PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people
mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.
-----Email Message-----
I was at a Borders in Ohio this afternoon when I decided to read the newest PostSecret book. I discovered that a secret written on note paper had been tucked into the book. The secret said:
I just read this with the woman I love. I hope she doesn't get away.
I left the secret in the book, on the shelf on the off chance that she comes back and happens to find it. I hope she does.
-----Email Message----
No More Resolutions. Just change.
New Book Available Now From Bookstores & Online.
By Special Correspondent Jessica Yee
As I rush off and dash to jet-set again for yet another destination and another area of Turtle Island – I’m reminded this time around that the place I’m going to requires me to stop, pause, and really think about what it is I’m about to do.
This year I’ve decided to join my Dakota/Lakota/Sicangu/Crow family on a journey they call the “Big Foot” or what it is now known as the “Future Generations Youth” ride. The story goes that 25 years ago, this ride started with the Lakota Youth of Pine Ridge (Red Cloud Agency) to retrace the steps of their ancestors from Standing Rock to Wounded Knee. This 7+ day non-stop horseback ride commemorates the December 1890 events with Chief Big Foot’s band, where more than 250 men, women and children were shot by the U.S. 7th Cavalry in the Wounded Knee massacre, including Sitting Bull.
I’m riding because to be honest – my frustrations with differing opinions on what actualizing Aboriginal youth leadership really means have been maxed out on many different fronts and far too many occasions as of late where people saying they support youth is one thing, but actually DOING something where youth ARE actually in power and being leaders and taking up our rightful space is quite another (and in most instances not happening at all despite the nice and fine talk about it at conference after conference – or if it is happening it was short-lived since apparently people didn’t seem to be “used to” youth having “that much power”. It’s really just bullshit).
Knowing that so many of the youth on this ride live through countless hardships, chose not to celebrate Christmas, and decided themselves to give back their time, energy, and spirit to their community in this most honorable way by riding on the trails of the ancestors during the so-called “holiday” season fills my heart and soul with incredible hope for what are next generations are capable of doing. I’m so completely excited to learn from all these youth I will meet.
I’m also riding because I need to do my best to go somewhere where I’ll be forced to feel ultimately guilty for checking the Blackberry and doing work on the computer (or at least go to a place where I’ll have limited access so tough shit for me).
Most importantly of all these though – I’m riding to support some of my family living in South Dakota. They have continuously welcomed me with open arms into their home and life, and I have received so many teachings from watching their devotion to building up our communities again from some very tough places, and adopting children and increasing their family unit daily, on top of it. These people are Richard Milda, Tawa Witko, all their wonderful and beautiful children, and I especially mean Maria Milda. Maria’s strength and tenacity to persevere through all kinds of difficult situations these past few years and come out of it stronger and wiser is a huge inspiration for me. It basically shows that she has done somewhat of a “Big Foot” ride herself in her 15 years of life so far – and I want to ride to honor THAT.
We’re breaking down borders and we’re coming together for our future generations. I might not be from South Dakota myself, but the border is up here (I’m pointing to my head) and what we need to remember is the innate strength of our unity as peoples across Turtle Island being down here (I’m pointing to my heart) and what we are prepared to DO about it. I’m hoping to find out more of what that’s all about during this ride.
So I’d like to say I’ll blog or write and keep you all updated on what’s happening out there – but I’m not sure if I’m going to do that – both because of access and because I’m not sure how my body and spirit are going to fare with this to decide if that’s the right thing to do.
Be sure to check out the Facebook Fan page Big Foot Memorial Riders/Si Tanka Riders for all the latest updates they will be posting.
Be well. And take care of each other.
by Latoya Peterson
I’ve received some tips that serve to update some of the stories we have discussed on site.
In the matter of South Philadelphia High, Angry Asian Man has reported that the students have ended the boycott after a conversation with officials:
Tuesday’s meeting lasted more than two hours. Here’s the public statement put forth by the students of South Philly High School boycott:
Through our trials and struggles, we pushed the school to hear us. We have made change by standing together. We are proud of what we have done. If something happens again after all this, we know that we have strong wills and we will stand together again.
We have came back to stand with more students. We want to start a dialogue with other student organizations. We will continue to work with the community organizations. The struggle will go on until all the demands are met; we won’t give up. We ask everyone to continue to pay attention to what’s going on at SPHS. We hope that school can change their attitude for the benefits of all students. We thank our supporters. Without the support of everyone we could not go this far. We are excited for the future. We now believe in hope and change, like president Obama.
We want a safe school for everyone; we want everyone to have a good education. This is not the end, but just the beginning of the fight for better futures and better educations for all races of students.
