New Orleans' Democratic mayor unveils giant hair pick to celebrate Juneteenth, promptly gets roasted: 'This is a joke'



A giant Afro hair pick with a clenched "black power" fist was unveiled in New Orleans on Friday in celebration of Juneteenth – the holiday paying tribute to the last American slaves being freed. However, the eyebrow-raising statue was widely panned online.

The 28-foot-tall hair pick weighing 7,000 pounds is titled "All Power to All People," and was created by artist Hank Willis Thomas.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell – a Democrat – touted the hair pick statue as "breathtaking" on Twitter.

"As Juneteenth approaches, we celebrated with an unveiling in Lafayette Sq," Cantrell tweeted. "This sculpture is very fitting for this time & place as we celebrate the freedoms that we have gained We know that it doesn’t come without struggles, fights, and protests for 200+ years."

Cantrell said the city is spending $7.2 million to recognize "local black and brown artists," and their artwork would be displayed around public buildings in New Orleans.

\u201cBreathtaking\ud83d\udca5\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc9a\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udda4\u201d
— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@Mayor LaToya Cantrell) 1655494988
\u201cFurthermore, in recognition of our local black and brown artists, we have dedicated $7.2 MILLION in bond funding to public art\ud83d\udca5\n\n\u27a1\ufe0fIn addition, we have already purchased over 60 pieces of artwork created by local Black artists to be displayed in our public buildings\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udcaf\u201d
— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@Mayor LaToya Cantrell) 1655484412


\u201cSearch for the story on https://t.co/ePBMG6NNcM: Two-story Black power hair pick, symbol of African identity, erected near Gallier Hall\nNew Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell calls temporary addition to city\u2019s streetscape \u201cBreathtaking.\u201d Sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas.\u201d
— Doug MacCash (@Doug MacCash) 1655592996

However, not everyone saw the gigantic hair pick as "breathtaking" in reactions on Twitter – including many black Americans.

"Fearless" host Jason Whitlock: "Imagine being mayor of a major city, spending money on a monument that depicts the accomplishments of black people, and deciding on a hair pick. They would recall a white mayor for demeaning us. Instead, we'll shout 'Yaass Queen' and pretend nothing is wrong."

Author Darrell B. Harrison: "Because we all know how important it was for my ancestors to keep their afros lookin’ tight during those 'struggles, fights, and protests.'"

The Hodge Twins: "The best their artists could come up with is a Black Power hair pick sculpture. You can’t fix stupid."

Former congressional candidate Barrington Martin II@_BarringtonII: "Embarrassing. This is sick."

Singer Vinnie James: "These Democrats posed in front of a giant AFRO PICK? An AFRO PICK? This is how they celebrate the freedoms black people have gained? I'm in hell. Right?"

Writer Rod Dreher: "The City of New Orleans just unveiled a giant sculpture of an Afro pick. This is a joke, but it’s not supposed to be. How humiliating for a city that has given humanity so much great culture."

Writer Ellen Carmichael: "As New Orleans’ infrastructure crumbles and innocent people are being gunned down daily, Mayor LaToya Cantrell unveils a giant 'black power' hair pick in historic Lafayette Square. Her awful leadership is absolutely devastating for those with a history and love for this city."

Many online commentators noticed that the statue resembled the large Afro hair pick in the comedy movie "Spaceballs."

\u201c@mayorcantrell Major Spaceball\u2019s vibes here.\u201d
— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@Mayor LaToya Cantrell) 1655494988

Last week, Cantrell unveiled a "Peace Poll" that was sponsored in part by the Tupac Amur Shakur Foundation – an organization associated with the former rapper.

\u201cThis afternoon, the City through the Department of Parks & Parkways in collaboration with the Tupac Amur Shakur Foundation, Tulane University, & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra hosted a ribbon cutting of the newly installed Peace Pole to help foster peace in our communities\ud83d\udc9b\u269c\ufe0f\u201d
— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@Mayor LaToya Cantrell) 1655323676

LeBron James makes fun of Kyle Rittenhouse crying on witness stand — and outspoken NBA superstar gets shredded for it on Twitter



Socially conscious NBA superstar LeBron James weighed in on the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial Wednesday by mocking the 18-year-old defendant for becoming emotional and beginning to cry on the witness stand.

