Disinformation Campaign Targeting African Americans and Planned Parenthood

There's a really good article up on Jezebel HERE about a disinformation campaign aimed at African Americans and Planned Parenthood to equate abortion with slavery and to suggest that African Americans are being targeted by Planned Parenthood for "elimination" through abortion. Planned Parenthood is being pro-active in trying to get the real statistics out, that African Americans account for 15% of their clients and that the general population of African Americans in the US is 13%, which is within the expected population range of use. Also, what stuck out at me is that the organization already has several well-regarded African American healthcare workers and health policy folks in their organization, so there isn't some sort of "white organization seeks leaders in black community" implication of this story--they are a highly diverse organization that seeks out people of many races and genders to do their good work as a matter of principal (and as a matter of greater effectiveness). Read the whole thing, but one other thing that really shocked me was a statistic about infant mortality: "The African-American infant mortality rate is more than twice that of white infants. College and graduate school-educated African-American mothers have a higher infant mortality rate than white mothers who didn't finish high school." You read that right, white high school dropouts are less likely to have their children die in the first year of life than a GRADUATE SCHOOL EDUCATED African American Woman. I'm not saying that high-school drop outs deserve to have their babies die, but education is linked to longevity, access to healthcare, general health, etc. Why are highly accomplished women of color experiencing infant death for their children more than would seem plausible? Gotta be racism...seriously, it has to be...unless somebody can prove to me that black babies are super delicate and white babies are made out of that airplane black box material that survives plane crashes...its gotta be racism.

She drops 100 pounds, gains new world

Emily McCombs at The Frisky discusses how a 100 lb weight loss got her better treatment and that how maintain a weight loss for 6 years causes her to sometimes diss fat people.

Emily makes some great points, but I think her experience is not typical. Just because you fit in department store sizes doesn't mean you stop having problems with people being mean. As a black woman, I know if I lose the remaining 70 lbs to get height/weight chart dimensions. I will still be treated "separate than". Losing weight does rid you of some assumptions, but thinner woman get stuck with different labels such as:

1. Thin people can wear anything.

2. Thin people are not sensitive about their size.

3. Life is easier for thin people.

4. Thin people eat very small portions.

5. Thin people don't have to worry about their health.

6. But thin people don't need to exercise, right?

Meet Hollywood's Black Best Friends

She's black, smart, female and usually "sassy." And her primary function in a movie is to act as the main (white) character's conscience, offering advice no one asked for at the exact moment it's needed. The Root takes a look at some of Hollywood's reigning BBFs.

Click on the link above to read about the Roots list of the top 10:


1. Viola Davis in 'Eat Pray Love'
2. Kerry Washington in 'Save the Last Dance'
3. Zoe Saldana in 'Center Stage'
4. Queen Latifah in 'The Bone Collector'
5. Regina King in 'Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous'
6. Jennifer Hudson in 'The Secret Life of Bees'
7. Wanda Sykes in 'Monster-in-Law'
8. Gabrielle Union in 'Running With Scissors'
9. Whoopi Goldberg in 'Girl, Interrupted'
10. Rachel True in 'The Craft'

Laurence Fishburne's Daughter -- Porn Star

TMZ has learned Montana Fishburne is starring in a porno flick for Vivid Entertainment -- explaining, "I've watched how successful Kim Kardashian became and I think a lot of it was due to the release of her sex tape."

It is insane that people are doing a sex tape on purpose these days.

Vintage Beauty: TLC

TLC was an awesome Girl Group from the 90's who started their career with some clothes on. It was great that they showed their talent before their bodies.

Stacey Dash
has been around since the 80's. Yet, she really did big things in 1999's Clueless. Yet, I think she is awesome because at 41 with 3 kids she still looks awesome.

Vintage Beauty: EnVogue

Back in the 90's these women were the equlivant of Four Beyonce's on the same stage.

Black History Month: Harriet Ann Jacobs

Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813 – 1897) was a slave who published “Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl” in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent. The book chronicles the hardships and sexual abuse she experienced as a female growing up in slavery. Jacobs fled slavery in 1835 by hiding in a crawlspace in her grandmother’s attic for nearly seven years before traveling to Philadelphia by boat, and eventually to New York. Jacobs was active in feminist anti-slavery movements.

