Racial Issues

When Single Motherhood is a Crime

May 23, 2014 — 2 Comments

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9. Single Mom Jourdan Dunn

20-Year-old British model Jourdan Dunn is a single mom.  When asked about her son, she once said; “I will always put Riley before anything else because I’m a mother first, everything else comes after.”

So I happened upon this on Style Bistro.  I was a list of Supermodel Moms.  Innocent enough, you may say?  Not so fast!  Why is it when the list features a Black Supermodel, an adjective is used to introduce her.  The adjective that I speak of is “single”… as in Single mom Jourdan Dunn.  The connotations of the single mom label in reference to Black women inculcates: sexual irresponsibility, promiscuity and the lack of sexual morality that is synonymous with representations of Blackness in the media.

The other part that stands here is that Ms. Dunn’s age is also detailed.  In fact, these are the types strategies applied to conjure the notion of poverty politics in which: 1) children having children is a problem and, 2) these children are being had for the sole purpose of going on public assistance.  What this does is reinforce the racist belief of the “welfare queens” who not only refuses to work, but is living high off the hog thereby draining the government of it’s financial resources.

But Angelina Joile is a “single mom”.  And she has six children at that!  Yes, she has “selflessly” adopted children from foreign countries (that’s another blog post), but she had two to three biological children of her own, and has yet to get married to the father of her children.  But she is not admonished for being a single mother.  As a matter of fact, she is lauded for her so-called “humanitarian” and is portrayed as strong…a powerhouse example of new-age femininity.

Interestingly enough, this list features more than one single mother, however Style Bistro refused to point this fact out.  The model Arizona Muse for one is a single mother.  She had a child in her late teens, early twenties as well, following a similar trajectory as Ms. Dunn, I suppose.  Luckily for her and her son, they were featured in J.Crew together. Other single mothers features on this list include: Kate Moss, who recently got married and is a renowned coke head (great role model for girls!); Brazilian Isabeli Fontana, whom I believe was married and divorced to her child’s father in less than a year’s time; Miranda Kerr, who recently divorced Orlando Bloom; and let us not leave out Heidi Klum who divorced from musician Seal.  What I find very interesting about the Heidi Klum/Seal union is that the pair began dating while she was pregnant with another man’s child…very tacky, wretched behavior in my opinion.  Naomi Watts is also on this list, but I thought she was an actress? A Thierry Mugler fragrance ad does not make a model, but this is not the primary reason I mention her.  She too, is a single mother who has two children with her baby daddy Liev Schreiber, whom she lives with.  I see many dilemmas in this set up, but that is my own grievance.

So with all the single mothers on this list Jourdan Dunn was the only one featured as Single Mom.  Could it be that the representations of single motherhood across the color lines is lopsided?  My guess is a resounding YES!  Single motherhood does not necessarily constitute a female raising her child(ren) alone or that she is taking advantage of government entitlements.  Women the world over are not just encouraged to have children at a young age for fear she will grapple with infertility in her later years,  but that in this day in age women are more than capable to raise children without a man.  So let’s say, a young supermodel who makes buckets and buckets of money decides to have a child, how irresponsible is this considering she is financially secure? Allow me to also point out that Ms. Dunn only has one child and went straight back to modeling once her son was delivered.  What this does is illustrate a very mature attitude and strong work ethic, especially when considering her chronological age.  This young woman should be commended for her fortitude and resolve, not be stigmatized by a global system that works to insidiously target representations of Blackness in the public arena.

The perceived slight toward Jourdan Dunn really stands as a condemnation in disguise.Tsk! Tsk!  And the devil has the absolute audacity to be moralistic.   So when did it become a crime to be a single mother?  Oh…when a Black woman is raising a child on her own.  I thought that certain types of people were more superior than those of darker hues?  I thought those of the melanin deprived constituency had an unflappable moral constitution that prevented them for engaging in such lecherous and disparate behaviors? However, we should all regard the practitioners of racism white supremacy as universal moral arbiters?

Who is She to You, YAHOO?

May 19, 2014 — 1 Comment

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https://music.yahoo.com/photos/2014-billboard-music-awards-red-carpet-arrivals-1400453201-slideshow/

Shaking my head DAMN!!!  This devilish devil is at it again with a bag full of tricks and wit to say the least of it.  Judging from the above photograph the dastardly deeds of the devil aren’t clearly apparent.  But once you copy and paste the above link into your browser, you shall get wind of his variety of wickedness.  Occasionally, my inclination is not to always spell things out because I rather lead the horse to water, as opposed to place the cup directly up to his mouth.  Allow me to provide an analysis of the discrepant behavior.

