Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts

Monday, October 4, 2010

Baby Mama Drama vs. The Business of Educating Our Children

by today's Urban Chameleon contributor












My cousin, who lives in Philadelphia, called my husband and I to get our take on whether or not he should attempt to get his three-year old daughter into a better school.

Now the obvious answer to this question would be: Of course! Especially since Philly’s public school graduation rate is so low.

My cousin recently moved from the ‘hood to the suburbs, and now has the opportunity to send his daughter to a great school; FOR FREE! But apparently, it’s not that simple.

You see, by the time he figured out that the woman he had laid down with during a night of hot and heated passion was drama, a baby was on the way. Thus, another classic case of “Baby mama drama” was also born.

Now baby mama, who has custody of their daughter, tries to make my cousin’s life as difficult as possible. Calls the crib all times of the night, comes by unannounced, threatens his current girlfriend, creates difficult arrangements for him to see his daughter, etc., etc., etc. To make matters worse, baby mama cannot read and write. I don’t know what’s worse – dealing with an educated fool or an ignorant one. When I asked why not get custody of his daughter he informed me that the court won’t separate a child from their mother unless you can prove that there is something “wrong” in the household like drug or physical abuse. What about ignorance abuse?

My cousin is concerned that his daughter will end up like her mother if he doesn’t at least put her in the better school. The new school is two hours a way from baby’s mama who wants the daughter home with her every night. Oh, and did I mention that she doesn’t drive? So my cousin would have to drive two hours in the morning to pick his daughter up and two hours in the afternoon to bring her back, which his work schedule doesn’t allow.

Baby mama has another daughter, by a different father, who is seven and doesn’t know her multiplication table. My cousin described the time he tried to teach her and the mother shouted for them to stop. Lawd chil’ this was like a scene right out of Precious. The idea of a parent not wanting the best for their child is bewildering to me. It’s a deadly mix of low self-esteem and ego, which can keep us from recognizing the bigger picture.

Regardless of the school, your child’s education starts at home. So what do you do?

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Friday, October 1, 2010

The Inner Racist vs. The Business of Educating Our Children

by today's Urban Chameleon contributor

I am a Jewish woman who works at a high successful charter school in Newark, NJ teaching predominately Black children.

I came to this educational organization not to be the "Great white hope" but because I truly know that if one of us is not free than we are all enslaved.

In my years working at this school, I have been brought to me knees in awe of the children and their capacity to grow and change in the face of tremendous adversity. Many of our children have incarcerated relatives, are exposed to drug activity and gang violence on a daily basis as well as countless other mountains of opposition. Still they come to school everyday because they believe in education and the power it has to change lives. Just about a week ago we got word that we were awarded the prestigious Blue Ribbon in education. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan give this award to high achieving schools that are sending children to college. Only 300 schools were given this prestigious award and of those schools, 80 were given the dubious honor of being named high achieving (the best of the best) and we were in that select field.

It is a tremendous honor. Education is not a sexy field; they don’t make TV shows about the truth of education. Instead they make poorly acted movies where a privileged white woman goes into predominantly Black neighborhood wearing pearls wanting to make a difference and over night change comes about. This is not the temperature of education in our county. Getting this award really meant something to my school and it really meant something to me Our community is here at 6:45 in the morning and stay through 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 at night all to be the best at serving our children. It was nice to get recognition for our hard work and for our children to be regarded as beacons of excellence.

I excitedly shared the news with my family who were very proud of the accomplishment and the recognition. My sister came over one night for dinner and I told her the good news. She responded, “Well, because it’s a Black school.” She immediately went red in the face, half-heartedly tried to back pedal and explain at the same time really feeling that way.

Her ignorance was jarring since for the past few years I have been working in a cocoon surrounded by like minded people as me who believed in creating a school where under privileged children succeed...and yes the reality is that many of these children are Black. However, the honor my school received wasn't given out of affirmative action as her comment suggested. It was in response to a crisis we face in this country around education.

Corey Booker, the mayor of Newark stated, “One cannot have a superior democracy with an inferior education system”. The rights of our children to be educated is a human right that we are denying them if we continue to provide them with sub-par schooling. The state of education in this country is in dire need of social reform…and not just for Black children but also for ALL children. We will never reach our full potential as a people if we continue to ignore our inadequate system of educating our children. If one of us succeeds we all succeed. 52% of our countries' children did not graduate from High School last year. In Newark alone, less than 2 % of all children graduate from high school.

