For black people working in predominantly white professional environments, it can often feel like having two jobs while only being compensated for one form of labor. Of course, if you’re looking for “microaggression suffrage pay” to be itemized on your check stub, you’re going to find yourself disappointed.
The president of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a prestigious fashion school in New York, issued an apology after a graduate held a controversial fashion show at the college that was labeled “racist.”
The runway show made headlines after an African American model said she was pressured to wear monkey ears and oversized lips in a runway show during New York Fashion Week. The accessories were reportedly from MFA graduate Junkai Huang’s collection and was meant to highlight the “ugly features of the body,” reports Diet Prada.
“I stood there almost ready to break down, telling the staff that I felt incredibly uncomfortable with having to wear these pieces and that they were clearly racist,” Amy Lefevre, a 25-year-old model, told the New York Post. “I was told that it was fine to feel uncomfortable for only 45 seconds.”
Although Lefevre still participated in the show, she walked down the runway without the ears or the exaggerated synthetic lips while the other models in the show, who were not African American, wore the accessories. Afterward, Lefevre says she was visibly shaken.
“I was literally shaking. I could not control my emotions. My whole body was shaking. I have never felt like that in my life,” she said, reports The Post. “People of color are struggling too much in 2020 for the promoters not to have vetted and cleared accessories for the shows.”
According to some observers, Huang, who is from China, did not appear to understand the racial overtones of his work. “It was such a grave lack of judgment,” said an anonymous witness who was backstage when the show took place.
On Wednesday, FIT President Joyce F. Brown issued a statement apologizing for the show held on Feb. 7 to showcase the work of the 10 alumni from the college’s inaugural Master of Fine Arts class in fashion design.
Currently, it does not appear that the original intent of the design, the use of accessories or the creative direction of the show was to make a statement about race; however, it is now glaringly obvious that has been the outcome. For that, we apologize—to those who participated in the show, to students, and to anybody who has been offended by what they saw.
Let me be clear: no person should be made to feel uncomfortable—particularly about race—in service of their work, job, livelihood, or course of study. Right now, we are actively investigating how this happened. And as you’ll read, we have outlined several steps to address the concerns and questions of students, faculty, and our community. We take this very seriously and our response and actions going forward will reflect that.
In addition, Jonathan Kyle Farmer, the chair of the modern fine arts fashion design course which ran the show, also apologized to the model Lefevre in an Instagram post, writing:
“I deeply apologize for any harm and pain I’ve caused to those involved with the show. I take full responsibility and am committed to learning from this situation and taking steps to do better.”
In a candid personal essay, former NBA star Ben Gordon opens up about his struggles with his mental health in the hopes to help others like him.
Writing on his experiences for the Players’ Tribune on life after his NBA career came to an end, he opened up on having suicidal thoughts.
READ MORE: Simone Biles: Will she be the first female gymnast to perform risky vault in competition?
"Who was Gentle Ben? Who am I? And that’s when I started disassociating myself completely from Ben Gordon. I was convinced that I was a clone. That this body I’m in is not my real body. It can’t be."
Ben Gordon opens up about his mental health.https://t.co/7A6SWAPpMT
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) February 21, 2020
“Where Is My Mind?” opens with the heaviness of his battle: “There was a point in time when I thought about killing myself every single day for about six weeks.”
“I would be up on the roof of my apartment building at four o’clock in the morning, just pacing to the edge of the ledge, looking over – pacing back and forth, back and forth – just thinking, I’m really about to do it, B. I’m about to escape from al this sh–.”
Gordon admits to feeling helpless after leaving the league and felt “manic-depressive” and dealt with severe panic attacks. As a result, he suffered from sleepless nights and once commented to a friend that he felt like a “dead man walking.”
“I had lost my career, my identity, and my family all pretty much simultaneously,” he said. “I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t sleeping.”
He opened about his arrests and a judge sentenced him to court-mandated therapy for 18 months, which he said helped him to process his personal traumas.
“The goal doesn’t have to be perfection. It can just be peace and acceptance with yourself,” Gordon says in the essay.
READ MORE: Boxer Adrien Broner arrested outside Wilder vs. Fury weigh-in
He adds: “I’m not perpetually crazy. I had a moment. I got help for that moment. I got to know myself from that moment. And I’m still working through some things, no doubt. There’s still some trauma I dealt with that I’m not ready to tell to the world about yet.”
People shared their support and gratitude to the NBA player for sharing his experiences with mental health.
Folks…read this. This hit me. I know Ben Gordon. THIS BG he’s referring to. The vulnerability in this is…chilling https://t.co/aWKtxi2W0F
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) February 21, 2020
Coaches: Powerful stuff right here. I keep telling young coaches that you need to learn about mental health. It’s the next frontier & more important than the X & O’s. https://t.co/m1KTGcTF3e
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) February 21, 2020
Ben Gordon out here saving lives. 🙏 Help is available. 1-800-273-8255.https://t.co/lOfSZjEn2w
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) February 21, 2020
“There was a point in time when I thought about killing myself every single day for about six weeks.”
I hope every single person takes a moment tonight to read this emotional piece from Ben Gordon.
Be kind to each other.https://t.co/Y3ynps8H9t
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) February 21, 2020
The Players’ Tribune is a media company founded by Derek Jeter that provides athletes the platform to connect with fans with stories in their own words and insight on the world of sports.
The post Ex-NBA star Ben Gordon gets candid about suicide: ‘I thought about killing myself’ appeared first on TheGrio.
Simone Biles has already been crowned the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport and she’s looking to gain another victory.
Biles shared a video Thursday on Twitter of her performing an impressive vault move no female gymnast has done in competition. The move is called the Yurchenko double pike and she may be the first female gymnast determined to perform it during a competition.
READ MORE: Simone Biles is now most decorated gymnast in history after winning her 24th world medal
just droppin this here real quick 🙂 pic.twitter.com/sIx0M112qJ
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) February 21, 2020
The Yurchenko consists of a round-off onto the springboard, then a back handspring onto the vault, writes the Washington Post. Once their hands hit the vaulting table, they push off into the air to do a single flip. That flip is where variety usually begins, the Post notes.
Biles actually shared the move earlier this month in a video on Twitter in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
READ MORE: Simone Biles dominates world championships with amazing new signature move
2020 👀👀👀 ? pic.twitter.com/3QDjSOPYbH
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) February 3, 2020
In response to the first clip, Biles shared, the Post article reports that the vault move might be “too risky” for the Olympics and why no woman has performed the skilled in competitions.
“[W]hat prompted awe on social media was how she seemingly could have landed it on a competition surface. Olympians and elite-level gymnasts responded to the tweet in disbelief,” the Washington Post reports. “The video has been viewed more than two million times.”
Gymnast McKayla Maroney, a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 2012, said in a 2016 interview with the GymCastic podcast, she was scolded by team coordinator Martha Karolyi for doing the same move .
Maroney said the flip requires “the most intense block” once pushing off the vaulting table with your hands.
The video, regardless, has sparked excitement among some fans.
this is too many flips can you slow the flips down so I can see the flips pls? 😂🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Aaron West (@oeste) February 21, 2020
she said, what is gravity even? pic.twitter.com/t7LDdodXt7
— Queer Heaux🌈 (@abashese) February 21, 2020
Simone: Whats the most difficult move that no female gymnast has ever pulled off in competition?
Them: Oh, that would be the Yurchenko double pike.
Simone: Hold my bag. pic.twitter.com/8rwoe9HWtk— Blondy Moore (@BlondySpeaks) February 21, 2020
Biles won four gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and three years later winning her 24th and 25th world championship medals, according to The Associated Press.
The post Simone Biles: Will she be the first female gymnast to perform risky vault in competition? appeared first on TheGrio.
The president of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a prestigious fashion school in New York, issued an apology after a graduate held a controversial fashion show at the college that was labeled “racist.”
The runway show made headlines after an African American model said she was pressured to wear monkey ears and oversized lips in a runway show during New York Fashion Week. The accessories were reportedly from MFA graduate Junkai Huang’s collection and was meant to highlight the “ugly features of the body,” reports Diet Prada.
“I stood there almost ready to break down, telling the staff that I felt incredibly uncomfortable with having to wear these pieces and that they were clearly racist,” Amy Lefevre, a 25-year-old model, told the New York Post. “I was told that it was fine to feel uncomfortable for only 45 seconds.”
Although Lefevre still participated in the show, she walked down the runway without the ears or the exaggerated synthetic lips while the other models in the show, who were not African American, wore the accessories. Afterward, Lefevre says she was visibly shaken.
“I was literally shaking. I could not control my emotions. My whole body was shaking. I have never felt like that in my life,” she said, reports The Post. “People of color are struggling too much in 2020 for the promoters not to have vetted and cleared accessories for the shows.”
According to some observers, Huang, who is from China, did not appear to understand the racial overtones of his work. “It was such a grave lack of judgment,” said an anonymous witness who was backstage when the show took place.
On Wednesday, FIT President Joyce F. Brown issued a statement apologizing for the show held on Feb. 7 to showcase the work of the 10 alumni from the college’s inaugural Master of Fine Arts class in fashion design.
Currently, it does not appear that the original intent of the design, the use of accessories or the creative direction of the show was to make a statement about race; however, it is now glaringly obvious that has been the outcome. For that, we apologize—to those who participated in the show, to students, and to anybody who has been offended by what they saw.
Let me be clear: no person should be made to feel uncomfortable—particularly about race—in service of their work, job, livelihood, or course of study. Right now, we are actively investigating how this happened. And as you’ll read, we have outlined several steps to address the concerns and questions of students, faculty, and our community. We take this very seriously and our response and actions going forward will reflect that.
In addition, Jonathan Kyle Farmer, the chair of the modern fine arts fashion design course which ran the show, also apologized to the model Lefevre in an Instagram post, writing:
“I deeply apologize for any harm and pain I’ve caused to those involved with the show. I take full responsibility and am committed to learning from this situation and taking steps to do better.”