James — reacting to a USA Today headline saying Rittenhouse "broke down in tears" — told his 50 million Twitter followers that he wasn't buying it, among other things.

"What tears?????" James asked in his now viral tweet. "I didn't see one. Man knock it off! That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court." He finished off his message with a trio of laughing-crying emojis.

What tears????? I didn\u2019t see one. Man knock it off! That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court. https://twitter.com/usatoday/status/1458521089152274442\u00a0\u2026

— LeBron James (@KingJames) 1636596954

As of Thursday morning, James' tweet garnered nearly 170,000 likes, nearly 29,000 retweets, and over 23,000 comments.

Oops

Of course, not all of the comments were favorable. In fact, James — who's unwisely opined on a number of issues beyond the basketball court — got his head handed to him by a several prominent Twitter users:

Lebron, great defender of the Chinese government's tyranny, also happens to be an unparalleled dumpster fire in the field of criminal justicepic.twitter.com/Hs9JeXnBt9

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) 1636635152

You're a genuinely terrible and unintelligent person.https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1458619464329670657\u00a0\u2026

— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) 1636601447

Did your ChiCom masters tell you to tweet this?

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) 1636631091

To know you is to dislike you. How could an individual be wrong on every conceivable issue? What an execrable schmuck you are, respectfully of course.

— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) 1636605781

LeBron James appears to be mocking people dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this post. Why? Is this a joke to you? Not a good look!

— Aaron J. Carpenter\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@aaronjcarpenter) 1636605250

You would know all about faking.

— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) 1636602595

glad you could take a break from promoting slavery in China that benefits you to mock a kid who defended himself legally.

— Jessica O\u2019Donnell (@heckyessica) 1636603857

The coward who\u2019s fought for nothing has comments about a young man who stepped into the breech to defended his community because our institutions failed. \n\nLeBron\u2019s existence as a celebrity is a reflection of our decline.https://twitter.com/kingjames/status/1458619464329670657\u00a0\u2026

— Joe Kent for WA-3 (@joekent16jan19) 1636599488

Sit this one out champ.pic.twitter.com/e8tfbJJhhR

— Barrington Martin II (@_BarringtonII) 1636600062

No one knows how to fake something better than youpic.twitter.com/XHLzaTX00d

— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) 1636635858

You get rich selling shoes made by SLAVES.https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1458619464329670657\u00a0\u2026

— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) 1636599830

If he\u2019s faking it, we better call Juwan Howard.pic.twitter.com/j5ZuKTwYSo

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) 1636600458

And conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller called James a "f***ing coward" while mocking him back, asking if he plans on offering "any support for your fellow NBA player @EnesKanter speaking out against the mass extermination of ethnic Muslims in China?"

But notable blue checkmarks agreed with James

As you might guess, a number of Twitterverse luminaries saw things the way James did.

"Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27," CNN commentator Ana Navarro-Cárdenas tweeted. "Think about how much their loved ones have cried, real anguish and grief, not crocodile tears."

"F*** this brat's crocodile tears," Amanda Marcotte, a politics writer for Salon, tweeted. "Self-defense is when you are minding your own business, someone attacks you, and you have to fight back. Rittenhouse picked up a gun and went looking for trouble. He found it and, in a sane world, would go to jail for it."

And Carli Pierson — an attorney and USA Today opinion writer — also invoked the "crocodile tears" charge while writing that Rittenhouse came across as "melodramatic" and shouldn't be believed.

"Regardless of how Rittenhouse tries to twist his story — or twist his sad face into tears — his innocent kid act shouldn't fool anyone," Pierson said, adding that he "could get life in prison if convicted, and that's what he deserves."

Oh, and how can we leave out this one?

C R I S I S\nA C T O Rpic.twitter.com/F0Hnce60S8

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) 1636589734