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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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The Cost of Weddings Shouldn’t Be Why People Opt Out of Marriage
A new study underscores a troubling trend: The high cost of dream weddings is driving people away from bothering to get married at all.
By: Keli Goff
Posted: June 25 2014 2:20 PM
Anyone who follows my work knows I have written about the impact of out-of-wedlock births in the black community, but a new study, which you can read here (pdf), takes a wider look at the impact across racial lines. The analysis raises some interesting points worthy of consideration, namely the role society plays in deterring some young people from marriage.
And the more I think about it, it seems to me that one of the main ways we do that is by celebrating—and prioritizing—weddings. Allow me to explain.
Analyses of recent studies about marriage tell us that marriage is increasingly seen more as a “capstone”—in the same way other big-ticket, “grown-up” life items are, like buying a house. But weddings are viewed by many as an essential part of the ticket price. Just as you wouldn’t buy a house without a roof, in the eyes of many you can’t get married without a fancy wedding. In article after article on unmarried couples with children, variations of a common refrain are heard: “We can’t afford to get married.”
But it turns out that when people say they can’t afford marriage, often what they mean is they can’t afford a wedding. More specifically, an over-the-top, celebrity-style dream wedding that is no longer considered merely the birthright of celebrities but is also the right of anyone with a credit card and a copy of a bridal magazine. It’s a view described in a landmark New York Times Magazine article on poverty and marriage, in which one of the interviewees, a man named Ken, said that while he had planned to eventually marry his child’s mother, he was in no rush, partly because of their inability to have what he considered a proper wedding.
“I ain’t having a city hall wedding,” the paper quoted him as saying, and noting that “he sees himself marrying on a tropical beach, like the eponymous star of the sitcom Martin, who tied the knot with his girlfriend, Gina, amid exotic flowers, crashing waves and a cellist in black tie.”
Before anyone blames Ken or others for having an unrealistic view of what a wedding needs to be, though, we should acknowledge that there are plenty of married middle- and upper-class couples who have also bought into the idealization of weddings at the expense of marriage. After all, how many people do we all know with student-loan debt who still broke the bank on a fabulous wedding, as if it would simply not be possible to marry in a dress that was not by a celebrity designer?
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/06/it_s_time_to_take_marriage_seriously_not_weddings.html
Columbus Short’s No-Show in Court Costs Him Big Time
The former Scandal star missed an important day in family court.
By: Yesha Callahan
Posted: June 26 2014 7:00 AM
Columbus Short is learning that the court system doesn’t like no-shows. Wednesday, Short decided not to show up to a family court hearing in regards to his separation from Tanee McCall-Short (also known as Tuere in the U.S.). In addition to not showing up to court, legal representation did not appear on his behalf.
Since Short was a no-show the judge put in a judgment for $17,005 in spousal support to his estranged wife. On top of that, according to TMZ, Short also has to fork over $4,542 a month in child support.
Short’s financial obligations don’t end there. The troubled actor also has to cover McCall-Short’s legal bills which have amounted to $25,000. Although McCall-Short has filed divorce paperwork, Short has yet to respond.
In a separate legal case, Short is also accused of violating a restraining order McCall-Short filed, as well as allegedly ransacking her home. Short has yet to appear in court for those issues
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2014/06/columbus_short_s_no_show_in_court_costs_him_big_time.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content&mc_cid=4f40090852&mc_eid=1e0cf17cc4
Black Power in Brazil Means Natural Hair
The pride in blackness that migrated from African Americans in the U.S. brought big Afros and a natural style that has become a movement in Brazil.
By: Dion Rabouin
Posted: June 26 2014 3:00 AM
Black power is big in Brazil.
In the United States, black power is most associated with raised fists, social revolution and political demands. When Americans think “black power,” they generally think about the movement named and popularized in the 1960s by Southern Christian Leadership Conference founder and Black Panther Stokely Carmichael.
The concept of black power spread through the music of James Brown and Curtis Mayfield, the trial of Angela Davis, the speeches of Malcolm X and the food drives hosted by the Panthers. The movement was able to transcend boundaries. The music, culture and pride that were emanating from African Americans also began to gain popularity with young black Brazilians.
But when Brazilians saw African Americans taking pride in their blackness, owning it and wearing it with gusto, what they most identified with about the culture was the hair that many of the men and women wore: Afros.
Today in Brazil, when folks talk about black power, their symbol is their hair—natural hair. For Afro-Brazilians in general but black women especially, to wear an Afro or to wear their hair naturally is to wear black power.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/06/black_power_in_brazil_means_natural_hair.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content&mc_cid=4f40090852&mc_eid=1e0cf17cc4
India Arie Takes a Stand for Blue Ivy
By Nina Harwell
Posted on June 26, 2014
R&B singer India Arie has had to deal with her natural hair struggles and the media. She came to the young child’s defense in response to Toliver’s petition. Arie released this statement:
Why does ANYone get the idea that its ok to make fun of a child?
