The Secret Life of Obama's Brother

Am I the last Obama fan to know that our president has a biracial (Jewish and Kenyan) half brother, Mark Ndesandjo, who lives in China and is married to a Chinese woman?

I mean I've read his memoir. I've read all the Obama children's books. I even keep my own Obama scrapbook and yet when I caught the brief headline in Time magazine last week, that Obama stopped by to visit his half-brother in China during his official Asia trip, I did a double take.

Now, I'm generally not a pessimist, but doesn't it just seem like every president has to have a creepy and/or slightly embarrassing brother hiding in a closet, just waiting for the right time to expose his creepy and/or embarrassing habits on the public stage? I'm not saying this is true about Obama's brother, at all. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if a little something scandalous doesn't come out soon.

Right now the media seems to be respecting his privacy. The fact that he lives in a small province in China probably makes it easier for him to lay low, although now that he has his own new self-published, semi-autobiographical novel to promote, he may want a little bit more publicity. Can I just ask, why can't presidential siblings just have really normal jobs and boring lives that nobody would care about?

I'm not going to judge, but as Dick Cheney might say, I'm staying on high alert. What do you think? Will we hear more from and about Mark Ndesandjo? Good stuff or bad stuff? Here's some basic information about him from the Associated Press.

Peace.

PS. You still have a few more hours to post your entry in Friday's comments for a chance to win a book and a t-shirt.

Finding Myself in the Music (And a Giveaway Too)

Thanks to Ieishah over at Fat Juicy Oyster, I can't get this new song, Looking for Paradise, by Alicia Keys and Spanish crooner, Alejandro Sanz, out of my head.

Now, Ieishah thought the song was horrible. I believe the words she used were "cheesy con queso." But somehow it's growing on me. And it's not because of the lyrics (they are cheesy con queso). It's got a catchy little refrain, yes, but more importantly, it's a kinky gazpacho duet that reminds me of me. Am I saying that Alicia is my sister-twin and Alejandro Sanz is a dead ringer for el esposo? No, I'm not that ridiculous. I just love to see Black and Spanish paired up together making beautiful (albeit a little cheesy) music together. It feels like a reflection of my reality.

So Meltingpot readers, do you do the same thing? Do you find yourself in music? Tell me what song speaks to your life story and you'll be entered in a drawing to receive an autographed copy of my life story, Kinky Gazpacho and a Kinky Gazpacho t-shirt from whatrugear.com. All entries must be received by Monday, November 23rd at midnight.

Peace.

Oh, and here's the song Looking for Paradise by Alicia Keys and Alejandro Sanz. Do you think it's cheesy?

How Do You Translate "Black?"

Am I the only one who missed this disturbing news about the international advertising campaign for the movie Couples Retreat? Personally, I hardly paid attention to this film when it premiered in the United States because Vince Vaughn is in it and quite frankly, I think Vaughn possesses the dramatic range of a yodeling pickle. But I digress.

Apparently, the movie posters for the film in the UK and other foreign markets had the Black couple removed -- both their photographs and their names in the list of credits -- because, well, because apparently Black people just don't appeal to foreigners. Here's how a Universal spokesperson explained their decision to whitewash the poster: We got rid of the Black actors to “ simplify the poster to actors who are most recognizable in international markets.” Oh, And they "regretted causing offense."

For a full read on the incident,and a peek at the before-and-after posters, you can check out this Yahoo story.

Many people in La La Land, aka Hollywood, believe that Black people just don't translate well overseas. That Will Smith just isn't that popular and so we can't put him on magazine covers or on movie posters and expect our British brothers and sisters to buy. And God forbid can you imagine in Japan or China or Turkey? Or at least that's what top brass at the movie companies are saying. But maybe they're saying that because they personally think that and don't have any Black people in positions of power at the studio to tell them otherwise. That's kind of what this writer at the LA Times says in his article about this whole hulabaloo.

What do you think? Especially you world travelers. Would foreign audiences shun a movie with a Black protagonist or supporting actor? Could they handle Black people on their movie posters? Vivienne Pattison, director of Media Watch UK, told the [Daily]Mail: "... We celebrate diversity in Britain and we could have coped with seeing the same poster used in America." Indeed, I find it really hard to believe that considering foreign markets are so hot for Black music, style, fashion, slang, dance, food (yes, my cousin is about to take a job teaching Italian chefs how to make soul food in Italy.), and our hot Black president, that somehow they would be turned off by Black people in a movie. What is the real problem here? Where are we getting lost in translation?

I'm really, really listening.

Peace.

Wanted: A Meltingpot Magazine

Just the other day I was searching through my stacks of magazines, looking for some sample stories to show my students at Temple, when I came across my three issues of Suede magazine.

