Tag: Black Voices

This speech to Congress was all good baby baby.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) used the House floor to pay tribute to New York rapper The Notorious B.I.G. on the 20th anniversary of his death Thursday.

The congressman began by reciting lyrics from his 1994 hit “Juicy,” before declaring how the words of the star, born Christopher Wallace and also known as Biggie Smalls, would “live on forever.”

“I’ve got the privilege of representing the district where Biggie Smalls was raised,” Jeffries said. “We know he went from negative to positive and emerged as one of the world’s most important hip hop stars.”

He described the rapper’s “rags-to-riches life story” as “the classic embodiment of the American dream.”

“Biggie Smalls is gone but he will never be forgotten,” Jeffries added. “Rest in peace, Notorious B.I.G. Where Brooklyn at?”

Wallace was just 24 years old when he was gunned down and killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on Mar. 9, 1997. The murder remains unsolved.

Watch Jeffries’ full speech in the clip above and see the music video for “Juicy” below:

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

On Thursday, a group of anonymous artists and activists dressed as MTA maintenance workers made some subtle yet powerful adjustments to the “If You See Something, Say Something” advertisements in New York subways. 

New Yorkers will immediately recognize the MTA’s iconic, orange campaign posters, which feature photos of “regular New Yorkers” like Gregg T., Jo M. and Officer Chin alongside testimonials that recount their supposed paths to becoming everyday heroes by reporting suspicious behavior from fellow passengers. 

The new campaign posters appear almost identical to the originals, but look closer and the testimonials have been changed to reflect the pressing fears stoked by our current political climate. 

“I felt like a hero reporting what I saw,” Melissa C.’s quote reads. “But what scares me more than an unattended package is an unattended politician. We have to keep an eye on how our representatives vote and hold them accountable.”

“I’m glad I was reminded to report that suspicious bag,” Jo says in her snippet. “But I wonder, when my own president uses a willing media to perpetuate a constant state of fear, who are the real terrorists and who profits off my panic?” 

The five replacement ads also feature the hashtag #Resist, and a phone number connecting to the MTA safety line. 

“I have no problem with the [original] MTA campaign,” an anonymous artist behind the subway ad remix explained in an interview with Hyperallergic. “It’s smart and it’s responsible — it was a backpack that was involved in the Boston bombing, so we should be on the lookout for suspicious bags, and I didn’t want to take that away from the ads. But to me, a campaign that’s telling you to be vigilant, but just say something when the problem’s already in front of you, is kind of useless. Let’s try to get a little bit more upstream from the problem. Where is the root of this problem?”

An artist also told Gothamist that the public intervention was inspired by President Donald Trump’s November victory. In the past few months, minorities in New York have been subject to violence and intimidation, from racist graffiti to bomb threats to fatal shootings. “I’m just more sensitive to every kind of message around me now that’s coming from a government agency,” the artist said.

Because the fake ads are technically illegal, the artists involved have elected to remain anonymous, a Gothamist reporter told The Huffington Post. And, in an effort to keep the posters circulating as long as possible, they ask the public not to disclose which subway lines they are on. 

New Yorkers, on your next Subway commute, be vigilant. Both in terms of the safety of your fellow commuters and the potential for compelling activist art. 

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aldis Hodge believe WGN’s “Underground” can provide an important lesson about fighting societal injustices today.

The show follows a group of enslaved men and women, led by Harriet Tubman, as they navigate the Underground to freedom. Smollett-Bell and Hodge, who star as Rosalee and Noah, appeared at AOL Build to discuss the new season, which premiered Wednesday.

The actors told host Jacques Morel that, though the story is set in the Antebellum period, many of the themes resonate today. Hodge said that his character’s struggle to find freedom has similarities to the issues black people and other marginalized communities currently face.

“We’re still dealing with trying to find our value and walk in our value,” Hodge said. “[T]he enslaved Americans, this is what they fought for and fought through for a long, long time. How do we see ourselves as valuable when the world is telling us we’re not?”

The actors said the show’s themes related to identity are what makes the story so important. Smollett-Bell compared the plight of the characters in “Underground” to the moral duty Americans have to fight for equality in 2017.

“We all are capable of just living in our comfort zones when issues don’t affect us,” she said. “So you have the abolitionists in the north where you can argue the issue really didn’t affect them but it affected their conscious, it affected their values, their morals.”

Smollett-Bell reminded the audience that the slaves who rebelled put their life on the line, but the biggest thing people are asked to do today, is show up.

