Hello peoples. I just wanted to shout out one of the funniest and freshest comedies I've seen in a while. Its a web show called Awkward Black Girl, about a twenty-something, LA native trying to find her way with her self-conscious, witty, insecure self. It's kind of like "The Office" meets "Seinfeld" but in an urban way. I discovered it a couple of weeks ago and have watched all 7 episodes at least twice.
For one thing it broadens the canvas that we're always painted on. There are no cultural stereotypes or buffoonery that sometimes we ourselves find too much comfort in viewing. Sometimes it feels like we don't want to see depictions of ourselves in never-before seen, broader ways. Sadly, we like to stay in the box sometimes. But thanks to its creator and lead actor, Issa Rae, we get a chance to take a fresh look at people we all know or are ourselves (at least a little). Yes, there's still a little awkward black girl in me even though I'm a fully-formed black woman. Hey, this show makes me a bit proud to be that awkward black chick. Afterall, it gave me a mountain to climb, I never try to "fit in", I'm a more compassionate person for it and I rarely take myself too seriously.
As for the show, to start, the protagonist is a Black woman who sports a short cropped natural. That's damn near amazing since most sisters on TV have to wear a weave or have that "mixed hair" effect going on. How refreshing it is to see a cocoa brown woman with natural hair being romantically pursued. Then to take it a step further the lead character, "J", is forced to deal with the curiosity of natural black hair on the job with her crazy-ass white supervisor and with the sexual rejection from her ex beause of it, all in the first episode. I even think her name, Issa Rae, is genius. She's like the antidote to Lisa Raye. So if you're tired of the bad reality shows, "Single Ladies" or just "black women behaving badly tv", then take a watch. Just go to http://www.awkwardblackgirl.com/.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
What DSK's Case Should Teach Us About Rape
I woke up today to read the headlines that DSK will more than likely go free today and the charges against him will be dropped inspite of the serious case against him. He is a sick, violent, misogynist who happens to be a powerful man and will get away with a violent crime as he has in France for some time. I noticed how the NY press was quick to point out that her lies and inconsistencies tied the DA's hands. Basically, it's her fault. I just hate injustice, and especially when the powerful take advantage and abuse the less powerful without any reprisal. But hopefully her civil suit, which she has every right to bring, will offer some sense of vindication and not just compensation.
This past year NYers have seen some very unusual, but telling, cases come before our criminal court. Like the journalist who was raped by two on-duty cops who were called to escort her home because she was in a drunken stupor, and how they were found not-guilty by a jury. What I did notice was that even though she was inebriated, the DA didn't drop the case because she wasn't a "good" victim. They still moved forward and tried two police offices for a serious sex crime, unlike the DSK case. Many of us were shocked at the verdict, yet again not too shocked. They were afterall police officers and although she is a White, middle-class, educated accuser, which makes a difference in our justice system, she wasn't coherent at the time of the attack. Then 2 days ago, another officer is charged with threatening a woman on the street and taking her to an abandoned area and raping her. A witness saw it and thankfully called the police.
But what I want people to take away from all this madness is that rape can happen to anyone and by anyone. We should never, as women or as a society, believe that rape is perpetrated by the menacing, poor, dark stranger waiting to jump out of the bushes or break into our homes. Sometimes they're committed by unassuming, normal-seeming, tax-paying citizens. Your everyday working guy, business executive or head of state can all be rapists. There's no single profile, so we need to remember to listen to our instincts and take reasonable measures for own safety, because the distress call you make for help maybe to the one waiting for an opportunity to victimize you.
This past year NYers have seen some very unusual, but telling, cases come before our criminal court. Like the journalist who was raped by two on-duty cops who were called to escort her home because she was in a drunken stupor, and how they were found not-guilty by a jury. What I did notice was that even though she was inebriated, the DA didn't drop the case because she wasn't a "good" victim. They still moved forward and tried two police offices for a serious sex crime, unlike the DSK case. Many of us were shocked at the verdict, yet again not too shocked. They were afterall police officers and although she is a White, middle-class, educated accuser, which makes a difference in our justice system, she wasn't coherent at the time of the attack. Then 2 days ago, another officer is charged with threatening a woman on the street and taking her to an abandoned area and raping her. A witness saw it and thankfully called the police.
But what I want people to take away from all this madness is that rape can happen to anyone and by anyone. We should never, as women or as a society, believe that rape is perpetrated by the menacing, poor, dark stranger waiting to jump out of the bushes or break into our homes. Sometimes they're committed by unassuming, normal-seeming, tax-paying citizens. Your everyday working guy, business executive or head of state can all be rapists. There's no single profile, so we need to remember to listen to our instincts and take reasonable measures for own safety, because the distress call you make for help maybe to the one waiting for an opportunity to victimize you.
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