...everybody loves a (part) Black girl...

So, Jean's whole yelp situation has me (re-) riled up about something that I didn't notice until I started spending a considerable amount of time online in forums and other community-based websites. Namely that... people are fucking crazy, racist, misogynist, homophobic cowards.

Now wait, hear me out. Maybe you're taking what I said in a way that I don't mean or... naw, you've probably got it right. It is pretty straight forward. So let me explain.

One of my favorite websites is IMDB. I'm a self-professed couch potato who LOVES tv. More often than not I'd rather be at home watching tv than doing say... well damn near everything. I don't feel bad about it, so let's move on. I go on IMDB to check out the casts to my favorites shows and movies, see what things my favorite actors are in, etc. Eventually I started posting on their forums (for shows and actors). They're a great information resource for spoilers and little known facts supplied by other nerdy tv geeks like myself. It was heaven. Well at least until I started noticing a disturbing trend.

On virtually every forum for a Black actress there's always that one douche who says something like, "(insert actress name here) is so beautiful. What's she mixed with because she can't be full-Black?" Or, as I like to translate: "I'm super racist and have all of these repressed feelings about totally loving Black women but you know Americans hate Black people so if someone could please just tell me that this girl is like half-Mexican or half-white, hell I'll even take that she's got a great tan so that I can repress all this angst that I'm feeling, you'd totally make my day."

At first I really didn't think that much about these comments because, coincidentally enough, the first time I read it I was looking at Halle Berry's forum and she's mixed. I just thought "what rock has this dude been living under? doesn't everyone know she's half-white?" But then it got a bit... hinky when I started running into it everywhere. I saw it on Freema Agyeman's page (half-Iranian), Salli Richardson-Whitfield's page (part-NA), Megalyn Echikunwoke's page (half-white), Rashida Jone's page (half-white) and Jessica Szohr (lots of stuff) but again all of these actresses are mixed so I got irritated, but kept it moving. (There's also this very strange tendency for some posters to put in part-Asian actresses' bios a detailed breakdown of their racial mixture and link them with other, completely unrelated, mixed-Asian actors that was so weird, but seems to have been cleared up in the last few months.) But when I stumbled on this lovely thread on Freema's page I became even more sensitive to it elsewhere.

The Freema thread is really important because you can tell that for certain people this had been building up and everyone, on both sides of the issue, responded from a place of frustration. Some of the comments were valid (on both sides) and some made me think that these people were dumb as rocks. But in the end I agree with the idea that continually asking about these women's mixed-status was yet another way to denigrate Black women and racist as all hell.

I also think that some people's defense of themselves was... pathetic and akin to saying "I'm not a racist, my best friend is Black." For instance, the OP's comment that he didn't mean what he said in a racist way, he just had a preference for middle-eastern women and knowing that Freema was part-Iranian cleared some things up for him... *side eye*

I'm sorry I just can't. I know other people attacked him for the racism, but can I just get on him about how stupid he sounds? I don't believe not one person who tells me that they only find certain kinds of people attractive. What sense does that make? Now you can say that you tend to only date women who have dark hair, tan skin and green eyes. Hell that's a preference, but does that mean that you wouldn't find a blonde woman with pale skin and blue eyes attractive. Hell nah! So why is it that when it comes to Black women, especially, so many men say some dumb shit like "I've never been attracted to Black women before but Naomi Campbell/Halle Berry/Beyonce is hot." What are they single-celled organisms? Humans are (allegedly) more complex than that.

Fucking idiots. Now back to the racism...

I see it on boards in lots of other ways too. For instance, staying on the Freema train for a moment (I love her!), in last year's BBC production of Little Dorritt people went ape shit because she was cast. Little Dorritt is Dicken's book about... hell I don't know, I just saw the movie, it's on my reading list... Whatever, check out it's wikipedia page. Anyway, all the hubub was because some people did not believe that Freema, as a Black person, should have been cast to play a white character. They also felt that this liberal trend in BBC productions to create casts for these period pieces that look more reflective of modern England was at least annoying (some people have termed it racist, certainly without fully understanding what the word means). But I mean, it wasn't the multi-culti version of Cinderella. At least the cast made some sense. But shit, even if it didn't who gives a shit. I care about the story and the acting. I don't give a shit what race the person is. And this has been happening on stage for forever... get over it!

