Gabby, Lolo, and black folks coming together.

I am going to ask my white friends to ignore this post. If you happen to be white and you were going to check out what I am writing tonight, please come back tomorrow. ( I am going to delay the comments section because I really don't need to hear from the trolls tonight)

Anyway my brothers and sisters, I am moved to write this post because of some disturbing things coming out of London. (No, not Usain partying with blonds until early in the morning.)

First, some of you Negroes were on twitter ripping Gabby Douglas because of her hair style. Not her actual athletic prowess, but her hair. This is ignorant and wrong on so many levels, and it speaks to some greater issues with many of you: This constant need to focus on the superficial and not what really matters. It's why some of you would rather spend $40,000.00 on a brand new car instead of training towards a college degree or a vocational certificate. It's why some of you (who can't afford it) spend thousands of dollars on a hand bag instead of a nice stroller for your infant child. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Gabby Douglas was over there making it happen because she put in the work in to compete on a world class level in a very difficult sport. The last thing she needed to be worrying about was if her weave is tight. It got so bad that you all got white folks in our business. This is not cool. The last thing that poor child needed was to be worried about her damn hair.


The next troubling development from London was this girl fight which broke out between Lolo Jones, and her hurdling teammates, Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells.

This one is a little more complicated, because it involves what is perceived beauty in this country and how that perception of beauty drives marketing.

On one hand we have Lolo Jones; a woman who America views as beautiful,(I actually think Kellie Wells is cuter) and who has athletic talent and a compelling story to match. She was dubbed the Anna Kournikova of track by the New York Times in an article that seemed to send Jones over the top.

"I think it was crazy just because it was two days before I competed, and then the fact that it was from a U.S. media,'' Jones told Savannah Guthrie before fighting back tears. "They should be supporting our U.S. Olympic athletes and instead they just ripped me to shreds. I just thought that that was crazy because I worked six days a week, every day, for four years for a 12-second race and the fact that they just tore me apart, which is heartbreaking.

"They didn't even do their research, calling me the Anna Kournikova of track. I have the American record. I am the American record holder indoors, I have two world indoor titles. Just because I don't boast about these things, I don't think I should be ripped apart by media. I laid it out there, fought hard for my country and it's just a shame that I have to deal with so much backlash when I'm already so brokenhearted as it is."  

No doubt that Jones works hard, but the truth is that she might not be talented enough to compete for gold on the world's highest stage. And is it really her fault that America has pumped her up because of her looks? You could also argue that the reason the 100 meter hurdles is getting so much shine is because of Jones. Her coming out that she is a virgin only made the press want more of her.

On the other hand we have the aforementioned Wells and Harper. They are probably more talented on the track than Jones, but in the eyes of America, they don't have "the look". And yet, we have been learning that Ms. Harper's story is just as compelling as Lolo the virgin.

"Beadle: You thought you weren't getting enough respect ... Why is that?
Harper: I feel I had a pretty good story -- knee surgery two months before Olympic trials in 2008, to make the team but 0.007, not have a contract ... working three jobs, living in a frat house, trying to make it work. Coming off running in someone else's shoes getting the gold medal. Uhhh, I'd say I was pretty interesting. I just felt as if I worked really hard to represent my country in the best way possible, and to come way with the gold medal, and to honestly seem as if, because their favorite [CLOSE UP ON LOLO JONES FROM TUESDAY NIGHT] didn't win all of sudden it's just like, 'Were going to push your story aside, and still gonna push this one.' That hurt. It did. It hurt my feelings. But I feel as if I showed I can deal with the pressure, I came back, and I think you kinda got to respect it a little bit now.

Beadle [to Harper and Kellie Wells]: You guys kinda hang out together ... Is there fighting amongst the team -- we're talking about Lolo Jones if you can't figure this out -- is there an awkward situation or now that it's over we've all just moved on?

Wells: Well, I think that, on the podium tonight, the three girls that earned their spot and they got their medals and they worked hard and did what they needed to do, prevailed. And that's all that really needs to be said.
Beadle: Wow.

Harper: BOOM! Just like that.

Beadle: You can cut the tension in here with a knife." [Story]

OK fam, so that's the back story, now I want to know why these ladies couldn't get along. Weren't they all over there busting their butts as teammates? What is it about us black folks sometimes that makes it so hard to come together?

Why are these two ladies on NBC trashing Jones instead of enjoying their medals?

Holla at me.
    

Daily Mail in "Olympic Ceremony was Left Wing Crap" Shocker

Rick Dewsbury writes in the Hate Mail

The above article, presented on Freezepage as the Mail rapidly yanked it from their website, demonstrates that not everybody thought honouring the NHS at the Olympics was a great idea.

It is a Daily Mail article, so be prepared for hatred, bile, vitriol and stringing together a series of almost unconnected events in order to make up a story,

Where Are The Immigrants ?

