Bye, Bye, Berlusconi!!!!

Last night I walked over to Palazzo Grazioli (the PM's residence in Rome) with my friend Max. Max lives in L.A. but is studying in Florence for a semester.

The energy was electric and joyous. On the news there was a clip of a choir singing "Hallelujah".

I can't believe he actually resigned. It's ironic that the financial markets were responsible for his downfall, not all his scandals, not the opposition, not his low approval ratings (below 25%), or the power struggles within his coalition.

As he left Grazioli, the crowd booed and people yelled, "Shame!"

Who knows what the post Berlusconi era will look like. He's left the country in a huge mess. I think Ari Gold from "Entourage" sums up how I felt about Silvo B. (NSFW)







The buses in the background were stuck.


My friend Max.

Spotlight on Lazio - wine, cheese, friends, and charity

Saturday night two of my favorite people in Rome, Katie Parla and Hande Leimer, hosted a wine tasting focusing on the Lazio region at the enoteca Il Bacocco in Trastevere.

The proceeds from the evening went to the food rescue charity A Chi Serve.

Saturday was a surreal day. The peaceful Occupy Rome protest turned violent once the Black Bloc showed up. The self-proclaimed anarchists have done this before. They hijack organized peaceful protests and then proceed to burn and break anything they can get their hands on.

The area around San Giovanni looks like a war zone. The cost of the damage is over 1.5 million euros. This is money that could be used for something else, especially during a budget crisis.

Despite the mayhem, there was a strong turnout.

Sommelier Hande gave a great presentation about the two wines we tasted, one white, one red. They went very well with the various cheeses and salami. Vincenzo Mancino of DOL-Di Origine Laziale donated the food. I must check out his store. I'm still thinking about the goat cheese.

We drank Marco Carpineti’s “Capolemole” Cori Bianco and L’Olivella’s “Quaranta/Sesanta” Rosso Lazio IGT.

Katie's excellent (and more detailed) post about the event is HERE. She has links to all the places that helped make Saturday a special evening. I hope Hande and Katie will organize more events like this in the future.

Hermès exhibit... sigh.

There was a short-term Hermès exhibit at the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome to celebrate the opening of the new men's store on Via Campo Marzio.

It ended on Sunday. My friend C. and I made it just in time on Saturday.

I don't remember how old I was when I first became aware of Hermès. I walked into their store in St. Martin one day during a summer trip to see my grandparents.

The store was incredible. The salespeople were so chic and very nice.

My friends know I'm somewhat obsessed with Hermès bags. One friend even sends me snapshots of Birkins she sees in Rome.

I don't own a single one. Years ago I saw a used Kelly bag at a yard sale in Georgetown. I could kick myself for not buying it. Then again I was a junior congressional aide on The Hill making less than 18k a year. I doubt I could afford the bag.

I still can't afford the bags. But I can appreciate them from afar.

The exhibit was fantastic. Well curated and the write-ups were beautiful. I know they were writing about leather and bags, but it was poetry.

We were able to touch the leather samples. Like butter.

There was one display comprised of only Kellys and Birkins. My friend asked me if I was okay because it looked like I was hyperventilating.

They had bags on display that were over hundred and fifty years old. The level of craftsmanship is unreal.

The company was founded in 1837 as a harness workshop and is still family owned. However, the big multinational LVHM wants like to buy them out.

Hermès bags are made by hand, unlike some other luxury brands.

A craftsperson works on one bag at a time.


C. used to ride horses. We spent a lot of time in this room.


When I see this picture I crack up. This was in a little room to the right of the big Kelly/Birkin display. As we walked toward the room, we heard this smacking noise. It was a couple completely making out behind the display. The crazy thing is, they didn't stop when we walked past them. We were in that room for a while and when we walked out, they were still making out. Really, folks, in a museum?!


Hermès store Rue du General De Gaulle. Marigot, St. Martin, French West Indies. Where the love affair began.

