Racialicious

latimes: Enter the Bruce Lee statue Film and kung fu legend...

secretarysbreakroom — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:27:25 -0400

A statute of the late martial arts icon Bruce Lee is seen in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles

A visitor strikes a kung fu pose beside the new statue of the late martial arts icon Bruce Lee is seen in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles

A statute of the late martial arts icon Bruce Lee is seen in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles

latimes:

Enter the Bruce Lee statue

Film and kung fu legend Bruce Lee, who broke barriers on the silver screen and television with his all-too-short career in the 1960s and 1970s, has been honored with a 7-foot statue in Chinatown’s Central Plaza.

Following the 40th anniversary of Lee’s sudden passing, and Chinatown’s 75th year in Los Angeles, the statue will be on permanent display once local businesses raise the $150,000 needed to install the bronze Lee.

For a glimpse into Lee’s significance for many of his young fans:

John Kreng, 44, staked out a spot with his friends hours before the statue’s unveiling, trading Bruce Lee stories and reminiscing. Growing up half-Thai and half-Chinese in an all-white neighborhood in Maryland, Lee’s films were inspiring, Kreng said.

“Here’s this hero who looks like me on the screen,” Kreng said.

Read more over at L.A. Now.

Photos: Robyn Beck / AFP

reclaimingthelatinatag: Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (April 7,...

secretarysbreakroom — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:44:21 -0400

reclaimingthelatinatag:

Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (April 7, 1930 – June 18, 2007) was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist and chemical engineer. She was one of the most important fighters in the struggle for Cuban women’s equality as well as fighting against the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship.

Vilma studied chemical engineering at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts before meeting revolutionary leader Frank País in Havana in the 1950s. The meeting led Espín to become a leader of the revolutionary movement in Oriente province. Espín acted as a messenger between the movement and Fidel Castro’s revolutionary underground 26th of July Movement, which had been relocated to Mexico in order to plan a future invasion. It was in Mexico that Espín met Raúl Castro. She then went on to assist the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra mountains after the 26th of July Movement’s return to Cuba on the Granma yacht. She and Raúl married in January 1959.

Vilma Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the First Latin American Congress on Women and Children in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to the Conferences on Women held in Mexico, Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing.

Espín was President of the Federation of Cuban Women from its foundation in 1960 until her death. The organization is a recognized non-government organization which claims a membership of more than three and a half million women. Espín was also a member of the Council of State of Cuba, as well as a member of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1980 to 1991.

She died in La Habana at 4:14 p.m. EDT on June 18, 2007, following a long illness.

African American Documentaries

secretarysbreakroom — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:39:12 -0400

African American Documentaries: Well dear readers, I have been watching a lot of documentaries...

Y’all, just found out about MIA’s latest cut a few...

secretarysbreakroom — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:16:53 -0400

Y’all, just found out about MIA’s latest cut a few minutes ago from the AfroPunk’s FB page.

Some fun for your Monday!

From poet/writer Saeed Jones’ travelogue for BuzzFeed,...

secretarysbreakroom — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:32:06 -0400

From poet/writer Saeed Jones’ travelogue for BuzzFeed, Queer South:

“Drag brunches” have started popping up at gay bars across the country, but Sunday’s brunch at Bayou City is a first for Houston and for many of the drag queens in attendance. Symphony admits that, after performing until 2 a.m. on Saturday nights each week, she usually sleeps well into the afternoon on Sundays.

Most of the patrons are regulars of the bar, friends of the drag queens, or both. The brunch has a lazy, but comfortable vibe. Between sets, the drag queens eat and drink at the bar with their friends and catch up on snatches of gossip from the night before. Even while sitting in this neighborhood gay bar, one can’t help but think that we’re all here, in part, because we want to keep the idea of the “neighborhood gay bar” alive. As famous gay waterholes like New York City’s Rawhide Bar shut their doors for good, places like Bayou Bar and Grill are becoming harder and harder to find.

Photo credit: Scott Baty/Buzzfeed

themusicsnobs: You might say I’m crazy perfect, but I’m...

secretarysbreakroom — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:21:31 -0400

themusicsnobs:

You might say I’m ~~crazy~~ perfect, but I’m serious.

-J

Racializens, Ms. Janet for your Monday.

apihtawikosisan: johnnybooboo: Who’s the prettiest Lieutenant...

secretarysbreakroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:30:21 -0400

apihtawikosisan:

johnnybooboo:

Who’s the prettiest Lieutenant in Star Fleet

Love this man.

A cherry on top of your Friday, Racializens.

Enjoy the weekend!

Presented without comment.::holler-laughs from back of the...

secretarysbreakroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:25:48 -0400

Presented without comment.

::holler-laughs from back of the room::

Support Navajo-Made Film, Monster Slayer

secretarysbreakroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:02:28 -0400

Support Navajo-Made Film, Monster Slayer: nitanahkohe: from their Indiegogo page: The Monster...

"To be in proximity to any NBA franchise during a championship run, for lots of kids in our sports..."

secretarysbreakroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:25:00 -0400

“To be in proximity to any NBA franchise during a championship run, for lots of kids in our...

"Israel plans to send thousands of African migrants to an unidentified country, according to a court..."

secretarysbreakroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:15:31 -0400

“Israel plans to send thousands of African migrants to an unidentified country, according to a...

newmodelminority: Kickstarter for “13 Women” blackfeministmanifesto: sourcedumal: A...

secretarysbreakroom — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:01:13 -0400

newmodelminority: Kickstarter for “13 Women” blackfeministmanifesto: sourcedumal: A...

A little extra for your Thursday, Racializens.

secretarysbreakroom — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:10:50 -0400

A little extra for your Thursday, Racializens.

