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“Who’s Afraid of Ciara Woolf?: On BET’s Tolerance of Certain ‘Freaks'”

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Last week on twitter I was looking for video’s featuring Nicki Minaj that featured sexual desire for a guest lecture.

I ended up using the video “Little Freak“? by Usher feat. Nick Minaj.

I stumbled upon Ciara’s Ride video yesterday and I was struck by, well how erotic it was.

By erotic I mean conveying sexual desire, conveying feeling.

And BET is not playing it.

In many ways Ciara in the Ride video is more erotic than Nicki and Usher in Little Freak, even though Nicki Minaj is talking about how many “ho’s” she has and how she wants to steal Cassie from Puffy. [Peace MZ for correcting my typeo. #oldsnarko].

Reading these two videos against each other, it is clear that there is? sexual desire in the Ciara video whereas there is more eroticism in a? Sunday Night football game than in the Usher/Nicki video.

BET has chosen not to play the Ride video.

The main difference between the two videos is the Ciara’s largely features her dancing against a white background.

You are forced to look at her and only her until Ludacris joins her to spit his rhyme.

Through this way all disturb system comes on track and back racing generic cialis in canada again. The blood veins within the penis then naturally you can be prevented from ED. viagra tablet Not all elderly people develop osteoarthritis but discount bulk viagra many do since prolonged wear and tear isn’t always sports related but involves jobs that involve heavy labour and lifting. Kamagra oral jelly order viagra online is the perfect medicine for men who are planning a romantic weekend. Whats bugged out is as soon as Luda comes on, Ciara’s body is largely reduced to being? a crotch and legs for a meaningful part of the rest of the video.

#ummhmm.

What does it mean that BET refuses to play Ride because they arguably find it too sexually suggestive?

Why is this video banned (or simply not being played) but the 5011 other rap videos with ubiquitous half nude, anonymous video vixens, and video extra’s get major rotation?

Here are some of the songs that you can vote for this week on BET.com

Bobby V. ft Plies “Phone #.”

Rick Ross “Aston Martin Music.”

Gucci Mane “Remember When.”

Is Black women’s sexuality being displayed on her own terms a threat that compels BET to react with censorship.

“Wait till you See my Dick” is cool but Ride ain’t? I mean blood, the simulated orgy scene? #ummhmm. #youain’tgottaLieCraig.

Sexual double standard?

White Men X Rap Music x Black Masculinity

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Black men have a very particular history in this country. In popular imagination they are violent, hypersexualized monsters.

Think Birth of a Nation, Minstrel shows, lynching as a political tool.

In rap music, arguably since The Chronic, the main type of rap artist who shines is the thug who gets money, “ho’s” and clothes. In fact, this is the predominant Black male figure in mainstream rap music and elements of this kind of masculinity can be seen in underground regional and underground national music as well (underground meaning music that doesn’t get radio play but has a substantial and growing fan base.)

How am I connecting Black men in being violent in rap music to White mens masculinity?

David Ikard does it for me.

Ikard talks about Black masculinity using Walter Mosely’s books Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned in the essay “Like a Butterfly in a Hurricane: Reconceptualizing Black Gendered Resistance in Walter Mosely’s Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned Walkin’ the Dog” which is in the book Breaking the Silence.

In the following quote, Ikard is analyzing how a character, Munford Brazille, in Mosley’s book Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,? has just gotten out of jail.? Brazille is trying to make sense of why he kept getting out of jail after continually committing? crimes. Ikard writes,

“I got in trouble again, and again they got me off. I kept on getting in trouble, and they kept getting me off. Didn’t wake up ’till I got to be nearly old as aI am now. Then I realized they kept getting me off because they [white me] needed a Munford Brazille. They need us.” Illuminating the link between black crime and white manhood Munford calls attention to how he was used, directly and indirectly by his white “benefactor” to secure the notion of white mens moral and masculine superiority over Black men.

Next Ikard connects Black men’s violence to White men’s masculinity when he writes,

By playing the role of? “bad nigger”- reckless killing other Black men- he unintentionally? reifies the man/boy, civilized/primitive binaries used to sustain white male superiority and to emasculate Black men.

Note: to reify something is to make it seem like its natural when it really isn’t.

For instance, Black men are NOT naturally violent (no one is) but if you look at media representations of them throughout history, you may be led to think that.