I cannot believe it has been ten years.

No, the passing of time does not make the events of that day less horrible.

I will never forget that day.

I will never forget calling my friend and finding out his twin was missing. He was about to celebrate his one year wedding anniversary. My mind blanked. I forgot Nigel worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. He was in the first tower.

HERE is an article about Nigel and other UK victims.

I was working out next to a lit manager on a treadmill at a gym in Hollywood when the towers crumbled. I burst into tears. I couldn't believe my eyes. Later, at the office we were trying to reach our relatives, friends and co-workers in NYC. Our boss told us to go home. The company was based in Brooklyn.

I took the NJ PATH train into those towers everyday for years. My dad worked in the towers years ago when they were being built.

From the roof deck of an old apartment, I could see the towers.

Then when I moved to 22nd and 2nd in the city, the towers were a compass. You could never get lost (well, outside the confusing non-grid streets of the West Village) if you could see the towers. You always knew where Downtown was.

I was born in NYC. Many of my closest friends live there. I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey. Most of the people in my town commuted to NYC. I think about all the children whose parents never came home. Their cars sitting at the stations.

I feel like everything changed in America after the attacks. Certain political leaders lied and we ended up in a war we had no business being in. Saddam had NOTHING to do with 9/11. Was he a dictator? Did he need to go? Yes, but we should have been focusing on Afghanistan, but they don't have oil.

President Bush received a briefing in late September that said there was no connection between Saddam and the terrorists. Yet, Cheney still went on news shows saying there was.

When GWB said during his infamous press conference that either people were with us or with the terrorists, it was a sad day for American diplomacy.

After the attacks, the world was with us. There were victims from over ninety countries on that day. He went ahead and attacked Iraq despite the concerns from many of our closest allies and the UN.

When some Republican congressmen decided to change the name of French Fries in the Congressional dining hall to "Freedom Fries", I was horrified. How immature. These were grown ass men. What was happening to my country?

Also, cutting taxes to the rich while engaged in two wars was stupid. Our country will be paying for the mistakes of the early/mid 00s for decades.

Post 9/11, things in America still seem very "unsettled" to me. I hate the direction my country is going in. The disparity between wealthy and poor is the greatest in the Western world. This is not good. Our infant mortality rates are unacceptable.

I have never seen such partisan politics before. The influence of the radical fundamentalists in the Republican party freaks me out. Where are the moderates? The Republicans I grew up with were not crazy.

That there are people running for President who do not believe in the separation of church and state is a problem. If I hear any of those fools talk about 9/11, I will scream. They hate NY and say the "cultural elite" are not real Americans. Then they have to gall to use that day to wave the American flag and talk about patriotism.

Did any of them lose a friend or family member that day? How dare they talk out of both sides of their mouth. I am dreading next year's election. It's going to be ugly.

Enough of this gloom and doom. True, NYC can be big pain in the butt. It's not an easy place to live. The pace, it's expensive, the surliness of some of its residents... it's a grind sometimes.

But I love NYC, even when I don't. Always have, always will.

The opening credits to Woody Allen's MANHATTAN. Those cowards who thought their actions would destroy my city were mistaken. I'm grateful to all the heroes who tried to rescue people, help people, and comfort people that day.

Norway

I can't even begin to wrap my head around this tragedy.

Will the phone hacking scandal spread to the US?

Everyday it seems there's another layer to this NEW OF THE WORLD phone hacking scandal.

Now the whistleblower, Sean Hoare, was found dead yesterday. At this point, his death is unexplained, but not suspicious. Strange timing.

The head of the Metropolitan Police just stepped down.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings about a phone hacking scandal regarding 9/11 victims in America. Murdoch's News Corp stock has hit a six month low.

It's incredible that at this late age Rupert Murdoch finds himself in this situation. What did he know? Did his son or Rebekah Brooks know about/encourage the hacking?

