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The Black Culture Thread

I'm from Louisiana and went to an all black school located on the campus of an HBCU.........black history was drilled into my head all through grade school. Still surprising to see black folk that have never heard of Juneteenth.
 
Black Republican said:
my brothas, any wrestling fans? natalya sure does have a phatty for a white girl, must be the Canadian water, id hit that shit so hard.
I'm a part of WrestleGAF. There's a few other of us brothers that frequent the Wrasslin thread.

We need more sistas in the industry. All we have right now is Alicia Fox, whom is a beauty, but more would be great.
 
I've heard of Juneteenth a while back from one of the ladies that used to mentor me and my brothers at a Boys and Girls Club years ago. I's been a while since I've heard of it though.
EDIT: Why am I not surprised that Alabama doesn't recognize it as a holiday?
 

Londa

Banned
Just got White Knight Chronicles. Does anyone have this game? I wonder if you can have friends play in your party..
 
spindashing said:
I'm a part of WrestleGAF. There's a few other of us brothers that frequent the Wrasslin thread.

We need more sistas in the industry. All we have right now is Alicia Fox, whom is a beauty, but more would be great.

I don't follow it that strongly, but I'll watch it every now and again.

Did you watch Tough Enough? Ya know, she didn't win, but Cristina really surprised me (And from the way they edited it, the judges as well). I thought she was going to be one of the first to get the boot, but she stuck in there for awhile. If she had better mic skills, who knows.
 
Kitschkraft said:
I don't follow it that strongly, but I'll watch it every now and again.

Did you watch Tough Enough? Ya know, she didn't win, but Cristina really surprised me (And from the way they edited it, the judges as well). I thought she was going to be one of the first to get the boot, but she stuck in there for awhile. If she had better mic skills, who knows.
Yeah! Christina was my diva favorite aside from her cheery mic skills. I'm surprised she went so far as well.

She's actually Alicia Fox's little sister but they make no mention to their relationship.

Ironic that the first diva to leave was a black girl and the last diva to leave was also a black girl.
 
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/04/post_56.html

April 18, Detroit Free Press:"The scientific evidence conclusively proves that this man is innocent," clinic codirector David Moran said of Vinson, a former Detroiter who has spent 25 years in prison.

Moran said Vinson, 56, is the victim of a flawed forensic test and that more recent tests rule him out as a suspect.

But the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office opposes the request because the girl identified Vinson as her attacker.

"Science does not trump the testimony of individuals," Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Marilyn Eisenbraun said in court documents. She wouldn't discuss the case.

As the story details, Vinson was convicted in 1986 for raping a 9-year-old girl, although he and his parents said he was at home at the time the crime occurred. Despite their testimony, a technician at the Detroit Crime Lab claimed that, because because his blood antigens don't show up in bodily fluid, Vinson couldn't be ruled out as a suspect. He was sentenced to 10 to 50 years.

When DNA testing emerged, Vinson pushed in 1991 to have the child's sheets analyzed for semen stains. Fifteen years later, he found out the sheets were destroyed.

But a test in 2009 proved that, contrary to earlier beliefs, Vinson's blood antigens do indeed show up in bodily fluids. Given that, the sheets would've contained clear evidence of his presence had he raped the child.


Eye witness testimony which is prone to bias and faulty human memory > empirical data

ugh. Stories like that ruin my god damn day.
 

Lebron

Member
Being a Foresnic Chemist, those type of stories always make me face palm. The amount of steps needed to overturn shit like that is pretty amazing. Just getting the evidence retested is a pain in the ass, especially if you're a minority or poor. The Supreme Court basically says once convicted you can go fuck yourself. One of the reasons why I'll probably assist the Innocence Project later down the road.
 

DominoKid

Member
eternaLightness said:
You guys remember when (throwback)jerseys were in style? I saw my C Webb Kings jersey and had flash backs.

Jerseys are still fly, just can't rock em everyday like the old days. I wish they'd stop putting the jerseys with length extensions out. Who the fuck wears a length+4?
 

