Month: March 2017

Kristen Bell wants her daughters to celebrate peoples’ differences.

The actress is mom to 4-year-old Lincoln and 2-year-old Delta. During a recent Facebook Live interview with Parents magazine, she shared her thoughts on raising her children to be “global citizens.” Hear what she had to say starting at the 9:30 mark in the video below. 

Bell referenced a chapter in the book Nurture Shock, titled, “Why White Parents Don’t Talk About Race.”

“You think, ‘Oh they’re going to see that I have a black friend, and they’ll know it’s OK.’ That’s not the way humans work,” she explained, adding that people tend to have a natural instinct to recognize someone different as “the other.”

“Kids will notice differences,” Bell explained. “So we talk to them about it ― like, our best friend is Indian, and we’re always like, ‘Look at this, isn’t this cool? The difference between Monica’s skin and Mommy’s skin? And they’re different colors. Did you know everybody is a different color?’”

She added, “You talk to them about it, so the idea of ‘the other’ is never left alone in their brain.” Bell believes that if parents don’t acknowledge other cultures or the differences between individual human beings, kids may draw their own conclusions based on fear.  

“Differences are also important, cultures are important, and it’s important to acknowledge those because if you ignore them, your kids are seeing them, [and] they’re coming to their own conclusions. The topic needs to be open,” she said.

Watch the full interview to learn more about the actress’ approach to parenting, including her thoughts on sleep and work-life balance.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Source: HuffPost Black Voices

“Saturday Night Live” is currently enjoying its most successful season in decades, thanks in no small part to the the country’s ravenous appetite for political commentary in the lead up to and fallout from the president election. 

The show’s depictions of public figures like Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer have helped many to digest the in which world we find ourselves. Some of the bits have become instant classics. Some never quite got the due they deserved. Some, frankly, weren’t that great.

So, since this is the internet, we decided to rank 32 Trump-related sketches this season. A few notes before we begin:

1. I have made the executive choice not to include Weekend Update bits. That’s it’s own thing and it just didn’t feel right.
2. If I missed a sketch, please forgive me.
3. Please direct your hate mail to maxwell@huffingtonpost.com.
4. I developed the rankings using an algorithm based on historical performance of “SNL” sketches over time. Each sketch is weighted not only according to how funny the sketch is today, but how funny it will become in the coming years.
5. Just kidding, these rankings are entirely arbitrary. 

32. Aliens invade Trump’s America

Date: March 11, 2017

Views: 7+ million

Signature line: 

We are going to beat these aliens, because we have got the best military. But we don’t win anymore. And the aliens are laughing at us! They’re killing us, and they’re laughing at us.

Sorry to say, but this sketch immediately felt tired when it appeared earlier this month. Basically, President Donald Trump grapples with an alien invasion while misidentifying two black women, Leslie Jones and Sasheer Zamata, as “aliens.” After months of Baldwin’s spot-on impression, a lot of the jokes seemed like rehashes of ones from earlier in the season. Something had to be last.

31. Walter White is named the head of the DEA 

Date: Dec. 10, 2016

Views: 4+ million 

Signature line: 

Trust me: I know the DEA better than anyone, inside and out. 

Cool as it was to see Bryan Cranston resurrect Walter White for a brief moment, it felt as if the “SNL” writers relied too much on his presence to keep this sketch going. The jokes themselves landed flat.

30. Trump meets some potential cabinet picks during the holidays

Date: Dec. 17, 2016

Views: 8+ million

Signature line: None, really.

With apologies to John Goodman’s Rex Tillerson, this was a fine sketch, but a forgettable one as well. Let’s move on. 

29. Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin grow tired of being mean to one another 

Date: Nov. 5, 2016

Views: 10+ million

Signature line: 

Hey, Mark Burnett. Mark, my baby. I know you’re sitting on some pretty racist tapes of Donald on “The Apprentice,” so, uh, Mark, as they say on “Wheel of Fortune,” give me an “N”!

When this sketch aired just days before the election, there’s almost no doubt that Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin foresaw Clinton winning and Baldwin’s time with the show winding down. That explains why the end of this sketch has a finale-type air to it ― with the pair shedding their characters to run through Manhattan while Arcade Fire plays in the background. These sort of sentimental bits never quite do it for me. Also there is a big “whoops” factor here. 

28. Melania lets her anger show in “Melanianade”

Date: Oct. 15, 2016

Views: 6+ million

Signature line: 

Without us you wouldn’t be standing there, you’d just be that guy with the weird hair.

This digital short allowed the women around Trump to have a moment to go in on him to the tune of Beyoncé’s “Sorry.” While it’s hard not to get excited about anything related to the queen, little was uproarious here. 

27. Trump Googles “ISIS” inside Trump Tower

Date: Nov. 19, 2016

Views: 13+ million

Signature line: 

OK, right, here we go. Big plan. Big plan. Google, what is “ISIS”?

In the month after Trump’s inauguration, reports arose describing Trump as a nervous man who was starting to realize the weight of what it means to be U.S. president. That’s depicted well in this Trump Tower sketch, but the highlight is something much simpler: Trump and potential Secretary of State Mitt Romney (Jason Sudeikis) exchanging an awkwardly long handshake before Romney finally asks, “This isn’t going to work, is it?”

Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!

