EUR This N That | Urban Black News Blog

Was Alice in Wonderland?

It appears that a lot of us have taken the “red pill” when we read the recent testimony of Alice Walker’s daughter, Rebecca Walker.  She has delivered a stirring account of her life as the daughter of the world renowned feminist in her memoir “Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After A Lifetime Of Ambivalence”.  Her interview appears in a british paper, The Mail, and it unfolds as a virtual “Mommy Dearest.” 

One excerpt reads:  “My mother’s feminist principles coloured every aspect of my life. As a little girl, I wasn’t even allowed to play with dolls or stuffed toys in case they brought out a maternal instinct. It was drummed into me that being a mother, raising children and running a home were a form of slavery. Having a career, travelling the world and being independent were what really mattered according to her.”

 Oh say it ain’t so, Alice!!  Everyone was really moved by the reunion of Celie with her children after a lifetime away from each other.  Or wait! Was that a play on the fact that Rebecca spent her childhood alone?  Because a few other excerpts read: 

“You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale.”

“She never came to a single school event, she didn’t buy me any clothes, she didn’t even help me buy my first bra  -  a friend was paid to go shopping with me. If I needed help with homework I asked my boyfriend’s mother.”

 There has to be some kleenex around here somewhere, but I’m sure we don’t have enough for all the women out there that are feeling “violated” by what Rebecca details as a betrayal of sorts.  But on the other hand, if she’s always “argued that motherhood is a form of servitude” as the lead to the article states, no one should be too surprised. 

Rebecca mentions that she now is a mother and her mother has not seen her nor her nearly four-year old son since she told her that she was pregnant.  So, we can only assume that, ultimately, Alice practices what she preaches.  Now someone get Oprah on the phone because we’re certainly curious as to how she will weigh in on this revelation.  Or is it a revelation only to us? 

This photo accompanies the article and appears to be a portrait of Rebecca Walker.  You can read the full interview here. 

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Put THIS in your morning coffee!

There’s probably plenty of mothers that can speak for hours on the importance of bonding with your child through breastfeeding.  There are definitely numerous health reports that support breastfeeding children for at least a year…and to be generous, maybe three years, for the purpose of optimal health. But NOTHING on the books has suggested allowing little Hannah or Billy to choose when they should stop….is there??  By three or four (and clearly this is going overboard), they should’ve had enough right?  They’ll say, “Hey, enough is enough Mommy!  Quit pointing that thing at me!”  Nope!! Not even close!  We have proof here that maybe allowing a child to make up his/her mind at too young of age may not be such a good idea.  BUT! Then again, it depends on which side of this argument you fall on.  See and decide for yourself:

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Can You Hear US Now?

The cell phone mammoths are trying to finally help their customers with some of the expenses.  They’re trying to cut a deal with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to lower their fees, specifically termination fees.  The deal gives consumers the opportunity to cancel service without any penalty for up to 30 days after they sign a cell phone contract or until 10 days after they receive their first bill.  Also,  the proposal would cap the termination fees by reducing them monthly over the length of the contract based on how long customers have left, as reported by the Associated Press from “people familiar with the offer speaking on condition of anonymity because the FCC has not accepted it.”

 What a nice gesture right?  Out of the kindness of the cell phone company’s heart they are extending the olive branch to their customers to make up for shoddy service.   Sounds too good to be true…IT IS!  Of course they have to get something out of the deal. 

The reason they’ll be able to extend such a ”bargain” to their customers is that in return for the drop in fees, they’ll get let off the hook of having to pay billions of dollars in class action lawsuits that have mounted. One of the lawyers that represent the people, Pamela Gilbert, an attorney with Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, a Washington D.C.-based law firm, said if the FCC gives the greenlight on the proposal, it would save cell phone companies hundreds of millions of dollars.

“The people left holding the bag are the millions of people who paid illegal ETFs (termination fees) and now will never get their money back,” she said.

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Where Did the ‘Black Show’ Go?

