9376: Where Are All The Roy Eatons?

Worth watching on the “Where Are All The Black People?” video is the presentation by Roy Eaton. On a stage with Jeff Goodby, Jimmy Smith and Neal Arthur, Eaton was clearly the superstar of the group.

9375: Steve Jobs (1955-2011).

Think Different.

9374: Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011).

From CNN…

Civil rights leader Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth dies at 89

By Michael Martinez, CNN

(CNN) — The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who helped lead the civil rights movement, has died, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute said Wednesday. He was 89.

Shuttlesworth is among the iconic figures honored in the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. King once called Shuttlesworth “the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South.”

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against segregated busing in Montgomery, Alabama, Shuttlesworth rallied the membership of a group he established in May 1956—the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights—to challenge the practice of segregated busing in Birmingham.

Shuttlesworth also helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, with King and other civil rights leaders.

Shuttlesworth’s efforts weren’t without a price: his home was bombed on Christmas Day in 1956, but he and his family were not injured.

He was, however, hurt in 1957 when he was beaten with chains and whips as he sought to integrate an all-white public school.

That same year, Shuttlesworth helped King organize the SCLC, serving as the organization’s first secretary from 1958 to 1970. He later served briefly as its president in 2004.

In 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Shuttlesworth a Presidential Citizens Medal—the nation’s second-highest civilian award—for his leadership in the “non-violent civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, leading efforts to integrate Birmingham, Alabama’s schools, buses and recreational facilities” and helping found the SCLC.

Shuttlesworth also protested segregated lunch counters and helped lead sit-ins at the eateries in 1960.

He participated in organizing the Freedom Rides against segregated interstate buses in the South when he joined forces with the Congress On Racial Equality.

In 1963, he was injured again when a fire hose was turned on him during a protest against segregation in Birmingham. The blast of water, directed against demonstrators by order of local sheriff Bull Connor, slammed Shuttlesworth against a wall. He was hospitalized but recovered.

He was also a principal in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, which he helped organize.

In the early 1960s, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he fought homelessness and continued the movement against racism. There, he founded and served as pastor of the Greater New Light Baptist Church from 1966 to 2006.

In the 1980s, he established the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation in Cincinnati, which provided grants to help low-income families buy homes.

The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has placed Shuttlesworth in its Hall of Fame.

9373: Questioning Where Are All The Black People?

Watching videos of the “Where Are All The Black People?” event—where candidates were given three minutes to sell themselves—makes one wonder about a number of things.

First, how many Whites currently employed on Madison Avenue would be able to pass a similar test?

Second, were actual jobs available? It would be nice in the future if there were specific roles that candidates could prepare and pitch themselves for. Like it or not, employers today are seeking to fill defined positions. Few agencies have “blue-sky” openings.

Third, what would have happened if senior-level candidates had shown up en masse? Finding juniors to audition is easy, especially when considering the unemployment rate for Black teens is as high as 41 percent. Flash mob tactics could have been used to get young jobseekers to show up. The dearth of diversity in our industry is most prevalent in the mid- to senior-level ranks.

Fourth, can the next “Where Are All The Black People?” extravaganza turn the tables? Hand a mic to the White executives and instruct them to spend three minutes sharing their perspectives on diversity. Tell the audience what they have done to foster inclusion, and how they have personally fought to end exclusivity. It would likely be a major challenge for any of them to even manage to fill three seconds.

Congratulations and kudos to all the courageous candidates.

9372: Selling Radio With Granny Rap.

Wack. Is this demonstrating the power of radio… or rap?


From Ads of the World.

9371: Minorities’ Worst Day In Advertising.

Given the diversity and Kumbaya spirit present at Advertising Week 2011, the event advertised above should have been an all-minority affair. Imagine the stories that would enchant the audience.

9370: Ad For Advertising Week 2011…?

Hey, this Brazilian ad for Alpino Tourism and Travel could’ve been used for Advertising Week 2011. The left side depicts an audience at a typical Advertising Week event. On the right, Jeff Goodby at “Where Are All The Black People?”

From Ads of the World.

9369: Newscaster Michael Wolff Reports.

