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LIFE/ CliacEatte $0St
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Prom memories - good or bad - last lifetime
Continued from page 1B
hours before arriving to the
prom, there is usually a pre
prom event family and
friends, gather and get ready
and take pictures.
Danielle Hart, a JCSU
junior, describes what she
calls the prom from hell. “Oh
my God, it was the worst
night of my life,” said Hart. “I
felt like Cinderella, my dress
was falling apart by the hour.
When I lifted my arm up to
dance, my strap popped off.
The nightmare started when
I got the dress made. The
lady who made it messed up
five times. My heel got
caught in my dress, and I had
a hole in the bottom of my
dress before I got to tihe
prom.”
To top off the terrible
evening, Hart’s date had the
audacity to wear what todays
younger generation calls a
“young” tuxedo. “I was going
to backhand my date,” said
Hart. “He came down my
steps looking like a penguin.
His suit was too small. He
had on a tuxedo with a tail. I
told him he needed to go back
up the steps to change
clothes.”
Tb put the icing on the cake
Hart wore a baby blue chiffon
dress, and what does her date
bring in...an orange corsage.
“I specifically told the idiot to
buy me a baby blue corsage,”
she said.
Common prom activities
include dining, dancing, the
crowing of a prom king and
queen and socializing. Many
Charlotte high schools rent
ballrooms like at the Bank of
America Stadium. Senior
Gerard Griffin from West
Charlotte High School loved
the atmosphere at the
Carolina Panthers' home dur
ing Harding University High
School’s prom.
“I like to dress up every once
and awhile,” said Griffin “The
prom is a traditional event.
“My outfit was nice and my
girl was pretty.”
Hip hop pushing black women into vixen stereotypes
Continued from page 1B
our children, we realized
that, as Black women, it was
up to us to take a stand.”
Nesnga Burton, PhD, assis
tant professor of communica
tions at Johnson C. Smith
University, said media litera
cy is important for African
Americans because many of
he images of blacks are dis
torted and problematic.
“As viewers, we have the
power,” she said. ‘"We can say
that we’re not going to buy a
certain label’s music if they
keep promoting those
imeiges.”
Negative portrayals of
black women is one of the
reasons that Burton doesn’t
know or care to know what
channel BET is on her Direct
TV subscription.
Cosby puts comedy
on the back burner
Continued from page 1B
lowing race riots in 2001,
when an unarmed black man
was shot and killed by a white
police officer trying to make
an arrest.
Activists CiUled for a boycott
imtil leaders agreed to pay
more attention to police, racial
and economic issues. Cosby’s
publicist has said Cosby was
n’t supporting the boycott, but
felt it wasn’t an appropriate
time for comedy.
Young women differ in their
opinions of hip-hop videos.
“I believe it is a shame that
African American women
degrade themselves in music
videos. We come from women
like Nefertiti, Angela Davis,
and Maya Angelou, but we
are shaking our butts. It’s
sad, it’s almost like saying the
‘n’ word,” said Jasmyn
Jackson, a JCSU senior.
Reaching a
growing and
affluent African
American
demographic has
never been easier.
All you have to
do is call for more
information
(704) 376 0496
Calotte
Another JCSU student,
Jacquelyn Rucker, has a dif
ferent view. “Black women in
music videos are portrayed in
a manner that they want to
be seen,” she said. “The music
video industry is designed to
be a form of entertainment,
marketing and selling for
individuals that choose to
engage in such activities that
portray sex because sex sells.”
Wright said seeing many
women buying into the sexist
attitude of the images dis
played hurts her.
“I think that women should
have a little more esteem and
self-respect. She should defi
nitely respect herself,” she
said.
Victoria Elmore contributed
to the reporting of this article
Want to Go?
Wliat: Take Back the Musk
When: April 28,8-9:30pm.
Where: Cone University Center.
McKnight Hall
Cost: Free
S0UTHEAST & WE S T CORRIDORS
Open Houses
View the Foo^rint
of the Projects
The Charlotte Area Transit System
(CATS) invites you to drop in at the
Southeast Corridor Rapid Transit and
Highway Project and the West
Corridor Rapid Transit Project Open
Houses. Alignment alternatives to
be taken forward to the Metropolit^
Transit Commission (MTC),
right-of-way impact, and station
plans will be presented.
Please consult the CATS Trip
Plannerat ufwn/.ririetransit.ofg
for bus routes nearest
the meting locations.
SOUTHEAST CORRIDOR OPEN HOUSES
Drop In:
12:00 - 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 -8:00 p.m.
Tiesday, April 25,2006
Eastland IVIall Activity Room*
5471 Contra! Avenue
Charlotte, NC
Thirsday, April 27,2006
Matthews Town Hall
232 Matthews Station Street
Matthews, NC
'Enter Eastland MaH through Entrance E m the upper deck
parking area at Belk. After entering the mall, go down the first
hatmy on the left and follow signs to the Activity Poom.
WEST CORRIDOR OPEN HOUSE
Drop in:
12:00 -3:00 p.m. and 5:00-8:00 p.m.
Moiday, May 1,2006
Police & Government Services
West Service Center
4150 Wilkinson Boulevard
Charlotte. NC
For more intormation, contact (704) 336-RIDE or visit wwwjidetransitmrg.