DISQUS

Jack and Jill Politics: How American Culture Works

  • Tonya · 1 year ago
    Amen.
    That goes along with

    the actions, phrases or words:

    "you go girl"

    "what's up"

    "old school"

    "pimped"

    "tricked out"

    "bling"

    giving high-fives

    "don't go there"

    "dissed"

    "24/7"

    and the list goes on......
  • Anonymous · 1 year ago
    According to Fox News, the Obamas were doing a terrorist fist jab.
  • Kenya W · 1 year ago
    Nope. No questions.
    That is the natural order of things.

    Good post. A pic is worth 1000 words.



    Anon 9.53: That is funny. So then, boxers have been doing a terrorist fist jab for decades. That is some dumb ish.

    So now, the Obama’s are into Al-Qaeda. I would funny if it were not so sick. If people fall for that bull ish then they deserve McBush.
  • Anonymous · 1 year ago
    LOVES IT!
    LOL

    LOL

    LOL

    LOL



    LOVED Michelle giving Barack some dap. The expression on their faces and the look in their eyes was priceless. She was really bigging him up and they were totally in THEIR moment. Her dap meant a lot to him you could tell.



    They are a black power couple and it's WONDERFUL to see!!
  • Admiral Komack · 1 year ago
    tonya:
    Add one to the list:

    "my boo"
  • D. · 1 year ago
    Anon 9:53,


    It is a terrorist sign!!! The Obamas are part of al-Qaeda!! I knew it!!!



    Doesn't that sound...well, stupid?



    I'm no strategist, but if a story like that gains no traction-even on the FAR right wing-isn't it best to just let it lay where it is?
  • justice58 · 1 year ago
    Dianne Feinstein & Kay Bailey Hutchison?


    Make Them Stop!
  • Professor Tracey · 1 year ago
    I'm with Justice58, somebody stop them!


    Nothing kills a black cultural act, symbol, or language faster than when white folks start copying it!



    Lord bless them!
  • Big M · 1 year ago
    Without black people in this country, life would be so boring and square.
  • N. Mahana · 1 year ago
    Why am I NOT surprised?!! *shakes head and shrugs*
  • Town · 1 year ago
    I'm no strategist, but if a story like that gains no traction-even on the FAR right wing-isn't it best to just let it lay where it is?
    ---------------



    A story like that shouldn't have even been made in the first place. The reason it got no traction is because it's beyond stupid. But I knew somebody would try to say that the Obama fist bump was some kind of evil signal or call to arms.



    Next thing you know somebody will try to say that Michelle Obama wore purple to signify that she and Barack were installing themselves as King and Queen of America and the fist bump is a signal that all whites will be confined to serfdom on Jan. 20, 2009.



    This stuff needs to be aired out and laughed at for how ridiculous it is.
  • Bronze Trinity · 1 year ago
    I really can't believe this is the first time the mainstream is seeing this gesture. Hasn't it been popular for years?
  • Ronnie B · 1 year ago
    "you go girl"
    "what's up"

    "old school"

    "pimped"

    "tricked out"

    "bling"

    giving high-fives

    "don't go there"

    "dissed"

    "24/7"



    Don't forget doing the "Cabbage Patch" celebration dance.
  • Cameron · 1 year ago
    Imitation is the biggest form of flattery...
  • The Christian Progressive Libe · 1 year ago
    WE can NEVER have ANYTHING that is UNIQUELY OURS.


    I would ask "Why is that?" but I already know the answer, I think.
  • Afroamericawriter · 1 year ago
    I wrote about this on my blog that folks especially Mainstream Media should really start hanging around black people. Seriously!!!
  • Anonymous · 1 year ago
    loved it--- but I did the fist bump in 1971 while in college... and, oh by the way, I'm white & female.... at the time, most "girls" didn't shake hands and only athletics were high-fiving, and most black guys were extending the high-five to a multi-phased series of hits.... so to make a point to another gal, I bumped knuckles... what goes around comes around.... the best part of what Michele did wasn't even the fist bump, it was the thumbs up sign she gave him and it was the pat on the "small of her back" that he gave her... now that was cute...
  • Lizzy · 1 year ago
    Sometimes Queers do it first, then everyone starts doing it, girlfriend. And sometimes, it's Black Queers, which makes it double delicious.
  • golden star · 1 year ago
    What? Is this a US Senate thing? Is this what bipartisanship brings? Who knew?
  • The Christian Progressive Libe · 1 year ago
    Well, in that case, if they did the "Forearm Bash" made popular by the 1988 Oakland A's Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, I guess Fake Noise would have known what it was wouldn't they?