I have a deadline, so not sure how much I will be able to see of their testimony today in front of Parliament.

I want to know who was the reporter or reporters who hacked into Milly Dowler's phone. Why would they do such a thing? That's low, even for a tabloid.

Buon Compleanno (Happy Birthday) Italia!

The sun broke through for a few minutes this morning. I used to opportunity to get in a work out and took my camera. I ran up to Gianicolo Hill, one of the highest hills in the city.

Nile Guide's Erica Firpo has written a great POST about the activities taking place in Rome to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Italy's unification.

Men in uniform getting ready.


Giuseppe Garibaldi keeping watch.


The cannons are ready.


Earlier this year, restorers were cleaning and repairing these statues.


Before the unveiling.


In Europe people don't really fly their flags all the time like we do in the States. It is unusual to see so many Tri-colore flags in the city.

Women in Italy demand some RESPECT

Yesterday there were nationwide demonstrations in Italy. There were also several protests in cities around the world, like Tokyo, London, etc.

Piazza del Popolo was PACKED. I have never seen it that full of people. It was great to see all the families and men who came out to support women. As I walked over to meet some fellow expats, Aretha Franklin's RESPECT was blaring from the loud speakers.

Berlusconi has dismissed those protesting against him as moralists and prudes. This is BS. Other than some hard core conservative Catholics, no one is up and arms about his sexy times.

What is a problem is while he's calling police stations to help poor Ruby, garbage continues to pile up in Naples. Didn't he campaign to clear it up? Why isn't he focusing on that? Or the brain drain, or high energy costs, or on all the other issues the country is facing.

He's paying young former show girls a salary higher than what President of the United States makes to "work" in the government. Meanwhile, the average 25 year-old college grad in Italy is lucky to make 1/10 of that salary.

Also, I thought he and his racist peeps, The Lega Nord were very anti-illegal immigration. Ruby, who was arrested for stealing, is not sent back to Morocco. Why because she's hot? Instead the Prime Minister of a G8 country finds the time in his busy schedule to call the Milan Police and say they have to let her go because she was Mubarak's niece. WTF? If this were any other G8 country, the PM would have to resign immediately. That is abuse of power.

Since he controls and indirectly controls 97% of the broadcast media, along with newspapers, magazines, a soccer team and a huge publishing company, I don't think Berlusconi is going to leave anytime soon. He doesn't give a damn. He has said so. He's "having fun"! The publications he owns print positive stories about him and say the far-left is out to get him.

The opposition is weak and divided (and charisma free). I wish Berlusconi would put the same amount of effort into making things better in Italy as he does toward avoid jail, lining his own pockets and sleeping around.

The New York Times has a good overview of the demonstrations HERE.

La Reppublica has excellent photos HERE.




The sign below says "I am a girl who does not want to be a Veline." Veline are the half naked women giggling and dancing all over Italian TV game and talk shows. Berlusconi brought the Veline culture to Italy. During a political rally he told young Italian women the way to make it is to marry rich, older men. It's this sexist culture women are fighting against. Basta!


The sign on the right says "The alumni of my school are not the nieces of Mubarak." The one on the left says, "I've read article 54 of the Constitution."

Happy Birthday...Steve Wonder's MLK Jr. Tribute

This song appeared on Stevie Wonder's 1980 CD "Hotter Than July" (which is a GREAT CD by the way). The CD has a heavy reggae influence thanks to Stevie spending a lot of time with Bob Marley before he went into the studio.

At the time Stevie was very active in the campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr's birthday a Federal holiday. The holiday was very controversial.

In 1983 President Reagan signed the bill making it a holiday. The celebration started in 1986. However, not every state celebrated the holiday at first. For the longest time Arizona refused to. In Mississippi and Virgina the holiday was combined with the celebration of Confederate heroes Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee.

Virgina finally split the holidays after many complained it wasn't very appropriate.

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King.

