HUSTLING IS MY DEPARTMENT
Earlier this year, right after Yeye’s throw some D’s
remix came out, me and my girl S.bot were having
a conversation about women who are “taken care of”
because of how they look. I asked her how
she felt about Yeye rapping about D’s.
Her response was,
You gotta have D’s or you gotta have papers.
My response was,
I want D’s AND papers.
She responded, “Then you on some white ceo/cfo shit”.
Putting the racial, implication of her comment aside,
I realized that she was onto something. S.bot is
my financial consciousness. She stays on me w/ the
following questions:
1. When you gonna make your first mil?
2. When you gonna pay off your school debt?
3. What do you project your earnings to be in 5 years?
In short.
She stays all up in mine. ****places hand 10th
of an inch from face.
Perhaps growing up in the Bronx in the 80’s
made her thorough like that.
I’LL GO TO A CLUB AND GET MY MONEY
I was reminded of this conversation when I read a
book in Barnes and Noble on Thursday
titled, “Get to Work” by Linda Hirshman. <<
on crack, ya heard?
Her premises are that women need to do the following:
1. EDUCATE YOURSELF FOR GOOD WORK
2. TAKE WORK SERIOUSLY
4. GO ON A REPRODUCTIVE STRIKE.
1. EDUCATE YOURSELF FOR GOOD WORK
Do work that is rewarded in this culture.
[I know. My artists readers are gonna be up in arms.]
And.
BIG AND, if you choose to do otherwise, UNDERSTAND
that you may have to support yourself and your family WITH
your income.
2.TAKE WORK SERIOUSLY.
Make an income that you would think twice about giving up.
Take it seriously. Be mindful of switching jobs three times in one year.
That sh*t is not a good look on the resume.
3. DON’T HAMSTRING YOURSELF AT THE MARTIAL BARGAINING TABLE.
She wants women to come to the marital table
with information regarding what our culture and
what your future husband expects you to do after
the baby is born.
She also wants women to understand the following about marriage:
Women make 70 cent on every dollar that men make.
In the event that you divorce, your ex is in the more
powerful position because, all things being equal, he
most likely makes more than you.
Consequently, he can easily replace the “work” services
that you more than likely provided, as the default
“nanny, maid or personal assistant”.
This is IS NOT the issue if you had a pre existing,
nanny, maid or personal assistant, or that contributed
to the house hold in such a manner that you did not
need extra help.
4. GO ON A REPRODUCTIVE STRIKE.
At first I thought that sh*t was harsh right.
But she isn’t anti kid, just pro planning.
Think about it.
The first time women start talking about leaving
“society recognized” work, to “work” full time as
mommas, its after the first baby turns 2 or 3, or after the second
baby.
But then peep. If you plan the babies, strategically if you
are going to try and maintain your current lifestyle.
Cake is clearly on my mind.
Why?
For my job I am researching:
1. How many Black Board Members are on Fortune 5’s?
2. How many Fortune 5’s have government,
war associated contracts?
3. How many women are on Fortune 5 Boards?
And man lissen, looking at THESE NUMBERS, s
ide by side with negro spending power,
puts a WHOLE LOT OF SH*T in perspective
IT’S REAL HARD BEING A WOMAN BECAUSE YOU GO THROUGH SO MUCH
Which finally brings me to the above video.
Where do I begin?
I felt like was reading a FEDS magazine story via a
DOCUMENTARY style video.
Top TEN THINGS I noticed about it:
1. How down the women are for the dudes.
2. How the women EAT with the hustlas.
3. The highly visible relationship between being
assaulted as a teen, and being a lady of the night as an adult.
4. How there was a clear sense that THEY, NOT ANYONE
ELSE, would take care of their babies.
5. How the Lack of a safety net is SO apparent in the hood.
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Is it realistic to anticipate planning, strategically, the babies?
How do you feel about women w/ D’s and Pape’s?
What do you think of women who want cake as much Jay Z wants it?
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Wow I saw that dvd (Late!!!) for the first time last year, and it really left a mark on me. Ignorance, intelligence, joy, pain, materialism vs family and the over all harsh realties of life from a female?s perspective that as a man I?m blind to no matter how hard I try to see. Callous or not I can?t help but laugh at Shaka Don tho
?The highly visible relationship between being
assaulted as a teen, and being a lady of the night as an adult.?
To true to sad?.
I think the realism in planning out children is all relative to the individual whom a person might create a child with and the relationship they share. In the truest since kids are like a Economics 101 class lesson in ?Opportunity Cost?. If love or perceived happiness far out weighs ones desire for paper, then planning out child births like interstate construction isn?t the really all that plausible. For those who take the classic Pac gotta get mine verse Gin n Juice chorus path, waiting until you are able to provide the best silver spoons is the choice to make
Lol I like D?s? that?s all I?m gonna say on that lol, and any non evil individual regardless of their sex getten money is cool with me. Funny thing is tho contrary to studies I think the D?s are more intimidating to some than the papes.
