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...

An Example of a Black Existential Feminist

Good afternoon all!

I have found two videos about a women that I believe is a true Black Existential Feminist. Her name is  Beverly Guy-Sheftall. In the two videos that I've seen about this women, she has really shown that she is capable of holding the title of being a black feminist. So watch the two videos about Her Impact on helping black feminists and the other about Her Two Cents on the matter of the history of Black Feminism.

Thanks and enjoy your day!

Margaret Garner

I'm sure many were wondering what the end result ended up being in the Margaret Garner case. I researched and found that Margaret and her husband were taken into custody and tried in what became one of the longest fugitive slave trials in history. "During the two week trial, abolitionist and lawyer, John Jolliffe, argued that Margaret’s trips to free territory in Cincinnati entitled her and her children to freedom. Although Jolliffe provided compelling arguments, the judge denied the Garners’ plea for freedom and returned them to Gaines. In a bid to gain freedom for Margaret and her children, Jolliffe convinced officials to arrest Margaret on the charge of murdering her daughter.  Joliffe surmised that with a murder trail, Margaret would have another chance for freedom. Gaines caught on to Jolliffe’s plan and relocated the Garners to several different plantations before finally selling them to his brother in Arkansas. As a result, federal marshals were not able to serve Margaret with an arrest warrant and she never received a second trial. Margaret Garner died in 1858 from a typhoid epidemic."  
Steven Weisenburger, Modern Madea: A Family Story of Slavery and Child-Murder from the Old South. New York: Hill and Wang, 1998; Weisenburger, Steven, “A Historical Margaret Garner,” http://www.motopera.org/mg_ed/educational/HS_HistoricalMGarner.html (accessed November 25, 2007).

Margaret's willingness to go to jail rather than to return back to her owners shows us again how desperate she was to escape the horrors of slavery. In the novel Morrison made plain to us the many absurdities that took place during slavery. Because of this we can empathize with Sethe and try not to judge her actions. She did what she felt was best for her and her children She did not want them to undergo the torture that she witnessed and experienced, and attempted to provide a better alternative; which was death.
  

 

Living in Absurdity: Slavery Tools: The Iron Bit

The iron slave bit that is mentioned in Beloved is shown above. Thomas Branagan, the slave trader turned abolitionist describes the iron bit: "through front and profile view of Superman's head, with the mouth-piece and necklace, the hooks round which are placed to prevent an escapee when pursued in the woods, and to hinder them from laying down the head to procure rest." In the novel, this was the tool that prevented Paul D from speaking to Halle and is a prime example of black people living in a world of absurdity. Not only did this tool prevent the slave from speaking, but it also prevented him from sleeping and eating. 

"Because Of Them We Can"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN-3j0NW2p4 Hello guys watch the video it is on Eunique Jones Gibson acknowledging the importance of the people who paved the way for us in a positive light. She also addresses the importance of African American artist having a positive effect on young people in our society; I related this to previous discussions in class about African Americans helping each other grow as people.

Black Female Voices: Who is Listening - A public dialogue between bell h...

Excellent video of a dialogue between Bell Hooks and Melissa Perry discussing the voice of black women. Their discussion was very relevant to the one we had in class concerning the readings by Lorde, Cleage and Collins. They discuss the realities of different black women and expound on the voices of each. It is deemed as a blessing in today's society for black women to be able to have a platform, where they are actually able to share their thoughts and people actually listen and or read them. Very good discussion! They also touch on the many stereotypes that women have to deal with when they decide to speak up in this patriarchal society. They are automatically deemed angry or as hooks said "difficult", when attempting to voice their opinions on certain situations. We as black women must remember to always speak up and tell our truth despite the outcome or consequences. As Cleage said, "What's the point of fighting for the truth if you're not allowed to tell it?"

The true Statue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XQVYo3yG_c Watch the link guys, its the poet Jessica Care Moore performing "Black Statue Of Liberty" very moving piece and she hit many of the topics we have discussed in class pertaining to whites and the patriarchy society we live in. African American women are truly the real statue, as we all know African American women have molded the foundation of white society yet and still being left at the bottom looked upon as less than and treated as to have little to no value. African American women as stated in her poem "I am a symbol of freedom but still not free."