I sort of jumped into the debate because, as a Freema fan, who thoroughly enjoyed the production, I didn't see the point in griping about casting a peripheral character, not meant to be blood related to any of the main characters, as Black. What's the harm in that? I think I know what it is, but I'll save that for a bit later.

Essentially what I'm saying about the anonymity of the internet is that it exposes a lot about how we think about race. I've pondered these websites every time someone says that racism doesn't exist. Or that we're not a racist country. It's utter bullshit. We're all racist. Those idiots who have to know that these Black women aren't all Black are racist. As am I, and others like me, who have to say "no, you can't take them away from us." And granted I'm biased that what I'm saying, while wrong, is for the right reasons, essentially that you won't deny these women's black identity simply because you're uncomfortable, doesn't mean that I'm not in some way inflicting a similar kind of damage by doing what I've done throughout this blog. Black is not their only racial identity and since I don't know how they choose to primarily identify I don't have the right to decide for them. I fight against this all the time for my nieces. People who don't know them don't have the right to classify them as mixed when their primary form of identity is Black. (Granted they're kids so they really don't know or care, but considering some interesting things that happened after MJ's death I'm pretty sure where they stand on the spectrum at the moment.)

But this kind of BS also reveals something else. Essentially, people feel damn free to say any and everything they want on the internet. That sort of anonymity allows people (of all races) to spout some of the most racist, misogynist generally depraved shit I have ever read. I don't know how many times someone's posted a link on facebook about something race-related with the express warning to either ignore the comments or read the comments for entertainment. Or how many times I've decided that reading any more of a certain thread would drive me insane. Or these douches who felt no qualms about resorting to blatantly racist and sexist stereotypes about Asian women when talking about the (sad? pathetic? weird?) plight of "The Hipster Grifter." These are the things that people would certainly never say in public, but with the cover of their keyboard they have at it.

I think that people spend way too much time talking about how a PC culture is destroying our society and how "you can't say anything anymore" but not enough time, if any, talking about when you can say certain things and through what medium. It isn't a surprise that people who have no idea that white supremacist groups are alive and well, if not even more dangerous than in the past, don't understand the full extent of the internet as a conduit of sharing ideas. Do a quick google search on white supremacist groups (being careful of course) and you'll turn up a slew of articles about how groups in the States are connecting with one another and with European counterparts through email, websites, etc. They're not gone. They're hiding in plain fucking site!

But this is an extreme example. To turn back to what started this whole fiasco, let's look at the random everyday people who want to know if their favorite Black actress is really Black. Implicit in their queries is a (racist) fear that they would actually find a Black person attractive. And while this seems simple, it's really not. Because they're afraid that if they find this "full-Black" Black woman attractive then that makes them someone who could say ask that Black girl sitting next to them in Soc class out for a movie. Or someone who could one day have (part) Black children. Or someone who would have to call their parents out for saying the n-word or their friend for sending that blatantly racist email. Essentially, there's the fear that they would have to become someone who thinks about race in a more present way than most white people ever do. (gasp!)

At the same time these people are worried that if their tv-crush is Black then it means that they have become somehow less white. This is definitely what was happening with the whole Little Dorritt situation. One Black character "infected" Dicken's "authentic" story of an England before Black folk. For these people there is a white story (that they would just call a story) and story for people of color. So in a modern setting there are places for Black, Brown... whoever. (At this point I'd like to point out that Dicken's story isn't authentic because there have been Black people in England at least since Queen Elizabeth I and Asians have been in England since the 5th century or so). But still these idiots think that us melanin-blessed folks should be kept in their place. So there will never be a Black Mr. Darcy or an Asian Captain Wentworth. Hell maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with time. I mean, did anyone else notice the storm when Pierce Brosnan recommended Colin Salmon as the next James Bond... geesh. This is just as problematic as racial zoning in housing, hiring based on racial preference, etc. because it says that, contrary to popular beliefs, we have very strict raced understandings of our world that manifest in decidedly racist terms.

I'm just saying that even if people are smart enough to keep these sorts of things under wraps in face to face encounters. They surely don't do this online. So if you want to know the places where I think people will learn racism in these next few generations. It's not on TV or in books. It's online and at home.

So when my nieces ask me to watch cartoons I say yea. But when they're old enough to ask me to use my computer, I'll explore it with them.

... my big breasts and me...

So today as I was getting ready for work I thought of two things repeatedly:

1. I really need to wash clothes because this dress I'm wearing, while cute, is totally the only clean thing left in my closet.
2. How can I create the illusion that I don't have breasts or at least stop them from looking as if they're about to take over the world?

