Affected devices include iPhones, iPads, Macs, Amazon Echos and Kindles, Android devices, and various Wi-Fi routers.
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
Dylann Roof staged hunger strike to protest ‘harsh’ treatment inside federal prison
Dylann Roof, the white supremacist convicted of murdering nine Black church members in Charleston, South Carolina as they attended Bible study five years ago, went on a hunger strike this month to protest treatment by prison staff while on federal death row.
READ MORE: Dylann Roof pleads for court to overturn conviction and death sentence
In letters to The Associated Press, Roof, 25, claims he’s been targeted by staff members, “verbally harassed and abused without cause” and “treated disproportionately harsh.” Roof told the AP in a Feb. 13 letter, that staff at the Terre Haute, Indiana realize that he is “hated by the general public” and thus feel their alleged poor treatment of him is warranted.
Roof told the news organization that he went on a hunger strike to protest how he is being treated by a Bureau of Prisons disciplinary hearing officer. He further brought up earlier complaints alleging that he was denied access to the law library and a copy machine to file legal papers.
In one letter to the news outlet, he mentioned that he was already “several days” into the hunger strike. However, in a subsequent letter, Roof told them that the strike ended on Feb. 14, after correctional officers attempted to take his blood, and inject an IV into his arm.
“I feel confident I could have gone much, much longer without food,” Roof wrote in the second letter, dated Feb. 16, according to the Associated Press. “It’s just not worth being murdered over.”
The Bureau of Prisons have not verified Roof’s claims, with a spokeswoman citing privacy concerns and telling the AP the agency would have no comment.
In a statement to the AP, Roof’s lawyers said they are “working with BOP to resolve the issues addressed in the letters.”
Last month, the lawyers filed an appeal hoping to reverse his federal capital murder convictions and death sentence. They claim he is mentally ill and shouldn’t have represented himself during the penalty portion of his trial.
READ MORE: Dylann Roof appeals death sentence for 2015 Charleston, SC church massacre
In the appeal, Roof’s lawyers submitted a 321-page legal brief, arguing that U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel should not have prevented Roof from representing himself during the penalty phase because the ninth-grade dropout “believed his sentence didn’t matter because white nationalists would free him from prison after an impending race war.”
The post Dylann Roof staged hunger strike to protest ‘harsh’ treatment inside federal prison appeared first on TheGrio.
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Sports Agent Scott Boras to Honor Kobe Bryant’s Final Request
One of Kobe Bryant’s last requests before his untimely death last month will be honored by baseball agent Scott Boras, according to Sports Illustrated.
Bryant had sent a text message on the morning of his death to Los Angeles Lakers general manager, Rob Pelinka, inquiring if he knew a baseball agent. The retired basketball legend wanted to help secure an internship with an agent for a friend’s daughter. That friend, John Altobelli, was the coach of the Orange Coast College baseball team in California. Unfortunately, Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and their daughter, Alyssa, died on the same flight as Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.
“Kobe’s last human act was heroic,” Pelinka told the crowd of 20,000 mourners at Bryant’s memorial at Staples Center earlier this week. “He wanted to use his platform to bless and shape a young girl’s future.”
Boras told Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times that he plans to offer 16-year-old Alexis Altobelli an internship at his sports agency. Bryant was seeking to be a character reference for Alexis before the helicopter crash.
Boras told The Los Angeles Times that he had reached out to the Altobelli family to invite John and Alexis to tour his office and discuss the internship for her. He plans on creating a position for her to rotate through the departments at Boras Corp., including marketing, baseball operations, sports science, and office administration.
Bryant played his whole 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a five-time NBA champion, a two-time Finals MVP, and the 2008 Most Valuable Player. During his career, Bryant made the All-Star team 18 times and became the youngest player to ever reach 30,000 points. He retired from the NBA in 2016, scoring an NBA-season high 60 points in his final game.
