Re: [Goanet] Black is back
Pics of the new Ms. America It's time for the kala. (a Cecil Pinto quote) http://www.thestar.com/photos/2013/09/16/miss_america_nina_davuluri.html Tim de Mello Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 13:41:27 +0530 From: cecilpi...@gmail.com To: goa...@goanet.org Subject: [Goanet] Black is back http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=Newsfile=articlesid=1139 --- Black is back Jumping skin-deep into politics By Cecil Pinto In a stunning declaration at a crowded press conference today columnist Cecil Pinto declared his candidacy for the North Goa Parliament seat. A huge banner in the backdrop has the campaign slogan, Dark brown is the new black! Frederick: Let me get this clear. Your main plank is going to be skin colour? Cecil: My only plank will be my dark skin and the dark skins of my supporters seated here on the dais with me. Will someone please make the lights brighter? Anyone is free to join my campaign as long as they are dark complexioned. Nigel: How do you measure dark complexion? Cecil: Do you see this lump of clay here on the table? This is pure 'chikol' from the bed of the Mandovi River, with of course a few unavoidable mining rejects mixed in it. If your complexion is darker than this chikol please feel free to join us in our fight. Aarti: But what has skin colour got to do with electoral politics? Cecil: What has ethnicity, caste or religion got to do with choosing a candidate? But they are brought up every time to garner votes. I was inspired by Obama. If a black man could become the President of the USA why not a dark brown man represent North Goa in Parliament? Lisa: But Obama did not use his skin colour as his only qualification. Cecil: That's his problem. You must have heard of the Beauty Contestant who answered the question round saying, I will use my breasts to fight for world peace, well I am going to fight colourism using my dark skin. Vidhydhar: But is colourism that big an issue in India as compared to the West? Cecil: Please understand that in the West the bigger problem is racism. When they say 'black' or 'white' they are referring to race rather than skin colour. Racism is another ball game all-together. Here in India within the same race we discriminate based on skin colour. See how many matrimonial adverts mention fair skin as being desirable. Show me one matrimonial advert that has someone actually searching for a darker skinned partner. Govind: Any other examples you have of Goan colourism? Cecil: Sure. Mention a newborn child and the second question after gender, baba or babee, is Nitov asa? which is a euphemism for Is it fair? In fact many years back when I was dating a lovely dark skinned girl my friends at the time used to tease me that if we married our children would have to be named 'cavlo' (crow) or 'koalso' (charcoal) or 'khapri' (negro) or 'kalia' (blacky). Of course they were fair weather friends. Prakash: Since you are contesting only the North Goa seat do you have a strategic alliance with some candidate in South Goa? Cecil: Actually I am looking for a sort of 'running mate' in South Goa. A dark skinned female, so we can have the gender angle also covered. I have found an interesting woman named Melanin in Agassaim who fits the bill. Her mother's name is Melissa and father is Menin. Melwyn: Do you have any specific demands for dark skinned people? Cecil: Of course. Discrimination should be fought with reservations. We demand 30% government jobs to be reserved for dark skinned people. And we should get discounts on the Kadamba buses and on the Konkan Railway and 50% of all actors in Konkani movies should be dark skinned. Nilesh: Why movies? Cecil: Check out our movies. All the actors are either light skinned or use extensive make-up to appear fair. This is not at all representative of real life where there are as many, if not more, dark skinned than light skinned people. This portrayal leads to false aspirations and that is why we have this curious anomaly in India where more fairness cream is produced and sold than life saving antiseptic cream. Alister: Have you actually yourself faced discrimination because of your dark skin? Cecil: Well at many restaurants waiters tend to ignore me. Alister: That could be because of your belligerent attitude, your sloppy dressing and unattractive personality rather than because of your skin colour. Cecil: Ok. Before marriage in dating situations I rarely got to score with the good looking girls. Alister: That probably had to do with your looks, approach, talk, clothes, money etc rather than specifically your skin colour. Cecil: In beach picnic photos only my eyes and teeth can be seen. Alister: Salt water and direct sunlight on the skin have the effect of extra darkening. Foreigners use it all the while for a darker tan. A naturally dark person is a healthier person and less likely
[Goanet] Black is back
