Black journalist offended by a white performer's "degrading" depiction of black women

[SSDiva]

A controversial white male drag queen who plays a role of a big black woman with 19 children is being challenged by a black female journalist who says she is offended by a recent "attack" on her and on black women in general.
Charles Knipp, who plays the character Shirley Q. Liquor in stage performances, allegedly posted a photo on his web site with the head of the journalist, Jasmyne Cannick, superimposed on the body of an extremely large naked black woman. [The photo is available online here but it is so graphic that The Daily Voice would not publish it on this web site.]
Cannick, who said she was offended by the posting, has criticized Knipp in the past as a "white gay drag queen who performs in Blackface and mocks African-American women and culture." She led a public campaign against Knipp that led to the cancellation of some of his shows in 2007, and she says she received death threats after Knipp posted her home phone number on his web site.
Although Cannick said she was reluctant to publicize the attack, which apparently took place on Feb. 15, she felt the need to respond in some way. "Obviously it's not me, it's my head [on the photo], but that is somebody else's real body. It's degrading and quite frankly embarrassing for the both of us, whoever she is," said Cannick.
Cannick, who is a contributor to The Daily Voice, said she is "not surprised" by Knipp's recent action. "This is the kind of person we're dealing with. A man who out of one side of his mouth tells the media that he loves Black people and was raised by a Black women and has nothing but respect for us, and then goes and does something like this," she said.
The depiction of Cannick "isn't even half as bad as the stuff that he says during his shows about Black people and posts on his website," Cannick said. "Black women do not deserve to be ridiculed and mocked in this fashion anymore," she added.
"Here you have a white man who thinks that in 2008 it's still okay to perform on blackface and mock African-Americans---and he's getting paid to do it by white gays all over the country," said Cannick, adding a threat of her own at the end. "At some point enough is enough and with his latest antics, I'm going to try and put him out of business permanently using our legal system."
The image of Cannick has since been removed from the web site, but a screen capture of the site taken today shows Knipp's latest targets as Barack Obama and former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who Knipp refers to alternately as "Cynthia McKinley" and "Cynthia McKinneys." The page says McKinney "bashes cops upside they head and then pop out of eyes."
The page also features a photo of Obama smoking a cigarette superimposed on the head of a religious figure with the Illinois senator telling a follower to "Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me." Below the Obama depiction is an image of two black women doing what the site calls the "Yes We Can dance."










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Black journalist offended by a white performer's "degrading" depiction of black women - The Daily Voice - Black America's Daily News Source