Cedric

Member
Alright, shouldn't be posting this since I usually bash WSHH but this stuff was posted on facebook and thought a collective SMH was needed:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhIw7Pv592I65zmR2T

There's a tatted up/pierced 6th grader in my city that acts just like this. Was chilling with my friend and after trying to pick a fight he supposedly called us niggers (didn't hear it myself but wouldn't be surprised) yet I really couldn't do shit.
 
Cedric said:
Alright, shouldn't be posting this since I usually bash WSHH but this stuff was posted on facebook and thought a collective SMH was needed:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhIw7Pv592I65zmR2T

There's a tatted up/pierced 6th grader in my city that acts just like this. Was chilling with my friend and after trying to pick a fight he supposedly called us niggers (didn't hear it myself but wouldn't be surprised) yet I really couldn't do shit.
Yeah, I saw the same video posted by a friend on facebook. Although I laughed I couldn't help but shake my head.

I remember walking out of campus and in front of me were these three white kids. They couldn't be a day older than 15 and they were talking like that. I wasn't sure if I should have said something but that shit was hilarious. They were rocking Yankee fitteds and all kinds of baggy clothing...
 

Londa

Banned
That isn't a webcam that is a youtube video. LMAO

the video would have been better if they were actually talking live.
 

Air

Banned
Cedric said:
Alright, shouldn't be posting this since I usually bash WSHH but this stuff was posted on facebook and thought a collective SMH was needed:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhIw7Pv592I65zmR2T

There's a tatted up/pierced 6th grader in my city that acts just like this. Was chilling with my friend and after trying to pick a fight he supposedly called us niggers (didn't hear it myself but wouldn't be surprised) yet I really couldn't do shit.


I couldn't last more than 40 seconds.
 

Cedric

Member
I couldn't last the whole video either.

Little anecdote, I was waiting at the bus stop, dressed normally no cap or nothing just a short and a t-shirt and I saw a class of children I'm guessing around 5th grade pass by. So I was on my phone dping nothing in particular when one little kid looks at me and does a little hand gesture while saying: "Oh gangstaa" and then laughed it off as the class continued their way.

Obviously I didn't say anything, I just stayed there minding my own buisness. Thing is though, I hate how just by looking at a black dude the first thing that came to his mind was "gangsters" and rap hand gestures...
 

Dabanton

Member
Well that is the predominant image of black males in the US that is beamed everywhere gangsters and hoods. It's made a select group of people very rich selling those images and actions but it has done innumerable damage to the image of the black male worldwide ,it's kind of shameful that things are reduced to this, almost a punchline.
 
Dabanton said:
Well that is the predominant image of black males in the US that is beamed everywhere gangsters and hoods. It's made a select group of people very rich selling those images and actions but it has done innumerable damage to the image of the black male worldwide ,it's kind of shameful that things are reduced to this, almost a punchline.

+2
 

PBY

Banned
http://vimeo.com/23099770

Posted this in the Hip Hop thread- very cool documentary about hip hop production, but in a much broader, cultural/musical sense. Heres the description:
"Filmed and Directed by Pritt Kalsi. Here is the full film KOTB NYC 2010 featuring Casanova Rud, Minnesota Money Boss, Psycho Les and TR Love from the Ultramagnetic M.C's.

This is a film about cultural preservation. Digging Culture, Vinyl culture, Hip Hop culture. In this film some of Hip Hop greatest producers take on the challenge of digging in the crates with a budget of only $40 to find drums and grooves to sample to produce a beat.

this film gives you an insight in to the minds of how a hip hop producer works. what sounds inspire them. this is their passion.

As a film maker Pritt makes no money from his films. All he asks is that support his work by visiting the site and purchasing a record or t-shirt. this is so that Pritt can continue to make these films.

The first single from this film is by Beatnuts Producer Psycho Les, only 300 pressed. support good hip hop. support a culture and movement. thankyou and enjoy."

