.BBN presents our first Original Video Report, "New York City Newsstand Vendors: Exploiting Some, Protecting Others".
Through the course of our travels around the city BBN noticed a disturbing pattern of disparity in how New York City newsstand vendors in their display cases take liberties with the image of Black and Latino women who model for the cover of sexually provocative magazines. We found shopkeepers - many of them people of color – who exploited the images of Black and Latino women while going to great lengths to protect the image of White women on like magazine covers.
Why does this matter?: The Black and Latino world has to be ever so vigilant about the treatment of its image and how it is projected to the greater world. Opinions and broad generalizations are formed based on what people see in images. That is why this matters to ALL - not just Blacks and Latinos, but the greater public also.
This report is not about the censorship of provocative reading material. Rather, it is about the unequal treatment of the image of Black and Latino women on New York City newsstands. And, we believe the image of ALL women – not some – are deserving of protection.
For Your Information...
New York City newsstands are licensed by city government and they are also bound to law. According to New York Penal Code Penal Law Sections:
--245.10 Public display of offensive sexual material is defined as showing of the female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple.
--245.11 And a person is guilty of public display of offensive sexual material when he with knowledge of its character and content he displays or permits to be displayed in or on any window, showcase, newsstand, display rack, wall, door, billboard, display board, viewing screen, moving picture screen, marquee or similar place, in such manner that the display is easily visible from or in any: public street, sidewalk or thoroughfare; transportation facility; or any place accessible to members of the public without fee or other limit or condition of admission such as a minimum age requirement.
If you notice or think that a newsstand is in violation, please take the time to contact the appropriate authorities:
212.788.3000
these individuals at the Mayor’s Office
212.335.9000
Thank you, and stay informed and engaged on BlackandBrownNews.com! We look forward to brining you more reports like this.
SDTforBBN
© copyright blackandbrownnews.com 2009
BBN especially thanks producer Anjanette Levert and editor Wei Xu for their contribution and enthusiasm to this report! It would not have been done without their generosity.
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