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Years after his murder, House finally passes Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill
Lynching grew one step closer to becoming a federal crime yesterday after the House passed the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act. The House bill, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), would add lynching to the United States Criminal Code and make it a hate crime.
READ MORE: House to vote on 120-year-old long overdue anti-lynching bill
Last year, the Senate unanimously passed an anti-lynching bill that was put forth by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Now all that remains is for the two bills to be merged into one and sent to President Trump to sign into law, which he is expected to do, The New York Times is reporting.
This moment is historic because, for at least 120 years, the House and Senate have tried to pass an anti-lynching law to make the abominable evil a federal crime. But each time, anti-lynching bills were blocked, put on hold or ignored, until now. Even though the move is considered more of a symbolic gesture in today’s time, it is still needed, legislators said.
“Today brings us one step closer to finally reconciling a dark chapter in our nation’s history,” Booker said in a statement about the approved House bill.
“We are one step closer to finally outlawing this heinous practice and achieving justice for over 4,000 victims of lynching,” Mr. Rush said in a statement when the House vote was announced last week.
Emmett Till was just 14 when white men tortured and killed him in 1955 after a then 21-year-old white woman named Carolyn Bryant said he grabbed her by the waist and whistled at her in a Mississippi grocery store. Many years after Till’s murder, Bryant admitted that she lied in her testimony. Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, chose to have an open-casket funeral so photographers could capture it and the whole world could see what they did to her son.
Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his brother, J.W. Milam, were charged with killing Emmett but were acquitted by an all-white jury, which was typically the outcome in such cases.
But on Wednesday, the House sought to acknowledge the wrong by adding lynching to the United States Criminal Code. And while its timing is late, it is still important to have an anti-lynching law on the books, particularly with a surge in racist acts that the United States has experienced in recent years – from the nine Black parishioners killed in a Charleston, South Carolina church while attending Bible study in 2015 to the brutal killing of James Byrd Jr., a Black man who was tied to a pickup truck and dragged for several miles by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas in 1998.
“The importance of this bill cannot be overstated,” Mr. Rush said in his statement, according to The New York Times.
READ MORE: WATCH | The evil history of lynching and why President Trump&’s tweet was disrespectful
“From Charlottesville to El Paso, we are still being confronted with the same violent racism and hatred that took the life of Emmett and so many others,” he said, referring to the violent white supremacist rally that occurred in Virginia in 2017 as well as a mass shooting in Texas in 2019 where Latinos were targeted. “The passage of this bill will send a strong and clear message to the nation that we will not tolerate this bigotry.”
The post Years after his murder, House finally passes Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill appeared first on TheGrio.
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Louisiana judge apologizes for using the n-word, says she won’t step down
A white, Louisiana district court judge admitted that she used a racial slur in a text message exchange to describe a Black sheriff’s deputy and Black law clerk.
The 23rd Judicial District Judge Jessie LeBlanc told WAFB that she sent a heated text message to her one-time lover, Bruce Prejean, the former Chief Deputy in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Both LeBlanc and Prejean were married at the time of the affair. Prejean has seen been demoted by Sheriff Leland Falcon after he admitted to the affair last year.
READ MORE: Judge allows discrimination case related to Bill Maher’s use of n-word to move forward
LeBlanc told the station after she ended the affair with Prejean, someone left an anonymous note on her door with the “n-word” scrawled on it, and someone sent a package to her office with Prejean’s phone records. She claims the phone records included the phone number of another judge’s female law clerk, which led her to believe that Prejean and the Black law clerk had been seeing each other.
“From there, I did lash out at him,” the judge told WAFB on Sunday. “And, in lashing out at him, in those text messages, I lashed out at two of his African-American friends. One of them being that law clerk. I did call them that name (n-word). They do not deserve that. They deserve an apology from me. And, I sincerely apologize to both of them for using that word. While I may have been upset, angry, scared, it does not excuse my actions.”