The above photo is of the incredibly beautiful Kelly Rowland.  She is one of the only surviving members of the original Destiny’s Child girl group next to Beyonce.  She has gone on to have a, well singing career of her own where she has recorded a number of albums comparable to the amount that her former band mate has had.

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Well, the current debacle that prompts me to compose this post includes the other brown-skinned woman featured in the above photo with Ms. Kelly Rowland.  Her name is Estelle, and she is an R & B chanteuse from across the pond.  She too, has had a pretty fruitful career in her chosen profession.  My question is: can you pick out which one of these lovely ladies is Kelly Rowland and which one is Estelle?  A hint is: neither of them is Cyndy Lauper, who is off to the far right.  If you answered that Kelly is the lady showcased smack-dab in the center congratulations you have passed your annual eye exam.  The unfortunate thing is that the so-called “professionals” at Yahoo Music can’t seem to differentiate between the Blacks they report news on.  Looks like whomever captioned Kelly Rowland as Estelle needs to immediately re-consider a career change PRONTO!

I must say that I believe the person who made this “oversight” (I prefer to refer to it as an undersight if we’re going to be completely honest) is of the Caucasian persuasion.  It’s simple to draw this conclusion because Black people don’t look alike to other Black people.  Additionally, Black people understand the implications, even if not aware of the historical context of the idea of use all looking alike.  People can resemble each other, even remind us of people we know…I’ve even heard that all Black people have a twin in Africa.  But the fact that this event took place in America, we can abruptly dispel that hypothesis.  The practice of mis-identifying Black people as someone else is practice that I find is often reserved for Black females.

These are not mishaps or incidentals in the system of racism white supremacy…NO!  This is a tactic of war.  A contrivance to render the “other” as invisible; or diminish the value, virtue or humanity of a so-called minority within the system of racism white supremacy is certainly worth examining.  It is also worth affirming that this strategy is rooted in the fact that Western society often devalues the contributions and  presence of Black females as less desirable and the lowest of the rung.

White supremacist preoccupation with homogenizing the Black image is nothing new.  Just take a look at what appears on television and in the movies.  While depth and variance are prized within the context of whiteness, Black people who attempt to deviate from the norm or challenge the status quo are often criticized for being too abstract or having their works denounced as frivolous, improbable and unrealistic.  But isn’t the depiction of fantasy and imagination the primary ingredients of the media implementation, other than, for let’s say the news?  Fiction is fiction, and if one considers all the editing techniques and camera angles utilized in film and TV manipulation, we must conclude that even depictions of whiteness are works of fantasy and fiction so forth.

But back to the homogenization of Blackness.  This idea that “all Blacks look alike” was cemented into American society’s consciousness when research conducted in 1914 referred to this practice as the cross-race effect.  The theory goes “that humans tend to perceive people of other races than themselves to all look alike. All else being equal, individuals of a given race are distinguishable from each other in proportion to their familiarity or contact with the race as a whole.”  To understand this theory more acutely one must ponder 1) whom are the researchers referring to as “human”, and 2) what was the ethnicity of the test subjects?   These questions are important to consider when historically most non-white people in the U.S. and abroad within the system of white supremacist are doused the ideals, behaviors and thought processes of whiteness.  Thereby, white supremacist thinking is imposed upon all persons of color whether we are consciously aware of this phenomenon or not. This is what becomes adopted into the mainstream and later become better known as ways of being because we are products of our environment.  So when they indicate that some specific practice is consistent with “human” nature, we all fall right into line and become human, as opposed to hue-man, which about 90% of the world population is, in all regard.

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They say the devil is in the details and it’s the details that paint the picture, and as we well know a picture says a thousand words.  This tacky practice of misidentifying Black people as other Black people was well publicized at the latter of last year with the flagrant faux pas of identifying the luminous actress Alfre Woodard with the equally acclaimed actor Idris Elba.  Notice the distinction between actress and actor to signify that one is a female and the other is a male.  Yes, the wonderful people at the Giorgio Armani brand branded a Black woman as a Black man…despicable!  But this should not be a surprise because these are typical antics.  This is an entity who has a duplicitous agenda to create and provoke confusion in all areas of human relations.

