By Eliza Loehr On Wednesday December 3rd a Staten Island Grand Jury decided not to indict the New York City police officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner. That night, at a rally in Union Square, protestors began chanting, “The system is broken.” A man behind me started to laugh. “The system never worked!” he said, and started chanting, “The system is corrupt!” The system he was referring to is the criminal justice system. And the corruption, I infer, is racism. Whatever you may think about the validity of the protests, they have ignited the country to take a deeper look into our criminal justice system, into the difference between…

By Eliza Loehr

On Wednesday December 3rd a Staten Island Grand Jury decided not to indict the New York City police officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner. That night, at a rally in Union Square, protestors began chanting, “The system is broken.” A man behind me started to laugh. “The system never worked!” he said, and started chanting, “The system is corrupt!”

The system he was referring to is the criminal justice system. And the corruption, I infer, is racism. Whatever you may think about the validity of the protests, they have ignited the country to take a deeper look into our criminal justice system, into the difference between equity and equality. Equality is an easier word to sit with. It has the connotation of treatment: if we treat everyone with respect, as equals, we are not racists.

Or so we, white and privileged people like myself, would like to believe.

Equity, on the other hand, requires action. To create a place where everyone not only has what they need, but also the power to decide what that may be. We can call the system broken, but if it continues to be the well-served community working to ‘fix’ the system for the good of the under-served community, we cannot expect change.

While the right language for the chants was discussed at the protests in Union Square, three leaders in the Food Justice world sat down in Bushwick, Brooklyn to have a similar discussion with Heritage Radio Network’s Erin Fairbanks and Yvette Cabrera on what equity in the food system really means.

“It’s about wealth,” says Dennis Derryck, founder of Corbin Hill Food Project, a network of rural farms and urban communities in New York. Joining Derryck at the roundtable to discuss how the disparities in income affect the food system were Karen Washington, co-founder of the Black Urban Farmers and widely thought of as the godmother of urban farming and Raymond Figueroa-Reyes Jr., President of the New York City Community Garden Coalition.

Derryck further supported his claim with a quote from the May 2014 report put out by the Center for Global Policy Solutions ‘Beyond Broke’: “the median liquid assets for blacks is about $300”. I looked at the report, curious what the corresponding number was for whites in the U.S., $23,000 it turns out. That is a wealth disparity nearly impossible for me to comprehend. “We don’t give our community enough credit in terms of their resiliency given the disparities in income,” Derryck continues, “and the disparities in income is something that I think we have to understand structurally, the impact it’s having on our community, at every single level.”

The roundtable is an honest discussion that digs through the root causes of racial inequity in the food system and the pitfalls into which we often fall. As with many conversations about justice and equity, the panelists stressed the importance of the voice of the community. A seat at the table at an early stage of decision-making, stresses Derryck, is crucial to the growth of underserved communities.

“We’re talking about respecting the dignity of all folks,” Figueroa-Reyes Jr. reminded the group — which entails, as Washington points out, respecting the ability of communities to find solutions to their own problems rather than imposing outside ideas. “I don’t want people to come into my community again with another program,” Washington explains, “come into our community with job creation and business opportunities and financial literacy. The only way we’re going to really put a dent in the hunger and poverty in my community, is through economic development”.

Dealing with economic development is a long and slow process. Creating a soup kitchen or a food stamps program, in contrast, can seem like a quick fix and provides easily measurable results. For politicians with a short term in office, or ‘do-gooders’ looking for some karma, the quick fix is often more attractive. But as Figueroa-Reyes Jr. points out, an outside project “implies that folks don’t have it within themselves. That folks don’t have the collective efficacy, the social capital whereby to be productive on their own behalf.” The problem is not a lack of intelligence or will power or creativity from within the community; the problem is simply a lack of wealth. When you are spending more than half of your net income on rent, as about 32% of South Bronx residents do according to Derryck, developing a thriving food community is hard. So we need to take a hard look at what is causing this income disparity. Is it prejudice? Is it lack of economic or educational opportunities? Is the system corrupt, and if so, where? And what questions need to be asked to change that?

“We need solutions that take people out of poverty and hunger,” Washington echoes Derrycks’ sentiment. “Put them in jobs, let them own their own businesses … ’cause once you start owning stuff, it gives you power, to come out of poverty, to be able to feed yourself, to be able to own a home.”

Food sovereignty is a term Washington brings up often; giving people power over their own food sources, allowing people the freedom to incorporate their culture and community into their personal food landscape. Food Sovereignty, according to Figueroa-Reyes Jr., looks “to honor the dignity of human beings.”