26. Hillary Clinton sings “Hallelujah”

 Date: Nov. 12, 2016

Views: 9+ million

Signature line: 

I’m not giving up and neither should you.

Coming out of the presidential election, many were looking to “SNL” on Nov. 11 to make sense of what felt like a political sea-change. The show, hosted by Dave Chappelle, later would help do just that, but the cold open that week simultaneously felt too obvious and too random. Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, singing “Hallelujah” by the recently deceased Leonard Cohen? It might have touched some of the most sensitive of us that night, but it felt like alike a forced mashup that wasn’t exactly poignant and certainly wasn’t funny. With some time having passed, hopefully you’ll be able to agree. 

25. Kellyanne Conway goes full-on “Chicago”

Date: Jan. 21, 2017

Views: 4+ million

Signature line: 

When the world goes up in flames, at least I’ll know they knew my name.

This is a well-done bit, which imagines Kellyanne as something akin to Chicago’s Roxie Hart, hungry for fame and willing to do whatever it takes to get it. But is it funny? Not really. 

24. Trump gets caught in yet another hot mic moment

Date: Oct. 8, 2016

Views: 10+ million

Signature line: 

I wish that I was that hurricane, tearing through all of that hot Miami p***y. I would just destroy it. 

After audio of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault to Billy Bush leaked last year, it was a matter of how, not if, “SNL” would address it. They went with another hot mic moment live on CNN, followed by Hillary Clinton celebrating with champagne and music. Watching it now, you can remember how inevitable Clinton’s victory once felt to almost everyone.

23. A movie trailer about a brave Republican who is TBD 

Date: March 4, 2017 

Views: 2+ million

Signature line: 

“… it’s definitely not about Paul Ryan.”

Who, exactly, will be the Republican that finally stands up to Donald Trump? As this mock trailer argues, the answer is “TBD.” By no means a classic, but a good digital short that didn’t get enough love. 

22. Turns out all the CNN guests are just “Westworld” bots

Date: Nov. 19, 2016

Views: 350,000+ (Note: This was re-uploaded in February)

Signature line: 

The one in the glasses has stepped out of his loop. He was starting to remember.

“SNL” takes the cultural zeitgeist of the moment, HBO’s “Westworld,” and combines it here with the political zeitgeist to create a sketch about CNN analysts who live in a constant loop of talking points before malfunctioning on air. Not pee-your-pants funny, but a good enough social critique to let it jump a few spots.

21. See the world through Donald’s eyes

Date: Dec. 10, 2016

Views: 2+ million

Signature line:  

Calm! Calm! Kellyanne will fix it. 

The sketch is simple and solid: We get to imagine the world through the president’s eyes: His hands are huge, and sometimes so are his promises. It is a world of ego and insecurity, and it’s just as scary as you’d think it would be.

20. The judge on “People’s Court” lets Trump know he’s freaking everyone out  

Date: Feb. 11, 2017

Views: 11+ million

Signature line: 

And let me just say, you are doing too much, OK!? I want one day without a CNN alert that scares the hell out of me. I just want to relax and watch the Grammys, all right? And no one has ever said that.

Bringing Donald Trump to the People’s Court was a fine idea. As Trump joked at the beginning of the sketch, he is “a TV president,” after all. But it’s Cecily Strong as the judge who not only controlled the bit, but channelled the feelings of the country in early February when she begged the president to just take a day off so people didn’t have to sent into a complete panic for one 24-hour period.  

19. Kellyanne tries in vain to take a day off

Date: Oct. 8, 2016

Views: 3+ million

Signature line: 

Of course black people don’t have one less toe than white people!

At the moment this digital short aired in October, Kellyanne Conway had only been famous for a few months, but already, she had become a near-ubiquitous part of American life. It felt as if any time you turned on the television, Kellyanne was there. How could one woman do so much? Hence, McKinnon’s hilarious rendition of what “a day off” must feel like for an exhausted-looking Kellyanne, which is not much time off at all. The critique of this sketch, however, is that it painted Kellyanne as a good person who hates Trump more than anyone else ― something that has become harder and harder to believe.

18. A new U.S. welcome video for a new America

Date: Feb. 4, 2017

Views: 3+ million

Signature line: 

You’ll also need a valid passport from your country of origin. NOT INCLUDING IRAQ, IRAN, SYRIA, LIBYA, SOMALIA, SUDEN AND YEMEN, AND MAYBE AUSTRALIA, WE’LL SEE. 

The days following the introduction of Trump’s travel ban were chaotic. Protests erupted and tears were shed. So “SNL” gets some kudos for producing an organized digital short that envisions the calm U.S. customs welcome video in Trump’s America. It showed just how ridiculous the situation was getting.

17. “Hillary Actually”

Date: Dec. 17, 2016

Views: 6+ million

Signature line: 

Anyway, enjoy your holidays. But keep in mind, if Donald Trump becomes president, he will kill us all.

If you like “Love Actually,” you probably loved this holiday mashup, in which Hillary Clinton begs an Electoral College voter not to go with Trump in the same way Andrew Lincoln’s character once revealed his feelings for Keira Knightley’s. But the truth is, that scene in the original movie was kind of weird if you think about it, and these are my arbitrary rankings, so I’m docking it a bit for that. 

