Thursday, July 17, 2008

Apollo Braun

Apollo Braun has been making these t-shirts for quite some time, starting with "Who Killed Obama?" "Jews Against Obama," "Obama = Hitler," and now this one featured below:

On Tuesday night, a 25-year-old woman was shoved and spat on for wearing this said t-shirt, and now she wants to sue Braun for selling her the $69 t-shirt for "all he's got," which seems crazy as one is supposed to be responsible for their own possessions; she chose to purchase the t-shirt, so in essence, has to suffer the consequences.

As we get closer to election, we will see many more onslaughts like this against Barack Obama. The reputable New Yorker magazine, added fuel to the fire with their cover treatment on Monday, where their reasoning behind the satirical caricature featuring Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as a demonstration of how politics is marred with extremities of hate and fear and the offensive cover was a reflection of that. Fair answer, but isn't putting the image out there in the first place, and on the cover, perpetuating those extremities? Yes, the audience of New Yorker are highly intelligent, however, the humor is completely lost in light of how this presidential campaign has progressed. What is apparent is the continued confirmation that "they" (and I'll use it loosely here) can do whatever it is they want to black people, and hide behind freedom of speech and expression.

A few months ago, a Dutch artist created t-shirts to raise awareness about the violence in Sudan's Darfur region. The imagery used was an emaciated dog, holding a Louis Vuitton bag. Obviously, Louis Vuitton did not want their name or intellectual property associated with the shirts, and have since attempted to sue the group of artists. Why can't anything be done about the hate t-shirts against Obama, other than a statement expressing their disdain for it? Obama's young children have been referred to as "nappy-headed hoes," his wife accused of not being patriotic enough, and now, he's become the lowest denominator - a slave. If he was to fight back to defend himself and his people, he would be accused of playing the race card. It's a loosing battle. Oprah's endorsement of the Obama campaign caused negative press, because people like Obama (who is mixed-race) and Oprah, who has transcended her blackness to the other, cannot be seen as black. Endorsing a black nominee, is subjugating the fact that these are, in fact black people, and this campaign is constantly reminding people of that very fact.

Things have to change as our world cannot continue like this. Tune in to CNN for the two part series on Wednesday, July 23rd at 9pm and Thursday, July 24th at 9pm to watch 'Black in America with Soledad O'Brien' and hear the stark realities of this society and the plight of black people in it. Make a concerted decision to influence our youth of tomorrow. We must stop living so selfishly. We need to revisit Willie Lynch's declaration from 1712, as his words are so true to this day. Click here to read it.

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