VIDEO: "Fruitvale Station"

“Fruitvale Station,” is based on a true story about the fatal Oakland shooting of an unarmed young black man. This is the story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.

The film won the two top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival and has become a cause celebre among critics. The film hitting theatres just as the jurors in the George Zimmerman trial were deliberating.

This film was released in 2013, yet here in Australia I never heard anything about it until now.
Rightfully, activists are seizing the opportunity to promote the movie, which calls for justice and implies that nothing like it has occurred yet, though the man who shot and killed Oscar Grant has already served time in prison and Grant’s family has prevailed in a large civil suit.

So many videos have surfaced of officers committing race crimes around the U.S. and more so since this movie was released in 2013, including the murders of Eric Garner, 43, and Michael Brown, 18, (to just name the few that the media have paid close attention to). The list of unarmed African-Americans being shot for the most obscure reasons is endless and you can find their names and a brief explanation of what happened here: http://gawker.com/unarmed-people-of-color-killed-by-police-1999-2014

The 22-year-old, Oscar Grant is played by Michael B. Jordan. Mr. Grant was a small-time criminal who cheated on his girlfriend and had been fired from a job at a grocery store. “Fruitvale Station,” a debut effort from young filmmaker Ryan Coogler, tries to fit a halo on its subject, seemingly to play up the audience’s sympathies.

The way I see it, even if Oscar Grant III had been the worst criminal in the Bay Area, he SHOULD NOT have been shot in the back by a BART Officer while lying face down on a subway platform, and I thoroughly respect the film’s implicit plea that all human lives are valuable and deserving of basic human dignity.

This is the cell phone footage captured and its clear the actual event has been directed pretty close to actual events. *CAUTION GRAPHIC*

#AllLivesMatter

Overweight with a Pretty Face Ain't Healthy

It has come to my attention that a woman by the name of Tess Holliday is being featured in numerous articles and kind of being praised for her self-image. She describes herself as an activist, aiming to change the way the fashion industry makes women feel about themselves. I find this disturbing as she is most definitely one of the largest women I have seen. She is not now, nor ever an 'activist' for anything good.

Unfortunately she is just as much not promoting a healthy body image as those stick thin starving models with a BMI of >18. I am so disgusted that overweight and unhealthy is now being represented as healthier than the 'skinny' girls. That's not right either. Healthy is healthy.....

My friend Naomi Campbell (Perth) said, "People mistake malnourishment and eating disorders for being exclusive to the skinny population." This is a very powerful statement coming from her as she has dealt with her own demons and won the fight against anorexia.

The image below is just as unhealthy as Tess Holliday just the polar opposite.

Image from: http://girltalkhq.com/ Article posted January 2015

Overweight acceptance and beautification objectively reduces the drive for those targeted to try to lose weight and become healthier. Obesity correlates indisputably with a reduced life span and quality of life, and increased financial cost onto society. Tess Holliday, in an attempt to make girls her size 'feel good about themselves' and forcing the political correctness of "you can't tell someone they're fat" mindset, you are inadvertently killing people.

If you compare statistics of suicide and malnutrition deaths from anorexia (roughly 100-400 deaths per year in the U.S.) compared to 300,000+ obesity related deaths per year, this image is not doing anyone ANY favours.

And Tess' images are far from the truth. She gets photoshopped too.

This is not acceptable, and is glorifying something that is not healthy. It is not acceptable to be skinny to the point of bones sticking out and its most certainly not acceptable to be obesely overweight. I am disgusted that this is what we as human being are promoting as a way to 'love who we are'. You can say "What do you know, you're skinny and I bet you've never been overweight and had that struggle". No I haven't but I have had other struggles like battling acne and not having any confidence to go out of the house on a hot day in anything less than a t-shirt because it was that humiliating.

I also know that I will never accept this obese weight as being acceptable and I have damn good reason. My dad was overweight, much like Tess and he died at the age of 61 of a massive heart attack caused by his weight, amongst other factors. His obesity over the years slowly killed him. He left behind myself, my mother and my 19 year old brother and that breaks my heart. I cannot accept that this, this image, is the right way to promote loving yourself. This promotes over indulgence and a lack of self control and its saying that its okay to be unhealthy and binge eat crap and not exercise and love your body.

