Friday, October 29, 2010

Is a “Ghetto Fab” Wig Racist?

 

Written by Dorian Chandler

 

With Halloween approaching Kohl’s department store rolled our their latest available costumes and wigs. What the hell where they thinking when they decided to roll out this hot ghetto mess entitled “Ghetto Fab Wig.” Kohl’s claims you can “dance the night away in this disco inspired Afro style wig.

Really Kohl’s?

Your wig inspiration came from disco and Afro styles but instead of calling it that you decided to call it “Ghetto Fab?” I’m confused Kohl’s. Can you clarify how this ghetto fab wig got past your production and PC lines? Does Kohl’s consider themselves experts in what’s deemed “Ghetto” Fab a.k.a Black Fab? Oddly enough the model shown wearing the “ghetto fab” wig doesn’t look ghetto or black for that matter (what constitutes “ghettoness” anyway?)

Did Kohl’s one size fits all mantra get them in over their heads?

UPDATE: Kohl’s via twitter was swift to respond to the matter and apologize to each an every person that tweeted them (see below). They did as they said and removed the offensive language and the product as a whole from their site.

 

Click to read.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr. Boyce Analyze the Democrats’ “Loyalty” to Black Voters

 

Click to listen to Al Sharpton and Dr. Boyce Watkins discuss whether or not African Americans should go out and support the Democrats in the mid-term elections.  You can listen by clicking here.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

CDC: 1 in 22 African Americans Will be Infected by HIV

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

More “good” news from the Center for Disease Control:  African Americans have a 1-in-22 chance of catching HIV in their lifetimes.  This is eight times the rate for white Americans.  Of course the numbers are no surprise, given that HIV is already spreading quite rapidly through our community.   This confirmation from the CDC is simply another depressing reminder of the risks of irresponsible sex.

Obviously, sex is as natural as breathing, given that it’s the reason we even exist in the first place.  But the power of sex must also be respected, and some of us grow up in a culture where casual sex is considered the norm and the pursuit of good sex is worthy of being a lifelong endeavor.  While I am certainly not here to judge, perhaps we should consider a few thoughts:

Click to read.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Black Bloggers Invited to the White House: Are They Being Influenced?

 

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

President Obama recently invited a slew of African American bloggers to the White House for a “black online summit” of sorts.  Many commentators from Black America Web, News One and even my very own AOL Black Voices were brought in to talk turkey with the president before the election. 

I do a lot of writing on the web, and I actually do work with several of the sites that were invited to the White House summit.  But I wasn’t asked to be part of this particular gathering.  I am not ashamed to admit that I wasn’t invited, because I never expected to be brought in anyway.  In fact, I despise the idea of spending all my time around politicians, many of whom only seem to care about their own agenda. 

Click to read.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Black August Hip Hop Movement: Dream Hampton’s New Film

I got a chance to speak with Marc Lamont Hill, a brilliant young professor at Columbia University, along with Dream Hampton. Marc is the host of "Our World with Black Enterprise," replacing the great Ed Gordon. Dream is a hip hop journalist, who was the first female editor of "The Source" Magazine. She has also helped to create award-winning films such as "I am Ali," and "Behind the Music: The Notorious B.I.G." I spoke with both of them in the studio about their work, and I think you'll enjoy the interview and become inspired by it.

 

Click here to watch.

Black Woman Leads the Way for Black Entrepreneurs: Meet Danielle Douglas

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

Danielle Douglas, an entrepreneurship expert and CEO of Inspire Enterprises, conducted a survey of African Americans interested in owning their own businesses. The survey,which can be found here, was qualitative in nature, asking questions about the pitfalls that people run into when trying to become either full-time or part-time entrepreneurs.
Douglas made it clear that the greatest obstacle that African Americans face when trying to start their own business is a lack of access to capital. In an interview with AOL Black Voices, Douglas said this:
"Overwhelmingly, respondents number one frustration is lack of financial resources as it relates to start up capital , access to capital in general, and identifying viable resources to help them attain capital."

 

Click to read.