Fantasia’s post-abortion suicide attempt

Jill Stanek ^ | 12-2-10 | Jill Stanek

[mlizzy]

I’ve not followed the life and times of Fantasia Barrino, American Idol’s 2004 Season 3 winner.

But when I read the tragic revelation last week that Fantasia attempted to kill herself in August following an abortion, I brought myself up to speed. Little did LifeNews.com know the backstory when originally reporting Fantasia’s suicide attempt, particularly when writing she “once chose life – when faced with an unexpected pregnancy.”

That was in 2001, when Fantasia, a 17-yr-old unmarried high school drop out, gave birth to daughter Zion (pictured, left, with Fantasia last week). Nine years later, at the height of fame and in the midst of an adulterous affair, Fantasia chose otherwise for her next unexpected pregnancy. Details came out during a child custody hearing November 22 between Fantasia’s former lover, Antwaun Cook, and his estranged wife Paula.

[wideawake]

Is there even a correct way to spell that?

Antoine.

As in Antoine "Fats" Domino.

[WayneS]

In that picture she looks like Andre Braugher in a bathing cap.

[headstamp 2]

“Antwaun Cook

Antwaun - is it intentional, or could they just not spell?”

Cook: “You mean Antwaun of New Orleans?”

Bugs Bunny: “I don’t mean Antwaun of Flatbush!”

[Stentor]

That looks like two guys sitting too close on that there machine.

[jessduntno]

hahahahaha ... Antwaun ... what a maroon.

[GeronL]

Disgusting slut.

[ßuddaßudd]

You should read up on the name La-a for more entertainment.

[ClearCase_guy]

What’s with this “unexpected pregnancy?” terminology?

For some folks, reality itself is "unexpected". Check the headlines -- a whole lot of very obvious stuff is "unexpected".

[mlizzy]

This from Wikipedia:

Michael "Mike" Royko (September 19, 1932 – April 29, 1997) was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, Illinois, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Over his thirty year career, he wrote over 7,500 daily columns for three newspapers, the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune.

On becoming a columnist, he drew experiences from his childhood, becoming the voice of the Everyman Chicago. Although caustically sarcastic, he never condescended to his readers, considering himself one of the people and maintaining a healthy skepticism about elites of all kinds.

Yes *caustically sarcastic* would be a good definition. Anyway, he wrote a column on African Americans regarding the odd names they select for their children. It really was a pretty funny column, but he got a bunch of **** thrown at him, because the blacks said whites name their kids "unusual" names as well (plug in Sarah Palin's choice of kid names for an example). So Royko had to publicly (by way of one of his columns) apologize to the African American audience, which I don't think was very easy for him to do.

[Springfield Reformer]

Names like that occur more frequently in the black community. It’s a cultural thing. In Chicago’s 7th District a black candidate named Princess Dempsey was challenged because many outside her community thought the name “Princess” gave her an unfair advantage on the ballot, especially since it was an acquired rather than a birth certificate name. She won that challenge because, among other things, the judge rightly recognized the cultural tone-deafness of such claims.

If the name itself isn’t unusual, the spellings can be varied as a way to identify with a unique cultural niche, to form a bond of group identification. Don’t infer that it means the same thing within that group that it seems to mean outside the group. Outsiders are not expected to “get it.”

[Esther Ruth]

Well she (Fantasia) is alive and so it is not so sad of a mess, could be worse. Reminded of the women who would come to Jesus and everyone would try to stop them from being near Him because of what kind of women they were — and we know what His response was and we know how a real Christian would respond to Fantasia. Praying for her.

[mlizzy]

Praying for her.

You've got the right idea. Jill Stanek's article (the rest of it) is good. She shows Fantasia empathy as well.

[Springfield Reformer]

The repeated indiscretions are tragic, but hardly a basis for name-calling. I feel bad for her. I know something of the sorrow she must have felt. It is not uncommon for women to have severe post-abortion regret. If she now pictures herself as someone who broke a home and killed an innocent child in the process, she is in shock at how different she really is from what she though of herself before the unhappy events.

And it is made all the more painful because she once made the right decision, but now, after this mistake, she can’t go back in time to who she once was. She must live now in a forever-altered reality, with no way home, and nothing to keep her company but her own, suffocating sense of guilt. For some, that is more than can be borne, a sorrow that overwhelms, and it does not deserve our ridicule, but our pity, and perhaps some blame to ourselves, that we have not fought harder to protect the innocent unborn children who get caught up in all our grown-up, un-Disney-like drama.

[Charles Martel]

Is there even a correct way to spell that?

Sure there is: Antoine.

From wiki:

Other spellings

Antawn Jamison. American basketball player
Antoin Sevruguin, photographer
Antowain Smith, American football player
Antuan Simmons, American football player
Antwaan Randle El, American football player
Antwone Fisher, American author, screenwriter and film producer

Aside from the likely Russian influence in the spelling of the second variant, I'd say that there's a definite pattern emerging.