Teenagers who do struggle with weight need to be motivated to actually get up and get moving! We need to stop tiptoeing around these people who cannot accept the fact that they need to change.

#BeHealthy

Oh MATH!

Image source: The Nigerian Times

I just came across a small article covering the fact that a Nigerian Student solved a 30 year old math equation and broke an Academic Record at a Japanese University.

This was not reported on in the mainstream media and I think it's a worthy piece of news, as this young man is clearly a sharp tac!

The students name is Ufot Ekong and he has just become the first Nigerian to earn a “First Class Degree” and become the best overall student at Tokai University in Tokyo, Japan since 1965!

He broke the record for the highest graduating GPA, the last time anyone graduated with a grade point average similar to Ufot Ekong was over 50 years ago. Ufot solved said 30 year old outstanding mathematical equation in his first semester! He has also won six academic awards from the school.

Ufot put himself through school by working two jobs and is truly an inspiration to those out there who aren't sure if they can go to uni and finish a degree.. If Ufot can, you can!

Ufot speaks English, Yoruba, French and Japanese!  I want to say a massive well done and congratulations on all your hard work. Ufot, you are an amazing young man.

Part II:
This brings me to another point. I am now right around the corner from being 24. When I finished high school I had no idea what I wanted to do but was always good at talking. I came across Public Relations and thought, "that sounds alright" and was influenced by The Hills and The City. I never sat my end of high school exams because I was ashamed of my academic skills and didn't want to have a bad score permanently on my record.

After school I furthered my education the best way I could. I went to TAFE (where I went is now known as The Central Institute of Technology Perth). I completed a Cert IV and a Diploma in Public Relations only to have my lecturer tell me he didn't think I was read for the working world and that I would benefit from going to uni. So I did.

While I was at uni, struggling some days and wanting to give up and just work somewhere, anywhere but I didn't. I was proud that I had made it into uni and was pursuing something that I know meant a lot to my dad (he was a Mining Engineer and had completed his Masters in something) and to my mum, who never got the opportunity to go to uni.

It pains me to hear young people giving up on their degrees. "I have a year left but it's not what I want to do, I'm going to do something else" I want to SLAP these people silly!!! Finish it and go onto something else!! We are blessed in Australia to be offered HECS/HELP to get through uni and only start paying the government back when we earn over a certain threshold. Ufot Ekong had to work two.. YES TWO jobs to put himself through university and he never gave up.

I want young people to never give up, you entered into something because you felt a connection to it. Finish it and move onto something else and continue bettering yourself.

Pardon my rant but it had to happen...

#Education

YSL AD BANNED: how thin is too thin?

Image source: The Mirror

In the UK, The Advertising Standards Authority have removed and banned an ad image for French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, because the model in the image appeared to be too thin.

The advert shows a model with, what I would consider, extremely 'thin legs' and 'a visible ribcage', laying on the floor wearing a LBD (little black dress for all you squares).

The ASA released their ruling yesterday; their statement,

“The ASA considered that the model’s pose and the particular lighting effect in the ad drew particular focus to the model’s chest, where her rib cage was visible and appeared prominent, and to her legs, where her thighs and knees appeared a similar width, and which looked very thin, particularly in light of her positioning and the contrast between the narrowness of her legs and her platform shoes. We therefore considered that the model appeared unhealthily underweight in the image and concluded that the ad was irresponsible.”

The image appeared in Elle magazine in the UK, and thus was brought to the ASA's attention by a reader who thought the model looked unhealthy, and the ad was irresponsible.

In the statement, the ASA also mention that YSL did not agree that the model was too thin. I dont think they have eyes. This is what really bothers me about the fashion industry; you have heavy weights like YSL not caring about the health of their models, like the one featured, yet people like Chrissy Teigen have been ridiculed for being and looking healthy and beautiful.

Minimum weight restrictions for models has been a topic of much debate in recent years. The French Government even made a ruling that models must show medical evidence of having a BMI above 18 to be able to work. Modelling agencies can even be heavily fined if they are found booking jobs for models that don't meet that requirement. I am beginning to think that France is actually full of great ideas to help the greater good- health and wellbeing of the people on this earth.

YSL's banned image:

Image source: The Guardian