This week a mural by artist Sofia Maldanado in New York City's Times Square drew criticism for its depiction of Black and Latina women. One NYC blogger gives theBVX her opinion on whether or not the outrage is warranted.

There were some buxom women spotted on 42nd street recently. They were wearing gaudy jewelry, long fingernails and baring their wide hips and ample breasts via midriff tops and tight jeans for passersby to see. However, they weren't prostitutes. They're part of Sofia Maldonado's vision for a mural created to represent females she describes as "brave, strong and tough," but her oeuvre got "community organizers" angry.

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican-Cuban artist was commissioned by the Times Square Art Alliance to paint the mural on 42 Street between 7th and 8th avenues. Activist Tony Herbert told Fox News that the opus was an insult to Black and Latina women, insisting they should be seen holding brief cases and cell phones while another interviewee, a Black man, called the women "ghetto." The New York City Black Professionals organized a protest demanding the artwork be taken down. But don't we face bigger battles, like the fact that NYC school children could lose the free Metrocards they use to take public transportation? Or how about working toward eradicating disproportionate HIV/AIDS rates?

I'm a successful, professional Black woman raised in 1980s Harlem, who has never carried a brief case and I appreciate Maldonado's vision because my life is more "Martin" than it is "The Jeffersons." Hell, even "Shenehneh" owned her own business. I grew up around the trendsetters in the vibrant painting--the women who wouldn't normally be seen in Times Square, but whom you would find in outer boroughs in nail salons, bodegas or in other words, around-the-way. They are the originators who inspired Fergie to rap about her "lady lumps" while wearing long fingernails, gaudy jewelry and tight clothing, which, by the way, where were protesters when she promoted hyper-sexuality and materialism in that same song? And why do characters like Carrie Bradshaw get called haute when they wear gold name necklaces inspired by said "ghetto" women?

I'm disturbed that in this case of displacement, Black and Brown folks are seeking to destroy the success of a sista whose art not only reflects what she lives but represents the success of a Brown girl responsible for imagery in one of the most famous intersections in the world. There's an old adage about picking and choosing battles but with strategies like this, victory is never won.