Remember Eve? She's going to produce and star in a show about interracial couples on ABC. Fingers crossed for good writing. More about it here.
Another Interracial Family in an Ad! Can it be? Swiffer joins Cheerios & Philly Cream Cheese
Swiffer-January, 2014
In 2014 it's crazy that I get so excited about seeing an interracial family in an ad but I do because it's still so rare. Just over a year ago that I was standing in my ad agency office trying to convince one of my Swiffer (yes, the magical better than a broom product) marketing clients that it wasn't weird to cast a lighter skinned brown child as the daughter of a darker black man. It was the first time in my career that I had decided to take it upon myself to educate on the nuances of skin color and blatantly push for showing a family that didn't all have exactly the same skin shade whether black or white. Forget about casting a full on interracial couple, that was too much to get into, too many facts and figures about "audience relevancy" to argue against. This morning I woke up to find that one of my former Swiffer clients had posted the latest Swiffer ad on Facebook. And what to my wonderous eyes should appear but an interracial family, clearly black and white, with an amputee dad to boot! Guess we halfsies are RELEVANT NOW :) I have dozens of hypotheses on why they've done this and undoubtedly we have General Mills and their Cheerios ad to thank for leading the way but I'd also like to believe that the reality of interracial families in this country is simply becoming too big a force to continue ignoring. So if big business can help drive social change, I'm all for it. We need all the help we can get. The Swiffer, Philly cream cheese and Cheerios commercials are below--thank you for finally acknowledging we exist.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese-June, 2013
Cheerios-May, 2013
Don't Hate Sheryl Underwood, It's Not that Simple
As most of us have heard, Sheryl Underwood, co-host of "The Talk" is making headlines for ridiculing Heidi Klum for saving her children's "nappy" hair. Underwood said, "OK, I'm sorry, but why would you save afro hair?" Underwood asked. “You can’t weave afro hair. You never see us at the hair place going ‘Look, here, what I need here is, I need those curly, nappy beads.' That just seems nasty.”
Totally insensitive, but look deeper. First off, black male comedians make fun of race and blackness all the time, and I'm no expert, but it seems like they don't catch this kind of backlash. People of all shades just laugh and label their jokes "comedy." Maybe it's because people expect black men to be Sambo jokesters so its okay if they say demeaning statements as long as people laugh. And of course, rap stars catch heat for using pejorative terms but hey, they sell records so whatever. But a black woman, no way. She can't make those kinds of jokes. She has to set a good example for black girls and for the whole race. She has to support black men and children all while fighting racism every minute of every day. Oh, and she can't look angry doing it. And if she dares become successful, the minute she steps even one foot out of line, someone will let her know.
I find Underwood's comments reprehensible, but at the same time what she's saying is true. Weaves aren't made out of the kind of puffy, curly, hair that's on my head because the standard of beauty that's been drilled into every woman in this country doesn't demand it. White girls with straight hair are the "prettiest." Their features are the ones celebrated, sought after and rewarded. It doesn't matter how many times my mom or anyone else tells me otherwise. Sheryl Underwood may or may not believe nappy hair is ugly, and if she does, that's sad for her, but either way she is just an example of how much everyone's consciousness still needs to shift on both sides of the color line. Let's not pretend she's the only one who feels this way. Doing so is a disservice to us all.
"To All the Little Brown Girls Who Rock Their Hair in All its Many Styles, you are PERFECT..."
This week Black hair has been under attack, apparently by Black women who have a lot to learn about themselves. Melissa Harris Perry, host of her own show on MSNBC tackles the big stories this week in Black hair... Sheryl Underwood's commentary on her talk show named "The Talk" and a Black Principal's policy on Black hair which had a young lady in tears. (YouTube)