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And recently at the vainglorious Met Gala, another hiccup occurred when the hip-hop legend Q-Tip (aka Kamaal the Abstract) was mis-identified as the U.K. rapper Tinie Tempah.  Via his Twitter, he quip’ “we all look alike”.  Although the undertones of his comment appeared on the surface innocuous, it was an appropriate condemnation of Vogue.com, whom later made the correction to accurately identify the man in the above photograph indeed as Q-Tip.  Once again, this should not be regarded as an inculpable act.  It is a conscious act of white supremacy that oftentimes expresses the Black presence is so insignificant that it is not worth exercising effort to be accurate about it, according to the rules of racism white supremacy.  I conclude the if Blackness didn’t matter, why would the dominant society work so feverishly to erase it?  It’s because Blackness is the primary muse for which this construct of whiteness can existence.  In order to put forth diligent efforts to erase an object of obsession, you must be eternally consumed with it is all that I’m saying.

By the way, this is a photograph of Tinie Tempah:

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So, if I were honest with myself I would conclude that the two men do indeed look alike; I mean, they both are wearing spectacles, are Black, male and rap.  Yup, I mean you would have to be blind to see otherwise.  But that is the condition of racism white supremacy.  It’s fundamental purpose is to synthesize everything and everyone that is not white into something uninspiring and monotonous.  Just another day on the job for the devil.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-race_effect

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/armani-instagram-fail-black-twitter-attacks_n_4302110.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/q-tip-blasts-voguecom-identifying-him-uk-rapper-tinie-tempah-we-all-look-alike-1580977

Where is Walda? And other discordances with “Dirty Sunset Disco” artwork

May 15, 2014 — 1 Comment

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Well, well, well! The devil not only finds work, but his work definitely becomes play.  The devil works hard!  And enjoys his work to a fault.  Overtime ain’t a thing to the devil.  Overtime gets clocked as recreation.  The devil is so diligent he can work in his sleep. GENIUS, no less!

So, in today’s latest post I ask the reader to find Walda.  A play on words of sorts.  She may even be Waldo’s black sheep illegitimate sister who may or may not be the result of a creepin’ daddy or momma.  But, the familial dynamics are not at the root of this post, let us not get sidetracked.  The goal of this puzzle is to locate, in the photograph above, the colored woman.  Sure, we can easily identify the, count’em: one, two, three, four Black males.  But can you locate the Black female in this photograph?  I’ll provide a hint: apply your focus to the edges of this photograph.  Once you do, you’ll discover the tanned vixen.

Can you see her?  Don’t blink too fast of hard because you might just miss her.  So now that we’ve finally made her discovery her (phew…as you wipe sweat from your brow), there is no need for rejoice. I mean, we got the one Black woman and the 4 Black males, what other issues can be highlighted.  I mean just look at the massive musculature of the Black males featured here; what qualms should be had, right?  PLENTY!  Let’s take another, closer look at this photo and analyze.

The fact that the pretty brown woman is practically out of the photograph is a mammoth sign of white supremacist practice, often excluding and making Black femininity invisible…diminishing it to the outer edges (no pun intended) of society.  If one pays close attention to most advertisements and commercials today, this is the prevailing trend.  What is seen however, if you happen to see Blackness represented in the media (print or screen), the presence of Blackness is often comprised of a Black male (or males), flanked and/or swamped in white.  It’s quite a disconcerting sight to see.  And my theory is evident right here with the above photograph.  Take a look!  Sure, the Black males are displayed prominently in the foreground, but how these 4 bodies are displayed tells the true story of representations [of Blackness in the media].

Umm-hmm!  This is a devilish scene for sure.  The photo itself is entitled, “Dirty Sunset Disco” and it lives up to it’s caption.  If you call your eyes’ attention to the left of the photography, you will find the first Black male on his knees with his gaze acutely fixed on a white man brandishing a machine gun (FYI: guns are often used to simulate the phallus, or rather the penis. Take into consideration that the gun is extra-large and black — kind of making a “mine is bigger than you” subliminal statement).  But, the subordinate posture that this Black male takes is not just one of surrender, but it appears that he is begging for the attention of this white man with this big, black gun.  Also take notice that the white guy with the gun is paying absolutely no attention to this Black male.  He actually looks disinterested.  It appears that this is nothing new to this white guy; and quite frankly he’s bored at this point.