To hear this candid discussion on Food Equity and Justice, click here, or visit us at Heritage Radio Network: a network dedicated to real conversations about all things food.

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Race in the Food System

When the grand jury decided not to indict a police officer in the Eric Garner case, I joined the protests near Rockefeller Center and found myself behind two white women in a heated exchange. One had an American Girl shopping bag; the other woman carried a sign that said, “Black Lives Matter.” The woman with the American Girl shopping bag said, “I don’t know why these people are out here.” And the woman with the “Black Lives Matter” sign said, “We are out here because this is a travesty of justice.” The woman with the shopping bag retorted, “Well there is a time and place for everything and this is neither the time nor the place. This is Christmas, for God’s …

When the grand jury decided not to indict a police officer in the Eric Garner case, I joined the protests near Rockefeller Center and found myself behind two white women in a heated exchange. One had an American Girl shopping bag; the other woman carried a sign that said, “Black Lives Matter.” The woman with the American Girl shopping bag said, “I don’t know why these people are out here.”

And the woman with the “Black Lives Matter” sign said, “We are out here because this is a travesty of justice.”

The woman with the shopping bag retorted, “Well there is a time and place for everything and this is neither the time nor the place. This is Christmas, for God’s sake.”

And the woman with the protest sign replied, “Hello, this is EXACTLY what Christmas is about! This puts the Christ in Christmas.”

The woman with the “Black Lives Matter” sign kept moving, this one woman, in one of those puffy coats, following the crowds into the sea of protesters, her homemade sign a distinguishing symbol. Here was one white woman taking on another white woman to change the story. She was the one, right then, right there, to be the change.

Our country is in a hot mess; too many dead brown and black bodies to call it a coincidence. Enough bad behavior from folks on all sides so as to distract us from the one important thing: Every life matters and we simply must reform the way we engage one another to honor that fact. We are the ones to make it so.

Years ago, when I felt called to ministry, I thought that I would have nothing to bring and no gift to offer. Newly divorced at the time, I thought I was a failure. And my mentor Michael Livingston said, “The thing is… God wants to use someone just like you, someone who is broken-hearted, to reach others who are broken-hearted. You don’t have to be the perfect one, or the good one, you just have to be the one. Can you do this thing? Hell yeah! Be the one!”

Last Saturday, my husband, two dear friends, and I were among the 50,000 marching for this violence to stop now. As we stepped out of Washington Square Park, I thought, “I wish I had organized a central meeting place for all of my Middle Collegiate Church peeps.” Then, in the sea of multicultural, multiracial bodies, in the cacophony of voices, I heard a familiar one. Darren, one of our young adults, was lifting his theatrically trained voice, loudly chanting, “Hands up –
– don’t shoot!” Over and over and over again. When I asked, “Is your voice tired?” he replied, “I know my role. This is what I am supposed to do.”

Darren knew that he was the one, so he began to chant, “Black Lives Matter!” in a lyrical and powerful voice, like a prayer, like a song, like a prophecy.

At Christmas, we celebrate the fulfillment of prophecy; Isaiah foretold a child who would be called Prince of Peace. This vulnerable baby would be sent to heal the world. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus comes from a multicultural people, who Dr. Cain Hope Felder calls Afro-Semitic. The true reason for the season is that Jesus is the expected one, the anointed one, to liberate God’s people and usher in a time of peace. He is the one whose life makes all of us the children of God, and therefore peacemakers. In other words, because he is the one, we are the ones.

Now, you don’t have to believe in the child-of-God concept to be the one. Open your heart to believe this saying that is so important and so well quoted, we can’t be sure of its origins: You and I are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Be the one. Be the change.

You will be on a jury. You will be on a grand jury. You will be talking with a woman on the street with an American Girl bag, or leading chants in a march or writing a tweet or a blog or making a phone call when you can change the story. You will be a clergy leader dying in for justice. You will be sitting at dinner with your family and they just don’t get it. But you can help them see.

Be the one. Be the change.

I know, you might be thinking that you are not qualified to be the one.

You might wonder like I did, like so many people do, if you have the right stuff, if your voice matters. You do, it does. Even though you are afraid, take a deep breath, claim the courage, be the one. Can you and I do this thing? Hell yeah!

Be the one. At your family dinner table. In the bar at happy hour. At your job. In the cafeteria. In the classroom or at rehearsal. In the courtroom, in a chat room. In your church, in the choir, in your synagogue or in your mosque.

Be the change. Be the one.