16. Leslie tries out to become the next Trump  

Date: Feb. 11, 2017

Views: 2+ million

Signature line: 

Is it like a “Hamilton” thing where you’re making a comment on race and politics?

Nope, it’s about giving America what it wants. 

For a brief moment in early February, a movement started online to have women play a signifiant number of the men in the Trump administration. We never got that, but we did get this fantastic little bit by Leslie Jones, who reveals her secret urge to one day President Donald Trump. 

15. Kate McKinnon as some combo of Jeff Sessions and Forrest Gump  

Date: Mar. 4, 2017

Views: 6+ million

Signature line: 

The president made a great speech. Folks were thrilled on account of it was real words in a row for a whole hour. We was all as happy as a monkey with a peanut machine. Then I want to bed. I got 800 messages and phone alerts, saying I was a sneaky little liar. I didn’t know what to do. So my lawyer said: Run, Jeffrey, run! I started running and running. I ended all the way sitting at this bus stop with you.

This sketch ran a bit long, and it dipped at points as a result, but Kate McKinnon simultaneously impersonating some combination of the U.S. attorney general and Forrest Gump is good enough to let it sneak into the top half of these rankings. Especially considering Jeff Sessions had recused himself from any investigation into the 2016 general election just days before, it was easy to see how he would want to be on the  run.

14. Vladimir Putin addresses the American people after Trump’s inauguration 

Date: Jan. 21, 2017

Views: 5+ million

Signature line: 

Today, many of you are scared and marching in the strets. You are worried that your country is in the hands of this unpredictable man. But don’t worry, it’s not. Relax, I got this. Putin’s going to make everything OK.

For most of the season, Beck Bennett’s rendition of Vladimir Putin has been a bit of a side-piece, always hilarious but rarely the center of a sketch. But one day after Trump’s inauguration, it was Putin alone who was center stage. Let’s just say that the jokes about the country being in his hands have held up quite nicely so far.   

13. Kellyanne Conway stalks Jake Tapper in search of some sweet, sweet airtime 

Date: Feb. 11, 2017

Views: 4+ million

Signature line: 

I just want to be part of the news, Jake. 

Kate McKinnon’s Kellyanne Conway took on many forms over the season, but it was probably at its best when she was seen not as a nervous, tired wreck, but as a woman who so desperately wanted to remain a part of the mainstream news cycle that she’s willing to go full “Fatal Attraction” on Jake Tapper to do so. 

12. “If he wasn’t divesting, how could there be so many damn papers?”

Date: Jan. 14, 2017

Views: 12+ million

Signature line:  

I’m his lawyer, and this right here is all the papers that prove that Mr. Trump is really divesting. I mean, look at all these papers. If he wasn’t divesting, how could there be so many damn papers? There’s papers here. There’s papers here. It’s like help, help, lifeguard, I’m practically drowning in papers! 

The highlight of this sketch, which parodied the president-elect’s press conference just days before his inauguration, wasn’t anything related to Alec Baldwin. It was Cecily Trump’s brief moment on stage as Trump’s tax lawyer. In a thick New York accent, she makes a great point: There were certainly a lot of papers on that desk. 

Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!

11. “The Bubble,” a new sort of town

Date: Nov. 19, 2016

Views: 4+ million

Signature line: 

Coming in January 2017, The Bubble is a planned community of like-minded free thinkers, and no one else.

Following the presidential election, the left-leaning metropolitan pockets of the country started to have earnest conversations about what they could do to reach outside of their bubble. To which “SNL” asked: Why not reach inside? “The Bubble,” an infomercial for an insular planned community that sure looks a lot like Brooklyn, made fun of like-minded rich people who enjoy reading clever stories on McSweeney’s at internet cafes. Who can’t get behind that?

10. Hillary Clinton wins Trump Bingo during the final debate

Date: Oct. 22, 2016

Views: 19+ million

Signature line: 

I’ve said this before and Ill say it again: Nobody has more respect for women than I do. [UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER]

The third and final presidential debate wasn’t the best ― in fact, it might have been the least memorable of the three. But by way of the sheer comedic force provided by the real-life Trump, it still provided some memorable moments, even if they weren’t as eye-popping as what transpired at the actual debate. Bad hombres and nasty women, anyone? That’s a-bingo. 

9. Trump retweets a 16-year-old named Seth

Date: Dec. 3, 2016

Views: 9+ million

Signature line: 

It was from a young man named Seth. He’s 16. He’s in high school. And I really did retweet him. Seriously, this is real.

There were times this season when the real world was so absurd that the best thing “SNL” writers could do was sit back and embrace the fact that nothing could be weirder than what Trump actually did. So it was with this skit about the president’s continuing desire to retweet people like a 16-year-old boy named Seth. Yes, McKinnon and Baldwin had to clarify, this happened in real life too.

Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!

8. “Complicit,” Ivanka’s very own scent

Date: March 11, 2017

Views: 7+ million

Signature line:

“Complicit,” the fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t.

One of the better Trump-related digital shorts of the year, “Complicit” was a sharp and layered attack on a woman who has quietly pushed herself as a woman who will defend women, but who has remained, well, complicit thus far. Who knew a parody ad for a fragrance could be so devastating?

7. Trump sits at a tiny desk next to President Steve Bannon

Date: Feb. 4, 2017

Views: 12+ million

Signature line: 

OK, Donald, that’s enough fun for tonight. Can I have my desk back?

