Angelina’s Next Big Adoption!

so I had no clue blackface was making a comeback in the twenty-first century or that Angelina’s been hoping to evoke the ghost of Bert Williams. Jolie is playing Mariane Pearl in the upcoming “A Mighty Heart.” The film is based on a memoir by Pearl about the execution of her journalist husband at the hands of terrorists. Pearl is of Afro-Cuban and Dutch descent. She’s born, raised, lives in Pareeeeee, France. In France, et.al, she’s perhaps considered French, European, or mixed. Over here in these parts, bitch is black.

So that’s why yes I take issue with Angie’s lil-white ass portraying Pearl in the movie. This is a film that’s been long in the making. Initially Brad Pitt and his then wife Jennifer Aniston were going to produce the film, and Aniston was going to play Pearl! But then we all know what happened and Aniston gave up her rights to the production company and Pitt classily gave the part to Angie.

All I can say for Pearl’s lack of conflict with white women playing her is that she is not American and does not grasp the unfortunate lenses us Yanks wear regarding race and ethnicity. But Aniston, Pitt, and Jolie come from this side of the ocean and damn sure know what’s white and what ain’t.

Over here, when I walk into a room, I’m not someone who’s Afro-Irish-French-Greek, my ass is the black person in the room. And I’m ok with that, in fact, proud. I’m American and that’s how I was informed. Nobody gives a shit what fraction of what I am because we still have the one-drop rule going on underneath the radar.

But more important than my own personal kerfuffle, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle before I believe that Halle Berry (white mother, identifies as black because..well..duh), Vanessa Williams, Rosario Dawson (who publicly identifies as fractionary), or any other mixed-race American actresses weren’t available for this role. The story goes that Angie wanted the role, anyway: “Slap some cork on me and call me Bessie!”

So my question now is, “Who’s white ass can I pretend to be?”

Pass me that cork, Brad…

So I guess I missed the memo on the return of blackface?

Same As It Ever Was, Part Deux: The End

Of course, the last week before I move up to school I sit on my glasses and don’t even notice for 15 minutes because my ass is so big; and when I do, they are completely deformed and when I wear them I look like a wacky scientist.

Of course, the last week before I move up to school my contacts have expired so I must wear my glasses which are deformed so when people meet me, they will think I am a wacky scientist.

Of course, the last week before I move up to school I am utterly broke and don’t know how I will manage paying my movers the $600 in cash I owe them for the second half of my move. Nor do I know how I’ll even eat since I won’t receive my stipend and travel expense check until the 13th. and, of course, I need to get my hair did before I move, especially to lessen the wacky scientist look.

And of course in my last days here before I go more than halfway to Canada, things get serious with a boy below the Mason Dixon line. Yes, the boy and I have gotten pretty serious, much to my chagrin and pleasure. We’re somewhere in between strong crushes and falling into that four letter word. I’ve been more cautious for obvious reasons and this was not in the plan of my new life in a new town with a new purpose! It’s all muddled up and you know what? What did I do when it was getting more and more muddled up? Reader, I bedded the boy and now it’s all kindsa muddled.

And Reader, of course he’s a MGM. And not just any MGM. I didn’t smile and thank God more than I thought “Holy Shit” and took some deep breaths. To be honest, it’s a little too big but that’s just my “luck” dating a 6′7, 220 lbs giant. But he’s still like a gift from heaven: after the first time, he apologized for the apparently short time (but anything after 5 min is lucky to me) and said “but I brought more for later.” Can you imagine my glee?!

But it’s not even that. The boy is the first person I’ve made a real emotional connection with in the 2 years since I met my ex. He is the first person to remind me of my worthiness. I’ve been doing a pretty good job myself but it’s always nice when someone else sees it, too. He’s a stand-up North American Negro Male who’s worked against all the shit this country sets against black men, he’s passionate, no bullshitter, and we laugh together about crap. Here’s a first: I sang in front of him. I have a crackhead voice that scares the strongest of dogs, but the boy makes me feel so comfortable I don’t even care. Though he hasn’t asked me to sing again, but that’s ok…because I still will.

But I’m leaving and the boy is here, of course.

-BB

Silence = Death

(There would be a pic here but Blogger and I are having some technical difficulties)

While the idea-turned-reality of a woman with two cooters is jaw-dropping and the not-so-new-news not to marry a whoa-man if you want to be happy for the rest of your life is, well, not really shocking so much as annoying, it’s really a shame what ABC News highlighted this week and even bigger shame how little it’s been profiled.

Last night I watched ABC’s “AIDS in Black America: Out of Control” (I’m not too hot on that title, I think it steps too close to certain implications) where I learned that I am 23 times more more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white women; that the infection rate is 8 times the rate of whites; that of all women with in the States with HIV, 68% are black; that while I and my fellow black folk make up 13% of the U.S. population, we account for over 50% of all new cases of HIV; and almost 70% of all newly diagnosed HIV-positive women in the United States are black women.

Those are just a few stats but they barely touch the surface of this segment, inspired by the 25th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS. There are some significant causes behind this clearly emergency situation such as black men who have sex with men not telling their female partners, and those same men not using protection with either partner (because to pull out a condom perhaps acknowledges what’s not being said), black women not using protection with their black male partners many of whom have just been released from prison (where a disproportionate number of black men reside, where AIDS infection rates are 5 times higher, and where there are no comprehensive national testing, prevention, or treatment programs), and a gaping wide hole in the mostly conservative black community where a discussion of sexuality in all its orientations and practices should occur.

Aids in Black America – ABC

– BB