My sister has since apologized stating that it was just her “inner racist” coming out. However, it's this kind of fundamental thinking that also needs to be educated.

Suffice it to say, we still have a ways to go.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Scarface the School Play(the kindergarten version?)

How do you know when school systems are in crisis?

When elementary students are performing an adaptation of the movie Scarface. What faculty approved this?


But wait... why is this both hilarious and disturbing... yes we sometimes struggle with chameleonism between our intellectual and ign't sides


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Friday, March 5, 2010

9 year old Nigerian British Twins Attend High School

Urban Chameleon Spotlight

Stories like these we don't hear every day. It's a breath of fresh air and an inspiration

9-Year-Old British Twins become Youngest High School Students In History
By Danielle Canada

Two 9-year-old twins in Britain are preparing to find out what high school they'll attend, making them the country's youngest high school students in history.

Paula and Peter Imafidon, dubbed “The Wonder Twins”, are known for their record breaking wit after becoming the youngest people to ace the University of Cambridge's advanced math test and soaring above their classmates.

The twins, born to Nigerian parents Chris and Ann, are part of an Imafidon legacy of intellect.

Their 20-year-old sister Ann-Marie won a scholarship to attend Johns Hopkins University at the age of 13.

Their 17-year-old sister Christiana is the youngest student in Britain's history to study at an undergraduate level after going to college at age 11 while their 12-year-old sister Samantha passed two high school level mathematics and statistic tests at age 6.

Paula Imafidon wants to grow up to be a math teacher and Peter wants to be a prime minister.

Check out a video of the Wonder Twins on Britain's GMTV below

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Thursday, March 4, 2010

Should 12 Year old Boys be Given Condoms?

by today's Urban Chameleon contributor

Funnel Cake

A friend of mine recently told me about how her sister just discovered a picture of a naked girl in her twelve year old son's phone. We both had to take a moment and think back to when we were that age how we didn't have that level of communication available to us. The most we could do is enter some number in a beeper that when you turned up side down revealed messages like "See u later" and "I love u". But the reality today is that the technology kids have accessible to them is so advanced that they can use their phone to film a porn and e-mail it. And I wouldn't be surprise if they are already doing so.

There is no question that sex is on the mind at that age and if parents chose to pretend that it's not that's when you end up with a secret grand child whose an unsuccessful version of lil Wayne. So what to do... how do you nurture, guide and temper a child's sexual curiosity?

My friends solution was to try and refocus her nephew's attention. He's a brilliant budding musician and decided to make a deal with him: every year that he works on creating music and enters into competitions she will not only give him $100 but have a listening party for him. He was enthused by the deal.

Now the first thing I said jokingly was, "Girl the ladies will definitely be lined up then!" However, her point is that at least he will be focused on nurturing his talents. She had an excellent point. We can't help that kids will want to explore sex but we can help not making sex their identity.

Condoms in 'extra small' for boys age 12 set for Britain's shelves soon

Extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 could soon be on our shelves.

The Hotshot condoms are going on sale in Switzerland after research found that not enough 12 to 14-year-old boys were having protected sex.

The condoms are likely to end up on sale in Britain, said their manufacturer Lamprecht AG.

Campaign: Extra small Hotshot condoms are being produced in Switzerland for boys as young as 12 (file picture)

A spokesman said the UK would be ‘top priority’ if the company expanded abroad, considering it had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.

Nysse Norballe said: ‘At the moment we are only producing the Hotshot in Switzerland.

‘But the UK is certainly a very attractive market since there is a very high rate of underage conception.’

A standard condom has a diameter of 52mm in comparison with the Hotshot’s 45mm. Both are the same length – 190mm.

According to a study of 13 to 20-year-olds, a quarter said that a standard condom was too large.

Hilary Pannack, of teenage pregnancy charity Straight Talking Peer Education, said: ‘We know young people are having sex and if this is what it takes to protect them, we need to go along with it.’

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Black Women Killing Their Babies?

Urban Chameleon news

by Funnel Cake

Yesterday I was in my car listening to a discussion on the radio about the controversial billboards in Atlanta related to the high percentage of Black women having abortions. They reported that about 27,000 Black women had abortions last year vs. white women who had 8,000. I was very bothered by this report not just because of the numbers but rather that there was no context provided for these statistics. I absolutely hate when people provide statistics with NO CONTEXT! It's the same as making a false report. For instance some things to consider:

What is the socioeconomic group of these women that may be impacting these numbers?

