America's Finest: Gabby Douglas

My lasting memories of the 2012 London Olympics include gold medalist Gabby Douglas. There were other members of Team USA women's gymnastics team who went into the process hoping to become the toast of the town ... but, Gabby Douglas had other plans. Gabby earned herself 2 gold medals, in the individual all-around and team competitions, and now she is back in America.

They love her in her hometown of Virginia Beach, VA. In fact, a huge mural in her honor has already been created.

They love her in her adopted hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, where she lived with a host family while training for the Olympics. I understand that Oprah Winfrey will interview Gabby about her family's decision to let her train away from home, her mother's support and her experiences in London. That interview will air on Oprah's Next Chapter on Sunday, August 26 at 8:30pm.

They love her in Hollywood. Gabby will join First Lady Michelle Obama later tonight as guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Let's be honest ... all of America loves this 16-year old 4'11" dynamo! You go Gabby!

Racism Runs Rampant on Both Romney's Team and the Greek Olympic Team

I joined Pinterest last month. It is a social network that allows you to post photos on 'boards' that you create in areas that interest you. One of my boards is called 'Racism in America'.

Who knew that my board was too restrictive. Racism is running rampant in Europe as well.

Today we learned that an adviser to the Romney campaign suggested the Republican hopeful was better able to navigate the “special relationship” between the United States and England because of his understanding of “Anglo-Saxon heritage.” [SOURCE]

I guess that Anglo-Saxon heritage is a white supremacist homonym used in Europe.

“We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he feels that the special relationship is special,” the unnamed adviser said, according to the report in the Daily Telegraph. “The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have.”

Mittens didn't deny the report.

“I’m generally not enthusiastic about adopting the comments made by people who are unnamed. I have a lot of advisers,” Romney said. “I’m not sure who this person is … So, I don’t agree with whoever that advisor might be.”

The Romney campaign wasn't the only one with racist foot-in-mouth disease today.

Triple jumper Voula Papachristou was expelled from Greece's Olympic team for her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party.

Commenting on the widely reported appearance of Nile-virus-carrying mosquitoes in Athens, Papachristou wrote:

"With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!"

The Hellenic Olympic Committee kicked Papachristou from the team "for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement."

So ... this woman trains hard for YEARS to represent her country ... she fine-tunes her skills so that she is the best in her nation and one of the best in the world ... she is within a few days of being on a worldwide stage ... and in 140 characters or less she managed to screw it all up.


Racism is a sickness that makes you do and say things that are simply dumb! Hope she has Greek cable TV subscription so she can watch the Olympics on her couch!

I also hope that Mittens can get a backbone like the Hellenic Olympic Committee and locate the racist nit on his staff who made the 'anglo-saxan' comment. That guy needs to get kicked off the team as well!

Good News Tuesday: Lia Neal, Olympic Swimmer

There were other stories that got more ink last week during the 2012 Olympic Trials in swimming. However, the 'good news' that made me smile occurred in the 100-meter freestyle when 17-year old Lia Neal came in 4th place and earned a place on the 4x100 freestyle relay team that will represent America in the London Olympics.

Lia Neal is only 2nd Black woman in history to earn place on USA Olympic Swim Team. Lia, who is also half Chinese, comes after the first Black woman to make the U.S. Olympic swim team, Maritza Correia, who was a silver medalist in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay in 2004.

“I definitely knew about Maritza Correia being the first one,” Neal said. “I never thought about me being the second one going into the race, but I guess that’s really a cool title to have.”

Neal, who lives in Brooklyn, started taking swimming lessons with friends when she was 6. She showed promise, and a swim mom recommended when she was 8 that she try out for a swim team. She’s been training ever since with Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

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This blog will continue to seek out Good News stories about people of African descent and share them with you each Tuesday. We need to tell the positive and upbeat information about OURstory. We can't depend on others to do it for us. Please pass along any Good News story that comes your way. In the case of bloggers ... we want you to join our Good News parade every Tuesday.

What do Jeneba Tarmoh and Elizabeth Price Have in Common With OJ Simpson?

I know how white folks felt after O.J. Simpson was acquitted that first time. I know how Black folks felt after George Zimmerman was initially released from police custody after he killed Trayvon Martin. Robbed. Hoodwinked. Bamboozled.

Every four years I get hooked into the Summer Olympics. I don't much follow track or gymnastics any other time ... but, 2012 is an Olympics year so I find myself watching the Olympic coverage.

Last week I watched the 100-meter women's sprint, in which the top 3 sprinters earn a spot on the 2012 USA Olympics team. Carmelita Jeter and Tianna Madison were clear-cut winners of that race. The battle for the third and final spot on the US team was very close between Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix ... however, my eyeballs told me that Tarmoh won ... and the electronic timer confirmed my eyeballs when it declared that Tarmoh beat Felix by .001 second.  Felix (and her corporate sponsors) expressed disappointment. Tarmoh took a victory lap and answered questions during a press conference after the race.

However, within an hour of the race everything changed. USA Track and Field officials said that it was a tie between Tarmoh and Felix and that the tiebreaker would be completed with either a coin-flip or race-off.

It smelled like the fix was in to me ... and others feel the same way. Felix is the 'face of track and field'. She is a darling of Corporate America. A whole lot of commercials became obsolete when she was declared a loser by .001. Also, the way she lost didn't give a lot of hope that Felix would earn a spot on her remaining event ... the 200-meter sprint.

It turns out that Felix creamed her opponents in the 200-meter sprint. She easily earned a spot on the team with her victory in that longer sprint. I thought she was going to be gracious and give the slot on the 100-meter team to Tarmoh. But, she didn't. She insisted on a run-off that was scheduled to take place today.

All of that changed earlier today when the winner-take-all race was called off by Tarmoh who wrote,

"I, Jeneba Tarmoh, have decided to decline my 3rd place position in the 100m dash to Allyson Felix," Tarmoh wrote in the email. "I understand that with this decision I am no longer running the 100m dash in the Olympic Games and will be an alternate for the event. As an alternate I understand that I will be asked to run if another 100m runner decides not to for personal reasons, and/or on the 4x100m relay."

A less-publicized travesty of Olympic justice occurred last night when the 5-person USA women's gymnastic team was selected. Elizabeth 'Ebee' Price had the 2-day meet of her life ... and she had the 4th-highest all-around score at the Olympic trials. Although Price finished fourth over the weekend in the trials, she was not selected to the five-person team to compete in London. Only the winner of the trials gets an automatic slot. The other four members were chosen by a three-person committee.

McKayla Maroney finished 7th in the trials ... but, she was selected for the team instead of Price. Can you say robbed, hoodwinked and bamboozled? I bet that the family and friends of Ebee are using one or all of these words as they look at this picture of the 2012 USA Women's Gymnastics team.

Would it have been too much to ask for two Black women to be on the team? Or is the unwritten rule that only one sister at a time can represent America on the national team?

Ding Hui is the Jackie Robinson of Chinese Volleyball

A 19-year-old volleyball player from the eastern city of Hangzhou has become the first Black athlete to be called up to represent China, triggering fierce curiosity among his compatriots. Read more.