Hmmmmmm? on ya last question I would have the same qualms against that women as I do ?Jiggaman? While I would respect her gwap earning potential (hard to argue with 300 mil) skillfully boasting about her crack distribution skills, and relegating her self to the only business?s some black some to be involved in ?clothing, liquor, music? would make me ?think? she was a individualistic capitalist who I would be leery of.
Q1: It is of the highest importance if as a family we want to create wealth not just for ourselves but for the babies. Personally, 2 kids is where it ends for me: boy and a girl, 3 max.
Q2: I want women to chase their dreams, if papes is a part of that heck yeah.
Q3: See reply above
That lady is talking real talk. This is something that girls have to be taught before they even start thinking about boys and relationships. I hope she talked about limiting the number of children that women have because a woman with 1 child lives a radically different life than a woman with 5 children.
I think the D?s are more intimidating to some than the papes.
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Say word.
You should do a guest blog post on those fam.
That lady is talking real talk.
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bib
You should read it. She is crazy practical.
I was usta have so much funk w/ my ex because a.) I wanted to go to school b.) I wanted to be home with the baby. Which meant that poppin’ on out, at that time was 4-5 years away.
He already had a Ph.D, so he was good money academically.
Whereas, I was just starting out.
In her book, ITS ALMOST LIKE THE SH*T THAT SHE IS TALKING IS THE ANTITHESIS OF ALL THAT america’s next top model I want to be in a Rap Video sh*t.
We all have been there, wanting to model. But that sh*t is for the byrds.
I just wanna stand on a corner in Bedstuy and say:
a. Forget it. Stop trying to be a model. That sh*t is not cute. GET CAKE. LEARN MATH. Cultivate someone in yourself that YOU would like to marry/shack up with one day< <<----Noticed how I slipped that in there. I WANTED TO HAVE ACCESS to the baby. Even if that meant leaving work.
Or building a daycare on the ground floor.
There was no way, I was gonna go to all this school, get hella debt, fight white people AND MISS MY BABY ERRY DAY.
HELL NAW!
My sister just graduated law school and is about to have her first child with no intentions of going to work within the next year. many of her classmates balked at her decision however to her and her husband family was priority. she married a man who is a known provider and they won’t be missing any meals.
In the instance of family, having a father as a known provider, not predator is paramount in a woman’s ability to make a decision based on a love foundation. When men are looked at as the enemy, women hustle trying to compensate for that male energy and in turn become more manly for lack of a better word.
I’ve seen both sides, the middle class and the hustle and 9 times out of 10 if not 10 times out of 10 Hustlas did not come from safe environments and they hardened themselves to fight the elements…
My sister just graduated law school and is about to have her first child with no intentions of going to work within the next year.
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So you smell me then.
[[Baby sis kinda bad, by the way:)]]
This comment hit a note with me.
Planning the pop out is so f*cknig crucial b/c women who operate in spheres of power are revered and PUNISHED for taking time off to raise the youngin’s.
Imma pray for them.
When men are looked at as the enemy, women hustle trying to compensate for that male energy and in turn become more manly for lack of a better word.
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Don’t know if I agree with this.
a. Are you referring to the vid?
b. Are you saying that hustling is the domain of dudes?
c. Thats a slippery slope, because a desire to hustle and being ambitious are typically intertwined.
d. The rationale is dangerous b/c it leads to the inference that hustling/ambition is the domain of men.
What I believe is dangerous for women is the loss of femininity. Without going into detail I will say in all honesty that I spent my 20’s in the trenches, where it was hustle or be hustled. The prevailing thought amongst the women I labored and hustled with was that if we had to hustle this hard, the importance men became relegated to what they could do in bed or what they could do for women…this right here brings out the challenge of finding balanced relationships between men and women.
It is my opinion that when women give up the actual desire to be taken care of, cherished and valued in the pursuit of the almighty dollar, we lose a brick in the foundation of family. Oprah Winfrey being prime example!!
It depends on what we as a society more specifically a black society deem important.
The prevailing thought amongst the women I labored and hustled with was that if we had to hustle this hard, the importance men became relegated to what they could do in bed or what they could do for women…this right here brings out the challenge of finding balanced relationships between men and women.
It is my opinion that when women give up the actual desire to be taken care of, cherished and valued in the pursuit of the almighty dollar, we lose a brick in the foundation of family.
****
Aunt Jackie, clearly you’re ordained.