Archive for April, 2017

Al Sharpton on Bill O’Reilly Firing: ‘He Certainly Promoted White Nationalism’ – All Black Media

Rev. Al Sharpton shared his thoughts on Foxs recent firing of Bill OReilly Wednesday night with MSNBCs Chris Hayes. Sharpton said during OReillys 20-year tenure with the company he certainly promoted white nationalism.

He became the spokesman for the right-wing ad this whole, kind of, going back to the pre-civil rights days, Sharpton said.

Fox News cut ties with OReilly Wednesday after a New York Times report detailed a series of sexual harassment allegations against the now-former OReilly Factor host that resulted in dozens of advertisers distancing themselves from the show.

OReilly and Sharpton have had several high-profile disagreements in the past. Hayes played a series clips in which the former Fox News star said racially sensitive things.

For this kind of language to be going on, day after day, and to become commercially successful was very, very troubling if not frightening to many of us in the African-American community, Sharpton said in response to the video montage.

When asked about OReilly referring to him as a race hustler, Sharpton replied:

I think he certainly promoted a very clear and in no way nuanced white nationalism.

Hayes went on to mention that OReilly and President Trump are friends who share a similar world view because they both came to power in New York.

We get called the hustlers. We get called the names. We get called all kinds of non-complimentary terms for fighting against people who say they are trying to preserve something based on their race and based on their privilege, Sharpton said.

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Al Sharpton on Bill O'Reilly Firing: 'He Certainly Promoted White Nationalism' - All Black Media

Al Sharpton to Host ‘First Major Gathering of African-Americans in the Donald Trump Era’ – Wilmington Journal

(TriceEdneyWire.com) National Action Network (NAN), led by civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton, will convene its annual national convention from April 26-29, describing it as the first major gathering of African-Americans in the Donald Trump era in his hometown of New York.

The convention, being held at Critical Juncture in Civil Rightswill feature high profile plenary sessions and panel discussions around crucial issues, such as voting rights, criminal justice reform, immigration, health care, education, corporate responsibility, economic equity and more, according to a release.

The convention will be held at Sheraton Times Square (811 7th Avenue @ 52nd Street). It is free and open to the public but registration is required and isolated events are ticketed.

Each day of the NAN convention there will be a hackathon and technology competition, and each evening there will be revivals featuring leading national preachers, the release states. Among the highlights:

Registration and current schedule are available here:http://nationalactionnetwork.net/convention-2017/#schedule

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Al Sharpton to Host 'First Major Gathering of African-Americans in the Donald Trump Era' - Wilmington Journal

Zara pulls denim skirt after ‘Pepe the Frog’ accusations – Los Angeles Times

A fast-fashion retailer is in hot water over a hate symbol.

Zara, a Spanish clothing chain, pulled a skirt from its website after people pointed out that an applique cartoon character on it bore a striking resemblance to "Pepe the Frog," a fictional frog that has been adopted by "alt-right" groups.

Meagan Fredette, a freelance writer from Chicago, was the first person to point it out. She said she was browsing Zara's site Monday evening when she noticed the skirt. She tweeted about it and then went to sleep, assuming nothing would come of it.

By Wednesday, the skirt was no longer available on Zara's website. The retailer confirmed to several news outlets that the item had been pulled from real and virtual shelves. (Zara did not respond to emailed requests for comment from The Times.)

Pepe rose to prominence last year, his visage appearing in memes about Adolf Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan. People who identified as members of white nationalist and other far-right groups added the green frog emoji to their Twitter handle or display name.

Last summer, Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo on Instagram labeled "The Deplorables" referencing the movie The Expendables and a comment that Hillary Clinton made about supporters of his father, Donald Trump which showed Pepe alongside Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Rudy Giuliani and other people involved with Trumps presidential campaign.

In September, the Anti-Defamation League said it was formally declaring Pepe the Frog a hate symbol.