This has been my dilemma all summer and just a sad replay of what I think when I'm getting ready to teach. How can I hide the fact that I've got breasts and they're big? Because what I'm really saying is that when I'm in a professional position or one of authority the last thing I want is to feel as if someone is staring at my breasts or focusing too much attention on the fact that I'm a woman.

For me there's something really sad about this. I don't mean just personally. Every time I see one of those Tyra Show snippets (because I can't stomach an entire episode) of those women with large breasts who are desperate for a breast reduction my heart goes out to them. And every time I hear those tiny stick figure girls saying how much they want bigger breasts I cringe and gag a little (for a variety of reasons).

Our society is completely obsessed with large breasts but we have absolutely no conceptualization of what living life with them can mean. No one with breasts naturally the size of Pamela Anderson's is running around the beach in a tiny swimsuit, because no one with breasts that large can fit those suckers in a tiny swimsuit without being cited for indecent exposure. And newsflash: if your breasts are 36D-ish or higher, they started moving south years ago! And let's not forget the back pains, the precarious position of the halter top, the strapless bra fiascoes, and the side boob. So the fake silicone/saline breasts are the biggest fallacy ever. And that's usually how you can tell they're fake gentlemen. If you were ever tempted to call a girl's DDs perky, thank her doctor, 'cause it's very unlikely that they're real.

But of course, life is full of wonderful contradictions. And in this case women are desired for larger breasts but they're made to feel uncomfortable because of them or objectified (and/or objectify themselves) for the same reasons. I mean consider this: I don't know one woman with large breasts who hasn't hated on Victoria's Secret because damn near ALL of their bras are padded. Who the hell wants padding when you've already got enough cushion!? No, these women talk to me about the desire to find a bra that will minimize all that's going on. That's where we spend the real money. There's a reason why playtex is still in business, they can make a girl with a high D (me!) look like a low D, and that's nothing to sneeze at. (Also, their 14-hour bras while ridiculously large and completely unattractive are comfortable as all hell!)

But then all those women on reality tv, especially VH1, only want to win so that they can get implants... I'm looking at you Prancer from I Love Money 2. And I get it god only knows what segment of the population they're representative of, but in this respect I don't think they're too far off the mark. Lots of girls want bigger breasts because they think that they're desirable and will instantly make them more attractive to men. That's what makes me angry. It isn't about what they like or being comfortable with their own bodies, it's all about getting a boyfriend or looking like Jessica Simpson... gag! But it makes sense, what does popular culture tell you about big breasts? You get better tips (take that however you wanna), boyfriends, or maybe even just friends in general, photoshoots for men's magazines, prominent features in crappy rap videos (although if you're Black a large ass is preferred... unfortunately I don't have one of those...sigh...).

Anyway, I guess I'm just thinking about the crazy contradiction that I'm faced with everyday. Big breasts make a woman beautiful, but they also make you look trashy. And if you want to be a professional, you better hide those suckers any way you can. I'm a little too lazy to buy an entire wardrobe around hiding my breasts at work but I do think about it all the time. When I go on a job interview, when I head to the office, when I have office hours with my students. I'm always wondering how to hide my breasts and any cleavage, lest anyone be reminded that I've got 'em and start treating me like tiddays... with a person attached. But I also love my cleavage and when I go out (which surely aint often) I show 'em off, but I also hate that dude, because there's always one, who's talking to my chest so he doesn't quite hear me when I tell him that I'm not interested (not even a little bit) the first time. So I say it again... and this time louder...

But then he thinks I'm the angry Black bitch... ah, but that's a whole 'nother issue.

Obama, Healthcare and Race... Oh MY!- external blog

Since neither of us have handled the health care situation yet, I'm providing a link to my friend's blog about the issue. It's short but I think points out some of the issues well. So....

Check it out!

...oh how I want to be an American...

So, this whole "birther" situation has me thinking about a lot of things, like what it means to be an American and what the hell "American" means anyway. Alright I'm sort of lying. What I'm really thinking is that if being an American involves being anything like this guy:



or these dudes:


then I think I'm good. Well, that's not true. If being an American means being these dudes, then I'm glad I'm (insert racial/ethnic identity here)-American. I think it's just interesting that there's actually no merit to this situation whatsoever and these "Americans" are still going on and on about it. I mean it's like they have no understanding of our citizenship laws or history and... Oh, wait, I think I've stumbled on the problem. Well, for the next time that this becomes an issue (in a few months time I'd imagine) I just want to say two things:

1. If at least one of your parents is an American citizen, and has not given up that citizenship, you are an American.

2. Contrary to popular belief, Hawaii is, in fact, a state. So, by default, if you are born in an American state you are, regardless of your parents' citizenship status, an American citizen.