~ Students of the South Philly High boycott ~
So it’s back to school. While the district has made a lot of assurances that it’s be taking steps to put a stop to the violence, I imagine this isn’t much comfort to the students who were on the receiving end of the attacks on December 3, or the students who have endured antagonism and apathy for years — often from the teachers and administrators. More here: Asian students ’suspend’ boycott of South Philadelphia High.
However, in the comments to our original post, Asian Metal Chick dropped a link showing this isn’t just a problem at SPHS – it’s the whole district:
“If Chinese students don’t go to school, it’s a big problem—they don’t learn,” says Xu Lin, a Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation staffer who mentors Asian teens. “But it’s a bigger problem if they go to school and get beat up.”
Lin, 24, understands the situation. He and three immigrant friends were jumped by 15 kids outside Furness High School in 2001. Two of his friends were hospitalized as a result. It was Lin’s first day of school in America.
Similar stories vibrate throughout the city. [...]
A few weeks later, Jeremayah Daniel, then a 14-year old freshman at Fels, was jumped by three students who bashed him on the back of his head. They continued punching him in the face, breaking his nose and causing a concussion.
“I don’t even know them or why they did it,” says Daniel, whose Christian family fled religious intolerance in Pakistan. [...]
One Chinese immigrant student began experiencing prejudice in 2002 when he entered the third grade at Society Hill’s McCall Elementary School.
“Kids get in your face and say racial stuff, throw stuff at you, push you in the halls,” says the 15-year-old student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Sometimes I can’t take it and I fight back. Then I get in trouble.”
He’s been suspended numerous times for fighting.
“Every year, I’m at the limit,” he says. “Like, one more fight and I’ll get kicked out.”
Despite the McCall student population being around 55 percent Asian, the abuses were steady—from white students as well as black, says the student who will begin high school next week.
“Some of my friends quit school and get jobs,” he says. “Sometimes younger than me.”
Another Asian McCall alum adds, “I have friends who see no future in school so they fight back, and keep changing schools.”
These kids are falling through the cracks, and the eye of the media will be off them soon. Philly readers, please keep us updated.
Reader Carrie sent in this update to Nadra’s piece on Amanda Knox, noting “no doubt if this had been Ms. Knox the media would be all over it, but as it is the poor man barely gets a blip on the CNN radar.” Rudy Guede, the third person indited on murder charges, had his sentence reduced on appeal:
One of the men convicted of killing British exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, in 2007 has had his sentence reduced on appeal, a lawyer in the case said Tuesday.
Rudy Guede was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the appeal court cut the term to 16 years, said Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family.
The reduction was based on technical calculations prescribed by the Italian penal code, he said.
Kercher’s American roommate, Amanda Knox, and Knox’s sometime-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, also were convicted of the killing, in a separate trial that concluded earlier this month.
Guede, a native of the Ivory Coast, was convicted of murder and attempted sexual assault in October 2008.
Prosecutors contend that all three killed Kercher, 21, while Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers say Guede acted alone.
Knox — Kercher’s roommate at the time of the killing — was sentenced to 26 years, while Sollecito got 25. Both will appeal, attorneys said.
-
"When I was growing up, in Ann Arbor, Mich., there was a little debate: Should school officials try to prevent black students from using the N-word? I don't believe the issue was ever settled. And this brings up the question of whether "teabagger" could be kind of a conservative N-word: to be used in the family, but radioactive outside the family. "
-
"Mr. Petry, 38, and Mr. Greenblatt, 52, may spend their days poring over spreadsheets and overseeing trades, but their obsession — one shared with many other hedge funders — is creating charter schools, the tax-funded, independently run schools that they see as an entrepreneurial answer to the nation’s education woes. Charters have attracted benefactors from many fields. But it is impossible to ignore that in New York, hedge funds are at the movement’s epicenter."
-
"The report finds that the U.S. continues to move backward toward increasing minority segregation in highly unequal schools; the job situation remains especially bleak for American blacks, and Latinos have a college completion rate that is shockingly low. At the same time, very little is being done to address large scale challenges such as continuing discrimination in the housing and home finance markets, among other differences across racial lines."
-
"The Athletics Union (AU) of the London School of Economics (LSE) has condemned an incident in which some members of the society dressed up as Guantanamo Bay inmates and drunkenly yelled ‘Oh Allah’ outside the college bar.
