that whole hot and cold, playing-hard-to-get routine is so fucking played out. 

(A man comes to the counter and places two dresses on the counter: one sized XS and one sized XXL.)
Me: “Are these dresses both for the same woman?”
Customer: “Yes.”
Me: “Oh, okay. These are both very different sizes, so they are not likely to fit the same person. What size does she usually take?”
Customer: “Um… I’m not sure.”
Manager: “Well, does she look more like me or more like her?”
(Note: my manager is quite small, and I am quite big.)
Customer: “Um… uh… I’m sure these will be fine.”
Me: “Sir, because the price is marked down on these dresses they will be Final Sale, so you will not be able to return them if they are not the right size. Are you sure we can’t help you?”
(The customer looks around furtively, then leans in close so that only my manager and I can hear what he is saying.)
Customer: “These dresses are for me, actually.”
(My manager looks at me, and I at her, and then she turns to the customer and speaks a very matter of fact voice.)
Manager: “Why don’t you go try them on, then?”
Customer: “Really? Would that be okay with you?”
Manager: “Of course! Let me get you started with a fitting room.”
(I spend the next hour bringing this man dresses to try on and he had a lovely time! He introduced himself to me and thanked us profusely for being so understanding and helpful. He left with four dresses, all of which fit him to a tee, and he came back regularly after that.)

"   Certain forms of black cultural expression have become commercially valuable, and black cultural entrepreneurs fear that these forms will be exploited by white performers who will adopt them and, tapping white-skin privilege, obtain compensation far outstripping that paid to black performers.   "

afrofuturistaffair:

World Star Hip Hop: END sexual exploitation of minors and the mentally challenged

codelens:

boredandmoist:

blackgirlsbirthedtheearth:

codelens:

Within the last week a horrible video surfaced on the online media site WorldStarHipHop.com. It was of a man coercing a mentally challenged female into having sex. This video was posted in the early afternoon hours of june 8th and removed very quickly after a quick backlash from people . It looked as tho it was done by teenagers or adults in their early to late 20’s . The female who you could tell was very sweet but mentally challenged was talked into sex by the young men telling her it was going to be fun and it was a game to which she smiled and went along with it

Signal boost please.   

I could cry. This is beyond sick. 

While this is extremely fucked up, is this really the first time people felt world star was exploiting people? Like you go on this site and watch people that are likely beaten within inches of their lives and sometimes straight murdered. This website has been exploiting humanity for a while, and I’m glad people are deciding to take a stand now, but the ugly truth is when world star isn’t doing it anymore another site will (see live leak). You people need this depraved bullshit on the internet. You crave it. You know who you are.  

Unfortunately, you’re right.  But I take the position that as long as there is non-justice on the planet the correct thing to do is always to counter that non-justice.  

Here are some suggestions to counter WSHH and other sites like it:

-don’t visit or share the videos (even if you’re expressing opposition - traffic is the currency of the web)

-musicians don’t pay world start hip hop to promote your music.  There are plenty of other ways to promote your music via social media, high-traffic niche blogs, independent media etc.

-boycott businesses or companies that pay for advertising on the site

-don’t do business with the company that hosts world start hip hop and let them know why (Hivelocity)

Anyone else who has suggestions please reblog with some of your ideas:

I’m the kind of John closet dudes wanna go steady on

Toss my gems up, raise the bar, Yung Phenomenon