Age range?

What is the reason for these unwanted pregnancies? Rape? Contraceptive failure? Irresponsibleness?

Furthermore there are some statistics where Black women and white women shouldn't even be compared. The history of our family structures are very different and still effect today.

If there is anyone who can shed some light on this issue please do so.

Ant-Abortion Ads Split Atlanta

By SHAILA DEWAN

The groups responsible insist that they are not exaggerating, despite contrary federal data. The billboards, which show a close-up of a worried-looking African-American boy, are an effort to highlight data showing that black women get a disproportionate number of abortions, especially in Georgia, and that the number in Georgia is increasing.

“The impact of abortion has become so great that it has begun to impact our fertility rate,” said Catherine Davis, the minority outreach coordinator for Georgia Right to Life, the state’s main anti-abortion group, which has sponsored the billboards in partnership with the Radiance Foundation, a group based in Atlanta that encourages adoption.

The billboards — there are 65 now and will eventually be 80, Ms. Davis said — were created in conjunction with a new Web site, www.toomanyaborted.com, which says that all of Georgia’s abortion clinics are in “urban areas where blacks reside.” The Web site connects abortion to segregation, saying that after the civil rights era, racists went “underground,” and that today “abortion is the tool they use to stealthily target blacks for extermination.”

It also says that Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, wanted to reduce the population of blacks, an assertion that Planned Parenthood has disputed.

Ms. Davis said Georgia Right to Life would also support state legislation that would make it a crime for abortion providers to solicit business based on the race or sex of the fetus.

In 2006, 57.4 percent of the abortions in Georgia were performed on black women, even though blacks make up about 30 percent of the population, according to the most recent figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control. Of the 37 states that reported abortion data by race, Georgia was second only to New York and Texas in the number of abortions performed on black women. Only Mississippi and Maryland reported a higher percentage of abortions going to black women than Georgia.

But there was little evidence that abortions had made black children unusually endangered. The fertility rate, or births per 1,000 women of childbearing age, among black women remains higher than the national average and has inched up in recent years, according to C.D.C. data.

The advertising campaign has drawn fire from supporters of abortion rights. Loretta Ross, the executive director of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective in Atlanta, said the billboards painted black women as either monsters intent on destroying their own race or victims of whites who control abortion clinics.

“The reason we have so many Planned Parenthoods in the black community is because leaders in the black community in the ’20s and ’30s went to Margaret Sanger and asked for them,” Ms. Ross said. “Controlling our fertility was part of our uplift out of poverty strategy, and it still works.”

Ryan Bomberger, who left his job in advertising to found the Radiance Foundation and who designed the billboard, argued that it was not intended to induce shame.

“This is not a campaign that targets black women,” Mr. Bomberger said. “It’s a campaign that exposes an industry that we believe targets African-Americans.”

source from www.nytimes.com

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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Al Roker's Good News Too Good to be True

Urban Chameleon moment

The reaction of this little girl, Deidra Shore, when Al Roker tells her that she is the Kid Reporter winner on the Today Show is PRICELESS!



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Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Sexual Power of Beyonce: Video Phone

by today's Urban Chameleon contributor

With the success of Single Ladies, the question that has crossed many people’s minds is, “How will Beyonce top herself?” The answer for most pop artist is usually with more sex and as a friend of mine put it how far will Beyonce go before like Brittney Spears she is naked with a towel covering her nipple?

In watching Beyonce’s new video, Video Phone, which is by no means a great song or great video she still manages to pull out a performance that is arguable the most provocative yet. I’ve even found myself randomly humming this mediocre tune and have had images from the video of Beyonce undulating on my mind. Another friend of mine said that I was not alone, as she too has been bitten by the Beyonce bug and for the first time realized how effective this lady is. Part of the humor in even bringing this up as a topic of discussion is that I consider both my friend and I to be progressive intellectuals who have no time to be thinking about Beyonce (nose in the air) and even further see the matrix of the industry machine but then why has this lady entered our subconscious and if she could do this to us, two approaching 30ty sumptin’ year olds, what affect is she having on young girls?

