How Police treat Black People in the USA

There are many videos showing how police treat black people in the USA. The video below is a great example of racism in the USA on part of the police force.

Deaf and Black

Being deaf and of African descent can be very tricky - just on an identity level. Often people in such circumstances have always faced the identity issue of whether they are black first or deaf first - and which condition they find more troubling. Racism. Or the lack of understanding from hearing people.

The other issue is that not everyone who has hearing difficulties is actually deaf. Some may simply have trouble hearing and have been that way since birth - or perhaps they worked in a workplace that had inadequate ear protection.

Which means they could get a hearing aid - for which there are many fashionable hearing aids out there available now. All they need is a hearing test at their local hearing clinic, eg. The Omni Hearing Clinic in Vaughan, or your local hearing centre that sells hearing aids, has an audiologist and presumably does hearing tests. In which case such people who are partially deaf or even mostly deaf could have some semblance of a normal life.

But if a hearing aid won't help, and hearing loss is complete / catastrophic - or you were born deaf, then you really don't have much option but to start learning American Sign Language, hanging out with other people who are "signers", and living out your life as you see fit.

From my perspective, being black / of African descent is really just incidental. Being deaf or having hearing damage, that is a much bigger worry when it comes to living your life, finding work, dealing with discrimination, etc.

The beauty of it however is that there many things people with hearing damage / deafness can still do. You can see examples further below of famous black deaf people who were very successful in their chosen careers.

Below is a collection of resources that are available for deaf people of African descent.

Deaf African-American Organizations

The first and best resource is the organization National Black Deaf Advocates. The NBDA holds annual conferences and has chapters nationwide. Another organization, the National Alliance of Black Interpreters, is for African-American interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing people.

Books on Deaf African Americans

A few books have been written about being deaf and African American:

• One book is Sounds Like Home, a book by a black deaf woman about growing up black and deaf in the South.
• Together with Linwood Smith, Ernest Hairston wrote the book Black and Deaf in America (ISBN 0932666183).
• Another book, which I have not read, is Deaf, Dumb and Black: An Account of the Life of a Family, by Mary Miller-Hall, published by Carlton Press Corp. in 1994.

There is also a poem, "Journey of a Black, Deaf Woman", by Deborah Broadus.

I said, "I'm Black and Beautiful."
"They" said, "You're Deaf!"

Thus effectively restricting me, isolating me
Outside their silent voiced boundaries.

I withdrew, camouflaged,
A self-designed mantle of invisibility.

Wounded, rejected, I in turn rejected; not to wither,
But to shelter and protect that which was fragile.

I fought my way though the silent pandemonium of "their" voices;
On a quiet quest;

To reunite my fragmented self, splintered by
Voiceless opinions spoken with harsh eyes.

My goal: a whole soul, indivisible.
Whole and strong, unwounded by "their" disdainful ignorance.

I grew without the irrigation/irritation of "their" loud, voiceless disapproval.
They beheld as I grew; face to the sun.

Battling constantly not to shatter and become this image "they" assigned to me.
That broken by misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Lost in the lexis written on pages in books contained by binders,
I understood the unspoken, thus became that which I strove to attain.

I found myself within these expressions.
Words; visible, vain, terminology helped to heal the shattered image.

No longer invisible, I stand Black and Deaf;
And "they?" Now "they" say,

"You're Black and Beautiful!"

Notable Deaf African Americans

Deaf African-American Athletes Curtis Pride was a deaf African-American baseball player. Kenny Walker was a professional deaf football player.
Deaf African-American Entertainers
C.J. Jones is a deaf male African-American performer; Michelle Banks is a deaf female African-American performer.
Deaf African American Writers
Connie Briscoe, former managing editor of American Annals of the Deaf, writes novels. Lindsay Dunn is a deaf African-American speaker and writer.
Other Deaf African Americans
Claudia Gordon is an accomplished deaf African-American lawyer.

Historic Deaf African Americans

One well-known deaf African American in history is Andrew Foster.

Research On Deaf African Americans

Some articles and doctoral theses have been published about deaf African Americans.

• The Gallaudet University library in Washington, DC has a thesis on file, "A resilience model for transition of African American deaf and hard of hearing students through four-year post-secondary programs," by Carolyn Estelle Williamson (2003). Another thesis also on file at Gallaudet University library is "Gender, racial, and deaf identity development and self-esteem in Black, deaf women" by Monica Annette Robb (2002).
• The March 1998 (volume 143, issue no. 1) issue of American Annals of the Deaf had an article on black deaf teenagers, "The association between raceless and achievement among African American deaf students."
• Cambridge Press published the book Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience, which includes the article "In Search of Self: Experiences of a Post-Lingually Deaf African-American," by Dianne K. Brooks.
• The National Multicultural Interpreter Project website has downloadable pdfs of a cultural knowledge and sensitivity curriculum, including reference information.