The Athletics Union (AU) of the London School of Economics (LSE) has condemned an incident in which some members of the society dressed up as Guantanamo Bay inmates and drunkenly yelled ‘Oh Allah’ outside the college bar. At least a dozen students attending the December 4th ‘Carol’, the annual fancy-dress Christmas party for all sports teams, chose to wear costumes deemed “racist, religiously insensitive and demeaning”. " -
Five people, including three police officers, have been indicted on charges related to the beating death of a Latino man in rural Pennsylvania in July 2008, the Justice Department said Tuesday.</p>
Two indictments charge the five with federal hate crimes, obstruction of justice and conspiracy in what authorities are calling a racially motivated attack.
-
Jones' mother restores her faith with the tale of a chimney that appears after the child falls asleep, and along the way, Mom takes her place as the song's true hero. Jones soon turns her rueful declaration into a sort of celebration: "There ain't no chimneys — ho, ho, ho, ho, no, no, no — in the projects!" Because, ultimately, Santa Claus and chimneys are irrelevant when compared to another Christmas benefactor. "Mama," Jones sings, "you are the one."
-
Here's Lindsey Graham, again, equating poor people with black people, or some such. A charitable interpretation says that Graham, in his discussion of Medicaid, is citing his state's black population because we tend to be disproportionately poor. But this would be like discussing Medicare by citing your state's sweater-knitting population because they tend to be disproportionately old.
-
When scenes are muted, body language and facial expressions are enough to convey more negative attitudes towards black characters compared to white ones. This bias is so subtle that we're largely unable to consciously identify it, yet so powerful that it can sway our own predispositions. In some ways, racial bias acts as a contagion and television as one of its vectors.
-
Anywhooo, the militant in me fought with my taste. The militant wanted black faces on covers of all future King-Bey titles. Militant argued that Dee doesn’t write for whites and isn’t trying to gain their acceptance anyway, so make them look at our black faces. Taste was like, hold up. Dee writes the story that is in her, not to a targeted audience and she doesn’t like populated covers.
-
So, what do you think: Is this Gap ad featuring Black people dancing and singing about the “hood” using stereotypes to appeal to black people? Or white people? In the latter case, would you consider this a form of objectification?
-
But the SoHo bouncers and the Chelsea graphic artist don’t have much to worry about, at least from the police: they are white. Even though surveys show they are part of the demographic group that makes the heaviest use of pot, white people in New York are the least likely to be arrested for it.
Last year, black New Yorkers were seven times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession and no more serious crime. Latinos were four times more likely.
By Guest Contributor Jenn, originally posted at Reappropriate
(Hat-tip: Gawker)
So, let’s say you’ve got to buy Christmas presents for a friend of yours, but you just don’t know what to get her. A gift certificate from the local steakhouse? The latest 50 Cent CD? A gag gift from Toys ‘R Us? A new crockpot?
But what a minute! Your friend is Latina! Surely, that’s a hook to get her the perfect Christmas present! But, gosh, you just don’t know anything about Latina heritage. Well, New York Times has the perfect gift suggestions for you: how about a children’s book on Sonia Sotomayor? How about Iman’s book of beauty tips for women of colour? And, of course, there’s always a “Wise Latina” t-shirt! (Because apparently the hot thing for Latinas this year are Sotomayor-related products.)
And what if you’re buying me a present? Well, clearly, because I’m Asian American, I simply must have a copy of “Asian Faces“, a book that tells Asian women how we’re applying our eye makeup wrong, and how to do it right.
The New York Times isn’t exactly known for its racial sensitivity, but what moron green-lit this racist stereotype-perpetuating gift suggestion feature?
The assumption made here is that people of colour somehow need “race-related” presents, because our race is the be-all and end-all of our identities (and Christmas gift wishes). Not only that, but NYT readeres are encouraged to typecast their friends of colour to find “race appropriate” gifts — so, the friend is no longer just a friend, she’s “the Asian friend” or “the Latina friend” or “the Black friend”, and gifts should be bought reflecting your brand-spanking new racial categorization. Meanwhile, your White friends don’t need to be Otherized, since obviously they don’t have racial identities to contend with, so you can get them meaningful and non-offensive presents!
(Which makes me wonder what you do if you have mixed race friends? Do they just get multiple racist gifts? Or do you just pick the gift most in-keeping with the race you think they look the most like?)
And even if we, just for a second, accept the racist notion that we should be buying gifts based on our friends’ races and ethnicities, why would we buy these stereotype-inspired gifts? How racist is it to suggest that African-American women should receive haircare products specifically geared towards “problem hair” or Carribean cruises featuring a gospel choir (because Black women hate their hair but love some gospel music), while Indian women want nothing more than multi-coloured head-scarves (or coffee-table books celebrating multi-coloured head scarves)? Oh, and, what about the nail polish with benefits going to the people of Haiti — because both your friend and Haitians are people of colour, so somehow there’s a logical Christmas gift-giving connection?