Words do mean something Mrs. Palin

I found it fascinating that Palin took down her offensive map after the shooting. She also tried to erase the Tweet and Facebook postings that told her supporters to not "retreat but reload."



Congresswoman Giffords complained about this crosshairs maps back in March.


We need to reign in the hateful political rhetoric in America. All this screaming and violence over a health care bill and an immigration bill? The leaders of the GOP started lowering the political discourse way back with Lee Atwater. It's only getting worse. A Republican candidate saying if you don't get what you want at the ballot box, resort to the using the Second Amendment? Where was Michael Steele?

Fox News (aka Radio Rwanda) needs to stop enabling hypocritical idiots like Beck and Palin. At least O'Reilly tries to be open minded. I get it. It's all about ratings but Beck and Palin go too far.

I remember doing meet and greets with Senator Bill Bradley in Jersey. There was never any security. Members of Congress need to meet with their constituents. How can we have a representative government if we can't interact with the public officials we elect?

That innocent people would be gunned down in the middle of the day in front of supermarket breaks my heart. One of the victims, Christina Green, was a nine year-old who was born on 9/11. She was just elected to her student council and wanted to meet her Congresswoman. Now she's dead. Murdered in front of a Safeway supermarket.

How did a man who was turned down by the army for being unstable able to buy a gun?

I'm not sure if there will be any positive changes after this incident. I fear in a few months it will be back to business as usual as people gear up for the 2012 Presidential election.

Will Silvio Berlusconi survive....again?

***update. He won by three votes. This is a very narrow margin. I have no idea what will happen now. I assume more gridlock.

There are demonstrations in the big cities all over Italy today.


Tomorrow the Prime Minister is up for a vote of confidence. It's too close to call. If one or both of the houses vote no, he might have to resign. This article from the Guardian sums things up.

This drama is bananas. I don't get it. Last week, it looked like he was going down and now, who knows?

It cracks me up how Bossi, who is known for flipping the bird during the Italian National Anthem, is all of a sudden trying to front like he's some elder statesman.

There may be some major demonstrations and protests tomorrow. If you're going to be in the Center, you might want to check the news before heading out.

Speaking of politics, why was Kate Gosselin on Sarah Palin's reality show? Are they friends? Random.

Lo Shopping: Los Angeles edition. Club Monaco and J.Crew FTW

It's election day in the States today. I dropped off my absentee ballot while I was in L.A. Tomorrow we will have a new Speaker of the House.

Speaking of Los Angeles (okay, that was a stretch) I didn't have time or the budget to hit any of the fantastic boutiques on 3rd, Beverly, Abbott Kinney, etc. I desperately needed some basics, like one pair of jeans.

Clothes in Europe are a slimmer cut. What is a 6 in America is a 10 here (seriously) and most stores do not go much higher than than.

Having a limited budget forces me to pay attention to every single thing I buy. Even when my financial situation improves I will continue to do so.

THE GAP
What is going on with this store? Patrick Robinson is a very talented designer. I do not understand why the clothes looked so awful and the fit sucked. I used to have excellent luck with their jeans. This time no dice. The fabric felt and looked cheap and none of the styles fit.

I know they are opening one in Milan and Rome soon. We'll see what they'll sell here. Maybe I've aged out of the GAP? Then again, how can you age out of classics? The GAP has been struggling for years. They're getting slammed on the lower-end by H&M/Zara and on the higher-end by J.Crew.

GAP BODY
That said, I went to the Gap Body section in their store at The Grove. Hands down one of the best places for yoga pants, cotton panties (much better quality than Victoria's Secrets) and PJs.

KIEHL'S
I went to the one on Robertson. Friendly, helpful and generous with the samples. I finally tried the Olive Fruit Oil Deeply Repairative Hair Pak after hearing so many people rave about it. Blogger Afrobella also said it was a great product for black women with natural hair. Worth every single penny. It's an excellent conditioner.