Teachers and Parents of Deaf African Americans

Teachers and parents of deaf African-American children may want to check out the archived Deaf and African American Children article on DeafEd.net. It discusses ethnicity, educational, communication, and cultural needs. There is also a book, Black Deaf Students: A Model for Educational Success, that is based on interviews with nine academically successful deaf African Americans.

Rare Deaf African American Materials

Gallaudet University library also has some rare deaf African American materials that can not be taken out of the library, such as the book The Mississippi School for Negro Deaf, 1950-1951. There are also clippings in the University Archives of articles about deaf African Americans.

Video Material on Deaf-African Americans

Gallaudet University library also has a video library, which contains the following sample video materials about deafness and African Americans:

• Black ASL: The Socio-historical Foundations by Drs. Carolyn McCaskill and Ceil Lucas. This is a signed only video presentation from 2008 about a black dialect of American Sign Language, Black ASL.
• Archived editions of Deaf Mosaic online at Gallaudet University also had segments on deaf African Americans. Research of the Deaf Mosaic video library turned up these segments on deaf African Americans:
  • Deaf Mosaic #611 had a segment on "I Didn't Hear That Color," a play about deaf African-American culture.
  • Deaf Mosaic #404 had a segment on Andrew Foster, who had recently died.
  • Deaf Mosaic#112 had a segment on Earnest Hairston.
  • Deaf Mosaic #202 had a segment on the late Linwood Smith, Jr.

Nuru Massage in Toronto

Nuru Massage is a great way for you and your lover (whether they be husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/friends-with-benefits) to have a lot of fun in the bedroom.

Here is what you need to do!

#1. Go buy a bottle or jug of Nuru from one of Toronto's many sex toy shops.

#2. Buy plastic sheets for your bed. Or use an old sheet you can throw in the laundry afterwards.

#3. Turn up the HEAT a lot!

#4. Get wet and wild on your bed with your lover by smothering yourself with Nuru and having a really slippery good time.

I can't show you what that looks like on here, but I can point you to Naughty Nuru, an ebony escort agency in Toronto which specializes in Nuru. That will provide you with all the photos and videos you could want on the topic.

Nuru Massage is apparently becoming really popular in Toronto and across Canada, thanks largely to influence from Japan and Asian massage parlours here in Canada which have been offering the service for years now.

As such Nuru Massage is the latest sensation sweeping Canada - at least insofar as massage parlours go. It has reached the point where ebony and ivory massage parlours / escort agencies have followed suit. (It is important to note that escort agencies are not illegal in Canada... and the Canadian government even has licenses for "body rub" massages and similar things.)

Canada is normally not a trendsetting nation but it appears to be on the verge on a national phenomenon before the USA, Germany, Italy or Spain have caught on. Massage parlours are opening their doors for ravenous men eager for a nuru massage. (Although to be fair, when are men not eager to get wet and wild?)

A couple years ago, Canada had zero Nuru massage providors. Now there are over 20 places operating in the country just north of USA - and roughly half of them are non-Asian, showing that regardless of the source people love the stuff. Some providers offer 30 minute nuru massage sessions while others offer two hour nuru therapy treatments - it is apparently extremely lucrative, judging by the prices being charged by escort websites.

Some places are getting rave reviews for their wonderful studio atmosphere and energetic technique. But arguments persist about whether Nuru is best with 100% Japanese women... which is frankly racist nonsense.

There are variety of Toronto massage parlours that offer Nuru massage. Flirt Spa, Body Bliss, Crave Spa, etc. What is funny is that these parlours are often next to banks, health spas, pharmacies, and you've probably walked by them already without realizing what they were offering. There is also Steeles Royal Massage in Brampton.

Nuru massage is also offered by many independent escorts in their apartments or condos - running the business the same way a Dominatrix would. Some Nuru providers have small, crampt apartments while others have large spacious penthouses. So I am guessing the more expensive escorts have fancier condos.

However if you already have a lover, such topics are moot anyway. You can get freaky with your lover any time you want in the privacy of your bedroom.

And since you are having fun together, its less sexist than hiring an escort. Pleasuring each other should always be equal.