And don’t even get me started on the “Baby Jamz” gift idea: because Black women love hip hop and have lots of babies, so clearly they need a gift that blends the two, right?
Then again, maybe the NYT is on to something. Perhaps this year, I will also give my friends race-inspired presents. In fact, right now, I’m on my way to go buy my Asian friends kimonos, bonsai trees, and pearl-inlaid chopsticks. My Latino friends? Clearly a set of antique maracas and a matching sombrero are the way to go. My Indian friend shall receive a henna kit, a book on yoga, and some bags of incense, and (since I’m an equal opportunity bigot) all of my White friends are getting gift boxes of cheese and coolers full of cheap beer, all the better to tailgate with. And electroman? Well, since he’s Black, he’s in for a special treat: the complete Tyler Perry DVD library collection, including full seasons of “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne”. Oh, and while I’m at it, all my gay friends will receive adult sex toys, and all my friends over the age of forty will receive tennis balls and denture adhesive.
Sound like a great Christmas? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.
by Special Correspondent Wendi Muse
This weekend, my mother called me on my cell phone, a bit frantic over Christmas gift shopping:
Mom: I have no idea what to get Lacey [one of my young cousins]. She has everything!
Me: Why don’t you get her a book, Mom?
Mom: Well I am here at the store, and all the books I keep finding only have pictures of little white girls. No brown children like Lacey!
Me: Well, you could always color them in.
Mom: Yeah, but the fact that I even have to…
Almost every holiday involves a conversation that goes something like that in my family. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Easter, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day . . . you name it. Decorations, cards, and even gift wrap tends to forget that non-white people exist. When greeting card companies, toy stores, and all parties involved in the corporate holiday conspiracy to make us max our credit cards and pull out all our hair do decide to include people of color, they all look the same. All the black children have medium-brown skin and dark curly ‘fros (or Afro-puffs), all “Asians” become East Asian and are a faint yellow with straight black bobs, Latina/o children all become some derivative of Dora the Explorer, and children of other ethnicities somehow cease to exist. I give them credit for getting much better over the years. When I was young, even the aforementioned groups were virtually ignored, save the occasional black child featured on those “We Are the World” stick figure style Christmas cards.
It got to the point that just in order to make sure that holiday cards were appropriate for my family members, my mother and I would break out my box of Crayola colored pencils and use various shades of brown, yellow, and beige to get the skin colors right. Every momentous occasion involved a DIY craft project in the Muse household.
But now, in an era in which multiculturalism is more lauded by the powers that be in the merrymaking process (possibly because they recognized that POC had buying power and were active holiday consumers just like whites), it’s sad that we, as members of minority groups or even white parents and families who want to create a more inclusive environment for their children (and their kids’ friends), have to face the reality that there may not be a card, wrapping paper, or even a toy that is physically representative of non-whites.
Or if there is, there can be a tiring amount of digging involved. Mattel recently launched a new set of Barbies and have had Asian-American, Latina, and Black Barbies available for quite some time as well as their collectors’ set of international Barbies. Though Mattel’s nod toward expansion and inclusion has prompted several complaints, many of which you can find on this very site. The greeting card companies, as I mentioned earlier, have also improved, but I am still waiting to see people of color on cards beyond the special “ethnic” card section (which, even then, is only limited to black people, much like those ridiculously labeled “ethnic” hair care aisles. Wait, where are the Irish-American hair care products when you need them?!??!!). The same could be said of Christmas ornaments (painting the tree-topper angel was often easier than finding a brown one).
It is my hope that these improvements continue, and as I mentioned earlier, I give companies credit for their recent attempts to be more inclusive, particularly considering that some countries still face this issue in more glaring ways that we (For example, in Brazil, dolls of color are harder to come by. Most of the dolls are white with blonde hair and blue eyes, despite the significant phenotypic diversity of the population), but little moments like my mother’s phone call remind me that finding presents or gift accessories on which a person of color is one of the main points of focus, the protagonist, the central figure can be surprisingly still hard to come by.
by Guest Contributor Superhussy, originally published at Superhussy Media
Disney’s new film “The Princess and the Frog” has sparked a lot of conversation primarily because Tiana, the princess is black. As adults we have plenty to say about the effects of the film, whether it’ll impact young black girls in a positive manner and if it portrays black folks/New Orleans/voodoo objectively.
That’s all well and good, but I think it’s vitally important to hear what someone from the film’s target audience has to say. TH, my fabulous assistant, went on a fieldtrip with several kindergarten and first-grade classes from her school to see the film. She was kind enough to take some time out from her hectic schedule to answer a few questions.