The biggest problem with Beyonce is that given her massive success she doesn’t seem to offer anything deeper than girlie sing-a-longs that just encourages one to booty pop, which may be harmless to the 30ty sumptin’ woman but to these young girls, still carving out their sexual identities it may be crossing into dangerous territory even for Beyonce…for how far will she go to maintain sexual power.



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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

First Lady Michelle Obama Appears on Sesame Street for 40th Anniversary

Urban Chameleon news

First Lady Michelle Obama teaches kids about being healthy by helping to plant a vegetable garden on Sesame Street as a apart of the 40th anniversary of the show.

The first episode of the new season on Tuesday (today) hits exactly on the anniversary of the show's premiere in 1969. You may know, as avid followers of the first lady, that this is Mrs. Obama's second "Sesame Street" appearance; she was quite excited in May about meeting Elmo at the show's studios in Astoria, Queens, to tape a public service announcement.

"I never thought I'd be on 'Sesame Street' with Elmo and Big Bird and I was thrilled. I'm still thrilled. I'm on a high. I think it's probably the best thing I've done at the White House," she said then.
source from Lynn Sweet on politicsdaily.com

Friday, November 6, 2009

A Reason We Need Better Role Models

Urban Chameleon news

7yr old kid takes grandmother's car out for a joy ride. "It's fun to do bad things."
oh lawd.


Friday, October 30, 2009

Let there be light: Madonna

Urban Chameleon news

I know this joke has been made before but I would love to see the day when a Black mogul like a Tyler Perry adopts a bunch of white children from Eastern Europe or even Kentucky could be interesting.

Madonna has promised electricity to a village in Malawi, the impoverished southern African country where she runs a charity organisation and from which she has adopted two children.

Speaking in Mphandula, some 50 kilometres from Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, the singer said on Thursday: "I know you work in darkness. I will bring you electricity."

Madonna's Raising Malawi charity already has donated $US500,000 ($556,359) for a childcare centre in the village that feeds and educates 3,000 orphaned children.

Madonna arrived in Malawi on Sunday accompanied by her four children. On Monday she broke ground for her $US15 million ($16.69 million) Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.

About 500,000 children in this nation of 12 million have lost a parent to AIDS.

source from brisbanetimes

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Anyone Else Frightened by this 5yr Old Romanian?

Urban Chameleon news

A five year old with more ab packs then his age is a problem for me. We might as well get shorty a blunt, a brew and a tattoo. Check out the intense work out that this Romanian child is on. This is no Tae Bo, Hip Hop Abs or She by Sheree "coming soon" work out video , this is some next level sh*t.

By Chris Chase

Giuliano Stroe has six-pack abs before turning six years old. And he's also in the Guinness Book of World Records before he can probably even read it.

Though it's highly unusual (and possibly unhealthy) for a child to start weight training at such a young age, the pre-schooler entered the record books earlier this year after completing the fastest ever 10-meter walk with a weight ball between the legs, which is both both highly impressive and highly specific. Since then, a four-minute video of Stroe has hit the Internet and made him a viral sensation.

It looks like a training montage from a Rocky movie, minus the Survivor soundtrack. (And, interestingly, Guiliano Stroe is almost the same size as Sylvester Stallone.)





source yahoo.com

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Zahara Jolie-Pitt and the Politics of Uncombed Hair

Urban Chameleon news

Newsweek

by Allison Samuels

A few years ago when actress Angelina Jolie announced she’d be adopting a 6-month-old girl from Africa, I had mixed emotions. I’ve always thought Jolie was one of the flyest chicks in the Hollywood game, but interracial adoptions can be a tricky thing no matter how fly you are.

I’d heard the horror stories around Hollywood about the adopted black children of white movie stars becoming incredibly confused about their backgrounds. For instance, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey a few years ago; Tom Cruise said his interracial son, Conner, was not a color, so the family didn’t discuss race.

Nice sentiment, but in the real world Conner is considered black. If not Cruise, then someone else will point that reality out to Connor with little hesitation. This is one major reason there has been such a hot national debate over interracial adoptions. The fear is that non-African-American parents won’t be able to raise black children with an understanding of who they are and what that means in mainstream society. Such an understanding is just as imperative as shelter and food if the child is to survive and thrive.

Up until recently, Angelina Jolie seemed to be doing a pretty decent job with Zahara Jolie Pitt—providing essential and expensive medical care, purchasing land in Zahara’s native Ethiopia with the plan to build a health center, providing a life of adventure and opportunity. Wonderful things indeed, but lately it seems Angelina has taken a page out of Tom Cruise’s book—and it all comes down to Zahara’s hair.

