Seven months and still going strong

Still going strong with posting each day this year.

Here are the top 10 posts from the month of July.  Feel free to read or re-read any posts.

After all my logic and my theory - Post about how St Louis should not be the most dangerous city in the country.  I incorporate some Fugees - you can never go wrong with Lauryn Hill... unless it is dealing with paying taxes, right?
Saturday Quote: Why complicate life? - Great quote.
Nahwlayduhs - Post about my long-time incorrect understanding of what a candy was really called.
Social Construct with Power - A bit of my thoughts on race and race identification and relations.
Possibly the worst invention ever - If you have ever been in a bathroom with toilet rolls that do not move a full circle, you will understand this rant.
Thick and full of body - The hair dresser said I have more and thicker hair than anyone she had ever dealt with.  I guess I should be proud, even though my hair style took 14 hours to complete.
Summer is tasty plastic tubes - How could you not enjoy frozen freeze-pops in the summer time?  Reminds me of childhood.
You may rejoice, I (still) must mourn - Just my views on the US's independence day.
The things I do for hair - More on my 14 hour hair styling extravaganza.
Pleasing others vs living my life - I have spent a lot of my life trying to please others.  I am trying to work on making myself happy.

Social construct with power

So, there is this huge firestorm since Morgan Freeman said that the first black president of America has not arisen yet.  He said that President Obama is not that, that he is the first mixed president instead.

I understand why some are disturbed by this.

I understand that the history of the country has stood by the idea of the one-drop rule, by the thought that if you have some black in your ancestry, you are black by default.

I also know that many people do not consider Africans to be black - that they are a separate category.  Others put them all into the black category.

Race is a social construct, and yet it still has so much power in our society - even in 2012.

Check out this PBS site for more on Race - The Power of an Illusion.

You may rejoice, I (still) must mourn

For this holiday, I take you back to my thoughts from 2008.  Here is some content from the original blog post: The 4th of July is Yours, Not Mine.  Unfortunately, my sentiments still ring true today, four years later.   Only thing I can add is that you should be careful with the fireworks in all the places that have been super hot and dry of late.  Only change to my writing is the video at the end, the original is no longer available, so the one I added today has no commentary and no additional song - though, it is still the shiznit, though!

Since I was a kid and started reading about the history of this country (on my own of course, since the schools didn't teach the truth -- just the apple pies, George Washington, Lincoln BS) I have not really been down with celebrating July 4 as any sort of independence day.

There are too many groups in this nation that are not free, too many people who continue to struggle due to the incredible injustices perpetuated by the government (national, local, and state).

I love these words by Langston Hughes and Frederick Douglass.

Douglass' words can STILL apply to basically any minority group in this nation (not just ethnic minorities, either -- sexual, economic (though the poor are the majority), displaced, etc). This comes from a speech he gave 5 July 1852. It was an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

"This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." And he asked them, "Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?"

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

Two pieces from Langston Hughes, the first from 1938:

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung And all the hopes we've held And all the flags we've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America!

O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!

This poem was written by Hughes in 1925:

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed --

I, too, am America.

Be careful with the fireworks and explosive devises -- don't blow your hands off. Have a sober driver. Don't eat so much that you have to undo the button on your pants.

Be safe.

Try to think about what this day really means for all the people in this nation.

Remember that everyone is not free.

I leave you with possibly the most awesome version of this country's anthem EVER! Along with another great little song after the anthem. I love the commentary in the beginning and the end.

I is for India

The media and colonization and self-hatred have caused people to really believe that lighter skin is better and prettier and the "fairer" skin to have.

There are people using bleach on their skin, staying inside to prevent any darkening, and calling people incredibly derogatory names - these still happen in 2012!!!

Why are people so influenced by outside forces?  Why do I still have students who feel it is the ultimate dis to call some one "black as ______"?  Why do I have to really work to make girls believe that their darker skin is beautiful?  Why do I have to hear people say that "she's pretty, but she's too dark", or "she'd be cuter if she wasn't so dark", or "he's cute for a dark-skinned guy"?  Why is calling someone "nappy" such an insult?  Why do many brown people not realize that their hair would be a similar texture if they didn't put chemicals on it to permanently straighten it?

I is for India.  Not the country, the person.

India.Arie.

She is an artist who speaks so much wisdom in her words, and gives an awesome live performance.

The song that stands out to me right now is "Brown Skin".  I'm not trying to push any black power on you or anything; beauty and seeing beauty where others don't is something that transcends all colors, genders, nationalities, etc.

From the Dark Girls website

There is a new documentary, "Dark Girls", out (if you are lucky enough to have it show in your town) that highlights the perpetuated biases that occur in homes of people of color.  I have only seen previews and snippets since it is not playing in my town, but, I believe this film focuses on African Americans.  This same belief that lighter is better can be seen in the Caribbean, in South America, in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America... it's a shame.

We really need to work on this.  It needs to come from all angles.

Brown people need to stop putting down people based only on their color.

White people (and brown people) need to not compliment people on their skin color or only identify the "lighter" brown people as being attractive.

The media needs to show people of various shades in all mediums.

