Little Black Girl

A D.C resident, Sean Robishaw says he cuts through the “yard” of Howard University so he can walk his dog. Students whom attend the university say they have no issue with pets but locals should have enough respect for their campus to not allow their pets to use the restroom all over it.

Robishaw also states he believes the university should be okay with him walking through the campus because the campus is in his community. He later states the university should be moved if they do not like it.

African Americans seeing this incident as another form of entitlement non people of color believe they have.

Howard University was founded in 1866 by missionaries as a training facility for black preachers. The institution was later decided to be a school and was named after Civil War hero General Oliver O. Howard, a white man serving for the freedman’s bureau.

Howard is open to students of any race, but it was founded for the purpose of giving advanced education for blacks. Its library is the leading research library on African American history. There are numerous academic divisions and a graduate school, which whites started to attend after WWll.

Many graduates go on to hold leadership positions and become prominent members of society. Among those graduates are Toni Morrison, Sean Combs, Thurgood Marshall, Phylicia Rashad, Taraji P. Henson, Douglas Wilder, Kelly Miller and the list goes on and on.

So no Sean Robishaw, we cannot just move the university somewhere else.

When walking into a black beauty supply store it is expected to see a Korean owner. Even if the store is in a predominantly African American neighborhood, it is not unusual to see a Korean owned beauty supply store.

The hair and beauty are becoming one of the most lucrative businesses. African American men and woman are spending the most money in the industry. The black hair care industry is valued at over 8 billion and that does not include wigs, electric tools or accessories. Most of the hair sold in beauty supply stores are shipped from Asian countries and India.

In 1965 the Korean wig merchants gathered together to convince the Korean government to outlaw the export of raw hair. A few months later the US government banned any hair from China being allowed into the states. This ban put the Koreans front and center.

Because of the booming weave and wig industry in the Asian countries, Korean’s come to America to open beauty supply stores and live the American dream.

Today there are over 10,000 Korean-owned beauty supply stores whom cater to the African American audience. The few African American owners of beauty supply stores state it is hard to get in the industry because the Koreans are controlling all aspects of the industry.

African American Churches are being burning all around America. These churches are historical churches and some of small family churches. They are being burn only because they are the worship places for people of color. Most of the burnings have no suspect or are listed as “accidents “.

The burning of African American churches goes back to the times of slavery. Churches were burned to stop slaves from gathering and to control what parts of the Bible they learned. Churches would be burned by the KKK decades later to scare African Americans into not going to church. One of the most famous burnings would be the burning of a church in Birmingham, Alabama. The bombing of that church killed 4 little African American girls whom were attending Sunday school. That attack sent civil rights activists into a frenzy and that was the purpose the church burning.

It was 30 years before the president, Bill Clinton, decided to take action against arsonist whom target religious places. Laws were passed to increase prison time for those convicted. After the task force was put into place, over 800 cases of burning and bombing of a religious organization were reported.

Today, a string of African American church’s were burned. Those churches were historical sites of the state of Louisiana. The burnings were reported to be hate crimes and the suspect is the son of a police officer. The African American community is outraged and is wondering what will be done to prevent more burnings of churches in the future.

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Earlier this year Lifetime released the series Surviving R.Kelly and the reactions of the viewers was explosive. There was such an outrage from parents, people in the entertainment industry and especially woman. The question everyone asked was, “how was he allowed to do this for so long?”. After the show aired a new wave of activism was awaken and opened up the conversation about pedophiles and the people that help them, whether they realize it or not.

Lifetime is now working on the follow-up for the series. During the two-hour special, there will be more discussion on the allegations against the singer, clips from the last series , a closer look at his interview with Gayle King and comments from organizations and psychologist. The show will also discuss what it means to be a survivor of sexual abuse.

After the original series was aired more women came forward with their stories. These women took their stories to Good Morning America and any other major news that would listen to them. Kelly has been evicted from his Chicago studio days after the release of the show.

It was not long before singers and entertainers began to speak on their experiences with Kelly. Entertainment manager, Matthew Knowles, whom was the manager for Destiny’s Child spoke with the press. Knowles stated Kelly wanted to work with the group without the supervision of him or his wife. “He sent a message to Beyoncé asking her to meet him after midnight in the studio”. Knowles sais after that he decided not to work with Kelly anymore.