Very cool stories and perspectives
 

Cedric

Member
Dabanton said:
Well that is the predominant image of black males in the US that is beamed everywhere gangsters and hoods. It's made a select group of people very rich selling those images and actions but it has done innumerable damage to the image of the black male worldwide ,it's kind of shameful that things are reduced to this, almost a punchline.

Yeah, definitely. What sucks even more is that the kid was around 8-9-10 and I live in Canada. If that stereotype's already engraved in his head then something's wrong.
 

Veidt

Blasphemer who refuses to accept bagged milk as his personal savior
Worst is how this affects black people themselves. Tv represents what people should want to strive to become. And for black males, it's the violent, abusive, good for nothing model. So you will see young black males being programmed to want to attain these things. While more emphasis is placed on heroism, individualism, intellectual stimulation for young white males.

I'm glad I had my initial few years of growing up, in world far removed from the one we're living in now. Where being black is the norm, and not something that defines you in regards to your surroundings.

Sometimes, I feel really bad for my fellow brown skinned people having to live in a socio-economic environment, that has historically denied them their heritage, sense of pride about themselves, and a sense of distinction in regards to who they are.

The reality is that black people are treated differently. In all places and regions. Because black people have historically never conquered lands farther than the middle-east. They had no incentive to do so, as the land itself is an abundance of provision and luxury.
So when one group conquers the world out of necessity; Their ways of thinking are adopted by all of those who have been conquered.

Don't be mistaken, there have been more African nations left unconquered, than have been, for instance, Asian countries unconquered.

What history is forcing us to think is that Africans should have gone farther than the middle-east and established an image of the black race as conquerors; instead of people living in luxury to be envied and despised for it. But eh, I suppose being punished for not caring about things you don't need, is not bad in and of itself.
 
i've never been in this thread before, but just wanted to say how damn excited i am to be going to Hampton University this fall. Shit will be crazy
 

Parallax

best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
Cedric said:
Alright, shouldn't be posting this since I usually bash WSHH but this stuff was posted on facebook and thought a collective SMH was needed:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhIw7Pv592I65zmR2T

There's a tatted up/pierced 6th grader in my city that acts just like this. Was chilling with my friend and after trying to pick a fight he supposedly called us niggers (didn't hear it myself but wouldn't be surprised) yet I really couldn't do shit.

wow. my mind is all fucked up. is this video for real? his acting is beyond disturbing.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I'm mostly a lurker, but I believe that Black-GAF will like this little doc about the Kaffir culture.

As some of you may know, kaffir is a derogatory term for black people that is a big no-no in South Africa, but also the name of a small community of black Sri Lankans originating from the days of the Portuguese empire. I think it's worth checking out.

Historians say that the Kaffirs of Sri Lanka started arriving from the eastern shores of Africa in the 1500s with the Portuguese, and later in more waves with the different colonizers of Sri Lanka.

'Kaffir culture' is a video portrait of one such community of Kaffirs and the struggle to keep their culture alive in the face of falling numbers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Kaffir_people
 

Imm0rt4l

Member
Funky Papa said:
I'm mostly a lurker, but I believe that Black-GAF will like this little doc about the Kaffir culture.

As some of you may know, kaffir is a derogatory term for black people that is a big no-no in South Africa, but also the name of a small community of black Sri Lankans originating from the days of the Portuguese empire. I think it's worth checking out.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Kaffir_people

yea, saw when you posted this in the other thread, nice little documentary. I have a lot of sri lankan friends, didn't know that their are African minorities there. It's disconcerting to hear that they identify with kaffir though.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Imm0rt4l said:
yea, saw when you posted this in the other thread, nice little documentary. I have a lot of sri lankan friends, didn't know that their are African minorities there. It's disconcerting to hear that they identify with kaffir though.
Kaffir is one of those words with quite a bit of history.

The word is derived from the Arabic/Islamic term Kafir, which means 'disbeliever' or literally, 'one who covers the truth'.[1] Portuguese explorers used the term generally to describe tribes they encountered in southern Africa, probably having misunderstood its etymology from Muslim traders along the coast. European colonists subsequently continued its use.[2] Although it was in wide use between the 16th and 19th centuries, and not generally seen as an offensive term, as racial tensions increased in 20th century South Africa and the surrounding countries, it became a term of abuse.

