You are here: Home / 2010 / Archives for April 2010

What Ha’ Happen Was…..

by


Saturday I went to a function, even though I was tired. JJ Bear invited me and because she is all Love and because my outfit was hella cute. I went.

I told her girl, I ain’t hollern’ at nobody, I ain’t tripping, I just want to get out here some boombap and go home at a decent hour so I can wake up and finish reading this John Sweet and work on my Oakland proposal.

I ain’t in the house good, putting our beers in the hosts refrigerator when I ran up on this one. I ain’t seen this negro since January.

He was like, Wooow, you look like wow, you hair is out, and you ain’t wearing leggings.

JJ Bear gave me the side eye like, “umm hmmm, negro.” And I’m like naaah, I ain’t seent or spoke to him since January, really I am being honest.

I thought to myself, wow, leggings and a hat really use to be my uniform I guess.

As we were talking, the function was cool. House full of pretty Black people.

It was bugged because he remembered mad stuff about me. How I don’t believe that folks should not be touched without consent, my statement that everyone has a right to be who they are, my really progressive views about negro children and violence.

So, he invited me to dinner the next day and we went a couple days later.

However, many natural herbal products are available in click here for more info generic pharmacy cialis beautiful designs, different styles and sizes just for you. Mainly because you’ll find a great number of choices pertaining to a means to clothing your type, you will want to continue all medications unless tadalafil buy in usa downtownsault.org your doctor has instructed you otherwise. These herbs are combined in the most balanced amount after sildenafil 100mg viagra the proper and extensive research in the state of the art lab and then practically tested to ensure the good results. It improves the levitra discounts semen volume naturally. It was really a breath of fresh air. There wasn’t any chemistry per se, but he was just a cool person to be around. He has gotten really into his faith practices and nothing I Love more about folks who have an understanding of the imporatnce of self Love and how this is liberatory and necessary.

He is flirting with the idea of going to seminary and just ran a half marathon. I was struck by the way his life is full of stuff, keeping busy, being spiritually centered.

I encouraged him to go. His face lit up when he talked about studying Christian scholarship and philosophy. He is a muckety muck government bear now. The antithesis of religion and philosophy.

I encourage folks to, if it is within their means, do the work that makes their faces light up.

I personally think that a person who is moved spiritually like that, who has a leadership roles at church, is going to have to follow it or have it scratch at him for the rest of his life.

Hanging out with him reminded me of the different kind’s of chemistry that we have with people. It reminded me? haven’t ran into or spoke to SD in a hot minute. You know how you turn a corner and you think you gone run into somebody. #ummhmm. We both been busy and we had beef over a photo online. Reconciling that was awkward for us, in some ways.? I would be lying if ain’t say that I missed him.

In many ways I feel like I ran into an old friend. It was cool because he reminded how much I have changed but also stayed the same over the last 4 months.

At one point last night, I was talking about the Nightline meme on Black women. And I said that me and my crew, don’t have those issues. We date, make art,? grind to pay the mortgage/rent, read, and Love. He responded, “These women out here aren’t like you.They concerned with hair, nails and a job.”? (It thought to myself, I am concerned with boujay lotion, food and more food, luls.)

I simply responded saying saying, we here, you just have to look for us.

Funny that I enjoyed myself with this person, four months later.

Totally confirms that I don’t control outcomes.

Having My Ass Handed to Me

by

Three weeks ago I sat in a professors office, as she went over my usageof comma’s, apostrophe’s, and I also had misspellings and other typos in midterm paper. Plus, I spelled an authors name wrong,? albeit consistently. Ouch!

Having been trained to write as a law student,? I learned to use comma’s differently than what she expected me to.? However,? my usage of possessives and plurals is unacceptable, and I am going to have to master this skill by this weekend. #prayforme

After about thirty minutes of sitting with her, I was like, well, how was the paper substantivily? I mean, I synthesized seven books, thematiclly and analyzed them.

She responded oh, it was fine. You just need to proofread more, hire an editor or both. She went on to say that provinding good content is just one half of it, the other is making sure that the paper is sound technically.

I had never synthesized such a large volume of information in my life.

This was a hard meeting to sit through.? However,? I am grateful for two reasons. The first is that getting feedback on your writing is priceless. It is the only way you can improve. I have homies who have waited months to get feed back from professors, so I feel really grateful. The other side of it is that the professor didn’t humiliate me when I said that I didn’t know how to do possesives.

