Ashley Herzog
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Stories (51/0)
Hitler had an Irish nephew who turned against him
I don’t love the “I was today years old when” meme, but my Irish-American research finally gave me a good one: I was today years old when I found out that Adolf Hitler had an Irish nephew named William Patrick, sometimes called Patrick or Willy, who was actually kind of hot and definitely Irish. He was raised by an Irish Catholic woman named Bridget after his father, Hitler’s half-brother, abandoned the family. (Naturally, Hitler’s half-brother was a complete chump, squandering all the family’s money on a “gambling tour” in Europe when World War I broke out. Instead of finding some way to get home, he said “nah, fuck it,” stayed in the city where he was gambling, and illegally married another woman.) Still, Adolf Hitler offered his Irish nephew a job in Germany, where he had just become chancellor. When Hitler told him to renounce his British citizenship in exchange for a high-ranking job, Willy smelled some bullshit and fled to the United States, apparently blackmailing Hitler with “embarrassing information about his family” on his way out. He published an article titled “Why I hate my Uncle,” joined the Navy, and fought for the U.S. in World War II. His family still lives here under a different name.
By Ashley Herzogabout a year ago in Humans
Bad advice we get from Disney princesses — including the new Ariel
Last week, I wrote about how the “black Little Mermaid” controversy ignores the fact that the storyline is the problem. This is true no matter who plays Ariel in the upcoming live action movie. In fact, I believe Disney made the decision to cast a “black Ariel” to make feminist moms feel better about taking their daughters to see it.
By Ashley Herzog2 years ago in Beat
Actually, I do have a problem with a black Little Mermaid
First, let me start by saying Halle Bailey, who plays Ariel in Disney’s live action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” is drop-dead gorgeous, and any straight, red-blooded American man vehemently opposed to seeing her in a seashell bikini is a nut. But let’s see Bailey’s role in this film for what it is: she’s a young woman, barely out of her teen years, with idealized features and a Victoria’s Secret Angels figure. She looks great in a bikini. She can act, and judging by the trailer, she can certainly sing — making her the ideal candidate to play the lead role in a regressive story. Replacing a fair-skinned cartoon character with a young black woman doesn’t make the story “woke.” That’s undoubtedly what Disney wants its target audience to think — and it was a brilliant marketing strategy on their part.
By Ashley Herzog2 years ago in Beat
Two years later, some black media leaders in Cleveland are criticizing the destructive influence of #BLM
The photo of me above is from the Republican National Convention in 2016, when the RNC came to my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Black Lives Matter was a nascent movement at the time, considered fringe by many. BLM wasn’t a Twitter hashtag, a T-shirt, or a corporate slogan.
By Ashley Herzog2 years ago in Interview
The secret history of my hometown
I grew up in a town on Lake Erie that was once known by its Native American name, Xeuma. It was later known, along with other neighboring towns, as the French Creek District, followed by its present name, Avon Lake. If you grew up in the Cleveland area, you probably know Avon Lake as a “new” suburb. But Avon Lake is not new, and its history is just as rich as Cleveland’s. While the city of Cleveland sits on what was once a no-man’s land, Avon Lake was home to Native American tribes living along the French Creek.
By Ashley Herzog2 years ago in FYI