Just Do Better: CNN

I don’t know what’s going on with CNN lately, but for the following two stories alone, the network gets a big fail, boo, and Do Better.

First, we have an update with Michael Jackson’s former chimp, Bubbles on Anderson Cooper’s AC360 show.

Yes, this was a real “news” story on AC360. Boo CNN. So this is what ya’ll are coming up with to keep talking about Michael Jackson when you don’t have anything new to report? Click here for the video. Here’s a snippet from the print version of the story:

The public might not recognize Bubbles. He’s aged since his moonwalking days. But he is alive and well, feasting on cucumbers and bananas at the sanctuary, where the care for each animal costs about $17,000. Bubbles might be out of the public eye, but Ragan doesn’t want his fans to forget him.

“Probably the best tribute that we could pay to Michael Jackson here is to just take excellent care of Bubbles, because I know he loved Bubbles.” CNN

How did this get onto the news station? Hollywood Access or Entertainment Tonight might have even taken a pass on this one. Do Better CNN.

Next, we have a story that’s part of the upcoming Black in America Series Pt. 2. Click here to read more. One of my fellow journalist friends forwarded this one along. It’s about black women choosing to adopt because hey, black women have no choice but to be alone or find some ne’er-do-well to shack up with and have a whole bunch of babies by. Why not just avoid all that and adopt? Yes, that’s pretty much a wrap up of the story. Here are a few priceless gems:

Kaydra Fleming, a 37-year-old social worker in Arlington, Texas, is the mother of Zoey, an adopted eight-month-old girl whose biological mother was young and poor.

“Zoey was going to be born to a single black mother anyway,” Fleming says. “At least she’s being raised by a single black parent who was ready financially and emotionally to take care of her.”

Yet there are some single African-American women who are not emotionally ready to adopt an African-American child who is too dark, some adoption agency officials say.

Fair-skinned or biracial children stand a better chance of being adopted by single black women than darker-skinned children, some adoption officials say.

“They’ll say, ‘I want a baby to look like a Snickers bar, not dark chocolate,’ ” Caldwell, founder of Lifetime Adoption, says about some prospective parents.

“I had a family who turned a baby down because it was too dark,” she says. “They said the baby wouldn’t look good in family photographs.”

NOT emotionally ready to have a dark child?!! Sooo rearing a child with a darker skin tone takes more of an emotional toll? Shaking my head at this story on that alone. But then I read the Snickers bar comment. Aww lawd again.

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Tyra Visits the Good Hair Vs. Bad Hair Conversation

Editor’s Note: The Fresh Xpress has the Tyra article featured. Yay! Visit at thefreshxpress.com.

Before heading to work on Tuesday, I caught Tyra talking on her show about black women and their hair. Here’s my quick commentary after I watched the episode:

The old good hair versus bad hair debate. As tired as I am of reading and talking about this topic, it’s one of those issues that never goesaway in the black community. Just as much as I’d like swagga and “no homo” to go away, I wish “good hair” would go away too.

As “serious” as Tyra likes to make some of her shows, I just knew some foolery was about to take place.

Especially because Tyra’s hair looked like this:

I had to give the TV the side-eye.

Those blonde lace-front weaves are as attached to Tyra’s head as Beyonce’s.

Today she wants to bring out the natural look for this episode. Foolery.

What’s interesting about the whole issue is that it’s two-fold.  America’s standard of beauty that often shows skinty white woman as what’s beautiful plays a part. But the black community keeps the good hair versus bad hair issue alive as well.

And it starts from childhood. Tyra showed a black mother giving her young daughter a perm, and the child crying and screaming during the process. But of course the child smiled with glee afterward because her hair looked better. One of the saddest moments during the show was one young girl who likes to wear a blond Hannah Montana wig because she doesn’t like her own hair. “I think white people have better hair than black people,” she said.

Then Tyra said she has her own version of the Hanna Montana wig that she puts on. My soul died at that moment. LOL! She brought it back to the foolishness. Tyra was having withdrawals from the lace-front wig.

The adult guests were an interesting bunch.

One woman said she has good hair because it has white girl flow and can move. Aw lawd. What year is this? And one mother said at 11, she knew she would have a baby outside of her race so that her child would have good hair. Her baby’s father is Latino.

One white girl in the audience asked, “I just don’t get the whole not washing your hair every day thing?”

And in her answer, Tyra compared the black hair process to marinating chicken. Oh Tyra. SMH.

The main guest was a black woman who’s considering going natural, and was concerned about how people would view her. Girl, you ain’t getting plastic surgery! You can go back to the perm if you don’t like it. Calm down.

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