Credit: NAACP

The NAACP issued a statement supporting same-sex marriage and has pledged to fight against discrimination of marriage equality.

Here’s the official resolution, as stated in the press release:

The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, educational, social and economic equality” of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.

Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NAACP, said, “The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people. We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

Ben Todd Jealous, the President and CEO of the NAACP, also said, “Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people.”

Thanks, NAACP, for supporting marriage equality! Hopefully through your support of same-sex marriage and President Obama’s stance on marriage equality, other members of the black community will come around to realizing that civil rights are universal.

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Credit: VH1

Sadly, I can’t write a lot on this topic simply because my hands hurt (I write for a living, if you don’t already know that, and I probably should go to the doctor to get some type of bandages or something). But since everyone from Wendy Williams to The Steve Harvey Morning Show are railing against this particular show, I’m going to give my two cents on the mess that is Basketball Wives.

For those who haven’t seen the show, Basketball Wives is spearheaded by Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-wife, Shaunie O’Neal, and features several girlfriends or ex-wives or ex-girlfriends of basketball players–Royce Reed, Jennifer Williams, Evelyn Lozada, Suzie Ketcham, Tami Roman, Kenya Bell, Kesha Nichols. I don’t know who dated which player  or who was married to which player, and frankly, it doesn’t really matter because the root of the problem with this show is how classless these women act.

I have only watched one episode of Basketball Wives way back when the show first started, and I haven’t tuned in since. That was years ago. My one thing isn’t so much about why people are upset with the show, because the classlessness and bullying have been recently ramped up to such a degree that it’s intolerable; my big question is why has it taken this long for the viewing public, particularly black people (and particularly particularly, black women) to become enraged.

The show has always been about bullying, “hoodrattiness”(as it were) and tastelessness. From the very beginning, these women have been getting all dolled up solely to tear each other down. Yes, it’s a reality show and there needs to be drama, but seriously, does there need to be this kind of drama on television?

This is not the only show that makes women look bad–The Bad Girls Club makes women of all races and cultures look horrible–but Basketball Wives has a lot more to atone for due to the fact that most of the women are black, and we all know the types of TERRIBLE stereotypes there are about black women.

I hate when women get on television and act less than the natural queens they are meant to be, but I ESPECIALLY HATE WHEN BLACK WOMEN DO THIS! The spotlight is on us tenfold simply because of racism and stereotypes that, sadly, still exists in American society. Some women might even blame their inability to find a good husband due to these stereotypes of black women being “angry,” hard to talk to, loud, obnoxious, ignorant, etc. By having people run across tables to slap someone, Basketball Wives is making us look like barbaric harpies that would scare off any man. These women on this show are acting straight thuggish, to be blunt.

Yeah, people should be smart enough to look past a show and realize that all black women don’t act this way, but that’s really not enough. Entertainment reflects American society’s views on people. We have the power to change how people view us. We should have come together as a people long ago to get Basketball Wives off the air, but I’m glad the vitriol is out now.

(This seems like a lot, I realize, especially since I said my hands were hurting. The word count of this post is not that much in my world of writing.)

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I’m still busy with outside work! Sorry for the lack of updates. Hopefully I can get better organized, but in any case, I do have some Notable Links for you guys!

Exclusive set photos from 42: Thanks to my youngest sister’s graduation, I was able to see the set of 42! If you recall, 42 is the story of Jackie Robinson being signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Make sure to click the link to see my photos and read my write-up at ShockYa.

Minorities now the majority: News has come out that white births are now under half of all American births. You can read ShockYa’s article on this subject, as well as read an op-ed piece about the new majority.

Crooked Arrows review: ShockYa also has a review of the Native American lacrosse movie I’ve been covering, Crooked Arrows. Check out the review by clicking the link.

Justice for Vern Traversie: There has been a grave injustice that has not been covered on the news: a Native American man, Vern Traversie, was attacked by KKK members. Here’s what the petition calling for justice for Traversie states:

Vernon Traversie, a member and resident of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota came home from a 14-day stay in the hospital to find he had been horribly mutilated. Three Ks can be easily seen carved or burned into his abdomen in the shocking photograph taken the day after he came home.

The victim is age 68 and completely blind. Vernon Traversie’s nightmare began when he had a heart attack while at the Heart Doctors office in Rapid City last August. He was immediately sent a few blocks away to Rapid City Regional Hospital for emergency surgery. Being blind, Traversie didn’t even know what was done to him until a RCRH employee came into his room and advised him to have pictures taken of his chest and abdomen as soon as he got home. She said she could not testify on his behalf, but that her conscience got the best of her and she did not agree with what had been done to him.

The tribal police, FBI, and Traversie’s pastor all have photographs of the suspicious wounds.

Traversie is a Lakota elder, who may have been the victim of a vicious hate crime, and his case deserves investigation. Nothing is being done on his behalf by law enforcement. Traversie had retained a lawyer and waited seven months for his Rapid City attorney to take action on his behalf. He posted a video on youtube because his attorney took no action besides initial contact with hospital authorities, and had told him not to speak about his case. The lawyer has done nothing further on Traversie’s behalf. Traversie has since ended his contract with said attorney and tribal officials are working to find someone to take his case.