At Advertising Week 2011, Adweek Editorial Director Michael Wolff participated in a panel of Old White Guys blathering about the state of affairs in the news business. Based on the image above, it must have been a riveting event. The ever-cheery Wolff declared times are terrible, as advertisers have abandoned the news. Hey, under Wolff’s watch, advertisers have abandoned Adweek too. Regardless, the man believes it’s the perfect moment for students to pursue careers in the field and proclaimed, “If you have a heart, an imagination and an entrepreneurial spirit… all you need is a good idea.” The jury is still out on whether or not Wolff possesses any of the items on that list.

9368: Jimmy Smith Is An Amusing Dude.

From Advertising Age…

Jimmy Smith Departs Omnicom’s TBWA, Launches Shop Under Interpublic

Amusement Park Entertainment Will Focus on Branded Content

By Ann-Christine Diaz

Jimmy Smith, the veteran creative behind high-profile branded entertainment efforts such as Gatorade’s Replay and Nike Battlegrounds, is departing Omnicom Group’s TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles to launch a new agency under Interpublic Group of Cos. His shop, which will be dubbed Amusement Park Entertainment, will focus on storytelling and branded content.

Outside of its nontraditional focus, the L.A.-based shop also boasts an unconventional revenue model that places a premium on what agencies are best known for—ideas. “The philosophy behind the company is simple,” Mr. Smith said. “Ideas are the Holy Grail; therefore we should value them and their creation highly.”

Mr. Smith has already made a name for himself steering successful branded entertainment properties. At TBWA, he served as group creative director on Gatorade and oversaw the highly-awarded branded content Replay series. For three seasons, it’s given sports teams the chance to address unrequited triumphs from their athletic past and now, Mr. Smith says, it’s on its way to becoming a feature produced by Sony.

Read more about the agency’s launch at Creativity Online.

9367: Goodby On Diversity.

From Adweek…

Fast Chat: Jeff Goodby The industry legend discusses the importance of diversity in the advertising world
 


By Jotham Sederstrom

So, Jeff, where are all the black people?
 




[Laughs] Well, that’s what we’re trying to solve. It’s a total enigma that black people have not been represented in advertising, especially since African Americans are so influential culturally, especially in popular culture. And we kind of wanted to create an avenue that would allow people to come forward and say, “I’m here,” and kind of have a forum where people who might want to meet those people could be present, like people from HR and the people from creative departments who, just as a matter of course, would send somebody to this thing. So it’s a little bit of a job fair in a way.
 


This event is a continuation of another one that you moderated during Creative Week earlier this year. What was the response of that discussion, and describe the audience.
 

 


It was a really heartwarming experience, I have to tell you. It was really, really, really wonderful, and there were a lot of people there who were very frustrated with their experience looking for a job. I think that it defused some of that frustration and allowed them to actually talk to some of the people who might or might not have been answering the phone calls and might or might not have been looking at their portfolios, and see them eye to eye—which was really nice. The audience was a full spectrum of people—people who had never worked in the business, people who were breaking in or trying to change jobs and get better positions, and people who were working in very small agencies that they didn’t think were worthy of their talents.
 


Certainly there are black men and women in the advertising industry. Where are they working, and are there success stories?

 



Well, one of them is going to be on the panel: Jimmy Smith [group creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day]. But, yeah, I think one of the things incumbent on us is to create more of these stories. There are obviously a lot of people who are succeeding, but the number of them who are top of mind is not as great as it should be. That, I think, is what needs to really change in this business.
 


What are the solutions being batted around? How does the ad industry diversify?

 
 


Well, the real solution is to just actually face up to the problem—or the opportunity, depending on how you want to phrase it—and do something about it. And just be cognizant of it. Because I think that a lot of agencies just aren’t. With a lot of people, their answer is “I just don’t get presented with good candidates,” or “I have no way of meeting them.” Some people even say, “It’s racist to seek out black candidates.”
 


What’s the benefit of diversifying?

 


Obviously, one of the things we do is advertise to a wide range of people, and our clients want us to do that. And the only way to really do that is to actually have those people present and have them contribute to the solution of advertising problems.
 


