Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Afternoon Edition - 8/31/05

The Big Easy; The Huge Horror
New Orleans is said to be 80% underwater, with some parts 20 feet deep. Charity Hospital, the state’s largest public hospital, is having supplies canoed in from other locations; it has no power. At the superdome where over 10,000 folks have sought refuge – three suicides have been reported. The dome has no air conditioning, deplorable sanitary conditions and limited supplies, but it is presently the only place to bring in many of the rescued. Rescuers are comparing the conditions in New Orleans to that of a third world country.

What’s Good For The Goose; Is Not Good For The Other Goose
Matthew Limon is an 18-year old Kansas resident who is serving 17 years in prison for engaging in consensual oral sex with his 15-year old male high school friend. As it turns out, Kansas allows individuals as young as 12 to marry – with their parent’s consent of course – regardless of the age of the party their marrying. Most recently an out-of-state 22-year old man wed his 14-year old girlfriend. They crossed state lines to do so. The adult man had been having sex with the young girl since she was 13 – they even have a child to prove it. The state however is more concerned with the consensual interaction of two teenage boys that at best were exploring, as boys sometimes do, and at worst were having underage sex with a same sex partner. In any event, the state supreme court is reviewing Limon’s case. He has already served 5 years of his 17-year criminal sodomy sentence.

Feeling Tense Honey?

Yuk-Mouth Rapper Lil’ Kim, who is scheduled to begin her prison sentence in September, was reported to have had a verbal altercation with a flight attendant on her trip from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to NYC. Kim was heard asking the flight attendant, “Do you know who I am?!” several times and accused the sky waitress of being a racist. Ultimately, the flight took off and Kim had to trust her in-flight meal to the very person she harassed.

On Blast
My train ride into work today was a disaster. I was transfixed as a major argument that pitted a black woman and a Puerto Rican woman in a battle of words that included: ‘go back to your country’; ‘you guys are dirty’; ‘speak English, this is America’ and countless other insults. Today, the question for our bloggers is simple. Do blacks and Latinos recognize that they are both minority groups who nearly always share the same financial situations, neighborhoods and struggles? Are the differences between the black and Latino cultures distinctive enough to bring about these confrontations? What negative stereotypes do these cultures have about each other that can be diffused with an open discussion?

Keep passin’ the open windows…

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Tam,
I'm saddened by the sheer lack of equality in the situation. If we're punishing the gay sex interactions, how can we bless the heterosexual interactions with a marriage certificate and rights. Moreover, in the facts I read, the 22-year old man that married the 14-year old already had a child with her...which simply means the state ignored the statutory rape that occurred prior to the request for marriage. Pedophilia is wrong - straight or gay, but there are age limits we have to look at when consensual sex is taking place. For example a 19-year old and a 17-year old are so close in age that it is almost crazy to punish the 19-year old for engaging in interaction with the younger person. Ultimately, using sound judgement we can see that some cases are plain ridiculous. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if the law had punished those that engaged in sex with me prior to my 18th birthday, there would be many folks behind bars today - shoot, chances are NYC would be a ghost town! LOL

Unknown said...

Dear Never Oppressed:
You have four half black kids;
One of which will be charged for assault the next time she slams her forearm into my nuts. Your interaction with minorities would've been sufficient to give you a picture of the plight of blacks and Latinos, but now you have a much more broad picture - one tied to your heart. Your children will allow you to vicariously live the black experience; to feel the pain and sting of racism; to confront ignorance and intolerance.
We've been friends since we were babies and I have to honestly say that we KNOW each other and our families better than anyone else - heck WE ARE FAMILY. I always know where you're coming from; where you're going and what you'll do when you get there. As a proud Puerto Rican man, I'm grateful to have you as my sister, friend, confidant, etc. My half black, latino-looking nephews and niece can count on me for perspective and a vicious ability to inflict cruel and unusual punishment to anyone who hurts their egos or attempts to shatter their spirits. True tolerance, equality and the ability to see beyond race doesn't just come from race interaction but from understanding that an individual deserves respect and equal treatment regardless of their race, culture, sexual orientation, etc.

Anonymous said...

Although I am not a professional my observation the following:

Education, perspectives, people around you, how you are raised and what you are taught to believe at home has a lot to do with it.

Also, the type of classes of people. Meaning those that want to stay ignorant, be victims, are being and feeling sorry for themselves in order to justify their beliefs etc. also have a lot to do with it.

For example, (small example) I approached some kids that were leaning on my car & asked them to please get off the car because it costs me money to repair and I was w/my cousin who I love and respect. Her comment to me was "WELL IF YOU DON'T PEOPLE TO SIT ON YOUR CAR THEN PARK IT IN A PRIVATE SPOT UNDER LOCK & KEY BECAUSE THIS IS A PUBLIC STREET & IF THE CAR IS THERE EVEN I AM GOING TO SIT ON THE CAR".

I told her but that's not right although the street is public the car is not it's private property and she continued to argue & insist that she's right and fuck it it's a public place & people have the right to sit on your car because that's life & that's the way it is.

Just like her view of men her ex-played her & she's alone now so what does she does is see men as such a fucking machine & she just sleeps with them.

All this to say, that it is not necessarily, to me, the black & hispanic thing but underlying more the exposure people have about who they are, their belief system, how they are raised, what they hear, who they are around, ALL REALLY IGNORANCE and perhaps many are happy being that way so therefore, they don't think that what they say or believe is wrong.

Yes we are all 1 and we all suffered in some way or another as hispanics, blacks, indians, etc.

SO CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG,
PERHAPS THE THING TO DO IS WHENEVER ANY OF US THAT ARE CONSCIOUS AND AWAKE ENCOUNTER THIS IF WE CHOOSE TO HELP COME FROM A LOVING SPACE AND JUST POINT OUT LIKE FREAKIN RICAN SAID WE ARE ONE AND REALLY THE SAME.

WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING ABOUT ANYWAY IT'S ALL PERCEPTION AND INTERPRETATION.

Luv,

Krissy

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WANT TO HELP?

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DONATE CASH

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Operation Blessing (800) 436-6348

America's Second Harvest (800) 344-8070



TO DONATE CASH OR VOLUNTEER

Adventist Community Services (800) 381-7171

Catholic Charities, USA (800) 919-9338

Christian Disaster Response (941) 956-5183 or (941) 551-9554

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (800) 848-5818

Church World Service (800) 297-1516

Convoy of Hope (417) 823-8998

Lutheran Disaster Response (800) 638-3522

Mennonite Disaster Service (717) 859-2210

Nazarene Disaster Response (888) 256-5886

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (800) 872-3283

Salvation Army (800) SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief (800) 462-8657, ext. 6133

United Methodist Committee on Relief (800) 554-8583

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