In public no less? This celebrity culture that hypnotizes people into thinking a person is LITERALLY NOT REAL because you see them on television is a spell the watcher HIM or HER SELF MUST BREAK. Blue Ivy — is a CHILD. and ANYONE thinking to themselves right now: “But she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth so what does it matter what I say” Denying ANY PERSON their humanity , is a GAME we should ALL stop playing. WHY? Because it’s the kind of PERSON YOU WANT TO BE. Why NOT be a person who is loving towards human kind as a whole AND people as individuals? WHY NOT be a person protects the hearts of children? I think! all these people making negative comments would feel the SAME WAY if Blue Ivy’s hair were TOO DONE. If she had a relaxer, of Hair pulled too tight at the edges. being gentle with a child’s hair is simply appropriate – this goes the same for ALL children. Come ya’ll Lol”
Were ARE better than this. -India
http://thereelnetwork.net/india-arie-takes-a-stand-for-blue-ivy/
A secret society of Hollywood actresses reveals just how powerful black women really are.
http://youtu.be/URBpxbLhuAQ
Boehner already throwing cold water on jobless aid
06/25/14 09:56 AM—Updated 06/25/14 05:07 PM
By Steve Benen
hree months after the Senate approved a bipartisan compromise to extend federal unemployment benefits, its proponents have grudgingly come to the conclusion that their bill will not pass the House. Indeed, even as 3 million jobless Americans go without aid, the bipartisan measure won’t even get a vote in the lower chamber because House Republican leaders refuse to give it one.
Yesterday, Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) unveiled their Plan B: a weaker bill for unemployment benefits, which doesn’t extend aid retroactively. It’s still bipartisan, and it’s still fully paid for, but it’s less ambitious by design – the idea is to find a solution that might be more palatable for the GOP leadership in the House.
Heller, himself a former House member, said in a statement that there’s no reason to deny this new bipartisan compromise a chance to succeed. “Senator Reed and I have gone back to the drawing board, and put together a new proposal that I hope both chambers of Congress can debate and vote on,” the Nevada Republican said.
But once again, that’s apparently not going to happen.
[T]he bill faces the same obstacle as before: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who showed little interest in the legislation and was happy to run out the clock after the Senate passed it in April. A spokesman for Boehner told HuffPost on Tuesday that the speaker’s response would remain the same.
Keep in mind, the Speaker’s office hasn’t actually seen the new Reed/Heller compromise bill. Boehner hasn’t looked it over, weighed its costs and benefits, sat down with colleagues to discuss the bill’s merits, or really done any actual work at all.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/boehner-already-throwing-cold-water-jobless-aid
Sherri Shepherd Announces She’s Leaving The View
by Josh Feldman | 8:32 pm, June 26th, 2014
Sherri Shepherd announced today she will be leaving The View in the near future. Months after high-profile departures by Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Shepherd put out a statement today saying she’s parting ways with the daytime show after seven years of being a co-host.
In the statement, Shepherd said, “It’s been seven wonderful years on The View and after careful consideration it is time for me to move on. I am extremely grateful to Barbara Walters and Bill Gedde for giving me the opportunity. I look forward to the business opportunities that lay ahead for me and I am incredibly grateful to my View family and my fans for supporting me on this journey.”
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sherri-shepherd-announces-shes-leaving-the-view/
https://twitter.com/amk4obama/status/482317216403435520/photo/1
BWA HA HA HA
Karyn Parsons’ New Kickstarter Campaign — I Want To Tell Black Ballerina Janet Collins’ Story!
Remember Karyn Parsons who played “Hillary” on “Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air”? Well, she’s going behind the lens to bring folks a story of a legendary black ballerina. And she needs YOUR cash….
Karyn Parsons recently launched her kickstarter campaign to produce an animated film about the African-American Ballerina, Janet Collins. And we’re loving the idea.
Janet, who opened doors for black ballerinas like Misty Copeland, had to overcome obstacles such as requests to dance in white face. And she went on to become the first black Prima Ballerina and first person of color to perform as a solo dancer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. So this is indeed a story little YBF girls need to see.
http://theybf.com/2014/06/26/karyn-parsons-new-kickstarter-campaign-i-want-to-tell-black-ballerina-janet-collins-story
it’s just dust in my eye.
just dust, I tell ya.
Here’s a little something for the dust, Rikyrah. The heart knows.
With History in Mind, Black Voters in Mississippi Aided Cochran
By ALAN RAPPEPORT
JUNE 25, 2014
WASHINGTON — Voting rights for black people did not come easily in Mississippi in 1955, but the Rev. George Lee was not one to give up. Using his pulpit and his printing press, he tried to sign up African-Americans in the Delta to vote, despite threats to his life.
