Lifted Veils

Hi Phil: Count this ad man in on your next article...

2011-12-20T11:51:52.107-05:00

Hi Phil: Count this ad man in on your next article. George Irish, Strategisadv.com

Dear Phillip, I am currently assisting the CEAR (...

2009-10-09T05:06:48.174-04:00

Dear Phillip,

I am currently assisting the CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugee Assistance) to prepare the appeal of an asylum seeker from Mali in Spain. This person is an albino and has grounds to fear for his life and well-being if he returns to Mali.

I would like to know if your organisation has any information on documented cases of albino persecution in Mali. Although there appears to be a consensus on this issue in Mali, especially regarding witchcraft and other popular beliefs, there does not seem to be hardly any available information on actual documented cases.

Any information, suggestions or pointers that may help in assisting in the plight of our client will be very welcome.

Thank you very much,

Jeffery Barrera

jeffery.barrera@medicosdelmundo.org

This is fascinating. Your site is excellent, Phill...

2009-05-24T17:01:25.047-04:00

This is fascinating. Your site is excellent, Phillip. Great job!!!

As you might suspect. it's far more complicated th...

2009-03-12T02:24:00.000-04:00

As you might suspect. it's far more complicated than the skin concerns faced by the King of Pop might suggest.

Why don't you ask Michael Jackson?

2009-03-11T20:05:00.000-04:00

Why don't you ask Michael Jackson?

Well check it out here and let me know what you th...

2008-08-21T00:31:00.000-04:00

Well check it out here and let me know what you think. It actually would have been good to have included your story in this report. It's compelling---thanks a lot..phillip

I can't wait to see this because this issue resona...

2008-08-18T08:29:00.000-04:00

I can't wait to see this because this issue resonates with me deeply.
My biological father is Puerto Rican, my mother is African-American. They divorced when I was 2 or 3. I have been raised on the African-American side and totally immersed in that culture for my 50+ years of life. I had not touch with him or the PR side of my family until 7 years ago.
My half-sister considers herself white although she doesn't look white. I consider myself Black. I've been asked if I was Puerto Rican, Dominican or Cape Verdean.
My Black aunts and cousins range in skin color from pale pink to deep brown.
Are you what you feel you are, what others tell you you are, what your name says, or what/how you choose to stand in the world?
In my experience, a lot of people who are Latino embrace their European heritage and try to suppress their African heritage. The famous Cuban poet, Nicolas Guillen, wrote a poem "And your grandmother, who she be?"
African-Americans and Latinos are made up of the same combination of African, Native, and European and it comes out in all sorts of glorious skin colors, hair textures, and facial and other physical features.

I don't think that any one person can change perce...

2008-04-30T18:17:00.000-04:00

I don't think that any one person can change perceptions. We have had thousands for great Black people in all walks of life - academic, entertainment, sports, literature, etc., and that hasn't changed perceptions.

Over the course of my life, I've even had white people try to take my "Black" away from me, when they said I wasn't like other Black people or that they didn't think of me as Black.

Obama will lift the minds of people ready to have their hearts and minds changed but it won't be a great sea change.
I think his greatest benefit along these lines will be among the perceptions of young Black and other men of color.

I am still trying to become white but always end u...

2008-04-07T14:03:00.000-04:00

I am still trying to become white but always end up gray. But I am 7 feet tall which is what most people see.

Your old pal Danny
Sly's BIL

Wow. I had seen your report about three weeks ago...

2008-03-26T13:16:00.000-04:00

Wow. I had seen your report about three weeks ago and began doing research on the images in their international campaigns as a result. And now there may be more work for us to do together. Thank you for the work you are doing - it is so vitally important.

I've always loved Benetton ads. A few years ago t...

2008-03-22T17:39:00.000-04:00

I've always loved Benetton ads. A few years ago they were very present in the U.S. but they haven't been very visible here recently.
What happened?

Over the years I have watched in dismay the prejud...

2008-03-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

Over the years I have watched in dismay the prejudice and stereotyping that many immigrants display for Black Americans in particular.

A couple of years ago, I was reconnected to my biological father who is Puerto Rican. My half sister who's mother is white, considers herself white and my father who is light-skinned but in no way looks white, also feels that he is something other than Puerto Rican. This despite the fact that we can trace our ancestry to Africa quicker on the PR side.
I think that people like the Irish and other ethnic European groups want to fit in quickly and they find solace that in America they are not on the bottom and can more easily blend in. No matter how mainstream Black and other Americans of color talk, live or style- the color persists.