Then once you pick your gaze up the page, you will immediately see another Black male however this time, he is gripped in the clutches of a white woman.  Coincidence?  Allow me to bring your attention back down just for a second.  Peep how the two Black males relate to one another.  The seated Black male has his foot between the legs of the “knelt and begging” Black male.  This knelt Black guy appears to be a plaything or pet of sort.  Not only does he crave the attention of the white guy with the Black gun, you can surmise that the Black male seated on the sparkly disco ball utilizes his “brother” as a playmate.  This poor, needy Black male is portrayed in such a very exploitative position.  This is displays another example of white supremacist practices that often delight in depicting Blackness not just as inferior, but in this display, literally down-and-out (total double entendre here: down for oppression and out as in queer).  Also notice, that the Black male seated on the disco ball has a silver gun, which is a commensurate substitute for the white phallus.  When you apply psychology to this, the image of this Black male with the silver gun strapped by the white woman makes the subconsciously commands that this Black male has officially become white by proxy, achieving the heights of masculinity, as prescribed by the status quo.  He’s got his white female and a white penis to defend and in turn, sex her with.

Now, we turn our gaze to the bottom center of this photo.  You see the third Black male seated on the ground with his gaze positioned to his left and his feet ajar with a white male’s foot in between.  To begin, let’s point out the obvious: the gaze of the Black male is once again directed toward whiteness; this time a white female.  Take notice, she too has not interest in his attention, evidenced by her gazing into a space above his head.  In fact, take notice of the dimensions of their heads; her’s is at a higher angle than his.  The white female’s gaze is angled upward; although he’s looking in her direction he still happens to be looking down.  Not only is this once again a blatant sign of invisibility on her part, it clearly illustrates dominance and inferiority.  This is another tactic of white supremacy at play particularly in the visual arts.  Just imagine what this image would connote if the Black male’s gaze was positioned upward and the white female’s stare was positioned downward; it would tell a completely different story, which may impute racial sequestering.  But let’s not forget to touch on the fact that the white male’s foot is lodged between this Black males feet.  What this can signify is attachment; the need to belong to something or someone–equivalent to the ball and chain of Medieval times.  But this could also be looked at as a sadistic relationship…slaver and enslaved…Stockholm syndrome; where the oppressed refuses to escape the grip of the oppressor.  Deep stuff, huh?

And now finally, the Black male to the far right of the photograph.  Just take a good look at how he is posed.  With his hands behind his head, in typical braggadocio stance.  Typical of Black masculinity, aye?  The true definition of Black cool.  And notice, how in all of his “Black cool” he still succumbs to so-called irresistible sensuality and wiles of the white female.  Here, the Black male flexes his physicality all for the endearment of this white female that he has fixated his ogling on.  But she could care less, flipping her hair, damn near bumping his shoulder with hers.  So much for regard!  In addition to the white female flipping her hair, she’s not just looking straight ahead (which the Black male’s body is nowhere in range), she seems to be posed herself, showcasing her own fabulosity.

From examining this photo, you will find that their is a trend of the Black presence being blatantly and outright disregarded…whiteness apparently reigns supreme.  One thing that should always be considered when looking at advertisements and commercials is that it is all orchestrated.  That means, that the people and bodies displayed are props, first and foremost.  Photographers, stylists, assistants and other personnel involved in the construction of a photo shoot determine the look, and therefore convey the message of the photograph.  As history has shown us, none of this stuff is incidental.  People get paid plenty dollars to disseminate a particular message, point of view.  It can become a bit impossible to imagine that there are insidious motives attached to mass media images, but there are.  What often needs to be consider is 1) who is behind the image, 2) what  is the message that this person wants to convey, and 3) how does this person, behind the image, interact with the subjects of the images they product.  None of this is unconscious or innocent, and if you think so apply the concepts that were used here to other ads and photos featuring non-white and white peoples.  Examine the numbers of non-whites compared to the number of whites.  Which should also be applied to this photography.  We’ve often heard that there is strength in numbers, an axiom that could no truer.

This is why colleges and universities have Media Studies programs and disciplines, and thousands of books have been written on media images and representations, whether it be print, television or film.  It’s all media manipulation used to shape popular opinion and provide us all with ideas of how to behave, interact with others and how to see ourselves.  But what happens when you don’t see yourself, or rather are invisible?  How should you feel?  How should you behave?  I know what it is supposed to incite, thoughts of inferiority, lack of coercion between Black males and females, idol worship, self-loathing, desperation and all the other detrimental things that cultivate destructive thoughts, habits, behaviors and practices that are contrary to nation sustenance and building.