It’s no secret that black women and their hair have always had a very complicated relationship. In a society that values fine facial features and long silky, straight hair, African-Americans' sometimes kinky, fragile, and unruly hair can be the bane of a black woman’s existence if she allows it.

Hair is often the first thing others notice, be it the texture, length, fullness, or shine. In the African-American community it can also tell a story. It can indicate your background, lineage, and social standing. From slavery until today, skin color and hair texture played a large part in how the overall society viewed blacks and ultimately the way African-Americans saw themselves.

So a black woman has two options: either submit to damaging relaxers and hot combs, or keep hair natural—while still ensuring that it’s well conditioned, well combed, and in place. There are many legacies of black hair in America, but the most enduring is this: even those who eschew pursuing European-looking hair still take a tremendous amount of pride in looking well groomed and put together, and still need to devote time and energy to achieve this effect.

It’s no wonder that African-American women are the largest consumers of hair products, spending close to a billion dollars each year to control their hair. These same women passed down these perceived notions about hair to their daughters. They usually begin hot combing and braiding the child’s hair to take the kink out at an early age.

But even the mothers who spare the hot comb still have to put time and effort into keeping hair healthy: Any self-respecting black mother knows that she must comb, oil, and brush her daughter’s hair every night. This prevents the hair from matting up, drying out, and breaking off. It also prevents any older relatives from asking them why you’re neglecting your child and letting her run around looking like a wild woman. Having well-managed hair is not just about style, it’s about pride, dignity, and self-respect. Keeping your daughter’s hair neat is an unspoken rule of parental duties that everyone in the community recognizes and respects.
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Hair that is nice, neat, and cared for also gives African-American girls the confidence that they can fit into the world at large without being seen as completely different. One truism of childhood is that nothing is more important than being like everyone else. Well, as like everyone else as you can be with Hollywood parents. But not all people will recognize Zahara as the child of movie royalty. To many, she’ll be just a black little girl—and a black girl with bad hair at that.

In recent pictures it's clear Angelina Jolie hasn’t taken the time to learn or understand the long and painful history of African-American women and hair. If she had I can’t imagine she would continue to allow Zahara to look like she has in the past few months. Photos of Zahara show the 4-year-old girl sporting hair that is wild and unstyled, uncombed and dry. Basically: a “hot mess.’’

African American blogs and forums such as Media Takeout, Black Hair Media and even mainstream outlets like TMZ have been on fire the past few weeks demanding to know why Angelina won’t just comb Zahara’s hair? Each blog receives hundreds of e-mails every time they run a picture of the little girl with her hair uncombed. "I just hope that they realize she has different hair needs and find someone black who can keep her hair looking good,” said a commenter on Bossip.com. "Angie, if you can’t comb hair then get someone who can. This is ridiculous now. Your hair is always in place and so is Shiloh’s. Why does Zahara have to always look like she just woke up?" writes a commenter on TheFabLife.com.

This is not to say that critics want Angelina to perm or hot comb Zahara's hair. Not that 4-year-old African-American girls don't get their hair hot combed. I certainly did every Saturday for Sunday morning church. Instead, the majority of those writing in to the blogs say they just want Angelina to brush and oil the little girl's hair so it will be healthy and in shape.

Elaine Jones of the blog Womanist Musings says she’s been amazed at the number of angry e-mails directed at Jolie on this issue. “I mean I don’t deny Zahara could look better, but readers seemed to be mad that Angelina seems to have such little regard for something blacks consider sacred,” says Jones. "They act as though they take it personally that Zahara’s hair looks so bad and think it’s embarrassing for all black people. I think they expected more from Angelina.’’


Lisa Brown, a 35-year-old secretary from Dayton, Ohio, says she felt compelled to comment online about Zahara’s hair because she’s followed Zahara since the day Angelina brought her home.

“It just hurts my heart because I know that little girl won’t be even able to look at her baby pictures without being perplexed at how she looks and why,’’ says Brown. “She doesn’t know any better now, but she will once she gets into school and sees other little girls that look like her with combed and neat hair. She’s going to feel like the odd man out.’’

Brown says she worries that the little girl will one day resent her adopted mother.