What about other groups, whether it be women or Hispanics or gay men and women?

 
 


One of the things about women in advertising is that they’re numerous in certain departments and nonexistent in others, which is a different kind of problem. They’re numerous in media and account services and are hardly there in creative. With Hispanics, we have a really large supply of them in California, and so we have quite a few of them. But I think it’s probably a much bigger problem in other cities.
 


And what about the young white men? Where are they?
 


I’m afraid you know the answer. They’re easy to bump into and, you know, they’re not all talented. Believe me, talent is not necessarily the purview of just one color.

9366: Advertising Week Covers Cultures.

At Advertising Week 2011, Tuesday will see “Where Are All The Black People?” from 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., “Where’s The LGBT?” from 9:30 – 10:15 a.m., and another installment of “The Transformed General Market” from The Vidal Partnership. Which ultimately begs the question, “Where Are All The Asian Americans?”

9365: Reservations About Faith.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Lonely ministry in an Indian parish

A priest in a remote California region tries to salve historical wounds and boost the flock. It’s hard going.

By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Thermal, Calif.—Father Earl Henley and Sister Deanna Rose von Bargen drove deep into the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation, past a boarded-up schoolhouse, spindly palms and fallow lettuce fields.



Finally, they reached the Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.



Henley kicked aside four cantaloupe-size rocks lodged against the front door, ballast against the dry desert winds that often outwit the simple latch.



The tiny church has no electricity. Decorative stickers on the windowpanes stand in for stained glass.



With a few yanks on a thick rope, Henley rang the church bell to summon the faithful to the 9 a.m. Mass.



Moments later, tribal elder Ernie Morreo arrived wearing a camouflage bandanna, jeans and tennis shoes. He held an abalone shell filled with smoldering mountain sage. With two eagle feathers, he fanned the smoke over Henley and von Bargen to chase away evil spirits.



Then Morreo sat and waited for the service to begin. Only one other tribal member joined them that Sunday.



“Peace is flowing like a river,” they sang, Henley’s mild Kentucky twang rising above the echoes.



“Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.”



The priest’s face appeared heavy with frustration.



“The message from Jesus tells us that we’re not supposed to look for results, we’re supposed to keep giving and believe that the Lord will do his work,” Henley said toward the end of the service, as much to himself, it seemed, as to the two parishioners. “Maybe he’s teaching us patience. Maybe he’s teaching us endurance.”



As head of the Native American Ministry for the Diocese of San Bernardino, Henley tends a parish of scattered tribes that include the newly wealthy, awash in casino profits, as well as the destitute hidden in the deep folds of the San Jacinto Mountains.



They are a people bound by loss, having suffered the near-obliteration of their native languages, homelands and ancestral ways.



In the 1700s, Spanish Franciscan missionaries preached the word of God while conscripting tribal members into forced labor. The Roman Catholic Church’s harsh treatment of Native Americans and intolerance of their spiritual rites persisted well into the 20th century. Elders still tell of having been ripped away from their parents and shipped to parochial schools.



For the last decade, Henley has tried to salve those wounds and increase the flock.



It is hard going.

Read the full story here.

9364: Disability & Creativity.

Josh Loebner publishes a blog spotlighting another group underrepresented in advertising and advertising agencies—people with disabilities. Check out Advertising & Disability today.

9363: Cracking On Bad Headlines.

Not too sure about this Univision ad running in the event guide for Advertising Week 2011. Seems like the headline promotes targeting Latinos while potentially alienating Blacks.

9362: Advertising Week Kidding On Diversity.

Based on the program excerpt above, Advertising Week 2011 will perpetuate the stereotypical misperception that our industry’s diversity problems are rooted in a lack of qualified adult candidates—and the only solution is to scour the inner cities for future crops of capable colored people.

Sure, these outreach efforts are noble and arguably necessary. Yet such initiatives fail to address the current imperative to hire mid- and senior-level players.

