Bill Cosby Scandal Particularly Painful For African Americans

Like many people who grew up on The Cosby Show in the '80s, I've been watching the rape allegations swarming around Bill Cosby with shock and sadness. Those of us who have been fans of his comedy for decades feel a sense of loss that the man once known as America's Father may be someone we never really knew at all.

The Cosby Show presented a positive image of
an intact, functional black family.

I'm sure I'm speaking for many other African Americans - and Americans, in general - when I say that I want to believe that the allegations are false, as Cosby's attorney has repeatedly asserted. But unfortunately, it seems like irreversible damage has been done to the beloved comedian's once shining reputation.

A new allegation of attempted rape as described by supermodel Beverly Johnson in a Dec. 11 column she penned for VanityFair.com is particularly unsettling. In the column, Johnson details an encounter with Cosby in the '80s when she auditioned for a role on The Cosby Show. Johnson, who became the first African-American woman to appear on the cover of Vogue in 1974, seems like a credible voice who has nothing to gain by accusing Cosby of trying to drug and take advantage of her. 

Due to the allegations by Johnson and the other women who have come forward, many of Cosby's fans feel a profound sense of loss. The loss is particularly painful for African Americans. For many of us, Bill Cosby was like our favorite uncle. He represented the ability to triumph over racism through sheer talent and hard work. Seeing the image of an intact, financially secure black family on TV every week made us believe that anything was possible. 

And it wasn't just that Bill Cosby entertained us, he was also known for his generosity, giving millions to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Undoubtedly, he also gave a major boost to HBCU enrollment with the hit Cosby spinoff A Different World. 

American culture tends to elevate celebrities to almost godlike status. This is especially true in the black community, where successful individuals have often overcome poverty and other obstacles and represent all of our hopes and dreams of  triumphing over racism. This is why many of Cosby's longtime fans, especially African Americans, want to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

But as more disturbing allegations surface, the benefit of the doubt is increasingly hard to muster. As Beverly Johnson wrote in her piece at VanityFair.com:

"What would people think when and if I did [come forward]? Would they dismiss me as an angry black woman intent on ruining the image of one of the most revered men in the African American community over the last 40 years? Or would they see my open and honest account of being betrayed by one of the country’s most powerful, influential, and beloved entertainers?

As I wrestled with the idea of telling my story of the day Bill Cosby drugged me with the intention of doing God knows what, the faces of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and countless other brown and black men took residence in my mind. ...

Finally, I reached the conclusion that the current attack on African American men has absolutely nothing to do at all with Bill Cosby. He brought this on himself when he decided he had the right to have his way with who knows how many women over the last four decades. If anything, Cosby is distinguished from the majority of black men in this country because he could depend on the powers that be for support and protection."

Adventures In Social Media: Canva Lets You Make Quick, Easy Graphics

The site Canva.com has been hailed as "the easiest design program in the world" by the Webby Awards, which is the Internet's version of the Oscars.

I wouldn't go that far, but I will say that Canva does enable you to create graphics fairly quickly and easily if you don't own more comprehensive design software such as InDesign.

One of the best aspects of Canva is that signing up and creating an account is very simple: you just enter your email address and a password and you're in. You can choose to sit through a brief tutorial, or get started designing right away.

The site has thousands of graphics that you can use to create your own memes, infographics and other images to use in blogs, social media posts, et cetera.

I created the image above with the lion and the clever little  "Mondays Are A Beast" catch phrase in under five minutes (I already had the idea in mind). Searching for the photo of the lion was easy and I only had to pay Canva $1 for the right to use it. However, manipulating the text box was kind of difficult; the box wouldn't move the way I wanted it to, so the text is not exactly where I'd like it to be.

But for a simple solution to creating graphics, Canva is a decent option.

This blog post is part of my "Adventures In Social Media" series. In next week's post, which I plan to publish on Monday, Dec. 15, I'll change the theme slightly to "Adventures In Social Etiquette" and explore how to avoid some of the most obnoxious behavior when texting, calling and emailing friends, family and people you'd like to do business with.

Embracing My Inner Grinch: Why I Removed The Bow Someone Tied To My Front Door

Last Thanksgiving, I awoke to find someone had tied a Christmas bow on my wrought-iron storm door. In the 10 years I'd lived in my condo on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, nothing like this had ever happened before.

