1Blessed Natural Mag

16-Year-Old Girl's Response to Straight Outta Compton' Casting Call   Many of you may have heard about the NWA: Straight Outta Compton movie casting call from last July. The criteria for the roles were sexist and racist among many things. It raised some eyebrows and blood pressures. When I read the casting call, I quickly dismissed it as plain nonsense.  Yesterday, my 16-year-old niece, J.T. sent me a response that I couldn't have said better, myself. Here is her response: Hello everyone! A few months ago I heard about the casting requirements for the upcoming movie Straight Outta Compton , based on the group NWA. When I read the casting call, I was absolutely shocked by the criteria designed for the actors. Coming from a blended family, race never really occurred to me and it was stressed that everyone, no matter the color, was beautiful. Wanting a certain look for a character or group of characters is expected, but the requirements related to each “rank” i...

Zendaya Responds to Giuliana Rancic's Second Apology, and India. Arie Pens Open Letter (photo courtesy of Flickr- Viva Vivianista under CC BY 2.0 and Instagram ) Today, Zendaya Coleman released her response on social media to Giuliana Rancic's heartfelt video apology that aired yesterday. Giuliana's video apology was in addition to the one on Twitter . The host stated that she did not intend to offend anyone, but realizes that it is not about her intent; it is about the result. Rancic said she learned it is important not to perpetuate stereotypes. She said, "...this incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes and how much damage they can do. Rancic continued by saying, "...I am responsible (as we all are) to not perpetuate them further." In her response, Zendaya Coleman made the point that prejudices are often hidden, but affect our actions. She said, "The hidden prejudices is often influential in our action...

Akintunde Ahmad (photo courtesy of ABC 7) Akintude Ahmad appears on camera dressed in blue jeans, black t-shirt, zip-up hoodie, and a black fitted cap. His hair is in long dread locs that flow down his back. I must mention that he is African-American. If you turned down the volume on your television, you could attempt to form your own opinion about why the 17-year old from Oakland,California was on ABC 7 News . Did he witness a crime? What was he involved in? After turning up the volume, you learn that the 17 year-old scored 2100 on his SAT and maintained a 5.0 GPA. He also was accepted to numerous Ivy League schools. I love Ahmad's story because it is one of the many stories that proves you cannot judge a book by its cover. In addition, ABC 7 News reported that Ahmad was well aware people would not believe his achievements based upon his appearance. As a result, he kept a picture of his grades in his phone as proof. I thought about how many African-Americans get ov...

      I am an African American who loves monkey t-shirts. "Why?" you ask? Well, simply because I think they're cute. Despite the racial past and present history of the image of monkeys being used to degrade our race, I still wear t-shirts with them from time to time. I guess that's my big "so what" statement.       This past weekend I traveled to another state, and I was wearing one of my favorite monkey t-shirts when I arrived at the airport. When I reached one of the security check points, a Caucasian security guard asked me what was the name of the  monkey on my t-shirt. At first, I was thinking to myself, "Why did he ask me that?"  He must've noticed the look on my face. So, he asked me the question again and said that he was referring to my t-shirt. I told him the name, but he didn't believe me lol. Anyway, that little interrogation really made me think about how racist people often use monkeys to refer to African-American...