Source: Johnny Louis/WENN.com / WENN A Black woman who once worked as a staffer on Donald Trump ‘s presidential campaign has dropped a major bombshell. Alva Johnson claims that in 2016, President Trump tried to kiss her at a Florida rally. The Washington Post exclusively reports: In interviews and in the lawsuit, Alva Johnson said Trump grabbed her hand and leaned in to kiss her on the lips as he exited an RV outside the rally in Tampa on Aug. 24, 2016. Johnson said she turned her head and the unwanted kiss landed on the side of her mouth. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed Johnson’s allegation as “absurd on its face.” “This never happened and is directly contradicted by multiple highly credible eye witness accounts,” she wrote. Two Trump supporters that Johnson identified as witnesses — a campaign official and Pam Bondi, then the Florida attorney general — denied seeing the alleged kiss in interviews with The Post. Johnson said that from the onset, Trump inappropriately sized her up via her physical attributes during their first meeting. Read the rest of the Post’s report on Alva Johnson here . — Photo: WENN
Source: Faye Sadou/AdMedia / Splash News The Outspoken Filmmaker Sets The Record Straight While many people were gearing up for the Oscars this weekend, another important night in cinema went down on Saturday with the 34th Independent Spirit Awards. One of the highlights came from filmmaker Boots Riley whose movie Sorry to Bother You won Best First Feature. On the red carpet, Boots addressed his very public beef with Spike Lee over his movie BlacKkKlansman. Boots was very critical of the film’s historical aspects and according to him, his critique caused some slightly awkward run-ins with Spike: “I saw him at the Governor’s Ball, and he yelled at me as he walked away saying, ‘I’m Miles Davis , you’re Chet Baker’ over and over.” In other words, Spike was aligning himself with one of the most celebrated jazz artists of all time while comparing Boots to his arguably lesser White counterpart Chet Baker . Luckily, the spicy words didn’t phase Boots too hard. He went on to say: “And then I saw him at the D.G.A. lunch-in and he was like come here and then, he gave like the one-handed hug and just said ‘squashed?’” To which Boots replied “squashed.” Viola. Peace in the indie streets… Boots went on to give a moving speech for his Best First Feature win. Hit the next pages to to check out his words, along with acceptance speeches from Regina King, Barry Jenkins , and the people behind If Beale Street Could Talk , which won Best Feature.
Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty It’s that time of year again when the post-Oscar buzz either has you on a big high, or it has you highly pissed off. Sadly, when it comes to representation for Black people, the latter usually happens more than the former. At this year’s Oscars, however, there were some notable wins for Black people. Black Panther swept some important technical awards with Ruth E. Carter winning for Best Costume Design and Hannah Beachler winning for Best Production Design, making them the first Black women to win in either category. Regina King also won Best Supporting Actress for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk while Mahershala Ali snagged the gold statue for his supporting role in Green Book. Add a Best Adapted Screenplay win for Spike Lee , and Black people are winning, right?! Meh. When time came around for the Best Picture announcement, many people were surprised or just plain outraged when Green Book took home the gold. A lot of folks took their pain out on Twitter in the most hilarious way. But before we get to that, if you haven’t seen or heard of Green Book, the movie based on real characters has developed quite a notorious reputation. Although Mahershala’s performance in the movie was praised, the flick centers around Bronx-bred racist Tony Lip (played by Viggo Mortensen), who serves as the tour driver for acclaimed musician Dr. Don Shirley (played by Ali). The movie explores race relations on a very shallow level, with Lip being portrayed as a White savior who defends Shirley from Southern White racists and introduces him to things like fried chicken and Little Richard …as if Shirley, a Black musician, couldn’t have possibly had fried chicken or heard of Little Richard. Regardless if certain scenes were true or not, the movie painted Lip as a regular