“I admit that I used that word,” LeBlanc added. “I profusely apologize for that. I should have never said it. It was uncalled for. I was angry. I was upset. But, it’s no excuse.”
When the WAFB reporter asked the judge if she ever used the offensive slur before, she appeared to stutter. “Not in a – no – not – no – not in a – no – I have not used that racial slur in the past,” LeBlanc told the station. “This was in a moment of a heated exchange that was private between Bruce and one I that I never dreamed would have come out to the public.
Now Baton Rouge NAACP President Eugene Collins is calling for LeBlanc to step down and threatens demonstrations if she fails to do so.
“She should be removed from the bench,” Collins told WAFB. “This is about creating a fair and impartial system.”
Also, District Attorney Ricky Babin and the district’s lead public defender have filed a motion asking that LeBlanc remove herself from criminal cases in Assumption Parish or have the court force her to do so.
LeBlanc’s attorney, Jill Craft said the slur was horrible but cautioned as to the widespread implication if LeBlanc is forced out.
“It’s terrible and there’s no excuse – zero excuse – for anyone using that word and that language,” Craft said. “My concern globally is one of where do you draw the line? Does that mean that every judge in the state has to sign an affidavit under oath that they’ve not used the n-word or they’ve not referred to women as the c-word or the b-word or gay people in a derogatory fashion and, if they have, are they automatically disqualified from cases involving women, African Americans, Hispanics, or gay people?”
READ MORE: A Chicago judge removed from the bench after claims of making insensitive racial statements
As for LeBlanc, she said she won’t be stepping down.
“I know in my heart that I have done my job to the very best of my ability,” she told the station.
The post Louisiana judge apologizes for using the n-word, says she won’t step down appeared first on TheGrio.
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Shop These Black-Owned Beauty Brands For A Flawless Look
Rihanna turned the beauty industry on its heels with the debut of Fenty Beauty. According to Forbes, the Bajan mogul has racked in over $570 million in revenue since its launch. With an array of 40 shades to complement a range of complexions for women of color who are often underserved in the market, Fenty was something refreshingly new that the makeup industry desperately needed. Black women spend an estimated $7.5 billion every year on beauty products; 80% is spent on cosmetics and black shoppers spend twice as much on skincare than non-black shoppers.
With Fenty encouraging the industry to recognize the needs of black women, more and more black-owned beauty entrepreneurs have hit the ground running with various ventures that focus on our beauty needs from nails, lips, and hair. Here are a couple of fabulous black-owned companies to help complete your flawless look.
Nails: Pear Nova
Source: Instagram
Blending fashion-forward hues fresh off the runway with a vegan, five-free formulation, Pear Nova’s colorful line of polishes quickly gained devoted fans with nude tones to complete darker complexions and colorful shades. Founder Rachel James, one of the stars of VH1’s Black Ink Chicago, used her background in fashion merchandising to launch the brand in 2012 with the aim of uniting her diverse expertise in beauty and fashion.
Lips: The Lip Bar
The perfect pout can highlight any outfit. In 2012, Melissa Butler wanted to help black women find their perfect lip color, so she opened Lip Bar, a cruelty-free, vegan lipstick brand to work with their skin tones. Her colorful lipsticks were featured on black Muslim model Ashley Blevins in the #ThisIsBeauty campaign, where consumers on Instagram were encouraged to take photos wearing their favorite Lip Bar product.
Just for Men: Bevel
Source: Instagram
Women aren’t the only ones driving the beauty industry. Men’s skincare is also on the rise and Bevel caters to black men who are looking to upgrade their daily look.
Hair: Taliah Waajid
Source: Instagram
New York-based Taliah Waajid wanted to create a collection of hair products that would help manage her kinky coils. After years of making hair formulas in her home, she decided to open her own natural hair business. It is now sold in stores across the country.
Skincare: Base Butter
Source: Instagram
Base Butter was a company She’Neil Johnson created for women who wanted simple, natural remedies for better skin. Today, her company sells a wide variety of skincare products with organic ingredients for perfectly healthy, smooth skin.
