My new role model: Leigh Ann Tuohy

Posted on 28. Nov, 2009 by kchristieh in inspirational people, movies, parenting

I was slightly hesitant to see “The Blind Side” movie with my family. I felt like I already knew the story after having read the 2006 Michael Lewis article, “The Ballad of Big Mike,” in the NY Times Magazine years ago and seeing numerous previews for the movie.

I’m so glad I went. I only knew the framework of the story, but the beauty of it was in the details.

The framework is this: a rich family takes in a homeless African-American teen who has been given the chance to play football at their children’s private school if he gets his grades up. They help him get his act together, and he becomes a football success in high school and college, and has now moved on to the NFL.

I knew that much of the story was driven by the strong, determined mother in the family that takes him in, but I had no idea what a role model she was. Leigh Ann Tuohy’s two dominant characteristics are ones I strive to have: she cares deeply about others, and she’s true to herself. She takes in Michael Oher because she wants to give him a chance to have a decent life after all the struggles he’s had, and she does it despite the racist remarks of some of her fellow Southerners. I also admire her confidence and outspokenness. It takes a special personality to get away with stopping a high school football practice by marching out onto the field and telling the players what to do. I’m too polite, and would never do that. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, actually, but I’m impressed that she knew when it was the right thing to do and succeeded because she already had the respect of the coaches and players and said exactly what needed to be said. Sandra Bullock played Leigh Ann Tuohy beautifully, and showed that despite all her strength, she was also a sensitive person who would retreat to a bedroom or the car when she had to cry.

Of course, I also deeply admire Michael Oher, who survived his difficult childhood by “closing his eyes” when pain and evil swirled around him. Leigh Ann describes him lovingly as “Ferdinand the Bull,” and she’s right. His big body may scare some, but he’s got a big, soft heart within.

It’s too bad that smaller kids in his old neighborhood don’t get the same chance that he did.

“Precious” lessons

Posted on 14. Nov, 2009 by kchristieh in movies

I wish that the movie “Precious” wasn’t based on a book (“Push” by Sapphire) that was based on real-life people. It would be so much more palatable if the story could be dismissed as total fiction, because as Wikipedia describes it,

In 1987, obese, illiterate 16-year-old Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) lives in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem with her dysfunctional family; she has been impregnated twice by her father, Carl, and suffers constant physical and mental abuse from her unemployed mother, Mary (Mo’Nique). The family resides in a Section 8 tenement and subsists on welfare. After a visit from her high school principal, Mrs. Lichtenstein (Nealla Gordon), Precious is invited to an alternative school where she hopes that her life can change direction.

I feel so fortunate, not just for the material comfort I enjoy, but even more for the loving relationships I have. Precious’ situation is interwoven with the poverty that she suffers, but her biggest problem is with her parents, who constantly abuse her. Other people root so hard for her, because they care, and they see a spark that could ignite into a more positive future. But whatever Precious does, her mother figuratively and literally kicks her down, and life circumstances pull the rug out from under her.

I’m glad I saw the movie. I grow when I see how others live, and I gain empathy when I understand what they might be going through. I also appreciate what I’ve been blessed with, and want to give my own family and friends an extra-big hug. Now to figure out how to give people like Precious the same hug. It’s an age-old problem, but one we should never give up on.

Do “Madea” movie ads contribute to racism?

Posted on 22. Feb, 2009 by kchristieh in movies, sports, things that bug me

Studies show that a majority of whites in this country harbor an often-subconscious racial bias against blacks. According to Charles M. Blow in today’s NY Times op-ed piece, “A Nation of Cowards,” no matter how hard we try, our brain often has a mind of its own, and will process the input it receives to form an opinion that goes against what a person doesn’t consciously want it to.

If anyone’s wondering what these inputs might be, one should just take a look at today’s print edition of the NY Times. After reading Mr. Blow’s piece, the first image of a black person I saw was this one of Tyler Perry in the new Madea movie. It was on the front page of the Arts section, and was 7.5″ high.

On page 2 of the Arts section, I saw this article / picture of Chris Brown at the top of the page:

Then, a few pages later, I saw this ad for Madea:

That was it for the Arts section. There were no blacks pictured in the Business section, but Mets players Duaner Sanchez and Francisco Rodriguez were pictured in the Sports section. (Are they black?) There was also a black man sitting on the bench behind Utah State basketball coach Stew Morrill.

I finally took a look at the front section (I’d read the racism story online) and the lead story featured this picture of the Stanford Superstars cricket team with the club’s owner, Robert Allen Stanford. (No relation to my alma mater!!)

The front section also included a picture of Illinois Senator Roland W. Burris, who is being urged to resign.

Final tally:

• 4 pictures of blacks in trouble with the law
• 3 pictures of blacks in sports

With images like these, it’s no surprise that many whites show a bias against blacks.

Of course, I try not to have these thoughts. I truly believe that God created all races in His image, and everyone should be accorded the same respect, opportunities and rights regardless of race. The article points out, however, that often whites who try not to appear biased are perceived as more biased.

Aaargh!! It’s like Angelina Jolie, when she’s stuck in the asylum in “Changeling.” A fellow patient advises her that if you try too hard to appear “normal” they’ll think you’re crazy. But I digress…

As Blow concludes, it’s good to face the facts and start a dialogue. I think a good place to start would be the entertainment industry, which produces movies such as Madea and bad-boy artists such as Chris Brown.

