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Culture, healing, politics and bullshit - Not necessarily in that order

The general, socio-political and very personal rantings and ravings of a hip hop head from the hood hustling for change... Of himself.

You all know me and are aware that I am unable to remain silent. At times to be silent is to lie. For silence can be interpreted as acquiescence.
—Miguel de Unamuno



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Monday, July 14, 2008

Worth A Thousand Words

Sometimes, words just will not do. I'll be back later with my diatribe, you can trust that.

Until then, what in the hell do YOU have to say about it?
Remember, this is a left wing rag.

9 comments:

Darius T. Williams said...

You know...this doesn't make me upset one bit. I think it's actually a little on the humorous side to be honest with you.

It's something I look at. Say "geez, America has such a long way to go" and then I keep going w/my day.

Will some folks be more upset at it. Yup. Will it phase others? Sure it will.

I think out of all the attacks against Michelle and Barack, they keep proving why they should be the #1 family. So, if this is all the dirt the folks can pull up and make fun of - then you know what, go ahead. Because in the end, we still do one thing...rise!

:::does the "I'm First" Dance:::

LadyLee said...

Shaking my head, Man!!

I'm sure this is satirical in nature. But this is what a few whites think of them. THIS is why black folk (especially our "black leadership") need to get behind him. He's being made fun of. Hmm. How far will it go? Bin Laden is on the wall. The American flag is burning in the fire place. It's suppose to be funny, but uh...

I don't find it particularly funny. But I think we are suppose to laugh along with it. Afterall, it will give credibility to some of these bizarre fears concerning Obama. That's the point, right?

Luke Cage said...

Much like my girl Lady Lee mentions before me, I suppose this cartoon makes fun of the people who believe or tell the lies about Barack and Michelle. However...

It hit me the wrong way, in the gut, the moment I looked at it. It completely missed the mark.

Everyone knows the people who tell these lies will seize this opportunity to repeat their lies in new contexts.

Everyone knows the unsophisticated and ill-informed will see this cover on newsstands and it will reinforce their belief in the lies.

For every person who responds to the cartoon as the cartoonist intended, and for another person the cartoon will have the opposite effect. Therefore, it's very poor as a piece of satire. Sorry New Yorker. Try again...

Anonymous said...

So bad judgement is overlooked these days huh? I get that the cartoonist was attempting to taunt those who believe unfounded and (what I would call) ignorant statements about Senator Obama and his wife....BUT, that point gets completely ignored because of poor judgement. The image hits people too hard and honestly requires too much thinking and acceptance....things we're not prone to do often when it comes to race.

Now we could ask the question, are black folks just too sensitive? Or we can acknowledge poor judgement when we see it.

Sometimes I wonder if, during corporate meetings, there is not one single soul sitting in the room, tapping on the table with a pencil and asking "Doesn't this sound bad to anybody else besides me?????"

chele said...

I don't see the satire. Sorry. And I don't see the humor. And I don't agree with what their so-called intent was. I believe the intent was to perpetuate the irrational fear that so many Americans have regarding the Obamas. It really reminds me of something that I would see on South Park ... not on the cover of the New Yorker.

Gallis said...

Yeah, real conflicted on this one. Like our culture has the patience or intellect to appreciate satire of this nature? Puhleeze.

I would have found it more interesting if they had found away to bring these issues up without outrightly satirizing the Obamas. Do you think they had a similar McCain cartoon planned that pointed to his characterizations by the left? I'm not so sure.

Maybe in the end it's accomplished the most important goal: people are talking about it.

The Second Sixty-Eight said...

Man FUCK that! This kinda shit makes me wanna LIKE Fox News!

Words just can't describe! What the fuck they gonna do when he actually wins?

NeenaLove said...

the new yorker is known for its looney covers.

this type of criticism and blatant mockery comes with the territory. the man is attempting to take the reins of the FREE WORLD.

OBAMA is a brilliant politician/ business man with THICK skin... he has a strong cabinet and GREAT ideas (ideas don't necessarily make solutions). he will survive.

i have several questions to everyone who happens upon this comment -- who are we upset with about the cartoon? should it have been censored? what drives your aversion to the caricature?

nikki said...

if this was something the new yorker wasn't known for, i'd be more upset. satire isn't feel good, it's not happy, and is supposed to generate discussion, even if it's angry discussion. if obama is gonna be the most powerful man in the free world, i think it's important to recognize that he and his fam are gonna be targets, just like the clintons, the bushes, etc.

because race is such a sensitive topic here in the u.s., it's easy to get caught up in the racial politics of this, easy for folks not to recognize the motives behind the cover, easy for folk to dismiss the american public as too ignant to see the satire for what it is.

i say achieving true racial equality isn't easy and therefore, it would behoove us to step back and not allow our emotions to dictate our reaction to this or to immediately label it racist or to assume the american public by and large doesn't get it.

for the record, i was appalled when i initially saw this, too.