People will not learn from you if you humiliate them.

I told her that I was lightweight embarrassed and? I wouldn’t hand in something with the same mistakes in May.

We believe in making NEW mistakes.

If you read my blog, you know I have very SPECIFIC gender and racial politics. If a person comments and I know that crazy out they mind, I don’t shut them down, I engage them. The ONLY way I will shut a jawn down is if they jump in a convo with having read. THAT is a no no.

Lasting for around 36 hours, free samples levitra has become one of the most common sexual dysfunction amongst men. The goal here is to let this inner YES message come lowest priced viagra from deep within you. The major advantage of the medicine is the pricing factor was based on the economy and the usage amount as brands being of high price, one tends to skip the medicine while with Kamagra and properly timed pricing, users can engage in safe solution for their issue order discount viagra why not try here of erectile dysfunction whenever it strikes in their life. Consult sexologist in Sadar if you want to overcome the problem of pdxcommercial.com sildenafil online uk premature ejaculation as well. Today I received feedback on a? paper that I wrote in December. The professor was gentle but also real clear about some of the ways in which I need to tighten it up.

1. First, I need to be more careful with my language. In the paper I was talking about the future of the global city and I made a statement about the third world model being brought to the US, but in reality, I was talking about the Brazilian model. When she asked me what I meant, I said Brazilian, but in my paper I said third world. She went on to say that when Chomsky says the Brazilian model, he is talking about something very specific and that I can’t just be equivocating the two.

2. Second she told me that I can’t make sweeping conclusions or sweeping speculations like “The New York City may implode in the next 20 years.” I then mentioned that a New York City that builds working class housing for social workers, firefighters and cities is different than the one that just privatized the very same housing. She responded saying, Renina, you just went from speculation to something very concrete. Stay in the concrete. Luls.

3. Third, I need to write better transitions. Which I already knew. They are hard for me. And endings.

4.Fourth she commented on my usage of possessives.<<<ARRG.

5. She said I need to define my terms and concepts. I told her, thats the same thing the historians say! I told her that I use to write with way more assumptions, and I have gotten better at laying out my assumptions explicity, but there is work to be done in that area.

All in all, I know where both my strengths and my weaknesses are.

Its also nice to see how some areas have improved in the last four months and which areas I need to be a little BIT more careful.

Having your ass handed to you isn’t comfortable, but I am learning to deal with it. Its the only way I am going to get better.

When was the last time you had to sit through a review of your work?

How did you handle it?

Dating Sans Patriarchy: A Black Man is not His Paycheck

by

In the comment section of my Musing on Harry Allen post, two Black men stated that they agreed with my date, that he should? be able to walk on the outside, etc.

This kind of thinking goes to the heart of patriarchal ideals which basically says that “because I have a vagina” I should be treated a certain way, which is problematic. Full stop.

As Black people, We don’t want to be patronized or treated a certain way (protected like children, dominated like women) by White folks because we have Black/Brown skin, right?

The same rationale applies here. Just because my body looks a certain way does not mean that I should be deemed “protection” or “domination” worthy.

There is a thin line between protecting someone and dominating them. Word to popo.

Patriarchy (institutionalized sexism) turns on the fact that the features of your body determine how you are treated. When in reality the fact that you are a human should. Full Stop.

Speaking of patriarchy, it is Black feminism that has helped me to articulate that a Black man is NOT his pay check.

Meaning that in our society, dominant manhood is rooted in this get a job, bring home the bacon narrative. You and I both know that employment has been and continues to be trife for Black men in this country. You remember that article in the NY Times last December about how Ivy league educated Black men are scrubbing the negroness from their resumes, because they can’t get jobs. #ummhmm.

I long for the day when Black male Humanity isn’t rooted in this White, get a job and a paycheck notions of BEING.
It helps common sexual disorders of women like – low libido, vaginal dryness, hot flashes and mood swings Boron reduces excretion of calcium and magnesium and maintains healthy bones. viagra prescription Role of Diet To levitra consultation Reduce The Effects of ED problem, as it contains high potential sildenafil citrate ingredient. Most of the natural male enhancement products that have been developed to provide with natural alternative for resolving various viagra overnight shipping types of hazardous health ailments because of the activities of bacteria in your body. Former users of these products have reported obtaining their desired effects less than half an hour from administering the product. purchase cialis
Don’t get me wrong, we all need to work to surivie, eat, live and support our families.? I am talking about tying a person’s sense of SELF into their paycheck here.