And we all need to be able to boost our self-esteem so that we don't have to put down others for their genetics and so we don't think the photoshopped images we see are the norm.

We need to really embrace our beauty, just as India Arie does in this song, "I Am Not My Hair".

Wordless Wednesday: We need to teach girls

For so many young (and old).  Don't remember where I saw this, maybe on FB.

Starting another month of blogging each day.

Wordless Wednesday: Fros not fights

I love this...

From Frolab.

Let us be dissatisfied

I know that the man had several issues that made him not perfect, and really, who doesn't?

Here is a segment from MLK, Jr's "Where Do We Go From Here?" speech at the SCLC conference in August 1967.

I have emphasized segments that stand out to me STILL in 2012.

What I’m saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, “America, you must be born again!” 

And so, I conclude by saying today that we have a task, and let us go out with a divine dissatisfaction. 

Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. 

Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. 

Let us be dissatisfied until those who live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. 

Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family will live in a decent, sanitary home. 

Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality integrated education. 

Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity. 

Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not on the basis of the color of their skin.  Let us be dissatisfied. 

Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol will be housed by a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy, and who will walk humbly with his God. 

Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. 

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid. 

Let us be dissatisfied, and men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. 

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout, “White Power!” when nobody will shout, “Black Power!” but everybody will talk about God’s power and human power.

We still have work to do.  I'm not a proponent of some of the Civil Rights ideology, but I do believe that people should be treated well, that people should have the opportunity to be better in all aspects of their lives.

Unfortunately, this is still not so.

Imagine if we, too, were America

In the summer time, I get to really see more of what is going on in society. I get to see the numerous men who cannot find work, the people who struggle to find food, the kids who cannot afford to be sent away to expensive summer camps or even local sports camps. I get to listen to the hardships.

I get to see America and what it has or has not done for some of its people.

Imagine if it wasn't like this. Imagine if people on this side of the world used Twitter to let other people know the injustices going on in their daily lives just as the people in Iran are now. Imagine if people across this nation would shout out for justice to be served and equal chances to be given for its own people.

Imagine if we, too, were America.

Imagine.

This is Black Ice from Def Poetry.

Moore, Chappelle, and Rock on police brutality: not completely comedic

There have been so many incidents lately of police "accidentally" hurting/shooting/killing people (brown people in particular) for weird/nonsensical reasons (wallets?).

Here is Michael Moore explaining some of the outrageous police brutality that has occurred in recent times. This is somewhat comical (as Moore often is), but the message is real and it is a shame that it has come to this.

The second video is Dave Chappelle talking about police incidents and 911 calls.

The third video is Chris Rock explaining how not to get your ass beat by the police.

Who taught you to hate yourself?

Still on my color kick today.

This is decades old, yet still resonates. Especially with a lot of the drama going on in the media with comments/covers made about the Democratic presidential candidate.

No darker than he is??? WTF?!

Wrote this morning about the beauty of brown skin.

Just found this statement made by Young Berg (who I had never heard of until this point)

Please, please, please, click and listen to his statements about brown people I found on Young, Black, and Fabulous.

He does not want any woman who is darker than him. And makes some weird statements about what happens when you get into a pool.

Who is this guy? And what year is it again?

Brown Skin

I love the way my skin looks when it has been sun kissed.

The various shades of brown that I can produce boggles my mind.

The reddish gold undertones that somehow seem to glow when light hits it. I am not vain, but I can stare at my beautiful brown skin for a long time when it is summer time. I even love my tan lines.

Brown skin is so beautiful.

It truly hurts me to hear people still in this day and age talk about they won't go outside in the summer or when it is sunny for fear of getting darker. I cannot count on 1000 foot-long paper how many times I have had to have conversations with students and grown-ass people about why they feel brown skin should not be darkened. The internalized racism is alive and ticking. It is pathetic, and it is detrimental to the acceptance of the beauty that is within all of us.

There is just so much beauty in brown skin.

Only thing I don't like about getting darker is that regardless of how much time I spend in the sun, my feet still seem to remain light. I remember in high school someone saw just my feet under a table and was shocked to see the rest of the colors of my body.

At least I go through the foot thing with all my sisters and brother. We all have my father's fairer feet.

Check India Arie and John Legend.



Oh, and I am also not my hair. I missed my one year nappiversary, but am still loving my short hair. Over a year since the last relaxer, almost a year since the clippers came to my head. I went almost completely shaved a couple weeks ago and am loving it. It is weird how many people have complimented me on it saying how my head is the perfect shape for it, how not many people can pull it off like I can. I hope I can convince others to just go natural or cut it all off. If I can't, hopefully they just recognize the beauty that is them beyond what their hair looks like.

So much easier to manage, also. It's like this is how I was supposed to look all along. People I haven't seen in years and people I just meet say they can't even imagine me looking otherwise any more.

BET needs to really revamp

Been reading some excellent commentary on the horror that has become the cable network BET.

I hate the channel with a passion and am happy to see that other black people do as well. Now if we can get the channel to change their programing for the better more than just showing Girlfriends and A Different World occasionally.