The word was used in English, Dutch and, later, Afrikaans, from the 16th century to the early 20th century as a general term for several different peoples of southern Africa. In Portuguese the equivalent cafre was used.
Cafre is still used in Portugal and Spain, although it has lost any racial meaning and now only stands for brute or uncultured.
 

Veidt

Blasphemer who refuses to accept bagged milk as his personal savior
What a strange thing.
When the arabs would go to Africa, they would divide the land into fellow Muslims and Kufar.
So when the Portuguese went to east-africa- ( They tried to conquer Somalia, but failed.)- they encountered a thing where other Africans were doing the same; referring to Non-Muslims, as non-believers. But not having a word for the people south of the equator, they just kept going with it. But somehow, they've found a way to give the word a racial connotation. lol
 

Bleepey

Member
http://www.urbanfaith.com/2011/06/single-moms-are-not-fathers.html/

I have an idea for a good Father’s Day present: a Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Inside is the definition for father:

A man who has begotten a child.
A male PARENT.
A father-in-law, stepfather, or adoptive father.
I would give the dictionary to deadbeat dads, but I’d also give it to those being duped into honoring single mom’s on Father’s Day.

The gift idea came while I was in Wal-Mart to buy a card for my dad. My wife, as she shook her head sadly, pointed to the category “Happy Father’s Day, Mom” in the Mahogany section. Mahogany is Hallmark’s brand for African Americans. I looked through the general Father’s Day card section, but couldn’t find the “mom” category.
Hmmm.......
 

Veidt

Blasphemer who refuses to accept bagged milk as his personal savior
A somali sister on gaf. my god, the world is ending isn't it?
Suddenly, gaf isn't as lonely as it was before.
 

ikkemenx

Member
I'll be pleased to inform you that I have a number of close Somali, female friends who are gamers and about as nerdy as myself. ^^
 

Equus Bellator Apex

Junior Member
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...war-against-popular-hip-hop-sites-blogs.shtml

A few weeks ago, leading ad firm GroupM, a part of marketing giant WPP, proudly announced that it had "adopted an aggressive new anti-piracy policy" for its digital media buys. What that meant was that it prohibited vendors that it worked with from putting ads on any of a giant list of sites that it had declared were "pirate sites" -- defined as "sites that support piracy or contain any illegally distributed content." That's pretty broad. In fact, TorrentFreak got their hands on the list and noted many rather bizarre entries, including the Internet Archive (archive.org) and BitTorrent's corporate page -- neither of which have anything to do with "piracy" at all. There are some other shockers on the list, including the popular web video site/YouTube alternative, Vimeo, which is about as far from a "pirate" site as you can find. Stunningly, there's also SoundCloud, which has become one of the most popular tools for musicians to promote their own music these days. That's the site where the Beastie Boys streamed their latest album. A pirate site? Are they crazy? You can see the full list embedded below.

While there are many oddities on the list, we wanted to explore one aspect of the list, which is that it appears to show that Universal Music has decided to declare war on the online hip hop ecosystem that promotes its music in a big way -- and some of those sites are hitting back. First of all, it's worth noting that these blogs and sites are considered instrumental to promotion in the hip hop world, and Universal Music knows that. In talking to some of the folks at sites involved, you learn pretty quickly that they get sent tracks and other promotional info from insiders at Universal Music -- including high level execs -- all of the time. On top of that, hip hop artists themselves regularly rely on these same sites, and link people to them via their own blogs and twitter feeds. And yet, a whole bunch of these sites are on GroupM's list... and they got there because Universal Music told GroupM to put those sites on the list:

GroupM's own content producing clients -- such as Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal Music and Summit Entertainment, which produced the popular Twilight series of vampire movies -- have shared their own lists of pirate websites to help create a master copy.