BLOOMINGDALES
I interned at the flagship NYC store during college. I've always loved this store, especially for cosmetics, shoes, housewares and bedding.

I stuck to my list and stayed on the first floor. I wish Bobbi Brown sold her cosmetics in Rome. New color lipstick for me, her Blackberry. It's a pretty plummy color and the closest I could get to a discontinued Trish McEvoy shade. I almost got sidetracked at the Chanel counter but remembered they sell Chanel all over Rome.

CLUB MONACO
The J. Crew of Canada. I can't find any of the dresses I bought online for a photo so believe me when I say I scored. I wore one of the dresses, this Jackson Pollack type print, to a drinks a friend hosted for me at the Avalon pool bar. I received so many compliments on it. Several women said they were going to buy the dress. I have a particular shape, it's hard for me to find things that fit. I always find well-cut, fashionable (without being too trendy) clothes at Club Monacao. Their color palette is not as wide as J.Crew but I think both stores do Modern Classic well. Club Monaco is more Pradaish while J. Crew is preppier.

J. Crew
I have worn J. Crew since it was catalog only, then became a regular at their first retail store in NYC's South Street Seaport. The founder was from Montclair, NJ and the clothes used to have a very East Coast, outdoorsy prep school vibe. I've seen the brand struggle when they tried to be too fashion forward and when it because super popular. First Lady Michelle Obama has definitely increased the brand's profile. When her daughters wore J. Crewcuts (the online store for children) to the Inauguration, so many people went online it caused the site to crash. At J. Crew's 3rd Street Promenade store I finally found a pair of jeans. They fit perfectly. There were so many things I wanted to buy but remembered I have to pay rent.

BANANA REPUBLIC
Stuck out here. I did buy some tights and a sweater but their clothes seemed too business casual to me and kind of boring. I used to find great dresses there but that was over six years ago.

FRED SEGAL on Melrose
Went to look for a turban but all they had were headbands. The clothes in this store are too fabulous for mere mortals as myself. I went into the shoe department. There wasn't a pair under $500. Even when I have money I will never spend hundreds of dollars on a T-Shirt. I go through white v-neck T-Shirts pretty quickly. I'll stick with J.Crew and Club Monaco's.

However, it's a great place to buy gifts, books, candles, stationary etc.

Brother, I'm Dying - Edwidge Danticat, Dreams of Rivers And Seas - Tim Parks, Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis

My friend Erica let me borrow her copy of Lunar Park. I read it before Ellis recently ran his mouth about why there aren't more female directors. His theories (having something to with the male gaze) were full of crap. Anyway, while I HATED the book American Psycho (I threw it across the room when I was done with it. But I LOVED the movie, which was hilarious and featured an amazing performance by Christian Bale) I did enjoy Lunar Park. It's a weird book. The first part reads like an autobiography where Ellis expresses some regret for his past excesses and talks a great deal about his difficult relationship with his father. He uses real names from the publishing world and writes about how his life changed after Less Than Zero was published. Then all of a sudden, it becomes a thriller. Ellis swears his stepdaughter's doll is alive and is trying to kill them. No one believes him and thinks he's coked up again. I haven't read Glamorama or Ellis's new book but I think this is his best work since Less Than Zero.






I won this book in a contest on Milanese Marsala's blog. I've only read Tim Park's non-fiction in the past. Dreams Of Rivers And Seas is beautifully written but his characters were so damaged, I became frustrated with them. Albert, a well known and controversial anthropologist, has died. His son, John, flies to India from England for the funeral. John's mother, Helen, is a strange bird. I was very impatient with her. She's extremely cold to her son, as if he was an inconvenience. John, searching for an identity, finds India confusing. What were his parents doing there? Why did his dad die so suddenly? John is full of questions but may never find the answers.