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Be the One

Ah, family time. It’s fertile ground for awkward moments (like when uncle Henry insists on unbuckling his pants after Christmas dinner to “make room for seconds”). But for the most part, we’re used to it… until some new friend or family is thrown into the mix. Or, worse yet, until we end up being the guest at someone else’s place. On the bright side, you could say those inevitable awkward moments are what make the holidays memorable. But until embarrassment wanes and retrospect kicks in, we’re here to help. We called on Brittany Deal, co-author of “Savvy Girl: A Guide to Etiquette” …

Ah, family time. It’s fertile ground for awkward moments (like when uncle Henry insists on unbuckling his pants after Christmas dinner to “make room for seconds”). But for the most part, we’re used to it… until some new friend or family is thrown into the mix. Or, worse yet, until we end up being the guest at someone else’s place.

On the bright side, you could say those inevitable awkward moments are what make the holidays memorable. But until embarrassment wanes and retrospect kicks in, we’re here to help. We called on Brittany Deal, co-author of “Savvy Girl: A Guide to Etiquette” to walk us through some of the hairy scenarios you’ll likely find yourself in this holiday season and beyond.

1. No parking info on the invitation = You being unfashionably late.

• From The Host’s Perspective: Add parking information when applicable. In some cities where parking is limited or tricky, it can make it difficult for guests to know the best places to park. Make it easy on them!
• From The Guest’s Perspective: If the invitation didn’t specify parking, ask the host ahead of time so you are clear on the best places to park. Give yourself plenty of time to get there if you think parking could be tricky so you don’t arrive late or flustered.

Brittany’s Story: “Recently I was invited to a party that didn’t specify where to park, therefore I assumed parking would be easy to find. Unfortunately, the parking was impossible and most guests had Ubered there. My husband and I were a half hour late due to our parking struggle—fashionably rude—as Bren Underwood, my co-author of ‘Savvy Girl A Guide to Etiquette’, says. So I called to let the host know we’d be late (following the “If you’re late, communicate” rule). I also apologized to the host and made sure we could still attend. Then when we arrived I let go of being late and frustrated with the parking situation and focused on being a delightful guest they would want to invite back.”

2. The Awkward Questions: “When are you two getting married?” or “When are you two having kids?”

• From Either Perspective: Whether you are the host or the guest the best way to handle an awkward question you don’t want to answer is to follow the 3 R’s Method: Remember, Reply and Redirect. Remember to keep it positive, reply with what you feel comfortable sharing (add a touch of humor if you can!), and then quickly redirect the conversation by asking that person a question.

Brittany’s Story: “My husband and I dated for a long time before we were married. We got the ‘when will you two get married?’ question a lot! My husband would jump in (with positivity and a touch of humor) and say, ‘not until she buys me a big ring!’, which would make everyone laugh. Then I would re-direct the conversation with a question to them such as ‘So tell me more about your recent honeymoon in Thailand?’”

3. The toilet gets clogged.

• From The Guest’s Perspective: If you accidentally clog up a toilet or the toilet isn’t flushing make sure to discreetly notify the host that you’re having trouble. Don’t try to hide it!
• From The Host’s Perspective: Re-assure your guest that everything is OK. Be warm, helpful and kind. If you can resolve the issue try to, but if you’re unable to, put a sign on the door that directs your guests to an alternative bathroom.

Brittany’s Story: “One time when I hosted a holiday party a guest clogged the powder bath. Because no one mentioned the clog, it kept getting worse. When I did discover it I knew it wouldn’t be a quick fix, so I taped a handwritten note on the door that directed my guests to the guest bath.”

*We recommend doing yourself a favor and watching this video as well.*

4. “Surprises” (Such as bringing an unexpected guest or showing up when you RSVP’d “no”.)

• From The Guest’s Perspective: A big rule is to never “surprise” the host with anything. Such as bringing a guest, pets, or kids if the invite didn’t specify to or if you haven’t cleared it by the host. Remember to never assume something is okay to do. Always run it by the host for confirmation.
• From The Host’s Perspective: If a guest does surprise you by bringing a friend, do your best to be prepared, gracious and relaxed. As Bren says, “the most important thing about good manners is to make those around you feel comfortable and welcome;” in other words warmly welcome your surprise guest. And to make things less stressful as the host, expect surprises and make sure to have ample food and beverages just in case.

Brittany’s Story: “My family was hosting a holiday dinner party. One of our relatives brought a surprise date and notified us on the drive over. Thanks to Bren’s Must Bring Buns blog I knew that a hospitable host knows to always make guests feel warm and welcome and that sometimes you need to roll with the punches. So in this situation we quickly squeezed in another chair to the table and then warmly welcomed our surprise guest. She never knew that she was a last minute add on.”

