Comedian Elon James White, creator of This Week in Blackness, recently created a list of 13 “Black Truths” and I thought I would put them here:
1) Africans are Black.
2) Saying someone “Talks White” is possibly one of the most idiotic things you can utter.
3) There’s no such thing as Post-Racial America. To say there is is to acknowledge your own ignorance.
4) There’s no such thing as “Good Hair.”
5) Blacks don’ t come in a package. You can’t say “Well Black People Think…”
6) Black Folks engaging in things you don’t consider “Black” isn’t them acting “White”, its you being a dumbass.
7) Racism isn’t over. When someone of color says this, they aren’t complaining. They’re observant.
8 ) No one can speak for black people. People speak ABOUT blacks; for “groups of blacks”, but not “FOR BLACKS.” (That includes Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson)
9) Obama didn’t come to save Blacks. He came from years of Black Struggle. He’s a product, not the solution.
10) Black and Ghetto are not interchangeable. One describes a people. One describes a class {and also a place}.
11) Theres no better “SHADE” of Black. Light, Dark, Medium. We’re all STILL black.
12) Intelligence does not equal lack of black authenticity
13) Black people don’t have to live up to a definition of blackness. “We” define it w/ everything we do.
Here is his video:
“I Have a Dream” was a great speech, but I feel like people use it to oversimplify MLK. To make him fit into their neat little box. – Blitz the Ambassador (rapper)
Many think of Martin Luther King Jr. as the anti-Malcom X, but that is far from the truth, he was a radical. Civil disobedience did not use violence, but it was not complacent either, it was confrontational.
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day, here is a post from Stuff White People Do (obviously not all white people) called “Sanitize MLK,” and links to other discussions on the “Santa Clausification” of Martin Luther King and some other things MLK said besides the “I Have a Dream” speech:
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When white people look back in history, their view is often distorted because they’re wearing white-colored glasses.
As Andrew Golis says, Martin Luther King, Jr. was far more radical than we tend to remember him being:
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a democratic socialist.
He never called himself that in public. Cold War red-baiting was still powerful and haunted him even before his rhetoric turned to class. But his organizing was increasingly in that vein and in private he spoke of his support for democratic socialism. He was organizing a Poor People’s Campaign and talking about the necessity to build an interracial movement for economic justice.
This is one of the many challenging facts that is lost in what Cornell West calls the Santa Clausification of MLK:
He just becomes a nice little old man with a smile with toys in his bag, not a threat to anybody, as if his fundamental commitment to unconditional love and unarmed truth does not bring to bear certain kinds of pressure to a status quo. So the status quo feels so comfortable as though it’s a convenient thing to do rather than acknowledge him as to what he was, what the FBI said, “The most dangerous man in America.” Why? Because of his fundamental commitment to love and to justice and trying to keep track of the humanity of each and every one of us.
UPDATE: Jeff Cohen explains in fuller detail what white Americans prefer to forget about MLK. (link below)
UPDATE: A new memorial to King is being prepared for the national mall in Washington, D.C., and Chinese sculptor has won the statuary competition with a bold, assertive image of King.
Predictably, as Ibram Rogers writes at The Root, calls have arisen for a kinder, gentler image:
The night before he was assassinated in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously roared that he had “been to the mountaintop” and he had “seen the promised land” of freedom, justice, and equality.
That spirit in the final phase of King’s life has been captured brilliantly by Chinese sculptor, Lei Yixin, who was commissioned to design the centerpiece for King’s memorial on the National Mall in Washington. In his models for the statue, Lei captures King as a man firmly rooted in the inalienable rights of humanity, his arms folded, looking intensely for us to take hold of the tools he left us to climb to freedom’s mountaintop.
Now the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts which selected Lei has criticized his design and is recommending a more sympathetic rendering of King. The current, more defiant, rendering, the panel said, reflects a “genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries.” Commission secretary Thomas Luebke added, in a letter to the foundation responsible for the King Memorial, that “the proposed treatment of the sculpture – as the most iconographic and central element of the memorial to Dr. King – would be unfortunate and inappropriate as an expression of his legacy.”