You can click here to check out the Facebook page. You can also sign the petition by clicking here .

Baptist church ordains openly gay man: Changes are going in the Baptist church! Here’s a snippet from the Human Rights Campaign’s article:

Historic news out of Kentucky this month: Maurice “Bojangles” Blanchard will be ordained on May 27, 2012. We don’t typically blog about ordinations around here but this is not your typical ordination occasion.  Bojangles has been called to ministry by Louisville’s Highland Baptist Church and will be ordained as an out, married, gay man – a heartening evolution in its own right for Baptists and people of faith everywhere.

You can read the full story by clicking the link above.

Cooking Channel highlights Today’s Special: Cooking Channel is bringing more exposure to Aasif Mandvi’s film Today’s Special through a new television special, Today’s Special: NY Indian. Here’s the rundown on the show:

Actor and comedian Aasif Mandvi joins culinary legend Madhur Jaffrey on a hilarious weekend tour of Indian cuisine within the boroughs of New York City. They hit Madhur’s favorite haunts: from Manhattan cab stands to Little India in Jackson Heights, Queens, tasting the flavors of regional cuisine. Taking in all he’s learned, Aasif teams up with Chef Akhtar Nawab to create a fabulous birthday feast for his family and friends.

Click the link above to learn more about the show.

Enjoy, and remember–op-eds share the opinions on their respective writers.

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Bruce Lee

Hey, I’m updating with pertinent “race and culture in entertainment” news! It’s been so long!  Well, let’s get down to it, shall we?

With this being Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, the Democrats have put forth a Bruce Lee resolution to honor the actor and philosopher’s teachings and his ability to build connections to both American and Chinese cultures. According to The Hill:

H.Res. 654, offered by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), recognizes the “immense impact that Bruce Jun Fan Lee had on American and global popular culture and the important role he played in creating a bridge between cultures, championing values of self-respect, self-discipline and tolerance in our nation, and pioneering and cultivating the genres of martial arts, martial arts films, fitness and philosophy in the United States and the world.”

Check out The Hill and Angry Asian Man for more on this wonderful resolution. Congrats, Bruce! Your legacy of building a cultural bridge between cultures is what I, as well as many others around the world, aspire to achieve.

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Tom and Jerry: Around the World. Available now!

Synopsis (WB):  Tom and Jerry travel the globe by land, sea, and air in this collection of 22 hilarious adventures. From Broadway to outer space, hitch a ride with your favorite cat and mouse for non-stop fun and action. Whether the furry duo is running from an erupting volcano on a tropical island or conducting an orchestra in Hollywood, you can count on laughs the whole way. Sword fights, magic spells, and treasure maps fill these delightful escapades and will have you climbing on board for more expeditions. So grab your luggage and bring the entire family along for a boisterous trip around the world and beyond.

My thoughts: I thought I was a fan of Tom and Jerry until my brother came along. As a kid, he used to watch Tom and Jerry for days, beating out the record I thought was impressive.

This new DVD of the famous cat-and-mouse chase has a great collection of 22 vintage and recent Tom and Jerry episodes, including episodes that feature many of my favorite sidekicks, such as the mischievous baby, Tom’s dog enemy Spike and his son Tyke and more.

This DVD is great for vintage animation lovers as well as children of all ages. If you are like and you have a huge Tom and Jerry lover in your family, make sure to get this DVD for them.

Tom and Jerry: Around the World

Available now (buy from the WB Shop)

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Happiness Is…Team Snoopy.  Available on DVD  now!

Synopsis (WB): Batter up with Peanuts and celebrate their greatest sports moments in this all-new collection. For Charlie Brown, a new baseball season equals new hopes of winning. Unfortunately, one player just isn’t measuring up, which makes the team decide that Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown. Then suit up for a triple-header of laughs with The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. In The Pelicans, Charlie Brown gets stuck with mascot duties while Peppermint Patty is on the road to victory with her baseball team. Great Pumpkin finds the Peanuts gang visiting the bowling alley in hopes of teaching Charlie Brown a new sport with hilarious results, and it’s game on as the neighborhood cat meets his match when Snoopy’s older brother Spike trots into town. It’s time to catch the winning spirit and share these tales with your teammates, since happiness is what Team Snoopy is all about!

My thoughts: There’s a lot that changes about life–I’ve learned over the course of my 23 years that a lot of your childhood favorites end up disappearing, either for a while or for good. However, the one thing that has been consistent is Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. It’s good to see that nothing ever really changes about Peanuts. This new DVD manages to capture all of the charm and whimsy about the original Peanuts specials into a fun tale about Charlie Brown’s adventures in trying to win a baseball game.

Recent Peanuts cartoons have looked, well, new. They haven’t really captured the classic feel of the original animation. But Happiness Is does capture it extremely well. Also captured very well is the voice acting. One of the best things about the original Peanuts cartoons is it made history for actually using children voices. Happiness Is continues that trend, finding children who sound very similar to the original characters.

