"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: April 5, 2023
Weekly newsletter 27: Combination of race- and culture-related posts from "We Need to Talk," "I Do See Color," "BlackTechLogy" and "Window Shopping"
Welcome to the “I Do See Color” newsletter (with a bonus section of two first-person interviews called “Deuces”).
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Now let’s get into the weekly newsletter!
Each week, eight carefully selected posts will be chosen, which focus on culture, politics, health and race from a black (wo)man’s perspective.
NEW! 1. When you've never experienced racism but are an expert ~ Courtesy of your college roommate and that one relative who dates hockey players
Lately, I’ve been considering taking Luke Richardson’s job. You may not know him by name, but he’s the head coach for the Chicago Blackhawks. If he makes a big fuss about it, maybe I’ll just apply for the assistant coach positions and take over for Kevin Dean, Derek King or Derek Plante. I’m sure they’ll understand.
Can I play? No. Have I ever played? No. Do I know the rules? No. Have I been to a game? No. Am I physically in the shape to be one? No. But I’ve been around people who like hockey at work, so I’m qualified to discuss it. Human Resources hired them anyway, so I may as well make the best use of their time at the coffee maker. They don’t quite understand why I keep bringing up hockey when they’re just looking for cream and sugar, but I’m not going to stop. I have to sharpen my expertise!
2. 5 tenants who landlords should hold off on evicting ~ Mortgage companies want their money, too
I was recently hired to write a plea letter for a tenant in New York who was living in an assisted living unit. He’d lived in this location for more than 17 years and found out he had a health crisis. Because medical procedures cost so much in the United States (if you’ve never seen Michael Moore’s “Sicko” film from 2007, you should), he flew to his home country for a few months of care.
While he was gone, he rented his unit out via Airbnb to make sure he paid rent on time. The problem? Vacation rentals are banned for assisted living units. He was sent an eviction letter. That was the first of four times where I thought landlords may want to bend the rules.
3. The black firefighter story that taught me subtle ways to recognize racism ~ Are you uncomfortable with black people in leadership?
I listened to the firefighter chief tell us which direction to walk in after we descended the hallway steps. He called a few group numbers as we walked onto an empty floor. About 10 minutes later, we returned to our work floors and I went back to editing. For me, this fire drill was fairly uneventful. I wouldn’t have thought much about it for the rest of the day if not for one co-worker.
The minute we returned to the newsroom, the 20-something white guy on the sports writing team started complaining about how “that guy was so rude and so loud” and griping about him being “angry.” I turned away from my computer monitor, ready to listen in with imaginary popcorn and find out what kind of fight broke out during the fire drill.
4. Until Columbus Day is canceled, I’ll forever support ‘illegal’ immigrants ~ That one day when I was more Mexican than a Mexican
“I don’t want Mexicans coming over here to the United States,” he said to me. “All Mexicans are criminals anyway.”
This wasn’t even like the time where a Puerto Rican/Mexican neighbor thought we were chummier than we really were and used the n-word. (Her father oddly also didn’t want her to date Mexican men.) Again, I responded and let her know in no uncertain terms that neither the slur or the anti-Mexican stance was OK with me.
But in this case, I was talking to a Mexican man — straight out of Mexico who did come to the United States illegally but gained U.S. citizenship later.
5. The underdog of owning property: Grant qualification ~ Your mortgage company may or may not tell you about grant options
It’s not that I didn’t know any black homeowners growing up. As a kid, I used to sit at the kitchen table with my parents’ chain-smoking, Solitaire playing landlord. I knew black women could own. My parents bought a home, and my grandparents owned their home outright. But these were all married people with more stability. I just didn’t see singles doing it.
6. Lip injections, butt lifts, more cloning of black women ~ Pro-surgery or not, blackfishing is frustrating
On Sunday, I was trying to enjoy the latest episode of “Euphoria,” but those lips were ruining the whole show for me. Some of you know exactly who I’m talking about without naming the actress. In what should’ve been a very tense and eye-catching scene of the show, I couldn’t stop staring at Chloe Cherry and these bright red blow-up doll lips. And a casual glance at her TikTok account will confirm that she really really likes to make her lips look fuller than they are.
“BET Presents The Encore” had the same equally distracting moments. Only this time it was in the form of Aubrey O’Day, who you may originally know from “Making the Band” and Danity Kane but was a real piece of work in the new group BluPrint. Again, I see the overdone lip fillers — and an Instagram account with her re-creating the big ass of Cardi B. on “WAP.”
7. Storytelling, podcasting get uptick in interest among BIPOC entertainers ~ IDSC "BlackTechLogy" February 2023 Exclusive
Podcast streaming has made programmed radio broadcasting the cool kid in the room. It’s not like people are new to the radio industry; it’s been around (as we know it) since the 1920s. But streaming listeners can enjoy as much or as little of it on their own schedule as opposed to following a set radio format with repetitive music.
Some podcast listeners may prefer visuals, watching video podcasts versus listening on their headphones or aloud via computer or smartphone speakers. Or, they’re like me and do a mix of the too.
Although social isolation has involuntarily glued people to their homes, sitting inside has given podcasting some new faces.
8. Is it racist for a Realtor to only show homes to certain clients ... even if they know the property owner is racist too?
The average black person has to hide any semblance of melanin in order for a prior home to be sold. White people generally don’t have that same problem. While it’s recommended to remove enough belongings so that a potential buyer or renter can imagine living there, there’s not that same risk of a lower appraisal (refer to comedian D.L. Hughley’s story as an example) or the offer being turned down altogether.
And for one family (a married couple — African-American man and a Mexican-American woman — along with their adult and teenage kids), the “empty” home they visited wasn’t so empty either. A Realtor brought them to a place that wasn’t exactly staged in such a way to show a comfortable atmosphere. However, there was some questionable “decor”: a Confederate flag mat on the dining room table and several more Confederate flags throughout the rooms, a photo of two uniformed policemen, and a major surprise once they entered the bedroom.
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. “Chicago Lawyer Aims To Find The Middle Ground,” CBS Chicago, January 19, 2015
Not everybody has the last word as a lawyer. Believe it or not, some lawyers prefer appeasing both parties with a middle ground, including Chicago lawyer and business owner Chris-Tia Donaldson.
"I like the negotiation piece where you're trying to find a middle ground," said Donaldson, who currently works on corporate law for a software company. "Litigation tends to be, 'I win. You lose.' Corporate law is more of a cooperative process because you're working with people who may have interests different from yours on the other side of the table. Hopefully you're winning a little bit, but it doesn't have to be at the other party's expense."
2. “Chicago Nurse and Author Gets Joy From Treating Oncology Patients,” CBS Chicago, January 26, 2015
Every year, more than one million people are diagnosed with cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, the most common types of cancer are breast cancer (235K), prostate cancer (233K) and lung cancer (224K).
While those numbers may sound grim, the American Cancer Society advises that reducing tobacco use, doing physical activity and improving one's diet could lower the risks, in addition to screening tests.
Diet and nutrition are two hot topics in Priscilla Williams' e-book "Learning to Live a Healthy Happy Life."
"Working in oncology, a lot of those patients that I've taken care of with cancer are the opposite of what people may think: that they come in sick, they're down, they're dying of cancer," said Williams. "But it's actually the opposite. They come in lively, happy and have joy in spite of going through chemotherapy."
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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