Hair jokes and an uppity reporter.

    Today was a tough day for black women in America. It was so bad that even a certain former presidential candidate had to weigh in.

First, Bill O'Reilly tried to diss a sitting congresswoman from California by comparing her wig to  the iconic coif of the "hardest working man in show business". Needless to say that black folks did not feel good about it.

"O'Reilly was asked for his thoughts on Waters' comments. He instead discussed her appearance.
"I didn't hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig," he said, referencing the late soul singer.

While two of the Fox & Friends cohosts joined in on O'Reilly's comments, Ainsley Earnhardt cut in to say she had to defend Waters.

"You can't go after a woman's looks," she said. "I think she's very attractive."

O'Reilly replied, "I didn't say she wasn't attractive... I love James Brown, but it's the same hair."
He later went on to invite Waters, who has been in Congress since 1991, on his own show." [Source]

How is this for irony? Bill O'Reilly is a big supporter of Donald trump, and he is making fun of this woman's wig. Seriously?

He has been getting a lot of heat so he apologized later today. I honestly don't even know why he bothered. The "alleged" wife beater has a long history of saying racist and derogatory things towards blacks.

This might explain why he is so popular with the FOX VIEWS crowd.

"As I have said many times, I respect Congresswoman Maxine Waters for being sincere in her beliefs," he said. "I said that again today on Fox & Friends calling her 'old school.' Unfortunately, I also made a jest about her hair which was dumb. I apologize."

Don't apologize Bill, you said exactly what you wanted to say, and you thought it was funny, as did millions of your fans.

Then there was April Ryan, who asked one too many questions of one Sean Spicer today, and it caused him to finally let his true feelings for the "uppity" black reporter, show.

"I'm sorry that disgusts you. You're shaking your head,” he said.

When Ryan pivoted to ask about Condoleezza Rice’s meeting with the president this week, Spicer responded by saying, “It.'s interesting that you ask those two questions back to back. On the one hand, you say, what are we doing to improve our image and here he is meeting somebody that hasn't been a big supporter.” He added, “It seems like you're hell bent on trying to make sure whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays.”'

As she protested, Spicer said, “I’m sorry, please stop shaking your head again.” '

To quote Ryan herself: "Lawd!!" 

Sadly, these folks are becoming a bit unhinged. I suspect that Sean will  let the n- word slip before this thing is over.

"I've been here for 20 years, since 1997, the second term of Bill Clinton,” Ryan told MSNBC’s Katy Tur afterwards. “We've never seen anything like this before. And my question was simple. How do you change the perception problem basically? I don't know verbatim what I said, but that was the impetus and the crux of my question. And it went off into this Russian dressing, no shaking my head or whatever.”

“'I understand what Sean is doing,” Ryan said, “Sean is being the White House press secretary talking about and trying to make this administration look better than what it does right now. Unfortunately, I was roadkill today.”'

Oh no my sister, you are "roadkill" every day.  You need to remember that fact when you are standing in the way of those republican men.

*Pic from yahoo.com

 

 

I wish James Brown was around so that I could thank him for his service.

As we draw close to Memorial Day, I would like to share a story about a veteran with you.

"Twenty-six-year-old James Brown served two tours in Iraq. He didn't make it two days in a Texas jail.

In 2012, Brown was arrested in El Paso, Texas, where he was living with his family while on active duty, and sentenced to two days in the El Paso County Detention Facility for a DWI.

According to KFOX14, when Brown self-reported to the jail, he told the intake officer that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Once in custody, he called his mom.

He said, 'They're trying to make me stay seven days instead of two days, so I just want to pay the court fine and get out of here,'" Dinette Robinson-Scott said. Brown asked his mother if she would pay the fine to get him released. She paid the money the next day and learned that overnight, her son had died.

"When a 26-year-old man checks into jail for a court-imposed sentence on a Friday, and he leaves Sunday in a casket, something went horribly wrong there," one of the Brown family attorneys, B.J. Crow, told the news station.

After a hard-fought battle to have video footage released of the incident that Brown's family believes led to his death, KFOX14 learned that during Brown's stay, several guards detained him and did not order medical attention even though Brown can be heard throughout the recording saying that he can't breathe. At one point, Brown can be heard yelling, "I'm choking on my blood."

According to KFOX14, at some point during his incarceration, Brown had an "episode in his cell that caused him to bleed." The footage does not show how Brown began bleeding or how the blood got onto the walls of his one-person cell, but officers can be seen asking Brown questions. Brown refuses to answer, and guards in riot gear enter the cell and force Brown to the ground. As many as five guards can be seen on top of Brown, who appears to be flat on the ground. At no point during the footage does Brown appear to be resisting the officers, but he can be heard yelling, "I can't breathe."Throughout the recording, Brown appears to be losing consciousness. At one point, he begs guards to remove the spit guard they have placed over his mouth. At another point, he begs officers for water. He is given half a Dixie cup.

KFOX14 notes that, "By the end of the clip, Brown's physical condition appears to deteriorate, showing shallow breathing and no longer blinking or being responsive. Brown appears to no longer be capable of pleading for anything. Attorneys say at no time was an ambulance or 911 called for help."

After Brown is completely unresponsive, KFOX14 reports that Brown is taken to University Medical Center, where he is pronounced dead.

The official autopsy report lists "natural causes by sickle cell crisis," the news station notes.

"Mr. Brown's death was an unfortunate tragedy," El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said in a statement viewed by KFOX14. "The sheriff's office has conducted a thorough review of the facts surrounding Mr. Brown's death and, based upon all the evidence obtained, determined that his death was caused by a pre-existing medical condition. The specific evidence cannot be discussed because of pending litigation."

Thee news station noted that Brown did not have a known history of sickle cell crisis and had never suffered an incident before, but added that sickle cell can stay dormant and be triggered by stress and dehydration". [Story and video here]

Hmmm, two tours in Iraq, and it took this incident to trigger a "sickle cell crisis".

Ok then.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see where this investigation takes us. I have my own thoughts on how this will go down. I mean El Paso is in Texas, right?

Bye Godfather!

So the Godfather of soul is gone; damn this one hurts too. He dropped so much good sh**, that I can't even begin to name them. More importantly, he helped change the way us black folks view ourselves. "Say it loud I am black and I am proud..." Did I have some issues with him? Sure I did. Like the whole corny "Living In America" thing he did for that "Rocky" movie. And some of the personal issues that he had was way too public. But hey, who among us is perfect? And if anyone deserves a pass for some of the sh** he did, it was JB.

So go on with your bad self James, you left us with lots and lots of great memories, and all of us will be moving our feet to your sh** for years to come.

Folks, I am blogging from the road, so this post, as you can see, was very brief. But I had to comment on the passing of JB.

I can't wait to get back to Philly to start really posting again. There is so much sh** that I want to talk about and share with you. Anyway, just three days and counting, and I will be home sweet home.

Peace.