The truth is, educating minority kids must be supplemented with educating White adults. Specifically, Madison Avenue executives need serious schooling to enhance their cultural competence. Forget molding underprivileged youngsters into marketing mavens. It’s time to tutor White-privileged oldsters on the fine art of inclusion. Mandatory diversity training is just the beginning. Let’s bus Mad Men and Mad Women to minority advertising agencies for intensive internships. Create special aptitude tests to identify the culturally clueless and ship them off to urban communities for reprogramming. Connect Caucasian mentees with multicultural mentors. Promote White people who promote colored people—and fire those who refuse to participate in progress. Replace clichéd comments like, “We’ve got a long way to go,” with declarations like, “We’ve got a long list of achievements.”

The real issue is not a dearth of diversity at the bottom. It’s an abundance of ignorance at the top.

9361: BBDO Hearts Chimps? Doubt it.

This ad makes BBDO look like a good corporate citizen and animal rights advocate. But it’s likely tied to agreements made after being exposed for gross violations—along with other concessions including auto-correct functions to prevent chimp concepts from ever hatching at all.

9360: Pitch Procedures = Pile Of Poop.

Advertising Age reported on the latest waste of time generated by the 4A’s and Association of National Advertisers—an 18-page document on how clients and agencies should conduct an effective search and selection process (key recommendations depicted above). Gee, this will make a great companion piece to the Advertising Ethics Code recently unveiled by the American Advertising Federation and its Institute for Advertising Ethics, as both documents deserve to share space in the nearest trash can.

Expecting clients to abide by ideal practices is naïve. Thinking advertising agencies will play by rules is just plain asinine. At the heart of these pitch procedures lies a lack of connection with reality.

Of course, the 18-page document makes no references that discourage decision-making based on cronyism or Corporate Cultural Collusion. And while the report does stress the importance of cultural compatibility, it does not probe culture in regards to race, ethnicity, gender, lifestyle, etc. In other words, neither side should worry about commitments to inclusion—which is good news for advertising agencies especially, as any prerequisites tied to diversity would instantly eliminate the overwhelming majority of contenders.

9359: Directors Of Diversity…?

The image above clearly shows how the leaders behind Advertising Week 2011 reflect the diversity on Madison Avenue.

9358: Pie Charts And Food For Thought.

Marketing to the New Majority by David Burgos and Ola Mobolade is a thoughtful, well-researched read—which is not surprising, as the authors are key executives at global research agency Millward Brown. The book’s subtitle and self-promotion succinctly summarize the contents:

Strategies for a Diverse World

An exploration and analysis of America’s increasingly diverse consumer population, and the implications for marketers hoping to connect with this new mainstream.

For culturally clueless White people—a seemingly redundant term when applied to the typical Madison Avenue denizen—the book offers a decent, thorough overview of the major U.S. ethnic and racial segments today. For multicultural marketers, Burgos and Mobolade confirm the obvious. Overall, Marketing to the New Majority is definitely worth checking out.

Yet after scanning all the pie charts presented by the authors, one can’t help but wonder if the information and insights will lead to positive change in Adland. For starters, the pie charts breaking down U.S. Census racial and ethnic figures bear zero resemblance to any pie chart breaking down racial and ethnic figures in Madison Avenue agencies. Plus, pie charts spotlighting current marketing budgets would expose the extraordinarily thin slices—or crumbs—that multicultural shops are forced to swallow. And when considering how minority executives in the industry are ultimately treated and viewed by clients and White peers, well, it’s essentially a pie in the face.

9357: Michael Wolff’s Last Advertising Week…?

Advertising Week 2011 has scheduled “A Conversation with Michael Wolff” for October 6 from 9:00-9:45 a.m. That should be uncomfortable. Maybe it will be the Adweek Editorial Director’s exit interview.

9356: Advertising Week Logo Is Mindless…?

Not sure what the Advertising Week 2011 logo is intended to communicate. It looks like the PBS logo. Did Rich Silverstein have anything to do with its creation? Plus, the head appears to be empty and brainless. A Freudian design slip perhaps?

9355: China Fries President Obama.