working-class White man who just happened to have some prejudices. More importantly, we should sympathize with him because he’s supposedly less racist than the Southern racist caricatures that we’re all-too familiar with in movies. Many people slammed this one-note approach to race relations with shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and Desus & Mero making parodies of the movie. The family members of the real-life Dr. Shirley also dragged the film with Shirley’s younger brother Maurice Shirley labeling the movie a “symphony of lies,” according to Shadow and Act . The title of the movie wasn’t even appropriate. The real-life Green Book, “The Negro Motorist Green Book” published by postal worker Victor Hugo Green in 1938, listed priceless info of safe eating establishments and lodging for Black people in the Jim Crow South. The Green Book movie barely covered this important info aside from a scene when Lip was handed a copy of the Green Book by a recording label executive. All of these issues made Green Book ‘s Best Picture win feel like another smack in the face to Black stories. When competing with Black-led films like Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman, the white-washed, White savior narrative won again. Even creatives like Spike Lee couldn’t contain their frustration, considering the BlacKkKlansman director reportedly stormed out his seat when Green Book was announced as Best Picture. Of course, many frustrations were let out on Twitter with White and Black users alike clowning the movie’s shallow take on race. Green Book was not for Black people. It was to make white people feel good about doing little to stop racism beyond the interpersonal. Also, the other movies were better. ALSO, Regina, Ruth, Spike & more amazing Black folks won last night so I’m done talmbout Green a Book. — Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) February 25, 2019 Because the Internet has no chill, many people also hilariously made fun of Green Book by comparing it to that one White person who tries waaay too hard to prove they’re not racist. Some of Green Book’s best friends are black movies. — Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) February 25, 2019 Hit the next pages for more spot-on tweets of how Green Book strikingly resembles your allegedly “non-racist” White friend.
A crazed White woman, whose being dubbed #sidewalksally, violently attacked a biracial family who was having a photoshoot for their daughter in the park. Footage shows Kelyn Isaiah Allen and their one-year-old daughter Anja, who was dressed in an adorable pink outfit, were interrupted when a barefoot Franci Neely approached them and disrupted their shoot before trying to strike the father. View this post on Instagram TSR STAFF: Thembi! @ThembiTV_ _____________________________________ Imagine trying to have a cute little birthday photoshoot for your 1-year-old daughter, and a #SidewalkSally ruins that moment for you. That’s what happened to Kelyn and Isaiah Allen when they were rudely interrupted as they were taking pictures of their daughter, Anja. _____________________________________ Y’all, they had it all set up. Balloons, a blanket, and all of that on a beautiful sidewalk. Everything was going well until a woman identified as Franci Neely confronted them because she was reportedly upset that they set up their props on the sidewalk. Watch the video to see how it all unfolded! : @thewallflowr | @insideedition A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Feb 20, 2019 at 4:16pm PST Neely, the ex-wife of the Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, inherited $30 million from their divorce. Anja can be heard screaming on the footage as Neely curses and attempts to move their setup before slapping the father’s camera away. ‘About 35 minutes into our 1hr shoot we heard a voice shouting in our direction – and when we turned to look it was this woman rolling up in her car, shouting through her window: “You are trampling the grass that WE pay for”,” the Allens told Click2Houston . According to the couple, she was yelling things like, “You’re trampling the grass, that we pay for, you need to leave,’ even though we were on the walkway talking the picture.” She continued to complain they were on private property. “(She was) very aggressive, in our face. It was escalating to the point where my wife suggested I start recording.” Apparently there were other photographers taking photos in the area. “It was pretty quiet. There were some other photographers taking pictures, people walking their dogs, couples, so it was pretty peaceful, pretty quiet,” Allen said. “A lot of people said, ‘Cute baby.’ They were smiling, that sort of thing.” What was supposed to be a joyous occasion turned terrible, but we have a feeling this family can expect a big pay day soon thanks to Neely. That $30 million will come in handy. RELATED STORIES: #PermitPatty: White Woman Calls Police on 8-Year-Old Black Girl Selling Water Oakland Has Another Message For ‘BBQ Becky’
Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Captain Marvel Gets Swarmed With Misogynist Reviews Captain Marvel doesn’t come out until next month, but the film’s Rotten Tomatoes page is already filled with negative reviews. The reviews aren’t about the actual movie, though, but the movie’s lead, Brie Larson , and some comments she made that rubbed some angry white dudes the wrong way (go figure). When speaking on the nature of press junkets recently, Larson advocated for opportunities for a more diverse community of film critics and journalists. Her most recent comments went down during an interview in the March 2019 issue of British Marie Claire , where Brie gave her take on the “overwhelmingly white male” representation among film critics–she even reached out to Dr. Stacy Smith from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, whose 2017 study revealed that 80 percent of film critics were men; Top critics who are women of color make up only 2.5 percent. This isn’t the first time Larson has made her stance on the issue of diversity and inclusivity known. Last June, she expressed her concerns during a speech at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards , highlighting how white males aren’t always be the right audience to review every single type film. “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time ,” she said. “It wasn’t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of color, biracial women, to teen women of color.” She goes on to clarify: “Am I saying I hate white dudes? No, I am not. What I am saying is if you make a movie that is a love letter to women of color, there is an insanely low chance a woman of color will have a chance to see your movie, and review your movie.” These comments have angered white men who desperately need something to be angry about, and thus, the Rotten Tomatoes page of a film that’s not even out yet gets bombarded with negative reviews . Here’s a few examples of these “reviews”: “Once Brie went on an anti-White male tirade I lost interest in this movie. What should I pay to see a woman who hates White men.” “Larson has made it clear…men need not attend this movie.” “Why Marvel decided to cast a very vocal racist and sexist aimed at white males, I’ll never know.” “Larson’s sexist and racist attitudes don’t want me to spend money on this anyway, so here you go, Ms. Larson.” “Wish the lead actress wouldn’t have injected her dislike of white men into the discussion. A complete turnoff.” “as a white male i dont think Brie would want me watching this movie” Well, you get the idea. Once again, white men are threatened by the idea that someone other than them should also have a seat at the table. Don’t worry, we won’t miss y’all at the movie theaters on March 8.
Source: Xilla Valentine / GlobalGrind The Empire star, Jussie Smollett after falsely accusing MAGA Trump supporters for of beating him and throwing bleach on him. Now, the “Gay Tupac” has to fight to stay on the set of Empire. For the Latest Entertainment News : His schedule was packed this week of shooting scenes, but now according to TMZ , “Jussie’s working Friday and possibly Thursday, and he won’t be rehearsing.” Jussie is has become the 2019, Tawana Brawley . Brawley accused four white men of raping her in 1987. She was 15, when she was found after her alleged rape and the case received national attention. Much like Smollett , Brawley’s case went to a Grand Jury came to the conclusion that there was no evidence to support her case. RELATED: Jussie Smollett Has Words For People Who Don’t Believe He Was Attacked Smollett allegedly paid two Nigerian mean to beat him up at 2am in Chicago , at negative forty-five degree weather. The actor, hasn’t officially been officially kicked off of Empire, but it’s looking like his co-stars don’t want to see him.
