W. Kamu Bell Brings the Funny to Race, Politics and Black Hair

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

Have you heard of comedienne W. Kamu Bell? Once again I was over at Racialicious when I stumbled across this great article about Bell, who is about to get his own comedy news show --produced by Chris Rock -- on the FX. I can't believe I've never heard of Bell until now, especially since his brand of humor is so Meltingpot ready. And because he has great hair. One of his most famous shows is called, Ending Racism in About an Hour. In that show he covers interracial dating, Black hair, and all things Obama. *squeal*

Rather than try to explain how funny he is, how about you just take a look and laugh for yourself. Both clips are from the Ending Racism show.

Here's Bell on Black hair:


Here's Bell on Interracial Relationships.

Wait, Ezra Jack Keats Was White?: White People, Black Stories Continues

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

Did you know Ezra Jack Keats -- the famous children's book author who wrote The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie and dozens of other titles featuring Black and brown children -- was White? I only discovered the fact later in life when I started collecting his books for my own children. I just assumed he was Black.

Apparently, lots of people continue to make that same assumption. I found the following You Tube Video that talks about Keats'Jewish heritage and what inspired him to depict children of color in most of his work. You can also check out the Keats Foundation website for more information about this fascinating and prolific storyteller and artist.

Peace!

Happy to be Nappy?: Not in Brazil

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

I've got another hair story for you. This time coming from our sisters in South America. In Brazil to be exact. My co-author from Hair Story, Ayana Byrd, tipped me off to this incredible story from the website BlackWomenofBrazil. Be prepared to be outraged.

Apparently, after two decades in the Brazilian court system, Sony Music has finally been ordered to pay damages for a song they released that was deemed racist and offensive to Black women. Now I expected to read about a song that perhaps used a version of the N-word in Portuguese or had violent lyrics directed towards women. But nothing I could have imagined could have prepared me for the lyrics in this song. Here take a look for yourselves:

"A representative for Sony maintained that the song was not intended to offend women and that the artist was in fact alluding to his own wife in the song and that the terms used in the song are used by Brazilians in reference to not only black women but white women as well."

Below are some of the lyrics of the song in Portuguese and English:

Veja veja veja veja veja os cabelos dela (4x)
(Look look look look look at her hair (4x)

Parece bom-bril*, de ariá panela
(It looks like a scouring pad for pots and pans)

Parece bom-bril, de ariá panela
(It looks like a scouring pad for pots and pans)

Quando ela passa, me chama atenção
(When she goes by, she catches my attention)

Mas os seus cabelos, não tem jeito não
(But her hair just isn’t right)

A sua catinga quase me desmaiou
(Her stench almost made me faint)

Olha eu não aguento, é grande o seu fedor
(Look, I can’t take it, her smell is so bad)

Veja veja veja veja veja os cabelos dela
(Look look look look look at her hair)

Parece bom-bril, de ariá panela (2x)
(It looks like a scouring pad for pots and pans) (2x)

Eu já mandei, ela se lavar
(I told her to take a bath)

Mas ela teimo, e não quis me escutar
(But she’s stubborn and doesn’t listen to me)

Essa nega fede, fede de lascar
(This black woman stinks, she stinks horribly)

Bicha fedorenta, fede mais que gambá
(Stinking beast, smells worse than a skunk)


I know. It's revolting. I can't believe this was a 'popular' tune released by a major music corporation like Sony. I also can't believe a man with a Black mother -- yes you heard me -- could pen such insulting lyrics. Really? To read the whole sordid tale of the song and the lawsuit, please visit the Black Women in Brazil website. And then go rinse the vomit out of your mouth.


Happy Friday.


Peace!

Small Island: The Movie

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

Happy Friday.

As you know, I am a devoted Grey's Anatomy fan. Well, Grey's is on hiatus until 2012 so my Thursday nights have felt empty of late. So, I decided to find a movie to watch that would take my mind off the shenanigans of the doctor's at Seattle Grace. Of course, I went to my local library and scoured the DVD shelves for something delicious and I found it. A three-hour long BBC adaptation of Andrea Levy's award-winning novel, Small Island! I loved that book. As you faithful readers will recall, Levy was the one who started my serious love affair with Jamaican authors.

