I don’t know what the answer is to the crisis in Chicago is, but it DEFINITELY deserves national attention and intervention. It’s downright unacceptable. And not just due to this particular incident, for this is only a piece of the seemingly daily tragedies that we are constantly hearing about out of Chicago.
Family of Leonore Draper, 32, said the activist had attended A Charitable Confection — a fundraiser to raise money for a teen anti-violence group started by local high school students, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
Draper had worked to organize the event, but an hour later she was found dead in her car after being shot twice, the newspaper reported. Police are unsure if she was the intended target or was an innocent bystander.
They say military (or something like it) action isn’t the answer. And I will agree that a mentality shift is what needs to happen and that starts at the very bottom with the children and programs, initiatives, positive role models, etc. But that is literally something that has to be done over generations. What needs to happen NOW?
By now I am sure you’ve heard about our racist friend, Clippers owner Donald Sterling. But you’ve really gotta hear this trash.
Sterling’s girlfriend is both black and Mexican, and Sterling had a HUGE issue with her posting a picture with Magic Johnson on Instagram and basically asked her if she really had to publicly acknowledge that she associates herself with black people?
TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano … after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic.
Sterling rails on Stiviano — who ironically is black and Mexican — for putting herself out in public with a black person (she has since taken the pic down). But it doesn’t end there. You have to listen to the audio to fully grasp the magnitude of Sterling’s racist worldview. Among the comments:
— “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?” (3:30)
— “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.” (5:15)
— “I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.” (7:45)
— “…Don’t put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.” (9:13)
Now. Catch this. Stiviano is currently being sued by Sterling’s WIFE.
The wife of Clippers owner Donald Sterling filed a lawsuit Friday against a woman she alleged had a sexual affair with her husband.
The suit filed by Rochelle Sterling also alleged that the woman, identified in court documents only as V. Stiviano, was also given lavish gifts by Donald Sterling, including property and cash.
Rochelle Sterling accuses Stiviano as being the type of woman who “engages in conduct designed to target, befriend, seduce and then … receives as gifts transfers of wealth from older men whom she targets for such purposes.”
According to the suit, Stiviano has several aliases, including Vanessa Perez, Monica Gallegos and Maria Valdez.
Stiviano reportedly met Sterling at the Super Bowl game in February 2010 and that same year began a sexual relationship with him, the suit states.
The suit asks for a return of all cash, land, expensive cars and other items that under California law are the community property of the Sterlings.
WELP!!!!! It could be a case of a lover scorned, but either way, ummmm yeah. This is bad.
Sterling has since responded:
Donald Sterling has come out swinging, with the Clippers organization right behind him … saying he and his team don’t know if the audio TMZ Sports releasedis legit … but he says it does NOT reflect his views toward African Americans.
Sterling and the Clippers organization tell TMZ Sports, “We have heard the tape on TMZ. We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered.”
The statement goes on … We do know that the woman on the tape — who we believe released it to TMZ — is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family, alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would ‘get even.'”
And the statement goes on, “Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings. It is the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life.”
And there’s this: “He feels terrible that such sentiments are being attributed to him and apologizes to anyone who might have been hurt by them.”
Hmm. You don’t know if the audio is “legit?” Sooooo you can’t say that you never said that? Tuh. That’s all we need to know.
Now check THIS out.
Yes. Donald Sterling is supposed to be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP on May 15th.
Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up.
Responses:
Sterling basically articulated Plantation Politics…Make money off the Bucks/Lay with the Women/No Association in Public good or bad
.@cjbycookie and I will never go to a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner. — Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 26, 2014
I feel sorry for my friends Coach Doc Rivers and Chris Paul that they have to work for a man that feels that way about African Americans.
LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s comments about African Americans are a black eye for the NBA. — Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 26, 2014
1) Stop bandwagoning. 2) Emmett Till? RT @LilTunechi If I played for the Clippers, the last game wld have been my last game. Purple Yellow. — Dwight Arauño-Lipp (@Acquired_Taste) April 26, 2014
^ Exactly!?
Seriously, young lovelies in LA, take heed… if you are going to sleep with an old crusty bastid for $, make sure he isn’t a rabid racist.
According to former general manger Elgin Baylor, Sterling envisioned a “Southern Plantation type structure” for the Clippers, one in which, as he allegedly put it to Baylor, “poor black boys from the South” played for a white head coach.
GF: “I don’t understand, I don’t see your views. I wasn’t raised the way you were raised.”
Sterling: “Well then, if you don’t feel — don’t come to my games. Don’t bring black people, and don’t come.”
GF: “Do you know that you have a whole team that’s black, that plays for you?”
Sterling: “You just, do I know? I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have—Who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners, that created the league?”
Sterling: “There’s no racism here. If you don’t want to be… walking… into a basketball game with a certain… person, is that racism?” — Brett Poirier NBA (@BrettNBA) April 27, 2014
“He shouldn’t own a team anymore,” Magic Johnson on Donald Sterling.
Also, President Obama has spoken on the situation (via ESPN):
President Barack Obama also addressed the situation, calling the reported remarks “incredibly offensive” and expressing confidence in Silver and the NBA to handle the matter.
“I don’t think I have to interpret those statements for you; they kind of speak for themselves,” Obama said, speaking at a Sunday news conference in Malaysia. “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything. You just let them talk. And that’s what happened here.”
Obama also said the United States still wrestles with “the legacy of race and slavery and segregation.”
“Obviously, the NBA is a league that is beloved by fans all across the country,” Obama said. “It’s got an awful lot of African-American players. It’s steeped in African-American culture. And, I suspect that the NBA is going to be deeply concerned in resolving this.”
My first thought when hearing about Donald Sterling’s comments was to never watch another Clippers game. Then I realized I never have.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Columbus Short released this statement:
“At this time I must confirm my exit from a show I’ve called home for 3 years, with what is the most talented ensemble on television today. I would like to first thank [creator] Shonda Rhimes for the opportunity to work with such an amazing cast. Thank you GLADIATORS, who have supported me throughout my entire career and of course to ABC and Shondaland for allowing me to play such a pivotal role in the Scandal series. I have enjoyed every single minute of it. Everything must come to an end and unfortunately the time has come for Harrison Wright to exit the canvas. I wish nothing but the best for Shonda, Kerry and the rest of the cast, who have become like a second family to me in such a short amount of time. For this, I will forever be grateful.”
Welp. Guess his little stunt with the Tom Joyner Morning Show was the last straw for Shonda, huh?
This is a true story, straight out of my city, Houston, Texas. My word.
HOUSTON (KTRK) — A middle school teacher is facing a felony charge, after she allegedly gave a student a lap dance for his birthday.
Felicia A. Smith, 42, is charged with improper relationship with a student after an incident that occurred in her classroom at Aldine ISD’s Stovall Middle School back in February.
According to court documents, a 15-year-old student entered the classroom and said it was his birthday. He said the other students encouraged him to sit in a chair at the front of the room, where Smith allegedly performed a full contact lap dance to music, lasting about four minutes. The boy described to Aldine ISD police touching that occurred between the two. The dance reportedly ended with Smith hugging the boy and telling him, “I love you baby, happy birthday.”
The incident was captured on video, court documents state.
Smith told police that she did perform a lap dance on a student’s birthday because the class convinced her to do it.