Jasmyne Cannick: Protesting Abercrombie & Fitch is sending the message to children, teens, and adults that it’s okay to be fat and if people don’t accept you being fat and make clothes to accommodate your fatness that they are somehow bad.
About Jasmyne Cannick
Jasmyne is a critic and commentator based in Los Angeles who writes about the intersection of pop culture, race, class, and politics as played out in the African-American community. An award-winning journalist who previously worked in the U.S. House of Representatives as a press secretary, Jasmyne was selected as one of ESSENCE Magazine’s 25 Women Shaping the World and is a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s “News and Notes.” She is currently working as a political consultant in California on local and state campaigns.
Christopher Dorner, Racism, and LA’s Police Department
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Jasmyne Cannick: I want to see the relationship between Blacks and the LAPD improve and I believe that it has. But I also believe that we just took a huge step backwards with Dorner and no amount of community meetings with civil rights leaders and the LAPD posing for cameras is going to fix that.
Chick-Fil-A: Gays Can Be Bullies, Too
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Jasmyne Cannick: Gays whose feathers have been ruffled by Chick-Fil-A need to demonstrate a little common sense—find somewhere else to eat and take ten of their best friends with them.
The Willis Edwards I Knew
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Jasmyne Cannick: The flying headlines and blog posts about Willis Edwards’ death and him being openly gay were just as disrespectful and illustrate the disconnect between us and them.
Because Some Laundry Needs to Be Aired
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Jasmyne Cannick: I practically collapsed on the spot when I walked into that hospital room and saw my friend hooked up to an IV, withered down to skin and bones.
The Accidental Hero—Remembering Rodney King
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Jasmyne Cannick: For every Black man and woman in Los Angeles who has ever been pulled over for driving while Black since March 3, 1991, a debt of gratitude is owed to Rodney King for the beating they didn’t get.
The Aha Moment That Forever Changed My Life
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Jasmyne Cannick: There is no reason why in 2012 any of us should be dying from AIDS. The barriers that prevent us from seeking help must be addressed honestly and right now so that there is never another situation like what I walked into with my friend.
White Feminists Don’t Care about Black Women
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Jasmyne Cannick: why have these two female powerhouse organizations been missing in action on the two Los Angeles talk radio hosts who offended women, particularly Black women, when they called Whitney Houston a “crack ho” three days after her death?
Breaking Silence on New Face of Employment Discrimination
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Jasmyne Cannick: Why it’s going to take more than a college degree and a clean criminal record for Shameicka to get a job today.
Ralphs’ Workers Aren’t the Only Ones Getting Played
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Jasmyne Cannick: When I think about it, the only thing that has changed since those stores were taken over by Ralph’s in the early 1990’s, are the increase in prices and the sign on the outside of the building.
Philly’s Mayor’s Message to the Youth? Yeah, Right.
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Jasmyne A. Cannick: It was another case of yet another Black leader passionately voicing the frustration of his generation with younger generations of Blacks by preaching to the choir.
Not All Black Democrats Subscribe to ‘But He’s the First Black President’
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Jasmyne A. Cannick: Me — I long fell out of love with the President. I don’t talk about it much because doing so can be a detriment to your well-being in certain company.
Redistricting and California’s African Americans
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Jasmyne Cannick: The bottom line is that they can draw all the Black voter-friendly districts they want but if Blacks continue on this mass exodus to the South, there won’t be enough Blacks left to vote anyone into office and the ones that are left won’t have the same adoration for the political process as their ancestors.
3 A.M. in the Morning…
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Jasmyne Cannick: I can’t help but wonder if the L.A.P.D. would hover over one of those Westside neighborhoods for 3 hours in the middle of the night waking up all of those good taxpaying white folks and scaring the crap of their kids like they do ours.
The New Geography: Today The Middle East, Tomorrow Zamunda
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Jasmyne Cannick: It’s no secret that news out of Africa and about Africans is no daily consequence in most national newscasts and that when we do make the news, depending on the region — countries in Africa end up in this fictional continent known as The Middle East.