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Black Developer Terrica Smith Went from Homeless to Building Affordable Housing
As a black woman in her mid-30s, Terrica Smith has cleared many hurdles to accomplish a number of major feats. She is the owner of Cachet Real Estate and a managing partner for Salt Capital Equity Group. Smith is also bringing her dream to life with the Madeline Cove project, a housing development that will provide 30 affordable homes, 60 townhouses, a 50-unit senior complex, and a retail building, according to The Acadiana Advocate.
The purpose of the project is to satisfy the housing needs of New Orleans’s north side. This project, backed by a local bank, already has a waiting list of more than 300 people. According to The Acadiana Advocate, the structure will include “the senior center, featuring 50 living units that will each be 500-600 square feet” and a “retail center, which will feature up to five spaces for light retail, a coffee shop or maybe a grocery store.”
Smith’s journey was a difficult one. She was a foster child who ended up aging out of the foster care system when she turned 16. Afterward, she was homeless on the streets of New Orleans.
“My mentor was being homeless,” Smith said. “It was the scariest moment of my life because people are pulling on you, trying to attack you. It’s not safe. You can’t sleep. I made a promise to my son under that bridge: As long as I had air in my lungs, I would never be homeless again.”
But Smith turned her life around, taking a leap of faith from living under the Claiborne overpass to visiting the White House, where along with other leaders and various business officials, she spoke about New Orleans’s progress with the project and Opportunity Zone program.
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
How door-to-door canvassing slowed an epidemic
Liberia was the epicenter of a high-profile Ebola outbreak in 2014-15, which led to more than 10,000 deaths in West Africa. But for all the devastation the illness caused, it could have been worse without an innovative, volunteer-based outreach program Liberia’s government deployed in late 2014.
Now, a study co-authored by an MIT professor shows how much that program, consisting of door-to-door canvassing by community volunteers, spread valuable information and changed public practices during the epidemic. The findings also demonstrate how countries with minimal resources can both fight back against epidemics and gain public trust in difficult circumstances.
“Mediated [volunteer-based] government outreach had a positive impact on all of the [health] outcomes we measured,” says Lily Tsai, a professor of political science at MIT and co-author of a new paper detailing the study’s findings. “People knew more [about Ebola], had a more factual understanding of the epidemic, and were more willing to comply with government control measures. And downstream, they’re more likely to trust government institutions.”
Indeed, after talking to canvassers, residents of Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, were 15 percentage points more supportive of disease control policies, 10 percentage points less likely to violate a ban on public gatherings (to limit the spread of Ebola), 26 percentage points more likely to support victims’ burials by government workers, and 9 percentage points more likely to trust Liberia’s Ministry of Health, among other outcomes. They were also 10 percentage points more likely to use hand sanitizer.
Intriguingly, the volunteer-based outreach program succeeded after an earlier 2014 campaign, using Ministry of Health staff, was abandoned, having been “met with disbelief and outright violence,” as the new paper states.
“There’s often an assumption that government outreach doesn’t work,” says Tsai, the Ford Professor of Political Science at MIT. “What we find is that it does work, but it really matters how that government outreach is conducted and structured.”
The research shows that, crucially, 30 percent of the people who spoke with canvassers already knew those volunteers, adding a layer of social trust to the program. And all volunteers canvassed in communities where they lived.
“They were building interpersonal trust and enabling people to hold them accountable for any misinformation,” Tsai says. “They were like guarantors for a loan. It’s a way of saying, ‘You can trust me. I’m going to co-sign for the government. I’m going to guarantee it.’”
The paper, “Building Credibility and Cooperation in Low-Trust Settings: Persuasion and Source Accountability in Liberia During the 2014-2015 Ebola Crisis,” appears in advance online form in the journal Comparative Political Studies.
