Friday, November 28, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
I'm pissed off vol.1
1) I am pissed that people are criticising Obama...haha...for using Washington insiders in his cabinet. First; every Washington democrat has worked or somehow been affiliated with the Clintons period! There is a difference between having 'worked' for them and being a Clintonian duh! AND, working presently for a government institution, you don't get ANYTHING done without insiders, as much as you would like to dream it can be done another way; you just make those fat cats work for you - - it is possible... (forgive the grammer - I'm going all post-modern grammer today)
2) I am tired of people assuming they know what Black Feminists professed to believe or work that we have accomplished without ever having READ a frickin book by a black feminist. It is the absolute height of ignorance - like - could you be more Sarah Palin?
2) I am tired of people assuming they know what Black Feminists professed to believe or work that we have accomplished without ever having READ a frickin book by a black feminist. It is the absolute height of ignorance - like - could you be more Sarah Palin?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Bailout my ass - vestiages of bush's corruption..
Does anyone besides me remember being told that we were naive about the economy? Do you remember being told that we would enter into an all encompassing depression if we didn't pass this notoriously unpopular, sneaky, slimy, underhanded welfare to the banks?
If we don't get these toxic assets off the books then we will suffer untold horrors...that's what they said. Anybody who doesn't know that is living in fairytale land....
But, uh, wait.... Let's leave those toxic assets on there and do something else with the money...say buy stocks, no, uh, hold half of it and see how this works out....
Seriously, is a n y b o d y else tired of being lied to?
Did you see the Senate questioning of the bank execs as they tried to explain why they were still paying bonuses? The one guy, literally a 'fat' cat, said something like "we weren't using tax payers money we were using other money!"
Really?!
Cats have really big balls... It was lovely to see the dem get in that 'you know what', however impotently...
If we don't get these toxic assets off the books then we will suffer untold horrors...that's what they said. Anybody who doesn't know that is living in fairytale land....
But, uh, wait.... Let's leave those toxic assets on there and do something else with the money...say buy stocks, no, uh, hold half of it and see how this works out....
Seriously, is a n y b o d y else tired of being lied to?
Did you see the Senate questioning of the bank execs as they tried to explain why they were still paying bonuses? The one guy, literally a 'fat' cat, said something like "we weren't using tax payers money we were using other money!"
Really?!
Cats have really big balls... It was lovely to see the dem get in that 'you know what', however impotently...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Not even time to celebrate..
I was all prepared to apologize for my steadfast belief in widespread white racism towards blacks, and especially towards African-Americans, and yet before I could celebrate just two days I have begun to hear an idea that was whispered during the primary and then disappeared. It was the idea that much of Obama's success rested on his NOT being a decedent of slaves.
One of the most egregious comments is being proselytized by one Maureen Dowd of the New York Times...she writes,
One of the most egregious comments is being proselytized by one Maureen Dowd of the New York Times...she writes,
"But I had been astonished by the overt willingness of some people who didn’t
mind being quoted by name in The New York Times saying vile stuff, that a
President Obama would turn the Rose Garden into a watermelon patch, that he’d
have barbeques on the front lawn, that he’d make the White House the Black
House.
mind being quoted by name in The New York Times saying vile stuff, that a
President Obama would turn the Rose Garden into a watermelon patch, that he’d
have barbeques on the front lawn, that he’d make the White House the Black
House.
Actually, the elegant and disciplined Obama, who is not descended from
the central African-American experience but who has nonetheless embraced it and
been embraced by it, has the chance to make the White House pristine again."
Another author, Richard Rodriguez, repeated a similar sentiment on NPR stating that part of Obama's success came from white mother and absence of his 'bigamist' African father (he really said that) AND his non-associated with the decedents of the American slave narrative - this allowed him to become successful and reach these heights.
Now I am aware that I am the ever watching bird of prey for racist sentiment but I am quickly tiring of the attempt to divorce Obama's success from the story, read trail and tribulation, of Black Americans.