From Mediaite…

This Exists: ‘Obama Fried Chicken’ Is China’s Newest Fast Food Craze

By Frances Martel

The image of President Barack Obama as Colonel Sanders advertising a fried chicken restaurant would immediately be flagged as unacceptably racist, but that seems to be exactly what has popped up in Beijing. The Daily Mail reports that “Obama Fried Chicken,” complete with the President in suspenders and bow tie and the slogan, “We’re so cool, aren’t we?”

It is already bizarre enough (and probably some sort of copyright infringement, but that depends on what copyright laws in communist China are like) that this independent company decided the President of the United States would be their best spokesman, but it appears they aren’t alone in thinking Obama = infinite chicken profits. The actual KFC has used the President in Chinese commercials, too. The Daily Mail tries to make sense of this:

The Obama Fried Chicken could be a response to the U.S. filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization about Chinese tariffs on American chicken exports.

According to the New York Times, the tariffs affect an industry that employs about 300,000 people and range from 50 to 100 per cent, which means some Chinese importers paid as much as twice the price for American chicken.

Maybe the Chinese have something of an Obama-chicken obsession. Earlier this year in Hong Kong, an Obama lookalike was employed to advertize KFC. The restaurant’s sign was first spotted by TheShanghaiist.com and picked up by msnbc.com. […]

Some people have complained the name plays into old racial stereotypes.

Hmm… wonder why anyone would think this plays into racial stereotypes! Best case scenario, this is a very bizarre phenomenon– the President has popped up on all sorts of kitsch before—but there are certainly some serious red flags (no pun intended) being raised by the fact that the President keeps popping up in China as an effective fried chicken salesman.

9354: Moo & Oink & Bankruptcy.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

End of an era? Moo & Oink stores now closed, in bankruptcy

By Sandra Guy, Staff Reporter

All four Moo & Oink stores are shuttered, 200 employees are out of work with no severance and a judge on Friday placed the company in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Courtney E. Barr, a lawyer for First Midwest Bank, Moo & Oink’s biggest creditor, told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Jack Schmetterer on Friday that the bank will soon ask to take over Moo & Oink’s assets and sell them in order to get some of its money back.

But a group of mostly African-American investors is working to purchase Moo & Oink intact. The iconic meat retailer has been around for 150 years.

“The most important thing is securing the employees’ jobs,” said Exavier B. Pope, principal owner of The Pope Firm in Chicago and the attorney representing the investor group.

The investors are not identifying themselves, but insiders say they are being advised by Wallace Sims, a Chicago businessman who four years ago led investors in an unsuccessful bid for Jays Foods Inc.

Moo & Oink lawyer Rick Firfer said Friday that “the company would like nothing more than to strike a deal with Mr. Sims or another community representative to preserve jobs.”

The Moo & Oink employees’ union, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1546, and the union pension and health and welfare funds sought the Chapter 7 bankruptcy because they allege that Moo & Oink owes the fund more than $3 million, and federal law requires such a petition when payments are late, a union spokesman said.

Moo & Oink disagrees that it owes $3 million to the pension fund, Firfer said.

Employee spokeswoman Mary Steele, 50, said they were told on Sept. 9 that they would lose their jobs, were offered no severance and had to show up in court before they received the pay they were due for unused vacation time.

Steele, of Bronzeville, had worked for Moo & Oink for 29 1/2 years and was counting on retiring in April 2012.

“This is hard. This is rough,” said Lorenzo Smith, 49, who worked for 12 years in Moo & Oink’s shipping and receiving department. Smith has nine children, bought a house in Gary, Ind., two years ago, and is worried about the difficult job market.

Elizabeth Smith, 58, a 40-year Moo & Oink veteran who managed the store at 7158 S. Stony Island Ave., said, “It’s a big letdown after all of the years of service.”

Smith cares for her 37-year-old son who has cerebral palsy and relied on Moo & Oink as her sole source of income.

9353: Hunting For Political Ammo.

From The New York Daily News…

Rick Perry slams report on Texas hunting camp’s racist name; Herman Cain calls it ‘insensitive’

By Alison Gendar, Daily News Staff Writer

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign is on the defensive, saying parts of a report about a Texas hunting camp he used — once known as ‘N*****head” — had “incorrect” and “inconsistent” claims.