In February, Kelly was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Most recently, Kelly went to court to receive the copy of a sex tape his former lawyer claims to have of Kelly and an underage female. Kelly is also facing child support cases and is said to be completely broke after paying legal fees.

Suviving R.Kelly – The Impact is premiering May 4

Recently the rich and famous, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have been exposed by the FBI for paying colleges in exchange for their child’s acceptance into the college. These colleges are some of the top institutions; they’re some of the most expensive and prestigious colleges. These children were allowed to play sports, some whom had never played the sport prior to their attendance at the college

People of color have been outraged since the scandal happened. These students got accepted into these school based off of what their parents could give the college. The average of person of color has to work twice as hard to go to a prestigious college. They have to earn scholarships and receive near perfect test scores, only for those near perfect test scores to be questioned. Those parents took away a deserving students chance of attending college.

Nobody is surprised by the actions of the parents. These kinds of things are commonly known. This scandal only brought everything to light. Last year 11 Atlanta educators were accused of boosting test scores of students in exchange for money. Those convicted were sent to prison under state racketeering laws. They were given 1-2 years in prison. This case sets precedence for the case of college scandal. 

After more reports of who is involved, the personal lives of the children were also exposed. One of the children has a vlog and stated she never even wanted to go to college. She just wanted to have fun and party.  Both of Huffman’s daughters dropped out of college and their makeup line was removed from Sephora due to the backlash they received.

There has been a new trend on social media sites that has the African American community uneasy. “Influencers”, mostly woman, are recreating themselves for more likes and retweets. The more likes and retweets they get, the more endorsements and attention they receive. Apart of their recreation on themselves is the trend of severe tanning.

These Caucasian, woman whom are not of African descent, are basically treating dark skin as a costume. Along with the darker skin, they will change the texture of their hair. Their hair will go from finer hair to kinky or curly hair. Some even go as far as to get box braids or dread their hair.

To some people, this may not be a big deal but for some woman of color it is a very big issue. It seems a lot of people what the attributions of a woman of color but do not want to deal with the day-to-day issues woman of color deal with.

A perfect example of blackfishing is Rachel Dolezal. Dolezal lived her life as a woman of color after she went off to college; she even attended an historically black college and that is what sparked her interest in the social justice for people of color. Dolezal went through her whole adult life allowing people to believe she was black, had children with black men and worked tirelessly for the NAACP.

Dolezal did great things for the people of color in her community but some believe because she lied about her back ground, none of those things mattered. Those same people think she is the perfect example of white privilege because she was able to decide what she wanted to be, even if that meant changing her ethnicity. A black person wouldn’t be able to lose their “blackness” and become white so why should a white person be able to do so?

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The social media influencers, along with celebrities, have began to profit from the black community, specially from woman of color. The Kardashian and Jenner family were the most influential people whom began the trend of having plastic surgery to have wide hips, small waist, flat stomach, big boobs and an even bigger butt.

The Kardashians and some social media influencers have made it okay for black culture to be exploited and celebrated. They do things they see other woman of color doing and create their own name for it and call themselves “innovative” or “creative”.  They are asked by designers to wear their clothes, even though those same designers reject woman with wide hips or bigger breast. They do all these things without acknowledgement of where they got the “innovative” ideas from.

Kim Kardashian was recently bashed on twitter for wearing vintage designer outfits and insinuating to have came up with the idea of how she put them together all on her own. In all actuality, she copied Naomi Campbell’s looks from decades ago and hoped nobody would notice. She was also criticized for wearing a hair extensions of the descent of a black woman, a very course bundle of hair. That hair type is  the same hair type that is seen as “nappy” or “unmanageable” by people in the entertainment industry.

