When an all-white sorority wins first place in an otherwise all black step show, all hell breaks loose. Black people, young and old, are up in arms! Many feel that the black community has lost something—“given it away” or “sold it” to mainstream America. While others see the infiltration as a wake up call and [...]
Funny Commercial. Now Let’s Reset Our Single Parent Assumptions…Among Others
February 9, 2010 By 1 Comment
I have such a love-hate relationship with television. This commercial is funny. It made me laugh. The commercial as a light-hearted ad was effective and cute. But what about it as a social statement? Really, every television commercial is a statement about mainstream norms, habits and mind-sets. This is especially true for Super-bowl commercials. These [...]
Marriage Was So ‘In’ at Golden Globes
January 18, 2010 By 2 Comments
Is Marriage “in” or what?!? I did a rare thing for me. I watched the entire Golden Globes ceremony last night and there was something very striking about this particular show– marital love was definitely in the air. I say this because a huge number of awardees not just thanked but gushed about their spouses. [...]
Fort Hood: When You Look Like The Enemy
November 9, 2009 By 3 Comments
Let’s be clear at the outset, there is no excuse or explanation that can justify what Nidal Malik Hasan did last week. It is a tragedy beyond comprehension. But consider this. What does any soldier have to do in order to psyche himself up to kill another person he does not know? He has to [...]
Black Girls, Barbie and Body Image
October 21, 2009 By 1 Comment
When I was a young mother and my daughter a toddler, I remember viewing a PBS special about negative self image in Black children. In the highlighted study, researchers gave girls the choice of a White and a Black doll, and asked them different questions about the dolls attributes. The special showed film footage of [...]
Good Hair: Is Chris Rock Telling Our Business?
October 2, 2009 By 4 Comments
Good Hair, the new Chris Rock Michael-Moore-styled expose about the Black Hair industry will be in movie theaters soon. I have mixed feelings. Do we want the secrets of our historic hair drama to be exposed? Do we want to air the dirty laundry of our habitual, almost institutional rejection of our natural selves, our [...]
Kanye, What Would Your Mother Think? (Video)
September 15, 2009 By 2 Comments
When one of our famous young Black American celebrities messes up big time, I know I show my age when I react because my first thought is (and usually my first words are), “what would his mother think of that?” We Black mothers tend to take on the responsibility of our entire race of children [...]
Obama to Students: A Mother’s Hopeful Dream
September 7, 2009 By 5 Comments
I had a dream in the wee hours of this Labor Day morning that President Obama gave a speech for all of the students of America. Only, none of the predominantly White Schools tuned in. However, in every single school where there is a predominance of children of color, teachers stopped and administrators stopped and [...]
Looking Forward to Disney’s Tiana: Nervous…Hopeful
June 5, 2009 By 6 Comments
I am so excited about the arrival of Princess Tiana, the first Black Disney princess. Amid all of the hoopla and the controversy, Disney will roll out The Princess and the Frog at Christmas. We Black parents are feeling a crazy mish-mash of nervousness and excited anticipation about this. We must not feel self-conscious if [...]
They Won’t Learn This In School: It’s Our Job To Teach Them
April 2, 2009 By 1 Comment
This list may be internet urban legend with regard to the source.Whether it is actually from Bill Gates or not, it contains truths that folks, Black parents in particular, need to recommit to. FOR THEIR SAKES AND THEIR GENERATION’S, INTRODUCE YOUR CHILDREN TO THE RULES ON THIS LIST. DON’T TELL THEM ONCE, OR TWICE, BUT [...]