5. “Lingering” guests who miss the signs of when it’s time to skedaddle.

• From The Guest’s Perspective: Although you may be having a great time at the party, know your departure time before you arrive. Signs from the host it’s time to go home: The host turns off the music, the host starts cleaning up, the hosts turns the lights on or blows out the candles, the guest of honor (if there is one) leaves.
• From The Host’s Perspective: You don’t want to flat out ask someone to leave, but there are many ways to give guests a hint of when the party is over. The first one is to put an end time on your invitation. The other ways include (as mentioned above) turning off the music, cleaning up, turn the lights on, etc.

Brittany’s Story: “My husband and I had a couple of friends who were oblivious to our ‘party is over’ signals. So we used the line: ‘Well, it has been so lovely seeing you both! We have an early morning tomorrow so we need to get to bed, but let’s get together again soon!’ It was nicer that saying ‘leave now’ but clear enough to get the message across.”

6. A guest drinks too much and throws up in your house.

• From The Guest’s Perspective: Notify the host, profusely apologize, and try to clean up your mess the best you can. Offer to professionally clean or replace whatever you may have damaged. A follow up phone call, handwritten apology note and/or a bouquet of flowers to apologize is another great way to try to remedy the mishap.
• From The Host’s Perspective: As Bren says, “Be kinder than you need to be.” You don’t want to make your friend feel worse so take care of your friend, clean up the mess, and stay calm so you can handle the situation gracefully. Remember that stuff is always fixable or replaceable.

Brittany’s Story: “I had an intimate holiday dinner party with my longest and closet friends last year. As we’ve gotten older and moved to new cities it’s such a treat to get everyone together during the holidays. And when close friends get together for a good time it’s easy too have too much fun. One of my friends had had too much to drink so she decided to stay the night. She later threw up on the guest bed duvet cover. The next morning when she told me about it, she had already cleaned up her mess and had the duvet cover ready to take with her to a dry cleaner. A few days later my duvet cover was returned with a nice little note and a bottle of wine. The gesture was so sweet and her effort post-mishap totally alleviated the situation.”

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Your Guide To Avoiding 6 (Inevitable) Awkward Holiday Moments

Dear White Preachers, I have been watching and listening to your reflections on the task of preaching to predominantly white congregations in the wake of the non-indictments in New York City and Ferguson, in the wake of the powerful movement in the U.S. and around the world to affirm #BlackLivesMatter. I am not currently serving in a ministry setting that includes weekly preaching, so while I listen to your conversations I wonder what I might preach. The season of Advent is rich with scriptural longing for a world that has not yet been realized, for an appearance by God or God’s messengers in response to the world’s great need. Advent and the daily news and …

Dear White Preachers,

I have been watching and listening to your reflections on the task of preaching to predominantly white congregations in the wake of the non-indictments in New York City and Ferguson, in the wake of the powerful movement in the U.S. and around the world to affirm #BlackLivesMatter. I am not currently serving in a ministry setting that includes weekly preaching, so while I listen to your conversations I wonder what I might preach. The season of Advent is rich with scriptural longing for a world that has not yet been realized, for an appearance by God or God’s messengers in response to the world’s great need.

Advent and the daily news and (importantly) the persons in the pews must all be given prayerful exegetical thought by every preacher from Sunday to Sunday. I’m encouraged to witness the support being shared among you as you prepare sermons for such a time as this, and then as you offer affirmations to one another when you report on the impact of those preaching moments…

…and I confess that I am troubled by a particular word that recurs often in those post-sermon conversations, so let me offer this reflection and caution from one colleague to another: White preachers, we are not prophets.

That sermon you just preached on race to your predominantly white congregation was not prophetic. Admonishing America’s racist soul — or, taking the more pastoral approach, affirming God’s love for all people, for the least of these, for the poor and oppressed — in your sermons for two whole Sundays in a row is not prophetic. Your invitation to church folks to gather for a vigil in prayerful solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement is not prophetic. Naming directly the racism that you hear from congregants on Facebook and in person is not prophetic.

Yes, these actions may be hard to do in your context. Yes, these words may be rare in your place of ministry. Yes, you may feel uncomfortable or nervous or even fearful as you speak in these ways. Yes, there may be difficult conversations as a result of your sermon(s). Yes, it’s possible that you could become a lightening rod for congregants’ tensions. Yes, there’s even a chance that your job stability could be at risk. And yes, mustering the courage and the Spirit to move past all those fears and to do something — whether preach or pray or protest — may qualify as brave.

But friends, these actions and these words do not make us prophetic.