If you want to feel comforted by nostalgia, make sure to get this DVD. It’ll really make you feel like a kid again.

Happiness Is…Team Snoopy

Available Now (buy from the WBshop)

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Again, sorry for being MIA with virtually everything on this site. Everything’s happening at the same time, everyone! Aside from graduations, Ashley and I are facing the huge task of moving to Miami in July. That requires time and money (the money part is what has kept me extremely busy as of late). So you’ll have to bear with me and the lack of updates on this site.

Also, speaking of Ashley, she was the speaker at her college graduation today! It was a very good speech, and I’m very proud of her success.

I say all of this to say that you’ll have to be patient with The DowntonCast. We are still going to do the show, but we’re more than likely going to switch to attempting to do the podcast every two weeks instead of every week. We have tons of stuff to do as of late, and we barely have time to sleep, let alone talk about Downton Abbey. I hope you understand!

Show Notes (although we only mentioned a few of these articles in the show):

Some famous quotes from the Dowager Countess

Vanity Fair’s nterview with Lady Mary Crawley, Michelle Dockery

Dame Maggie Smith’s BAFTA nom for the Dowager Countess

Downton Sixbey portraits

Benedict Cumberbatch criticizes Season 2 of Downton Abbey

(SPOILER) Lady Edith gets married!

What we hope happens in Season 3

*Theme: “Suite for Strings Op. 40 Prelude Allegro Vivace”, Edvard Grieg (uploaded by ccradiocc-classic-morning)PreludeAllegro Vivace” (ccradiocc-classic-morning) / CC BY-SA 3.0]

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I’ve got some new products to show you!

My sister Ashley has made these Army-inspired “I Am Not A Stereotype” shirts, which you can see below:

i am not a stereotype–organic by moniqueblog
Use Zazzle for photo t shirt printing.

And I have made some new “I A Not A Stereotype” buttons, based on my original shirt design.

I Am Not A Stereotype Button by moniqueblog
Learn about making buttons at zazzle.com

i am not a stereotype tee by moniqueblog
See other Stereotype T-Shirts

I have also done the reverse and created shirts based on my “Multiculture = American Culture” bumper sticker:

Multiculture=American Culture (Women’s) by moniqueblog
Create a personalized t shirt on zazzle.

Multiculture=American Culture (Men’s) by moniqueblog
Create unique personality shirts from Zazzle.

Make sure to click the Moniqueblog Merch tab at the top of the site or click here to see some more products. You can also see other products not listed on the site at my Zazzle storefront.

Credit: Sony Pictures

Even though I’ve kept the site updated with a few new stories (well, I guess three), I’ve actually been quite MIA. I’ve already said, but I’ve gotten a lot more stuff on my plate as of late. It’s all good stuff, let me assure you. In any case, I’m going to do better about being organized, but for right now, I’ve got some Notable Links for you guys. Better late than never, right?

As for the standout links this go-round:  I’m glad Todd Brown at Twitch has written a piece on Think Like a Man that echoes what I said in my review. Kudos to you! Also, friend to the site Aneesh Sheth posted the trailer to her film My Inner Turmoil on her Facebook page, and I’ve got it for you below.

Anyway, enjoy the links below and remember–the opinions in the linked stories belong to their respective authors.

What Hollywood Needs to Learn From Think Like A Man

NSI signs 3-year deal with NBCUniversal Canada in support of Aboriginal training courses

My Inner Turmoil trailer– Synopsis:

Priya faces angst as she navigates living life in 2 genders. The film explores her emotional hardship of switching genders on a daily basis and her inability to be her true self, brought in by complications of immigration, employment, culture and her family’s incomplete acceptance. The film is a snippet of her interaction with Rahul, an empathizing friend from India, over a two week period as she faces angst and yearns for complete support.

Blackness is the fulcrum

An Artist’s Rare, Intimate Conversation About Black Masculinity (VIDEO BELOW)

Ashton Kutcher ‘Brownface’ Controversy: Actor’s Parody Dating Ads For Pop Chips Draw Criticism 

Aboriginal Actor leads new transmedia TV series for Syfy channel

OU Professor publishes book to modernize view of American Indians

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I apologize for this podcast and The DowntonCast not being put up on time. Things have been really hectic as of late–I’ve gotten several new responsibilities, Ashley’s about to graduate college, and both of us are about to move to Miami in July. So things might stay hectic for a while. But I do have The InazumaCast up now! Check out what we’ve talked about:

Current Inazuma update from Jasmine (about the current season and/or why she quit watching it)

Episodes 2 and 3–the battle with Occult Junior High, Gouenji joins the team, Pink-haired dude develops Dragon Wave kicking technique after feeling inferior and “prince of all sayians”-esque (must bring up the bit about the girls doing the laundry)

Monique’s rant–the melodrama and old-looking children

Crazy Inazuma Fan Moment of the Week–Anime Boy’s Thomas/Inazuma Eleven Parody – Duck’s Departure (fansub)

Also, apologies for any bad editing; I tried to edit it as best as I can under the circumstances.

Theme Song: “Vuvuzela [Creative Commons]” by Oscar TG is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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