In addition to Tsai, the authors are Benjamin S. Morse PhD ’19, a senior training manager and researcher at MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and Robert A. Blair, an assistant professor of political science and international and public affairs at Brown University.
When “costly signals” build confidence
Liberia faced many challenges while responding to the Ebola crisis. The nation’s brutal civil wars, from 1989 to 2003, stripped away much of the government’s functionality, and while the country has since taken major steps toward stability, there is still deep and widespread suspicion about government.
“In Liberia, you have a postconflict setting where citizens already mistrusted the government strongly,” Tsai explains. “When citizens say they don’t trust the government, they sometimes think the government is actually out to hurt them, physically.”
To conduct the study, the research conducted multiple public-opinion surveys in Liberia in 2014 and 2015, and added 80 in-depth interviews with government leaders and residents in 40 randomly sampled communities in Monrovia.
To be sure, Ebola was a substantial problem in Liberia. Overall, there were 10,678 reported cases of Ebola and 4,810 deaths attributed to the illness. In June 2014, the surveys showed, 38 percent of Monrovia residents thought the government’s statements about Ebola constituted a “lie” designed to generate more funding from outside aid groups.
However, the study found, once the volunteer-based program got underway, canvassers were able to not only reach large numbers of residents but persuade residents to believe what they were saying.
While knocking on doors in their own communities, the canvassers were equipped with bibs and badges to identify themselves as program volunteers. They distributed information and had conversations with other residents, and even offered their own contact information to people — a significant (and potentially risky) gesture providing a form of accountability to other citizens.
“A large part of what worked was that the outreach workers made it possible for the people that they were canvassing to track them down,” Tsai says. “That’s a pretty big commitment, what we call a ‘costly signal.’ Costly signals help build trust, because it’s not cheap talk.”
Ultimately, while Ebola took a significant toll in Liberia, the volunteer campaign was “remarkably (and surprisingly) effective” in changing both behavior and attitudes, the paper concludes.
A case study in rebuilding trust?
Tsai believes that beyond the specific contours of Liberia’s Ebola response, there are larger issues that can be applied to the study of other countries. For one, while Liberia received significant aid in combatting Ebola from the World Health Organization and other nongovernmental organizations, she thinks the need for short-term aid should not preclude the long-term building of government capacity.
“In the short term, it can make sense for external actors to substitute for the government,” Tsai says. “In the medium and long term we need to think about what that substitution might do to the trust and confidence that people have in their government.” For many people, she adds, “the assumption is the government either isn’t capable of doing it, or shouldn’t be doing it,” when in fact even underresourced governments can make progress on serious issues.
Another point is that the Liberia case shows some ways governments can build confidence among their citizens.
“In so many countries these days, trust in institutions, trust in authorities, trust in sources of information is so low, and in the past there’s been very little research on how to rebuild trust,” Tsai notes. “There’s a lot of research on what lowers trust.”
However, she adds, “That’s what I think is special about this case. Trust was successfully built and constructed under a pretty unlikely set of circumstances.”
Support for the study was provided by the International Growth Centre, the Omidyar Network, and the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
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What Is Medigap (Medicare Supplement) Insurance?
Is a Medigap Insurance Plan Right for You?
Did you know that Original Medicare health insurance plans don’t cover all of your health care costs? That’s where Medigap insurance plans (also known as Medicare Supplement insurance) come in. Medigap plans are designed to help reduce your extra expenses by supplementing Original Medicare and paying for certain out-of-pocket costs.
We will give you the answers you need to common questions about how Medicare Supplement insurance works.
A Quick Summary of Original Medicare
Before we get into Medigap plans, let’s look at how Original Medicare (Medicare Part A and Part B) usually works:
Part A covers:
- Inpatient care offered in hospitals or skilled nursing facilities
- Home health care services
- Hospice care for the terminally ill
Part B covers:
- Doctor services
- Outpatient care
- Medical supplies
- Medical equipment
- Preventive services
| Medicare Plans | Part A | Part B | Medicare Advantage (Part C) | Part D | Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans |
| Features | Covers inpatient care and home health care services | Covers doctor services, outpatient care, and medical supplies | Coverage may include wellness programs, hearing aids, and vision services | Provides prescription drug coverage | Covers out-of-pocket costs (such as deductibles, copays and coinsurance) not covered by Parts A and B |
What Is Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Insurance?