FIRST because Obama, and he would agree with me, is withdrawing the interest of Civil Rights blood deposited during the 1960's - the walls that were torn down in the 60's largely by Black Americans and their White American allies. These decedents of slaves, the so called central African-American experience, paid the price with their blood so that this future would be possible. When Dr. King, and Medger Evans, and Malcolm X, and Fannie Lou Hammer, and Rosa Parks and dam it Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas and and and gave their lives for the basic freedoms of ALL Americans to be respected and dignified and protected by law - that is the 'central African-American experience' that allowed Barack Obama to stand where he does today. His presence, no matter his parentage, is inextricably tied to the history of Black Americans and attempts to divorce him from that is to, again, deny the humanity and contribution of Black Americas – hell, it even impedes our ability to claim ownership of our own country.
SECOND these sentiments double down on the very real division in the Black Community between Black Americans of African, Caribbean, and Home grown decent. This sentiment dangerously sparks ideas of ownership of success when it truly belongs to every person of color who endures and succeeds in spite of the racism that plagues us. Remember NJ Jersey troopers rarely check 'where your people from' before they stop you illegally. NYPD bullets don't stop moving because 'your people' were not descendents of a “central African-American Experience’.
There is a shared experience of racism and triumph that gives the black experience in America its patina. I, for one, refuse to see the richness of our experience emptied of meaning by thoughtless and incendiary prejudice. Don’t call me telling me I’m over reacting either – it subtle but there, I swear.
the central African-American experience but who has nonetheless embraced it and
been embraced by it, has the chance to make the White House pristine again."
Another author, Richard Rodriguez, repeated a similar sentiment on NPR stating that part of Obama's success came from white mother and absence of his 'bigamist' African father (he really said that) AND his non-associated with the decedents of the American slave narrative - this allowed him to become successful and reach these heights.
Now I am aware that I am the ever watching bird of prey for racist sentiment but I am quickly tiring of the attempt to divorce Obama's success from the story, read trail and tribulation, of Black Americans.
FIRST because Obama, and he would agree with me, is withdrawing the interest of Civil Rights blood deposited during the 1960's - the walls that were torn down in the 60's largely by Black Americans and their White American allies. These decedents of slaves, the so called central African-American experience, paid the price with their blood so that this future would be possible. When Dr. King, and Medger Evans, and Malcolm X, and Fannie Lou Hammer, and Rosa Parks and dam it Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglas and and and gave their lives for the basic freedoms of ALL Americans to be respected and dignified and protected by law - that is the 'central African-American experience' that allowed Barack Obama to stand where he does today. His presence, no matter his parentage, is inextricably tied to the history of Black Americans and attempts to divorce him from that is to, again, deny the humanity and contribution of Black Americas – hell, it even impedes our ability to claim ownership of our own country.
SECOND these sentiments double down on the very real division in the Black Community between Black Americans of African, Caribbean, and Home grown decent. This sentiment dangerously sparks ideas of ownership of success when it truly belongs to every person of color who endures and succeeds in spite of the racism that plagues us. Remember NJ Jersey troopers rarely check 'where your people from' before they stop you illegally. NYPD bullets don't stop moving because 'your people' were not descendents of a “central African-American Experience’.
There is a shared experience of racism and triumph that gives the black experience in America its patina. I, for one, refuse to see the richness of our experience emptied of meaning by thoughtless and incendiary prejudice. Don’t call me telling me I’m over reacting either – it subtle but there, I swear.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Step your game up...yes you...
This is the easiest blog I've ever written.
What this win means to you, especially you, is that the bar of expectation has been raised.
You have no excuse not to get that degree, to finish that project, promotion , _____________ -
no excuse not to be as great as you can possibly be.
Step your game up.
What this win means to you, especially you, is that the bar of expectation has been raised.
You have no excuse not to get that degree, to finish that project, promotion , _____________ -
no excuse not to be as great as you can possibly be.