Small Island is about a lot of things; love, broken dreams, race, war, and the resilience of the human spirit to name a few. But if you want a basic plot description, it's about two couples, one White and one Black, one English and one Jamaican, and how their lives crash, collide and co-mingle during and just after WWII in London. I don't think I've ever said this before, but I loved the film as much as I loved the book. As I think back on it, I can't say the scenery was all that spectacular and they obviously had to cut much of the book out of the film, and yet I still found myself enraptured for the entire three hours because the actors were just that good. Really. They were all quite spellbinding. They truly brought Levy's characters to life. When it was over I cried, because it has kind of a sad ending, but also because I wanted to keep watching. Seriously, I already miss Gilbert, Hortense, Queenie and Bernard.



Lucky for me, the BBC is my kind of network. On the webpage for the film, there are plenty of links to follow for more information about the actors, the characters they play in the film and, best of all, first-person profiles of real Jamaicans who came to England post WWII, like the fictitious Hortense and Gilbert Joseph.

If you can find a copy of this film at your local library or perhaps you can order it online, it's worth it. At the very least, pick up the book if you haven't already.

So, does anyone have any other recommendations for BBC programs I should watch? I'm thinking about trying to find Zadie Smith's White Teeth? What do you think?

I'm listening.

Peace!

Am I Still Black if You Call Me Dark, Dark Brown?

This weekend I had the opportunity to check out the new exhibit at the Franklin Institute here in Philly called, Race: Are We So Different?. The exhibit is quite ambitious as it attempts to deconstruct this thing called race from a biological, sociological, political and economic perspective. From the website's description:

"RACE: Are We So Different? represents the work of scientists, artists, and researchers who have come together to explore a seemingly simple question—are we really so different? An immersive exhibit experience, RACE helps us understand the origins and manifestations of race and racism in everyday life through a variety of educational displays, interactive activities, and multimedia presentations."

I have to admit I didn't get to fully engage with the exhibit because I had two squirmy children as companions. (Note: Not an exhibit for the under 10 crowd) Still, one of the parts of the exhibit I found the most fascinating was the list of racial classifications or descriptions that are used in Brazil. In an attempt to show how racial categories vary by country there was a listing of the ninety seven different adjectives used in Brazil to describe the people. Yes 97!

For example, there was a term for somebody who is "bluish black," or "mulatta with kinky red hair and aquiline nose." And of course my all time favorite, "negro with corpulent body." Imagine that type of specificity. What the exhibit didn't get into was WHY there are so many different words to describe one's race in Brazil. There has to be a reason and my guess is that there is probably a hierarchy of terms. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the closer to White one is, the better off one is in society. But I could be wrong. There was a term, "polaca" which meant "having Polish features" whatever that means, but it also meant prostitute. So it may not just be about Black and White.

I'm going to do some investigating, but if you are from Brazil or have an understanding of the racial politics in that country, I'd love to hear it. So please share. And by the way, the RACE exhibit will be traveling on to Los Angeles, St. Louis and New Orleans after it leaves Philly in September. Check the website for tour details.

Thanks.

Peace!

What Age Do You Introduce Race?

Not so long ago I was having a conversation with an Asian friend of mine about when and how we should start talking about Race with our children. We didn’t want to “burden” them with this heavy concept, yet we didn’t want them to get their information from outside sources in a way that might make them feel embarrassed or ashamed of their ethnic background either. We finished the conversation when one of our kids poured a bowl of cheerios on their head, promising to get back to the discussion at a later date.

That later date happened for me last week.

I was lurking around the hallways at my son’s adorable Quaker School when I heard there was some presentation going on in the first grade classes. Since my son is going to be in first grade next year, I decided to go take a peek. Turns out it was a Race, Ethnicity and Identity extravaganza presented by the first and second graders.

Using a carefully selected collection of picture books (Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester, The Color of Us by Karen Katz) as their launch pad, the faculty created a curriculum to have the children explore the concept of identity. Rather than teaching the children about static racial categories, they gave the children the tools to define their own identity and share their personal true-life stories with their classmates. As the headmaster said to me as he witnessed parents, teachers and students gushing over the tremendous work these young people had created, “We’ve made it so the children want to learn about diversity because it’s fun, not because they’re supposed to.”

The kids made self-portraits, mixed paint colors to match their skin tones, wrote mini-biographies and of course had many enlightening discussions. Best of all was the aura of celebration and excitement around this theme instead of the weariness and dread usually associated with race-based curricula. I applaud the teaching team at Greene Street Friends School for taking the time and energy to infuse “diversity awareness education” with so much positive energy and excitement.

And I learned that if the story begins with a celebration of identity instead of a history lesson of oppression and other people’s perceptions, it’s never too early to begin the discussion of “race.”

Peace.