Black Women, Dope Poetry

Since I don't remember us really getting to talk about Jessica Care Moore's poems, Ill just share a little bit of what I thought about them.

One of my favorite parts in her princess poem was when she talked about “them” (government, whites and others) being surprised that princess and her people “decided their own fate.” She also says, “Why do you think they love Oprah, but hated Beloved? Black folks ain’t allowed to be magic.” To me this points out that under the white gaze we are only allowed to be anomalies. Oprah is an anomaly for them. Jay-z. President Barack Obama. They hated Beloved partially because she came back in a form that they could not understand spiritually. They only understand their religion. Their Christianity. Where the hell did this supernatural black woman come from? Just what is she supposed to represent? Anyway those parts remind me of how slave owners went through hell and high water to prevent slaves from escaping and how that has not yet changed (i.e. attempted prison escapees).

The five year plan (or lack thereof) poem made me proud of the mind of black women. People are so quick to box us in and label us, not realizing the endless opportunities we have (or would like to have). The imagination and mind are in continuous motion. Because a woman doesn’t articulate her thoughts, write them down, seek a degree or any other thing that would say “She’s a thinker,” does not mean that she is unaware of what goes on around her. She was well aware of her position, different options she had or didn’t have and the time frame. I loved it.

The final poem Colorstruck reminded me of this stupid #teamdarkskin #teamlightskin that continues. I absolutely agree with poem; if a person puts you on a pedestal because of your skin color-don’t be flattered. Be offended!

 

Black Feminist Thought

According to Ruth Shays and Annie Adams,” Black feminist thought, by extension, represents a second level of knowledge; the more specialized knowledge furnished by experts who are part of a group and who expresses the group standpoint.” Overall, the significance of the Black Feminist thought is very important because it’s a way for Black women to be conscious of the world. Black women are not only able to educate themselves with their own knowledge, but they are also able to look back at history and make observations to understand why things are the way they are.



 

Toni Morrison Quote

After reading Beloved I realized they never showed the real reality of what really goes on in Black women life. Til this day we have so much to worry about as Black people in society. RACISM!  We have to stand our ground and be the change we want to see in the world. We must use our ancestors experiences as learning experiences. We must have that same mindset that Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison have. Nothing will stop us from being what we want to be in life.

The Meaning of Life

A feminist is all about empowerment. As a woman we are stuck in a social hierarchy society. With the support of each other this displays and speaks a thousand words of the change and movement we can do together as women. 

Beloved

Here is a clip from the film. I thought it could give those who have not seen the movie some type of visual of how Sethe and Beloved interactions were. In the beginning of the scene, Beloved asks Sethe why did she leave her. Sethe goes on to tell her about Schoolteacher and etc.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zehVZ9iPtSY

Absurdly Beloved

Reading Beloved makes me further consider seeing the black woman's plight in ways that I maybe had not previously because their stories are either not readily told or not told in their entirety. Sometimes, this can lead to distorted images of what "black people" or "black women" do. I think what often gets left out of the equation is the idea of absurdity and how there's no such thing as normalcy in the lives of black people which makes it difficult to make sense out of black life because a lot of it doesn't make sense. You can't make certain things add up because the math doesn't add up quite simply when it comes to black folks. I think Sethe embodies that notion more completely and perfectly than any other character in Beloved most of the time at her own expense, which makes it ridiculously difficult to ever trust or truly love anyone or anything else without some underlying selfish ulterior motive or some paranoia that someone else will hurt her again like they always had in her past, which drives every action she takes in the novel. It's easy to judge Sethe as immoral or unjust but hard to uncover how and why she got that way, which again shines the light on the absurdity in black life because she's seeking her justification for her actions in a certain series of unfortunate events that were caused by other outside sources that were in themselves unjustified to begin with. Infanticide of course is not the ideal way to resolve the problems in Sethe's life, but it's not like we're talking about Casey Anthony drowning her daughter in a swimming pool and tossing her body in the woods somewhere simply because she didn't want the responsibility of motherhood. Of course, that's about as absurd as it gets but the difference is Sethe felt rather than not fulfilling her duties as a mother in protecting her children from abuse, rape, hunger and thirst, homelessness, poverty, and many of the other atrocities directly and indirectly associated with the institution of slavery, she would rather kill them herself than allow them to suffer the same way as she had. Sethe is definitely the epitome of absurdity and while her morality is up for debate, what isn't debatable is the fact that she should never have felt that option-less or choice-less as a human being, a woman, a black woman, and a black mother. Therein lies the problem...