You ever wonder why it hurt Black men to be called “boy” by White men?
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Because historically the assumption about Black people during slavery is that they were incompetent children who couldn’t take care of themselves so they needed to be enslaved and looked after. #absurd.

Language makes power visible.

Ikard explains the history of what it meant to White men’s masculinity for Black men to be called boy and for white men to be called “master”, “boss” and “mister.” Ikard writes,

Socially these binaries were visible (particularly during the Jim Crow era) in the ways that white men would refer to black men as “boys” and “children” while demanding by force and law that Black men refer to them with deferential titles such as “mister,” “master” and “boss”…reinforced the paternalistic notions that white men were the moral and physical guardians of Black people. Without White guardianship, the thinking went, blacks would perish in “civilized” society.

How does this relate to rap music?

I wonder to what extent is the thugged out cat allowed to be the MAIN cat in mainstream rap music because it reaffirms White men’s humanity and masculinity.

Ikard quotes Munford saying, he basically kept getting out of jail because “Then I realized they kept getting me off they need a Munford Brazille. They need me to prove they human.”

Are the Munford Brazille’s in the rap game proof of White men’s humanity?

Why or why not?

Did I completly lose ya’ll?

Let me know.

Black Girl Rule #1: Love the People Who Love You Back

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Eves Bayou

Today I saw an friend. An old school homie. A woman who knows me and my business AND my momma ‘nem business.

We don’t speak.

We have fallen out twice and I have decided to leave it be.

Its odd and awkward. But that’s fine. We grown. A little discomfort ain’t never killed nobody.? I would be lying if I didn’t say that it would BE NICE to be friends.

We have known each other since we were 18. We know hella people in common and have seen each other through some hard times. But if it don’t fit don’t force it.

I also saw another friend today who had a hard week. Her job is janky, her boo thang situation is janky and she hasn’t had the time to devote to her art.

Artist get some kinda way when they can’t work on they work.

Tonight I snapped at her. I was houngary. I turn into a little Black girl gremlin when I don’t eat.

I apologized and said that I know that she is having a hard time, and that my goal was to leave her feeling the same or feeling better, but not worse. I said that I take being her friend seriously.

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Yes, its sentimental and over the top but you know what, sometimes people need to hear that shit explicitly.

Often times it is knowing that someone Loves us that keeps going.

After she got off the train I realized that Black girl rule number one is to Love the people who Love us back. This means leaving the folks alone who don’t want to be bothered.

This can be a boo thang or a homie. Or and old friend who you have fallen out with twice.

You want to fuck up your self esteem? Chase after a negro man or woman who don’t want you? Done that. Im cool.

#BlackgirlsarefromtheFuturesotheydon’tdothatshitin2010.

You leave anyone alone lately?

You speak when you see each other?

Sometimes historical friendships be just that, history.

On Becoming Bleek Gilliam, On Becoming Janie

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If you know me you know I can’t stand no Bleek Giliam nor the people

who remind me of him.? Yet I tend to date them anyways. #Ouch.

Bleek Gilliam is Denzel Washington’s in Mo’ Betta Blues who Loved his Boo’s and often Loved his art even more.

Last week, I realized why I hate Bleek so much, because in many ways I am him. Arrrrrg.

Earlier this month at a little Libra function two different people I dealt with were there.

The night went fine until the next morning when I learned that SD got one of my best girl friends.

I was like “Aye Blood, How you gone get at her knowing that I Love her, that shit was real sloppy.” It was then that I realized that he ain’t got no code, and because of that he dangerous.

It was one thing for him to BRING a pretty Black girl to the function, I expected that I wasn’t excited but she we grown, let it do what it do. It was another thing to holler @ my homie. Feel me. Sloppy!

He subsequently apologized and said he was ashamed but you know what blood,? its been awkward ever since, which is a reminder that that shit ain’t right.

I was very careful with the invitations. I prayed on them to be honest. What I didn’t do is give the right of first refusal and say, “Aye Blood, so and so gone be there, so you better have some act right” or ” you may or may not want to come, just an fyi.”

A couple of days later when Sbot learned what I did, she said call Bacon Grits, quick. I listened to her and I was glad I did. He suspected something was fishy and because I am taking some time to fall back and focus on my classes and teaching this fall, he knew we wouldn’t be talking to me as much, so he decided to wait to say something.