*Please note, TH is five, so her discussion of the film is probably not in sequential order and she probably only remembered the parts she liked. We’re working on those skills.
SH: So I hear you went to see a movie today. What was the name of it again?
TH: The Princess and the Frog! *giggles*
SH: Did you like it?
TH: Oh mommy, it was fabulous and funny and hilarious!
SH: Really? So tell me what happened.
TH: There was a girl and she had a mommy and daddy, just like me!
SH: What was the girl’s name?
TH: Tiana.
SH: What did she look like?
TH: Oh, she was pretty and her face was brown, like me.
SH: Wow!! So what happened?
TH: There was a firefly bug and an alligator. The alligator was big. The alligator played the horn and they were dancing. *pretends to play the horn*
SH: That sounds like a lot of fun! What else happened?
TH: The songs were good. I liked the songs because they were funny.
SH: That’s great! So were there other people in the movie, or just Tiana and her mommy and daddy?
TH: Mommy, you are silly. There were more people and animals too!
SH: Ok, and they were?
TH: They were in the city. The city was big. There was a boy with a hat and a man with a purple suit and a really big hat. I forgot his name. There was a nice lady. She lived in a treehouse in the woods. She was loud too and had a snake. Can I have a snake?
SH: No.
TH: Oh, the man with the big hat had on a scary necklace. And there was another boy with a white face and tiny eyes.
SH: That sounds like a lot going on. So what happened?
TH: We ate peanut butter and jelly and had apple juice. I spilled some on my jacket.
SH: I know. I cleaned your jacket. What happened in the movie?
TH: The man with the big hat made the prince into a frog. The prince had big shoulders like you mommy.
SH: Um, ok. (o_O)
TH: Then the frog was at the pond and said ribbit and Tiana was at the pond and the frog kissed her and made her face slimy and she became a frog too.
SH: Wow, that sounds crazy. What happened next?
TH: It was crazy mommy. then there was a lot of singing and music and they saw the old lady in the tree and there was a parade and then the boy frog kissed Tiana frog and she turned into a princess and he was a handsome boy again with a brown face. She was a beautiful princess mommy. She had on a princess dress and a princess hat and lipgloss. *does the princess praise dance*
SH: So would you say it was a good movie?
TH: Oh yes, I want to see it again.
So there you have it. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it’s on our holiday list of things to do. After talking to TH, I looked up the film summary and for a five year old, she remembered a lot. Again, it was probably what she wanted to remember. It was interesting to note how it seems like she paid more attention to the brown faces and singing/dancing animals than any of the white characters. That could be because the white characters were secondary in the film.
While the cultural critics and pundits are dissecting The Princess and the Frog for the masses, please remember this: no single film is going to raise or lower the self-esteem or self-worth of a collective group, however, it is important to make sure that films and other forms of media are discussed with our children in an age-appropriate manner. Yes, there are probably faults with the movie, as there usually are when it comes to any media, but we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.
When we are thoughtful and objective we can build and improve upon what has come before.
-
"The next stage of the fable isn’t exactly a surprise: living among the Na’vi, Jake falls in love with a warrior princess, Neytiri (Zoë Saldana), who looks like a painted amazon on a Milan runway. She teaches him the native ways, and protects him from the other Na’vi, who discover that he’s a spy. It’s the old story of Pocahontas and John Smith, mixed, perhaps, with the remnants of Westerns (like “Dances with Wolves”) in which a white man spends some time with the Comanche or the Sioux and then, won over, tries to defend the tribe against the advancing civilization that will annihilate it."
-
Asked to comment on the state of black America, Obama paraphrased author Charles Dickens when he said it continues to be the best of times and the worst of times. Still, he said he was optimistic about the future.</p>
"But it's going to take work. It was never going to be done just because we elected me," he said.
By Sexual Correspondent Andrea Plaid
My best friend Timolin tipped me to Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter, visiting the flagship store in Harlem. I had to meet the woman who’s designed a special natural body product line for—and the only product tie-in to–Disney’s Princess and the Frog.* Not McDonald’s (or any other fast-food chain, who are the usual companies hawking movie-related stuff to children), not Coca-Cola or any other junk-food company. No clothing tie-ins (like Old Navy or Gap) or other stores.
What I thought was going to be a two-minute interview turned into twenty minutes of talking about the movie—and Precious. And Color Purple. And Chris Rock. And magic band-aids.
Andrea Plaid: How did you get involved with Princess and the Frog?