It Ain't for Everybody!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/oscars-diversity-problem_n_6709334.html

http://www.eonline.com/news/626853/mo-nique-says-roles-in-empire-and-the-butler-just-went-away-lee-daniels-told-me-i-ve-been-blackballed

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/23/sheryl-lee-ralph-monique-blackball_n_6737830.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/oscars/oscars-2015-john-legend-makes-slavery-comparison-acceptance-speech-n310816

I'd like for everyone to take the time to watch the videos in the above links. They will clarify where I was coming from in class about my gripe with the Oscars and the entertainment field as a whole. In the story Black Ice that we discussed in class, we can see how audacious the main character Joyce was in standing up for herself and other women to a politician. As I'm typing this I can think of the movie American Violet which is the perfect visual depiction of a similar situation-a black woman going to bat ultimately for rights to herself (June Jordan reference), and her opponent is a not only a white man but a politician with ulterior motives ("This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master's concerns"). Watch the movie if you haven't already. It's very fitting for some themes we've covered in class and relevant to society as well. Great movie, watch it and thank me later.
Anyway, I call the first link the "crash-course" into the background of the Oscars and it's surrounding politics. The way that it's set up is undeniably discriminatory. Of course there's a sprinkle of brown faces, not because they're talented money makers but for "fairness" aka affirmative action purposes. I can understand why Audre Lorde wasn't readily supplying how to integrate instructions... because no one is oblivious to what's going! The way people are passive, assertive, or aggressive speaks to their character. Take the third link I posted. Sheryl Lee Ralph makes a snide remark regarding the attitude to take in showbiz sometimes (which really made me commend Mo'Nique's speech at the Oscars more)which to me says she lack integrity for herself. It says to me that she's willing to be that puppet on the string which we've had more than our share of in history. We need more Mo'Niques and more Joyce's amongst black people because obviously we still can't leave it up to black men to speak for us women either (hence John Legend and Common Oscar speeches).

Recap of first section

I guess overall in this session we've seen black women fight for their rights, we've seen black women submit,  we've seen black women assert their agency over themselves. All of these in regard to sex. After talking to a resident in my building we were discussing a few things about society and he responds, "Well society teaches us that sex sells." My response was, "Yea, well at what expense?"

Most people believe that sex is the only thing to sell.. so they feed into that lie to make the fast money.  If it's not sexual then they are the slave roles. I believe Oprah addressed this on her show a few years ago and sadly we are still having the same discussions.

I look forward to the day when we don't have to have these types of discussions because their will be more of a variety for the types of roles a black female can receive.  I don't think the stereotype of the over sexualized black woman will go away or the slave but their are plenty types in between and they can all be displayed more. I want people to be aware of what's going on.

In Cam's research he talked about people being brainwashed or something to the effect of believing what is meant to entertain. If people were more aware and able to identify these things I feel like these things wouldn't be. More people wouldn't be so accepting of the powers that be and more would be attempting to carve out their own space. More would demand room to be made for them.

"The Black Woman As The Site Of... Recap=)"

"The Black Woman As The Site Of..." unit got me to see things from a different perspective on certain topics, not so much that I thought SO differently before we began the semester, but just from the standpoint of considering that many of the events we've covered are EVERYDAY occurrences for some black women.

However, I think that "Corregidora" by far was the selection that has the most lingering effect in my mind in terms of seeing the plight of the black woman that often goes unheard, unnoticed, or just flat out ignored by the mainstream society and media. Again, rape is nothing new that we haven't heard of before, but generational and almost hereditary rape is another story entirely. I had my reservations about the graphic and violent details that Ursa's great grandmother told her about  "Old Man Corregidora" when she was only 5, but the reality is that SLAVERY was graphic and violent and that this story is just a small fictitious re-enactment of what literally did take place for many black women at the hands of their white slave masters who were conscious of the metaphorical branding that they would engrave on the on the minds of not only black women, but on the minds of black people for generations to come.

Corregidora is the "evidence" of those crimes against the race, and I place specific emphasis on evidence because it was a recurring motif throughout the story which more or less came to define not only who she was, but ultimately who she became, which unfortunately is the reality of far too many black women in this country. We covered so much more, but at the base of it all, at least in my opinion, is victim mentality, and the constant battle of how to successfully move past it into the women and ultimately the people that we are destined to be as a culture, since we all come from women in the beginning regardless of gender.

Rape is a recurring theme in what we've studied so far which, admittedly, was hard for me to stomach initially, because MEN get thrown under the bus an awful lot in what we've previously dissected. However, at the same time I have to realize that although many blanket statements do get tossed around in our class discussions from time to time, it doesn't mean that they necessarily have to apply to me specifically, and in most cases, they generally don't.

As a man, and as a black man, who is "supposed" to hate black women according to the numbers, I do sincerely empathize with them over many of the stigmas and stereotypes that have been automatically associated and attached to the black female "character" that has been constructed by mainstream white society at the expense of the human beings that wear that name. Unit I has offered some viewpoints that I don't totally agree with to be honest, but there's been truth in much of what we've discussed, which has definitely kept me engaged, never any dull moments to say the least.

Sapphire?