By bringing it up, I showed both integrity and a willingness to admit that I fucked up. He recognized that what I did wasn’t malicious, but still, I ain’t know.? I now realize going forward that I need to give folks the right of refusal.

I learned in that conversation that he was angry enough to stop dealing with me. I got #shook.

So how am I Bleek?

Bleek had his Love Bears. He also LOVED his work, his art.

I realize that as much as this quality irritates me in the people that I date, I also find it attractive AND I can also be the same way. Arrg.

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I got A LOT of work done, but my life was so quiet without the constant hum of our contact. Phone calls, text messages, etc.

I was like dannnng. What if he meet somebody else in the meantime.

What is I gone do?

I can’t control that though. It is what it is until it ain’t.

It was then that I realized that this dude is in a whole OTHER category because he centers his relationships with his friends and family. He PUTS THEM over money. I know very few people like this, let alone Black men. (No shade to Black men, but ya’ll be representing #teamPatriarchy-A man ain’t a man unless he go stoopid dough, real hard.)

I understand how valuable and precious this is. Full stop.

At the same time I know I am driven and attracted to that? passion, a plan, conviction and commitment, OTHER Bleeks.

Court Bear,my datingn co blew my byrd up when she said people in general, men specifically, are rarely good at both as they are not socialized to be. Plus learning to be good at relationships takes time and a willingness to learn, like being good at anything. Arrg.

Which is brings me to Bleek. Ms. Nikon Jawn shared with me on Thursday that women are socialized to “give up their ” lives in pursuit of a partner. That sounds like a fertile ground for growing resentments.? And that this is a part of the reverb that I am feeling.

Trust. I am rooted in desire.? This is where Janie comes in. Janie looking for a bee for a her blossom, moving on when husbear number one or two wasn’t doing her right. I try to treat people humanly with the tools that I have at the moment.

I don’t know WHAT to make of all this. What I do know fer show, is that the outcome of none of this is mine. Honestly when I admit this and my Bleek tendencies, I feel better. I also feel better when I admit that it is my job to seek advice, listen to my heart and apologize when I fuck up.

#blackgirlsarefromthefuture.

yzr.

You know any Bleek Gilliam’s?

Does that analogy make sense?

Do you be Bleek too?

Musing on “Can African Americans Find Their Voice in Cyber Space”

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Via Founding Bloggers.

Earlier this month, The White House invited some Black bloggers to The White House for a meeting. I found it interesting that none of the Black bloggers who do work on race, gender, community activism, whom I know, were NOT present.

Here are some posts on it:

White House Meeting for Black Journalists Doesn’t Stay off the Record Long. @ The New York Times.

In Defense of Black Bloggers Having a Relationship with the White House @Jack and Jill Politics.

Black Bloggers Get Played by the White House @ Black Agenda Report.

This reminded me of a post I read last year titled “Can African American’s Find Their Voice in Cyberspace?” by Henry Jenkins of MIT’s Media Lab.

The post is a transcript of a conversation between Jenkins and Dayna Cunningham, Director of the Community Innovator’s Lab at MIT based on a lecture she gave in his? New Media Literacies class.

This spoke to me for two reasons. First, I am a Black woman and self identified feminist who has been blogging regularly for nearly five years. The earlier posts where shorter and more interested in hip hop, news analysis and my reflections in law school. In 2008 I began to write short and long form essays about street harassment, gentrification, Black women, masculinity, femininity and my dating life.

Second that I am interested in the tension between blog advertisers and blog audience and how this impacts Black voice online.

@Rafikam says you can only serve your audience or your advertisers. Rarely both. Highly niche sites can do this.? I would be willing to, ON MY OWN terms. Feministing is a site that is able to do this. However, I would imagine that there are limits to this as well.

Thirdly, I am interested in using social media as a politcal education and awareness raising tool.

I am going to quote some of Dayna Cunningham’s conversation and add some commentary beneath. You know what it is.

What is Black Discourse?

Let me start by saying that from where I stand, collective discourse, debate, dissent and demand are crucially necessary for building the political will to advance African Americans’ equity claims. Black voice is critical to this process.

Cool.? Discourse is debate, conversation about something.

