to evoke a  skin-branding ritual with a sordid history, but that has been somewhat reclaimed recently by black fraternities."

Femonade continues to argue that even if this is Nike's way of evoking a skin-branding tradition, it's probably not a good look for Nike (a mega corporation with a not-so-squeeky-clean history with folks of color) to evoke these traditions while claiming them for the purpose of marketing a sports product.

Dangerous territory, Nike.  Very dangerous, territory.

But it's not like we haven't been confronted with questionable imagery in sports advertising before.  How could we forget this gem:



This particular photo, splashed all over Vogue Magazine last year, started a s**t storm in and around the blogosphere.  Everyone from fashionista bloggers to racialicious bloggers were writing about it. 

Needless to say, Lebron likened to Tarzan the Ape while grabbing a white damsel in distress (though she really didn't looked distressed, but more like she was doing some kind of awkward dance move) didn't sit well with the folks.  Aside from the ad being in poor taste, it was unflattering to both Lebron's athletic swagga and Giseles' graceful sexiness.

So here's the thing about the Adrian Peterson ad: It's scary.  The last thing I think about while looking at the commercial is "Oh, hell yeah, I gotta cop whatever they're selling!"  I'm not even quite sure what Nike's selling in the ad to begin with.  The cinematography alone is dreadful - literally.  Slow moving shots, grey imagery, cold, and uninviting.  It reminded me more of freezing my butt off at a Browns game in Cleveland. Sure, I know Nike isn't trying to sell Popsicles here, but when and why did sports become so horribly depressing?

Without question, there are racial undertones attached to the Peterson ad.  At the end of the commercial when Peterson's skin turns reptile-alien like, I can't help but squirm upon the sight of such imagery.  It makes me uncomfortable. It's not so much that I fear reptiles or even aliens, but I'm concerned that these images, more often than not, make people fear each other.   We're being told things big, black, dark, and amimalistic are scary, and society - a.k.a the real damsel in distress - should be scared.  America has a long sordid history with attaching people of color to dangerous and inferior imagery, and because that history is so deeply embedded in our consciousness, it's best not to correlate these things at all - especially in a sports commercial. 

I'm not going to yell, 'racist!' or conclude that this ad is an example of racism because keep in mind; our conversations about race shouldn't be limited to policing hateful individuals or ideas based on stereotypes but to focus on the unanswerable question of motive, in other words, all that matters are the outcomes.

Does this Nike ad fail on the racially sensitive front? Hell yeah it does.  Does Nike have an alterior-motive to purposely degrade, dehumanize, and disenfranchise all people of color?  I highly doubt it. 

Unfortunately, the enormous gaffe here is that the Nike ad is an example of, (and further contributes to), our arrested development as a collective.  We should know better.  With that said, even though Nike has a history of epic gaffes, the company continues to work with communities of color (and HERE) and partners with great organizations like YouthNoise to make a difference in the lives of others through sport and play. Again, it's about the outcomes.

Nike did release a statement about the ad, which in my opinions sucked.  My advice for Nike? Keep working with us, not against us, and by all means, send your ad executives on a week long ethics retreat.

And that's the word.

 

Images: Flickr bobster855 and Racialicious/Vogue

 

From The NY Times.

Thirteen-year-old Alexis Page is an Olympic hopeful, but if you ask her, her mother, or her coaches, they'd all admit that the Olympics isn't priority right now.

Says Page's gymnastic coach Lucy Kerznerman "She cannot think about the Olympics. No, no, no, no. She must have little goals, every day."

Page is a rhythmic gymnast from uptown Manhattan - Harlem.  She, like many young gymnasts her age practice everyday, but unlike many of her counter parts, Page takes the train (then the bus) to practice.  Page also depends on organizations like the Wendy Hilliard Foundation to finance her young career.  She's also African-American, and from the looks of the USA Gymnastic roster, African-American women make up less than 2% of the national senior and junior rhythmic gymnastics teams.  But perhaps it's not so much about the numbers, as in, how many black athletes vs. white athletes make up the national teams, but more so about the issue of access and oppotunity provided to young black female gymnasts.

Alone, Wendy Hilliard (the first African American rhythmic gymnasts to represent the U.S. National team) and her foundation foot much of Alexis Page's bill to compete.

"Hilliard’s foundation has covered more than $5,000 in expenses this year, but [Alexis' mother] estimates the expenses will run to $25,000 — four custom-made leotards, at more than $600 each, a dozen entry fees at $125 each, higher costs for higher competition."

I've written previously on YouthNoise about the conundrum facing many African-American females athletes in the United States.  I've also paid homage to "the firsts" like fellow gymnasts Dominique Dawes, who continue to pave the way for future black female athletes like Alexis Page.  This issue remains near and dear to my heart as a former college athlete and woman of color.

While it seems like race is having the best week ever in 2009 *sarcasm*, it's evident that racial disparities in sports like gymnastic, tennis, and golf (a.k.a. the expensive sports) still exist.