Whew, I'm glad that's over with because it was getting... well frankly... annoying as all shit!

But that's all "common sense" (yes I know mom, commense sense is not, in fact, common). What I really wanted to talk about is how this whole situation has brought into focus the way that some peole in this country (and some outside of it) understand citizenship. Namely, there are a shitload of people who equate citizenship with race. Thus, what's actually going on here, in my estimation, is an assertion that American means white and Hawaii is so foreign, what with their luaus and Asian people, that they're not a valid part of "our" country. So let's take those in kind.

First, I would like to say that even if President Obama's father had not been Kenyan I truly believe that some people would have questioned his citizenship as a Black man... Oh, wait that happened didn't it. Everytime a white person questions a Black person's patriotism (or any person of color), what they're actually saying is "you're not a real American." Because, let's face it, a real American in this calculation is a white person. Thus, white people can criticize this country all they want, but their citizenship is not at question. But when we do it (person of color we), we're suspect. If people believe that shit than just be bold enough to say it, because pussy footing around and using coded, post-racial language is so irritating. Just say you're a xenophobic racist so people can ignore you. Oh, never mind I see why you're doing what you're doing. Damn... you crafty devils.

I just think that people need to be more aware. I find it interesting that no one in California questioned Arnold Schwarzenegger's Americanness, a man born and raised until his early 20s in another country, but they questioned Pres. Obama's. We all know why that is (race) and I'm so tired of the people who ignore that or (gasp) don't see it.

I also hate that these debates are based on the President and First Lady's rare moments of criticism of the U.S. In their minds, any person of color who dares to crticize this country does not know what it means to really be an American. Well I would like to say that criticizing our government and elected officials is exactly what being a "real" American means. So even these "birther" douchebags are Americans... unfortunately. I would also like to take this time to say that a history of oppression is the true trend in American history, so people of color (the collective majority mind you) just might have a better handle of the "American experience" than these douchebags with the signs...

Secondly, our president was born in Hawaii. When I first heard the critique I thought, "um, but it's a state..." We annexed that shit in 1896 and so totally made those islands our bitch... I mean made it our 50th state in 1959." And since our 44th president was born there two years later... what's the problem again? And then it dawned on me... Hawaii has a shitload of Asians.

In Hawaii, people of Asian and Native Hawaiian ancestry make up more than half of the entire population. And in my opinion, the whole "birther" controversy isn't just about whether or not our president is a citizen, but if Hawaii and all those Asians are American. White settlement efforts on the islands didn't come out of a vacuum.

I originally wanted Jean and I to write this entry together because I saw a near perfect union our interests (mine about African Americans and Jean about Asians) but since we're in 2 states, with a 3 hour time difference and generally lazy (stereotypes be damned!) it just didn't happen. So I solicitied her comments on the issue:

When I'm in America, i've been approached by ignorant folks who assume I'm a new
immigrant into the United States, don't really know English (until I open my
mouth), or my parents must have been new the country from the Philippines.
Being 2nd generation Filipino-American, I go to Cambodia and white
tourists think i'm a prostitute from Cambodia and ask my travel buddies how much
I am, or if I'm for sale. The stereotype I've frequently come across is
that if you are not white, or look "American", you must be a foreigner. In
the case with President Obama, the investigation went too far; and was a blatant
attack on people of color. It was a large statement of ignorance through
racist actions. If he was white, there would be no investigation of his
birthing and U.S. citizenship status. People of color are constantly
looked at through an "otherized" lens; with the option of immigrant bi-focals
(Even though Filipinos may have been here for over 400 years, there is still an
immigrant stamp on every Filipino-American). That is why, when my
grandmother asks if someone is "Americano" she doesn't just mean "American", she
means to ask if "is he full (or part) white". Or, if you have a name like
"Barack Hussein Obama II", you're immediately under suspicion of being
"non-American". That is why I want my children to have crazy
"non-American" names, unlike "Jean". Investigations like this really shows
the depth of political racism Obama has to endure as a president. It
speaks volumes of "systematic investigations" that may occur in any job, or
position that one may hold where their superior is trying to find any means
possible of firing a person of color. It harks on hatred and fear of the
idea that people of color are taking jobs away from qualified white applicants
or candidates. These investigations are a disguise for the deep seeded
racial tensions that our political system is founded on.