Medigap plans are offered through private insurance companies and cover extra health care costs not covered by Original Medicare (Parts A and B).
Medicare Supplement insurance plans cover:
- Copayments
- Coinsurance
- Deductibles
Some Medigap plans also cover medical services when you travel outside of the U.S.
| Covered by Medigap | Not Covered by Medigap |
| Copayment | Prescription drugs |
| Coinsurance | Long-term care |
| Deductibles | Private-duty nursing care |
| Medical services received outside the U.S. (some Medigap plans) |
How Does Medigap Work?
You must already have Medicare Parts A and B before you can buy Medicare Supplement insurance.
Here’s what to expect when you enroll in a Medigap insurance plan:
- First, Original Medicare pays its share of the Medicare-approved amount for covered health care costs. Then, your Medicare Supplement insurance policy kicks in and pays its share.
- You pay a monthly premium to a private insurance company for your Medigap plan. This monthly premium is in addition to your monthly Medicare Part B premium.
- A Medigap plan only covers one person. If you and your spouse are looking for a Medigap insurance plan, each of you will need to buy separate policies.
- All standardized Medigap plans come with guaranteed renewal, even if you have health problems. Your insurance company can’t cancel your Medigap policy as long as you pay the premium.
- You can’t have a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan and a Medicare Advantage plan at the same time.
- There’s no prescription drug coverage. Medigap plans don’t include prescription drug coverage. You can join a Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D), if you need prescription drug coverage.
- Not everything is covered by Medigap. Medigap plans usually don’t cover long-term care, vision or dental care, hearing aids, eyeglasses, or private-duty nursing.
- Make sure your insurance company is licensed. You can get a Medigap plan from any insurance company that’s licensed in your state to sell one.
Standard Medigap plans are labeled A through N and offer different health coverage levels.
While premium amounts differ among insurance companies, the benefits of each standard Medigap plan are the same.
For example, Medigap Plan C policies offer the same benefits regardless of which insurance company provides it. The premium amounts might be different depending on which state you live in.
When Can I Enroll in a Medigap Plan?
Most people become eligible for a Medicare Supplement plan shortly before age 65. The Open Enrollment Period for Medigap plans is six months before the first day of the month of your 65th birthday — as long as you also have Medicare Part B — or within six months of enrolling in a Medicare Part B plan.
During this time, you can buy any Medigap policy at the same price a person in good health pays, even if you have health issues.
Here’s an important thing to keep in mind if you have health problems: you might have to wait up to six months for Medigap coverage if you have a pre-existing health condition. Your insurance company can refuse to pay for out-of-pocket costs for pre-existing conditions during this six-month period.
Your Medigap policy must cover your pre-existing conditions after that initial six months.
An exception to this rule is if you get a Medigap policy during your Open Enrollment Period and have had continuous creditable coverage (a health insurance plan) for the six months before getting a policy. The Medigap insurance companies can’t deny you coverage for a pre-existing condition in this situation.
Can I Change My Medigap Plan?
There are certain situations where you might want to change your Medigap plan. For example, you might want to change your Medigap plan if you find a plan with a lower premium. Perhaps you’ve decided that you need more benefits than offered in your current Medigap plan. Or, you might want to change insurance companies.
As long as you are enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B you can apply for a Medigap plan at any time. If you are also within your 6-month Medigap Open Enrollment Period, you can switch Medigap policies.
While you can apply for a Medigap policy at any time, it doesn’t mean that an insurance carrier has to accept your application unless you have guaranteed-issue rights.