Sarah Baartman was an African woman brought to the Americas to be displayed at the zoo and in the freak show circus. After she could no longer participate in the circus or zoo, she was bought and used as a sex slave until she died of a number of sexually transmitted diseases. Her body was then sent to scientist to be examined and stuffed for a museum. Baartman endured all those horrible things because she was a black woman with a large butt, small waist and big breast and yet, the Kardashian are praised for the bodies they have paid for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liiHF9gsCVM

Sandra Noel speaks on her experiences of being discriminated while in the work place

By: Jordan Curtis

Sandra Noel is a Jamaican immigrant whom moved, with her husband, to Fayetteville NC to work for a healthcare company. Due to the poverty levels in Jamaica, Noel did not have a good experience with the hospitals and clinics while living there; that was one of the reasons she became a nurse.   

Transcript:

            JC: Have you ever been discriminated against by a patient?

            SN: Yes.

            JC: And what happened?

            SN: Umm, a patient asked about the white nurse that worked the day before.

            JC: Oh wow, and what did you say?

            SN: She’s not here today, I’m working. I’m here to take care of you and I will do the best   I can

            JC: Are you aware of the high date rate in black woman compared to white women as far as cervical cancer and basic concerns they may come to the hospital for?

            SN: I know its growing. The death rate for black women have increased for pregnant women during their first trimester.

JC: Do you think it is related to race? Do you think that’s one of the components?

SN: That is one of the components I think, but it’s also income based, insurance -the lack of, poverty, and lack of knowledge.

            JC: Have you been aware of the many stories of black woman coming into the hospitals for care and their concerns being ignored?

SN: Of course, because like I said, they have no insurance, maybe who is assigned to take care of them and maybe how they look or present themselves.

JC: So, what are some of the differences between the medical system in Jamaica versus here?

SN: oh, the health system in Jamaica is whew, poverty, poverty is a big thing because they lack a lot of the necessary, umm, for example, an IV pump. They use the wire hangers to stick through the little opening of the bag. It’s just real poverty. The people who can afford it go to Miami. Those who don’t, don’t. My sister in-law, three years ago, found. A lump in her breast and by the time it was found it was too far gone. They did a lumpectomy, but the cost was so ridiculous, and she died. They sent her home with no pain meds or anything else.

JC: Has the racism or discrimination ever made you want to quit your job?

SN: Nope, you want to make your dollar and I want to make mine too. I know it’s there but no it doesn’t affect me that way.

JC: What advice would you give a person of color coming into the medical field.

SN: Just keep your eyes and your ears open. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s. Trust no one. Cover yourself and do your best.

The Current condition of the American health system is not inclusive. Hospitals are generally seen as a safe place, a place people go to get better, people automatically feel they can trust doctors and nurses and it’s a place people are not supposed to be turned away from. But, sometimes, for people of color, the hospital is the opposite of all of those things. People of color are sometimes discriminated against, not given the same quality of healthcare based of the assumption of who they are or what they maybe be able to offer. People of color also have the highest number in poverty rates. Because of this, those people usually have little to no healthcare, maybe no car, the lack of knowledge regarding health and the list goes on.

Lately, the media has been covering every aspect of the life of singer, songwriter and mentor, R.Kelly. The public’s interest in him sparked after Lifetime released the docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly. During each episode, different women tell of their traumatic experiences with the singer. All of the women have the same story about him; they met him as children and were told they were special and would be made into celebrities. Instead, they were raped, beaten, impregnated and more. The worst thing about the whole situation is that people knew of these things and turned their heads and there were people admitting to helping him with his obsession with underage girls.

Of course, when the woman had gotten enough courage to go to the police, the police did not believe them, they were paid off or the women were intimidated by someone sent by Kelly.

Black women being violated by men and being ignored is a pattern and sadly to say, it’s somewhat expected because it happens so much. This “pattern “ can be traced back to slavery when slave masters would rape their women slaves. They would be physically abused and expected to preform sexual acts for whom ever decided they wanted them. They were seen as property, no say over what happens to their bodies.It was even decided by a Mississippi judge that a slave woman could not refuse her master.

In today’s social climate, woman, especially woman of color, are wanting to break the cycle of being afraid to speak their truths when it comes to sexual abuse. The MeToo movement has helped woman whom didn’t have a voice be able to yell it to the mountain tops without fear. Men like R.Kelly are finally being prosecuted and are shown they are not above the law, regardless of their financial or social status.