Lisa Price: The opportunity presented itself for us to present our company to Disney as a potential partner with this film, with making products associated with the film. And it was one of those situations where it was great to have the meeting and it was great to be in the room. If something comes of it, great, but, wow, wasn’t it a great step to at least have the meeting.
My marketing team left the meeting with a deal in place. Not all the details worked out, but [they had] an agreement to move forward. It was amazing to have that opportunity and to be affiliated with something as the first African American princess. It’s wonderful.
AP: Yes.
LP: To have the opportunity to make products that Mom doesn’t have to worry about, that perform …
…there are so many levels as to why I’m excited to be a part of this project: the history of it, collaborating with a company like Disney, getting to make products for kids that are great that have a really nice fragrance. I have a three-year-old daughter: she tested everything, so she had a lot of fun.
AP: As it should be. My follow-up question is, you thought you were pitching to Disney but, from what I heard, Disney only wanted you to be a tie-in for the movie.
LP: I don’t know that they necessarily felt that [we] were the only brand to do it. I don’t know they felt that way. But I do know they were excited to meet with us, they knew our story, they feel it was some synergy between Tiana’s story and my story, and they felt it was a good fit. But I won’t go so far as to say they thought we were the only one. That would be nice, but I’m sure there were some other contenders. It’s something that, when I first heard it, [I was] so excited but [I had to say to myself] “I can’t get too excited because this is a real long-shot and I’ll be really disappointed. But I’m going to be positive, and we’ll see what happens.” And when positive turned into “yes”—
AP: What could you say?
Would you mind giving me a small synopsis of your story and why Disney felt it very close to Tiana’s….
LP: Tiana is—
AP: –without ruining the plot because we’re going to see it.
LP: I haven’t seen the whole movie. I’ve only seen snippets. She is not a typical Disney princess: she’s not waiting for Prince Charming; she’s not waiting for someone to fix her problems for her. She’s very pro-active, and she goes out and works hard to achieve her dream. So, she sets a goal then works towards the goal. Her father taught her how to cook. He’s a chef, and she wants to take his recipes and have a restaurant of her own.
My father wasn’t a chef. But I learned how to make products in the kitchen and learned how to cook from my grandmother and my mother. I took their traditions and their way of cooking and incorporated [them] into the body-care products. And family is very important to me. My parents divorced but I was raised by both of my parents and my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. And family is a very important plotline in Princess and the Frog. [As well as] believing in yourself, dreaming big, working hard, and pursuing your passion with hard work, and having faith that what you put into it you’ll get back.
Those were some of the similarities [Disney] saw and we saw as well.
AP: Now Disney {creating] the first African American princess—I’ve heard a criticism: the movie, even though it visually has a Black princess, didn’t deal with the idea of race. What are your feelings about that?
LP: I’m not sure how it deals with it. It probably doesn’t; no Disney film does, which doesn’t surprise me. Disney movies are more about the story, the message in the story, and how children relate to the story. I look at it as (and again, I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know for certain) if it’s not denigrating us, as some old[er] cartoons have in the past—
AP: Oh yes—
LP: –then I’m OK with it not necessarily addressing race because I can’t think of a Disney film that did. If you look at the Lion King…some comedian made a joke about it: “The first time we have Black voices [and] everyone’s a lion or hippo or something.” Kids focus on the story, and they focus on the message. I remember my son was about one and a half, and he watched Lion King incessantly. It was the soundtrack to his life. All he knows is Mufasa and Simba and Nala. He doesn’t see people; he just gets the story. I think that’s been Disney’s way all along.
But for the princesses to have never been African American before, the void for the child watching [is not] recognize[ing] herself in them. Now, they can. So, it says it without saying it.
A friend of mine found the Princess Tiana costume for her daughter for Halloween. She said the best part of the costume is that Princess Tiana’s hair is up in a ponytail, whereas princesses always have their hair down and flowy. And her daughter’s hair doesn’t do down-and-flowy. So, if she ever dressed up as another princess before, they always had to have The Hair Conversation: “I want my hair to look like Jasmine’s or I want it to look like Belle’s.” And she couldn’t make her hair look like that. So this is the first time [the mom and the daughter] didn’t have to argue about the hair because she could do the ponytail. So [again, Disney] didn’t address it that way, but somebody did their research to know to make a ponytail.
AP: [Timolin and I] were talking about [your tie-in], and we were saying the usual suspects who do tie-ins with Disney—McDonalds and other fast-food franchises—are not with this, at least we haven’t noticed it. And Carol’s Daughter is. We found that fascinating.
LP: It’s us and Disney Store so far, [selling] t-shirts, bags, and dolls. There’s a Barbie [that’s] very pretty. Anika Noni Rose was on Jimmy Kimmel last night, and he had the Barbie doll.