The Afro is beautiful link

Check out this awesome article:

The Afro is beautiful, contrary to what the Fashion industry says

I'm not African-American

Okay if you want to get politically correct... I am Afro-Canadian. But whatever.

What is interesting is that some people prefer to use the old word many have tried so hard to avoid: "black"

There is even a Facebook group that is growing in popularity called "I'm not African-American" which is promoting the idea that black is the best word too choose.

"I prefer to be called black," says Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston who is a member of the group. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," says Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibré George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim.

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," says George. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

Peter Nygard: 21st Century Slaveowner

Peter Nygard is one of the wealthiest men in the world. He's not a billionaire... but he does have a net worth of $800 million USD.

He owns an island in the Bahamas staffed with hundreds of employees... but they are employees in name only, because of two things: #1. According to former employees they are treated like slaves. #2. They aren't allowed to leave without Mr Nygard's permission.

So if they're effectively prisoners on his island... and they're treated like slaves, but still paid... but wait, the employees there are also docked wages constantly for not performing up to Peter Nygard's standards.

According to court documents one of his employees was docked wages so often he was making 87 cents per hour. If that is not slavery then its at least sweatshop conditions.

And its not just small time employees who are treated like dirt. Its managers too. In a recent CBC documentary which exposed Peter Nygard as the two-bit liar he is a multitude of former managers came out to admit how they and other employees (hundreds of them) have been physically abused, intimidated, threatened, verbally berated and even sexually abused.

It doesn't stop there either. According to witnesses 67-year-old Peter Nygard may have even raped a 16-year-old girl from the Dominican Republic... but it can't be verified because the girl has since been bought off by Peter Nygard's lawyers and the girl has disappeared...

Dare I say the Bermuda Triangle?

Or should we say he had the poor girl murdered so that she could be kept silent?

Rapist? Murderer? Who knows? What is known is that Peter Nygard's lawyers are now working over time trying to censor any media group that publishes anything bad about him...

And it hasn't stopped there. His lawyers are also working to intimidate bloggers, trying to insist the CBC documentary is false. They argue the real Peter Nygard doesn't have drunken sex parties with underage women (despite videos on his own website showing otherwise) and that he's really a kind fellow with a heart of gold. They are threatening bloggers with lawsuits just for posting so much as an opinion on whether Peter Nygard is a virtual slaveowner, a rapist... or even speculating on whether he murdered a 16-year-old girl and had her body dumped.

The end result is that Peter Nygard isn't just a criminal, his lawyers are complicit too because they're working to hide his crimes from the public eye. His fashion empire needs to be boycotted.

Sudanese woman demands the right to wear pants

Lubna Hussein of Sudan has been charged and convicted of wearing pants in public. Originally her sentence was 40 lashes (enough to nearly kill someone), but its since been downgraded to a fine of approx. $200 USD.

Hussein says she won't pay however and is demanding the Sudanese law against women wearing pants should be abolished.

See The Truth about Who Wears the Pants in Sudan for more details.

A Shoppers Drug Mart Locks Up Black Hair Products

CANADA - Some people are decrying a Nova Scotia drugstore's decision to keep several of its hair-care products for black customers under lock and key.

While some balms and creams for black hair were openly available on an adjacent shelf, customers are required to ask a clerk to unlock the cabinet if they want a closer look or to buy any of the products inside.

Only merchandise aimed at black customers, however, was locked inside the cabinet — a retail practice that some said was insulting.

"It's very degrading, as a black person, to hear that," said Gavin Griffiths, a client at nearby Ebony Hair Salon.

Salon owner Elvera Ross said to lock up some products and not others sends a specific message to customers.

"It's the perception that they have that there's a lot of black people that are shoplifters, [which] they aren't," she said.

"It's just that perception that people have, and it's something that has to change."

The owner of the Shoppers Drug Mart referred questions to the store's head office, where a spokesperson said she was looking into the matter.

Those offended by the retail practice, however, say it's been going on for years.

"We're behind the times, you know? As [U.S. President Barack] Obama said, we need a change. We all should be treated as equal," Ross said.

Black supermodels absent from the catwalk

FASHION - Check out this article about black supermodels in January 2008:

Black Supermodels being left behind

Its poses the question at the end:

"So will 2009 be more of the same? You'd hope the Obama effect would sink in and the fashion industry would suddenly realize black supermodels aren't just sexy, they're cool."

And it has statistics on the lack of black fashion models on runways and how some fashion casting agents won't even consider non-white models.

