First black Mermaid movie releases, black women get bullied
First black Mermaid movie releases, black women get bullied
Worry about your red carpet invite, not Kyla Pratt's outfit
I have a confession. Noreaga, the rapper, and I have one thing in common. Both of us log into Twitter when we’re already having a bad day. He explained why here, and I can co-sign completely. But I’ve always been like this. It’s not a “misery loves company” mindset. More or less, it’s to remind myself that whatever is bumming me out is not that bad compared to the rest of the world. The same day I got laid off from a job, I jumped in my car to buy a ticket to the movie premiere of “12 Years a Slave.” On October 18, 2013, I forgot I was unemployed about 10 minutes into the movie.
Every blue moon, I’ll get suckered into the misery-loves-company crowd on Twitter though. After about four or five tweets, I throw one of Remy Ma’s block parties and go about my day. I enjoy a good, productive debate, but I cannot spend hours on end arguing over nonsense. Block. Rinse. Repeat. But sometimes even Twitter blocking doesn’t do the trick—or it would take too long to block all the people I wish I could block in one sweep. I’ve never seen nor encountered so many miserable people all in one place (i.e. the bird app)—who too often take attention away from all the notably cool people I enjoy following and interacting with.
Today was one of those days where I really started to wonder do people just log in to spread misery. (I’m convinced this is the same crowd who spent all weekend trying to keep that Usher and Chris Brown fight rumor going, only to then throw Missy Elliott into the plot the next day.) In what should’ve been a day of celebration for the second black mermaid (salute to Gabriella) from Disney—the one and only songstress Halle Bailey—what’s taken over is people making fun of two black women who are notorious members of the Mind My Black Lady Business club: Kyla Pratt and Tamera Mowry-Housley.
So can a woman who looks like this in animal print dresses and this just standing on some rocks and this in a little red dress at the NAACP Image Awards have a day off?
The “One on One” and “Call Me Kat” actress showed up to the movie premiere in casual attire, along with her daughters, to celebrate the movie. But instead of viewers being happy to see her on the red carpet, she was ridiculed for not ironing her shirt enough (as though no one knows what seat belts do to outfits). And Tamera, who was decked out from head to toe in a flowing blue dress, was made fun of for the zillionth time for having a white husband. (The irony here is it was from an Alicia Keys fan account, in which one Twitter account pointed out the obvious.)
Recommended Read ~ Amazon
Recommended Read: “The Tamera Mowry jokes are old, and you are petty ~ Stop trying to put black women in one personality box”
And anybody who dared not to laugh at the ridicule was accused of not knowing how to take a joke and told to shut up. How ‘bout I don’t and take you up on your thinkpiece snark?
I don’t know what it is about anonymous accounts and celebrity fan accounts, but 98% of them make me want to ask the same question Walter asked Ron Johnson:
Because the slander of black women, specifically, is cringeworthy. I can absolutely take a joke. I’m in a family full of people who I suspect could’ve minored in comedy, or at the very least sarcasm. And it’s not that everybody isn’t above a little snark every now and again, but it’s the way it’s done. Tamera Mowry-Housley has cried about people bullying her online for being in an interracial relationship, and that hasn’t stopped some people from still doing it. She means no harm, and she rarely if ever bothers anyone. But the slander commences.
And Kyla Pratt usually only steps out for (rare) TV or movie screenings, and sometimes her fans are graced with the occasional travel piece or a cackle at her on shows like “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” So can a woman who looks like this in animal print dresses and this just standing on some rocks and this in a little red dress at the NAACP Image Awards have a day off? Can a chocolate woman put on a chocolate outfit and pumps, and just enjoy a movie in peace with her daughters? I’m not even saying the iron jokes weren’t accurate. I’m just saying, “Can she live?” More importantly, what’d you wear to walk on the red carpet to see the movie? Or, did you stay home and just plan on going to the neighborhood movie theater in attire absolutely nobody gives a damn about?
My guess is the latter. So in the meantime in between time, celebrate Halle Bailey’s historic day in this historic film, and just leave these black celeb women alone to enjoy the film as they choose—in the attire and with the spouses they choose too.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote,” “Tickled,” “We Need To Talk” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday.
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