A heartbreaking true story, this book by noted novelist Edwidge Danticat was hard to read. I don't want to give away the ending to those who didn't see the newspaper articles/press about the book. Danticat writes about her father and her uncle. Her parents moved to America leaving her and her brother to be raised in Haiti by her uncle until her parents could bring them to the States. The story moves between the present and the past. What happened to her uncle made the international press. Even though I knew about it, as I read about it in her book I became furious. That something like that could happen in my home country infuriated me. I have heard from non-Americans black and white that going through US Customs is not pleasant. Apparently it's so bad, it's one of the reasons Chicago lost the Olympic bid. I do understand why post 9/11 why we have more security. However, I find it a little frightening that the "Underwear Bomber" was able to get into the country (while on a watch list, with no luggage, a one-way ticket he paid for in cash, etc.) but a friend's British girlfriend is given the third degree while traveling to the States with her American boyfriend for the holidays.

Flashback Friday - Bob Marley and The Wailers "Get Up, Stand Up"

I just finished reading Edwidge Danitcat's award winning book, "Brother, I'm Dying". I will post a review once I can get past my anger. What happened to her uncle is inhumane. I'm horrified something like this can take place in America.

The book, along with the six month anniversary of the Haitian earthquake, made me think of this song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

Michelle at Bleeding Espresso writes about the Amanda Knox case

I have been asked by many Americans what I think about this case.

To be honest I stop reading the American press and websites that discussed the case months ago. However, I'm very curious to hear what Michelle has to say.

Michelle's an American who has lived in Italy for seven year but she's also an attorney who writes on legal issues.

Like I said before I don't know if Amanda is innocent as I wasn't at the house that night.

Were there issues with the trial? Yes, but Michelle's post today eloquently explains why I was fend up the "OMG Italians hate America and this poor girl is being railroad" or "Italy is backwards and our justice system is the best" narrative in the American media.

Really? At least in Italy, and every other Westernized nation for that matter, no innocent person have been put to death by their government.

HERE is a link to Michelle's post. She will be writing about the trial this week.

Some photos from the Festa della Repubblica parade

Yesterday was "Festa della Repubblica" a national holiday celebrating when Italian citizens voted to become a republic after the end of World War II.

I haven't been to a parade in ages. They're not a big deal in L.A. compared to NYC. When I lived in New York there seemed to be a parade every other weekend, St. Patrick's Day, Puerto Rican Day, Dominican Day, Halloween, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day, Gay Pride Day, West Indian Day, Easter Hat, etc.

It was gorgeous out, so I decided to walk over to Piazza Venezia. The parade route was packed. I bumped into two American expats who live near me and watched the parade with them.

It was fun. I cracked up when people cheered for the AMA (sanitation) trucks. They weren't part of the parade but were there to clean up after the horses.

I wasn't able to get good photos of the various troops. I was too far back. I felt sorry for the scuba unit. It was too hot to wear such outfits. The nuns (I think they were nurses) were looking sharp.

The highlight was the military jets flying over Piazza Venezia at the end. As much as we all dislike that huge building, the planes flying over it was a nice visual.

The planes, the planes


This boat reminded me of the show "Miami Vice" for some reason.


I guess the dog was too tired to walk.


Gorgeous horse.


The planes over Piazza Venezia

Help. I'm a little confused by the recent regional elections in Italy.

Of course I cannot vote but as a resident I'm still interested in the politics here.

I see that the Lega Nord beat the PDL (Berlusconi's party) in the Veneto region. This confuses me. I thought they were part of the same coalition. So why were they running against each other?

PDL won in Lazio and Piemonte. These two areas were the battleground regions and the race was very close. Berlusconi's approval ratings were dropping and there was all this infighting within the PDL. They must be happy and relieved they won.

I haven't heard much about Casini this election. Which party, if any, did he back?

Berlusconi appeared to be on the ropes but as usual he's like Teflon. After his term as PM is up he wants to be the President. He's going to be around forever it seems.

Fact can be stranger than fiction...the John Edwards/Rielle Hunter drama

As a former campaign staffer I have a very hard time wrapping my head around this craziness.