While I don't know which of those companies may be responsible for some of the other headscratchers on the list, the attack on hip hop sites is being pinned squarely on Universal Music by many of the sites involved, and they're not happy. Among those on the list, for example, is Vibe.com, the online site for Vibe Magazine, founded by Quincy Jones of all people, and still considered one of the key sources for news and information about the hip hop and R&B worlds. And yet it's on the list as a pirate site? Really?

Back in 2009, Vibe produced a big list of the "50 hottest rap blogs." This is basically a who's who list of the top sites in hip hop, and the places that most music producers want to see their music appearing, because it's how they get attention these days. Yet, if you run down that list, you start to notice a pattern. An awful lot of those sites are on GroupM's "banned" list. I went through the top 12 sites on that list, and seven of them are "banned" as piracy sites, despite being some of the most popular promotional vehicles for artists and labels alike. Also, a bunch of the top hip hop blogs teamed up a while back to form what was called the New Music Cartel -- and every one of those sites is on the "banned" list.

And, of course, that Vibe list is a couple years old. There are plenty of other top music/hip hop sites that for unclear reasons were also put on the list, and they're not happy about it. For example, there's Complex, an up-and-coming and incredibly popular lifestyle magazine for the 18-34 male demographic. Somehow, they're on the list, and the magazine/site's editor-in-chief recently took his frustration to Twitter, calling out Universal Music and saying this means Universal Music will get less coverage

Other sites on the list are similarly pissed, though not everyone's willing to talk about it publicly. The ones who should be angry are the musicians who rely on these sites to get their works heard, to build up a fan base, and to become popular, because Universal Music is making that more difficult for them. There are mixed opinions as to why Universal Music is attacking the hip hop blog ecosystem. There's the "left hand/right hand" ignorance theory, in which the lawyers at Universal Music who helped put together this list are so disconnected from reality that they don't realize they're trying to shut down the very sites that the promotions side of the business (and the artists themselves) rely on. There's also the more nefarious theory that Universal Music is sick of having to rely on such sites for promotions, and is seeking to shut down a bunch of them to limit where it can focus its promotions efforts -- perhaps even trying to prop up a few "friendly" sites that it wants to rule the market, over the competition.

Either way, this seems like more evidence of how ridiculous it is to claim it's easy to define "rogue sites." Given the chance, it looks like Universal Music has defined it as sites it doesn't like. The fact that this list includes all sorts of sites that clearly are not piracy sites should give anyone who supports bills like PROTECT IP pause. Defenders of these laws like to say that it's obvious what is and what is not a rogue site -- yet here you have Universal Music and GroupM showing how that definition can be quite broad, and extremely questionable.

No matter what, it seems likely that this move is going to backfire on Universal Music in a big bad way. It's like what would have happened if a record label suddenly declared radio as "piracy" and said that its artists couldn't appear on radio any more. It suggests a company so out of touch with how people find out about new music these days that it has no business being in the business of promoting artists. It also should serve as a warning sign to any artist thinking of signing with Universal Music. Why would you sign to a label that is actively working to kill some of the best sites for promoting your music? I reached out to Universal Music, asking for some comments and answers to a few questions raised in this article, and (not surprisingly) have heard absolutely nothing in response.
 

Veidt

Blasphemer who refuses to accept bagged milk as his personal savior
ikkemenx said:
I'll be pleased to inform you that I have a number of close Somali, female friends who are gamers and about as nerdy as myself. ^^
And I am pleased to hear this.
 

Londa

Banned
welcome ikkemenx! I loved your experiences and I loved reading your entire post.

We both have something in common when it comes to liking art. :)

ikkemenx said:
I'll be pleased to inform you that I have a number of close Somali, female friends who are gamers and about as nerdy as myself. ^^

It boggles my mind when people are shocked that a girl plays games because I know plenty of females that do.
 
Had a good laugh reading this at work.