“It would be a shame but not surprising,’’ says Brown. “Why adopt her if you’re not going to do your best to raise her to be confident and fulfilled. Other cultures might think this is petty, but trust me it isn’t for a young black girl.’’

In sharp contrast, Madonna, who adopted a little African girl earlier this year from Malawi, makes sure her daughter’s hair is either braided with beads or bows. Recent photos show the little girl modeling neatly done cornrows with white beads at the bottom—a la Venus and Serena Williams.

If Jolie needed even more inspiration, all she has to do is look toward the White House. First daughters Malia and Sasha don’t have stick-straight hair, but they do have their hair done in varying styles from day to day. Malia favors simple twists on her natural hair that allow her to run, swim, and play without worrying her hair will revert (puff up or kink up). Youngest daughter Sasha either wears her hair in braids, a ponytail, or loose curls.

In fairness, Jolie did hire Beyonce’s hairdresser Kim Kimble a few years back to care for Zahara’s hair, (a bit of overkill if you ask me—particularly since Beyonce mostly wears wigs and weaves) and Pitt has even said in interviews that they use Carol’s Daughter, a black hair-care line. But it seems the constant travel the family’s been doing over the past year has put issues like grooming on the back burner. For the record, Jolie’ daughter Shiloh isn’t exactly looking like much time is being given to her hair either. But she isn’t a little black girl being judged by mainstream standards.

There are those who say there is nothing wrong with Zahara’s hair at all, that her hair is in its natural state and that’s just fine. I say natural hair---afro, dreads, etc. is fine, if it’s maintained regularly or when the child is old enough to make that decision for herself. Until then, the child’s parents are responsible for their general care and upkeep. Zahara is not even old enough to know that her hair looks dry and damaged as it stands straight up on her head. But there will come a day when this beautiful little African girl will understand what it means to be an African-American woman in this society and realize unlike her younger sister, hers is not a wash-and-go world.

source Newsweek

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Are Black Barbies Finally Black?

Urban Chameleon news

Growing up I wasn't allowed to play with white dolls for my mom didn't want me to idolize their beauty. So instead I had Huggie Bean and other dolls that she made where the hair was yarn to even look like locks. I saw what she meant witnessing self hatred comments that girls around my way would spit at each other, "Well at least my hair ain't nappy" and "You so Black you look like burnt toast" before returning to combing their white Barbie doll's hair for another three hours.

Well does Mattel after all these years finally address the problem? Hmmmm, you be the judge...

Mattel announced today their introduction of new Black Barbie dolls. The new dolls have fuller lips, a wider nose, more distinct cheekbones and curlier hair. Deemed the “So In Style” line, or S.I.S, the line features Kara, Trichelle and Grace who are three best friends in tune with fashion, fun and music.

Each doll features its own unique personality and style and

reflects one of three various skin tones. The line also features a mentoring theme and each doll comes with her little sister. The big and little doll is set to inspire mentoring in the young girls who play with them.






link to other photos and full article on hiphopwired


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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Parents Beware- A pole Dancing Doll!

Urban Chameleon news

Where have we come and where are we going?

Gizmodo has an item about a new doll. Does it burp? Does it breastfeed? Nope. It dances. On a pole.

If anyone was wondering if the world was doomed, here is your confirmation.

The scoop on this new plaything came from Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz, and features a somewhat grainy photo of a doll in a shiny dress hanging on a pole. A giant heart emblazoned with the word "Pole Dance" is at the top. The box promises "Style." "Interesting." "Music." "Flash." "Up and Down." "Go Round and Round." It might've said "Ewww," "Gross," "Criminal"," but in all likelihood the upstanding manufacturers ran out of room.

No mention is made of inserting money anywhere.

In an email message, Diaz told us today: "As far as I can tell, it's a real product. It didn't seem PhotoShopped to me. It feels more like the typical Chinese-made product you can only find in low cost stores."

We were unable to confirm the actual existence of this product. Google searches turn up nothing more than references to the Gizmodo item. So perhaps there is some hope for the planet.

Then again, maybe not.
full article at parentdish.com

Monday, August 31, 2009

What Color is Elmo?

Urban Chameleon Fun Fact


did you know Elmo was a brotha?

Kevin Clash holds his Emmy for outstanding performer in a children series at this year's 36th Daytime Emmy Awards

The brotha has been an official puppeteer with Sesame Street since 1984.

wait...Tickle me Elmo? This brotha has to be paid!