Does anyone remember Suede? If you never saw it, you can check out The Fashion Bomb's post about how great it was. Suede was supposed to be the little sister publication of Essence magazine but it was so much better than that. It was this gorgeous, lush, completely original magazine for women of color. It was fresh and unique and had a truly global and sophisticated but not pretentious voice. I actually served as the books editor, but my stint was short-lived because the magazine was shut down after only four issues, due to budget problems.

I was sooo sad when that happened and still haven't found a magazine where page after page I was enraptured. For a second, however, when I heard that Tyra Banks was debuting her own new 'magaline' (that's an online magazine, people) I thought maybe somebody had heard my prayers.

Not so much. Tyra's new magaline, which I think is called Tyra: Inside & Out seems to be a publication about, well, Tyra. Really, it's mostly about her and how she's going to help you, the reader, get beautiful, inside and out. But maybe I'm missing something.

What do you think of the new Trya magaline? Better yet, what do your read off the newsstand or on-line for your media fix of beauty, entertainment, fashion, pop culture and news with a meltingpot twist? Besides, the Meltingpot, of course:)

I'm listening.

Peace!

Burning Questions from the Meltingpot

It's Friday, people, so that means I have questions. So many questions. Maybe you can help me out.

1. Is it just me, or have you noticed more commercials featuring interracial families on network TV? I just saw a Playskool toy commercial with a little biracial girl and her White mother. And I swear I've seen others recently. Anyone else noticing this trend? And if so, does this mean anything?

2. Does anyone else not really like watching ABC's Private Practice, but sometimes can't help getting sucked into the drama after watching Grey's Anatomy? And if so, did you watch last night and kind of cringe when Taye Diggs leaned over and locked lips with Kate Walsh? Or were you kind of hoping those two might be the new sexy, hot primetime couple? Me? I was definitely on the fence. Not b/c I have a problem with the Black man, White woman thing...no, I just don't like Kate Walsh's character on the show.

3. And while we're on the topic of interracial couples, has everyone gone over to the Mixed and Happy blog and added your peeps to the list of mixed and happy families? They only need 47 more people to post by December 15 to meet their goal of 100 mixed and happy folks.

4. Speaking of happy, doesn't Dominican baseball star Sammy Sosa seem a little too happy about his "accidentally" whiter skin? He claims that his dramatically whitened appearance occurred because his nightly skin cream stripped away the melanin in his face. Oopps! Basically he's pulled a Michael Jackson, going from cinnamon brown to, well, kind of pasty white. Check out the photos at Clutch magazine and let me know if that isn't just a little bit disturbing?

5. And to end on a happy note. Did you know in college I majored in education with the secret fantasy of working for Sesame Street? Well, it never happened, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I still love the show, probably now more than ever. I think I've always loved Sesame Street even as a child, because I saw brown, Black, and White people living together and it seemed like the perfect place to be. As a matter of fact, when the show debuted in 1969, according to Time magazine, " it was one of the first TV shows to depict an inclusive, racially harmonious neighborhood, prompting Mississippi to ban it (briefly) in 1970." (Shame on you Mississippi!)So Happy Birthday, Sesame Street: Here's to 40 more fantastic multiracial, multicultural entertaining, educational and most importantly, hilarious years on television. Do you have a favorite Sesame Street moment?

Peace!

My Name is Not "Precious"

So I think I'd have to hand in my 'race and identity' blogger card if I didn't take a moment to write about Precious. In case you've been snoozing under a very big rock (or you live abroad) and hadn't heard all of the buzz and noise about the Precious movie , based on the book Push by Sapphire, here's what you need to know to get caught up.

The book Push came out in the early-mid 90's but took place in the Regan era 80s. It's about a morbidly obese, poor, Black teen named Precious, who has been repeatedly raped by her father, sexually abused by her mother and is pregnant for the second time by her no-good daddy. Oh, and she's illiterate. How's that for a feel good read?

I remember reading that book in one sitting and throwing it against the wall at least three times during that time. It pained me to read. It disgusted me and it saddened me immensely because I knew that this slim little volume was fiction, yet somebody, or rather a lot of somebodies, probably recognized it as truth. Needless to say, the story haunted me for years and I always wondered what would have happened to that girl named Precious. I can't say I liked the book, but I appreciated its ability to take me to a place I've never been to before and make me consider my own life, family and relationships differently.

Well, no pun intended, Precious is Huge today --doing well at the box-office and with critics. Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have teemed up as producers on the film and are widely pimping, I mean pushing the film to mainstream audiences with great success. But even though reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, much of the Black blogosphere and some other media outlets are crying foul.