“We can ask ourselves nowadays ― obviously, with so many issues that affect us and so many issues that don’t affect us, that affect our Muslim brothers and sisters, our LGBT brothers and sisters ― where are we gonna stand in these battles? Where is history gonna say we stood? You wanna be standing on the right side of history,” she said.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Surprise, surprise: Many of President Donald Trump’s comments about women pair quite well with sexist vintage advertisements. 

A new project by Syrian artist Saint Hoax reimagines some of Trump’s thoughts about women as slogans on old print advertisements. The series, titled “Make America Misogynistic Again,” highlights how easy it would be to confuse the president’s thoughts about women with sexist commentary from more than half a century ago. 

Saint Hoax said he was initially doing research for a different project, when he stumbled upon vintage sexist advertisements and was inspired to create “Make America Misogynistic Again.” 

“I decided to match the visuals with sexist Trump quotes and show them to my friends without actually telling them where I got the quotes from,” he told The Huffington Post. “I told them that these were the actual advertisements that were published in the 1950s and ‘60s and they believed it. When I revealed the truth, they were in complete shock.” 

There should be a stark contrast between sexist ads from 70 ago and our current president’s comments, but there isn’t. Trump’s now-infamous remarks about grabbing women “by the pussy,” and how “you have to treat [women] like shit” pair alarmingly well with ads that depict a husband spanking his wife, or a woman as an actual rug with a man standing on top of her. 

“The way women are represented in the media has shifted drastically since these advertisements were initially published,” Saint Hoax said. “Sadly, Donald Trump is trying to take America back to the ‘Mad Men’ era. I’m hoping that these posters would make people realize that Trump’s ‘locker room talk’ is extremely dangerous.”  

Scroll below to see all of the prints from Saint Hoax’s “Make America Misogynistic Again.” 

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

In late February, Yvonne Lin, a product designer who is currently about eight months pregnant, was riding the New York subway when a man got up to give her his seat. What that man didn’t know, was that he was the first man to offer Lin a seat throughout her two pregnancies. He also had no idea she had been carrying a trophy in her bag during her last trimester, ready for this exact occasion.

During her first pregnancy, Lin carried around “some Papyrus card” with the word “Congratulations” on the inside to give to the first man who offered her a subway seat. She told The Huffington Post she never got to use it. During her second pregnancy, she upped her game and bought a customized trophy with the words “#1 DECENT DUDE, First Man to Offer Subway Seat to Pregnant Woman throughout Two Pregnancies” on it. 

Lin told The Huffington Post that she bought a 7-inch trophy so it would be “big enough to make an impact, but small enough to fit in [her] work bag.”

Lin said that she dressed to “look as pregnant as possible” and that she commutes close to two hours on the subway every day from Washington Heights. She added that she gets seats from women while she’s pregnant “fairly often,” but never from men. 

That changed when Ricky Barksdale offered his seat.

“He was staring at his phone,” Lin said. “He looked up and looked around and was like, ‘Holy crap, you’re pregnant! You need to have a seat.’”

Lin then gave him his trophy.

Barksdale, an army veteran and stuntman, said he chuckled when he first saw it. The dad of two thought it was a joke, but realized what Lin meant after he read what was on the trophy.

“It was a nice gesture of her, but it’s also sad for my male counterparts to allow something like this to happen,” he told HuffPost, adding, “If you clearly see a visible pregnant woman, you’re okay to stand up. She needs that more than you.”

Lin posted a photo of Barksdale and the trophy on her Instagram on Feb. 28. She didn’t get his name during their subway encounter, but as sites like DNA Info and Mashable began picking up the story, someone recognized Barksdale. The two are now in touch on Instagram.

Lin learned about his veteran and stuntman background and called him a “real life superhero.” Barksdale hopes the story will encourage others to offer their seats to people who need them. 

“I just hope that this story motivates others to do the right thing,” he said. “Whether they’re pregnant, disabled, elderly, just do the right thing and be a decent human being.”

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

In 2014, Maryland Judge Robert Nalley ordered bailiffs to use a stun gun on a man in his courtroom via a device strapped to his ankle.

The man, Delvon King, had spoken out of turn ― an affront Nalley deemed worthy of 50,000 volts of electricity that left King screaming in agony on the ground, writhing in pain.

On Monday, nearly a year after the former Maryland Circuit Court judge pled guilty to a misdemeanor civil rights charge and was sentenced to one year of probation for his conduct, King filed suit against Nalley, who is now retired.

Under his earlier plea deal, Nalley agreed to acknowledge “that the use of the stun cuff was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances.” He never apologized to King, who was seated close by during the sentencing, or referenced his name, The Washington Post noted at the time.