AP: Awwwww. Nice.
LP: And [Anika] is great. And I’m going to do Mo’Nique next week, and [Anika] is supposed to be there. I’m really looking forward to meeting her.
AP: Have you seen Precious?
LP: (quietly) Yeah.
AP: Your look says everything.
LP: It was deep. It’s not the kind of movie that you say, “Oh, I can’t wait to see that again. It was so good.” Because it takes so much out of you. But it’s amazing.
It’s like Color Purple when it came out. People felt like it was such a bad thing for us because [it’s] making Black men look so bad. Now Color Purple is one of those films everyone has seen; we can all recite the dialogue.
AP: It’s canon.
LP: It becomes part of your conversation. [For example] in my house, when I [return] from business trips, and I have [folks to] pick up their socks or hang up their coats, [the kids] say, “Okay, Mom.” And I say, “That’s right! Sophia’s home now!”
(Laughter)
My boys don’t even know what that means. But it’s so much a part of [us]. So I think we can get past [the feelings around Precious], and we’ll get past that the more we get to tell stories…
AP: Like Princess and the Frog.
LP: Right. Even Princess and the Frog is probably not perfect—there are probably details that they missed or you can find a criticism with it—but it’s the only one we got! It can’t be the magic band-aid.
People criticize my brand: “oh, you should do this, you should do that.” But I can’t be everything to every African American person. I can’t be the magic beauty brand that solves everything. Revlon doesn’t have to be. MAC doesn’t have to be. [Esteé] Lauder doesn’t have to be. L’Oréal doesn’t have to be. They all exist. So, there’ll be a Carol’s Daughter and there’ll be something else. We’ll all have our own spin, and we’ll all co-exist.
Chris Rock did that HBO special, Black Voices, [where] he said, “I want to have the opportunity to fail and come back.”
AP: I like that.
LP: Because [Black people] have to be perfect with everything that we do. He said white people don’t have to be: they can make a horrible film and come back. Rock said that’s what he wanted for African Americans: to fuck up really bad and come back. And I was like, “Yeah!”
So, that’s going to take time.
*In full disclosure, I’m a big fan Carol’s Daughter product and have been long before I met Ms. Price. Dare I say it? I swear by them.
(Image Credits: Timolin and Carol’s Daughter)
By Special Correspondents Nadra Kareem and Andrea Plaid
More than a year before its debut, “The Princess and the Frog” set tongues wagging. Some were overjoyed that Disney finally dedicated a feature to a black princess. Others criticized the studio’s history of racial gaffes in films such as “Aladdin” and “The Jungle Book” and wondered if Disney could change its track record with the “Princess and the Frog.” Some specifically took issue with “Princess” because the heroine, Tiana, spends more time on screen as a frog than as a black woman; because her prince, Naveen, isn’t black; and because the film portrays Voodoo questionably.
Now that the film’s out, what’s the verdict? Were these concerns warranted? Racialicious correspondents Nadra Kareem and Andrea Plaid recently caught a viewing of the film and dialogued about its merits and shortcomings. They also discussed whether “Princess,” which grossed $25 million its opening weekend, will be the first and last Disney production to feature an African-American heroine. That’s because, despite topping the box office when it came out, “Princess” sold far fewer tickets than recent Disney fare such as “Enchanted” did upon its release.
Warning: This dialogue contains spoilers.
Nadra Kareem: I quite enjoyed this film. I loved the music and Anika Noni Rose’s voice. I loved Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation. I found its depiction of race interesting as well. The movie’s set in 1920s New Orleans, but race is never explicitly brought up. The only time race is even hinted at is when the owners of the building Princess Tiana wants to buy refer to her “background.”
Andrea Plaid: But race is alluded to because the family lived in an all-black neighborhood and, clearly, her white friend has a lot more money than Tiana’s family. And even though Tiana’s mom wasn’t a domestic, she worked for the white family as their seamstress. I suspect the creatives may have counted on the adults in the audience to understand what they were seeing is a turn of the 20th-century NOLA where segregation was de jure and de facto.
NK: In some ways the movie ignores the racial situation of the time. I mean, Prince Naveen mistakes Tiana for a princess, which I liked. Her blackness didn’t exclude her from being royalty in his eyes. Also, no one objects to Tiana marrying Prince Naveen. So, what was your take on their relationship? Before the film’s release, there was much ado about Tiana being paired with a non-black prince.
AP: I loooooove everything about Naveen and Tiana’s relationship.