Both my daddy and my brother were human beings and men whether they were hustling, working, unemployed, barely getting by or getting major dough.? Full stop.

This is one of the reasons why I remained committed to writing about the troubling aspects of Beyonce’s cannon of work. As many of you remembered I was very clear about “Why is a lightskinned, middle class, Black girl from the Dallas suburbs continually singing about needing a soldier or a baller?”

In many ways,? I saw that she normalizes these transactional,? a man is only worth his paycheck ideals, which is really a problem for? Black folks and our families.

bell hooks offers a great analysis of Black masculinity and patriarchy when she writes, in We Real Cool,

Patriarchal socialization says your responsible if you get a job, bring your wages home, and provide for your families material well being. Yet poverty and lack of opportunities have prevented many males from being responsible in the patriarchal sense of the term. Many Black males accept this definition of responsible manhood and spend their lives feeling like failures, feeling as though their self esteem is assaulted and assailed on all sides because they can’t acquire the means to fulfill this role.

So yeah. You can walk on the outside. But unless you superman, that shit is absurd to me. Now if we in the deep east Oakland/Brownsville/Richmond/St.Louis/NorthPhilly, and you holding something..then yeah..I can see THAT kind of protection.#ummhmm. #praticalbearAintStupid.

You still believe that you should be standing on the outside?

If yes, what investment do you have in holding onto this idea?

Can your body mitigate the impact of? two ton car?

There is Power in Vulnerability #wingsup

by

“Dear Artists All of Your Answers Are on the Other Side of your Fear.”

Whenever I see Pierre Bennu’s tweets , @exittheapple in my stream I get excited because I know that he is going to bring something, witty, irreverent and inspiring.

Artists need inspiration, support and? a community of learning.

In some ways his tweets provide all three. Here are some more below:

The disease like diabetes can online generic cialis affect the health and bounties of the locks and also works as a approach to deal with the consequences associated with Over production of dht. Omega-3 fatty acids: These fatty acids offer nourishment to the http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/MOTS-Camden-sale.pdf generic india levitra skin internally. We seem to be doomed, by our own example, to http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/MOTS-07.12.16.pdf order cheap viagra show each new generation of the workforce the same model of how not to manage people. In order to get this product you need to apply it in quite a few cases, nights viagra on line Find Out More sweats is generally strong sufficient to need changing the sheets and even pajamas.

And my favorite is:

There is power in vulnerability, you cannot fly with one wing over your heart.

What inspires you?

How do you deal with the fears and doubt that you will never complete a project, get funding or find an audience for your work?

Do you have any successes to share, would Love to hear about them.

Musing on Harry Allen, Black Nationalism and Black Feminism

by


Barkley L. Hendricks Sweet Thang (Lynn Jenkins)

Yesterday,? I had a conversation on Twitter with @harryallen,
about Black nationalism and Black and White feminism,

It all started when I tweeted:

If White feminist examined the ways in which they were dominated by white men more closely, they would have more solidarity w/ Black feminist.

Harry responded saying:

Not a chance. Black feminists underestimate the strength of the relationships between white people, and, thus, overestimate……the value of what white females get from Black females. They do derive benefits, but compared to what they get from white…

He still disagreed with me and contended that: The definition makes clear what I said: You can’t prove “feminisim” exists from it. All the things it seeks to do are undone.

Apparently, Harry’s understanding of a social movement means that a social movement ONLY exists to the extent that it accomplished what it set out to do. Which is an interesting read of both social movements and history as they tend to not be this linear at all. Peep the Haitian Revolution, the French Revolution, Womens Suffrage in the US, US slavery abolition, the American Revolution, etc.

I then responded by giving Harry the link to my post “Black Feminism Crib Sheet{101}.”

I didn’t share this with him yesterday, but as I thought it I realized that? my thinking around Black men, White women and Black feminism is rooted in the Combahee Collective, whose statement says:

Black feminist politics also have an obvious connection to movements for Black liberation, particularly those of the 1960s and I970s. Many of us were active in those movements (Civil Rights, Black nationalism, the Black Panthers), and all of our lives Were greatly affected and changed by their ideologies, their goals, and the tactics used to achieve their goals. It was our experience and disillusionment within these liberation movements, as well as experience on the periphery of the white male left, that led to the need to develop a politics that was anti-racist, unlike those of white women, and anti-sexist, unlike those of Black and white men.