Rather than putting me in the Christmas spirit, the gesture confused me. Who did this? A neighbor? Someone who considers him/herself one of "Santa's little helpers" and goes around tying bows on unsuspecting strangers' doors? Was this supposed to be some kind of prank?

The fact that someone tied something to my door without my permission also angered me. As a homeowner and a single person, I alone am responsible for paying my mortgage and I work hard to do so. If I choose to decorate for the holidays, I will. If I don't, that's my prerogative, to quote Bobby Brown.

However, figuring that it may have been a well-meaning neighbor who tied the bow to my door, I left the mysterious decoration up in the spirit of goodwill. After all, that's what the season is about, right? And would it kill me to tolerate a frilly bow hanging on my door for less than a month? No.

But then the same thing happened again this year. When I left my house to participate in a local Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving Day last week, I discovered another bow tied to my storm door. This time, I took it down immediately.

Now, so that I'm not misunderstood as some kind of Ebeneezer Scrooge who hates the holidays, I should explain why I took the bow down. I consider myself a devout Christian and a practicing Catholic, so Christmas has a very significant meaning for me beyond the commercial, secular season that it has become.

I would have had no problem, for example, with a church slipping a flyer in my door inviting me to come to Christmas Eve services. But tying an object to my door feels like an invasion of property rights - albeit a harmless one.

I'm sure whoever tied the Christmas bow to my door had the best of intentions. But what if I was a Jehovah's Witness or someone who chooses not to celebrate holidays? Would this supposedly thoughtful gesture offend me?

What if I'd lost a loved one around this time of year and any reminder of the holidays sends me into a depression? Maybe "Santa's little helpers" should think twice before they go around tying stuff to other people's property.

This blog post is part of a weekly holiday series on "Embracing My Inner Grinch." In next week's installment, which I plan to publish on Friday, Dec. 12, I'll gripe about one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to holiday parties.

'Tis the season to be grumpy...

Sounds Of The Season: Happy Musical Accidents

This is the season when many people listen only to Christmas music. While there are many holiday tunes that I love, I haven't quite gotten in the Christmas spirit just yet.

So yesterday, I was listening to music that's quite different from the sounds of the season: the top 10 countdown of the most popular current heavy metal songs on 99.7 FM "The Blitz," the local rock station in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

While some hard rocker was screeching out an aggressive, fist-pumping anthem, my hand accidentally grazed the radio dial on my MP3 player and the tuner landed on the local lite rock station. The eardrum-shattering death metal was hilariously replaced by the cheerful sounds of Alvin and the Chipmunks chirping out a Christmas carol. Talk about contrast!

In another musical coincidence earlier this week, I was listening to Prince. Although I've been a huge fan since Purple Rain, I haven't really been listening much to his music lately other than reviewing his new album, Art Official Age. But Tuesday while I was writing a piece for a local paper, I felt the urge to reconnect with The Purple One and pulled up his greatest hits on my MP3 player.

My connection with Prince must be pretty strong, because while I was attempting to type "city of Columbus" into Google to access my local government's website, "city of Minneapolis" popped up instead! Interesting coincidence...

Doc On Russian Homophobia Overshadowed By Filmmaker's Controversial Line Of Work

The state of human rights in Russia got a lot of coverage during the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this year. But after the elaborate closing festivities ended and the Olympic torch was extinguished, the issue seemed to get scant attention, given all the other things going on in the world.

There are few journalists or filmmakers who seem interested in spending a significant amount of time in Russia, to pull back the Iron Curtain and really expose what life is like there. Especially for oppressed minorities like the LGBT community.

Filmmaker Michael Lucas, who grew up in Russia before immigrating to the United States, has done just that with his documentary, Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propaganda. The documentary screened Nov. 21 as part of the Columbus International Film and Video Festival's "Fighting Global Hate" event, which featured movies from around the world that focus on human rights abuses.

Campaign of Hate features interviews with several gay and lesbian Russians about the discrimination, harassment and even violence they suffer on an almost daily basis. It's too bad that the documentary is getting only limited distribution because of Lucas' controversial background: he's a self-proclaimed producer and star of pornography.

During the Q&A after the documentary screening, I told Lucas that the impression I got from watching the movie is that the vast majority of Russians are homophobic. He said he believes this to be the case, adding that the country's unwelcoming environment can't be attributed to religion, since the communist regime promoted atheism in the Soviet Union for decades. Intolerance, he said, is just part of the culture in Russia.