The damning front-page Washington Post article said in the early years of his political career, Perry hosted fellow lawmakers and supporters at the West Texas hunting camp his family rented. At the front of the gated entrance was a large flat rock that had the name “N*****head” painted across it in block letters.

The offensive name was eventually painted over. But just when and under what prompting, was unclear, the article stated.

“Perry’s father painted over offensive language on a rock soon after leasing the 1,000-acre parcel in the early 1980s,” Ray Sullivan, communication director for RickPerry.org, told Politico this morning.

“When Governor Perry was party to the hunting lease from 1997 to 2007, the property was described as northern pasture. He has not been to the property since 2006,” Sullivan’s statement said.

“A number of claims made in the story are incorrect, inconsistent, and anonymous, including the implication that Rick Perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible. The one consistent fact in the story is that the word on a rock was painted over and obscured many years ago,” Sullivan’s statement said.

“Governor Perry and his family never owned, controlled or managed the property referenced in the Washington Post story. The 42,000-acre ranch is owned by the Hendricks Home for Children, a West Texas charity,” the Statement said.

The furor was already being picked up by Perry’s opponents.

“My reaction is that is very insensitive,” said GOP contender Herman Cain said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Since Gov. Perry has been going there for years to hunt, I think that it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off that rock and renaming the place. It’s just basically a case of insensitivity,” Cain told “This Week’s” Christiane Amanpour.

“It was painted over,” Amanpour pointed out.

“Yes. It was painted over. But how long ago was it painted over? So I’m saying that it is a sign of insensitivity,” said Cain whose latest tally in the Florida straw poll has the former businessman ahead of Perry.

9352: Hooray For Hollywhite.

From The Root…

Survey Sheds Light on TV’s Diversity Problem

The results might help explain the lack of diversity this fall in scripted television.

By Frank McCoy

The near-whiteout at the 2011 Emmy Awards drew criticism from The Root and other sources. But the problem for this show, or for its sibling, the Oscars, is about who the directors are. Producers hire directors, and the directors decide who and what goes on the screen. But Hollywood’s overwhelmingly white male producers rarely hire blacks, Latinos, Asians or women of any background as directors.

A new Directors Guild of America report shows how woeful the record is, but it’s the same news—just a different day. The report analyzed more than 2,600 episodes produced in the 2010-2011 television season for more than 170 scripted television series shown on broadcast TV, basic cable and premium cable. The shows were produced by production companies including ABC, CBS, Fox, HBO, NBC, Sony and Warner Bros.

White males directed 77 percent of the shows, and white females directed 11 percent of the episodes. Minority males directed 11 percent, and minority females directed 1 percent. The racial and gender near-shutout was more striking for one-hour series, in which white males directed 80 percent of episodes.

White males lost some of their mojo with half-hour series, since they only directed 74 percent. Did Tyler Perry’s many comedies cause that white male directorial drop-off? Tyler is doing something right, whether you like him or not: He made $130 million between May 2010 and May 2011, and Hollywood counts winners by their revenue.

The Directors Guild analysis also lists the worst and the best of the shows when it comes to hiring women or minority directors, and compares current numbers with those from 2009-2010. There is little difference. The DGA’s conclusion: “The statistics seem to demonstrate that as a whole, most production companies have demonstrated little or no interest or effort in increasing diversity in their hiring practices from year to year.”

This conclusion comes despite many meetings between the Directors Guild’s minority and women’s committees and producers, networks and studio representatives to increase the numbers of women and minority directors. Paris Barclay—an Emmy Award-winning director who happens to be black, is the executive producer of Sons of Anarchy and was the executive producer of In Treatment—is tired of these dismissals.

As the DGA’s co-chair of its diversity task force, he said in the report’s press release, “It’s not enough to just give lip service to the idea of increasing diversity behind the camera. These programs are so far failing to live up to their promise. So we’re going to take the discussion straight to the people on each show who make the hiring decisions.”

Good luck with that. In a related vein, last May the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism published a report about the movie industry that stated, “Hollywood movies directed by African Americans are significantly more likely to include African-American characters with speaking roles than movies not directed by African Americans.” Really?