Why not?

(1) Because we’re white. Let’s start there.

Because, as uncomfortable as you may feel naming race and racism from the pulpit, it’s not your life that America is debating or devaluing. (Which isn’t to deny you the struggles you may have with America’s valuation of your life, but it is to distinguish and to recognize that your white life is not being killed by police at almost the same frequency as lynchings occurred in the Jim Crow era.)

Because we are uncomfortable saying #BlackLivesMatter clearly and unequivocally from the pulpit — think on that for a moment — and so we hedge and say #AllLivesMatter and we slip Eric Garner’s name into a pastoral prayer, thus concluding that we have spoken truth to power. Yet we are the power. You, my white colleague, are the power — by virtue of your complexion and by virtue of your office (no matter who cuts your paycheck) — so I ask you: Is “God loves everybody” a truth that challenges and upsets your power?

Because we haven’t done our own work on race and racism, or not enough of it — we can never do enough work on it, white folks. Because we don’t know our place when the outcry is “Black power!” so instead we cheer “No justice, no peace.” Because we’re uncomfortable standing next to our Black colleagues in solidarity, so we take a white buddy with us.

Because the movement isn’t about us. (See #2 below.) Because prophets are called out from among a people to speak to or on behalf of the same people — and white folks, we are not the people in question when it comes to #BlackLivesMatter. It is not about us. Yes, there is a response to #BlackLivesMatter that is incumbent upon us, but we are respondents to the message not the prophets with the message. At best, white preachers repeat the message with a lens for how it will be received in our pews, challenging our churches (and ourselves) on the idea that “context” is limited to our church walls or even to our geographic regions. But even when we relay that message effectively, we are not prophetic.

Why aren’t we prophetic?

(2) Because we don’t tell our own stories. That “prophetic” sermon you gave? Did you mention Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Tanesha Anderson, Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, Trayvon Martin? Did you tell a story about your (one) Black friend? Did you reflect aloud on — hear me closely and honestly, white colleagues — your own Black or brown child, if you have an interracial family as I do?

When you told someone else’s story in your sermon — no matter how heartbreaking the story, no matter how close you are to the person — you (subconsciously) guaranteed that there was no risk to you. Maybe there was the risk of tears, maybe the risk of someone walking out, but there was no risk to your own whiteness. In fact, by highlighting someone else’s story as the primary illustration of race, you implicitly affirmed to your white congregation (even if they said they were offended), “I/we are not the other.”

To be sure, the affirmation of #BlackLivesMatter necessitates the recognition that someone else has an experience of daily life that is other from our experience. Yet in our progressive white liberal resolve to know and to name (to consume*) the other story, we manage to avoid the more soul-searching question: “If we are not the other, then who are we?”

“White identity…has remained largely exempt from examination or self-questioning.” And on *consumption: “Whiteness…has not come into being as a form of overcoming but rather as a form of plunder.” Both quotations from White Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity by James W. Perkinson (pages 171 and 164, respectively).

Wondering, then, what story to tell when you preach, if not the other‘s story? Tell your story, your church’s story, your community’s story of whiteness. I don’t mean your story of German-ness or your story of Norwegian-ness or your story of New England-ness (or whatever region has shaped you). I don’t mean your story of white guilt and liberal lament.

I mean that story of how you came to pastor a predominantly white church in a predominantly white town. That story of whether you noticed that the search committee that hired you was all white; whether you preached your trial sermon and thought to yourself how odd it was to look out over a sea of white faces. That story of why a predominantly white town is a comfortable place for you to call home. That story of how the congregation feels good because mostly white isn’t all white, and how you feel affirmed to have three persons of color as members in the congregation thus confirming that you are a racially inclusive pastor and that the congregation knows how to welcome (allow) the other to sit among them.

Wondering what story to tell when you preach on race? Tell the story of how your congregation came to be predominantly white in the first place. Did the founders choose to establish a white faith community? Do your congregants remember those times when a person or family of color visited on a Sunday, but “Of course they didn’t feel welcome here”? What are the stories of your church choosing — individually and collectively — not to see the non-white faces in the pews (“We don’t see color”) and in the community?

Tell the story of how your predominantly white town came to be so white. Was it a sundown town? Were there laws about who could own property where? Are there still implicit codes among local realtors about home ownership? Is the town predominantly white due to the displacement or slaughter or erasure-by-education of American Indians?

Before you stake your and your church’s identity on the dubious theological story of liberal do-good-ism and white saviour-ism, first excavate your stories of participation in American racism and your removal (whether by conscious choice or unconscious default) from an integrated Kingdom of God, taking seriously that “one cannot partake in heritage a la carte.” By confessing our own, our churches’ and our communities’ stories of whiteness, we do not make ourselves to be prophets but we begin to prove ourselves to be allies.