John Mayer is Crazy

JOHN MAYER GIVES BIZARRE INTERVIEW TO PLAYBOY MAGAZINE . . . USES THE N WORD . . . SAYS HE'S A WHITE SUPREMACIST!!!
He also then goes on to apologize for the crazy talk.

I think he need to take a Kanye West Vacation .

John Mayer is just crazy. In the Playboy article he refers to his male anatomy to being a White Supremacist, but intellectually he would date a black women if she acted like a crazy white girl.

As a second warning, no women on the planet should go near John Mayer. He will just bring you down and throw you under the bus.

Vintage Beauty: Ruby Dee

One of our readers, William, has brought Ruby Dee to our attention. He pointed out that she is bringing the beauty at any age and he is on the money.

Black History Month: Buffalo Soldier

Cathay Williams (1842 – ) was the first and only known female Buffalo Soldier. She was born into slavery and worked for the Union army during the Civil War. She posed as a man and enlisted as Williams Cathay in the 38th infantry in 1866. She was given a medical discharge in 1868.

I just wanted to point out that there were trail blazers before us and they will trail blazers after us.

Vintage Beauties: Lena Horne & Eartha Kitt

Lena Horne

Eartha Kitt

I have added some photos of Eartha Kitt and Lena Horne. Even though Thealogian has great intensions and will be featuring Dorthy Dandridge in a future post. She like others first think of White Women when thinking of Vintage Beauty.

Also with the limited parts for black actresses Lena Horne and Earth Kitt also had to pursue singing to stay in the entertainement business.

In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap

That race remains a serious obstacle in the job market for African-Americans, even those with degrees from respected colleges, may seem to some people a jarring contrast to decades of progress by blacks, culminating in President Obama’s election.

But there is ample evidence that racial inequities remain when it comes to employment. Black joblessness has long far outstripped that of whites. And strikingly, the disparity for the first 10 months of this year, as the recession has dragged on, has been even more pronounced for those with college degrees, compared with those without. Education, it seems, does not level the playing field — in fact, it appears to have made it more uneven.

I feel that in a recession job market a really bad Stereotype prevails. White men need a job more then anyone else because they have a stay at home wife, 2.4 kids, and a mortgage. This stereotype doesn't take account of the new family. Seniors returning to work. Single mothers. Those just starting their careers. I think in recession all jobs are hard to come bye and it because a who you know job market.

Stillbirth Risk Higher for Black Women

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - African-American women are twice as likely to suffer a late-pregnancy loss as white women -- partly because of higher rates of pregnancy- and labor-related complications, a government study finds.Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health found that among more than 5 million pregnancies in 2001 and 2002, black women were more likely than white or Hispanic women to have a stillbirth.

Among African Americans, 22 of every 1,000 pregnancies ended in a stillbirth. That compared with 10 and 10.5 per 1,000 among white and Hispanic women, respectively.

Health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes and certain complications during pregnancy -- such as uterine bleeding and premature rupture of the sac surrounding the fetus -- explained a larger share of black women's stillbirth risk compared with white and Hispanic women.

The same was true of labor-related conditions, including problems with the placenta or umbilical cord.

Those disparities suggest that improvements in black women's health before and during early pregnancy could help erase some of the gap in stillbirth risk, the researchers report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Mammogram Guidelines May Be Wrong for AA Women

The U.S. Prevention Task Force (USTF) just released new guidelines that suggest that women do not need to begin getting mammograms until they turn 50 instead of the previously suggested age 40. The USTF also suggested that self exams are not recommended any more as the found they do not reduce breast cancer death rates.

According to CNN, other cancer awareness organizations also suggest that women should spend less time on self exams and just try to be aware of the changes in their breasts.

This information could be damaging to African American women, who statistically visit the doctor less frequently than other ethnic groups. It's been noted that breast cancer tends to develop in Black women at an earlier age than that of other groups and AAW's are more likely to die from breast cancer. Some breast cancer awareness advocates worry that the release of the USTF's information might actually encourage women to become less aware of their breasts and visit the doctor less frequently, which could lead to an increased breast cancer death rate.

We have to remember that we have to be our own medical advocates. We have to know our own history and we have to do our own research so we know what questions to ask our doctor. Also, don't stop asking questions until you are satisfied with the answer. Also, remember a second opinion is worth the cost even if you have to pay for it yourself when it comes to quality of life issues.