I also asked Lucas if he has trouble being taken seriously as a filmmaker since he produces porn. That may seem like a rude question, but I just figured that if he was going to participate in a public forum, he should be prepared to be questioned about his "day job."

Lucas was frank in his response, admitting there are pros and cons to being known as a porn star/producer. On the one hand, he's well-known in his native Russia because of his "success" in America and had no trouble securing interviews for the documentary or self-financing the project. On the other hand, he said it's unlikely that he'll ever recoup the more than $100,000 it cost him to produce Campaign of Hate because major outlets like HBO don't want to be associated with him.

Of course, there may be a variety of reasons that HBO didn't pick up the documentary that may have little or nothing to do with Lucas' dubious reputation: the production values may not be up to their standards, it doesn't have any famous interviewees, etc. And there are many well-produced, heartfelt, high-quality documentaries that never reach a wide audience or make any significant amount of money. The movie business is inherently subjective, arbitrary and unfair.

Lucas could have minimized the impact his reputation had on Campaign of Hate if he hadn't put his name on it as the producer/director. And although he's a good interviewer, listening intently as his subjects tell their stories, there was no reason he needed to appear on camera. He could have hired a journalist to conduct the interviews and a director to oversee the production, enabling Lucas to remain totally behind the scenes as an "angel investor."

Perhaps Lucas felt like honesty is the best policy, and that if he'd hidden his involvement, the secrecy could backfire if a distributor were to discover that the documentary was financed by porn profits. Or, perhaps Lucas saw Campaign of Hate as his chance to go legit' and achieve mainstream success.

Is Lucas the victim of Hollywood hypocrisy? After all, cable networks like HBO and movie studios make big bucks off "real" movies that are borderline pornographic, not to mention violent to the point of qualifying as "torture porn."

Imagine if notorious Hustler publisher Larry Flynt were to make a documentary about human trafficking. On the one hand, Flynt is a subject matter expert who has an insider perspective on the issue. On the other hand, his credibility is questionable because of how he makes his money.

"Don't shoot the messenger" is an age-old saying. In Lucas' case, it seems as if his important message about combating hatred around the world is being shot down because of the messenger.

Something New Every Day: What Is A Henley?

I learn something new every day. Today's lesson: what is a henley?

No, not the last name of a member of classic rock group The Eagles who went on to solo success in the '80s with such hits as "Boys of Summer" (one of my favorite songs and music videos of all time; and by the way, the first name of this person, if you hadn't figured it out already, is Don).

Don Henley

No, a henley, in the lowercase form, is a man's shirt that's like a long-sleeved T-shirt with buttons.

I had never heard this term before until I opened up the Dec. 5 issue of Entertainment Weekly and read a profile on producer/writer Greg Berlanti, who's responsible for such hit shows as the CW's Arrow and The Flash and NBC's The Mysteries of Laura with Debra Messing.

The name of the shirt came up in the description of what Berlanti was wearing while working in the writers' room of The Flash. Interesting profile of an interesting guy. I'd recommend checking it out.

Adventures In Social Media: Just Because No One 'Liked' Your Outfit Doesn't Mean You Should Go Around Naked

It recently occurred to me that getting comments and Likes on Facebook is as unpredictable as getting complimented on your clothes.

Sometimes when you go out of your way to dress up, no one says anything. It's almost as if you were invisible and all the extra effort you put into looking nice seems like it was all for nothing.

But other times when you throw something on from the back of your closet without much thought other than it's the only thing clean and not wrinkled, you get a slew of unanticipated compliments.

Similarly, a provocative Facebook post that you may think will get a lot of comments only gets a few tepid Likes and is generally met not only with crickets, but tumbleweeds.

At a social media conference I attended a couple of years ago, a communications manager at a large hospital in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, described the unpredictability of Facebook. She said several of her most well-thought-out posts generated little to no response, but a random post about new carpeting being installed in a hallway drew a flurry of excited comments.

This example illustrates that Facebook and social media, in general, is hit and miss. You may have a few misses, but if you keep at it, eventually you'll get a hit - and often when you least expect it.

Going back to the clothing analogy, if you got all dressed up but everyone ignored you, you wouldn't start walking around naked, would you?

This blog entry is part of my "Adventures in Social Media" series. In the next installment, which I plan to publish on Monday, Dec. 8, I'll highlight some cutting-edge features that could help you draw more attention to your social media endeavors - and have a little fun while you're at it.