Mega Links for April, Part I
compiled by Thea Lim
Part I of our April links round-up as we scale our delicious inbox…keep ‘em coming!
Michelle Obama unveils Sojourner Truth statue in Washington: Sojourner Truth first black woman to be so honoured at the Capitol.
More on Resident Evil 5: a careful breakdown at Game Set Watch on how RE5 uses backdrop imagery and background noises to otherise the village of Kijuju. “They work very hard to show you that this particular West African Town is poor, dirty, and dangerous: that people are vicious, violent, and skulk around the heroes.” (via brinstar)
Good news: Native American activists protest a Burning Man party for its thoughtless appropriation of Native culture – and win. However, the victory required massive persistence, and make what you will of the title of this article…(via avediscordia)
Satire done right: Derailing for Dummies teaches you how to derail any conversation that asks you to examine your privilege. Fully enhance your bigotry! (via restructure)
Chicken Fail: In early April NYC fried chicken restaurant came under fire for calling itself Obama Fried Chicken and Pizza (via robschmidt)
World’s first Sikh supermodel: Hopefully SF businessman will not be world’s “only” Sikh supermodel for long. “[Sonny] Caberwal’s appearance in GQ’s Style magazine for spring-summer 2009 has been hailed as major boost for Sikh traditionalists. In a spread, shot by Gregor Hohenberg, Mr Caberwal, 30, poses in a black dinner jacket, black silk scarf and a pink turban. In another he wears a white tuxedo with a yellow sunflower and matching turban.” (via FatemehMMW)
Childhood health and obesity by ethnicity: Childhood obesity rates are highest among Native children. “Researchers were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age.” (via robschmidt)
Mideast rappers take the mic: Youth from Egypt to Iran use hip hop to unpack injustice. (via FatemehMMW)
PETA missteps…again: Blogger Maids deconstructs the problem with PETA pushing vegetarianism as a weight-loss secret, and notes the shady racial undertones of its photo campaign (via Shainalita)
Burger King pulls Mexican Wrestler ad: In response to pressure from Mexican goverment BK pulls ad aired in Mexico for its “Texican” burger that featured “a diminutive wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag…teaming up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height” (via robschmidt) You can view the ad here. (via FatemehMMW)
What can Academics do about Islamophobia: Four areas where Academics can contribute to the conversation on Islamophobia. (via FatemehMMW)
Changing face of the G20: Lula blames world economic crisis on blue-eyed men with blond hair. (via FatemehMMW)
Getty Museum tries to tip the balance: Museum works to add an Eastern perspective to its now-Western-centric collection. (via robschmidt)
Oh dear.: Jackie Chan not quite pro-democracy in China, stating that “we Chinese need to be controlled.” (via taylord and robschmidt)
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Paz wrote:
Ok I have an innocent question. What is offensive about the fried chicken stereotype? Fried chicken is typically southern, and many blacks have southern roots. And honestly, when I pass by a Popeye’s, it’s full of black people. I know that not all black people like fried chicken, but I’m wondering what is offensive about the stereotype.
Just trying to educate myself here. Thanks.
Posted 29 Apr 2009 at 10:45 am ¶
Maids wrote:
Thanks for the shout out!
Posted 29 Apr 2009 at 12:39 pm ¶
BrownSkinLady wrote:
Derailing for Dummies makes me want to laugh and totally cry at the same time…
Posted 29 Apr 2009 at 4:33 pm ¶
nihilix wrote:
Thanks for the links. Being a white neo-pagan, I was interested in the article on the Burning Man party. I’ve also been in the pagan community of the Bay area, and dealt with the style of conflict resolution they do there.
I though it was less of a ‘win’ for the natives than a really fascinating way of dealing with two related cultures. I think the Burning Man kids stepped up to their responsibility for learning how they messed up, and I am glad that the native community was willing to offer the kids that learning.
Where I live, a sacred spring and a highway project brought Green and native activists together (Earth First and the American Indian Movement) and there’s been some fruitful and some frictionful relationships there.
The folks who do sweat lodges – which has been a big controversy in the Pacific Northwest, I gather – the folks who do them here for white crowds tend to be native. The first one I went to the man who did it had been trained by Michagan native folk and they’d given their permission to carry it out to a new population.
Posted 29 Apr 2009 at 9:53 pm ¶
Rob Schmidt wrote:
I love link postings, and not just because I contribute to them. I enjoy Racialicious’s in-depth analyses, but I also appreciate seeing the wide range of racial issues confronting us.
Posted 30 Apr 2009 at 8:08 am ¶
Alston wrote:
Derailing for Dummies: Holy shit. I was just looking to write something like this, but far less satirical. Good job.
Posted 04 May 2009 at 12:06 pm ¶