That was the Zimbabwean news response to the Olympic opening ceremony, was he watching another channel ? If anything, I would have said that Danny Boyle was slightly guilty of over-representation of Black and Asian faces with each scene carefully choreographed to demonstrate Britain's multi-cultural and ethnically diverse, and the most obvious scene of immigration was the actual re-creation of the Windrush and the first wave of Caribbean immigration.   What of your violent colonial past ? asked the same correspondent. Well, come one, no country is going to put on parade their past transgressions in this sort of thing.  Although if he thought there wasn't anything counter-culture going on, then he wasn't listening to the music either.

London 2012 Olympics, The Opening Ceremony

What do you think about the opening ceremony ? I thought it was quite splendid, quintessentially British, a homage to some of the incredible things Britain has achieved married to a knowing understanding of some of the harsher realities of life.

After the incredible opening ceremony in Beijing, Danny Boyle had already said he would not attempt a similar style of ceremony. Instead, what Boyle produced was a potted history of Britain replete with mythological and political imagery; China and other nations cannot failed to have noticed that part of what Britain chose to showcase about itself was the human and political rights movement of the Suffragettes, and pride we feel in having a National Health Service.

Boyle wove together great strands of what we were, the industrial revolution and empire building, with what we hope we are today, inclusive, multi-cultural, ready to acknowledge our shared past and muddle on together as best we can.

The things that Britain still does really were pushed to the fore, literature and especially J K Rowling's all conquering Harry Potter series was featured as a huge Voldemort fell beneath an onslaught of Mary Poppinses with illuminated brollies. The music showcased a parade of British talent from the Elgar through numerous acts familiar to a global audience, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, and Boyle was happy to use the cynical and the anti-establishment as Pink Floyd, The Clash and The Sex Pistols music was put to good effect.

Other parts of the ceremony showed the traditionally British way of being self-deprecating and quirky, Rowan Atkinson turned in a quick performance as Mr. Bean, trying to cheat his way into beating the Chariots Of Fire runners.  The Italian national news service described the ceremony as "as unpredictable as the people here" and went on to say that only the British could conceive of doing the event in this fashion.

After much speculation over who was to light the Olympic Flame inside the stadium, Britain put in to practise the Olympic ideal, to inspire the next generation, seven young British athletes nominated by British gold medal winners ran into the stadium and lit the cauldron that had been constructed from petals carried in at the head of each participating team.

Personally I thought that the opening ceremony was a great success, it was unorthodox and showed off as many British idiosyncrasies as it did British achievements, but this is how we British are, we are actually really proud of all the great things we have done, but we don't like to boast about it. Well done Mr. Boyle, that was a tough ask, and I mean this most sincerely when I say that wasn't a bad job, not bad at all.

Ilkley's olympic torch relay from the van of www.jimrobinsondecorators.com

Here's the video from the man himself ! Jim Robinson, official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics !

I'm just out of shot to the right at 7.13

Ilkley's Olympic Torch Relay

Work was closed due to flooding so went uptown to watch the Olympic torch being carried through Ilkley. 3/4 hour before the torch is due and people are gathering in some numbers.

It won't be often that the police get a huge cheer just for turning up.

People getting high 5's from the bike cops.

Drink Pepsi, or neither, Scroobius Pip teaches "Don't buy Coca-Cola products, don't buy Nestle products."

Pretty girls, no other reason.

The main Olympic sponsor is of course Jim Robinson Decorators, here is Jim's van in the middle of the Olympic convoy.  You can call him for a quote you know. Still, I think he should have made more of an effort, even one of those plastic torches on the ladder would have made all the difference.

Huzzah! Hooray! Here is the torch.

Followed by a few minutes of friendly anarchy as people wander around on the road.

British Olympic Babes - Jodie Williams

"Jodie Alicia Williams (born 28 September 1993) is a British sprinter of Trinidadian descent, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. She is the former World Youth Champion over both distances, the reigning World Junior and European Junior Champion in the 100m and European Junior Champion in the 200m" from Wikipedia.

British Olympic Babes - Stef Reid

"Stefanie ‘Stef’ Reid is a Paralympic sprinter who competes for Great Britain in the 100m, 200m and Long Jump. Stef competed in the 2008 Paralympics for Canada and won a bronze medal in the women’s T44 200m. Switching allegiance, Stef began competing for Great Britain in 2010 and broke 3 World records in the space of 2 months. She’s Britain’s only female amputee sprinter and a strong a multi-medal prospect for London 2012." - from Stef Reid's website

Stef has been featured as part of BP's carbon offsetting campaign for the 2012 Olympics

With fellow Olympian Jonnie Peacock

"

British Olympic Babes 2012

I know, the blog stays dormant for ages, then all I can think to do is post pictures of pretty girls. Anyway,

this is Hannah Mills, who along with her partner Saskia Clark will be representing TeamGB

at this summer's Olympics in a boat of some sort.

Do excuse the pun, but I'm right our of my depth when it comes to boats, I think the two ladies will

be crewing a 470 class, whatever that may be.  Good luck girls, do win a medal, and, if you get chance,

see if you can get Seb Coe to just lighten up a little.