The court fined Nalley $5,000 in March 2016 ― a far cry short of the $5 million King is seeking in his suit ― and ordered he take anger management classes.

A judge can only take this type of measure if the litigant is a danger to those in the court room.
King’s lawyer, Steve Silverman

“A judge can only take this type of measure if the litigant is a danger to those in the court room,” one of King’s lawyers, Steve Silverman, told The Huffington Post in an email Thursday. “Judges are not allowed to arbitrarily electrocute litigants. That is why the judge was convicted of a federal civil rights crime.”

A video of the original encounter opens with King, who was representing himself in court, reading a prewritten argument before the judge. Nalley, apparently agitated by the argument, asks him to stop twice in quick succession.

Seconds later, he addresses the bailiff instead: “Mr. Sheriff, do it,” he says, referring to the “stun-cuff” device strapped to King’s ankle. “Use it.”

The sheriff pulls back a chair that King would have fallen into, then activates the stun gun via remote control.

A rapid clicking emanates from device as King’s body stiffens and he falls to the floor in fetal position, yelling in pain. As the screams continue, the judge announces he’ll take a five-minute break.

Had the sheriff refused to use the stun gun on the defendant “he would have been subject to contempt of court or fired,” Silverman told HuffPost.

There’s little doubt the pain is real, says HuffPost reporter Andy Campbell, who volunteered to have a stun gun used on him as part of an assignment for a different publication. 

“The pain is excruciating, and I can imagine that getting a shock like that, relatively unexpectedly, would hurt a hell of a lot more,” he said. “The pain of that shock being executed by someone who doesn’t have authority to do so would be lifelong.”

Campbell noted, in his experience, the sheriff and sheriff’s deputies all had to be personally shocked by a stun gun before they themselves were authorized to use one.

“If this judge has an ounce of dignity, he’ll subject himself to a good ol’ fashioned illegal courtroom tasing himself,” he said.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

This post contains major plot spoilers for the film “Get Out.”

Allison Williams, while making the rounds for Jordan Peele’s psychological thriller “Get Out,” has been as tight-lipped about the film’s twists as one might expect. Williams plays Rose, the white girlfriend of main character Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) who invites him home to meet her family, where events take a dark turn.

But she hasn’t just been hiding the dramatic plot of the movie from the public.

“I’ve also been completely lying to my friends and family about the premise of the movie ― for almost two years now,” she told The Huffington Post during an appearance on the “Here to Make Friends” podcast. “When my friends asked me what it was about ― this is how I said it in press, too; I basically did press as Rose, which doesn’t help the suspicion that I might just actually be a psychopath in real life ― I basically said, I bring my black boyfriend home to meet my parents, I assume they’re going to be totally cool with it, and then when he gets there, things start to go weird, and then it quickly becomes us against the world, and I have to choose between my family and my boyfriend.”

“Literally people I’ve known for my entire life, I was like, this is the premise of the movie… and then they’d get out of the movie, and they’re like: ‘I have to talk to you for two reasons. One, our friendship is over. Two, I loved the movie.’”

As those who’ve seen “Get Out” realize, Williams’s spoiler-free summary leaves out a major turning point in the film: when Chris, and the audience, realize that Rose is in on her family’s malevolent scheme to lure young black men to their home, hypnotize and entrap them, and transplant white clients’ brains into their victims’ bodies. Her charming, “woke” persona has all been a pitch-perfect performance, carefully geared to specifically appeal to her thoughtful, artistic boyfriend’s needs. 

Williams told HuffPost that she’d already been sold on the script by the time Rose appeared on-screen for the first time. The opening scene follows LaKeith Stanfield as a young black man walking alone in a white suburb, a scene Williams pointed out is reminiscent of the shocking killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012. “After I read that scene, I was like, ‘I don’t really care who Rose is, I definitely want to be in this movie,’” she said. 

She, like many in the audience, was caught by surprise when she first encountered her character’s psychotic turn. “I was reading the script, and I was like, ‘Rose seems great! She seems totally fine,’” she admitted, laughing. “Then I got to the end and I was like, ‘Now I have to play her. This bitch is crazy.’”

“A lot of white people don’t see it coming,” Williams told HuffPost. “And then they try to talk themselves out of it. ‘Maybe she’s been hypnotized too.’”

Check out Allison Williams’ full interview with Here to Make Friends on the podcast ― the discussion of “Get Out,” which is spoiler-heavy, starts at about the 40-minute mark:

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

There’s a scene from Jordan Peele’s new social thriller “Get Out” that’s hard to forget.

If you have seen the movie, it’s that scene.