A friend is a writer on the American daytime soap "All My Children" and if she pitched a story line like this, she probably would be laughed out of the room.

What the heck is going on? Could you imagine if Edwards ended up being the presidential nominee? Did he really think the Republicans would not find out that one, he had/was having an affair and two, he had a CHILD with his mistress? You cannot make this stuff up.

Even back in the day this would have been a scandal, even though the press stayed out of the personal lives of politicians. Hello we are not France, heh.

To me this is different than the Tiger Woods scandal. I don't care what happens between a couple if no one has broken the law. It's none of our business. He's an athlete not a politician, priest or minister. For Edwards to campaign while all this was going on, was outrageous.

As for Ms. Hunter, she needs a new publicist. She sounds straight up bananas in her GQ interview. She's complaining about the GQ photos. Seeing how she's a videographer why would she be confused that lying on a bed with no pants would seem "sexy, racy, etc." Mistresses be trippin!

I never bought into the "Saint Elizabeth Edwards" narrative but still, it's very tacky and just wrong for Hunter talk smack about a person who was married to her lover and has terminal cancer. It's not like when she met Edwards she didn't know he was married. She clearly didn't care.

What happened to civility in our society? Why can't people be discreet? Now we have some random woman yapping to the press that she slept with Sandra Bullock's husband. Is selling your soul for money really worth it?

Ouch. Silvio Berlusconi is hit upside the head.

The leader of the far right party, Lega Nord, said it was an act of terrorism.

Okay, the man who was arrested on the spot has a history of mental problems. So until there is a link between him and a terrorist organization, it's a little early for such talk.

I wonder how heavy was the Duomo souvenir? The PM had his nose and several teeth broken.

I can't imagine getting hit in the face that hard.

Former President Bush was lucky he only had to deal with a soft shoe.

Here is more from the Financial Times. I agree with the article that this incident is only going to add fuel to the "poisonous political" atmosphere.

One thing that surprises me as an American is how much less security there is surrounding European leaders. Do people in France, England, Italy, etc. have to go through metal detectors when their leaders are giving a speech or going to an event? I mean we even have metal detectors in many of our city schools.

When Clinton was president, a friend and I went to the NCAA basketball semi-finals in Dallas. Arkansas was playing and President Clinton attended the game. We had to arrive extra early (driving in from Austin where we were working at the time) because of the extra security. The entire stadium had to go through detectors.

True Berlusconi was speaking to a rally of his own supports but it was still a public event. Anyone could have walked into the piazza. Later he was signing autographs when he was attacked.

I assume his security will be beefed up.

Great thing about living in Rome? I don't have to deal with African- American jacked up hair issues.

Good morning bloggisti, I'm warning you now, this is a rant.

My good friend sent me the following link from Jezebel.com.

I can't believe Ms. Samuels wrote a rebuttal. Her first article created a firestorm. To this day, I'm not sure why Newsweek published it.

I commented on Jezebel the first time Ms. Samuels decided to put a 4 year-old on blast and call a little girl's hair a "hot mess". Never mind that her hair is actually healthy and combed. Who the fuck is this woman? Zahara is not her child, or even her friend's child.

Anyway I know the Jolie-Pitts do take care of little Z's hair, as I worked with someone who is friends with them. LaToya at Jezebel really breaks down this article well. The fact is Z. is NOT African-American but African. Why is Samuels putting all our baggage on this child? Aren't there more important things to write about with a platform like Newsweek?

You have to read the articles Ms. Samuels wrote. They're insane. Reading them made me so happy I don't have to deal with ignorant people like her anymore. Clearly Ms. Samuels has some self esteem/self hatred issues. Cool she can hate the hair that grows out of her head but body snarking on a 4 year-old in the name of "cultural awareness" is not cool.