I've heard, and experienced. this with friends on a number of occasions and it irritates the hell out of me. We can talk about the U.S. being a plural society all we want but the truth is that we are taught to believe that unless the person is white, black (and, if we're smart enough to think about it, Native American) they're foreigners/immigrants. As Jean points out above, this completely denies the scores of Asian Americans and Mexican Americans who, because of our propensity to annex new territory and search for ever cheaper labor to exploit have been in this country for hundreds of years. That's a serious educational lapse.

From the beginning, being an "American" (don't get me started on how really anyone on this continent is an American, I guess that's another post too) has never meant white. And when it did it was a myth.

And I don't know if this post was a coherent critique of the issue so much as a rant. An "I don't understand wtf you all are talking about. None of this makes any sense so it's hard for me to make sense back"-rant.

But I'll leave you all with this little piece of hilarious clarity:

So maybe we should consider secession... or something.

...racist in chief? (a few thoughts)...

So I'm willing to admit it, I usually get my news second hand, already filtered through a reliable source. I don't watch the news, I consider newspapers with a wary eye and usually just troll around my favorite websites, especially blogs, for the hot topics. The only real problems I've found with this method is that I'm always super up to date on pop culture (score) but nothing else (damn), it's hard to stay current with international events, and when crazy stuff happens on cable news it takes me a while to decide if it's interesting enough to write about because I didn't see it firsthand.

For instance, apparently Fox and Friends anchor Glenn Beck called Pres. Obama a racist. I have been hearing this from Republicans for a while so at first I thought, whatevers. (I think that's my default response...) But then I started thinking about it, especially in reference to my last post about Gates.

So here are some thoughts (incomplete) about the whole "Is President Obama a racist?" situation:

1. If he were (and I'm not saying that he is) how would that make him different than his presidential predecessors. I'm not saying that it's right that we've had so many (all?) racists leading this country, but I'm wondering why it's such an issue now.... for Republicans? They didn't give a shit that "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" so why do they care that Obama may not (but obviously does) care about white citizens? And when was the last time these people defined racism, if ever?

2. I thought there was some study that showed that everyone was racist? If not, then I'll say that I think, at some level, everyone is a racist in this country. The mark of that person's humanity is how they try and stryggle against it.

3. My fave political blogger/journalist The Black Snob just posted the NAACP's official response to Glen Beck's statement that, for the most part is pretty ok. Really there's just this one sentence that irks me. But first I should say that they're right, this discussion of the President's supposed racism is, like a lot of other more frivilous issues, detracting from the real work that needs to be done to approve a health care plan, create jobs, lower the unemployment rate, strengthen the economy, etc. For me the problem is really just this one part:

How could the President be a racist? A man of both African American and
white heritage; a man who inspired millions of Americans to unite across the
divide of race, religion and age in his historic run for the presidency.

Um seriously, I've known more than a few mixed people who were completely and utterly racist towards one part of their "racial makeup" so... Essentially my point from the previous post stands: There's absolutely nothing in being mixed that precludes racism mostly because to be mixed is not a choice!

3. People like Beck are lazy!

I voted for Obama and my assessment of this administration is a mixed bag. Naming Hilary Clinton as the Secretary of State... WTF! Her crappy ass foreign policy agenda was one of the reasons that I didn't vote for her in the primaries! OMG... Why is Guantanamo Bay still operational? Why wasn't the U.S. at Durban II? And I need a better goddamn answer than Ahmadinejad because having to deal with crazy people you don't trust is a part of LIFE!!!! L.I.F.E. If I have to be cordial to those freaking diplomatic historians in my office then godammit the U.S. should have been in Geneva!

But on the other hand, I think the President should be commended for trying to push through a new health care plan. I'm not going to lie to you I'm a little hazy on the details (please inform me) but since that was an important piece of his campaign I'm glad to see that he's not abandoning that with his election.