Source: Alejandro Gallardo / EyeEm / Getty Despite all the madness going on in the world, it does feel like people are putting forth lots of effort this year to celebrate Black History Month. African-American teachers all across the country have decided to switch from the tradition BHM celebration for something newer, truer and more fun. Although there’s nothing wrong with honoring our forefathers by dressing up as them or reading about the same people — educators these days understand the importance of creativity and fun when it comes to teaching young Black kids about their history. Social media has sparked a trend of teachers decorating their door with Black cultural icons of the past and present, all with the help of a little construction paper. One of the first decorated doors to go viral was Glen Mourning , a 4th grade reading teacher at Friendship Public Charter School in Washington D.C. Mourning’s life sized door version of Colin Kaepernick had Black Twitter so proud. View this post on Instagram I’ve always dreamed of becoming an NFL superstar and when this guy right here decided to fight for love and equality…He changed my perspective on what being a big time play maker actually meant. Make the game winning move in the game of life! @crunchylifebooks #blackhistorymonth #colinkaepernick #istandwithkap #teacher #author #educator #blackmaleteacher #nike @teamcolinkaepernick #takeaknee @nike @usnikefootball @kaepernick7 @nessnitty @tylerperry A post shared by Glen Mourning (@mourningknows) on Jan 30, 2019 at 4:09pm PST “Representation matters! i love these teachers that decorate their classroom doors for black history month .” – @_kaykayyy Just last week, Moss Point teacher Jovan Bradshaw, went viral not for the appealing decorations, but thanks to the profound message written on it. The sign read, “They didn’t steal slaves. They stole scientists, doctors, architects, teachers, entrepreneurs, astronomers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, etc, and made them slaves. Sincerely, your ancestors.” A photo of Lake Alfred Elementary School teacher Chanique Davis’ classroom door also made its rounds on social media. I mean, who doesn’t want to see features of a young Black girl rocking a tilted crown, natural hair and kente cloth during Black History Month. Davis told Edweek , “In a lot of corporate American settings, they don’t allow such a style. I wanted [my students] to know that this style is to be celebrated—it’s not to be shunned and it’s not anything negative. It’s a beautiful style, and … it’s just like anyone else’s hair: It’s welcomed, it’s celebrated. Since they are learning about the Martin Luther Kings and the Malcolm Xs in other settings, I want to be the one to let them know there are people who are currently adding to black history.” Anecia White of Harvest Preparatory School opted for the beautiful Black woman visuals too. She told People magazine “My source of inspiration for the door was every student in my classroom. They inspire me to be a better teacher every day, and I hope to inspire them to continue to learn about themselves.” Only two weeks left of Black History Month. We can’t wait to see else folks will come up with. *Raises fist in the air*
Halle Berry, the cultural appropriator….the has a black dad she’s met once after she was famous cuz he wanted to borrow 100k to start a fucking food truck or some shit…the white girl, who plays the black girl, cuz she’s got the right features and because Hollywood has consistently been racist as fuck and only want to work with accessible black people, or white black people, because they don’t fear them…. It’s nice to see a hot black woman succeed in Hollywood, it’s just too bad the circumstances were that she was middle class and white… Still great tits though. The post Halle Berry Brings It of the Day appeared first on DrunkenStepFather.com .
Source: Splash News / Splash News On this fine Black History Month, Liam Neeson shocked the Internet when he revealed that he once went looking for a “Black bastard” to kill after a close friend of his was raped. Neeson made the confession in an interview with Independent when he was promoting his new flick Cold Pursuit. While explaining his character’s need for revenge, Liam described an instance when his friend was raped and she told Liam that a Black man did it. In fits of anger, Neeson said he would roam the streets with a cosh (a bar used as a weapon) looking for the nearest Black man to provoke him: “I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody – I’m ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could…kill him.” Many online souls were flabbergasted by Liam’s words. Liam Neeson didn't say he wanted to kill his friend's rapist….which you could chalk up to revenge…..bruh straight up said he wanted to kill any black man…..if you're defending him….you're just as trash as he is…. — Bae Mama (@mc_magic1887) February 4, 2019 Liam Neeson being ready to take any Black life over what one person allegedly did just shows how meaningless and inconsequential black lives are to some. Even him telling the story demonstrates a level of privilege and understating that there may not be repercussions. — Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) February 4, 2019 Yup so Liam Neeson is definitely cancelled. — King K. (@Unkle_K) February 4, 2019 Liam then