John Legends Letter to NY Post Editor!!

John Legend sent this letter to the editor of the New York Post in regerd to the article which was published with two police officers pointing a gun at a chimpanzee. Enjoy


"Open Letter to the New York Post
Dear Editor:I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?
If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well.You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed. I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric.

Sincerely,John Legend"

Family.

This weekend, I was away from my hometown (Miami!!!!) because I went on a trip to Virginia because it was my great-aunt's 80th b-day. While I was up there, I saw plenty of history from our great country, but more importantly, I saw many members of my family that I had either not seen in a long time or never met before. They were all wonderful and welcoming. Family is one thing we should all cherish. I didn't want to come back so soon because I knew that I was going to miss them, especially Becca and ChristEna ;) but, my life's in Miami. Family is wonderful. Family is something not all people are blessed with and I am SO grateful that I am blessed with my loving family.

Erik

Why they hating on Obama?!

This was an article posted by the daily beast.

We can all stop dreaming about a post-partisan Obama-McCain alliance: Senator McCain is leading the fight against President Obama's stimulus bill, proposing in its stead a $445 billion package. "The proposal on the table is big on the giveaways for the special interests and corporate high rollers, yet short on help for ordinary working Americans," McCain said in a petition. In an interview with Sean Hannity last night, McCain slammed Obama over Tom Daschle, criticized Timothy Geithner, and agreed that the stimulus bill was "a rotting corpse."

Obama's plan will help schools, teachers, firefighters, and cops. We'll supposedly know where the money is going unlike Bush's plan when they "bailed out" the banks and large companies. GIVE OBAMA a CHANCE!! Bush had 8 years to show us how stupid he was and how stupid we were for re-electing him. Obama's our NEW HOPE!!

Erik