Thursday, June 05, 2008

Yes We Can Fist Bump

Barack Obama and wife Michelle did the fist bump Tuesday night. The Washington Post called it "the fist bump heard 'round the world." Time magazine posted a story entitled, A Brief History of the Fist Bump. An excerpt:
Some claim the act of knuckle-bumping began in the 1970s with NBA players like Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Others claim the fist bump emerged off the court, citing the Wonder Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon The Superfriends, who famously touched knuckles and cried "Wonder Twin powers, activate!' before morphing into animals or ice sculptures. One might also credit germaphobics for the fist bump's invention. Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel has reportedly adopted the gesture as a friendly way to avoid his contestants' germs.

3 comments:

Heidi said...

wow, amazing they can print that article and not once mention it came out of black culture. hoo boy.

I saw it first here:
http://feministing.com/archives/009329.html

they pointed here:
http://www.ta-nehisi.com/2008/06/obamas-so-black.html

Anonymous said...

I taught my daughter the fist bump when she was around 2. One time when we had dinner with some friends & their friends. One friend was from Uganda and notice our fist bump. He said, "Oh bonga!" He told us that it's how everyone greeted each other at the end of the day with dirty hands from work. Didn't want to shake hands but wanted to greet your friends.
Now we say "Bonga" and do the fist bump in honor of our new friend Elvis from Uganda & his story.

S said...

Gives M the fist bump...pass it on!