Matt Furie, an artist based in L.A.'s Koreatown neighborhood, created Pepe the Frog back in 2005. He said in an interview last October that having his creation associated with anti-Semitism and white nationalism was his "worst nightmare."

On Wednesday, Furie said via email that Zara had not sought his permission to use Pepe the Frogs likeness.

The skirt in question was designed by a Spanish artist, Mario de Santiago, as part of Zara's "Oil-On-Denim" collection, which launched this month in stores and online. In a statement, the company said de Santiago created the design based on a painting he made with friends several years ago and that it had no link to the suggested theme.

De Santiago replied to Fredette's tweets, saying his design was "never intended to promulgate hate" and that he was sorry. "I feel shame for this," he wrote. (He later deleted those tweets, but Fredette provided the Times with screenshots of them.)

This is not the first time that Zara has had to pull a questionable product. In 2014, the brand publicly apologized for selling a shirt that looked like something concentration camp prisoners wore. In 2007, it stopped selling a purse that had swastika symbols embroidered on it.

Fredette, who has written about fashion for outlets like Paper Magazine and Refinery29, said she wasnt surprised that this happened to Zara again. In order for fast-fashion retailers like Zara to keep prices low, she said, they have to cut corners on quality control. She said the blame lies with Zara, not the designer, for not recognizing the implications of the frog.

"Someone should have seen this before it was produced and put up for sale," she said.

Follow me on Twitter @jessica_roy.

jessica.roy@latimes.com

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Zara pulls denim skirt after 'Pepe the Frog' accusations - Los Angeles Times

WTH Is Zara Selling a Skirt Featuring a Pepe the Frog Look-alike? – Allure Magazine

Every couple of months, like clockwork, a mass retailer does something so blatantly clumsy that you almost have to wonder whether it was actually intentional. The latest gaffe comes courtesy of Zara in the form a denim skirt that's being criticized for featuring an embroidery that closely resembles Pepe the Frog, a meme that's been appropriated by hate groups.

The skirt in question features two frogs: one in the same green shade as Pepe, and one a mirror image in a darker green hue. Both share Pepe's characteristic thin red lips and bulging eyes, which are obscured by sunglasses.

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Pepe, a character that began as an innocuous creation by illustrator Matt Furie, was co-opted by a number of hate groups and ultimately declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League last year. Chicago fashion and music writer Meagan Fredette was the first to draw considerable attention to the inclusion of Pepe, or his very close relative, on the offending skirt, tweeting, "Zara is really out there trying to sell a P*pe the frog skirt, apparently unaware (?) of its current implications."

It would be surprising if no one at Zara was cognizant of the implications of the image, since Pepe gained significant notoriety during the 2016 presidential election, as his image was heavily used by alt-right groups, anti-Semitic factions, white supremacists, and other hate organizations who created Pepe-as-Trump memes. The usage culminated in an explainer by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the ADL hate symbol designation.

The fact that the skirt even exists raises the same question we've been asking for years: Whos approving this stuff? True, Zara is a Spanish company, so the argument could be made that nuance might get lost in translation, but Zara's also one of the world's most visible, profitable global brandsit's valued at $10.7 billion, according to Forbes so one might assume they'd take measures to employ the world's sharpest minds, as far as due diligence is concerned.

The company got a ton of rightful flak in 2014 for a kids shirt thatwith its stripes and yellow star detaillooked remarkably similar to a concentration camp uniform, and has been accused of allegedly ripping off designers and featuring deceptive "body positive" advertising.

In the wake of the backlash, Zara seems to have removed the Pepe skirt from its website. Glamour has reached out to the retailer for comment and has not yet received a response.

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WTH Is Zara Selling a Skirt Featuring a Pepe the Frog Look-alike? - Allure Magazine

UVU opens crime scene investigation house | fox13now.com – fox13now.com


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UVU opens crime scene investigation house | fox13now.com
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OREM, Utah Forensic science students at Utah Valley University have a new place to conduct mock investigations and record their findings. A crime scene ...
UVU opens CSI house to train students, officers | Education ...Daily Herald

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