[Durus]

"...the name “Princess” gave her an unfair advantage on the ballot, especially since it was an acquired rather than a birth certificate name. She won that challenge because, among other things, the judge rightly recognized the cultural tone-deafness of such claims.

The judge ruled that her nick name was legal to use because someone daring to question the use of her nick name on offical documents was "rightly" recognised as "cultural tone-deafness"? Or in other words it was racist? Sure. Let's just ignore any concept of the rule of law in favor of a every shifting and nebulous polital correctness mantra.

[Springfield Reformer]

Most people don’t know about it, but there is such a thing as common law name change. Works kind of like common law marriage. Plenty of case law to support it, too. She’d been called “Princess” for 20-30 years. Had it on all her checks, her DL, her passport, etc. Common law recognizes name changes without court sanction as a matter of right through free speech. Her name becoming Princess through usage was perfectly legal.

And frankly, if you had been there, you’d have seen there really was an element of racial biasing in the thinking of her detractors. She’s a good person, ran as an independent. Pro-life, pro-free market, etc. What do you want? Sometimes cultural bias affects even well-intended people. They think a name sounds funny or stupid because, well, that’s how it really sounds to them. So be it. But it was by no means illegal.

For example, you could call yourself “Sledge Hammer” for the next few years, and as long as you were “open and notorious” about it, and weren’t doing it fraudulently, i.e., to avoid other legal obligations (tax, child support, etc.), under Illinois statute, you can claim that name as legally your very own. Free speech. You can call yourself whatever you like.

Exceptions do apply. “0” for example, would not work. The courts that have looked at this don’t like numbers for names. But “Zero” probably would work.

The law is the whole law, not just the part you or I happen to be familiar with, and in reference to the whole law, she not only broke no law, she was asserting the rule of law. It was those denying her ballot access based on their lack of racial understanding who were at risk of breaking established constitutional law, which prohibits racial discrimination in the exercise of fundamental rights such as ballot access, even if it isn’t harmfully intended.

[kearnyirish2]

I believe this is exactly the type of person that Justice Ginsburg intended to have murder their own children. This behaviour is simply not compatible with Western civilization.

[Durus]

I don't care if her name sounds funny. I don't know the color of her skin because I've never seen her. I don't know her politics. What I do know is that she had a nick name and while you can use a nickname all you want it just doesn't magically become your legal name, regardless of your sex, creed, or color.

If she wanted to change her name legally more power to her, but on official documents you use your legal name, and trying to get her to do so isn't racist.

[Nea Wood]

i have never liked her singing, nor her performances... the last time i saw her perform was a few months ago with a handful of other artists... i thought her performance was awful... a lot of screeching and yelling...

The one and only time I ever saw her "perform," she came back to American Idol as a guest. Her "performance" was so bizarre, and so awful, that the camera panned to Simon Cowell, who had a disbelieving, horrified expression on his face. She must not have sung that way during the competition, or else I can't imagine how she won.

[Springfield Reformer]

Maybe not in your jurisdiction, but yes, you really can “magically” acquire a new name through usage in Illinois, good enough to be used on legal documents, including nominating papers for a ballot petition. The statute for changing your name in court is written to be non-exclusive with the common law “magical” change. True law. Look at the Thomas case and it’s lineage:

“In Reinken v. Reinken (1933), 351 Ill. 409, 413, 184 N.E. 639, our supreme court said: At common law, and in the absence of statutory restriction, an individual may lawfully change his name without resort to any legal proceedings, and for all purposes the name thus assumed will constitute his legal name just as much as if he had borne it from birth. (45 Corpus Juris, 381.) “
~Thomas v Thomas, 100 Ill.App.3d 1080, 427 N.E.2d 1009 (Ill. App. 1 Dist., 1981).

And …

“Our “act to revise the law in relation to names” (Citations) permits an individual to apply to the circuit court for the entry of an order changing his name. These statutory provisions are, however, not exclusive but are merely permissive, and they do not abrogate the common law right of the individual to change his name without application to the courts. “
~Thomas v Thomas, 100 Ill.App.3d 1080, 427 N.E.2d 1009 (Ill. App. 1 Dist., 1981)

The above common law principle is used repeatedly in passport and other name changes cases. Nothing personal, but you need to recognize what the rule of law actually is in this kind of case before issuing a judgment about it.

And I was in the room when the arguments were made concerning the potential effect of her name on those poor, thoughtless voters she might beguile. They completely disregarded the fact that a disproportionately large number of black females have that same first name, that this fact was well known in the black community, and that the black community was way too intelligent to be at all affected by it.

Don’t misunderstand me. I get what’s wrong with playing the race card when it’s just a political tactic. My dad was told, by Jesse Jackson Sr., that his skin color was wrong for being principal in a black inner city school. They warehoused my dad in a downtown junk job for being successful at teaching poor kids how to get out of Jesse Jackson’s slum. There is racism in Chicago, and it works both ways. It does not good to use it when it’s phony, and it does not good to fool yourself about it when it’s real. Honesty is the best policy, even when it isn’t easy.