Step your game up.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The lessons of Procrastination...not learned.
Procrastination has always been the bane of my existence. I never learned the value of delayed gratification. If you know me at all then you know I eat my dessert before AND after dinner.
When will I learn?!?
I am, presently, chumping at the bit of intellectual jealousy because of one Bob Herbert of the New York Times. I had planned to write about how it has never been more clear that we all need one another, that we are inextricably tied to one another for our health and well being. We are dependent on our fellow human to be responsible and not selfish in the raping of economy for self gain.
40% of our wealth controlled by 1% of the population!?! Aghast!
My point, however, was that this concern, and others I had planned to join together, were so eloquently, so concisely, so brilliantly conveyed by one Mr. Herbert that I would be remiss to bore you by repeating them in a lesser fashion.
So please, I beg you, read this column by, the fly in the milk of Nytimes.com, Mr. Bob Herbert and rest assured that you aren't the only sane soul in our country right now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/opinion/04herbert.html?em
When will I learn?!?
I am, presently, chumping at the bit of intellectual jealousy because of one Bob Herbert of the New York Times. I had planned to write about how it has never been more clear that we all need one another, that we are inextricably tied to one another for our health and well being. We are dependent on our fellow human to be responsible and not selfish in the raping of economy for self gain.
40% of our wealth controlled by 1% of the population!?! Aghast!
My point, however, was that this concern, and others I had planned to join together, were so eloquently, so concisely, so brilliantly conveyed by one Mr. Herbert that I would be remiss to bore you by repeating them in a lesser fashion.
So please, I beg you, read this column by, the fly in the milk of Nytimes.com, Mr. Bob Herbert and rest assured that you aren't the only sane soul in our country right now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/opinion/04herbert.html?em
Monday, November 3, 2008
I Love Bekabug...
But can anyone tell me how to become the black Rachel Maddow? I'm going to scratch up a plan and then you guys chime in...
Hope to see the sun soon, tomorrow maybe?
Hope to see the sun soon, tomorrow maybe?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Good black men - Identity politics
Bear with me, many thoughts, tentative connections....
I went to see a movie this Tuesday [shot out to free Tuesdays at Clearview Cinema], it was called Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom. For those of you unacquainted - the movie is an expansion of the 'gaybopra' [let the record show - I was the first to use the term] Noah's Arc sitcom that premiered on Logo about three years ago.
It follows the lives of four black gay men in various states of relationships, very much in the vein of Sex in the City, with Noah serving in the Bradshaw role, all the way down to the plaid cape adorned suit with knee boots that opened the movie. Let me just say - I am a fan.
The reason for the adoration has sparked the subject of this blog. One reason why I follow this show is because of its exploration of a side of black men that we women know exist but is never shown on television and rarely sees the light of day in the real world. These men are vulnerable, they cry, they search for love, they get taken advantage of, they take advantage of, they care about clothing, they are violent, they are weak, they are unsure, they are sweet and confident, they are arrogant and caring - in other words - they may be the most full expression of black masculinity as I see it. In popular culture, there are so many one dimensional cartoonish depictions of black men and the injustice of it drives me crazy - regularly.
Now to pass along a conflict that my mother mutters to the television - the liberal, and may I add racist, media seems to allow only black gay men to have the full range of emotional expression. For example, the black guy in the Starter Wife, the first episode. As soon as I saw that he was successful, classy, and hiring an interior decorator I knew he would later be revealed a gay. Fair disclosure - narrow emotional representations may betrue for men across the board but with so little alternatives for black men the rigidity carries a greater weight in its effect on the perception of what and who black men are.
Anyway, listening to these men discuss how these narrow, and ultimately false, archtypes of black masculity affect their daily lives got me to thinking about identity politics and what it would mean for black men to have a black man in the white house. Ideally, in popular media everyone's stories are told. Everyone can look to our culture and see themselves, but in reality only certain stories are told, and thus only those people 'exist'; and the rest of us must force ourselves into whatever archetypes are presented to us. The results of that are obvious to us who content with not being 'it' but are obscure to those who do not have to recognize it. Much like the way that certain white people say racism doesn't exist anymore, while few blacks would agree ( I would say none but every group has an asshole - what cha gonna do...?) - in other words, if you don't experience it you can deny its existence.