NK: This movie stood out because it didn’t seem like they were perfect strangers when they got married, which seems to be the case not just in other Disney films but in romantic comedies as well. There was some foundation to their romance. They knew each other’s faults but worked with them. They knew each other’s talents also.
AP: I loved the fact that Naveen supported Tiana’s dream of the restaurant, and she supported his dream of playing music. That’s a damn good relationship, and I think that’s missing in many a Disney flick.
NK: How did you feel about Tiana being a frog for so much of the film?
AP: I think that critique is utter bullshit.
NK: Yes, I mean, I didn’t forget what Tiana looked like in human form. You never forgot Tiana was a black lady. She was quite cute as a frog, too. Overall, I pretty much enjoyed everything about this movie except for its portrayal of Voodoo.
AP: So it wasn’t just me?
NK: Definitely not. On one hand I think the scenes portraying Voodoo will really scare young children. On the other hand, I was concerned that both children and adults unfamiliar with Voodoo would come away from “The Princess and the Frog” believing it to be evil rather than a belief system akin to Buddhism or Hinduism or what have you. I didn’t appreciate the African masks in the one Voodoo scene either. It indirectly linked Africa to evil.
AP: Exactly, along with the African masks, they had the “Samurai jack”-looking curlicue spirits and the Jack Skellington-esque “Voodoo man.”
NK: Although the character who practiced Voodoo—Dr. Facilier aka Shadowman—is clearly evil, the woman Tiana and Naveen visit to undo his work (turning them into frogs) is portrayed as a wise, caring old woman. Do you think the warmth of the Mama Odie character compensates for the demonization of Dr. Facilier? Clearly, she’s well versed in Voodoo, too.
AP: Mama Odie and her bayou hideaway really couldn’t compensate for the rather indelible impression of the Shadowman. Between [actor Keith David’s] voice and the animation of the character, Voodoo is seen as more bad than good when it’s really an ambivalent faith system. What I mean by ‘ambivalent’ is good and evil don’t function as polar opposites. A priest or priestess can use both forces.
NK: Another criticism I heard in relation to Shadowman is that he—the film’s villain—is black, while the prince is racially ambiguous (he’s from a fictional South American country). Personally, I think that their skin is so similar in shade that it’s doubtful little kids would distinguish dark skin as bad and lighter skin as good. Besides that, the film had so many other brown-skinned role models that one villain with brown skin can’t pose that much of a problem.
AP: Girl, thank you!
NK: In closing, let’s discuss how well “The Princess and the Frog” is doing at the box office. The film is off to a slow start as far as ticket sales are concerned. If it’s not a hit, will Tiana be Disney’s first and last black princess?
AP: No, because Disney and other companies are realizing the pent-up need for black folks to see themselves in these roles. If Disney doesn’t do it, then another studio may pick up on the idea.
NK: I certainly hope the thinking isn’t, ‘Well, we gave it a try, never again.’ I fear people might say the same about Obama, but I digress…
AP: I also think the fact that the stores can’t keep the merchandise on the shelves says a lot, too.
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
pseudonymous- Cherry Bomb
- right there.
Page Summary
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif)
dictionary_wotd : expatiate: Dictionary.com Word of the Day [+0] - d_d_wotd : ocupación: Dictionary.com Spanish Word of the Day [+0]
- postsecret : Sunday Secrets [+156]
- dictionary_wotd : hauteur: Dictionary.com Word of the Day [+0]
- dictionary_wotd : Presented By: [+2]
- d_d_wotd : mediado: Dictionary.com Spanish Word of the Day [+0]
- racialicious : What I’m riding for this year – on horse – during my anti-colonial holiday season [+0]
- dictionary_wotd : embonpoint: Dictionary.com Word of the Day [+3]
- d_d_wotd : luego: Dictionary.com Spanish Word of the Day [+0]
- racialicious : News Updates – South Philadelphia High School, Amanda Knox [+0]
- racialicious : links for 2009-12-24 [+0]
- racialicious : How to Otherize Your Friends for Christmas [+0]
- racialicious : Have a Merry Colored Christmas: Tales of Holiday Racial Exclusion [+0]
- dictionary_wotd : lambent: Dictionary.com Word of the Day [+0]
- dictionary_wotd : Presented By: [+0]
- d_d_wotd : juicio: Dictionary.com Spanish Word of the Day [+0]
- racialicious : The Princess and the Frog – TH’s 2 Cents [+0]
- racialicious : links for 2009-12-23 [+0]
- racialicious : Princess Tiana Isn’t a Magic Band-Aid: An Interview with Lisa Price, Founder of Carol’s Daughter [+0]
- racialicious : A Racialicious Dialogue on “The Princess and the Frog” [+0]