The Other Down Low: Sagging
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Jasmyne Cannick: Don’t expect an end to sagging by Black men in or out of prison coming anytime soon. Heavily influenced by mass media, what started off as a signal for other prisoners that one was gay, is now a part of pop culture.
The Unintended Consequences of the Loughner Rampage
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Jasmyne Cannick: I can almost guarantee you that it’s going to be next to impossible for the average citizen to meet with their representative. Because if they didn’t have good cause for blatantly avoiding you before—you can betcha bottom tax dollar they do now.
Wealthy Celebrity Athletes Don’t Need the President’s Backing—But I Know Who Does
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Jasmyne Cannick: Rather than call Eagles owner Jeffrey Laurie, the President could have really made an impact by addressing employers throughout America on the importance of giving all ex-prisoners—regardless of their football playing ability—a second chance and freeing them from a life without the possibility of employment.
Mitrice Richardson’s Mother Joins Call for FBI Involvement in Daughter’s Death
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Jasmyne Cannick: Following Michael Richardson’s lead in a call for FBI involvement in the death of his daughter Mitrice Richardson, Monday Mitrice’s mother Latice Sutton echoed Michael’s same call saying that she too wants the FBI to look at whether sheriff’s deputies moved the body improperly.
I’m a Daddy and I’m Homeless
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Jasmyne Cannick: Most people don’t end up homeless by choice. Homelessness is usually the result of a series of unfortunate events.
My Own Bishop Eddie Long and My Exodus from the Black Church
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Jasmyne Cannick: After having heard this same person lecture about leaving the children the alone and the importance in strong adult role models in the church, I felt brutally betrayed and made my final exit from the church and organized religion. I was not going to co-sign behavior that I knew was wrong by staying in the church.
Mitrice Richardson: Blame the Victim
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Jasmyne Cannick: With accusations as serious has the ones currently lodged at the Sheriff’s Department, if I were Baca, I’d do anything I could to clear my Department’s name, even if it meant subjecting my deputies to a polygraph for the sake of good faith and good will towards the community.
Representing: The Future of Blacks in Law Enforcement and Fire Emergency Services in Los Angeles
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Jasmyne Cannick: A conversation with the President’s of the Black Employee Associations for the L.A.P.D., Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and Los Angeles City and County Fire Departments
Jury Deliberates: Oscar Grant’s Family Speaks Out
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Jasmyne Cannick: Oakland and Los Angeles residents are preparing for a verdict in the Johannes Mehserle shooting of Oscar Grant. Family and friends are filled with apprehension and hope. In this exclusive interview, members of Oscar Grant’s family talk frankly about the case, politicians, community activists and life without Oscar as they wait to hear the verdict.
California Assembly Outdoes the LAUSD and City of L.A. in Sending Mixed Message with AB 1832
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Jasmyne A. Cannick: While Californians were fixated on Tiger Woods and the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor Monday, the State Assembly took a unified step in stifling the voice of the People to bring about change
If Michael Jackson’s Last Doctor Is Guilty of Manslaughter, So Am I
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Jasmyne Cannick: If Dr. Conrad Murray is guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson, well then so am I and about half of America.
New Year New Hype
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Jasmyne Cannick: I’ll feel safer in this world the day we start treating gang violence with the same sense of urgency and government participation that we afford to 23-year-old Nigerians with incendiary devices in their underwear aboard airplanes.
He Was Either Going to Carjack, Mug, Rape, or Kill Me — or All of the Above
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When I realized that I was about the victim of some crime, I bolted. I wanted to alert my neighbors, but I couldn’t dial. I want to honk my horn, but I was afraid this guy had a gun. The only thing I could think to do was speed my ass down the driveway and away from him.
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Atlanta’s Own Bishop Feelgood—Eddie Long
Jasmyne Cannick: Much to the chagrin of Black gay men everywhere, who have enough to deal with without the latest outing of a Black pastor, and to the relief of Catholic priests everywhere, all eyes are on Atlanta’s Bishop Eddie Long.