Yes, of course, Mr. President. I’ll go sit at my desk. 

I’m a simple man. Depict Steve Bannon as a walking skeleton in a black cloak and put Donald Trump at a small desk with a giant toy, and I’m happy. 

6. Melissa McCarthy returns as Sean Spicer

Date: Feb. 11, 2017

Views: 15+ million

Signature line: 

The Bowling Green massacre — not the Kellyanne one, the real one. The Horror at Six Flags. The Slaughter at Fraggle Rock. The night they drove Old Dixie down. OK?! And then there is the light terrorism this week when Nordstrom’s decided to stop selling Ivanka Trump’s line of clothing and accessories. That’s Nordstrom’s loss, because these are high, high quality products. In fact, I am wearing one of her bangles right now.

McCarthy’s return as Sean Spicer felt almost inevitable, but that didn’t make it any less exciting when it actually happened. Just as she was the first time, McCarthy came out as a full-on comedic force for more than eight minutes, subsidized by Kate McKinnon revealing her Jeff Sessions impression. And then, to top is all off, Spicey started driving his lectern straight at the press. 

5. Alec Baldwin debuts his Trump impression

Date: Oct. 1, 2016

Views: 23+ million

Signature line: 

The thing about the blacks is that they’re killing each other. All the blacks live on one street in Chicago. All on one street. I just read it this morning. It’s called Hell Street, and they’re on Hell Street, and they’re all just killing each other, just like I am killing this debate.

Alec Baldwin debuted his Trump impression to widespread acclaim. Later on in the season, it would get harder to get laughs from more or less repeating Trump’s claims, but for at least that one night, nothing was better, and Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton was more than willing to let him do the talking.

4. Hillary Clinton tries to act like a human in the second presidential debate

Date: Oct. 15, 2016

Views: 21+ million

Signature line: 

Hi Patrice, let me start by walking over to you just as I practiced. Right, left, right, left, right, left. 

Donald Trump made for the easiest comedic fodder throughout the season. But when Kate McKinnon was at her best as Hillary Clinton, she might have been even funnier. At no point was that more clear than when “SNL” parodied the second presidential debate.“I’d like to begin tonight by attempting a casual lean,” she said at the start of the debate. In retrospect, of course, McKinnon’s depiction of a powerful woman who wants so desperately to be seen as normal proved to be more than a little spot-on. 

Bonus points for causing a Trump tweet!

3. White liberals finally realize America is racist in “Election Night” skit

Date: Nov. 12, 2016

Views: 14+ million

Signature line: 

Oh my god. I think … America is racist. 

Dave Chappelle’s turn as “SNL” host gave us a couple memorable moments, including his heartfelt monologue just days after Donald Trump’s victory and a great performance by A Tribe Called Quest. But here, white liberal America got its mirror. The sketch juxtaposed their shock and horror upon realizing their country is still racist against the reaction of Chappelle and Chris Rock, who quite literally reacted in the exact opposite way. It was a sketch that captured a particular moment in time, and did so perfectly. 

2. Black Americans and a Trump supporter find common ground on “Black Jeopardy”

Date: Oct. 22, 2016

Views: 19+ million

Signature line: 

OK, the answer there: “They out here saying that every vote counts.” Oh, Doug again. 

What is, “Come on, they already decided who wins even ’fore it happens.”

When “Black Jeopardy” popped up last October, it did something that few journalists had been able to do in years prior by tying black Americans’ concerns about the country together with the most unlikely of people: rural Trump voters. The lack of trust in powerful institutions had bottomed out, and “SNL,” of all places, was the place that zeroed in on it.  Slate called the sketch “The Most Astute Analysis of American Politics in 2016.” But just as importantly, it was funny. 

1. Melissa McCarthy debuts her Sean Spicer impression 

Date: Feb. 4, 2017

Views: 25+ million

Signature line: 

I’d like to begin today by apologizing on behalf of you to me!

With apologies to Alec Baldwin and the entire “SNL” cast, there is really no other choice here. In 20 years, Melissa McCarthy’s thunderous impression of the White House press secretary ― which was so devastating that it even bothered Trump himself ― will be the moment we remember above all others. It’s just too Spicey. 

Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Tracy Morgan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Padma Lakshmi and a whole host of other stars are teaming up for Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU. Donate now and join us at 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday, March 31 on Facebook Live. #standforrights2017 

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Source: HuffPost Black Voices

For years, Finland has been hailed as a kind of promised land for parenting, thanks to its generous leave policies, subsidized daycare and famed free “baby boxes,” that can double as safe, simple infant beds.

Now the practice of giving new parents cardboard boxes is picking up steam in this country.

Alabama announced this week that it will become the third state to offer free baby boxes to all new parents, with the goal of providing a safe sleep space and helping to lower that state’s high infant mortality rate through education.

The boxes ― distributed by the California-based company, The Baby Box Co. ― will be filled with free newborn essentials, like diapers and baby wipes, and will include a firm mattress in the bottom. They are essentially a small, cardboard bassinet.

“The Baby Box program is essential to establishing a strong understanding of proper infant care during their most vulnerable time in life,” Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said in a press release announcing the new program.

