More Than a Selfie

When the story of President Barack Obama taking a 'selfie' with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt during Nelson Mandela's memorial service hit my LinkedIn Pulse feed I was taken aback. The headline, which came from Mashable, read -- "Dear Obama: Funerals Are No Place for Selfies." My response on my @TamikaCody Twitter account … -- Remind me again on what the definition of newsworthy stories are. 

Apparently this was a big story for the social media world. Tons of comments questioning the behavior of President Obama started to trickle in on my Facebook feed. "Do you think President Obama was being disrespectful taking a selfie." Other organizations were more concerned about the look on Michelle Obama's face. "Michelle doesn't look too happy," one commenter wrote. 

The more these rants appeared in my social media feeds the more irritated I became.

Spoken Word Special: Dan's Love Story

Daniel Cruz

Music moves me. Art moves me. Words move me.

I recently found one way to support my addiction for the arts. Every Wednesday night, from 8 o'clock p.m. to 12 a.m., a group of singers, musicians and poets share their talent at Trend Coffee & Tea House open mic night in Montclair, N.J.

On Nov. 27. 2013, Dan, a young Montclair local, took the stage at Trend's open mic and shared a moving, inspirational poem.

Introducing Daniel Cruz ...

Know an emerging artist you'd like to see featured on Art of Cultures... E-mail your submissions to TCsViews@gmail.com or Tweet me @TCsViews

Oh SNAP!

Is it me, or is there an overwhelming amount of racist jabs on social media these days?

Throughout the month of October 2013 I saw one too many racial insults in my Facebook news feed. One post in particular got more than 50 comments. The gripe was about Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards being accepted in hair salons.

At first I wondered, “Why would food stamps be accepted at a hair salon?” As I read through the comments I realized that I wasn’t the only one who was thinking the same thing. “Does (the owner) have the business listed as a salon/food store,” one Facebook user asked. “You are selling food at the shop now???” Those comments made me realize that I wasn’t crazy and in fact, there is no correlation between food stamps and hair salons. But then the comments started to get repulsive and in my humble opinion, flat out racists.

Some comments went from taking cheap shots at women who prefers to wear protective hair styles, “O shit weaves on EBT?” One FB user took their best shot of mimicking Ebonics, “Girls got to get her hair did.” After reading the comment about “bringing in the China man to do nails,” that was my cue to log off and shut down my laptop.

Shout out to Jay Z: Stick with Barneys!

  

After word got out that a 19 year-old Black American man filed a $5 million claim against high-end retailer Barneys because he was racially profiled and retained in NYPD’s custody after purchasing a $350 belt, the news feeds of social media sites got flooded with rage. Turns out that Twitter and Facebook fans of Jay Z, aka Shawn Carter, wants the Brooklyn, N.Y.-born rapper to end his partnership with Barneys over the matter.

To be honest, I really think everyone is overreacting. Why is it that every time that something goes down in Black American communities Black celebrities have to be scrutinized in the process?

Looking for work via LinkedIn

Local news producer writes off social media site in her job search

It's very rare that I share my work life on my personal Facebook page. So when I snapped a couple of photos and posted them with the caption "Working. Come sit in the hot seat" I was surprised how many of my Facebook Friends were interested.

One friend asked, "What does this job entail?" I explained to my Facebook friend, who also happens to be a fellow journalist and former classmate from University of South Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communications, that, "I'm a managing editor of a financial trade publication, which has a website and an online TV portal."