It’s been 5 years since we’ve heard from Oscar winner Mo’Nique. There is an assumption that when an actor wins the highest award in their professional field, their names becomes a part of our lexicon…
Not the case for the ‘Precious’ star.
According to ‘Empire’ director Lee Daniels she’s been “blackballed.” Whether you’re a Hollywood star or the leader of the free world, one thing is for sure—appropriating blackness can land you a career, but actually being black, proud and unapologetically confident gets you blacklisted—pun intended.
Pop Off of the Week: #DontPanic
Those were the words that followed an epic Twitter battle between model Amber Rose and personality Khloe Kardashian. The two women devolved into a slut-shaming war this week after Amber was asked about her thoughts on the alleged relationship between Kylie Jenner, 17 and Tyga, 25. Pot meet Kettle… you two should talk.
Amber replied that she thought the relationship was “gross” and essentially inappropriate. Khloe responded by lobbing insults on Amber for being a stripper at 15. In the Kardashian’s eyes stripping to survive is deemed inappropriate while stripping for a magazine (looking at you Mrs. West) is considered bold, really?
About This Morning: Kanye West stopped by Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club to "defend" his wife Kim Kardashian for remarks his ex Amber Rose made during her Twitter battle with Khloe. For some reason Kanye thought it appropriate to "slut-shame" his former flame of three years saying he had to "take 30 showers" to get clean after being with Amber while valiantly supporting his wife whose empire was created off a sex tape. To make matters worse Kanye also supports underage girls dating grown men as he said, Tyga "got in early." Wow!
Poliwood Round-Up: Trending Topics in the #BlackTwitterverse This Week
Trend of the Week: #BlackWomenInHollywood
Essence magazine celebrated the many fierce and fabulous black women in Hollywood at their annual luncheon this week. The event also fell on #BlackWomenAppreciationDay which was BEYOND perfect.
With the Oscars coming up, and them being #OscarsSoWhite and all, it’s nice to be reminded of the amazing black actresses holding it down in tinsel town. If like me you’re upset that your invite to the swanky gathering was lost in the mail, no worries, OWN will be airing the event this Saturday on the network.
THREE: Not a Laughing Matter
Saturday Night Live celebrated it’s 40th anniversary with a star studded and incredibly LOOONNG special on NBC. One of the highlights was Chris Rock’s tribute to Eddie Murphy, the comedian-turned-actor-turned-singer, who was credited with keeping the show afloat in it’s early years.
To audiences chagrin, Murphy didn’t perform on the show but instead came out and took a bow after receiving a much-deserved standing ovation. Turns out though that Eddie was asked to perform a Cosby skit but opted not according to Norm MacDonald, former SNL Weekend Update anchor, “ he didn’t want to kick him while he was down.”
TWO: I'll Take Blackness for 400 Alec
On Tuesday night's Jeopardy, when faced with a slew of categories ranging from Kiwi Fauna to Weather verbs the three white college contestants sailed through like a breeze… the category they wouldn't touch with a ten foot poll however was African American History.
Score one for American history classes. The blog Jezebel said it best: "In other words, these kids were more confident in their knowledge of weird animals in New Zealand than black human beings in America."
Yet people still wonder whether we need Black History month at all...
Right now states like Oklahoma are gearing up to ax their AP History classes from the roster because they don't want kids learning about "what's wrong about America." I'm sorry, have we reentered the Dark Ages? Black history is American history and these Jeopardy contestants represented exactly what's wrong with our country and why we're reliving the civil rights movement right now. If you don't know your history you are destined to repeat it.
ONE: Terrorism Isn't a Religion
President Barack Obama had strong words to deliver at the White House Summit on Countering Terrorism. The President said, "No religion is responsible for terrorism — people are responsible for violence and terrorism."
He went on to say that "we are not at war with Islam — we are at war with people who have perverted Islam." Now, of course his opponents called the President's words a travesty. The New York Post featured a picture of the president today with the headline "Obama refuses to acknowledge Muslim terrorists." Oh, you mean the way that white America has refused to acknowledge domestic terrorism against blacks for over a century? Take a seat... take several.