Boxes will be given to any expecting or new parents who watch a 10-minute online video about safe sleep and complete a brief quiz, and can be delivered to them directly or picked up at a designated location.

“The boxes themselves aren’t inherently magic,” The Baby Box Co.’s co-founder and CEO Jennifer Clary told The Huffington Post. “With families being required to view their community’s online curriculum through babyboxuniversity.com related to prenatal health, breastfeeding, safe sleep practices and newborn care before receiving a free Baby Box, the program takes education a step further than just providing a free box that doubles as a safe sleep space.”

In Finland ― which for decades has been the only country to offer the program ― boxes have been distributed to low-income mothers in hospitals since the 1930s, when the infant mortality rates in that country were extremely high. In 1949, the program was expanded to all mothers, and women there are now given a choice between a cash benefit of roughly 140 Euros or the baby box ― with about two-thirds of expectant women opting for the latter. 

“It has become a tradition in Finland,” Dr. Eric Eichenwald, chief of the division of neonatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Huffington Post. “It’s one of these rites of passages for families now, that they get this box.”

But experts say there are clear public health benefits associated that go well beyond simply giving new moms and dads some free stuff.

“The intent of these baby boxes is to provide a safe sleeping environment for newborns, particularly in situations where parents might not be able to afford a crib or they haven’t prepared for the baby to come home,” Eichenwald said.

There are not studies directly measuring the effect of the boxes, he said, but it is reasonable to assume that they played a role in Finland’s dramatically improved infant mortality rates because they promote safe sleeping practices.

The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents to put babies to sleep on their backs, on a firm surface without lose blankets or bedding and in their room (but not a shared bed) to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.

States like Alabama ― where the infant mortality rate is significantly higher than the national average, and where SIDS is one of the top three causes of infant deaths ― are definitely hoping that something as simple as a free cardboard box can improve outcomes. It plans to distribute up to 60,000 boxes in 2017.

Alabama follows in the footsteps of New Jersey, which announced in January that it would distribute roughly 105,000 boxes in 2017. Ohio announced earlier this month that it had also partnered with The Baby Box Co. and will distribute 140,000 baby boxes in the next year.

And Eichenwald believes other states may soon follow suit, in part because it is such a low-cost intervention.

“I think,” he said, “it has the real possibility to catch on.”

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Since President Donald Trump’s election, artists and curators have been showing up and putting in work to prove that the line between art and activism is tenuous at best. An upcoming exhibition called “No Borders” is the most recent example.

The one-day pop-up show features over 100 works by donated artists including Claes Oldenburg, Robert Longo and Victoria Burge, all of which are priced at $200 or less. All proceeds from the day’s sales will go toward the ACLU and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). 

Curator Kirsten Flaherty began organizing the event following the announcement of Trump’s executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations in February. Along with Trump’s ban, Flaherty also sought to resist the racist rhetoric vocalized by the presidential administration’s supporters around the country, as well as the surge of hate crimes and xenophobic threats sweeping the nation. 

Two months prior, Flaherty coordinated an art fundraiser to benefit the Standing Rock Medic + Healer Council as well as the Civil Liberties Defense Center, in support of those protesting at Standing Rock. In a single day, the show raised over $5,000. 

The “No Borders” exhibition provides a space for the creative community to come together, supporting one another as well as those most targeted by the current administration. “I believe,” Flaherty expressed in a statement, “as do many of the artists involved, that it is the responsibility of artists to use their visual talents in resistance to injustice and these exhibitions strive to raise vital funding while at the same time foster a sense of support among creative individuals in a difficult time.”

“No Borders” takes place Sunday, April 2, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Brooklyn’s Ground Floor Gallery. Art lovers will be hard-pressed to find an easier way to show some love to the organizations fighting to protect the rights of immigrants and refugees in this uncertain time. Also ― paying $200 for a Claes Oldenburg lithograph is just bananas, so you might want to get there early.   

Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Tracy Morgan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Padma Lakshmi and a whole host of other stars are teaming up for Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU. Donate now and join us at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, March 31, on Facebook Live. #standforrights2017 

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Source: HuffPost Black Voices

On Monday, posters featuring a new prom dress code appeared in the halls of Stanton College Prep, a public high school in Jacksonville, Florida. 

As with many dress code fiascos, the Stanton College Prep dress code flyers are both odd and sexist. Each poster features a woman in a different type of gown with the first one, featuring a sleeveless gown, reading: “Going to Stanton Prom?” At the bottom the post reads: “YES you are. Good girl.” The other three posters feature a dress with a high slit up the leg, a backless dress and a dress with a plunging neckline. Alongside each dress, school administrators wrote: “Going to Stanton Prom? No you’re not.”

Many students were not happy.

Lily Willingham, a student at Stanton College Prep, told The Huffington Post that the students’ assumed school administrators put up the posters. “There was immediate outrage due to not only to the fact that the dress code was introduced five days before prom, but also because of the sexist connotations,” Willingham said.

Willingham tweeted a photo of the posters Monday afternoon.

Beyond the fact that the flyers are blatantly sexist, the sudden announcement of a new dress code so close to prom night worried students.

Willingham noted that many girls were upset because they had already bought their prom dresses and didn’t have the time or money to buy a new one before Saturday.  

Many Stanton College Prep students and other Twitter users tweeted their outrage and concern using the hashtag #SCPGoodGirl that student body president Anthony Paul created. 

By Tuesday morning, Stanton College Prep issued an apology for the dress code and reported that the school had taken the flyers down.

“The display of prom dress photos at Stanton College Prep is not appropriate or an approved policy,” the school tweeted. “Images were removed on [Monday].” 

According to local news station Action News Jax, Stanton Prep principal told students: “Please do accept my apology for this poor delivery of information. Our intent is to make sure prom is enjoyable and memorable.”

On Monday night, student body president Anthony Paul had told students to wear purple and white colors and duct tape the female gender sign on their shirts in protest of the posters.

Since the school’s apology wasn’t made until 10 a.m. on Tuesday (during school hours), many students still wore purple and white in an awesome display of resistance against the sexist dress code. 

Below Willingham and other female Stanton College Prep students pose for a picture on Tuesday wearing purple and white in protest of the flyers.

Willingham told HuffPost she was excited to see students come together to protest the dress code. 

“It was incredibly inspiring to me to see that students voices were heard [on Tuesday] and we were able to unite as a student body to make a difference,” she said. “It also brought to light an issue affecting women all over the nation when it comes to dress code in schools as well as societies constant hyper-sexualization of females bodies so I hope bringing attention to this will cause change in not only schools but society as well.”

Scroll below to see more students who wear white and purple in solidarity. 

As Willingham told HuffPost, this event reflects a larger trend of policing women’s bodies through dress codes. 

“Unfortunately what happened here is a symptom of what is still happening to girls in this country – – this over sexualization of our bodies and emphasis on it,” she said. “Girls are made to feel responsible for what a boy ‘might do or feel’ in response to how we dress. Dress codes are grossly outdated for 2017.”

We could not agree more. 

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

This piece was originally published on AwesomelyLuvvie.com

My resistance coping tactic is to surround myself with Black women. One thing that was re-affirmed to me after November 8 is that if I can’t count on anyone else, I can ALWAYS count on Black women. So since then, I’ve enveloped myself in a blanket woven by the love of sisters. Sisters. From blood to bond.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the Black Enterprise Women of Power Conference, and I got to do one of those things that I imagine Oprah does every Tuesday in her amazing backyard, after she picks her own vegetables and pow wows with Gayle. I hosted a dinner under the stars, where 20 powerful Black women broke bread, cried a little and laughed a lot.

I partnered with the good folks of AT&T for “A Seat at Luvvie’s Table,” an intimate dinner where I invited women who I’d just love to share time with.

Honestly, it blew my mind. It’s one of those things where in the moment, you know that you are living in divine favor. The entire 2 hours was one big “wow, this is my life.” A few weeks before it happened, the team at AT&T called me and asked me what I would want to happen at a dinner party I would throw for my girls at my house. What would I want to serve? What conversation would I want to see happen? What feeling I’d want people to walk away with? My answers to those questions were more than duly noted, because everything I said, they made happen.

So on Friday evening at the BE WOP Conference, I walked to the private patio restaurant in the Arizona Grand Resort and my jaw dropped. There was a table in the middle, where roses covered the center, and there were gold place settings in front of 20 chairs that surrounded it. Every chair had a gift bag on it. In each gift bag was a copy of my book I’m Judging You, a t-shirt with that phrase on it, a JudgeyPin, and a Blerd t-shirt. There was a custom menu, where each course was named after something related to me or my book. On that menu? Seafood paella and jollof rice. Dessert? Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

All of this was surrounded by walls of greenery, and the sun was just setting as the temperature “cooled” to 78 degrees. It. Was. Perfect. I legit wanted to cry. IT WAS SO ROMANTIC.

I was wearing a black and red kaftan that I got made in Nigeria, and red glitter TOMS. I took a picture at the end of the table, and uploaded it to social media and people showed it so much love. They called it my Oprah moment. Then I realized that kaftan was what I was wearing when I met Oprah last year. BRUH. I’m telling you. Perfect.

My guests arrived between 7 and 7:15pm. Everyone had a name card, which were placed in gold frames around the table and as they sat down, my heart was bursting in glee. Everyone I invited showed up. Every one of these incredible women I wanted to be there was there.

I was sitting in between Bozoma Saint John (Head of Global Marketing for Apple Music) and Elaine Welteroth (Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue). Next to Boz was Debra Martin Chase. If her name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because she’s a real G who moves in silence. Real G as in SHE gave Shonda Rhimes her first internship in TV. And she was the producer of that “Cinderella” with Whitney and Brandy. Across the table was Nina Shaw, the attorney who represents THE BEST talent in Hollywood, including Ava DuVernay and Lupita Nyong’o. Across from me, on the other end of the table was Cynt Marshall, who heads AT&T’s global diversity initiatives. Then there was Richelle Parham, formerly Chief Marketing Officer at eBay. Morgan Debaun (CEO of Blavity), Sandra Sims-Williams (Chief Diversity Officer at Publicis Groupe), Necole Kane, Dee C. Marshall. I MEAN this table was heavy! But most importantly, it was filled with openness and love, which was kicked off with prayer.

We talked about our superpowers, our struggles and our triumphs. We talked about how difficult the climb to the top can be and how lonely it can be to be there. Many of us at the table are often the “only” in the room. We talked about how we are committed to making sure that changed. Although the food was good, I was mostly fed by the strength of these women and their companionship. I was inspired by their journeys and I was enchanted by their goodness. These women owed me nothing, but they gave me plenty. Their time, their stories, their truth. I am so thankful to them.

“A Seat at Luvvie’s Table” was an opportunity for me to be acutely aware that I’m living my dreams in villages populated by #BlackGirlMagic. It was awesome, in that way where it truly means FULL OF WONDER. And for once, I didn’t question why I was there. I just thanked the heavens for the opportunity.

And I thank(ed) AT&T profusely. What they did, in curating that dinner, was to bring together melanin pixie dust. But what they also did was LISTEN to me, and make something that was GOALS happen. They went above and beyond what I expected, and showed what a true partnership could look like. Shoutout to their team behind this, led by L. Michelle Smith, for supporting Black Girl Joy. We go together, yo.

More to come. But I’m hoping to bring more people I love and respect to my dinner table.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Last week, 17-year-old art student Lalonie proudly showed off her natural body hair in two photos on Twitter. The backlash from Twitter users to her now-viral post serves as a reminder that women are still held to a double standard when it comes to their appearances. 

Lalonie posted the photos after she was featured in a friend’s YouTube vlog, and saw that her armpit hair had inspired many angry comments. She said she wasn’t offended by the comments, but was “more shocked that in the year 2017 there were still people who were getting offended over body hair.”

“I thought about how such negative backlash could affect a girl’s self esteem and personal choices to the point where they completely let the misogyny and double standards of our society dictate their choices,” she said.

In response, she posted two photos, one of her unshaven armpits and one of her stomach, with the caption, “Body hair positivity post bc I’d never let misogynistic opinions dictate what I do with my bod.” 

“I posted that picture to let everyone know that I do what I want with my body and it’s okay for anyone else to do that too,” she told HuffPost.

Her post has since garnered more than 7,000 retweets and 19,000 favorites, as well thousands of comments ― many of which were not so supportive of Lalonie choice to celebrate her body hair. 

Lalonie called these kind of responses out for exactly what they are: misogyny.

“The fact that it went so big just shows what a big stigma there is surrounding body hair on women,” she said.

Lalonie was also quick to point out that both men and women can be participants in this misogyny.

“Misogyny is so deeply rooted in our society that is sometimes very hard to recognize,” she said. “There are so many microaggressions and double standards that are very prevalent in our society…men can post plenty of pictures of them shirtless with chest hair and armpit hair, but a girl posting a positive picture about her armpit hair and a happy trail? Absolutely unheard of!” 

Of course, her photos prompted a lot of positive feedback as well. “Men and women alike were messaging me saying that my confidence in my body hair made them feel more comfortable with their own body hair and less ashamed of having it,” she said. 

At the end of the day, Lalonie believes women should do whatever the hell they want with their own bodies and own body hair. And her reason for letting her natural body hair grow is pretty simple.

“I just do not like shaving,” she said. “That’s all there is to it.”

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

It’s a day for standing up to fear.

Police officers, local Muslim leaders and thousands of others gathered Wednesday to form a human chain on London’s Westminster Bridge, mourning the terror attack that left five people dead and dozens more wounded last week.

The bridge in central London was closed to traffic as people bowed their heads in silence. Just seven days ago, it was a scene of chaos as an attacker drove a car through a crowd of pedestrians, killing three and injuring 50 before fatally stabbing a police officer inside the gates of Parliament. Police fatally shot the suspect, Khalid Masood.

The attack bred tension and fear, reinvigorating discussions about race, religion, identity and immigration, according to reports. 

But Wednesday wasn’t a day for division.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

What makes up a song?

There are the basic elements: notes, a rhythm, melody, perhaps vocals or instrumentation of some kind. Yet the heart of a song, the inscrutable way it reaches out to listeners, unites strangers, marks a personal or collective era, is a bit harder to get at. 

With his podcast “Song Exploder,” musician Hrishikesh Hirway — who also has a podcast devoted to “The West Wing” — helps to fill out the answer. Each episode since the show’s inception in 2014 takes one track from a musician or group’s catalog and allows an artist to break down the song in his or her own words. Who’s been on it? Some bigger names include Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, U2, Metallica, DJ Shadow, Wilco and Iggy Pop, and the show’s indie-but-well-known roster could rival a Brooklyn resident’s most-played on Spotify: Grimes, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Phantogram and tUnE-yArDs.

“I wanted the show to demonstrate this idea that there’s so much going on within any song,” Hirway told The Huffington Post last month. “Normally, we hear music and it’s just the finished product. It’s just a little bit opaque; you don’t really know what’s going on or how it got there. But there are so many decisions that come from so many different places, whether it’s inspiration, or accident, or experimentation, and trial and error.”

Hirway starts each episode with a brief introduction before stepping back. You can detect the host’s hand in the well-crafted sound production — often, isolated musical elements from a given song will chime in as the artist is verbally deconstructing them. The effect is a bit like the director’s commentary on a DVD, in which you hear about the making of a project from the pros themselves. It’s accessible to both the casual listener and the ultrafan.

The idea behind this, Hirway said, was inspired in part by Benjamin Britten’s orchestral pieces designed for children. (If his name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, perhaps the score for “Moonrise Kingdom” will.)

“Benjamin Britten had those pieces for children where there were these records where they would explain what the orchestra did, what all the different sounds were, and what they were capable of,” he explained. “And there was something really nice about that. And it’s not condescending at all, it’s just like — OK, here’s what the trombone does.” By having a musician describe the decisions that led to the use of a certain instrument or lyrics, the finer points of a song take on more meaning.

The experience Hirway had while listening to Marc Maron’s podcast was another influence: “Those [comedians] he has on his show, I felt like I was immediately stepping in to like, an AP level course on something … It was intermediate or advanced stories. You were expected to kind of catch up a little bit.”

“It felt more real, because they speak to each other like they have this shared vernacular,” he continued. Listening to an artist talk about their work expands our view of their song: it transforms from a whole into a puzzle of finely arranged parts. Instead of the finished product, you consider its influences, the choices made on the way to the finished product.

Hirway’s examination of the music allows for a kind of granular, studied appreciation that feels absent in a world where, thanks to digitization, hordes of albums are always available on demand.

“There’s something very disposable about music now, and maybe music always, but especially now, where you get five seconds of an mp3 of a track, and if it doesn’t catch your ear, you move onto the next one,” he said. “It’s the flipside of the blessing of having all the music on earth at your fingertips: How do you get through all of that?”

The answer, or an answer, seems to be allowing artists to talk about the thing they love. Though Hirway said most interviews are recorded remotely, he was able to sit down in-person with Solange for her episode, where she breaks down “Cranes in the Sky,” off of 2016’s “A Seat at the Table.”

“It was especially cool for me because she made my favorite record of last year,” he said. “But really, the best thing about that was how fantastic she was as an interviewee. She really had a really clear sense of her motivation and she had a very clear memory of how the song was made.”

He recalled his favorite moment from Solange’s episode, where he asked about a certain part in the song when she sings, “I tried to cry it away,” and the backing vocals — also performed by her — respond, “Don’t you cry, baby.”

“She told this story [explaining] how that’s her mom and her two aunties singing to her,” he said. “She had this story about how her mom always gave her and Beyoncé three days. Whatever it was that they were going through, they would get two days to be miserable, and then on the third day, they had to like, wipe the tears away and get back into it. So this little moment, this one line in the song, represented to her this sense of community and family and the idea of picking yourself back up.”

“That was so beautiful, and perfectly encapsulated the kind of story and the kind of feeling that I always want from music and that I especially want from artists on the podcast.”

Download “Song Exploder” from iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform.

Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Tracy Morgan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Padma Lakshmi and a whole host of other stars are teaming up for Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU. Donate now and join us at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, March 31, on Facebook Live. #standforrights2017

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer responded to accusations of sexism and racism after he repeatedly told senior journalist April Ryan to stop shaking her head during Tuesday’s press briefing.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Spicer’s actions Tuesday, labeling the incident an example of the kind of sexism that women encounter every day. But Spicer said that Ryan was a tough reporter and he was “astonished” at the accusation. He insisted that he treats the White House correspondent no different than male colleagues in the briefing room.

“I think if you ask April, both on and off camera during the briefings, she comes up here often, we have very spirited back and forth,” Spicer said in an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. “I think that’s what makes her a tough reporter. Frankly I’m kind of astonished; I think if you look at the exchanges I have with [ABC’s] Jonathan Karl, or [NBC’s] Peter Alexander or a number of the other individuals in the press briefing room, Jim Acosta from CNN, we go back and forth all the time, rather heatedly in fact.” 

Ryan had been trying to ask how the Trump administration would revamp its image when Spicer disagreed with the premise of her question and attacked her head shaking.

“I don’t think it takes much of a search to see that we go back and forth on a lot of the things that are thrown around and April is a tough reporter that knows how to throw it out and take it back,” Spicer said. “It’s frankly demeaning  for some folks to say that she can’t take it. We went back and forth, I disagreed with her angle and the way she was coming at the question, but that’s what we do, we go back and forth. And I don’t treat one person different than the next.”

Clinton said during an appearance in San Francisco that Spicer was patronizing to Ryan, the Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks.

“Just look at all that’s happened in the last few days to women who were simply doing their job,” she said. “April Ryan, a respected journalist with unrivaled integrity, was doing her job just this afternoon in the White House press room when she was patronized and cut off trying to ask a question,” she said.

Spicer disputed that he was being patronizing.

“I have an obligation frankly, Hugh, that when someone comes in and attacks the narrative or makes accusations against the administration, to push back, and push back tough,” he said. “And I don’t look and say ‘well I’m gonna push back lighter on this person because of their gender.’ I think it’s the exact opposite of what Secretary Clinton went after and tried to say somehow it’s patronizing. No, in fact, it’s not patronizing. What it is is treating April Ryan with the same pushback that I would any other reporter in that room.”

Ryan said on MSNBC after the incident that Spicer was doing his job.

“Sean is being the White House press secretary, talking about and trying to make this administration look better than what it does right now, and unfortunately I was road kill today,” she said.

On Wednesday, Spicer gave the first question to Ryan during the briefing, and asked her how she was doing. 

“I’m fine, how are you?” Ryan replied.

“Fantastic,” Spicer said, as the press corps laughed.

This article has been updated to include the exchange at Wednesday’s briefing.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices