Getting De-Clawed

Good Day,  I will not be before you long.  I haven't blogged in awhile because the great orange menace has me all the way distracted.

But I did want to voice my opinion about the new TNT dramedy (??) Claws.

It is insulting, demeaning, sexist and vulgar and it will probably be on the air for at least 5 seasons.  And I am very damned mad about it too.

I do not want to see another black woman bent over a desk while some white guy rapes her.  Yeah, I have heard it referred to as "Sex", but what I saw was a hate-fueled act of sexual assault.  There was nothing comedic about it. I stopped watching after that.

Niecy Nash has always been a sheroe of mine, and to say I am disappointed doesn't matter cause I am not paying her bills.  I thought she was a stronger person, actor and mother than to take that role.

What Women of Color must stop doing is allowing Hollywood to tell our stories.  Or accepting their skewed presentation of the world outside Beverly Hills.

Why did it have to be a 'nail salon'?  Why not a Fortune 500 company, or a clothing empire, or even a lunch counter?  

This exploitation of Women of Color has been an active practice of oppressors since time began.  I cannot believe we are still trying to nurture a nation that will not nurture us.

The problem is bigger than one show of course, and folks will think that I am 'hating', and they will be right.

I hate that black women are being portrayed as sluts that sleep around in order to advance in America.

I hate that women and people of color are not paid equally in Hollywood.

I hate that the angry black woman trope is turning into a fact of life cause I am mad as hell about this show.

I hate that little black girls all over the world will see this show and think it's a game plan to get out of poverty.

I hate that I even have to say this.

America, we have to do better.

Never-ending Nightmare

I sit here on the eve of an event so mind-blowing that the good ole USA might not survive it.  I am not going to mention the name of said travesty...we all know what it is.

What we did not know 22 months ago was that such a thing was possible.  Now, to the dismay of damn near everyone, we stand on the brink of an extinction level event.

Yes, I am being a drama queen, I know.  America has had greedy, grasping, brain-damaged folks in positions of power before.  What is nagging at me is the sheer, unmitigated level of arrogance I have noticed in the PE's appointments, as well as his own behavior.

There are too many reasons this happened to count, so I am not going to go there.  But I am going to speak about the arrogant attitude of the people being nominated to the highest offices of the land.

They do not give a shit about this country.  Based on the testimony I've seen, they haven't bothered to learn fact one about the department(s) they have been nominated to run.

The pauses, ahem's, stutters, stammers, and shoulder shrugs all put me in the mind of spoiled, bored children. It's like their names were drawn out of a hat.

So what next America?  

I forgot that hate is a stronger motivator than love in America.  Or so it appears.  

The "Ugly American" is back in full force.  Voted into office on a wave of fear, bias and mis-directed anger.  Upheld and bolstered by the Alt-Right and the NRA.  No tax returns, broken campaign promises.  Not the presidential timber I have come to expect even from Republicans.

But nothing about this election has gone as expected, not even for the presumptive president.  Hometeam did not expect to win, and now he's toddling around playing 'leader of the free world' and does not have a clue.

I have no idea what happens next, but if we are alive on the other side of this, I hope we the people have learned our lesson...freedom requires vigilance.  And let's face it folks, we were not paying attention.  We must do better.