Hopefully with Barack Obama as president it will set a new standard, open people's minds to new possibilities and people will realize black women (and men) should get more attention and be treated equally instead of as a token gesture. Not just in the world of fashion supermodels, but in the new economy overall.

Remembering Rosa Parks

POLITICS - Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American civil rights activist whom the U.S. Congress later called the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement".

On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Parks' action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Parks's act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement and Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr., helping to launch him to national prominence in the civil rights movement.

Rosa was later honoured by numerous medals and statues, wrote an auto-biography and her death in 2005 was a front-page story in the United States' leading newspapers.

ROSA PARKS QUOTES

"The only tired I was, was tired of giving in." - Rosa Parks.

"I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move." - Rosa Parks.

"Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it." - Rosa Parks.

"I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people." - Rosa Parks.

Bigotry is a Learned Behavior

By JeffG

Nobody is born racist. They are taught to hate. Bigotry is not inbred, it is a learned behavior, and is typically learned from prejudiced parents. Most bigots keep their opinions to themselves, and many try to raise their children to be open minded, at least to some extent, despite their own irrational fears and beliefs. Unfortunately, parents can’t pick and choose what habits their children learn from them. Typically, children are more apt to learn from what you do, not what you say.

Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. This friend’s father “became” racist one day. Many years ago, he was assaulted by a group of black men. It wasn’t specifically targeted, he could have been anybody. They were just a bunch of thugs who decided to attack him because they could. After this event, the father targeted his anger at those men toward the entire black community. It wasn’t a group of hoodlums that attacked him. In his eyes, he was attacked by a group of black hoodlums.

The man chose to be a racist. Fortunately, my friend saw beyond this prejudice; I’m glad for this because if this friend was a racist, we wouldn’t be friends. Upon hearing the story I asked a question: “Do you really believe he just ‘became’ racist? Or was it perhaps just a validation for a prejudice he already held?”

See, no one simply “becomes” racist on the spot. This man was attacked by a group of black thugs, but had they been white thugs, would he hate all white people? Generally people don’t have an answer for that question. In my eyes, an isolated event like that is no excuse to condemn an entire group of people just because they share the same color of skin.

Let me tell you another story, this time it’s my own. As I’ve mentioned here in the past, I went to a culturally mixed school, though primarily black. Well, there were a group of four young men, who made my life a living hell my first year there. I got my first taste of racism when I was only eight years old.

These boys were all twice my height, they were a year or two older than me, and they beat the living shit out of me on a daily basis. When they weren’t busy beating me up, they were finding other ways to torment me. Due to this, I had a lot of anger and self esteem issues in my youth, many I didn’t overcome for many years, even into adulthood.

I knew then, and still know now that they picked on me because I was different. I was white, I didn’t fit in, and I was smaller than they were. This was enough reason in their eyes to send me crawling to the infirmary on a regular basis, to kick in the stall door on me in the bathroom, to take anything of mine they could get their hands on, and in general, to torment the fuck out of me.

I hated these boys for years, even years later, when we were older I refused to accept apologies from one of them who realized how much shit he and his cohorts had put me through. But I never saw any reason to hate them for being black. See, four pieces of shit do not equal all black people. I continued to go to that school through graduation, and many of my friends were black and of other races and cultures. Knowing people from different backgrounds and cultures opened my eyes to a wide variety of experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

My wife recently made a post about personal responsibility. That subject rings especially true in this case. Your open mindedness is your personal responsibility. If you are a racist, it is because you choose to be a racist. And because of this choice, you will be coloring the views of your children, either toward people of the culture you are biased against, or towards yourself once they open their eyes and see you for what you are.

As I’ve said, bigotry is a learned behavior. So is acceptance. You may not be in control of every situation you find yourself in, but you always choose what mindset and what feelings and knowledge you take with you from the experiences in your life. When you are a racist, you are only teaching your children to hate. Whether they hate you or they hate an entire race of people is their choice. All people come to their own feelings in time. But really, is either option a weight you’re willing to bear?

How I was exposed to my own color-blindness

By JeffG

Part One

To be honest, I didn’t see a lot of race issues growing up. Growing up in a melting pot boarding school led to a safe, but very closed environment. Me being young and naive, I didn’t realize that when my friends went home on the weekend, and I went home on the weekend, we were entering two different worlds.

At school, everyone generally got along. Regardless of our different cultures and beliefs, we all learned to get along because it wasn’t like we could get away from one another anyway. It was an ideal environment that didn’t reflect the cruelty and the hard knock lessons that the real world provides on race and racial identities.

In twelfth grade I started dating a black girl. It was the first “real” relationship I’d ever been in and at the time I didn’t see it as a big deal. We’d been friends for years, and we had a common group of friends that we associated with. In school this was fine. It didn’t matter that I was white and she was black. Hell, to be honest, I wasn’t even aware of it consciously.

When I was younger I was typically unaware of race issues. With the upbringing I had, plus a dash of naivety and a pinch of idealism, I thought everyone was equal. I believed in the constitution. I thought adults always had our best interests in mind. I thought the world was a fair and just place. I thought a lot of things in my childhood and teen years that turned out to be untrue.

My naivety led to color-blindness. I didn’t realize that out in the real world the fact that I was white would be advantageous over being black. I didn’t know that most places today are just as segregated as they were thirty years ago. And I didn’t know that dating a black woman was just asking for trouble. I knew there would be problems and that some people wouldn’t like it. I just didn’t know there would be so many.

At first it was just family. Specifically my step-dad approached me privately about the matter while we were driving to work. It went like this:

HIM: “You know I don’t approve of what you’re doing…”

ME: “You know, I don’t give a fuck what you approve of, and frankly, if I wanted your opinion, I’d have asked for it.”

Yeah, did I mention that felt like the longest car ride ever? Well it was.

My mother did her best to be supportive, I guess. Pretty much everyone else just thought I was nuts, not only because I was with a black girl, but she was also a big girl. What can I say, I guess I’ve alway been attractive to bigger women; I like curves.

In any case, I knew there would be pressures from society in general but I didn’t expect it from my own family and friends. These were the people I loved; how could they judge that way? Little did I know that this was just the beginning. The people around me didn’t have to be racist. Simply being colorblind was enough for them to offend, whether intentionally or not, and wipe their hands clean of any culpability, simply for “not knowing any better.”

And pretty soon it wasn’t just the people close to me. Pretty soon I got a taste of what prejudice was all about…

Part Two

As I said, the behavior of the people around me was only the beginning. Whenever we went out in public we were glared at, particularly by black men. There were even times when these men would go as far as to try and flirt with my girlfriend right in front of me like I wasn’t there. A few of these occasions got so hostile that we had move seats, and on one occasion even to get off the bus and wait for another to avoid physical conflict!

On the other hand, her mother loved me. I mean, absolutely loved me. For a year after we broke up she’d ask this girl when we were going to get back together and have babies. Actually, she was constantly pressing us to have children when we were together, which I thought was odd since at the time we were only in our late teens.

It was during that time that I came to understand the color lines that separate not only white and black people, but also light-skinned blacks and dark-skinned blacks. More personally, I came to understand that her mother wanted a light-skinned granddaughter. Both of her own daughters were very dark-skinned black women.

I didn’t know there were issues there. Before that point I’d always though white was white, black was black, asian was asian, etc. I learned otherwise. My friend Huy was Vietnamese. Phannaro was Cambodian. They both were offended if you called them Chinese, Oriental, etc. This I knew, because when we were younger I’d been confronted with it. But until I dated a black girl, I didn’t understand the dynamics of black culture.

I found out there were Black Hispanics and White Hispanics, and neither really like to be considered white or black. They have their own cultural history. I learned there was a difference of opinion among all different folks between light-skinned black people, dark-skinned black people, African Vs. Black people, et cetera. I learned that lumping a group of people up as “black” really didn’t cover the bases.

After all the time I’d been at a multicultural school and thought I was open minded, I was still on some level holding onto stereotypes, or if not that bad, I was at least generalizing. It would be like plopping a man from Sicily next to me and calling us both white, when really he’s Italian (and sub-culturally, Sicilian), while my roots are a third of a world away in Ireland and Scotland primarily. On top of that, if you stood me with a Scot or an Irishman from those lands and compared us, they’d be offended as well because they’d view me as “American.”

I guess the point of all this is that by being “color-blind” and saying that you don’t see race or choose to ignore it, you are actually denying the existence of the subgroups that exist within cultures. Not only are you then ignoring the differences between different cultures, you are also ignoring the subtle dynamics within different cultures. You are watering down a group of people to fit into a classifiable mold, and then pretending that the mold has not been cast.

Doing this is not only offensive, but also foolish, because until you can accept that differences exist, you will never be able to accept those differences. Until you can do that, you’ll keep claiming that race doesn’t matter without ever understanding why.