Can I diverge and give you an example of being reminded that you aren't 'the main charactor'? My friends and I were visiting Philly last year and there was a promotion bus for the Spiderwick movie that was coming out in the spring. They had this little round black girl standing out in the freezing cold asking tiny soccer moms and their chlidren if they wanted to come in and get their face morphed into a character from the movie. It was freezing, somewhere in the 20s, so we took out 28 year old behinds in the truck. They had two options; a tubby brown ratty knommy looking thing, or a beautiful elf-like fairy. Well dam it if we didn't all want to be the fairy, I mean who doesn't want to be a fairy [insert irony]? Have you been in the girls aisle of KB toy store lately? You would think its was our life goal to be dressed in pink glitter frilly plastic everything. Anyway my friends and I wait the requisite three days to receive our pic - the results...
Now upon seeing the pic it occurred to me that in the larger society I would never be the beautiful fairy. My fat nose and big lips -here to fore referred to only as luscious - were meant for the little fat knommy ratty furry looking thing!
I revisited all the work I had to do to love who I was and be comfortable with who I was and came out on top, but shit if it wasn't a shocker. Do you remember the comedy skit where Whoopy, as in Goldberg, puts the white shirt on her head and pretends to have long white girl hair? I thought I was the only one who did that - apparently it is a wide spread practice of girls with short nappy hair trying to be the "white blond girl main charactor"... enter round peg and square hole. What it means is that you are never the main charactor, never the person who deserves a side kick to help you through your angst. It means that outside of your surrogate role you have no meaning - unless you somehow convince yourself in your mind that you are the blond white girl main charactor or....the fairy.
My point, long ago, was this - having Barack and Michelle in the white house means that our story, to some degree, will finally be told (I said some!). America will be forced to content with our existence on a daily basis, force to deal with our intelligence, our success, and our competence every single time they look to popular culture. We will be able to fit in, to say that this is mine too; a round peg AND a round hole...snicker.
The black male Psyche will be able to look to popular media and see a new archetype with which to aspire; whether he wins or not. We have all been remarking how black men have so much of their personal identity tied up in this race and this why. I surmised that now they don't have to be the 'gangsta', or the successful but arrogant and emotionally unavailable doctor, or the perfect all around man who must be homosexual, or any of the other 'comfortable and non-threatoning' depictions of black masculinity. They now can be the hard working, intelligent, emotionally available father who takes care of his family, oh, AND has a strong black women beside him to close the deal.
Hold your head up good black men - I always knew you existed and now everyone else will too.
Update: Another irony tidbit - see how little they actually discussed the movie in this article whose title indicates the article is about the movie on salon.com.
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/btm/feature/2008/10/29/roundup/index.html
I went to see a movie this Tuesday [shot out to free Tuesdays at Clearview Cinema], it was called Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom. For those of you unacquainted - the movie is an expansion of the 'gaybopra' [let the record show - I was the first to use the term] Noah's Arc sitcom that premiered on Logo about three years ago.
It follows the lives of four black gay men in various states of relationships, very much in the vein of Sex in the City, with Noah serving in the Bradshaw role, all the way down to the plaid cape adorned suit with knee boots that opened the movie. Let me just say - I am a fan.
The reason for the adoration has sparked the subject of this blog. One reason why I follow this show is because of its exploration of a side of black men that we women know exist but is never shown on television and rarely sees the light of day in the real world. These men are vulnerable, they cry, they search for love, they get taken advantage of, they take advantage of, they care about clothing, they are violent, they are weak, they are unsure, they are sweet and confident, they are arrogant and caring - in other words - they may be the most full expression of black masculinity as I see it. In popular culture, there are so many one dimensional cartoonish depictions of black men and the injustice of it drives me crazy - regularly.
