Dear Greta: I struggled with writing this to you. I’ll explain later, but that needs to be said. I want you to know that I admire you… Read more “An Open Letter To Greta Thunberg”
Latin Gangs — A White American Export
My mother wasn’t a gang member. She was a woman who painfully left her children behind so that she could work hard to someday bring them here. The gangs that, ignorant Americans, say come from Honduras are gangs that actually started here in America; the same America I was born in. Gang culture originated in the United States before being exported back to my mother’s homeland. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street, are gangs that were born in the streets of Los Angeles, California because of white American Racism that attempted to crush Black and Latin communities.
This will be Uncomfortable
So, it turns my stomach to see Black women throwing themselves into white causes, especially with a long, well-documented history of whites having never thrown themselves into ours, in such numbers and rabid support.
Guess I’m Not Respectable *Shrugz*
For some, this interaction isn’t a big deal. “You didn’t have to go that far.” Maybe I didn’t. But see, I deal with these things all the time. There is no space I can go in that I’m not aware that I’m black. I walk into a bar that’s mostly white, I walk in my neighborhood that’s mostly white, I work at my job that’s mostly white, I live in a world that reminds me daily, I’m not white.
Wherever We Go, Our Voices Are Silenced.
Why is it that non-black people and some brown people are able to talk shit about us so freely and with such reckless abandon? Throughout the day I was notified that numerous people received the same empty “Thanks for your feedback” message.
Yes, All Men…Until You Prove Differently
If you know that people will do everything in their power to erase Black women, femmes, and gender non-conforming individuals from our work and you decide to spend your energy convincing us to accept it instead of standing with us to fight it?
A White Lie Can’t Be So Bad, Can It?
I would like to add that we should not misconstrue the word lynching. In actuality, it has less to do with a rope and more to do with the horror and violence aimed at Blacks throughout America’s racist history. Taking that into account, we can surmise that Blacks are still being lynched to this day. The same racist fundamentals apply to those crimes as they did when Jesse Washington was lynched. It is a racist, heartless murder that warns other members of a group to take heed. No difference. Just because there are no laws that advocate for lynchings does not mean that they don’t take place.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2018
We’re usually black and proud but that day we were prouder. We saw other black people in the theater dressed as characters from the movie. We saw black folk wearing traditional African clothing. We saw black people greet each other happily as we were all about to experience something that we’ve been craving. It was like we were hungry and somebody laid out a buffet. When I tell you we ate it up. When the movie started we were like kids in a candy store and somebody told us we could get everything we want.
“If Black, Shoot Them”
Nothing about the shooter’s quick-tempered outbursts witnessed by many nor his complaint-ridden, racially-coded texts about the Black community he was assigned to serve and protect.
NFL or NAH
You probably thought I’d be feenin’ by now, didn’t you? Nah. I’m good. Still not one game. Still not one highlight.
Am I Not Human?
Yes, it looks like we’ve channeled the spirit of our ancestors and blew you out the water. But trust me when I tell you, there’s no magic. It’s just that we know, that as black people, we have to be 10 times better than you do in order to make it in this whitewashed world.
Let’s Take This Time To Reflect
The biggest offense of all is the one I’m often guilty of: remaining silent. I’ve been hard on lots of white friends since the election, when the real question is: why was I ever friends with these people and why do I continue to associate with them? And now, why do I only sporadically speak out when they do or say noxious (or more often than not, remain silent)?
An Exceptional Choice
If racism and sexism and hate and violence and fear and terrorism aren’t a part of your view of America, then you are one of the people that America was set up to provide for and protect.
Dear White America: This is Your Mess.
Every time you put a cop on paid leave for killing a Black person. For every teenager you beat because they refused to fear your Whiteness and racist ideology. For the police that claimed they didn’t comply even with video evidence proving otherwise. Every time you didn’t convict.
For every Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Gardner, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin and the countless others you reduced to nothingness and criminality in their death….own your shit. This is on you. This is your mess.
Confessions of a Closeted Brown Woman
My friends, just about all of them white, had largely muted responses. “That sucks” from one regarding the Arab slur and “Can’t you just relax and not be so serious one night here Saira,” from another regarding the racial slur against my dead mother.
Their apathy stung more than the underlying assault, but then I got it. They’d never seen me as brown because I had never seen myself as such. They’d lumped me in with their own whiteness. Who could blame them?
The World’s Greatest Dancer
George wasn’t just the world’s greatest old dancer. He was the president of PRIDE, Inc. PRIDE stands for “People’s Rights In Demanding Equality.” PRIDE raises funds and distributes help to disadvantaged folks in Louisville. Not like the big organizations that build community centers and renovate things and pay their people a ton of money. PRIDE donates turkey dinners to nursing homes and Easter candy and Christmas presents to families. When George or one of the other seven volunteers (who make up the entire staff of PRIDE) found out a family was hungry, there was a Kroger giftcard or a Walmart giftcard to mysteriously appear in their hands.
A Dog’s Love
Deep breath. I never thought I’d be telling a story like this. Friday night, I picked up a girl. That’s not as bad as it sounds. I’m… Read more “A Dog’s Love”
Toxic Whiteness Created Rachel Dolezal
Black women are used in white supremacy, as an “Other”, a mutually exclusive category to create “US” and “THEM”. Toxic whiteness is born from this process of division. By labeling the behaviors of black folks as inherent to their race, we in turn create a category of “whiteness” in response. If black girls are fast, white girls must be modest. If black girls are loud, white girls must be polite and quiet. Rachel Dolezal isn’t black, she’s a product of white supremacy, and toxic whiteness.
Why Not Talking About Race is a Stupid, Stupid, Idea
White people in the states have kept our heads buried in the sand for decades — we aren’t paying attention to how the police treat black people, we aren’t empathizing with black people, we aren’t exposing ourselves to their perspective. That’s the problem. Ignoring race, pretending that there are no historical and cultural differences between whites and blacks have only made things worse.
To All My Fellow White Women Marchers: Use Your Privilege Against the System For Others
We just witnessed what happens when white women in pink hats disrupt traffic, walk in the middle of the street, and surround their capitals – the police smile, and give us high fives, and pose for pictures. That’s not what happens when women and men of color protest. When black women block a road, which again, we white women totally did, people threaten to run them over with cars and trucks. See the difference?
AfroSapiophile 