Ok…let’s seee, ummmm, what year is this, ok, 2008.  The “black” shows on television arrre…Ok, well we have Chris Rock’s ’Everybody Hates Chris’ that takes a trip back into the 1980s Chris Rock style.  Then we have ‘The Game’ which is a spinoff of the now defunct ‘Girlfriends’, about athletes and their lives off court. Ok, hold on, hold on, there’s got to be another one, ummmmm, [scratchin head] ohhh yeah, how can I forget, the MyNetworktv channel just launched ‘Under One Roof’.  Now if you’re a real ‘Under One Roof’ fan from the mid-90s that starred James Earl Jones, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Joe Morton and the now deceased Merlin Santana, you’d know why Martin Luther King, Jr. would be flipping in his grave by the mere use of the same title for yet another Flavor Flav train wreck.  Can you think of anymore black shows on basic television?  No?  And oops!  Flav’s show is a cable show, so you have to have cable to see it.  Which in these days and times isn’t much of a consolation because just about every household has cable.  So unfortunately, someone’s bound to see it. 

Can’t you remember shows like The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford and Son, Diff’rent Strokes, That’s My Mama, What’s Happening!  Not to mention, the black show behemoths, The Cosby Show and A Different World.  We always had something to watch that we could enjoy and feel good about.  We could even dance with our favorite regular on Soul Train later.  And the best part of it all, you didn’t have to pay anything but the electric bill to see as much of these shows as you wanted.

So where did all of the black shows go?  Did they get too deep?  Did they say something to the black family that the networks didn’t like?  Who called in and shut down production?  Can you recall at least one wardrobe malfunction?  Why didn’t the 70s, 80s and 90s black tv shows catapult us into mass opportunities in the new millenium?  Instead, we’re left with a wasteland of programming terrain that is as nostalgic as Route 66 or Harlem’s Savoy or Apollo in its heyday.  We’re peering through the window of possiblity, but no cigar.  There’s obviously no lack of talent.  In what era did we ever have a pure amateur walk off one stage (a singing competition, no less) and lose, then walk on another stage and right smack into an Oscar?  Ain’t but a handful of Oscars on our mantels in the first place.  And we all know how long it took to get those.  

In a story in the Los Angeles Times, the NAACP’s Hollywood chapter president  Vic Bulluck expressed his concern about the lack of representation from black talent.

“We’re very concerned about and disappointed at the lack of representation,” said Bulluck. “It’s something that we’ve been discussing with all the networks for a while, ever since the ‘Bernie Mac’ show left Fox. With ‘Girlfriends’ now leaving, the situation becomes a lot more urgent. The situation as it stands now is unacceptable.”

 Unacceptable is a very good “start” to explain the unfortunate state of affairs when black Hollywood’s only jobs available are ”Under One Roof”?

-J.C. Brooks

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‘RAPE DAT HO’ VIDEO #0 ON CHARTS

Thankfully we don’t have to turn on 106 & Park and vote for the “Rape Dat Ho” video out of Memphis, Tennessee.  In fact, it is an amateur production allegedly put together by Mitchell high school students reports Allhiphop.com.  A local CBS affiliate News Channel 3 (WREG-TV) launched an investigation into the video to hopefully uncover the identities of those participating in the video.

YouTube ran the video, but later explained it as offensive and removed it from the site.  The video was entitled ”Mitchell High School Memphis… Rape Dat Ho.”  According to Allhiphop.com,  the video seemed to be shot on school grounds, and includes at least seven students simulating sexual acts.  One parent described the video as “sex with clothes on.”  Also, while the students dance, others are seen and heard in the background chanting “Rape Dat Ho.”

In addition to this video, another tape surfaced where similar behavior is being taped and school administrators walk by as though nothing is going on.  The principal has apologized for the incident and the Memphis county school spokesperson has vowed immediate discipline if indeed the students belong to any of the schools in their system.

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Christian Group Is Hot About Starbucks Logo

A Christian Group out of San Diego has just wedged itself between a Latte and a customer at Starbucks.  The group claims that the new logo on their cups are too provocative and they are ready to boycott.

The logo had been used when they opened the company 37 years ago, but that rendition was a lot more “racy” with fully exposed breasts on a mermaid or a “siren.”  The newer mermaid’s breast are covered.  

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