Guaranteed-issue rights, also known as Medigap protections, are situational rights you have that mean insurance companies must offer you certain Medigap policies. If you are in any of following situations you have guaranteed-issue rights:
- You previously had a Medigap plan, dropped it to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, it’s been less than one year, and now you want to switch back
- You are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan and your plan is no longer covering your area, or you are moving out of the coverage area
- Your current Medigap insurance provider goes bankrupt and you no longer have coverage
- You have Original Medicare, along with either union coverage or an employer group health plan that pays after Original Medicare pays, and that plan is coming to an end
The Bottom Line about Medigap Insurance Plans
Medigap plans can give you peace of mind by reducing your out of pocket expenses and keeping your health care coverage affordable. It’s a good idea to shop around and look at different Medigap plans, as different insurance companies can charge different premiums for the same policy.
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‘Sistas’ cast defends Tyler Perry against critics who say he shouldn’t be writing for women
After Tyler Perry revealed that he has no writer’s room and pens all his own scripts, many in Hollywood began questioning if it was ill-advised for a man to be writing so much female-centered content without collaborating with actual women. Now the cast of his new BET show Sistas is stepping forward to respond to his critics.
Earlier this month, while taking part in Deadline‘s New Hollywood podcast with the African-American Film Critics Association, comedian Lil Rel Howery minced no words while voicing his opinion on the topic.
Read MORE: Tyler Perry responds to criticism about not having a writers’ room
“I love Tyler Perry and I’m proud of him, but I told myself I’m a say something because I don’t agree with that. I don’t understand,” he said, noting, “You can’t write a show called Sistas and you’re not a sista. So you don’t want no suggestions or nothing?”
“I know we talk a good game about ‘This is what I’m doing, I’m doing this, I’m doing that.’ Once again, I’m talking, but I’m putting my money where my mouth is,” he added. “I don’t have what he got yet, but as I climb up here, I’m a do even more of that. We gotta do better man. It’s all talk, but if you’re really on that, then give people jobs, bro. You can’t base nothing on one writers’ room, brother. That means you didn’t hire good writers. Find more writers! That’s just real.”
READ MORE: Tyler Perry admits having ‘knockdown, drag-out’ fight over wig featured in Netflix film
The cast of @SistasOnBET says Tyler Perry is qualified to write for and about Black women: "I think there is a culture of hateration." https://t.co/Mg0SkNA4EQ pic.twitter.com/9CbKXsuu59
— ESSENCE (@Essence) February 25, 2020
But Sistas star Mignon Baker doesn’t necessarily agree with that take, explaining to Essence, “We have a director, producer, executive producer, creator who loves women. If you’ve ever taken the time to watch his interviews, he will tell you that his number one inspiration is his mother.”
“I think—I’m just going to be honest with you– there’s a culture of hateration,” she continued. “There’s a culture of being critical. And I think there’s a reason for that. And it’s because so many of us aren’t following our dreams. And it’s so easy to not be in the ring and to stand on the sidelines and critique. But once you get in the ring, once you start following your dream, you are going to naturally become a compassionate, less critical, more gracious person. So, all those people critiquing, I understand that. I believe in constructive criticism. I understand everyone has an opinion but get into the ring. Understand how hard it is first and then criticize.”
READ MORE: Three big changes for Tyler Perry shows this upcoming season
“I think it’s really important to remember that Tyler Perry puts Black women at the forefront in so many ways. “Sistas” comes from women in his life,” chimed in costar Ebony Obsidian. “He may have sat there and written a script but it’s coming from Black women. So Black women’s fingerprints are all over this script.”
Baker also added, “He said at our premiere that he actually gave some of the women on his staff producer credits because he listened to them. He sat down and talked to them for a couple of hours and he was like, ‘I’m going to write this.’”
The post ‘Sistas’ cast defends Tyler Perry against critics who say he shouldn’t be writing for women appeared first on TheGrio.
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