christmas – The Philadelphia Observer

I Now Understand Why My Mother Wouldn’t Buy White Dolls, Says Jiquanda

Juan Ignacio — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 13:38:18 +0000

By Victor Omondi

Majority of us wanted every Cabbage Patch Kid doll when they first came out in the mid-’80s. Several people imagine they were equal to today’s American Girl Dolls that go for roughly $40 each.

The dolls were one of the popular gifts for Christmas that year, with parents lining up at toy stores in the hopes of snagging one and rioting over it to ensure their children’s holiday dreams were satisfied.

It was difficult to find one, especially one that was black.

Jiquanda of Black Like Us says that about a week before Christmas, her mother confided to her that she was having trouble finding a black one. “Mama did not purchase any white dolls,” she said. “I was devastated.”

Jiquanda was about ten years old at the time. Her mother had previously emphasised to her only a few times that she didn’t buy white dolls. But she didn’t comprehend as a child, and she wasn’t allowed to dispute her mother’s authority.

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“As I look back at colorism and how it impacted little Black girls, I completely understand why my mother was adamant about me having dolls that looked like me,” stated Jiquanda.

After Jiquanda had her daughter, this idea became further clearer. She wanted her daughter to know that she was beautiful, so she worked hard to boost her self-esteem despite what the media told her. Jiquanda job was nowhere near as difficult as her mother’s. The obstacles Jiquanda had as an infant in the 1970s were vastly different from those her daughter would confront over 30 years later.

Jiquanda ensured her daughter didn’t have white dolls for the first seven years of her life. She wouldn’t let her believe that white dolls were beautiful or better than her brown-faced babies, because she didn’t want her to believe that white people were prettier or better than Black people.

Source: I Now Understand Why My Mother Wouldn’t Buy White Dolls, Says Jiquanda

Ben Crump Representing Family Of Young Teen Killed In Reckless LAPD Shooting At Department Store

Juan Ignacio — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 22:57:10 +0000

Flowers, balloons and signs are left at a makeshift memorial for the teenage girl who was killed by a police stray bullet at a Burlington coat factory in North Hollywood, California, December 27, 2021. | Source: ROBYN BECK / Getty

The family of a young teenage girl who was killed two days before Christmas as police in Los Angeles shot recklessly at a suspect in a department store where she was trying on a dress will be legally represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump as they seek justice for their loss.

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Crump and co-counsel Rahul Ravipudi announced on Monday that they had been retained by the family of 14-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was reportedly killed in a Burlington Coat Factory dressing room.

Orellana-Peralta’s parents were expected to appear Tuesday morning alongside Crump and Ravipudi for a news conference at LAPD Headquarters.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creator

Orellana-Peralta was with her mother in a dressing room at a Burlington Coat Factory location in North Hollywood when police descended on the store in search of a man who was accused of stalking customers and brutally assaulting them with a weapon. When at least one of the LAPD officers spotted the suspect, Daniel Elena Lopez, shots were fired in his direction, according to the police narrative.

Elena Lopez, 24, was fatally struck. As officers swept the building for any further threats, they came upon Orellana-Peralta and her mother in the dressing room, where they found the teenager had also been hit by at least one police bullet that was fired from an assault rifle, according to a press release from Crump’s office that was emailed to NewsOne.

The LAPD maintains it was a simple mistake. As of Tuesday morning, none of the officers involved in the shooting had been disciplined for their roles in the shooting.

“This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family,” LAPD Chief Michel R. Moore said in a statement that was accompanied by an edited video from the scene. “My commitment is to conduct a thorough, complete and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led up to this tragedy and provide the family and public with as much information as possible. I have directed the release of the critical incident video by Monday, December 27th, which will include the 9-1-1 calls, radio transmissions, body worn video and any CCTV and other evidence gathered at this preliminary stage.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/bjcdanUhmSY?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

It was not immediately clear whether officers violated any LAPD protocol in the shooting. However, one person on Twitter tweeted a graphic about the “4 rules of gun safety” and claimed that the officers involved “failed at the fourth rule”: to “KNOW your target and what is beyond it.”

Source: Ben Crump Representing Family Of Young Teen Killed In Reckless LAPD Shooting At Department Store

New NASA Space Telescope Is A ‘Christmas Gift To Humanity’

Juan Ignacio — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 22:51:25 +0000

Source: Bill Ingalls/NASA / Getty

NASA gave the gift that will keep on giving for generations. Saturday marked the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, an event 25 years in the making.

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“Merry Christmas! We got you a new telescope, “tweeted NASA. “The James Webb Space Telescope launched today, beginning a one-million-mile journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past. Follow @NASAWebb and join the quest to #UnfoldTheUniverse: https://go.nasa.gov/3qHIEKT.”

It has taken 25 years of planning and preparation for the James Webb Space Telescope to finally reach this moment. According to NASA, the revolutionary design of the telescope is constructed so that it will be able to detect past phases of “cosmic history.” The most powerful telescope ever launched, The Webb Space Telescope will document the origins of the known universe and some of the most distant galaxies of its earlier iteration.

“The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment – this is just the beginning for the Webb mission,” Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement. “Now, we will watch Webb’s highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.”

Source: New NASA Space Telescope Is A ‘Christmas Gift To Humanity’

I’m Black. My Son Is White. Here’s What We Deal With When We Leave The House

Juan Ignacio — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 14:09:07 +0000

There is little that brings me as much joy as the sound of my toddler’s chunky legs on our parquet floors as he makes that sharp right at the foyer and heads toward his shoes. The mere mention of the word “outside” and this kid is ready to go.

Should we go to the park? Or maybe that fancy outdoor mall across town? We tricycled this morning, so this next outing needs to be a destination. But which one will be the least exhausting? And I don’t mean the copious amounts of energy needed to take a toddler anywhere. No, no … I’m talking about the exhaustion I already feel just thinking about dealing with another episode of “Black Dad, White Son.”

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This is the point where I tell you that my husband (who is white) and I are the proud foster-to-adopt parents of our 21-month-old son. He came home to us shortly before Christmas 2020, when he was 9 months old. I don’t know if it was Saint Nick, Father Christmas or that Italian couple who play Mama and Papa Claus in “Rudolph” who made it happen. But our Christmas bundle of joy had arrived and everything was perfect.

Well, somewhat perfect. Nearly perfect? Perfect adjacent? As an interracial couple, our one small caveat to us adopting was that our child be a mix of something. It just seemed like it would be a much easier undertaking for all of us. I concluded that having a racially ambiguous baby would stem questions in an already questionable circumstance. So when we were presented with the whitest baby on the face of the earth ― I’m talking straight-up white, no-chaser-of-ethnicity white, white-white, Allan Willis from “The Jeffersons” white ― I was honestly like, hmmm.

Source: I’m Black. My Son Is White. Here’s What We Deal With When We Leave The House.