Friends, take a close look and a long listen. In the U.S. these days, the prophets are not in the pulpits. The prophets are in the streets. The prophets are staging die-ins and staring down police lines and shouting at city council meetings and organizing efforts to interrupt communities and businesses and daily routines. The prophets are calling us to a new way of being — and not just calling, but making it happen.

We are not those prophets.

Though by our office as preachers it is our job to proclaim God’s word, we must be clear that this word, this movement, was not given to us white preachers by God to proclaim. Someone else — someones else — have the honor of proclaiming this particular day of the LORD and of calling all people to this particular repentance of racism.

When we call ourselves “prophets” for speaking against racism, we unintentionally reveal the very white privilege that we believe we are denouncing, for we plunder and steal the prophet’s mantel when it is not rightfully ours.

Friends, “prophet” is not a self-proclaimed title.

“Prophetic” is not a synonym for bravery.

The kingdom of God for which the true prophets are now in the streets crying out, demanding, will upend our white world no matter how much we believe ourselves to be allies. Perhaps we can participate in the coming kingdom, but we do so in a confessional posture…not a prophetic stance.

Original article – 

Dear White Preachers, Take Off Your Prophet’s Mantel

During an emotional 47-minute interview with Hot 97, Azealia Banks explained her much-publicized problems with Iggy Azalea and the music industry in general with regard to how it treats black recording artists. “I feel, just like in this country, whenever it comes to our things, like black issues or black politics or black music or whatever, there’s always this undercurrent of kind of like a, ‘Fuck you,'” Banks told Ebro in the Morning hosts Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg. “There’s always like a, ‘Fuck y’all, niggas. Y’all don’t really own shit. Y’all don’t have shit.'” Banks referenced Macklemore …

During an emotional 47-minute interview with Hot 97, Azealia Banks explained her much-publicized problems with Iggy Azalea and the music industry in general with regard to how it treats black recording artists.

“I feel, just like in this country, whenever it comes to our things, like black issues or black politics or black music or whatever, there’s always this undercurrent of kind of like a, ‘Fuck you,'” Banks told Ebro in the Morning hosts Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg. “There’s always like a, ‘Fuck y’all, niggas. Y’all don’t really own shit. Y’all don’t have shit.'”

Banks referenced Macklemore winning Best Rap Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards as an example, before taking on Azalea.

“That Iggy Azalea shit isn’t better than any fucking black girl that’s rapping today, you know?” Banks said. “When they give those awards out — because the Grammys are supposed to be accolades of artistic excellence, you know what I mean? Iggy Azalea is not excellent. […] When they give these Grammys out, all it says to white kids is: ‘Oh yeah, you’re great, you’re amazing, you can do whatever you put your mind to.’ And it says to black kids: ‘You don’t have shit. You don’t own shit, not even the shit you created for yourself,’ and it makes me upset.”

Banks, who called Azalea’s attempts to appropriate Nicki Minaj’s success over the past two years a “cultural smudging” (Banks cited how Azalea released a reissue album called “Reclassified,” which was similar in title to Minaj’s album, “Roman Reloaded”), later explained why this is all so important to her.

“Everybody knows that the basis of modern capitalism is slave labor. The selling and trading of these slaves. There are fucking huge corporations that are caking off that slave money and shit like that. So until y’all motherfuckers are ready to talk about what you owe me,” she said while breaking down in tears. “At the very fucking least, you owe me the right to my fucking identity. And to not exploit that shit. That’s all we’re holding on to with hip-hop and rap.”

In response to Banks’ interview, Azalea blasted the rapper on Twitter for being “poisonous,” “miserable” and a “bigot.” (Banks has been criticized in the past for her use of the slur “faggot.”)

Banks perhaps knew she was going to get backlash for her words. “In general, whenever I have to say anything about anything, then it’s like, ‘Oh, here goes this crazy black bitch,'” she said. Watch Banks’ full interview — where she also discusses her issues with T.I. — with Hot 97 below.

Original link – 

Azealia Banks’ Emotional Explanation For Her Problem With Iggy Azalea

WASHINGTON — Progressive groups and Democratic lawmakers fought all year to sink President Barack Obama’s nominee Michael Boggs. And this week, they won. The Senate adjourned Tuesday without taking any action on Boggs’ nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. That means his nomination has expired and Obama will have to renominate him next year for Boggs to still have a shot at the lifetime post. NARAL Pro-Choice America, one of Boggs’ biggest critics, has been celebrating all week. “The great news: our voices were heard! Altogether, more than 40,000 NARAL members and countless progressive activists joined together to protect our courts and stop Boggs from getting a lifetime position,” reads a post that NARAL plastered all over social…

WASHINGTON — Progressive groups and Democratic lawmakers fought all year to sink President Barack Obama’s nominee Michael Boggs. And this week, they won.