In the first piece Samuels said something about how, yes Zahara has famous parents but at the end of the day she will be judged as JUST an African-American girl. There's so much wrong with that sentence. Samuels is projecting.

She also talks about how Zahara, who travels all over the world, is missing out on that special "doing hair with mommy" bonding experience. Oh really, like dreading getting your hair washed because you know your mom has to put a hot comb through it and the smell of burning hair is not pleasant?

Of course there are hair issues in the Caribbean and Africa but in the States it's on a whole other level. And now thanks to our omnipresent media, black women in other countries are trying to emulate Western stars like Beyonce, even if they look nothing like her. Skin bleaching creams sales are skyrocketing.

When I went natural I didn't get flack from white people, it was from other black people. Many (not all) African-American women would say things like, "You're so brave." Uhmm for what? Wearing my hair the way it grows?

Then I moved to L.A. Black men compeltely ignrored me and/or felt comfortable telling me "You have nice features, why don't you straighten you hair or get a weave?"

My white female friends find the whole thing bizarre. Relaxing is not the same as coloring, so while they can try to empathize, they don't truly understand what a loaded issue hair texture is in the African-American community.

The issue, like most jacked things in our community, stems from slavery. The lighter your skin, the straighter your hair, the better you were treated.  Minus a 10 year "black is beautiful" movement in the 60/70s when 'fros were in, the vast majority of African-American women (over 75%) are still spending serious money on taking out or hiding the kinks in their hair.

I'm not sure if how one wears their hair is political but I do know that the billions we pump into this industry do not enrich the pockets of our people. The impoverished Indian women who give their hair so we can pay $1000 for a weave don't benefit. The majority of Korean markets in black neighborhoods who sell the hair and products don't participate in those communities. The biggest names in black hair care are owned by companies like Revlon and Unilever. The same companies who sell skin lightening creams in Asian and African countries.

Almost every single black actress/celebrity has a weave. When you read black hair magazines and they do that one feature on natural hair, 9 times out of 10 the model is biracial. So even in the "natural world" there's a scale. Loose curls, so cute! Tight kinks, no. High fashion, which has never been known for being PC is why ahead of Hollywood. That alone says something.

Black women's hair has been in the news a lot lately because we have a African-American First Lady and all the press about Chris Rock's documentary.

Discussion is great but I'm sad it's 2009 and we are still talking about "good hair".

Being in Rome, there aren't many black Americans here. There are more black Americans in Florence. The majority of my black women female friends here are from the Caribbean, England, or Africa. They wear their hair in a variety of styles. Two friends relax, the others wear their hair naturally.

I mentioned to an Italian friend how I used to have the Halle Berry pixie cut and while the style was slamming it was a pain to upkeep. Every 5 weeks I paid $125 (mind you this was over 10 years ago, so I'm sure it would be more expensive now) to have my hair trimmed and relaxed. She couldn't understand the whole relaxing thing. She asked why would you want to look like everyone else?

Because in America assimilation is the name of the game. It seems like we are going backwards. Gladys Knight and Aretha would never have careers now. Beyonce's sister Solange, who just did "the big chop" to much ridicule, used to spend 50k a year on her weaves and had her first relaxer at 4.

And this is what Samuels wants for Zahara. To feel her natural hair is ugly?

Are there days when I get a bored with my hair? Yes. But I'm relieved to no longer live in a culture that looks at my hair and thinks either I'm a hard core militant, it's unkept, or I cry in my pillow every night because I don't have "good hair."

My hair is what it is. I find it beyond ironic that in America the closer you are to an "European esthetic" the better. My very dark brown, natural self lives in Europe and I'm treated completely different here. I noticed it when I was in London as well. Before the summer I cut my hair really short, all the Italians in the salon were "bellissima, you can really see your smile, etc. etc." When I went that short in L.A.? Disapproval.

Good hair is healthy hair. Like Marcus Garvey said, "Get rid of the kinks in your mind, not on your head."

Signed,


Team Zahara