Hugs, Tacos, and Hijinks

girl 2:

girl 2: you don’t even have teeth sis

me:

The truth about “All Lives Matter” is that not all lives have mattered — which is why we need to keep saying Black Lives Matter. | follow @the-movemnt

Her character was voiced by Cree Summer who played Freddie Brooks on A Different World.

She introduced culture to white suburbia.

Taught the babies all of the popular black dances.

And maybe even showed them a thing or two about cooking.

She was perpetually unbothered by Angelica’s nonsense.

Literally. Her shade-throwing skills surpass any other three-year-old.

But she was never afraid to cry.

Demand what she wanted.

Be a leader.

Get angry for the cause.

Defend the babies from Angelica.

Or anybody else who tried to mess with them.

Immensely talented.

And, smart AF. She could speak 10 languages by the time they were in high school.

Susie was just a magical black girl.

Source

So I’ve been overwhelmed by the black panther comicon appearance and I’ve been dwelling on how revolutionary the black panther movie is going to be, what it’s going to mean to countless people when this movie comes out and how long we still have to go, So I decided to put this short photoset together to illustrate exactly how big of a deal it is and how it is bigger than one person.

it’s so bittersweet because when I was younger (especially growing up where I did, a black kid in Finland) I really wished I had more access to imagery and media that reflected who I was because it would have made my life radically different for the better and I wouldn’t be at 26 (STILL) doing damage control but on the flipside, I’m so in awe of all of the beautiful talent in 2016 that younger black kids are able to see and be inspired by.

I think I was like 4 years old when I conciously picked up race and color via watching Disney’s “Aladdin” and I noticed how Jafar, the evil royal guards etc the villains were more ethnic looking or a shade darker than the “good” characters.

it’s insidious because you’re seeing something but at age 4, you don’t have the comprehension skill or knowledge to break it down and see it for what it is (Colorism, Societal bias against black people which is rooted in centuries of white supremacist doctrine, society associates things that are dark/darker colors with evil, danger, ugliness, dirt etc) and reject it.

so you pick it up and see it on a surface level and you think to yourself “well darker must mean ugly, criminal and less human”…then what happens when you look at yourself in the mirror and find out that you are black?

  how is that going to impact how you see yourself?

and guess what? if a 4 year old black kid can pick that up and internalize that about him/her/themselves….then a white kid can sponge up the same language and imagery that dehumanizes black people too (subconciously/conciously)…what happens when when these people grow up? become teachers, doctors, law enforcement etc? what kind of impact is that going to have?

I’m going off on a tangent and that’s just one personal example but society does that on a global grand scale and it is largely unchecked.

but honestly though,look at the photoset and think about how many talented people out there that we love and respect….who would NOT have achieved the things they did if it wasn’t for another person before them inspiring them to reach their goals and acting as trail blazers when it seemed as though it was impossible….then think about the flipside and how many people, with all the potential in the world, never lived to become great because they were met with more images dehumanizing them than ones uplifting them…this is why the fight for HONEST representation is important and it continues.

argh, I didn’t plan on typing anything but I got in my feelings after watching this again

…anyway, here are some pictures to make you smile, the next gen gives me hope

CNN’s Don Lemon on police shootings: “When I am stopped by an officer - I shouldn’t have to be ‘yes,sir-ing’ anybody.”

Don Lemon lost the support of the Black community after a few controversial remarks that he made throughout his career. During yesterday’s CNN Tonight he shared his thoughts on the killings of two Black men that occurred earlier this week and they’re actually making everyone consider changing their mind. Let’s be honest - everything Don Lemon said was on point. I cannot help but think that until this day he was forced to say everything he said, because his words regarding police violence are pretty damn woke.

Full video

Police Shoot Unarmed Man and his 6-Year-Old Autistic Son in the Head Multiple Times Killing Son

As of Thursday morning, at least 834 people had been shot and killed by American police officers so far this year.

Six-year-old Jeremy David Mardis is the youngest among them.

The autistic first-grader was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car being driven by his father, Chris Few, in Marksville, La., when city marshals “allegedly” attempted to serve the man a warrant about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night. But when checked with the County Clerks office, no warrant could be found in the database.

Police claim Few fled, eventually turning down a dead-end street. And that Few then attempted to back his vehicle out, striking officers’ cruisers, prompting an exchange of gunfire between the officers and driver that left him hospitalized and his son dead.

However, An official briefed on the shooting said that Few was unarmed when two officers opened fire, shooting between 13 and 18 bullets combined. Five of the officers’ bullets pierced Jeremy’s body, Mayeux said, with the two fatal shots hitting him in the head and chest. That official said it is unclear if the shooting was captured on camera.

The police involved in the shooting all had criminal records including rape.

After the officers names were released, It didn’t take long for local press to uncover extensive rap sheets for both officers:

Derrick Stafford, the officer indicted for rape, also has five pending civil suits against him for various complaints of excessive force, including breaking the arm of a 14-year-old girl on a school bus as well as assaulting and pepper-spraying a 15-year-old boy at a Fourth of July celebration.

Norris Greenhouse Jr., the other officer implicated in the murder of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis, is named in several of the same suits for acting in tandem with Stafford.

Louisiana State Police announced on Wednesday that they had launched an investigation into the incident at the request of the Marksville Police Department.

Source / Source / Source

Watch: Chika Okoro’s must-see TED Talk exposes the damaging effects of colorism.

‘Ghostbusters’ star Leslie Jones exposes racist harassment on Twitter

Disprove anything in that video, without calling anyone out there name. Site your sources.