I found an article about how people were criticizing executive producer of the now hit, "How to Get Away With Murder". She was bashed by saying how she made it an ok thing to show how to be an 'Angry black woman'. It kind of reminded be about what we have been talking about in class about the Sapphire.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/04/4203484/on-culture-watch-that-term-angry.html

This photo represents the black woman and her ability to be silent yet strong. Using the body a symbol of strength rather than the sexual gaze.

Losing Sight

       The section The Black Woman's as a Site of...expressed many different meanings throughout the reading selections. When we did the first assignment in class we were asked, what a black woman's body represented for us? I only had one response. Since then the readings have broaden my horizon. But it all boils down too the fact that black women were once oversexualized by white men. Now its white men, black men, white women, and black women contributing to the epidemic.

      As black women I believe we know our worth but it is being overshadowed by other things. Black women, especially artists, may feel by wearing less clothing and advertising their bodies will get them more attention. They do not see the bigger picture. Yes you may get more noticed or recognized ,but why would you want that to be the deciding factor on whether you can establish your own empire? Black women are allowing the black female objectivity to overcome the black female subjectivity. The way that black females are portraying themselves in the media is allowing for our youth to be corrupted and also the perception of black women corrupted. If all that is seen or shown about black females are sex and aggression, how can we a black women and black people be upset with the stereotypes? I am not agreeing with stereotypes not in the least, but these reality t.v. shows nor our music do anything but encourage them. J. Cole said in his song, No Role Modelz "My only regret was too young for Lisa Bonet. My only regret was too young for Nia Long. Now all I'm left with is hoes from reality shows. Hand her script the bitch probably couldn't read along. My only regret was too young for Sade Adu. My only regret could never take Aaliyah home. Now all I'm left with is hoes up in Greystone. With the stale face cause they know it's they song. She shallow but the pussy deep.(Repeat 3x)". His whole album is fire and speaks on a lot of issues going on with the black community especially black women. In this verse he is speaking on famous black women who did not have to exploit themselves and paved their way through entertainment. Cole is wishing there were more black women like this to represent us when all we have are people negatively portraying us in the media. When Cole gets down to the last part of the verse he is trying to get across the fact that today women's personalities are shallow, which lead them to become very sexual with their bodies.
        It is a proven fact in order to be successful in the entertainment world you do not have to be naked all of the time. There are ways to show off your curves or still have a sexual aspect in your performance without showing every inch of your body. I'm not saying we should cut off every sexual aspect about us, but why must there be so much? Why must we subject to the white man's gaze? As black women, we need to look at the bigger picture and realize even though these attributes may be what we want to show, it may not be what needs to be shown. We have our youth looking and listening to the media, the t.v. shows, and music. They are susceptible to what they call their "role models" saying and doing each day. We do not see the bigger pictures, we're playing into the white man's gaze causing the black woman's body as a site of exploitation, commodity, dichotomy etc.

Black Media Stereotypes: Sapphire- The Angry Black Woman

This gives us an excellent portrayal of how the media manipulates everyone into thinking that all black woman are angry. The fact that they tried to portray the first lady as such was absurd to me. They will truly go to any lengths and it's quite pathetic. This video gives a good example of women in the media who represent the trope Sapphire. It also touches on how women of other races are considered "b*tches" or just being on their period when standing up for themselves or expressing a difference of opinion. Very interesting.

Big Talk: Represnetation of Black Women

I found this video quite interesting, while in most cases when someone asks what is the first thing you think of when thinking of a black woman the feed back is always negative. The responses in this particular video were positive as a whole. The way we are represented in the media as stated is sometimes false but has become how the worlds view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuXTM5qTb7g

The Average Black Girl

I seen this video on Facebook a week ago and it really spoke to me. I feel Ernestine Johnson hits on a lot of points that we discussed in class throughout unit 1 in her poem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tN4Zulagb8

The African-American Women's Agency: Clair Huxtable

This is a fairly popular clip of "The Cosby Show" where Clair Huxtable is forced to educate her daughter's boyfriend, Alvin, about the rules and roles of marriage and a woman's agency. Mrs. Huxtable offers to bring Dr. Huxtable and Alvin a cup of coffee and Alvin seems surprised by the offer. His surprise derives from the fact that Mrs. Huxtable is an independent, strong and intelligent woman, but is serving her husband. What he does not understand is that Mrs. Huxtable is choosing. She has a choice. She does not offer to get the coffee because it is her job or her duty (like that of people who serve in restaurants), but rather because it is her choice to do so for her husband and her guest. The right to choose and to have agency is one that the enslaved African women completely lost during slavery. Even after its abolition, African-American women still found themselves without the right to choose and do as they wish compared to that of their male counterparts due to the systems of institutionalized slavery implemented by those who once held them in thralldom. These systems were designed to keep the shackles of slavery intact even when slavery ceased to exist and they were very successful, but through acts of resistance as described in "Hearts of Darkness" by Barbara Omolade, the African-American woman began to disrupt these ideas and systems which continued to oppress them. This clip is great example of just how far the African-American woman has come, but the comments from Alvin blatantly and disrespectfully illuminated just how much more of a path they have to walk.