went on Good Morning America on Tuesday to clarify his story… But he just made things worse. In his interview with Robin Roberts, Liam said “There were some nights I went out deliberately into Black areas in the city, looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence.” He continued: “And I did it maybe four or five times, until I caught myself on and it really shocked me, this primal urge I had. It shocked me, and it hurt me. I did seek help. I went to a priest who heard my confession…[I had] two very, very good friends that I talked too, and believe it or not, power walking two hours everyday to get rid of this. I’m not racist, this was nearly 40 years ago.” Like whaaaa??? First off Liam, you said you deliberately went into Black neighborhoods to take out your anger on any random Black person. This is, in fact, racist. Like…you didn’t go to the nearest Whole Foods in your neighborhood to find a Black person. You specifically went into Black neighborhoods to enact terror. And even if your need for revenge has subsided over the years, you’ve yet to acknowledge that your targeting of Black communities was racist, which proves you still have some racism up in your bones. Finally… And listen closely… If you’re a White person, you should more readily assume you are racist, rather than believing you’re not. It’s times like these that self-identified “non-racist” White people love to distance themselves from other White people who are blatantly racist, because if there’s one thing that “non-racist” White people H A T E, it’s to be called racist. “I’m not like that horrible Liam Neeson who said he wanted to beat a random Black person,” said your random White neighbor. “I would NEVER say the N-word,” said your White lover. “Liam Neeson is canceled,” said the White head of your marketing team. I get you “non-racist” White person. But what about your racist cousin demanding more police presence in their newly gentrified neighborhood ? What about your racist uncle who bought private prison stock when Trump got elected ? It can be outright dangerous to use Liam’s actions as the sole measuring stick for racism. Wanting to kill a random Black person is the tip of the iceberg and the most primal manifestation of racist attitudes. But the system of racism is inherently violent and White people either participate in it or benefit from it. Racism, and especially anti-Black racism, is a system of power that subjugates Black people in all corners of society, from institutions to your own personal circles. While Liam’s attitude might be an inter-personal manifestation of racism, the wealth gap between races is just one example of institutional racism that White people can benefit from. A 2019 study by the Institute for Policy reported that the median Black family today owns $3,600, which is just 2% of the wealth median White families own at $146,984. On top of this, median White wealth is continuing to increase, while median Black wealth is on track to reach zero by 2082, according to the report. This major gap is due to years of wealth-stripping practices aimed at Black people in the housing market , prison-police systems and more. Now you’d think with such reports, there’d be complete social media outrage from “non-racist” White people demanding more research on the racial wealth divide, discriminatory practices and the need for reparations . The same criminalization of Black people enacted by Neeson is the same criminalization used to keep Black people out of wealth stability and instead, in prisons and resource-stripped environments. Is this not the groundwork for targeted violence? Are the “non-racist” Whites starting a social media campaign around this? If they’re aware of these issues and do nothing, aren’t they complicit in racism? Any White person claiming they’re not racist is not beneficial to anti-racist work. In contrast, it might be better for a White person to say “how do I benefit from racism” or “how can I be less racist today?” Part of this can be just doing your research on how systematic racism can be violent along with searching for the nearest Black person to pummel with a “cosh.” I understand violence is on a spectrum and might require different reactions, but “I’m not racist” attitudes aren’t helping the conversation. Racism is normal. The goal is to make it not normal on all levels.
Source: Guy D’Alema/FX / Guy D’Alema/FX This is not the news we were hoping for. Season 3 of Donald Glover’s critically acclaimed Atlanta series on FX has been delayed. Vulture reports that at a Television Critics Association event today (Feb. 5), FX CEO John Landgraf said it doesn’t look like season 3 will arrive on time, or in 2019 at all. “The writers are back working right now, thank God,” Langraf reportedly said, adding, “If you wanna see me cry, you can just come backstage.” The reason of for the delay is the Glover and the rest of the ridiculously talented cast that includes Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz and LaKeith Stanfield are just extremely busy. Glover is still knocking out dates as Childish Gambino on the This Is America tour while the other aforementioned actors are all legitimate movie stars now. Although we want our Atlanta now, we have no doubt season 3 will be worth the wait. Let’s just keep that delay to a minimum, for the culture. — Photo: Guy D’Alema/FX