And while I would prefer that the U.S. take a harder stance against Israel, I do appreciate that they are beginning to say that Israel is not allowed to do whatever it wants. That country should not feel free to decide that it can go completely against global opinion but still receive the bulk of U.S. foreign aid. It should not be allowed to disenfranchise countless numbers of Palestinians within their borders AND build on stolen land AND cut off an entire (displaced) nation from humanitarian aid AND participate in a bloody war but be the victims. WTF? And while I want to commend the U.S. for just starting to say no to Israel, I want to urge them to begin to say hell no, because this situation has been dragging on for too long and the West has helped create a fucking clusterfuck (best Daily Show gift to me) in the Middle East, maybe it's about time those countries really tried to fix it. (And I'm totally looking at you Britain...)

So I guess what I'm trying to say to people that would call our president a racist is: there are other more effective ways to criticize him. The trope of calling him a racist is beyond lazy. It was just as lazy as calling him a militant, or a foreigner, or a terrorist, or a Muslim (as if that was a bad thing). Let's pretend like we're all thinking, feeling human beings and do better.

* um, so I realize that my critiques are based on the Obama Administration's foreign policy. People should admit their biases and mine is that I'm always focused outward. Domestically... not so much. So feel free to tell me things that the Administration is doing well/not so well on the home front or call me to task on my discussion of the international issues. Discuss...

...don't be afraid white folk...

So, I originally decided not to handle the whole Henry Louis Gates fiasco on this blog because honestly, I'm not a fan. That dude, like a lot of the African American intellectual elite rub me the wrong way. I think some of their scholarship can be useful, just not to me because they largely ignore Black women. And sometimes they have good things to say, although I have a problem with how they tend to "speak for" the Black community but rarely get specific or support everyday movements on the ground. Like the Sharptons and Jackson we only hear from these people when something big happens, a death or a racist celebrity, but unlike those two I've yet to figure out where Gates stands on specific social movements like the problems with education for poor communities of color. And not by saying that it's a problem (we got that) but how to fix it, specific programs that he thinks are doing a good job, etc.

But to be fair, my critiques may be misleading because, for the most part, I ignore these people. I only glance at their work (at best) and I don't research their politics. They're not speaking to me or the issues that I think are important. I'm always angry that when people talk about Black leaders they always mean men. And honestly when was the last time you say them getting their hands dirty? For me, they're symbols, and I don't do idol worship... hell I don't do religion of any sort. So I'm bitter at these men and their (lack of real) leadership.

Because of all of this I decided to keep my own feelings to myself and defer to good friends who handled the topic, click here for my friend Bennett's discussion of the situation, and my friend Angela posted this interesting query as her facebook status yesterday:

"Angela Francis has serious problems with where the emphasis has been placed in the dialogue regarding the Gates arrest. The problem is not that a black man with high socioeconomic status can be arrested after he is reported to have broken into a home and then proceeds to argue with and insult a police officer. The problem is that an AVERAGE man without special status can be arrested or killed WITHOUT doing any of those things."

It seemed as if other people that I trust were dealing with the issue quite well and I was going to leave it alone until... I read a pretty middle of the road, not very well-written article by Maureen Dowd about the whole controversy. It started off so bad I almost didn't finish it, is it just me or does she not actually seem to be saying much? And is she not saying it in a ghastly way? Whatever, thankfully there was a little nugget of "WTF" at the end. In the second to last paragraph there's a gem I just had to share:

"And Gates says that if anyone thinks he’s a fiery black militant, they’ve got the wrong guy, considering he married a white woman, has mixed-race daughters and has white blood himself."

Oh sweet lord in heaven. SAY WHAT?!

My mouth is salivating this is so ridiculously juicy. Uh, uh!

This right here is why I don't want anyone speaking for me. First of all, no one who feels the need to reassure white people that he's not a black militant knows shit about my life. As someone who idolizes Malcolm X and the Panthers for their ability to say in various ways "You're not going to run over me and kill me without a fight," a comment like this from Gates is a slap in the face. I would think that with the current situation what all communities of color need (here and globally) are a few more militants and people willing to stand up for the right to not let others oppress us!

Second, this is the equivalent of saying, "I'm not a racist, most of my friends are Black." It's just as empty of a statement and it's just as insulting to people with brains. Not only can someone who marries and have children with someone of another race be racist and militant, but what kind of fantasy land is Gates living in that he thinks otherwise.

If I see one more white woman complaining at the hair shop that her mixed race daughter's hair is "too kinky" and she "obviously got that from her dad's side of the family." Or one more Black man who has children with light-skinned or white women (Black women do this too) so that the kids can be "light, bright, and almost white" or have "good hair" or even just be "pretty" I will go off!

