CVK
I just got back late last night from the BlogHer Conference in San Jose, CA. This is the first tech-related conference I’ve ever been to, and to my surprise, I had SUCH a great time! It was really inspiring to meet so many cool women who write passionately on such a wide variety of topics. […]

JC
Call me ignorant, but I had no idea that there was an expiration on the provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. I remember a friend mentioning to me a few months ago, with concern, “Oh my god, no one is talking about this…blacks aren’t going to be able to vote if it expires!” Well, there […]

FJ (a new MMW guest contributor!)
A July 4, 2006 article on Wikinews reported about a controversial commercial released despite objections of New Zealand diplomats.
To sell the new FIAT Idea, a city car made by Europe’s third automotive company, the advertisers wanted a crowd of black-clad Italian women to perform a Maori Kapa haka to simulate […]

CVK
I’ve been meaning for a couple months now to do a roundtable on Addicted to Race about the politics of hair. But I just noticed that Slant Truth has organized a Politics of Hair Carnival, gathering the best posts from around the blogosphere on the subject. Hey, why reinvent the wheel? :) Go check it […]

CVK
Hey all you aspiring actors and film folks out there, director Mike Kang (”The Motel”) needs cast and crew for his new film, “West 32nd.” It will be shooting in New York City in August and September. There’s a lot of big names attached to this film already, including John Cho (the Harold in “Harold […]

CVK
(Thanks to Susan Ayoob for this tip!) Slate.com film critic Dana Stevens’ ode to Keanu Reeves is a must-read. :) Stevens argues that Keanu’s whole appeal as an actor is his “blurriness” and of course, yes, this blurriness is related to his mixed race. Emphasis mine:
Right from the “dude-no-way” days of Bill and Ted’s […]

CVK
(Thanks to Brittney and David for this one!) The Best Week Ever blog has been cracking us up so much. First they showed us Barbara Walters entranced by black womens hair, and now she’s calling black children “creatures.” Good thing Mo’nique called her on her bullshit.
Ok, was planning to embed this one too but clearly […]

JC
You probably all know this since you were all clinging to the edges of your seats waiting to see who would win Miss Universe, right? Haha. Yea, me too. :| Well, it was Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza, Miss Puerto Rico! I think that she weighed an eighth of a pound less than anyone else, and that really […]

While we work on the Addicted to Race anniversary episode which will come out next week, please go over to Podcast411 and check out the interview that Rob did with us. Podcast411 is a show where Rob interviews other podcasters, it’s sort of like the Inside the Actor’s Studio of podcasts. We had a lot […]

JC
SFGate features a story about the Chinese government sponsoring about 42 Chinese adoptees on a trip back to China. It is meant to be a learning opportunity — and one that will make them feel closer to their Chinese heritage.
Yeung, who owns Prince of Peace Enterprises Inc., in Hayward, which manufactures and imports products including […]

CVK
Is Hip Hop’s Audience Really 80% White?
from Davey D
“…The truth of the matter is that this 80% white Hip Hop fan myth has long been a nice marketing tool used by media corporations to justify ad revenues for Top 40 radio stations. Here’s a little background on this… According to Black radio programmers they […]

CVK
(Thanks to Ariah for this tip!) Julian Bonds, Chairman of the NAACP, made an appearance on The Colbert Report last Thursday. I guess I found this clip to be mildly amusing, but at the end of the day, kind of useless and pointless. But hey, at least Colbert acknowledges that people of color exist […]

JC
Word on the street is that a new book and film about Bruce Lee are in the works…this time, produced by his own family. Some thoughts from Robert Lee. Not only is he Bruce’s brother, but also the president of his fan club: 
“To this day, many stories about Bruce Lee continue to be told, many of […]

JC
…I would have wanted to be at the NAACP annual convention where Bush recognized that racism still exists.
President Bush acknowledged persistent racism in America and lamented the Republican Party’s bumpy relations with black voters as he addressed the NAACP’s annual convention Thursday for the first time in his presidency. “I understand that racism still lingers in […]

JC
Guardian Unlimited featured a brief story on a brawl that involved a couple of groups of men — 40 people total — some white, some Asian. It hasn’t necessarily been classified as a racially motivated fight, but that is what people are assuming. The police say, don’t jump to conclusions!
Police investigating a fatal stabbing during a […]

CVK
Our regular MMW guest contributor Luke Lee has a great post over on his blog, real men are not, breaking down the Maxim.com screencap you see to your left.
It shows a photo of featured celebrity Persia White (she plays Lynn on “Girlfriends”) and the caption reads: “Everyone agrees this Persia should be invaded.” From Luke:
Now, […]

CVK
Check out this Oakland Tribune story on Jamie Tibbetts, founder of Like Minded People and also the creative genius behind our fabulous Addicted to Race t-shirts! Congrats on the media coverage, Jamie! :)
Jamie Tibbetts wouldn’t mind it if you wore your identity on your sleeve.
The Berkeley High and UC Santa Cruz grad may have learned […]

CVK
If anyone is planning to attend the BlogHer Conference this weekend at the Hyatt San Jose in San Jose, CA, please drop me a line! :) I’ll be speaking on a panel on Day Two about identity. Here’s the description:
Identity & Obligation: Do you control which parts of your identity are exposed? Do you feel […]

Francis Jacquerye (a new MMW guest contributor!)
The Economist published an article about two controversial bills that some Brazilian lawmakers would like to introduce in order to fight the alleged discrimination against black people in the largest South-American country.
Brazil is often described as a “multiracial democracy”. To begin with, 16th century Portuguese “explorers” started mixing with […]

CVK
Wow, just spotted this on Gawker. I’ll just copy and paste it. No comment required, really.
————
Today in Racist Public Relations Work
The following flackery, courtesy of a major public relations firm, has indirectly landed in our box:
SOUTHERN SELL-OUT
Offspring to one of the wealthiest southern political black families, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee has stated in […]