Then one spring day in the tiny town of Belzoni, Mr. Lee turned up dead. White city officials attributed it to a car accident, but a pair of black physicians said they found lead pellets in his head. The episode made the minister an early martyr of the civil rights movement, and the town was known to activists thereafter as “Bloody Belzoni.”
Belzoni’s first black mayor, Wardell Walton, 64, could not help remembering that history on Tuesday night as a surge of black voters from his town and surrounding Humphreys County turned out to help the Republican senator Thad Cochran eke out a victory in what had become the toughest race in his career. Mississippi, a state with perhaps the most racially polarized electorate, had upended its traditions in an unexpected way.
“I’m sure that George Lee would be smiling at the impact that black voters have had in trying to determine the next senator for the state of Mississippi, 50 years after the Freedom Summer, and the passage of the civil rights bill,” Mr. Walton, who served as mayor from 2005 to 2013, said in a telephone interview after the polls closed. “His life and death was not in vain.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/us/politics/with-history-in-mind-black-voters-in-mississippi-aided-cochran.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/463812887681576960/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/465543780901195776/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/465963896059092993/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/469266378839445505/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/469813883533004801/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/470304441049309185/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/470716870900088832/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HumanAfrica/status/473445344999931905/photo/1
All these photos with the LIGHT OF GOD pouring through these beautiful Souls is the very reason why we must not let the gun nuts, warmongers and the privileged rule. They’re literally trying to SNUFF out the LIGHTS of our future on this planet.
Good Evening, Everyone :)
It’s a gorgeous dsy here in Minneapolis and Minnehaha is paradise
Hey Chicas!
Please read the email Mark Penn sent to the Hillary campaign on PBO.
He’s telling Hillary PBO should save it for 2050. 40 years down the road.
Mutha ****
After reading those emails from Mark Penn about PBO’s lack of American roots, I’m thinking….KARMA is a vengeful beyotch!
Mark Penn to Hillary Clinton campaign in 07: Lets “OWN” American in our programs, speeches etc. Barack Obama doesn’t. Barack Obama’s LACK of American roots.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4097983/Penn-Strategy-Memo-3-19-07
Not surprised in the least about Penn. he ran a PISS POOR campaign for Hillary. Hillary started that BIRTHER BULLSHIT. PBO’ s soo much more evolved, because I wouldn’t ask Hillary to clean my kitty litterbox, and I don’t even have a kitty cat.
you tell the truth!
I wished old white men cared enough about 20 little kids gunned down in Newtown as much as they PRETEND to care about unborn babies.
BWA HA HA HA Ted smacked Bill & Fox upside their HEAD!
Kick rocks! He got caught and now he’s trying to save his ass. Cry me a river.
PBO’s in Minnesota today and tomorrow!
President Obama visits Minneapolis Live
President Obama is scheduled to arrive in the Twin Cities today. He will hold a town hall style meeting in Minneapolis at Minnehaha Falls and attend a Democratic fundraiser. He will deliver a speech at the Lake Harriet bandshell on Friday.
http://live.mprnews.org/Event/President_Obama_visits_Minneapolis
What is this SHIDDIGETY?
Supreme Court says Obama overstepped power in making recess appointments
The Supreme Court has limited a president’s power to make temporary appointments to fill high-level government jobs. The court said Thursday that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he invoked the Constitution’s provision on recess appointments to fill slots on the National Labor Relations Board in 2012.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whitehouse/high-court-limits-presidents-appointments-power/2014/06/26/4d4a450a-fd3b-11e3-beb6-9c0e896dbcd8_story.html?wpisrc=al_national_p
White presidents can appoint but black president overstepped his power.
This vote was UNANIMOUS. WTF
https://twitter.com/MomsDemand/status/482131199348203520/photo/1
DON’T SHOP AT TARGET or any other stores that allow folks to roll up in their establishments carrying guns in their back pockets
I rarely shop at Target myself, just don’t like the store. Too damn much red, and it’s just an ugly store. Kind of fits that armed white trash would like it.
Same here. I rarely shop at Target. I don’t care for the store.
I’m a loyal COSTCO shopper. They pay their employees well, thus treating them like HUMAN BEINGS who need to pay their way through life, and I always find just what I need there.
I love every single version of “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real thing.”
This is the sign of truly great songwriting. Not surprising these artist all gravitated towards this song..
Ashford & Simpson were geniuses.
Rikyrah,
I am immensely enjoying the music you are bringing us this week!
Thank you VERY much!
Me too, Yahtc! Rikyrah rocks!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Yahtc & Everyone! :-)
Great series, Rikyrah. I’ve been enjoying the music and info this week.
One of my brothers introduced me to A & S. I’ve been a fan of their music and their unique style of performing as a couple ever .
Good morning, everyone!