TheMumpreneur

race

April 28, 2015

What's wrong with you America?

"Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason."

Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Armina, what race am I?" - I (a human) asked my friend Armina (a human) who was already attending Towson for three years and to whom I turned to for absolutely everything. I was sitting in the Towson University Women's Basketball locker room before the first practice of my freshman year trying to complete a university questionnaire assistant coach handed to all of us.
"How do you mean? You are white!"- she said while changing. "I thought so but there are more options here." - I said totally confused. Then I peaked at my friend also freshman Alis's questionnaire (a human) and I noticed she marked 'african-american' so I asked her naively: "Are you from Africa?" She laughed and said, no I'm from Maryland and said: "I think you should circle White-European."
Walking up to practice gym I remember thinking about the skin color for the first time in my life (Croatia where I am from is predominantly white, catholic so I haven't seen much diversity before coming to Towson) and wondering why they have so many race options and why does it matter what color your skin is when playing basketball or attending an university. When handing over the paper to assistant coach I asked her why do they need to know my race - she just said: "It's a standard form, all students need to complete it." I remained confused.
At some point during my sophomore year I started to go out with a guy named Alvin (a human) and we dated for some time. Some of my teammates saw us holding hands walking from classes and when I came to the locker-room I got a side comment from one of my black teammates who half-jokingly said: "Are you dating a black guy Kat? Damn, aren't there enough black girls out there?"Another black teammate just put her hand over my shoulders leaving the locker-room and said: "Ignore her Kat, she is being an idiot today."
Slowly but surely I started to realize how superficially, racially, unfairly and unnecessary segregating people is quietly and slowly eroding most prosperous nation in the world and building prejudices which are now hard corded in the hearts, minds, laws and upbringing of this nation. This big tree is rooting at it's root. The centuries long quite racism has been swooshed under the carpet, now there is no more room there, wind has blown and it's spreading it all around...taking young innocent black lives, making people angry, frustrated and sad. This mental, emotional and every other segregation which was justified with 'acknowledging the differences' or 'helping the minorities' has now erupted and it has caused major economic, health and educational problems for the whole country.

"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome."

Rosa Parks
Black people in America are not a minority and they are not a victim nor an enemy. Acts of individuals cannot be blamed on a single skin color otherwise White skin color people could be forever labeled as the most violent race in the world. The system chosen and set by American people (black, white and all the other colors of the rainbow you put in your little university form) has failed the people as it is programed to divide and not to bring together and develop a nation of kind human beings.
This morning I woke up to terrifying news of racial conflicts and riots in Baltimore, city close to Towson University where I studied, a beautiful city where bunch of my university friends and teammates still live.
How ironic, the most prosperous country in the world, the nation of the free, the home of the brave, which proud it's self on freedom of speech and equality, which is playing the role of the powerful military force and world's cop is now faced with it's own internal hypocrisy.
Before we start putting these lazy labels on each other determined solely with what our eye can see at first glance (skin color) why don't we all try to earn, be proud of and nurture an ultimate label of being a decent human being?
What's wrong with you America?

XoXo

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Halleluja for Vogue!

I was really happy to see gorgeous Halle on the cover of no other than most important September, 2010. celebration Vogue issue! Yes you can Ana!

Halle is 2nd black women on most important September issue cover. She si also a 6th black women on the Vogue cover in this decade, this is her 2nd Vogue cover (1st in Dec.2002.) and she looks fabulous with short hair again!

Here are some more facts on black women gracing the cover of THE fashion bible! Some call these, semi recent, positive changes an Andre Effect.

Not to bore you with to much historic details, I have collected most accurate data I could find and selected some fabulous covers bellow.

Its was about time Conde Naste!

March,1966.Donyale Luna was first ever black women on the cover of UK Vogue, although she did not identify as black and she was photographed covering her African American features not to "offend" Vogue readership at a time
August, 1974. Beveryl Johnson (First black women on US Vogue cover)
August, 1977. Peggy Dillard (had later two more Vogue covers)
March, 1980. Sheila Johnson (America’s first Black female billionaire)
January, 1981. Beverly Johnson
June, 1986. Shari Bellafonte (last of her 5 Vogue covers, 1982-1986.) - most Vogue covers by a black women
February, 1987. Louise Vyent
October, 1988. Kara Young's 2nd Vogue cover
January, 1989. Karen Alexander
September,1989. Naomi Campbell - first black women solo on the cover of Sep. issue, the least selling cover of all times
April, 1994.Brandi Q is featured alongside two white models
May,1996. Naomi Campbell is given the inside flap of a special foldout cover
June, 1993. Naomi Campbell last solo Vogue cover
March, 2007. Jennifer Hudson was 1st full figure black women to appear on Vogue cover solo
July, 1997. Kiara Kabukuru (Ugandan supermodel)
January, 1998. Melanie Brown (Scary Spice) shares the cover with her fellow Spice Girls
October, 1998. Oprah
Novemeber, 1999. Iman shares the front cover with three other supermodels in special foldout cover
January, 2001. Marion Jones
December, 2002. Halle Barry's first Vogue cover
May, 2005. Liya Kebede (Ethiopian supermodel)
April, 2009. Beyonce (shape issue)