In his rush to placate white people he denies that race and racism have very little to do with any of the things he mentioned. The fact that he "has white blood himself" (whatever the fuck that means) was not his choice, but so what, so did a lot of Black militants throughout African American history. Surely Gates knows this! For many Black people "white blood" speaks to complex issues of race, racism, slavery and the rape of Black women and has been used as a rallying cry rather than an integrationist tool. (Although, I will be fair and say that this line of reasoning is so fraught with problems that I've argued against using it for a while now.)

From my own history, my family is very mixed and my Creole grandmother left Louisiana because as a lightskinned (historically mixed) person she refused to pass for white or condone a system where so many of her family members did. From what I can tell my grandmother picked a darker skinned man because he was beautiful and couldn't have cared less that her children pass the paperbag test, and I often wonder if this was directly related to the world in which she grew up.

And my half-white father was made so ashamed that he was mixed (when his siblings were not) that he never even told me of the fact. He wanted to be seen as a Black man, not a Black man who was also white. He also was, not surpisingly, overly concerned when my oldest niece was born very light, always wondering "if she'll get darker." And every time I see white and Black people marvel at my youngest niece and nephew's "beautiful" eyes (green and blue) while ignoring my oldest niece's brown eyes I'm reminded that people are fucked up! And if I have to cuss out every one of those people for their blatantly racist responses to my babies I'll do it. Every time. And you can call me a militant or a bitch, I don't give a shit!

I also have lots of white friends, some of whom are closer to me than family, and I am a militant. I study Black nationalists and radical Black women activists because they are the people that I would like to imitate, not someone such as "Skip" Gates. It doesn't mean I hate all white people, but it sure as hell means that making white people feel comfortable around me isn't just at the bottom of my list, it's not even on it!

Having "white blood" is not a panacea, nor does it (obviously) erase racism or preclude militancy. How dare this man even suggest that this would ever be the case?

And lastly, but most hurtfully, Gates should be ashamed of assuming that the only sure-fire way to know that someone is not one of those dreaded millitants is by checking their partners. As if those Black men with white women are the real leaders our community needs, because they've done so much for us. For those of us from California I have two words to unravel that whole argument: Ward Connerly. This would also mean that President Obama's choice to marry an African American woman is a sign. Maybe just the sign that those Republicans need to continue to denigrate our President and First Lady as militants/racists/unAmerican, etc. As if Black women are just not good enough America, they're angry and they make their men angry. Best just leave them alone lest they start a revolution.

I really only have two words to say to this man.

Negro please!

I would prefer that Professor Gates stop talking to the press or at least think a little more critically the next time he does. So, here's to seeing this whole situation leave the limelight so I can go back to my life. So people can continue doing good work attempting to end the real tragedies of racial profiling by the nation's police so that we don't have another Sean Bell or Oscar Grant.

in struggle,
N

...NOLA...

So... last weekend I went to New Orleans to hang out with a couple of friends on a mini-vacay! Now, personally I would have preferred to stay longer but I couldn't... Even though I like my job... jobs suck...


Anyway, the night/early morning I got to New Orleans our first stop was, and had to be, the world famous Cafe du Monde for some beignets and coffee!

And those motherfuckers were tasty!!! (But on a side note, I'd barely eaten that day and the sugar overload upset the hell out of my stomach AND kept me up until like 6am the next morning!)

Then, all hyped up on sugar, we went to Bourbon St.! I only have three words to say about that:


HOT.ASS.MESS. I was 100% sober that first night and I was not happy. If you know me then you know that physical contact is completely unnecessary. I mean really unnecessary. There's no real reason to try and hug me. Please don't. Sorry tangent... Anyway, all those drunk people, especially the scantily clad women in unfortunate/ill-fitting outfits and uncomfortable shoes, crammed together wandering from cheap-looking establishments (but not actually cheap booze prices) just about did it for me. I was mad uncomfortable.

But we learned our lesson. The next night we went to Bourbon tipsy and continued to drink once we got there. And in that environment, Bourbon was... Well it was still a HOT.ASS.MESS, but it was hilarious. The clothing was still unfortunate, I think we saw some people having sex outside of a club, and there were a lot of women in panties and t-shirts as the official uniforms for their jobs (sigh) but at least I could laugh. As awkward as that was if I'd expected anything more from Bourbon I would have been a damn fool... So I'll just chalk that up to experience....