    No, as a Federal Court Judge just pointed out, the Fox Crew are a "gullable" bunch that shouldn't be on the air. Who knew?
  • Melinda · 1 year ago
    Seems to me that it's all about being genuine. Barack and Michelle either have a very genuinely loving, supportive relationship or they have figured out how to fake that with cameras and reporters on them all the time. I'm guessing it's genuine.


    That they took time to gaze deeply into one another's eyes, while the whole world was watching, and make a few small physical gestures that hint at their solidarity, at their deep connection, just gives me shivers.



    They have worked hard for this moment and sacrificed so, so much for this moment...it's beautiful beyond words.



    (And my White sisters in TV-land need to really get a grip and not ever, ever, ever attempt what they think is a "cool" gesture again. No offense, but again---it's all about being genuine. I'm a White mom with Black children. I know how tempting it is to want to fake it...but it's painful for anyone who's watching!)
  • Denise · 1 year ago
    I actually saw Sean Klannity "dap" a guest on his show several weeks ago. I almost choked.


    Come to think of it, has anyone else noticed the "handshake" remix - hand shake with one hand/shoulder hug with the other?? That's the new hotness now.



    But I'm ain't doggin' because FOR REAL we jack stuff, too: something "sucks/blows"... So n' So is a "douche/douchebag", etc., etc. etc....
  • rikyrah · 1 year ago
    tonya:
    Add one to the list:

    "my boo"



    Outside of Jeffery Toobin, the other ' moment' on CNN on Tuesday was Anderson Cooper telling Donna Brazile that he ' wanted to be her boo'.



    BWA HA HA HA HA
  • TruthSeeker · 1 year ago
    The one good thing about this is if everybody's doing it, it will defuse the "terrorist" bump talk.
  • The Christian Progressive Libe · 1 year ago
    Rikyrah, I'm still grooving on Jeffrey Toobin's "Deranged" comment, LOL
  • Nita · 1 year ago
    @Lizzy said... "Sometimes Queers do it first, then everyone starts doing it, girlfriend. And sometimes, it's Black Queers, which makes it double delicious."


    Eyebrow.



    I know you didn't just claim what I think you just claimed. I'm getting flashbacks of that little white boy with the mascara from West Virginia on youtube trying to talk shit about Oprah and black women and Obama while engaging in exaggerated 'ghetto female'isms. Then there's the issue of Shirley Q. Liquor.



    Has anyone done a study on why male homosexuals steal from women? And why white homosexuals steal from homosexuals of color?
  • Nita · 1 year ago
    @Melinda said..."Seems to me that it's all about being genuine."


    and that's all she wrote. which makes me sadder, because the Obamas genuine love for each other is so fresh. It makes the fakeness of everyone else that much more depressing.
  • Lizzy · 1 year ago
    @Nita- what I'm talking about is a rich Queer Culture composed of people from all races and cultures, who have a long history of innovated uses of language, art, music, literature, theater, dance, fashion and etc. And that Queer Culture has informed and shaped mainstream culture for at least a hundred years, if not more.


    It's not a competition. Black Culture, Yiddish Culture, Queer Culture, Latino Culture have all played a huge part in shaping our world. And we should be grateful for them all, because our world is richer for it.



    Now I'm going to go have a bagel with a schmear.
  • Nita · 1 year ago
    That's cool. As long as Queer Culture recognizes how much theft and stamping out of and watering down of its subcultures has occurred within itself.


    What's not cool is you using 'girlfriend' as if it originated within Queer culture. The appropriation (and exaggeration) of female culture by male-gay culture needs to be addressed. But maybe you didn't mean it that way; and if you didn't I apologize for taking offense.
  • Lizzy · 1 year ago
    I think I get your critique, Nita, and no need to apologize. Bad example on my part. I was thinking about men referring to each other as "girlfriend" - but I probably overestimate how often heterosexuals invoke this usage.


    Words or gestures that originate in one culture seem to morph a bit and acquire different shades of meaning as they travel through different cultures and contexts. I frequently hear Yiddish words mispronounced, misused, or misappropriated - which makes me both wince and chuckle.



    So please forgive me for being a schmuck.