She is not talking about ANY discourse but the discourse online related to Black people’s freedom in the US.

Where does Black voice come from?

Black voice stems from the schizophrenic daily experience of being un-free in a society that claims freedom as its first principle. Black voice provides a unique, and I would argue, necessary, perspective on the failures of American democratic institutions.

We ALL know about this. I mean, we learn it at an early age, across class meaning, we learn it no matter how much money our parents make. Money can buffer some of the effects of racism, trust, but at the end of the day Black is Black.

How White Folks Agenda’s Affect Black Politics

Electoral and legislative campaigns by definition demand cultivation of the white electoral majority’s opinions and carry inherent risk that they will censure claims or interests that are unpleasant to that majority.

This may be very hard for folks to appreciate and digest. But she is basically saying that focusing on elections and all that, historically, involves catering to and pushing against what working class (folks with retail jobs)? and elite white folks? (Wall streeter’s, Madison avenue executives, College professors, Fortune 500 CEO’s) THINK Back folks should have.

Making Politician’s Do Right By Us

Without a prior agenda-setting discourse enabling African American communities to arrive at some collective decisions about their shared future, I can’t imagine either innovation in support of, or accountability to, black concerns.

She is asking, how can we hold politicians accountable to us, if WE don’t talk about and define an agenda?

I would argue that today, black politics has largely been reduced to the electoral and legislative spheres; African American media too often promote black celebrity and individual advancement, and along with much of the black civic infrastructure, rarely focus on freedom discourse as a means of exploring strategies for collective political action and accountability to black interests.

What does it mean that some of the biggest Black blogs online are press release mills that lightweight resemble Jet + Ebony lite?

What I am asking us to think about is the significance of the most heavily trafficked Black voices online being sites fascinated with celebrity.

Do we want to do something about it?

Are their people doing something about it?

What are the consequences of doing nothing?

Does the election of President Obama mean that Black Voice doesn’t matter?

Has Obama’s election signaled the dawn of a post-racial moment in which black voice no longer is relevant or necessary? Not likely. African American progress has ground to a halt since the early 1970s, coinciding with a series of policy assaults that shifted massive state and federal resources from increasingly-black cities to suburbs. These policy assaults, cutting social advancement while criminalizing poverty, occurred during Democratic as well as Republican administrations and at all levels of government regardless of the presence of black elected officials.

Wow. So. Since the ’70’s the federal and state money followed white folks and affluent folks of color out of the city into the suburbs. True. #ShoutOutToTheWaronDrugs. And in many ways, I would add that that money is on its way back as affluent people return to the cities.

The Majority of White Folks DID Not Vote for President Obama

The majority of whites did not support Obama (according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, McCain/Palin carried the white popular vote nationally, 55-43 percent). They are even less likely to support the kinds of radical policy interventions needed to reverse the last thirty years’ conscious and systematic disinvestment in black communities.

Talk about post racial fantasies. Somebody smoking crills.

Whats the difference between electing a candidate and getting your groups agenda met?

I would argue that though it will create rich opportunities for people to gain political experience and to engage in important forms of collective action, the Obama post-election process is unlikely to be a sound substitute for the political process of black freedom discourse.

Electing a someone is not the same as making them do right so your hood looks the way YOU think it should look.

Black Folks on the Internet Speaking Back to the Majority.

How would it provide opportunities for people to hear a range of policy proposals and decide which ones they prefer? How would it enable debate? How would it give access to deeply marginalized black voices–gang-involved kids, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, undocumented immigrants, HIV/AIDS survivors? How can these groups find opportunities for speech back to the majority?

Here she is asking how marginalized folks can use the internet to speak back to the majority.

Lots of information to digest.

What can you do?

1. Learn who is on your city council and vote.

2. Learn who is on your local school board and if it is possible vote or support someone on there that whose politics you support.

3. Become a part of your cities police civilian review board, which monitors allegations of police abuse.

4. Read about Black Political History? Here is a short starter reading list:

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5. Find an old head in your community to talk about the political history of your city/town.

6.Read something from the above list or share a link below. Do you have any other ideas? Any other readings, videos, online essays that should be added to the list.

7. Adopt a politician or a first grade class. And stay on them.

8. Email me and @afrolicious to sign up for 100V.
100visionaries x gmail. More about 100V here and here.