Amos and Andy and The Book of Mormon

The creators of the play Book of Mormon have created the Amos and Andy for the South Park set. We may laugh, but our grandchildren will shudder as decent folk do at “wits” of the last century whose favorite dance was to “jump Jim Crow.”
The parts of the Book of Mormon I have seen are as innovative as a Newsies revival and as funny as the cruel, tasteless jokes told by an inebriated coworker at a Christmas party. The difference is that the coworker might sober up in the morning, but the mindless mockery that also gave us South Park will continue.
After all, the theater establishment toasted the two with Tony’s and the insiders would never cheapen themselves by rewarding a play for picking on a minority religion loathed in the theater community or behave like decadent Romans horrified by a growing moral minority comforting the libertines by mocking the moral.
I cannot know for sure without seeing the entire play.
If we assume the play a brilliant satire with PR unfortunate enough to release only the cruel and facile bits, then we are still left with two unfortunate truths about this play. First, the writers are cowards. They inflict pain and mockery on those already despised while going soft on the tired assumptions of their rich and powerful patrons. Second, in a pluralistic society they have targeted a group already misunderstood and discriminated against.
I am no Mormon, but I have witnessed bigotry and ignorance directed against this American community. The LDS Church is placed in the difficult position of seeing their most sacred beliefs mocked in a nation that murdered their prophet in a shameful lynching. Broadway has given aid and comfort to the mob of ignorant folk who know nothing of modern Mormonism outside of their prejudices.
No wonder Mormon politicians like Jon Huntsman, bob and weave when asked by bigots if they are part of the LDS church. Few of us have the Mitt Romney courage to stand by our people when the cost is high. For his steadfastness, Romney was linked to the play in a Newsweek parody cover that left only his profile, but a profile in religious courage.
I write this in Istanbul, a city awash in lies told about religious minorities by powerful interests. Here Christians and Jews face “amusing” pop cultural stereotypes, some quite clever, but a wicked cleverness that feeds hatreds. Against this my Turkish friends fight for a respect that goes “beyond tolerance” and voluntarily restrain themselves from inciting prejudice to score cheap gains. It is the only hope for a peaceful republican future for this land.
The same is true for the United States. Theater has an ugly record of pandering to the prejudices of ticket buyers. Minstrel shows produced catchy music and made New Yorkers laugh, but they were shameful and wrong.
The Book of Mormon is a minstrel show for our present age with Mormons as the joke.
Ugly plays did not by themselves produce the Klan or keep some Americans from voting for African-Americans. Original sin was enough for that, but minstrel shows did give racism an artistic and comedic whitewash. When Americans were hurt by the cruel stereotypes, they were told it was “just a joke” and were painted as petty for not laughing along.
Of course no group has been as cruelly treated as African-Americans, but Mormons have a history of being persecuted. They have been exiled in their own land, but have returned unfailing devotion to our Constitution.
This new play will pander to our prejudices and treat our Mormon neighbors as we would never wish to be treated. Some Americans will allow it to confirm unthinking prejudice, while cowardly Mormons will applaud it hoping for crumbs of respectability.
Meanwhile the actual Mormons in our midst will keep paying taxes, making strong families with children, and dying to protect the rights of a decayed and decadent theater “elite.”
I stand in solidarity with my Mormon neighbors.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/amos-and-andy-and-the-book-of-mormon/2011/06/15/AGRlHPWH_blog.html
The Church of LDS has had some fucked up views when it comes to black people, so I could care less if the play points out the crazy they preach.
 

Londa

Banned
SleepyJohn11 said:
Is there any Black-Gaf in the DC area who can show me a good barbershop? Just somewhere where I can get a light fade, nothing special.

I live near DC, but don't go to barbershops. I could ask a male friend if they know of any place good for you.
 

Londa

Banned
haha I love this. I wonder what made you think of that Black Republican.

SleepyJohn11 said:
Cool. Appreciate it. It's just that the places near me are more like hair salons.

I will ask my friend tonight. I know he is going to call me. He thinks I'm some kind of art guru.
 
Black Republican said:
curvy asian girl or nerdy black chick?
Nerdy black chick does it for me just a little more, if only because she'll really, really *get* me.

All you ladies in this thread, holla at me. We'll go out for a drink. I'll take you to the Sizzler, girrrrrrl.

Real talk though, race/ethnicity are irrelevant.
 
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