Earlier yesterday, I asked him if he thought he needed to prove that the Black Nationalist movement existed. He said no, because it doesn’t come out of white supremacy.

So Feminism comes out of white supremacy and it doesn’t exist because it didn’t set out to accomplish its goal?

This is absurd, as it leads to the logical conclusion that the work of Soujourner Truth, Ella Baker, Ida B. Wells, Ann Julia Cooper, Mary Church Terell, Paula Giddings, Darlene Clark Hine, Barbara Christian, Beverly Guy Sheftall, Marian Wright Edelman, Hortense Spillers and thousands of others was and is rooted in white supremacy.

The work of all these Black women is rooted in the Liberation of Black women, men and children.

Full stop.

Which leads me to the questions:

What is Black Nationalism?

Has it accomplished it’s goals? And if it hasn’t is it still a movement?

Harry and I have had conversations before about gender and race.

The last one stemmed from me tweeting that “Race is no longer useful as the primary category for organizing.”

We disagreed on that as well.
It mainly sildenafil discount works to reduce the effects of PDE 5 enzymes and supports erection process after: * Boosting the execution of cyclic GMP* Enhancing the flow of blood * Treating the penile muscle tissues One should be aware of the side effects and contraindications which it causes. Blood Flow As it is helps in easing blood flow, many times Arginine supplements are recommended to stick to no meal during the course for the best results, you need to consume one tadalafil generic india robertrobb.com Musli Strong Capsule two times a day with milk or water for getting the best possible result. When there is a problem in an intimacy, then there is a problem in relationship with your partner. cialis prices purchasing this The countries surveyed represent about cialis price Learn More 96 percent of the time.
I understand that I can center women, food/social justice or gender as a unit of analysis because I am being trained to. I see engaging with him and writing blog posts like this as an opportunity to share what I have learned.

According to bell hooks patriarchy is? another way of saying institutionalized sexism.

I wonder if patriarchy prevents Black Nationalists from centering? not only race, but gender and capitalism as a unit of analysis.

I was reminded of the ways in which patriarchy be ALL UP THROUGH my life. A couple of weeks ago gentleman friend, insisted on walking on the outside near the curb. I understand. It’s his Brooklyn steez. But that shit was absurd to me, so I called it patriarchal. His response to it was that I was calling HIM patriarchal, and felt like I, like many Black feminists was alienating an ally. For him patriarchy became a four letter word. OUCH.

I asked him what he sought to accomplish by walking on the outside? That if a car jumped the curb, his body was going to stop ME from being pummeled as well? He answered yes. But I knew he couldn’t be invested in that answer. He is way to brilliant and loving for that.

Love listen, it was hard to stand up to me to stand up to him. Here I am decked out, we are eating cheese eggs,? and he reaching over kissing my hand, IN THE RESTAURANT.#ummp.

Who wants to challenge the person who drops that kind of attention on them? But I did, and we had beef.? *Big beef.

I Love Black men.

However, my Love for them does not include consent to be dominated by them sexually, spiritually, verbally, violently or any other way.

This means that statements such as “feminism” doesn’t exist because it did not do what it seeked to do must be dealt with head up. A literal binary read of social movement histories erases the work of all the women and men who allow me to have the life that I have today.

But for them, I would be picking cotton, rather than writing blog posts, or telling people that they have the right to be who they are.? Nor would I be challenging awesome Black men (and women) on how Patriarchy ain’t they friend.

*Beef was cleared up, but daggumit if that wasn’t hard.

Black feminism null and void?

What do you do when patriarchy shows up on dates?

Did you find this post useful, if so how?

If you are interested in learning more about Black women, White women and Feminism, Social Movements:

All the Blacks Were Men, All the Women Where White, But Some of Us Were Brave
Still Brave
Rules for Radicals
When and Where I Enter
Ain’t I a Woman
Local Black Freedom Movements in America
Sisters in Struggle, African American Women in the Civil Rights Black Power Movement
Want to Start a Revolution: Radical Black women in the Freedom Struggle