Claire Huxtable

The Re-Eradication of the Black Female Form

I think history often does repeat itself, in the case of the dichotomy between black women and white men. Black women, just like in times of slavery, continue to be the object of white male desire that they hate to love. In a historical context, as it has been well documented, black women have always been "othered" in the sense of being "the sidekick" or "the jumpoff," but at the expense of black women being labeled "whore," without having any sort of physical attraction to her white male counterparts per say.

We can have the "Nicki, Nicki, Nicki" debate until we're blue in the face, but sometimes objectification doesn't have to be live and direct. That said, it brings me to the real point I'm trying to make which is "appropriation" if that is the appropriate word to use (and in case you're wondering, no, I'm not going straight to Iggy Azalea). Instead, I'd rather focus on this new artist Meghan Trainor and her song "All About That Bass," which, when you see the video, you will see has very little to do with baselines at all. Bass in this context is referring to big booties, which of course is the "trademark" of black women or what generally comes to mind when we think of black women. We all know that wide hips had not always been celebrated by mainstream media-- until now. What better way to have the best of both worlds by having this "thick" white girl, and I mean thick like black women, not fat, singing about appreciating not being a "size 2" when the setting of the video is inside of a Barbie doll playhouse.

Now, to bring Nicki back into the discussion, we basically have white women saying that they know how to be black women better than black women know how to be black women because they've got the formula down to a science now. If you notice in the video, there are several girls with blonde wigs and loud make-up on twerking without being overtly sexual like Nicki is in many of her older videos and in her biggest one since then, which of course is "Anaconda." Now while Trainor never actually mentions Nicki's name, the imagery and the use of the Barbie doll house and Barbie's likeness, which is Nicki Minaj's nickname for her fans and herself aka "Barbs," the correlation is almost blatant. So not only do we have Nicki's version of what black women look and act like, but we also have Meghan Trainor's caricature of "what black women look and act like" in response to Nicki's version. The kicker is Trainor was fully clothed throughout the entire video singing about how thick she is and her video has been viewed 527,672,037 times compared to Minaj's song about the exact same subject matter. She's almost completely naked in "Anaconda," yet her video has only been viewed on YouTube a total of 375,938,574 times. There is definitely exploitation of the black female body at play here, but that's not the point I'm making. The double whammy is Nicki's denigration of herself and of the other black females of the culture, and how she yet STILL finishes in 2nd place.

If patriarchy is to blame in relation to white guys and black girls, the elephant in the room is that mainstream media still desires and esteems "whiteness" over blackness or over what is deemed as "black-ish". The issue is that Trainor's video is billed as being about women loving their own body image, particularly white women gaining a newfound appreciation of their thicker bodies than the typical skinny "Barbie-like" figure, which is a concept that many young girls can readily relate to. As great as that is, the  only problem is that black women have not been "congratulated" for being thick all along, but rather humiliated for being differently shaped from white women. That's no coincidence. What it is is yet another opportunity to capitalize on the black female form-- without using the black female form. In other words, they are aiming to make black women obsolete and irrelevant all over again through using this kind imagery and it's not an accident.

To be fair, there are more than a few thick black models in Trainor's video, but the focus is not on them appreciating THEIR bodies, rather it's on the white girl out front who is just "learning" to appreciate her body for what it is. So again, it keeps the conflict going between black women and white men, black women and white women, and black women and black men. Trainor actually says in her song, "my mama, she told me don't worry about your size; she says boys like a little more booty to hold at night." Oh really? And which boys are these? Certainly not white boys who have specifically said that they would never date black girls because their butts were too big. Historically speaking, this is absolutely false of white female culture until recently. On top of that, she says in the 2nd verse, "I'm bringing booty back; go ahead and tell them skinny bitches bye." Nicki literally says just about the same line in "Anaconda": "This one is for my bitches with a fat ass in the fucking club; fuck those skinny bitches in the club."

First of all, excuse my expression, but big booties never went anywhere to begin with, they just appeal more to white people now, as a substitution for the black female form so that they no longer have to fully recognize them any more because thick girls are "represented and accounted for" now; secondly, why did they say virtually the same thing throughout both of their songs, but only Nicki, not Nicki and Meghan, got labeled as a ho? I'm not saying that either one is more right than the other because both songs make a mockery of black women collectively, but I just notice that there's a considerable amount of racial disparity, that is, inconsistency and a double standard, at play here. As for the white male's view of the black woman, at least in this particular scenario, it is gradually becoming one of invisibility and neglect... AGAIN.

Here's the link to both videos, you be the judge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk