Jerald L. White, founder of the New Orleans Loving Festival and Charitable Film Network, is one of 10 recipients of the 2014 Characters Unite Award presented by the USA Network. The award, which comes with a $5,000 grant, recognizes extraordinary efforts to combat hate and discrimination and to promote greater tolerance, respect and acceptance.  More >>> 

Source: The New Orleans Advocate
#lovingfestival, #charitablefilmnetwork

A diverse set of Americans discuss the nuance of a word that is seen as both hateful and colloquial.

EXAMINING A RACIAL SLUR ENTRENCHED IN AMERICAN VERNACULAR THAT IS MORE PREVALENT THAN EVER.

Following several incidents involving players using the n-word, the National Football League this year instructed game officials to penalize players who used the word on the field of play. The policy, though, was widely criticized as being heavy-handed and out of touch. As the league wrestled with the issue, a team of Washington Post journalists examined the history of this singular American word, its spread through popular culture and its place in the vernacular today.  MORE >>>   Check out The N-Word Project VIDEOS.

Source: The Washington Post  #lovingfestival

The link between residential segregation and racial inequality is well established, so it would seem that greater equality would prevail in integrated neighborhoods. But as Sarah Mayorga-Gallo argues, multiethnic and mixed-income neighborhoods still harbor the signs of continued, systemic racial inequalities. Drawing on deep ethnographic and other innovative research from "Creekridge Park," a pseudonymous urban community in Durham, North Carolina, Mayorga-Gallo demonstrates that the proximity of white, African American, and Latino neighbors does not ensure equity; rather, proximity and equity are in fact subject to structural-level processes of stratification. Behind the White Picket Fence shows how contemporary understandings of diversity are not necessarily rooted in equity or justice but instead can reinforce white homeowners' race and class privilege; ultimately, good intentions and a desire for diversity alone do not challenge structural racial, social, and economic disparities. This book makes a compelling case for how power and privilege are reproduced in daily interactions and calls on readers to question commonsense understandings of space and inequality in order to better understand how race functions in multiethnic America.  
Read An Excerpt and MORE >>> 
Source: racismreview.com.   #loving festival

LIVING COLOR is the first book to investigate the social history of skin color from prehistory to the present, showing how our body’s most visible feature influences our social interactions in profound and complex ways. Nina Jablonski begins this fascinating and wide-ranging work with an explanation of the biology and evolution of skin pigmentation, tracing how skin color changed as humans moved around the globe, exploring the relationship between melanin and sunlight, and examining the consequences of mismatches between our skin color and our environment due to rapid migrations, vacations, and other life-style choices.

Aided by plentiful illustrations, this book also explains why skin color has become a biological trait with great social meaning—a product of evolution perceived differently by different cultures. It considers how we form impressions of others, how we create and use stereotypes, and how prejudices about dark skin developed and have played out through history—including as justification for the transatlantic slave trade. Offering examples of how attitudes toward skin color differ in the United States, Brazil, India, and South Africa, Jablonski suggests that a knowledge of the evolution and social importance of skin color can help eliminate color-based discrimination and racism. (University of California Press, 2014)  Read An Excerpt and MORE >>>   Source: racismreview.com.  #lovingfestival 

Jerald L. White, Founder of the New Orleans Loving Festival and Charitable Film Network, was honored on Nov. 5th with USA Network's Characters Unite Award during a ceremony at The Martine Chaisson Gallery in New Orleans.

USA Network, along with Cox Communications, selected 10 honorees for the 2014 Characters Unite Award.  Characters Unite is USA's multi-platform public service campaign to address social injustices and bridge cultural divides. The award winners were selected from hundreds of nominees for their extraordinary efforts to combat hate and discrimination and promote greater tolerance, respect and acceptance in their communities.  MORE >>>  #lovingfestival