White Girl Steppers Now Split 1st Place Prize with Black Girl Steppers

Remember that story we posted last week about a white sorority winning 1st place in the annual Sprite Step Competition. Click here to read: White Sorority Wins Sprite Step Competition

Well Coca-Cola who sponsored the event could not handle all that controversy so they went back, looked over the scores and conveniently found a "discrepancy."

ATLANTA (AP) -- After days of controversy over a white group's win in a step competition, sponsor Coca-Cola said Thursday the second-place team will share top honors.

Coca-Cola said in a statement that a review of the scoring from Saturday's national contest revealed a "scoring discrepancy" that it declined to explain. This is the first year of the Sprite Step Off, but step contests are typically dominated by black sororities and fraternities.

Step is a historically black art form of rhythmic stepping and clapping. A YouTube video of the winning performance by a group of Zeta Tau Alphas from the University of Arkansas generated hundreds of comments, some of them inflammatory.

Coca-Cola said Thursday the Alpha Kappa Alpha team from Indiana University, whose members are black, would share first place and would also receive the same $100,000 in scholarships that the Zeta Tau Alphas won.

"Because the scoring discrepancy cannot be resolved and due to the extremely narrow margin between the first and second place winning sororities," the company decided to declare co-winners, the company statement says.

The national offices of both sororities said they were proud of their members and declined to comment on the Internet controversy.

The Sprite Step Off was created to award scholarships, Coca-Cola said. The tournament began in September with a series of regional qualifying rounds around the country. Six sororities competed in the national final in Atlanta Saturday. Six fraternities also competed among themselves. source from wusa9.com

Thumbs up or down for how this was handled?

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Tourists Don't Let Earthquake in Haiti Stop Them from Vacationing in the Devastation

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Royal Caribbean's decision to dock ships at Haitian resort creates controversy

By now, most of us have seen and heard about the profound devastation and suffering wrought upon Haiti last week after a massive earthquake. So you'd probably think there's no way that cruising tourists could have returned to frolicking on Haiti's beaches mere miles from where people are trapped beneath the rubble of a decimated city. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong.

On Sunday, the Guardian reported that Florida-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is docking ships at the "picturesque wooded peninsula" known as Labadee, which it leases on Haiti's northern coast. At Labadee, passengers "enjoy jetski rides, parasailing, and rum cocktails delivered to their hammocks." The British paper also reported that passengers can spend their time "shopping for trinkets at a craft market" while armed guards stand at the entry to the complex to guarantee their safety.

Despite the fact that the ships have delivered relief supplies to the island, some passengers on the ships are reportedly "sickened" over the decision to dock there. One passenger took to an Internet message board to protest the idea of vacationing where "tens of thousands of dead people are being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water."

When Royal Caribbean announced its decision to resume stops at Labadee last week, a company executive cited the economic importance of the resort to the local citizens as well as the opportunity to deliver much-needed supplies.

"We also have tremendous opportunities to use our ships as transport vessels for relief supplies and personnel to Haiti," said associate vice president John Weis. "Simply put, we cannot abandon Haiti now that they need us most."

Still, Royal Caribbean, which recently raised eyebrows when it announced that it's organizing a "cougar cruise" for older single women, has been catching heat from all corners on their decision, prompting company CEO Adam Goldstein to post a defense of the company on their website. Saying that he is "proud of what our people and our ships are doing," Goldstein writes:
The ships going back to Labadee, including Navigator of the Seas today, are obviously making a very valuable contribution to the relief effort by offloading supplies at Labadee. The media understand this and generally have written and spoken about the relief effort in positive terms. But in the last 24 hours, sparked by an article in the Guardian in the UK, a different and more critical view has emerged that questions how our guests can justify having a good time in Labadee when there is such misery less than 100 miles away.
My view is this - it isn't better to replace a visit to Labadee (or for that matter, to stay on the ship while it's docked in Labadee) with a visit to another destination for a vacation. Why? Because being on the island and generating economic activity for the straw market vendors, the hair-braiders and our 230 employees helps with relief while being somewhere else does not help. These 500 people are going to need to support a much larger network of family and friends, including many who are in (or are missing in) the earthquake zone. Also, the north is going to bear a good part of the burden of the agony of the south, and the more economic support there is to the north, the better able the north will be to bear this burden. People enjoying themselves is what we do. People enjoying themselves in Labadee helps with relief. We support our guests who choose to help in this way which is consistent with our nearly 30 year history in Haiti.
- Brett Michael Dykes is a contributor to the Yahoo! News blog

'Couples Retreat' Movie Poster Causes Controversy in the UK

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Racism or marketing tactic?