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=Newsfile=articlesid=1139 --- Black is back Jumping skin-deep into politics By Cecil Pinto In a stunning declaration at a crowded press conference today columnist Cecil Pinto declared his candidacy for the North Goa Parliament seat. A huge banner in the backdrop has the campaign slogan, Dark brown is the new black! Frederick: Let me get this clear. Your main plank is going to be skin colour? Cecil: My only plank will be my dark skin and the dark skins of my supporters seated here on the dais with me. Will someone please make the lights brighter? Anyone is free to join my campaign as long as they are dark complexioned. Nigel: How do you measure dark complexion? Cecil: Do you see this lump of clay here on the table? This is pure 'chikol' from the bed of the Mandovi River, with of course a few unavoidable mining rejects mixed in it. If your complexion is darker than this chikol please feel free to join us in our fight. Aarti: But what has skin colour got to do with electoral politics? Cecil: What has ethnicity, caste or religion got to do with choosing a candidate? But they are brought up every time to garner votes. I was inspired by Obama. If a black man could become the President of the USA why not a dark brown man represent North Goa in Parliament? Lisa: But Obama did not use his skin colour as his only qualification. Cecil: That's his problem. You must have heard of the Beauty Contestant who answered the question round saying, I will use my breasts to fight for world peace, well I am going to fight colourism using my dark skin. Vidhydhar: But is colourism that big an issue in India as compared to the West? Cecil: Please understand that in the West the bigger problem is racism. When they say 'black' or 'white' they are referring to race rather than skin colour. Racism is another ball game all-together. Here in India within the same race we discriminate based on skin colour. See how many matrimonial adverts mention fair skin as being desirable. Show me one matrimonial advert that has someone actually searching for a darker skinned partner. Govind: Any other examples you have of Goan colourism? Cecil: Sure. Mention a newborn child and the second question after gender, baba or babee, is Nitov asa? which is a euphemism for Is it fair? In fact many years back when I was dating a lovely dark skinned girl my friends at the time used to tease me that if we married our children would have to be named 'cavlo' (crow) or 'koalso' (charcoal) or 'khapri' (negro) or 'kalia' (blacky). Of course they were fair weather friends. Prakash: Since you are contesting only the North Goa seat do you have a strategic alliance with some candidate in South Goa? Cecil: Actually I am looking for a sort of 'running mate' in South Goa. A dark skinned female, so we can have the gender angle also covered. I have found an interesting woman named Melanin in Agassaim who fits the bill. Her mother's name is Melissa and father is Menin. Melwyn: Do you have any specific demands for dark skinned people? Cecil: Of course. Discrimination should be fought with reservations. We demand 30% government jobs to be reserved for dark skinned people. And we should get discounts on the Kadamba buses and on the Konkan Railway and 50% of all actors in Konkani movies should be dark skinned. Nilesh: Why movies? Cecil: Check out our movies. All the actors are either light skinned or use extensive make-up to appear fair. This is not at all representative of real life where there are as many, if not more, dark skinned than light skinned people. This portrayal leads to false aspirations and that is why we have this curious anomaly in India where more fairness cream is produced and sold than life saving antiseptic cream. Alister: Have you actually yourself faced discrimination because of your dark skin? Cecil: Well at many restaurants waiters tend to ignore me. Alister: That could be because of your belligerent attitude, your sloppy dressing and unattractive personality rather than because of your skin colour. Cecil: Ok. Before marriage in dating situations I rarely got to score with the good looking girls. Alister: That probably had to do with your looks, approach, talk, clothes, money etc rather than specifically your skin colour. Cecil: In beach picnic photos only my eyes and teeth can be seen. Alister: Salt water and direct sunlight on the skin have the effect of extra darkening. Foreigners use it all the while for a darker tan. A naturally dark person is a healthier person and less likely to develop skin cancer. Cecil: Really? And what about the fact that I can't get a tattoo because it doesn't show and ….Oiiiee! Hold on you're supposed to be asking the questions and I have the answers. Look at Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Kali, Draupadi… all described as dark skinned in the Vedas but portayed as light skinned, or even blue, today. The Aryan invasion, followed by centuries of Western
[Goanet] Black is back
Black is back Jumping skin-deep into politics By Cecil Pinto In a stunning declaration at a crowded press conference today columnist Cecil Pinto declared his candidacy for the North Goa Parliament seat. A huge banner in the backdrop has the campaign slogan, Dark brown is the new black! Frederick: Let me get this clear. Your main plank is going to be skin colour? Cecil: My only plank will be my dark skin and the dark skins of my supporters seated here on the dais with me. Will someone please make the lights brighter? Anyone is free to join my campaign as long as they are dark complexioned. Nigel: How do you measure dark complexion? Cecil: Do you see this lump of clay here on the table? This is pure 'chikol' from the bed of the Mandovi River, with of course a few unavoidable mining rejects mixed in it. If your complexion is darker than this chikol please feel free to join us in our fight. Aarti: But what has skin colour got to do with electoral politics? Cecil: What has ethnicity, caste or religion got to do with choosing a candidate? But they are brought up every time to garner votes. I was inspired by Obama. If a black man could become the President of the USA why not a dark brown man represent North Goa in Parliament? Lisa: But Obama did not use his skin colour as his only qualification. Cecil: That's his problem. You must have heard of the Beauty Contestant who answered the question