Here are a couple sites:

• Stuff Black People Like: Boycotting BET - includes an awesome episode from The Boondocks relating to the channel.
• What About My Daughter - several blog postings related to BET.

We really need to stop the promotion of the ignorance of our youth. And in some cases, their parents.

There is no reason I should have a student at homecoming booty-poppin' on a handstand. No reason young girls should be so free about having sex with all the same boys and then complaining that they do not understand relationships and why they are all getting the same STDs. Perhaps if parents and the stations these young people watch worked better at informing and educating people rather than ignoring, entertaining, and trying to make a dollar, situations with our youth might be a bit better.

A message to brown people in the USA

Racism is the systematic mistreatment of certain groups of people (often called people of color) on the basis of skin color or other physical characteristics. It can be subtle or blatant, conscious or unconscious, personal or institutionalized.

Racism is not our fault. It is something that has been around since just about the beginning of time. There tends to always be a dominant group that discriminates and uses its status to keep those who do not look like themselves down.

However, in some ways there are things people of color can do to make some changes.

First, realize that it is not your fault. Even the actions that follow are not your fault. They all stem from the racism and white privilege that has been perpetuated for the longest time. Our actions are just a byproduct of these two things.

Although it is not our fault, there are steps we can take to change things within ourselves.

First is to recognize that most of us suffer from internalized racism. This is the process where people of color believe and act on the negative messages we receive about ourselves and our group. We also transfer racism in such was as insults, criticisms, slurs, violence – the list goes on. How many times have you heard a person of color tell another person of color that they are too dark, or too light, or that their lips are too big, or that their hair is too nappy? How many times do you turn on the news and hear of black on black crime? I heard one person say that they commit the crimes on people of color, who look like them, because they want them to suffer the way he suffers; that he wants to take out his frustrations on the people who look like him. Crazy.

When people are hurt from the effects of racism, they often decide to transfer or re-enact that hurt onto some one else.

There are other things we people of color do that are examples of internalized racism. When we see someone on TV speak on certain issues and they make some type of mistake or say something that is against the mainstream, we say that they are misrepresenting our people in a negative way. Yet, when someone asks us individual to speak for our people and answer a question in a way that represents every person of color’s view on _____________, we get offended.

We talk about peoples’ appearances. People who do not straighten their hair are seen as nappy, instead of naturally beautiful. People who have natural hair typically are only seen as beautiful if they have natural hair that is the texture of Tracee Ellis Ross (Joan of TVs Girlfriends). Skin color is always an issue – sometimes people are really into the lighter skin tones, sometimes the darker skin tones. But historically, the darker your skin the more teasing, and harsh treatment you will face.

What we all need to do is first hold our arms out. Look at your skin. It is beautiful. Recognize the beauty that makes people of colors skin. The variety. The tones. Amazing. Beautiful. Then do the same with your facial features and hair textures and tones.

Next we need to address the comments people make about each other. If you have not been witness first hand, then you have probably seen the show Yo Mamma on MTV. This is playing the dozens. This comes from slave times when after the long journey over to this side of the world some enslaved people would inevitably have ailments – missing eyes, cut off limbs, scars, mental issues. When they were to be sold these folks would be grouped into twelve and sold that way as one. The other enslaved people who were not malformed and were sold individual started picking on these dozens, and we see where we have come from there.

Playing the dozens, joning, cutting someone up, shit talking – what ever you call it, it is the same. People find something about the person and make fun of it. Typically what they make fun of deals with their features or their mother’s features. You should really sit and think back to the jokes you remember. If you don’t remember the punch line, how did the jokes start, that is the important part. What was it talking about? The ones I remember most deal with someone being
a. too black
b. too yellow
c. too ghetto
d. too white-acting
e. too black-acting
f. too ugly
g. too fat
h. too skinny

What is the point? It is all to demean someone and make them feel terrible about themselves. And what are they making them feel bad about? Just the things that the dominant society has targeted people of color for since the beginning. We have internalized their beliefs and turned it all into jokes.

But for many it is not a joke. The comments are real. Some families chastise members of their family when that person has skin that is either too light or too dark. They tell their children not to stay in the sun too long for fear of getting too dark. They tell them they need more sun so they are not too white. They tell them that they must have been smoking or else their lips would not be darker in color. They tell them that they have to put chemicals in their hair for it to be acceptable. They tell them they must cut out their locs so their hair can be acceptable. They must talk a certain way and act a certain way in order to not be seen as trying to be accepted by or fit in with the dominant culture.

It is not our fault. All these things are a result of what that dominant culture has done to us since the beginning.

However, it is our duty to try and love each other. To understand the hurt. To accept each other. To not redirect our hurt onto others who are already suffering.

Once we truly love ourselves and can heal ourselves, it will be easier to attack the monsters of white supremacy and white privilege. That is a whole different thing in itself. Something that the dominant culture must come to understand they experience and benefit from. That, too, for some, takes time. They need to recognize and see the resulting pitfalls many people of color face due to their privilege, and the concerns people of color face every day that the dominant culture has no idea about or ever has to consider. Once we are all aware of ourselves then we can truly change our society.

We must love and understand each other and ourselves.