Now to pass along a conflict that my mother mutters to the television - the liberal, and may I add racist, media seems to allow only black gay men to have the full range of emotional expression. For example, the black guy in the Starter Wife, the first episode. As soon as I saw that he was successful, classy, and hiring an interior decorator I knew he would later be revealed a gay. Fair disclosure - narrow emotional representations may betrue for men across the board but with so little alternatives for black men the rigidity carries a greater weight in its effect on the perception of what and who black men are.
Anyway, listening to these men discuss how these narrow, and ultimately false, archtypes of black masculity affect their daily lives got me to thinking about identity politics and what it would mean for black men to have a black man in the white house. Ideally, in popular media everyone's stories are told. Everyone can look to our culture and see themselves, but in reality only certain stories are told, and thus only those people 'exist'; and the rest of us must force ourselves into whatever archetypes are presented to us. The results of that are obvious to us who content with not being 'it' but are obscure to those who do not have to recognize it. Much like the way that certain white people say racism doesn't exist anymore, while few blacks would agree ( I would say none but every group has an asshole - what cha gonna do...?) - in other words, if you don't experience it you can deny its existence.
Can I diverge and give you an example of being reminded that you aren't 'the main charactor'? My friends and I were visiting Philly last year and there was a promotion bus for the Spiderwick movie that was coming out in the spring. They had this little round black girl standing out in the freezing cold asking tiny soccer moms and their chlidren if they wanted to come in and get their face morphed into a character from the movie. It was freezing, somewhere in the 20s, so we took out 28 year old behinds in the truck. They had two options; a tubby brown ratty knommy looking thing, or a beautiful elf-like fairy. Well dam it if we didn't all want to be the fairy, I mean who doesn't want to be a fairy [insert irony]? Have you been in the girls aisle of KB toy store lately? You would think its was our life goal to be dressed in pink glitter frilly plastic everything. Anyway my friends and I wait the requisite three days to receive our pic - the results...
Now upon seeing the pic it occurred to me that in the larger society I would never be the beautiful fairy. My fat nose and big lips -here to fore referred to only as luscious - were meant for the little fat knommy ratty furry looking thing!
I revisited all the work I had to do to love who I was and be comfortable with who I was and came out on top, but shit if it wasn't a shocker. Do you remember the comedy skit where Whoopy, as in Goldberg, puts the white shirt on her head and pretends to have long white girl hair? I thought I was the only one who did that - apparently it is a wide spread practice of girls with short nappy hair trying to be the "white blond girl main charactor"... enter round peg and square hole. What it means is that you are never the main charactor, never the person who deserves a side kick to help you through your angst. It means that outside of your surrogate role you have no meaning - unless you somehow convince yourself in your mind that you are the blond white girl main charactor or....the fairy.
My point, long ago, was this - having Barack and Michelle in the white house means that our story, to some degree, will finally be told (I said some!). America will be forced to content with our existence on a daily basis, force to deal with our intelligence, our success, and our competence every single time they look to popular culture. We will be able to fit in, to say that this is mine too; a round peg AND a round hole...snicker.
The black male Psyche will be able to look to popular media and see a new archetype with which to aspire; whether he wins or not. We have all been remarking how black men have so much of their personal identity tied up in this race and this why. I surmised that now they don't have to be the 'gangsta', or the successful but arrogant and emotionally unavailable doctor, or the perfect all around man who must be homosexual, or any of the other 'comfortable and non-threatoning' depictions of black masculinity. They now can be the hard working, intelligent, emotionally available father who takes care of his family, oh, AND has a strong black women beside him to close the deal.
Hold your head up good black men - I always knew you existed and now everyone else will too.
Update: Another irony tidbit - see how little they actually discussed the movie in this article whose title indicates the article is about the movie on salon.com.
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/btm/feature/2008/10/29/roundup/index.html
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