round saying, I will use my breasts to fight for world peace, well I am going to fight colourism using my dark skin. Vidhydhar: But is colourism that big an issue in India as compared to the West? Cecil: Please understand that in the West the bigger problem is racism. When they say 'black' or 'white' they are referring to race rather than skin colour. Racism is another ball game all-together. Here in India within the same race we discriminate based on skin colour. See how many matrimonial adverts mention fair skin as being desirable. Show me one matrimonial advert that has someone actually searching for a darker skinned partner. Govind: Any other examples you have of Goan colourism? Cecil: Sure. Mention a newborn child and the second question after gender, baba or babee, is Nitov asa? which is a euphemism for Is it fair? In fact many years back when I was dating a lovely dark skinned girl my friends at the time used to tease me that if we married our children would have to be named 'cavlo' (crow) or 'koalso' (charcoal) or 'khapri' (negro) or 'kalia' (blacky). Of course they were fair weather friends. Prakash: Since you are contesting only the North Goa seat do you have a strategic alliance with some candidate in South Goa? Cecil: Actually I am looking for a sort of 'running mate' in South Goa. A dark skinned female, so we can have the gender angle also covered. I have found an interesting woman named Melanin in Agassaim who fits the bill. Her mother's name is Melissa and father is Menin. Melwyn: Do you have any specific demands for dark skinned people? Cecil: Of course. Discrimination should be fought with reservations. We demand 30% government jobs to be reserved for dark skinned people. And we should get discounts on the Kadamba buses and on the Konkan Railway and 50% of all actors in Konkani movies should be dark skinned. Nilesh: Why movies? Cecil: Check out our movies. All the actors are either light skinned or use extensive make-up to appear fair. This is not at all representative of real life where there are as many, if not more, dark skinned than light skinned people. This portrayal leads to false aspirations and that is why we have this curious anomaly in India where more fairness cream is produced and sold than life saving antiseptic cream. Alister: Have you actually yourself faced discrimination because of your dark skin? Cecil: Well at many restaurants waiters tend to ignore me. Alister: That could be because of your belligerent attitude, your sloppy dressing and unattractive personality rather than because of your skin colour. Cecil: Ok. Before marriage in dating situations I rarely got to score with the good looking girls. Alister: That probably had to do with your looks, approach, talk, clothes, money etc rather than specifically your skin colour. Cecil: In beach picnic photos only my eyes and teeth can be seen. Alister: Salt water and direct sunlight on the skin have the effect of extra darkening. Foreigners use it all the while for a darker tan. A naturally dark person is a healthier person and less likely to develop skin cancer. Cecil: Really? And what about the fact that I can't get a tattoo because it doesn't show and ….Oiiiee! Hold on you're supposed to be asking the questions and I have the answers. Look at Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Kali, Draupadi… all described as dark skinned in the Vedas but portayed as light skinned, or even blue, today. The Aryan invasion, followed by centuries of Western colonialism, have made us apologetic about our dark skinned heritage. I intend setting
Re: [Goanet] Black is back
Cecil Pinto wrote: Black is back Jumping skin-deep into politics Cecil: Of course. Discrimination should be fought with reservations. We demand 30% government jobs to be reserved for dark skinned people. And we should get discounts on the Kadamba buses and on the Konkan Railway and 50% of all actors in Konkani movies should be dark skinned. Cecil, I think you got this one backwards. In India, 100% of jobs and bus/railway tickets should be for the dark skins. Those who want special status because of their fair skins should demonstrate their status by paying a premium for bus/train ticked and govt jobs. Cecil: Nothing of that sort. We have to check if the wannabe supporters are truly dark skinned or just sun tanned. We therefore check the skin on their buttocks which is a true measure of skin colour as opposed to other parts of the body. This behind checking obviously has to be behind closed doors. I think the above is the religious way of identifying skin colour. The more scientific way is found in today's, The Globe and Mail of Toronto. Here it is: To begin, please point your elbow to the ceiling. Then imagine yourself naked, Robert Krulwich reports for U.S. National Public Radio. Then look at the patch of skin on the inside of your upper arm, the part of you that almost never sees the sun. Whatever colour you see there is what experts call your basic skin colour, according to Nina Jablonski, head of Pennsylvania State University's department of anthropology. Derek: Any slogans you intend using for your campaign? Cecil: Oh yes. We put the coal in coalition. We can see in the dark – but you can't see us. Pretend we're pre-tanned. That's not dirt, it's my skin colour. Dark complexions vs mega complexes. We're dark skinned not thick skinned. It's time for the kala. The kala has come. Ab tera kya hoga paklia?. And when we win the elections with a massive majority our victory slogan will be, Ailo re ailo, kalia ailo! This last paragraph is most excellent! Mervyn1650Lobo __ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/