In its simplest terms, the panel said the representation of King is too “confrontational.” At best, this assessment reflects historical ignorance. At worst, it seems tied to a larger societal effort to distort, co-opt, and water-down King’s legacy. . . .
Lei’s design is not only an accurate depiction of the image we should see of King in our historical memory, it is a prescient depiction of how King would likely confront the country now. (Link to The Root article below)
Link: http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2008/04/emasculate-mlk.html
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Ten Other Things Martin Luther King Said by Illdoc:
Santa Clausification of MLK: http://agolis.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/the-santa-clausification-of-martin-luther-king-jr/
Santa Clausification of MLK according to Cornell West: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200701/20070112_west.html#
Jeff Cohen: http://www.alternet.org/media/81389
The Root article on MLK stone: http://www.theroot.com/views/stone-faced-lie-mall
Other Things that MLK said: http://www.racialicious.com/2010/01/18/dr-king-said-more-than-i-have-a-dream/
King’s “The Other America” Speech: http://www.gphistorical.org/mlk/mlkspeech/index.htm
Precious.
All of Tyler Perry’s films.
Avatar (ok Avatar is not really a black film, but all of the non-white main actors were the Navi’s in the film).
What do these films have in common? They have received in general both commercial and critical praise.
What else do they have in common? They fit the formulaic and stereotypical formats of mainstream film and use of stock characters to draw audiences in. Also, they prove the lack of promotion for more diversity in Black (and other people of color) film.
Now, I am not saying that these movies should not have been made or that they should not be seen. All of these movies do have good elements to them. However, just as any other art, these works need to be watched with a conscious mind and parts of it should be criticized. No one watches anything with a blank mind and no one should have to either.
Also, when I talk about diversity, I do not mean only more positive images in contrast to negative images, but also less of the stereotypical images that Hollywood and audiences expect (there tends to be set ways in which both positive and negative images are shown, including ones involving race). It is more about thinking outside the box and breaking down limitations and expectations because that is the only way the world ever changes.
When Spike Lee said that Tyler Perry’s movies were “buffonery and coonery,” to a certain extent, I did agree with him. This is all of what he said:
“Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is “coonery” and buffoonery. I know it’s making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better. … I am a huge basketball fan, and when I watch the games on TNT, I see these two ads for these two shows (Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne”) and I am scratching my head. … We got a Black president and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?
We’ve had this discussion back and forth. When John Singleton [made “Boyz in the Hood”], people came out to see it. But when he did “Rosewood,” nobody showed up. So a lot of this is on us! You vote with your pocketbook, your wallet. You vote with your time sitting in front of the idiot box, and [Tyler Perry] has a huge audience. We shouldn’t think that Tyler Perry is going to make the same film that I am going to make, or that John Singleton or my cousin Malcolm Lee [would make]. As African Americans, we’re not one monolithic group so there is room for all of that. But at the same time, for me, the imaging is troubling and it harkens back to “Amos n’ Andy.””
He did make a point. The first time I saw Diary of Mad Black Woman, I actually loved the film, but, by the time I saw the shows, House of Payne and Meet the Browns, and the movie, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, I was tired of Tyler Perry and his films and shows. I felt as if I was being inundated with the same stock mammy and “Amos n Andy” character types and similar patriarchal stories of having “a knight in shining armor,” or “the perfect man” rescuing you. I just got bored.
Then Tyler Perry decided to try something different with producing Precious and once again I was not very interested. Yes, I could tell that it would be a moving and powerful story and that it needed to be told. But I feel like I have heard and saw that story already. Oh, look at the tragic lives of black people living in the ghetto! Some people even called it “poverty porn” (just look at all the hood movies produced that are very popular, even though there are some I like). As one of my former professors, Bridgett Davis, said “She’s a type. Rather than make her real, i.e., flawed, Sapphire made her someone who can elicit from us only two emotions on the same continuum –sympathy and pity.” Another stock character that lacks the sense of humanity that makes them relatable and feel authentic (though it tries), like some of Tyler Perry’s characters.
