ryan barrett

Cheap Thrills: Try On My Hair

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Culturejunkie

CultureJunkie gets down

At work, the Pontiac team just launched this wacky Cheer-A-Matron site as part of their NCAA Game Changing Performance Pick and Roll promotion. On the site, you can upload your headshot, stick it on an actual cheerleader’s body, and cheer it out to handcrafted 2-4-6-8s.  There are 4 cheers to choose from, as well as a silly assortment of hair options. They did a great job – the site is beautiful and goofy and exploratory, all in one. Exactly as it should be.

While working on the project, the team realized they only had all these super White hairstyles to choose from. So they asked if they could use my curly Q’s, and of course I said yes. Gotta represent, you know. I also supplied my voice for one of the cheers (can you guess which one?).

Anyway, have fun! And if you’re feeling brave, send me your cheer and I’ll add a screenshot to this post.

Hooray!
Cheer3


Jo rocks out

Joanna

This was originally posted on Ryan Barrett’s blog.

Cheap Thrills: Black Men, Let’s Get Real

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

rihanna-chris-brown-pictures

A few days ago, I found myself chatting with a few co-workers about the Chris Brown / Rihanna conflict. After a bit of a pause, one woman remarked:

“I just don’t get this whole angry Black man complex. They need to get it together.”

The strange thing about it was, everyone participating in the conversation nodded in affirmation, thus bolstering her “point”. I, on the other hand, guffawed, shook my head, and retorted, “Huh? This has nothing to do with the ‘angry Black man’ – whatever that means. It’s an abusive relationship… race has nothing to do with it.”

Surprised? I’m sure a few of you are, seeing as how I get comments like this frequently:

“Maybe my problem with the statements in Ryan’s blog is that maybe she should admit that she has a bias against black men, remembers your mother and her sister both married white men.”

and

“It’s truly tragic how much you hate men who share your color.”

and

“Isn’t this the same person who wrote about terrified she was of sexually hyper-aggressive black males? How they scared her into those oh so comforting anglo-arms when she was a teenager girl? Suggesting that only black men eyeball and catcall women in their teens?”

Ok. We need to talk about this.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how I come across on this blog to Black men. Because I care. A lot. I think about how I felt 4 years ago, when I came across the Facebook group Black Men and White Women Come Together (now defunct), or how I’d feel if I read a blog authored by a Black man who finds himself dating primarily (hi, not exclusively) White women. Did this/would this hurt my feelings? Highlight my insecurities? Anger me?

Perhaps.

But then I think about what’s real – at least, to me.

I know that I identify more with my race than I do with my sex. That might sound weird, but it’s true. I identify more with Black men than I do with White women. I think of myself as “bi-racial” before “female”. Because of this, I’ve always felt deeply connected with other bi-racial and African-American folks – men included. (!)

I know that I’m someone who calls out the elephant in the room (I get this from my mom). In my opinion, doing so progresses the conversation past formality, to a place actually worth exploring. Because really, what’s the point of skirting around the issues? It’s boring and pointless.

I also know that discussing a topic like gender relations through a racial lens isn’t easy. It’s visceral and messy. I get that. But I’m not someone who gives free passes. So I knew I’d offend a few when I called out Black men for cat calling. But I also knew that I could have gone deeper… because there is much more to say about the public objectification of Black females (the booty-shaking b*tches, the nappy headed hos, the “come here girl” comments and over-exaggerated head turns… I mean really, let’s get real).  I make no claim that this objectification began in the Black community – just think about the Saartjie Baartman, or “Venus Hottentot” story – but somehow the Black community has managed to perpetuate it. Obviously, not all Black men do this, and obviously some White men and Latino men and whoever-else-men cat call and all the rest – but I’m talking about Black women and Black men here. And it’s an important issue for us to discuss, together.

So yes, I have quite a few concerns with gender relations within the African-American community. But that doesn’t mean I won’t defend Black men wholeheartedly when someone looking in from the outside makes an ignorant blanket statement like the one my co-worker made. A statement based on nothing but TMZ and the 7 o’clock news.

But within the community, we need real talk to move forward. Understand that I want nothing more than to uplift the race, but to do so I think it’s imperative that we address the good, the bad and the ugly. You be real with me, and I promise I’ll be real with you.

This originally appeared on Ryan Barrett’s blog, Cheap Thrills.

Cheap Thrills: Ryan Barrett on McCain and Palin’s Angry Mobs

Friday, October 10th, 2008

“Kill him!”, “Terrorist!”, “Sit down boy!”— Sounds from the latest McCain/Palin rallies

UPDATE: (10.9.08) Just found this on Ben Smith’s blog over at Politico. Man-on-the-street interviews from a McCain/Palin rally in Strongsville, OH.

Secret Service is looking into the “KILL HIM” threat yelled during Palin’s rally in Clearwater, FL. No thanks to the McCain/Palin campaign.

I attended two Obama rallies during the primaries. At each one, Obama made a point of praising Sen. Clinton for her many achievements, calling her a worthy opponent. At one of the rallies during this praise, someone in the audience booed. No words, no threats. Just a boo.

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Cheap Thrills: Sarah Palin Goes to Debate Boot Camp

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

So this VP debate is coming up on Thursday. Quite frankly, I’m more excited for it than I was for last week’s presidential one. I think it’s because Palin has been in debate “bootcamp” since last week, and I picture her standing in camo at a podium barking her answers at Beavis and Butthead’s gym teacher Mr. Buzzcut. That image brightens my day.

But seriously, what’s she learning at this so-called camp? One can only speculate…

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Cheap Thrills: What if Bristol Palin was Black?

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Couple hypotheticals…

  • Close your eyes and imagine Barack Obama’s beautiful 9-year old daughter, Malia. Now imagine her 7 years older, 6 months pregnant and unwed. Would she be labeled as a courageous young woman with strong family values? Would evangelicals rally behind her? Hmm… I’m thinking NO WAY, but that’s just me.

WhatsTheDifference02 (more…)