The Senate adjourned Tuesday without taking any action on Boggs’ nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. That means his nomination has expired and Obama will have to renominate him next year for Boggs to still have a shot at the lifetime post.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, one of Boggs’ biggest critics, has been celebrating all week.

“The great news: our voices were heard! Altogether, more than 40,000 NARAL members and countless progressive activists joined together to protect our courts and stop Boggs from getting a lifetime position,” reads a post that NARAL plastered all over social media.

NARAL’s posts include a graphic that breaks down how much Democratic opposition Boggs drew over the year: 40,000 NARAL members contacted their lawmakers in opposition, 41 progressive advocacy groups announced their opposition and 12 senators publicly spoke out against his nomination.

Obama has faced intense fire from his base for nominating Boggs. Abortion rights groups protested votes he took as a state legislator to create “Choose Life” license plates and to post online the names of abortion providers at a time of high clinic violence. Civil rights leaders oppose him because of his vote to keep the Confederate insignia on the Georgia state flag. Gay rights groups oppose him for sponsoring a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Boggs got a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in May, but it was mostly Democrats grilling him over his socially conservative record. By the fall, committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced the votes weren’t there to confirm him and said Obama should withdraw his nomination.

The big question is whether Obama will nominate him again next year. Republicans will control the Senate and would likely be inclined to support Boggs, but Obama would be picking a public fight with his party. A White House official did not respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, two Georgia congressmen sent a letter to Obama urging him not to bring Boggs back next year.

“We write to respectfully request that you decline to re-nominate Judge Michael P. Boggs for appointment to the federal bench in the 114th Congress,” write Reps. Hank Johnson (D) and David Scott (D). “The Senate Judiciary Committee declined to advance Judge Boggs’ nomination, and the nominee was opposed by voters who are concerned about civil and reproductive rights, the Georgia Congressional Democratic Delegation and the Congressional Black Caucus.”

“Judge Boggs’ record as a state legislator, political actions as a state judge, and lack of transparency with the U.S. Senate proves that his nomination is not worthy of further consideration,” the letter reads.

The reason Obama nominated Boggs at all is because he was part of an all-or-nothing package of seven nominees that he agreed to with Georgia Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss. The package included some Democratic picks and some GOP picks, such as Boggs. Everyone else in the package has since been confirmed.

Georgia’s senators also have to decide whether they want to give Boggs another push next year. Aides to Isakson and Sen.-elect David Perdue (R), who is replacing the retiring Chambliss, signaled their bosses still want Boggs.

“Sen. Isakson has always supported Judge Boggs’ nomination and continues to support his renomination next year,” said Isakson spokeswoman Amanda Maddox.

“Given what we know about Judge Boggs’ judicial record, David believes he deserves serious consideration, but he still hopes to have an opportunity to meet with him or any other judicial nominees personally to hear their views on the Constitution and how they would run their courts,” said Perdue spokeswoman Megan Whittemore.

But Perdue has suggested he’s open to other nominees for the post, too.

The Daily Report, an Atlanta-based publication, reported that Perdue said Tuesday that he’d like to meet with Boggs “or anyone else who gets nominated.”

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Progressives Chalk Up A Win As Obama Nominee Michael Boggs Goes Down

Nicki Minaj discusses how unbelievably great Nicki Minaj is.

Nicki Minaj discusses how unbelievably great Nicki Minaj is.

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Nicki Minaj Is Nicki Minaj’s Biggest Fan

Caught in the midst of a wave of protests following a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown, The Flood Christian Church suffered an arson attack that head pastor Carlton Lee said he believed to have been racially motivated. Not to be discouraged, Lee took his congregation outside, holding services in a tent next to the badly damaged property he bought less than a year ago for $160,000. Lee told the Columbus Dispatch the cost to repair the church was estimated at $200,000 — a cost the pastor is not able to cover without some help. Quick dispatch from…

Caught in the midst of a wave of protests following a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown, The Flood Christian Church suffered an arson attack that head pastor Carlton Lee said he believed to have been racially motivated.

Not to be discouraged, Lee took his congregation outside, holding services in a tent next to the badly damaged property he bought less than a year ago for $160,000. Lee told the Columbus Dispatch the cost to repair the church was estimated at $200,000 — a cost the pastor is not able to cover without some help.

