Racist Cartoon in the Post-Racial Obama Era. Really?

Today the NY Post ran a cartoon that depicts two cops shooting a chimpanzee and referring to the now-signed stimulus package. Care to guess what the cartoonist is trying to say?

Here's a link to the offensive cartoon: http://www.nypost.com/delonas/delonas.htm. Needless to say it's caused outrage among several people including Al Sharpton. So much for the post-racist era. Hah! Like it really exists.

I say let the paper know how you feel. Email them at letters@nypost.com or call 212-930-8000, press 8 for the operator to be directed to the complaint line. Here's my letter to the paper.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am outraged that images like this are still being published. This is disrespectful and an insult to all of us who are working towards a just society. A direct correlation is being made between President Barack Obama and the chimp that was shot. Come on, didn’t we leave this back in the fifties with the racist Tarzan movies? I find it hard to believe that there was no in-house comment about the content of the cartoon or that no one saw a problem. After all, this cartoonist has a history of homophobic cartoons. He along with the Post has been called on it (http://www.queerty.com/?s=delonas). Most likely the Post will hide behind it’s disclaimer and the right to free speech, but to disregard the tasteless content & context is naïve, which I believe the staff at the Post is not.

I am sure you’re being flooded with emails and phone calls. I just hope you realize that’s just the tip of the iceberg as most folks will not respond, but they will talk & post about it. After all, this is the NY Post in NYC. A public apology is in order along with pulling the cartoon. To do otherwise would be tantamount to slapping your current readers, many of whom are working class people of color, in the face. You must take action now.

In peace,
Kim Ford
--
"When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power...the world will know peace" ~Jimi H

We Don’t Like The Truth

I know sometimes we don’t like the truth.
We don’t want to hear it, especially from ourselves.
We would rather listen to the lies we tell ourselves inside our heads.
The words that remind us that we’re not good enough, not ready yet, not quite, almost, too much, too soon.

But we know the truth.
We may not want to face it, but we know it.
The truth will do more than set us free.
The truth will turn us around, upside down, inside out, make us stand on our heads, stand on our toes, reach for the stars, dig down deep, make us be.

No, we don’t like the truth, but we know it.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

I Ponder a World, Part 2

I woke up on Wednesday to a different world. A world full of possibility. It wasn’t until I accepted the reality of the election outcome that I allowed myself to fully feel what had been bottled up for so long. It was simple. It was hope.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

I Ponder A World, Part 1

I sit here today and ponder a world with a black American president realizing that just a year ago I didn’t really believe, much less imagine this could happen in my lifetime. I also realize that no one person can be everything to everyone and that undoing the last 8 years will take more than the 4 upcoming. And it will take more than one person. But I know that the first is the one that takes the hits, the lumps, the name calling, the insults, the slurs, and everything else that comes with that role. I also know that because they take all that abuse with grace and equanimity, they prepare the road for the rest of us. This man that would become president may not be the progressive/left/revolutionary that we want, but he his the hope of what is needed and what can be done.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

If

(for all little girls who dream)

If I were free to speak my mind

I would tell them how it was.

How it was to grow up a girl child.

A black girl child in amerika.

With all the lessons, spoken & unspoken.

How it was to be told what to do & how to do it.

How it was to hear what others wanted, but never to be asked what you wanted.

How it was (is!) to be a thing, a body, a tool for someone else’s use.

To fulfill their expectations.

I would tell them what it feels like to awaken knowing that there is more.

I would tell them what it is to grow, to reach, to stretch for the sun, the stars, the moon.

To be a part of everything that is spirit.

To be me

If I were free to speak my mind

I would tell them about me.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

PAPER

Where is that piece of paper, that blue piece of paper?
Or maybe a red piece paper?

That piece of paper that said who I was,
When I was being too many things for too many people,
For too little.

That piece of paper that began something.
Maybe a story, my story. Maybe not the beginning,
But the end.

I look again; I know it’s here.
That piece of paper wants to be found, to be read.
I find it – it’s purple.

©2008 Kim L. Ford

memories

reality, dreams, body, soul
recollection

old, new, forgotten, remembered
reminiscence

mine, yours, too many, none
remembrances

our memoirs
who's memories

©2008 Kim L. Ford