I’m baaaack! The return of the busy blogger, and all that I’ve done this week

Posted on 03. Oct, 2008 by kchristieh in education, local news, movies, music, my life, non-profits, social networking

T’was such a busy week that – gasp! – I didn’t even blog. It was all I could do to eat and sleep, but now that I’ve survived, here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to since the last post:

On Saturday, we saw the Angel City Classic at the Los Angeles Coliseum. This annual event features two historically Black colleges or universities (HBCU) who not only play football, but compete in a Battle of the Bands. This year, we got to see Morehouse compete against Prairie View A&M. I was there for the bands: I LOVE innovative and energetic marching bands. Prairie View clearly won the Battle of the Bands, IMHO. It’s hard to beat a band that does this:

That evening, we attended the annual fundraiser at the Community Center. I was tapped to roll the dice for the Pinata Race. Seriously. I got pretty good at it, but if I ever get to do it again I have a few more ideas up my sleeve.

On Sunday we attended the premiere screening of the documentary “Viva la Causa.” It depicts the events that led up to the grape boycott, and shows how much of an impact Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Bobby Kennedy all had during that time period. I was really young and on the other side of the country when these events unfolded (late 60′s), so I never realized that the women had to hold up blankets in front of each other since there weren’t bathrooms, and that everyone shared a tin can to drink from the same bucket of water. I’m really glad we brought the kids, and it just confirms our support for the sponsor, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and its Teaching Tolerance project.

Earlier this week, I lived on Facebook as I trolled for class notes. My column was due on Wednesday. I also wrote a speech for accepting my award last night, and bored my dog to tears practicing it. It went well, and I really appreciated all the nice things people said last night.  :)

We’ve come a long way

Posted on 05. May, 2008 by kchristieh in inspirational people, my life, politics

When I started kindergarten in North Arlington, NJ in 1968, all of my classmates were White. My parents told me that Black people weren’t allowed to live there. It bothered them, and I think my mother marched in protest marches. Thankfully, within a few years towns were forced to let anyone live in them.

My Mexican-American in-laws faced similar discrimination in Wichita, Kansas. Among other indignities, they weren’t allowed to drink from the same water fountains or swim in the same swimming pools as Whites. When my mother-in-law wanted to go to college, an administrator told her that “Mexicans don’t go to college,” even though she was born in Wichita. (She eventually got a nursing certification, as shown in this photo. That’s my husband as a cute little boy.) Even though my father-in-law was an Army veteran, when the family moved to Kansas City with my husband in the late 1960′s, they weren’t allowed to buy a home where they wanted to. Thankfully, they purchased a home in a school district that wound up getting better, and my husband and his sisters got very good educations and all three went to great colleges.

I was reminded of all of this today when I heard on NPR that Mildred Jeter Loving died on Friday. Mildred and her husband, Richard, were the plaintiffs in the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which struck down miscegenation laws. Mildred, who was part Black and part Native American, married Richard, who was White, when she was just 18. She didn’t intend to be a groundbreaker, and said that she was just a girl who fell in love with a boy. “It wasn’t my doing,” she said. “It was God’s work.”

Thank God for Mildred & Richard Loving and others like them who have blazed the trail so that I could marry who I wanted, and so that my husband and I could buy the home we wanted. Our country may not be perfect, but I appreciate the freedoms I have here that I wouldn’t have in many other places.

Texas vs. LA

Posted on 19. Jun, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites

Go figger. NJ-born and bred, living in So. Cal.
I so can’t imagine living in Texas.
I’m surprised my score is this high:

You Are 28% Texas

You’re as welcome in Texas as a skunk at a lawn party.

Ah, but this one’s spot-on accurate:

American Cities That Best Fit You:

70% Los Angeles 60% Boston   60% Honolulu 55% New York City 55% San Diego

Bastards of the Party

Posted on 12. Feb, 2007 by kchristieh in tv

Did you know that L.A.’s first street gangs were formed as a survival response to the racism that Blacks faced as they integrated schools in areas such as Compton? Or that Los Angeles Police Chief William H. Parker recruited Southern white police officers with military backgrounds to come work in L.A.? I didn’t know any of this until our family watched Bastards of the Party last night on HBO. (We had Tivo’d it.) It recounts the history of L.A.’s Black gangs from the 1930′s to the present, and does a good job of explaining how and why gangs evolved to where they are today.

The narrator, Cle “Bone” Sloan, presents an intelligent and insightful look at how this translates into his life and the lives of his contemporaries. He’s very introspective, and is searching for ways to help bring himself and his community away from this insanity.

I hope he succeeds, and I hope that more people see this great documentary so they can understand why things are the way they are, and how destructive gangs can be.

Do we have to label everyone?

Posted on 18. Dec, 2006 by kchristieh in my life, politics, things that bug me

I heard an NPR segment this evening about whether Barack Obama appeals to the Black community. The guest kept referring to Obama as Black. Not once while I was listening did anyone mention that his mother is White. (His parents are pictured to the right.)

I understand that there are many reasons for this. Not only does Obama look like he’s Black, but our country has a long history of labeling people with even a small percentage of Black ancestry as Black.

Why bring this up? Because by this definition, my kids would be Latino, or Hispanic. And yet, I’m as White and Anglo as they come. But, will their dark hair and Hispanic surname make people automatically assume they’re Latino? That’s ironic, given that this evening when my daughter needed to bring a Mexican dish to Social Studies class we had to look one up on the internet.

I wish there wasn’t a need for labels, and that people would just accept people for what’s inside, and not outside. (fade to music…)