Here are some interesting things about going on a trip with a bunch of historians. First, most of the stuff they want to see and do center around historical buildings/places/people. So on Saturday we went around the French quarter in search of Marie Laveau's tomb without a map and only my hilarious friend Noel's (damn good) memory to guide us. While heading there we stumbled upon this building that Tony liked. And when we read the plaque that marked this structure as Madame Laveau's former family home, we were ecstatic (seriously) with our find. STFU... Look I said we were historians... not great historians (whatever).

While there we met some really nice white folk who asked if we'd been to Congo Square. We all looked at them like.... (blank stare)... "Damn! We almost forgot Congo Square!" Like I said, we're not that great at our jobs, but in my defense... forget it... there's no defense.

So of course we immediately walked the 2-3 blocks (!) to Congo Square and basked for a second in all of the history contained in that place. Well my friends did, I however kept my eyes on the homeless people scattered around and the obvious crackheads who looked like they were up to... well you know what crackheads do...

From there we made our way to Saint Louis Cemetery #1 to see her grave and... it was closed! Damn... But we did run into those white people again. So we just went back the next morning and spent about an hour wandering through one of the coolest cemeteries I've ever seen.





















Look, I know I'm not the most sane person in the whole world, but this cemetery was crazy/beautiful. There were just strange things everywhere. Really new gleaming white tombs next to crumbling, falling down ones. The statues were insane. Anyway, I definitely want to go back and spend some more time there. Um... (cough)... because someone told us later that... um (cough) Homer Plessy is buried in that cemetery and...um... we didn't know... OK look we might be, in this situation, bad historians but I try not to study anything before 1900, so sue me!!!

The second thing about traveling with historians is: tour guides beware! HA! We eavesdropped on a couple of groups at the cemetery and this one guy was talking about voodoo. Well look, whatever, most people don't quite understand voodoo or it's connection to other syncretic, African-derived religions in the Americas and throughout the world so I'm not going to completely hold it against that guy. But voodoo is not praticed by millions of people in the world. Rather millions of people practice religions that are, like voodoo, derived from some West African religions blended with some form of Christianity, especially Catholocism. (It's a lot more complex that this I realize and this dude said some other inaccurate stuff but this one irked me the most!) But what makes this story hilarious is that my friends and I, who weren't on his tour, stood to the side of this guy whispering to each other every thing he said that was wrong like complete and utter douchebags!!!! hahahaha But, in our defense this guy did say that voodoo led to the Civil War... (blank stare)... talk about simplying history... We gotta do better!

But one tour that we so totally didn't have a problem with was the Haunted History Vampire tour of the French quarter.

I forget this dude's name, but he was fucking fantastic. He was funny, intense, and did accents. And he looked like a pirate!!!! A-MAZ-ING. We went around the quarter looking at sites where supicious deaths had occurred that seemed as if vampires could have been involved (suspicious blood loss, creepy people who never ate and had no food in the cupboards etc). It was super interesting (my mouth dropped open plenty of times) AND we stopped at a bar in the middle. Hells yea!
But on another note, one of the things I wondered was what New Orleans was like so many years post-Katrina. Honestly, we were only there for a couple of days and only left the Quarter twice. The first was to get breakfast and the second was to have dinner with our good friend Erin. But here are some things that we heard. First, rebuilding isn't even anywhere near being complete. Someone told us that most of the money used to rebuild New Orleans initially went to the Quarter. This, even though it was barely underwater (compared to other areas because it's on a slight hill). So why did they make this decision when people, real people who'd lived in the city, were homeless or displaced? MONEY. The Quarter is a huge cash cow and built for tourists, so like asshole capitalists will do, they eschewed caring for the city's residents (largely black people) and took care of the tourist area, which caters to largely white people (who are, not coincidentally, being catered by... black and brown folk). Seriously disgusting... There are also a lot of homes just outside the quarter a ways that still bear the scars of the tragedy, like the markings made by FEMA (about bodies found in the home etc.) and on some buildings you can still see water lines. It's very disturbing.

But disturbing is good. At least it can be. I would love to know what's being done to rebuild the city and what I can do help. I would also love to know what's being done for the people who have suffered and are still suffering (because make no mistake about it, that sort of trauma does not go away and African Americans are the most underdiagnosed population for mentall illness). So these are the things that I wonder, please let me know what you know...

But I don't want to leave you on a sour note. So, because I love you all I'm sharing a playlist of songs that I had on rotation on my way down south. Enjoy bitches!

*oh and btw... all the pics are mind EXCEPT the girl on the bull (ugh) and the exterior shot of cafe du monde...