Warning: Mild “Get Out” spoilers below.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s a brief scene in which the family’s groundskeeper comes barreling out of the woods toward the movie’s protagonist, and it’s terrifying.

On March 7, the film’s official twitter page decided to tweet a #GetOutChallenge to its followers:

The challenge asks fans to recreate the scene. And people have stepped up to the plate … and it’s kind of hilarious.

Now if only they’d make a Get Out Challenge for that creepy Froot Loops scene.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

In less than two months, a 12-year-old in New York has used her creative talent to raise more than $2,000 for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Sasha Matthews started her “Everyday Superheroes” project a little more than a month ago to raise money for the ACLU. She has been accepting commissions from people who want to be drawn as “everyday superheroes” based on their jobs or hobbies.

Sasha first drew her dad, photographer Scott Matthews, as a superhero. He spread the word on Facebook, and now the 12-year-old has completed 36 drawings and raised $2,298 for her project.

Sasha, who already has three published comic books under her belt, started this project as a response to President Trump, but explained that its purpose is also “to make people feel powerful.”

“I started doing ‘Everyday Superheroes’ as a Trump protest kind of thing, but it could really be about anything, any current event that you feel upset about,” she said. “People are feeling kind of sad and kind of powerless about a lot of different stuff, so drawing people as everyday superheroes means that they don’t have literal superpowers, just superpowers that are everyday ― like somebody was a baker, somebody really liked music.”

Sasha, whose superhero work was first featured on West Side Rag, encourages the people requesting a drawing to pay what they want. Most give between $50 and $100. Before she can create the drawings, Sasha asks people to send a photo of themselves or of the person (and sometimes pet) she is supposed to draw. She also asks them to answer three questions: “What are three of your favorite colors?” as well as “What is your special job, interest or hobby?” and “How do you feel about capes?” The second one is the most important so she can come up with their superpower. 

“For example, there was this person who really liked rock music and was a tambourine player so for that I searched ‘rock icon’ and ‘tambourine’ and I based the whole drawing off that question,” she said.

All proceeds from Sasha’s drawings will go to the ACLU. She told HuffPost it’s important to support organizations that fight for people’s rights. 

“I think it’s important because these types of organizations, and not just the ACLU, any organization that supports people’s rights and kind of gives people legal protection and better lives ― it’s important to donate to them and help those types of organizations succeed,” she said.

The ACLU shared some of Sasha’s creations on Instagram on March 2 to thank her for her donation. Liz FitzGerald, a spokesperson from the ACLU, told HuffPost that Sasha is proof that anyone can help fight for others’ rights. 

“We love this project because it shows that everyone has a role to play in fighting for our rights, not just lawyers who work at the ACLU,” she said. “Using her unique talents, Sasha has helped to educate people about the ACLU, raise money to support our work and remind all of us that heroes are among us every day. We’re thrilled that Sasha is standing with us.”

Scott, Sasha’s father, told HuffPost that George O’Connor, author and illustrator of the series Olympians, inspired Sasha’s project. He, too, is using art to raise money for the ACLU. Scott also mentioned that each drawing takes his daughter one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours. She “works really hard,” though, and is happy to take on more commissions. He told HuffPost he’s proud of his daughter for bringing some positivity to the world, especially the internet. 

“It just seems to make people happy, it seems to make people feel good,” he said. 

See more of Sasha’s “Everyday Superheroes” art below. For more of her work, head to her Facebook, Twitter or her site. Captions below were taken from her site.

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices

Diddy is set to make his mark at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival with the premiere of his new documentary, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: The Bad Boy Story.”

The film, directed by Daniel Kaufman, will explore the record label’s journey from its humble beginnings in New York to years of chart-topping success and influence on entertainment and fashion, according to Billboard. The introspective docu-flick will also feature rehearsal footage from the label’s special two-night reunion concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2016. 

“I am blessed to be introducing our film at the Tribeca Film Festival,” Diddy said in a statement sent to Billboard. “Tribeca brings the biggest names in entertainment and culture together with visionaries from across industries to celebrate the power of storytelling. There is no better place to share the story behind the Bad Boy movement and this unprecedented musical event.”

The collective’s sold-out two-night performance, which led to a 24-city tour, celebrated the label’s 20 years of hit music, and featured former Bad Boy artists Ma$e, Faith Evans, The LOX, Total, 112, as well as special guests.

The announcement of “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: The Bad Boy Story” follows the development of a separate as-yet-untitled documentary highlighting the struggles of Combs’ production super group, The Hitmen. 

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Source: HuffPost Black Voices