One of my favorite poets, Bassey Ikpi, also felt that the film only made the audience feel happy that you were not her, but did not give you any direction on where to go from there. It just dumps all this on you and leaves you hanging. Then the, as Professor Davis said, it gives you this easy “fairtytale redemption” (very typical) and audiences are surprised that a girl who looks like that can be lovable (even though some still made fun of the way she looked in the theatre). Everything always ends okay and fixed easily with a bow. Wrong!
Another problem I had with the film not showing the face of the father who was raping Precious and having the rape scene quickly inserted and pulled out (no pun intended) with no follow-up. That one scene felt unnecessary and failed to put a human face to the father, instead of just showing him as some monster type. Moreover, the inconsistency of Precious fantasies in which she dreams of her actual self in a Hollywood-type fashion versus the scene in which she sees a white woman in the mirror. Not only those, but also the failure to elaborate how Precious’ child, named Mongol, ended up light-skin if her father is Precious’ father and the failure to elaborate on the institutional failures of schools and social services (how, unfortunately, in reality someone like Precious would be an exception).
Even the people who “rescue” Precious are just as much as stock characters (when Ms. Rain tells Precious to write, it felt like a Freedom Writers moment). The extreme colorism in the film is obvious; I do not think it a coincidence the Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz (all light-skinned black people) are the main heroes of the film, while Gabourey Sidibe, Monique and her father in the movie are dark-skinned, helpless and dysfunctional. In the original book, Push, Ms. Rain (who is played by Paula Patton) was actually darker-skinned with dredlocks (she would look more like me). Just listen to what the director Lee Daniels said about his prejudice of dark-skinned blacks: “‘Precious’ is so not P.C. What I learned from doing the film is that even though I am black, I’m prejudiced. I’m prejudiced against people who are darker than me. When I was young, I went to a church where the lighter-skinned you were, the closer you sat to the altar. Anybody that’s heavy like Precious — I thought they were dirty and not very smart. Making this movie changed my heart. I’ll never look at a fat girl walking down the street the same way again.” This tells me that he put some of that bias into his film.
The colorism in Precious reminds me of Avatar. Why? Well, the “White Hero” motif that is often widely promoted. I can list a lot of films that fall into the category; in fact I’ll do that now:
Blackboard Jungle, Dances with Wolves, Pochahantas, The Last Samurai, Enemy Mine, Dune, Freedom Writers, Dangerous Minds, Blindside, Invictus, Radio, Fern Gully, The last of the Mohicans, Mississippi Burning, The King of Scotland and the list goes on…..
These consist of three story types: White guy falls in love with a non-white (or alien) princess, White guy leads a group of non-white people (or magical or alien species *hint*) to fight against his own people and help non-white people protect their culture, or White teacher or coach goes into an inner-city school to help minority kids become successful…
But I cannot help but think if this can be told differently – non-white person goes into a white suburb and leads them into a new direction and no I am not talking about the “magic negro” in which he rescues the entire world or it is not a specific group (often Will Smith). Maybe, telling a story like Avatar from the point of view of the Navi’s and someone like Sully stands on the sideline. A non-white person rescuing the aliens or magical creatures. A non-white teacher or coach coming to the aid of white kids or minority kids.
In fact the last one has been done often with less promotion: Full Court Miracle, Coach Carter, Remember the Titans, Antwone Fisher, Akeelah and the Bee, The Great Debaters, Stand and Deliver, Lean On Me, The Marva Collins Story, Hotel Rwanda, Catch a Fire and much more. However, those do not get the same recognition as movies like Avatar and Blindside.
Some people may think that I am over-analyzing and seeing things, and might not believe me. But if they do not, I will give them another example. Recently, Danny Glover started creating a movie about the Haitian revolutionary, Toussaint Louverture, and when he tried to get funding for the film, he was asked if it was a black film and “where are the white heroes?” However, with a movie like this it is almost impossible to have a white hero, still they wanted one because the producers believed it would be more marketable. If that does not convince you, I do not know what will.
I am not saying that I do not want movies with the stereotypical characters to be created because I know they exist and I am not saying that I do not want movies with white heroes because I know that they exist, too (for example, Blindside is based on a true story). What I am saying is that the over-promotion of these stereotypical characters and reoccurring themes reinforce certain ideas, creates limitations, causes us to bypass some great films, causes us not to see the complexity of humanity and lets us ignore a portion of the humans that exist in the world because they do not fit into an expected box. Please open your mind!
Lee Daniels Quote from here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/magazine/25precious-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=The%20Audacity%20of%20Precious&st=cse
Bridgett Davis article: http://www.boldaslove.us/2009/12/precious-manipulation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoldAsLove+%28Bold+As+Love%29
American Dream, Asian Hero post on Avatar: http://jasongchu.blogspot.com/2009/12/avatar-james-camerons-colonial-racist.html
Articles on Danny Glover’s Toussaint Louverture Movie: http://www.zimbio.com/Danny+Glover/articles/10/But+There+No+White+Heroes+Danny+Glover+Struggle
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_e3UYOiNEhW03rcVTpcB2e15IMg
I wish I could believe, love could not be with pain
But he showed that they were one in the same
Tangled up in his daily mess of delight and vice
I was always his ready and willing sacrifice
And either way I still loved him
Strained every muscle of my heart till it was weak
For a man whose future only looked bleak
Numb to touch, too deaf to hear, too blind to see
That loving him was never going to be easy
And either way I still loved him
Looking in the mirror was too much too bear
But looking at him was enough to keep me there
My everything- the violator, the wound, the balm
He was the worst of the storm and best of the calm
And either way I still loved him
Yet I could not fix something that was already broken
And when forgiving and forgetting became another token
My love no longer wanted to be burned by rage of his flame
It was time to sever the ties between my love and his pain
But in some way I still love him
What have I become? Am I human or machine?
Maybe a machine is for some, but what I’ve seen
Is others designing my purpose in front of me
And slowly taking away my mind’s autonomy,
They tell me to keep quiet, be another number
In the system, punch in, punch out, together
Yet alone in an assembly line of faces and feet,
I pray everyday that this is not my day of defeat
Realizing that I am just as replaceable as a cogwheel
That what I hold dear, I have allowed them to steal,
Even though I and we are who they depend on to live
Still a paycheck’s worth of dignity is all they will give,
I do more and more to prove myself good enough
For if I break down, I will be throwaway, like stuff,
But I am not an object to possess, under control
I am not a tool that stops and goes as I am told
I feel, think, tire, sicken, smile, laugh, cry, hurt
And yet I am seen with the same contempt as dirt
Which gives life and life is what I also want for me
They would be more human too if that they could see.
Pieces lay shattered on the floor
Of a present I was given before
Should I throw it away, to be lost
Like other broken things that cost
Me too much pain and time to care
Am I strong enough to even dare
To return to it, put it together
Let it build back to what it was prior
What it was meant to be for me
A cherished token in my memory
It is something I cannot leave behind
For without it I am trapped in time
For it reminds me to keep going
To walk into the future knowing
I need to go back and re-member.
In this corner, we have sexism:
1) Double-Standards when it comes to sexual activity: The prostitute and the pimp. The hoe and the rapper. The slut and the player. Men and women can do the same thing when it comes to sex and it will be seen as a positive with the men and negative with the females. Women are expected to remain to remain virginal or not sexual (clitoris disproves that), while men are expected to “sew their wild oats.” How many male artists do you hear singing in a song crying over their girls who cheated on them or left them for other men, and then turn right around and sing about how many girls they slept with. Ewww! How would you feel if some guy came along and treated your girl, your wife, you mother, your daughter like she was a hoe, but you have the right to treat the girls outside of your personal contacts like that. She is still someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, someone’s mother.
2) Double-standards in intellect, politics and the workplace: In politics and the workplace, a man’s leadership skills, intellect and voice is respected more than a woman’s skills, intellect and voice. In some cases, a woman can give orders, but those orders will not be executed until a man comes along and approves them. If a women is just as aggressive as a man in the workplace, she is considered a b****. On the other hand, a man is just considered a man. For centuries, this notion of women belonging at home and in the private world and not in the public world of businesses, education and politics has made women feel like second-class humans with no importance to society except to give birth. Also, this notion has perpetuated less wages for women and less consideration for day-care services and proper maternity leave.
3) Double-Standards in beauty images: Why is it he can have a beer gut, but she gains 20 pounds and is immediately criticized for being fat? When it comes to beauty standards, women have a lot more weight (excuse pun) put on them to “look good.” The whole beauty industry is mostly dedicated to the one-dimensional beauty ideal for women: straight long, and blonde hair, skinny, tall, fair-skinned, blue-eyed, wears dresses, wears make-up, acts girly, dumbs herself down, etc. Even worst, men keep reinforcing these ideals by choosing the on-dimensional beauty and making the rest of us feel inadequate or ugly. So, we go through these extreme measures to “look good” for men instead of them telling us we look good the way we are. Yet, generally, they do not have to do much in ways of image because they control images.
4) Taking advantage of male strength: We get it! Men have muscles and generally, you are stronger. However, shouldn’t they take their strength to protect us from harm not cause it. Physical abuse, rape, sex trafficking, prostitution (thanks pimps!) are still in large numbers. Constantly, I hear stories of women and girls who are sexually harassed by guys as they pass them by and other guys just stand around, either ignoring or laughing. My cousin told me a story about her friends who were trying to ignore a bunch of guys cat calling them and they started to throw Snapple bottles at them. What?! Nice way to show your aggression, boys! If you want us to treat you like Kings, you need to treat us like Queens first!
5) Objectification of women: My previous points add up into this. Sometimes I feel as if women are not treated as human, we are treated like objects to be had. As my teacher said, some men act as if they are the doers and the aggressive ones, and we are just the objects or passive members (again, clitoris and testosterone in our blood proves we can be sexual and aggressive) in the society. It is clear in language in which the plural involving men and women together only reflects men and lyrics in music in which male artists sing or rap about how they have cars, chains, rims, grills, houses, cash and hoes (or girls, to be nicer). We are just trophies of their accomplishments or their entertainment to relax to and the more the better! If we get mad or emotional, it is not because we actually are, it is because we are hormonal or on our period. We do not have a mind, we are just things to toss around or become emotional for no reason. To some men, collectively we do not count and that is sad!
Bonus point: Blame the Victim! Some men actually blame women for all these things. If she dresses like a slut, it is her fault because she does not respect herself (Ice Cube actually said that). Really? I think a lot of men forget that the reason why we do things we do is to get men’s attention. We do not dress overly sexy, wear make-up, try to be super-skinny, straighten our hair, dye our hair blonde, wear heels, shake our butts, dance seductively, for our own enjoyment! We do it because we think that is what men want and men promote it by selecting those who comply with those things more often (ex. complimenting or looking at girls who look like that more often). Moreover, the women who do not respect themselves may have never received respect in their lives, so they act like that for attention. It is up to real men to show them what respect is even when they are looking or acting like that, so they can learn to respect themselves. It is a 50/50 responsibility between men and women. So, do not give us that excuse; only people who are in denial about their power and privilege do that.
And in this corner, we have feminism:
1) Overemphasis of the idea that men and women are completely the same, when they are obviously not: Yes, men and women are equal, but we are also equally different. Despite what some may want to believe, biologically, physically, mentally and psychologically, men and women are not the same. Men have penises, testicles, and sperm while women have vaginas, ovaries, eggs and a uterus that carries the baby. Males have more testosterone than females and females have more estrogen than males. These hormones have a huge effect on our physicality, how our brains are wired, how we think or feel and several other aspects of gender/sex. Why do you think it is easier for a man in general to tackle a woman than the other way around? The answer is men, in general, are biologically stronger because they naturally have more muscle mass. Also, it is not a coincidence that usually men are more visually attracted to things (hunters) while women are usually more emotionally attracted to things (nurturers).
2) The anti-man or “all men are dogs” sentiment among radical or extreme feminists: One of the reasons why I do not love the word “feminism” is because of the “ism” attached to it. I know I may be stretching this, but sometimes I feel that the word along with the words and actions of some feminists are another form of sexism. Instead of gender equality, they are trying to prove that “all men are dogs” and all women are innocent victims of men. I have heard of political lesbians, who are not really attracted to women, but would rather be with a woman or be celibate than to be with a man. Some men are dogs, but the good ones do exist, just as in the female population. Men and women are both equally significant in this world; we cannot have one without the other.
3) Chivalry is dead! Hmmm, I wonder why?: It is hard for a man to act like a gentleman when no matter what he does it is seen as him trying to get in her pants. If when he opens a door for her, pulls out a chair for her, pays the bill for her, buys a present for her, lifts something for her, protect her, does anything else nice for her and her response is “I am an independent woman! I don’t need you to do that for me, I can do it myself!” What else is he suppose to think? His response will be “fine, I am not going to do anything for you anymore, do it your damn self!” Then when she does need his help and he is not there for her anymore, this is the consequence. She complains that chivalry is dead, but she told him that she does not need him! If you do not need him, then why is he there? Yes, a woman can do a lot on her own, but if he wants to support her and help take care of her because he cares, why not let him sometimes.
4) Placement of focus on a set of social rules, instead of a right to choose your path and maintaining the main ideals of the movement: I do not think this was planned to come out this way, but these are some of the messages I receive from women who go overboard with feminism: a) do not wear dresses, make-up, or hairdos because those are creations of man, b) staying home and taking care of your children is disloyalty to the feminist movement and you are a slave to your husband, c) having children is more of a hindrance or curse (to my career, to my life) than a blessing and on and on. First, this way of thinking can be just as domineering as male chauvinism. Also, if a woman strips herself of everything that was considered feminine (some good, others bad), it might lead her into the opposite direction of imitating men. Some feminists have made it seem (again, probably accidently) that in order to equal to men, we have to be just like them in every way (a weird form of assimilation). Instead, they should have focused on showing that women are human (not objects), have minds, have important things to say, can contribute to society and still be proud of being women in the sense that we hold the key to life and are beautiful.
The ideal of feminism should be focused on a woman’s right to choose and whichever way she goes, she should be treated with respect and admiration. If a women chooses to stay home and take care of her children, that is her choice, as long as she feels fulfilled, respected and appreciated. She should not feel pressured that she has to work to feel satisfied in life. The same idea should happen in the workplace; her position should be seen as just as important (pay, promotions, work tasks, etc.). It should be that either way she chooses, it is still encouraged. Feminism goals should be fighting for equal wages, equal status in the workplace, business, politics, media, social worlds, and all over the world, stopping trafficking of women for sex work, fighting for justice for rape victims, fighting for better medical care, etc.
5) Failure to see the how racism and classism affects feminism: The Pedestal vs. The Auction Block view Next post….
Remember Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark case in which schools were supposed to be desegregated because “separate does not mean equal.” Another reason the case is so memorable is the famous doll test by Dr. Kenneth B. Clark in which most of the black children chose the white doll over the black doll, gave good attributes to the white doll (good, smart, pretty), gave bad attributes to the black doll (bad, dumb, ugly) and in the end stated how they looked like the black doll, implying that the held all the attributes of the black doll that they just said. It has been 55 years since that case and what has come of it? Most school are still not integrated and the doll test has been redone numerous times over the years with basically the same results.
What does this prove? Yes schools are the gravy of the situation, but it did not solve the meat of the problem, which is self-esteem issues and images of black people within our society. I have a few theories on why education for black people is not very encouraging. First, neither segregation nor integration in school works because black people still feel inferior in each situation. With segregation, black schools were not given the same adequate resources as white schools. With integration, black students are not often given the same adequate attention, resources and encouragement as the other students. Usually, black students in lower education are typecasted as unwilling to learn, slow to learn or troublemakers without even a chance given to them.
Second, the American school system is biased in the favor of Eurocentric history and viewpoints. It is hard for black students to feel as if they are important, can offer something to the world and have self-esteem, if they do not have a sufficient amount of self-images and examples of their own people who have made many accomplishments surrounding them. Black and African history are barely taught in school, instead assigned to the month of February (not surprisingly, the shortest month of the year) when it is discussed sparing amounts. Even when it is discussed, people often revert back to the typical heroes in Black history, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, etc. Most can count the number of significant black figures they can name on their hands. Moreover, it is only taught that Blacks were important in the Civil Rights Movement and that is all. However, we are more to history than just the Movement, even tough it is an important Movement. Many people cannot name a lot of Black inventors, scientists, doctors, teachers, revolutionaries, writers, artists, musicians, poets, prophets, actors, actresses, kings, queens and the list goes on. These people are not the exceptions to the rule, they prove that we have contributed a lot to the world. Today, everyone thinks of Africa as a poor, violent and diseased continent, but barely anyone mentions how it was once so mighty and valuable to the development of the rest of the world. Most of the people I learned about from African and Black History I came across on my own, through enlightened teachers or when I began college. It feels as if our history has been misconstrued or parts erased in order to appear that we did not contribute anything to society except fight for our freedom and rights.
Since most of society and government will probably not be willing to help with this problem, we are going to have to do it on our own. A few ways in our history can be more known is through more books, films, documentaries and one very significant way, African schools. No, I do not believe in segregation, but since black people do not make up a large percentage of the population, society is not going to start teaching this anytime soon. So, just as other races have specialized schools (several of my friends went to Chinese schools on Saturday when they were younger), we need them too, even if it is only for certain days while students attend regular school. One such school (a full-time one) already exists in Philadelphia, called the Lotus Academy. The school’s mission is a “commitment to ground the Lotus Academy program in a cultural environment that enhances our students’ sense of self-confidence and self-esteem by nurturing them with a celebration of their African heritage.” Without this celebration of our heritage, the black children who were involved in the doll test and others who feel the same way will always feel inferior. If we have to learn about Louis XIV, we should also learn about Queen Anna Nzinga; if we have to learn about Walt Whitman, we should also learn about Phyllis Wheatley; if we have to learn about Edward Hopper, we should also learn about Jacob Lawrence. Our history is American history and world history, too, and it deserves just as much recognition and not to be pushed to the side.
Lotus Academy website: http://www.lotusacademy.org/index.html
List of Black Inventors: http://www.blackinventor.com/
The Isis Papers: Covering Black and African History: http://www.theisispapers.com/
Ever heard the term, “acting white,” “speaking white,” “oreo” (white on the inside, black on the outside). Well, I have several times. Growing up, I was always known as the “smart one,” “teacher’s pet” or “goodie two shoes” and teased for it. Even in college, one of my friends implied that I was not black because I did not act accordingly to the stereotypes of black people (speak a lot of slang, loud, have an attitude, roll my eyes, swirl my neck,etc.) The funny thing is that while they were trying to insult me, they were actually insulting themselves. Basically they were implying as a whole, black people are stupid and in order to be smart one cannot be black. Across the world, the ongoing stereotype is that black people are not synonymous with intelligence. We have been portrayed as buffoons and idiots and eventually some of us have internalized this thinking.
My parents have always taught me the importance of education. At first, I did not understand why, but now I do. As I entered my second year of college, I have realized that education has broaden my horizons. It helps me to make better judgments because I can observe various perspectives on life. No one can use my race against me by saying that “you’re black, so that automatically means that you are not smart.” I can immediately prove them wrong. Too many times, people put us in this bubble of “black” and have this tunnel vision when it comes to who we are. We sometimes think that if we do what other races do, it makes us exactly like them; the truth is we will never be like them, we are uniquely us. I love our culture, but that is not all we are; a bigger world lies out there. I am a well-rounded person because I can do both; I can love who I am as a black person, from the way we look naturally to our own culture, and I can appreciate and learn about others, too.
To Be Continued…
I don’t know where I’m from
I can’t even begin to fathom
What family I use to belong
All of that has been long gone
Lost at sea
Don’t know the roots to my name
Another man’s I had to claim
If I went back, I’d be unrecognizable
So I stay here where it’s comfortable
Lost at sea
Yet I always feel out of place
My real self I will never trace
I just hold onto pieces from her
While here I remain a stranger
Lost at sea
Floating aimlessly, not knowing
To return or just to keep going
I was stripped and whipped from me
So I guess I will always be lost at sea.