Yet despite the reality of these disparities, young athletes like Alexis Page continue to inspire me, along with an entire generation of young black athletes with remarkable talent.

Check out Alexis in action!



Please visit the Wendy Hilliard Foundation for more information on how you can help young athletes like Alexis Page avoid another dream deferred.

Yes, it's another Friday in July. The sun is kickin' it in the sky, the sounds of flip-flops fill the city streets, and gravity pulls dribbles of chocolate ice-cream down the chins of the little ones, staining both shirts and shorts. There's no excuse to be bored on a day like today, especially when you've got programs like B-Ball on the Block bringing basketball and soccer to your doorstep.

Every Friday from 4 - 8pm in the summer, Chicago nonprofit Beyond the Ball closes a street to traffic and sets up some hoops. They construct a makeshift street soccer area and bring in coaches, volunteers, sports equipment, and—most importantly—the local community. This traveling basketball and soccer league mainly serves the Little Village and North Lawndale neighborhoods, but the teams also travel all over the city for the Finals tournaments at the end of the summer.

In addition to being a whole lot of fun, B-Ball on the Block also helps to break down barriers in the community. The locations cross rival gang territories and bring together participants of varying ages, races and ethnicities. Through community sports, B-Ball on the Block encourages Chicagoans to "come out and see how much they actually have in common."

[Below: Video from last Friday's event. Yeah, these guys know how to play.]

If you're in Chicago, you should check out the calendar and think about becoming a volunteer for Beyond the Ball. It's a good excuse to get outside and enjoy the summer while helping to build your community.

Also, if you have two seconds right now (and I know you do), click here to help Beyond the Ball raise $500 for programs like B-Ball on the Block. The Just 1 Click campaign won't cost you a cent, but it will help Chicago youth to keep playing in the summertime. That's right - click it.

Yesterday I read a very sad story. It was an article written by political sportswriter David Zirin, exposing NFL player Ryan Moats' crime of "DWB (driving while black)" in the Lone Star State.

Moats was driving a carload of family members on an emergency trip to the hospital to say goodbye to his dying mother-in-law, Joanetta. Time was short; Moats looked both ways for on-coming traffic and then rolled through a red light just before pulling into the hospital parking lot. But before the family could think about supporting Joanetta in her final breaths of life, a police officer named Powell pulled up to penalize Moats for his traffic violation.

[Moats' wife] Tamishia jumped out of the car to rush to her mother, and Powell drew his gun, yelling, “Get in there! Let me see your hands!”

“My mom is dying,” she shouted back.

“I saw in his eyes that he really did not care,” Tamishia Moats said. Ms. Moats and her great-aunt ignored the officer and headed into the hospital...Ryan Moats and his grandfather in law – the father of the dying Ms. Collinsworth, were then kept for 13 minutes. “You really want to go through this right now?” Moats pleaded. “My mother-in-law is dying. Right now!”

The response was the threat of arrest. “I can screw you over. I would rather not do that. You obviously will dictate everything that happens; and right now, your attitude sucks.”

You can read the rest of this awful story here, but the fact remains that Moats and his grandfather missed their last chance to hold Joanetta's hand and say goodbye. And all because of one man's desire to assert his dominance over a distressed family. 

But Powell is not the only Texas police officer guilty of drastically over-penalizing minor traffic violations (or make-believe violations) committed by people of color. A few weeks ago, I read an article in the Chicago Tribune titled Highway Robbery? Texas police seize black motorists' cash, cars. The title accurately sums up a disturbing trend in the small town of Teneha, TX, near the Louisiana border. In their so-called "battle against drug trafficking," Teneha officers have taken to the nasty habit of search-and-seizure without warrants or justification. Many families and individuals have had their property unlawfully taken by police officers under dubious charges, such as improper use of a lane, or money laundering (i.e. traveling with some cash in hand). Most of the victims are non-white citizens just driving through town. Some have been able to retrieve their stolen possessions through legal channels; others have simply lost.

Have we completely lost our minds? How can we justify spending tax dollars to support these types of enforcement activities?

I've never been one to call police officers pigs, or talk about cops as a class of power-thirsty ego-maniacs itching to maintain control over innocent citizens. I'm sure that some cops enjoy the feeling of power that comes with the job, but cops are people, too. They make their own decisions about how to act, just like the rest of us. I'm positive that a good number of officers join the police force out of an honest desire to help their communities and protect the public. Some officers want to offer support when a woman calls for emergency relief from an abusive domestic partner. Some officers pull over drunk drivers to prevent them from hurting themselves or endangering others' lives. Some officers will give you directions when you ask, or tell homeless teens where they can find food and shelter for the night. Some officers are really great people, and it probably pains them to see stories like the one about Moats.

But there are also plenty of officers who abuse their power and cause incredible harm. And you can't deny the tendency of the criminal justice system to penalize dark skin. Not even NFL membership can get you off the hook for that one.