Does that also mean that if there is more diversity behind the camera, there will be more in front of it and greater likelihood that more minority, and female, actors will be nominated for Emmy or Oscar awards? What a concept.

9351: Spock Out.

On October 2, 2011, Leonard Nimoy (a.k.a. Mr. Spock) will appear at his final Star Trek event. The iconic personality is retiring from the convention circuit, reportedly to spend more time on other interests—including photography. Hopefully, it won’t involve more fat lady porn. Regarding the Spock gig, the man has certainly milked it long and prospered.

9350: Congressional Cultural Cluelessness…?

From The New York Post…

Workplace harassment cases on rise on Capitol Hill

By S.A. Miller, Post Correspondent

WASHINGTON—Cases of workplace harassment, hostility and discrimination are on the rise on Capitol Hill, and it costs taxpayers a small fortune, a new congressional report revealed yesterday.

Congress’ working stiffs filed 168 complaints last year, more than double the 87 claims reported just five years ago, according to the annual report by the Office of Compliance (OOC), which is supposed to safeguard congressional workers and facilities.

The most common complaint last year was harassment, with 53 cases accounting for more than 30 percent of all complaints, the report showed.

The legal settlements for bad office behavior have cost taxpayers more than $13.2 million since 1997, including about $246,000 in 2010 and $831,000 in 2009 for harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

The lion’s share of the harassment and hostile-workplace complaints came from employees of the US Capitol Police and the Architect of the Capitol, which oversees maintenance and construction of the buildings.

About a fifth of the complaints—19 percent—came from staffers in House and Senate offices.

“The OOC has felt the impact of a substantial increase in discrimination, harassment and retaliation cases over the past five fiscal years,” Executive Director Tamara Chrisler said in the report.

Chrisler didn’t offer an explanation for the spike in complaints, but she urged lawmakers to do more to make Capitol Hill workers aware of their rights, including following workplace protections mandated for private businesses.

Congress exempts itself from most of the rules it imposes on other agencies and private employers to post notices of worker rights, keep employee records, and protect whistle-blowers.

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) and Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.), chairman and ranking member of the House Administration Committee, issued a joint statement vowing to do more, but didn’t endorse calls for more notices and training.

“As always, we will continue to work together to address the remaining hazards and ensure employees understand their rights,” they said.

9349: In The Mix.

From USA TODAY…

More people claim black-white heritage

By Haya El, Nasser, USA TODAY

The number of people who say they are black and white has more than doubled in the past decade, a trend demographers say reflects a growing acceptance of a diverse society.

Blacks who reported more than one race grew at a much faster rate from 2000 to 2010 than those who listed themselves as black-only.

The black-white multiracial population showed the highest increase of any multirace combination, jumping more than 133% to 1.8 million from 2000 to 2010, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. People who say they are black and white make up 59% of the USA’s 3.1 million multiracial blacks, up from 45% in 2000. The nation’s black population stands at 42 million.

“It is dramatic,” William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution, says of the trend. “It’s the younger generation of blacks. Young people are not afraid to identify their race.”

The nation’s total multiple-race population went from 6.8 million in 2000 to 9 million in 2010. More than a third are multiracial blacks.

It’s not clear how many of those who identified their multiracial heritage in 2010 did not do so in 2000 — the first time the Census allowed people to designate more than one race. “There’s a significant increase in the number of biracial and multiracial people,” says Kerry Haynie, co-director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences at Duke University.

Even more striking is the doubling of multiracial blacks in the South, a region with a legacy of racial tension. About 1.1 million Southerners now report they are of more than one race.

“It’s quite remarkable in a region… where interracial relationships were frowned upon or punished either by law or by society,” Haynie says. “It’s very much a good change in the sense that African Americans are being seen as equals. … Those invisible barriers are starting to break down.”

Blacks are spreading out across the USA — returning to the South for work or retirement, for example — leaving the rural South and highly segregated city neighborhoods for more diverse suburbs. Those factors may contribute to the spike in black-white identification.

“People coming from other parts of the country don’t have the historical baggage,” Frey says.