Quick dispatch from @CARLTONRLEE‘s streetside sanctuary earlier today http://t.co/7DsfNbt6Va pic.twitter.com/2gvejd14zO

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) November 30, 2014

Lee set up a GoFundMe page to raise the repair costs and had already rounded up nearly $90,000 at the time this article was published.

“We’re very appreciative of everything that everyone has been doing,” Lee told the Dispatch. “It is really a blessing. Every day God just continues to amaze us with his love and the love people have for the Lord.”

Several congregations have also taken it upon themselves to fundraise for The Flood’s rebuilding. Two Ohio churches — First Church of God and Vineyard Columbus — are among those leading the cause. Over the weekend both churches will host special collections for the Ferguson church, and their pastors told the Dispatch they hope congregants will rise to challenge.

“The Bible teaches us that the church is a body, and as a body we have various parts,” pastor Timothy Clarke of First Church of God said. “Each part contributes to the whole of the body, and if any part suffers, the whole body suffers.”

Other businesses in Ferguson and surrounding areas sustained damage during the protests and had reportedly raised close to $500,000 for repairs via GoFundMe pages as of Dec. 3.

“The many recent campaigns started for Ferguson business owners are shining examples of what can happen when communities come together for a common cause,” Kelsea Little, a spokeswoman for GoFundMe, told The Washington Post. “It’s incredibly heartwarming to see so many generous people come together to help these businesses rebuild.”

H/T The Columbus Dispatch

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Donations Pour Into Ferguson Church Destroyed In Protests

“Are you familiar with the term manspreading?” Despite measures taken to raise awareness of “men taking up too much space on the subway,” there are still many who aren’t aware that “manspreading” is even a term. In their new video “Manspreading,” the dedicated journalists at Gothamist confront men on New York City subways to ask if they’ve ever heard of “manspreading” and if they realize they’re doing it. The results were a bit awkward. Most of the men had no idea what manspreading was but, hearteningly, all were open to fixing it once they were educated on the phenomenon. “Manspreading” by Gothamist Manspreading has …

“Are you familiar with the term manspreading?”

Despite measures taken to raise awareness of “men taking up too much space on the subway,” there are still many who aren’t aware that “manspreading” is even a term. In their new video “Manspreading,” the dedicated journalists at Gothamist confront men on New York City subways to ask if they’ve ever heard of “manspreading” and if they realize they’re doing it. The results were a bit awkward.

Most of the men had no idea what manspreading was but, hearteningly, all were open to fixing it once they were educated on the phenomenon.

Manspreading has been discussed at length through projects like “Men Taking Up Too Much Space On The Train” and “Move The Fuck Over, Bro,” prompting the MTA to launch a campaign encouraging courtesy on the subways.

To conclude their deep-dive into manspreading, Gothamist clarified the amount of lounging that’s unacceptable when riding a subway: “If there’s space enough for a litter of puppies or a celebrity selfie group shot, you are taking up too much space. Pull it in.”

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Watch A Woman Confront Manspreaders On The Subway

As we’re bombarded with developments surrounding Sony Pictures’ decision to cancel the release of “The Interview” in the wake of terrorism threats, we’re reminded of America’s long history with film censorship — one that, thankfully, doesn’t often rear its head anymore. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s comedy stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists ordered to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un after landing a rare interview with him. It’s an (almost) unheard-of case of executives electing to pull a movie; historically, it took a court order to strong-arm studios into cutting their losses over a controversial project. This is, after all, an entertainment industry that operated under the Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code), which regulated …

As we’re bombarded with developments surrounding Sony Pictures’ decision to cancel the release of “The Interview” in the wake of terrorism threats, we’re reminded of America’s long history with film censorship — one that, thankfully, doesn’t often rear its head anymore. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s comedy stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists ordered to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un after landing a rare interview with him. It’s an (almost) unheard-of case of executives electing to pull a movie; historically, it took a court order to strong-arm studios into cutting their losses over a controversial project. This is, after all, an entertainment industry that operated under the Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code), which regulated what could be seen onscreen from 1930 to 1968. That set of regulations brought about an onslaught of imbroglios over what did and didn’t violate standards. We’ve compiled a list of several movies that act as precursors to the censorship questions being raised with the “Interview” controversy. It only skims the surface of film restrictions in American history, but it’ll give you an idea of some of the battles filmmakers and distributors have faced over the years.

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In The Wake Of ‘The Interview,’ A Brief Look At America’s Film Censorship Through The Years