Finally, fedoras for a good cause! Check it out: Women wear...

secretarysbreakroom — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:01:24 -0400

Finally, fedoras for a good cause! Check it out:

Women wear many hats - as community leaders, mothers, workers, volunteers, and much more. To celebrate this, the We Belong Together campaign is using the fedora as a metaphor for the many hats that women wear to create a brighter future for all. It is also a symbol of the need for immigration reform that treats women fairly, and a declaration that though women wear many hats, on this issue we speak with one voice.

There are 11 million people living in the United States without legal status and more than half of these immigrants are women. Current immigration laws discriminate against women who want to work in this country; separate parents, children and partners; prevent families from reunifying as a result of endless family visa backlogs; and jeopardize women’s autonomy and safety. We now have the historic opportunity to transform conditions for immigrant women, LGBT families, and their loved ones.

Congress is poised to vote on immigration reform legislation this year. The Senate will debate and vote first, in the weeks following Memorial Day. Our goal is to pressure Congress to support a bill that fixes our immigration system and provides a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, while also treating women and LGBT families fairly.

We are more likely to achieve this goal if women, the LGBT community, and allies make our voices heard. The Fedoras for Fairness campaign (#Fairdora) is an effort to demonstrate our support while calling on others to join us.

We Belong Together is led by the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, and driven by the participation of women’s organizations, immigrant rights groups, children, and families across the country.

"Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brady were also in stark contrast to my father and many of the working-class..."

secretarysbreakroom — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:02:21 -0400

“Mr. Anderson and Mr. Brady were also in stark contrast to my father and many of the...

"When Parker’s body began to change I got nervous—terrified that I had passed on the body..."

secretarysbreakroom — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:01:27 -0400

“When Parker’s body began to change I got nervous—terrified that I had passed on the...

thepeoplesrecord: Kenyan people victoriously pressure...

secretarysbreakroom — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:01:19 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

Kenyan people victoriously pressure legislators to agree to lower pay after outcry against unfair self-promoting politicians
June 12, 2013

Kenyan legislators have agreed to lower salaries, a government commission said Wednesday, after weeks of demanding higher pay which sparked off public outcry and protests. The Salaries and Remuneration Commission said they have agreed with parliament that its members will get around $75,000 and not the around $120,000 a year salary that legislators of the previous parliament earned.

The legislators also will get a one-off $59,000 car grant to buy a vehicle of their choice and can claim mileage under the local Automobile Association rates. According to a statement from the salaries commission, the agreement was reached Monday.

Average income in Kenya is about $1,800 a year, which has fueled rage over the legislators’ salaries.

On Tuesday, activists spilled cow blood outside parliament buildings, calling members of parliament or MPs, MPigs and branding parliament “a piggy bank.”

Activists celebrated the agreement between parliament and the salaries commission.

“It’s people power. The people have won,” said activist Boniface Mwangi who has organized protests over the pay dispute. “This battle was a fight between the 349 legislators and the 42 million Kenyans and the Kenyans won,” Mwangi said. “I don’t think they are going to try and raise their salaries again.”

The legislators, who were elected on March 4, had threatened in April to disband the salaries commission for reducing their salaries. Last month, MPs voted to overturn a directive that reduced their pay, hoping it would force the government to pay the higher salaries earned by the previous parliament whose term ended in January.

But the salaries commission warned government officials not to pay the higher salaries saying it was illegal, and that anyone who authorized the payment could be charged with abuse of office.

Kenya adopted a new constitution in 2010 that intended to remove parliament’s powers to set their own pay, instead giving the remuneration commission the power to determine salaries for all public servants. Earlier this year, the commission cut the president’s annual pay from around $340,000 to $185,000.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has argued that although Kenya was among the world’s poorer economies, its legislators were earning more than those in France.

Many Kenyans see their legislators as lazy and greedy in a country where hundreds of thousands live in slums. Legislators often argue that they need high salaries to give hand-outs to poor constituents for school fees and hospital bills.

The efforts by the members of parliament to raise their salaries sparked public protests including one last month in which pigs were released outside parliament.

In January, Mwangi organized the burning of 221 coffins outside parliament to protest the attempt by the MPs to give themselves a bonus at the end of their term.

The decision to reduce the pay for legislators came after a public outcry when the previous parliament attempted to raise their salaries to $175,000 annually and award themselves a $110,000 bonus at the end of their terms.

The salaries commission says Kenya can’t afford the bill for government salaries, especially since parliament expanded from 222 to 349 members in March, and new positions of 67 senators and 47 governors and their staff were created.

When newly elected President Uhuru Kenyatta opened parliament in mid-April, he told legislators that the bill for government salaries came to 12 percent of GDP, above the internationally accepted level of 7 percent. Kenyatta said 50 percent of revenue collected by government went to pay government salaries.

Kenyatta urged the MPs to grow the economy before they demand higher salaries.

Source

colouredcollective: jv88: Speed Sisters, a documentary on...

secretarysbreakroom — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:30:54 -0400

colouredcollective:

jv88:

Speed Sisters, a documentary on Palestinian female racing drivers and drifters.

This is terrific.

Analysis: what are the market opportunities for beauty companies in North Africa?

secretarysbreakroom — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:20:22 -0400

Analysis: what are the market opportunities for beauty companies in North Africa?:...

apihtawikosisan: sesamestreet: Today, Sesame Workshop launches...

secretarysbreakroom — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:14:19 -0400

apihtawikosisan:

sesamestreet:

Today, Sesame Workshop launches its newest initiative, Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration. This bilingual (English/Spanish) multimedia outreach initiative provides much-needed resources to support and comfort young children (ages 3–8) throughout their parents’ incarceration. Go to http://www.sesamestreet.org/incarceration for more information and project resources.

This makes me so sad. I’m glad this need is recognised.

Sesame Street, being awesome since forever.