I haven't seen the film yet and don't want to. The only reason I might is so that I can be more thorough in my criticism. Rather than tell you why I'm so not feeling Precious on the big screen. I will beg you to read journalist Akiba Solomon's fierce review on her blog smallmediumlarge.

Here's a taste of what Solomon wrote:

"I saw Precious on Saturday. Two days later, I’m still traumatized and overwhelmed by the sheer degradation of the thing.

This film is marketed–by Oprah and Tyler Perry–as a story of individual triumph over savage abuse. Thanks to newcomer Gabourey Sidibe’s excellent performance, I somehow believed that Clareece Precious Jones—a morbidly obese, illiterate, often greasy incest victim with skin the color of soil–reflected some form of reality. And to me that’s what’s so dangerous and seductive about this fucking thing.

Precious heaps so much context-free, visually engaging emotional and physical abuse on its 16-year-old protagonist that I couldn’t think straight. When her nasty, faceless, AIDS-infected daddy rapes her, when she gives birth to her second child by said daddy, when her sexually abusive, sadistic, welfare cheat of a mama beats the shit out of her, I was so fucked up, so fucking sad, so at a loss for any word or thought besides fuck! that I forgot that this fucking film was an overwrought throwback to Reagan-era tall tales of urban savagery and Black maternal neglect.

Solomon concludes towards the end of her review:

"One could argue that Precious should be evaluated as an individual work of art, a faithful adaptation of Sapphire’s problematic Push. But the same way I won’t laud the technical accomplishments of Birth of a Nation or blissfully ignore how Breakfast at Tiffany’s features Mickey Rooney as a bumbling Chinese neighbor who enters each scene with a gong, I won’t allow the transcendent performances in Precious to distract me from what it says and repeats about [Black People]."

I urge you to read the entire piece and the follow -up postings about the film and its critics at SmallMediumLarge. Oh, and by all means, check out the comments.

I swear between Chris Rock's Good Hair and now Precious, I feel Hollywood is throwing out the worst stereotypes of Black life for public consumption. And it's Black people behind it this time! And I'm not saying we can't have real-life stories up on the big screen, but what is the point of a film like Precious? I don't care what Oprah says, "We are not all Precious." I don't see any Precious in me. None. In fact, I pray to God most people can't find a scrap of themselves in Precious. Author Carleen Brice writes about this on her blog today.

At the end of the day, maybe Precious wouldn't get so much hype and attention if there were more movies about Black people to choose from. And maybe some of those movies wouldn't have to be about pathology and degradation but about things like, oh, I don't know, the power of bedtime stories or two people falling in love via the internet, or maybe a young Black woman's search for true love in Spain. Just for example.

I am throwing my hands up and shouting, "Why?" (School Daze flashback, anyone?)

(sigh) Can anybody convince me that Precious is worth watching. I dare you to try. Has anybody seen it and have a comment to share? As always, I'm listening.

Peace.

What's Your Indian IQ?

An interesting story written by Race and Culture writer at the Associated Press, Jesse Washington, about a young Mixed Indian/White girl who got in trouble at her school for piercing her nose.

The story begins like this:

"To 12-year-old Suzannah Pabla, piercing her nose was a way to connect with her roots in India. To Suzannah's school, it was a dress-code violation worthy of a suspension."

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Now, what I found fascinating about this story is not that this young girl got suspended from school for piercing her nose, I was way more intrigued by the fact that her father is a Sikh and her mother is a Mormon from Utah. I'm wondering what that Meltingpot household is like? Aren't you just a wee bit curious? (Then again, it does imply that they might be divorced as Dad works in New England and mom and daughter are in Utah. Or not. Either way their family life sounds intriguing.)

Of course that is so not the writer's intention in writing this story. In fact, the rest of the story is about how assimilated Indians are in America, and by contrast, how much does the average American know about Indian culture. If you don't know a lot, but want to know more, the writer offers up the blog Sepia Mutiny for answers and information.

So what do you know? Do you have Indian friends on speed dial or is Slumdog Millionaire your only connection to Indian culture? Or maybe you're like me? I do have some Indian friends, celebrated Diwali in college and never met an Indian dish I didn't love, but yet don't feel like I know a whole lot about Indian culture beyond what is offered up for public consumption by Westerners, ala Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. I also don't feel like I have any real sense of what the Indian community in America is up to or up against.

So how much do you know? Care to share?

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AND IN OTHER (GOOD) NEWS ABOUT THE RACIST JUSTICE OF THE PEACE IN LOUISIANA

This just in. Rather than just getting mad at JOP Keith Bardwell, one woman decided to use the opportunity to show Bardwell and the rest of the world that interracial couples make wonderful parents with wonderful children. And she's asking for your help. Check out her new Mixed and Happy blog and show some support. And at the very least spread the work on your own blogs.

Peace!