Several activists are coming out in force to express outrage with Charles Knipp, a 45-year-old, gay, drag comedian best known for performing in blackface as his alter ego character, Shirley Q. Liquor – nicknamed "the Queen of Ignunce." Knipp describes Liquor as being “an illiterate welfare mother with 19 kids who guzzles malt liquor and drives a Caddy.” Her conversation is saturated with malapropisms. For example, she says her cat needs to get "sprayed," and she pronounces K-Mart and Wal-Mart "K-Mark" and 'Wal-Mark." The character attends Mount Holy Olive Second Baptist Zion Church of God in Christ of Resurrected Latter-Days AME CME (a reference to historically African-American churches). Knipp’s is also known for mocking the black American holiday Kwanzaa and makes fun of stereotypical-sounding black names in a music video entitled, Who Is My Baby’s Daddy, where his character Shirley Q. Liquor tries to recollect the names of her "chirrun," “…Cheeto, Orangello, Chlamydia, and Kmartina...”WWW.BanShirleyQLiquor.com has been launched in an attempt to ban Knipp's minstrel show. Also, The Bev Smith Show on American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) will dedicate its entire broadcast today (8:12 p.m.-10 p.m. ET) to the campaign to ban Shirley Q. Liquor and spread the word about his upcoming performances. "We believe that if Mr. Knipp is a true talent, he can find plenty of folks who look just like him to present in 3-dimensional caricature," read a statement from Smith's camp. "If he really is funny, then he can find more than enough insulting and stereotypical elements of his own group, their background, and their culture, to mock. HE DOES NOT NEED OURS. As it is said, we have enough problems.
As if injury could further be added to this insult, a recent posting to his website allegedly included the headshot of well-respected journalist/activist Jasmyne Cannick--a woman who daily responds to and fights for the rights and dignity of persons of color and the LGBT communities--edited atop the body of a naked and hefty-breasted woman. (BLOGGER'S NOTE: TO VIEW THIS DEGRADING PICTURE, CLICK HERE, BUT I MUST WARN YOU IT IS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC.)
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Understand this, please: One of our journalists has been insulted. Would Charles Knipp have done this to an AP journalist? Would the head of Mike Wallace or Cokie Roberts or Jorge Ramos be used this way without response from their respective communities? We think not." Cannick added: “Imus may have called Black women ‘nappy-headed ho's,’ but it’s Knipp who routinely tries to bring that image to life onstage as Shirley Q. Liquor. The hypocrisy is sickening. Isaiah Washington was unable to escape the wrath of gay America, but Charles Knipp, a white gay man, can perform a blackface minstrel and be rewarded by gay Americans to the tune of $90k annually. Someone has some explaining to do. This has gone on for far too long under the radar.”
The Bev Smith Show can be heard in Sacramento, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Augusta, Chicago, and more. Listen to the show online at www.wamoam.com or www.waok.com.
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