Universal is facing a potential PR mess for its decision to digitally remove the names and images of the only black couple in 'Couples Retreat' on the film's UK movie poster.

According to England's The Daily Mail, a Universal spokesman said the updated ad was released "to simplify the poster to actors who are most recognizable in international markets."

But some are calling foul on the complete removal of actors Kali Hawk and Faizon Love from the film's poster. "I think this was an ill-conceived move," Mediawatch-UK director Vivienne Pattison told the Mail. "We celebrate diversity in Britain and we could have coped with seeing the same poster used in America."
In the U.S. version (above, left), all eight principal stars, including Hawk and Love, are seen standing knee-deep in water with their names displayed above. For the UK version (above, right), a different backdrop is shown with only the six (white) actors and actresses on display.

"Any discrepancy between the posters is cause for alarm because it makes racist assumptions about target markets," says Ann Simonton, founder of the non-profit organization Media Watch. "But this is a somewhat common response to how advertisers target audiences. So much of advertising depends on our ignorance and it's important for the consumer to remain ignorant. When they eliminate diversity, it maintains this false view of our world. It's sickening to think about what the industry's motives are, but it's important that they be called on it."

Daily Mail film critic Jason Solomons weighed in over the weekend, noting, "We don't cater much for the black cinema-going audience in this country, which is a great shame, so it seems strange that when there are black stars in a major feature film, this fact isn't promoted. And, in terms of business decisions, this seems a pretty counter-productive one."

For its part, Universal has acknowledged the omission, saying it regretted offending anyone and is abandoning plans to use the revised poster in other countries.

But you have to wonder: If they regretted offending anyone, why would they alter the poster in the first place?

read full article on insidemovies.moviefone.com

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Urban Chameleon news

Despite the controversary over Obama's win of the Nobel Peace Prize, sometimes certain things in life need to occur for something greater.

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama said Friday that he was humbled by the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award him the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

"I am both surprised and deeply humbled," Obama said at the White House.

"I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments. But rather as an affirmation of American leadership. ... I will accept this award as a call to action."

Obama said he did not feel he deserves "to be in the company" of past winners, but would continue to push a broad range of international objectives, including nuclear non-proliferation, a reversal of the global economic downturn, and a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He acknowledged the ongoing U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that he is the "commander in chief of a country that is responsible for ending" one war and confronting a dangerous adversary in another.

"This award is not simply about my administration," he said. It "must be shared" with everyone who strives for "justice and dignity." Watch Obama speak at White House »

The Nobel Committee said it decided to honor Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Zakaria: Nobel honors Obama's 'bold gambit'

The president had not been mentioned as among front-runners for the prize, and the roomful of reporters in Oslo, Norway, gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, uttered Obama's name. Watch announcement of 2009 Nobel Peace Prize »

The Nobel committee recognized Obama's efforts to solve complex global problems including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Watch CNN's Christiane Amanpour's analysis »

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said.

Jagland said the decision was "unanimous" and came with ease. Listen to Jagland explain why Obama was this year's choice »

full story on cnn

South African Runner Caster Semenya Gets Make Over

Urban Chameleon news

If you aren't already aware South African runner Caster Semenya had to undergo gender testing after questions were raised when she completed what they ruled as an "unusually" strong finish in an 800-meter run at the track and field world championships in Berlin in mid-August.

Well honey there is no better way to come back at a b*tch then to get dress like a--

Fabulous glamorous looking woman and pose for South African You Magazine



I love it- did she call Tyra? Is she smiling with her eyes?

I'm not judging (or at least trying not to) but it's better than this look.



source from news.spreadit.org

South African Champion Runner, Caster Semenya Undergoes Gender Test

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This South African woman, Caster Semenya who won the gold by a large margin in 800m dash has to undergo gender tests to prove she is a woman...it seems wrong. Okay so she has masculine features and may act like a tomboy but to call her out for pulling a Ms. Doubtfire or Big Momma on the field seems outlandish. It's not like she came out of no where and she has parents! Damn talk about pissing on someone's parade, can't a sista enjoy a win?

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32477147/ns/sports-olympic_sports/

http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=204778051

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