Tuesday, March 8, 2016

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY REPOST: MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THEIR OWN STORY

A LIST OF FAVORITE
BLACK FEMALE HEROES
&
A LIST OF FAVORITE
BLACK FEMALE AUTHORS




If you love your children set their minds loose in the fullness of history. Make sure your children, girls and boys, both are reading real life stories women, especially the stories of black and brown women over the course of their childhood into adulthood. 



Make sure they know their black and brown her-story in addition to their his-story, the  recent past and the distant past. 



We, as women,  have a heroic past and present that we know very little about as compared to how much we know about male history. Once you read a few of the books below, you'll begin to realize that our female ancestors have written down a perspective of history, especially black and brown history, that we only THINK we already know. 



So, make sure your children know the accomplishments and stories of 



ALICIA GARZA   March 4 1981
(black lives matter creator) 

PATRISSE CULLORS, 
(black lives matter creator)) 

OPAL TOMETI 
(black lives matter creator) 

Aisha Tyler  
Sept 18 1970

KIMBERLE CRENSHAW 
(INTERSECTIONALITY SOCIOLOGIST)  
May 5 1959  

J K Rowling, 
(HARRY POTTER) 
July 31 1965

Maria W Stewart,  
(FIRST FEMINIST SPEAKER)
1803

Gabrielle Union, 
Actress
October 29 1972

PAULI MURRAY,  
(Civil Rights Attorney)
November 20 1910

Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 
(SUPREME COURT JUSTICE) 
March 15 1933

Diane Nash, 
(CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER)  
May 15 1938

ANNA ARNOLD HEDGEMAN, 
(CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, N.O.W. FOUNDING MEMBER)
July 5 1899

Zora Neale Hurston
(WRITER)
January 1891

Septima Clarke 
(CIVIL RIGHTS TEACHER) 
May 3 1898



Aja Monet 
(POET, SAY HER NAME ACTIVIST) 
August 21 1987

Sonia Sotomayor, 
(SUPREME COURT JUSTICE) 
June 25 1954

TYRA BANKS 
(MODEL/SPEAKER) - 

TYRA BANKS (Light Skinned Woman Keeping Images of DARK SKINNED Black Women Represented In America’s Top Model) 
December 4 1973 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/20/tyra-banks-feminist-yahoo-interview_n_6014274.html

Salma Hayek, 
(ACTRESS/FILM MAKER)
December 2 1966 http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/04/salma-hayek-feminist-women-the-prophet-interview

Shonda Rhimes 
(WRITER/PRODUCER BROWNING HOLLYWOOD 
ONE ACTOR/ACTRESS/DIRECTOR AND MUSIC ROYALTY AT A TIME)  
January 13 1970

Kerry Washington, 
January 31 1977

Viola Davis,
(ACTRESS)
August 11 1965

Margaret Cho
(COMEDIAN) 
December 5 1968

Tracee Ellis Ross
(ACTRESS)
October 29 1972 

Gina Prince Bythewood 
(DIRECTOR)
June 10 1969

Angela Bassett
(ACTRESS/DIRECTOR)
August 16 1958 

BARBARA SMITH,
(ACTIVIST/WRITER) 
December 16 1946

ANNA JULIA COOPER,
(ACTIVIST/WRITER)
August 10 1858 


Dorothy Height
March 24 1912

Ferdinand Barnett
(ATTORNEY/ACTIVIST)
February 18 1852


Jada Pinkett-Smith,
(ACTRESS/ACTIVIST)
Sept 18 1971

IDA B WELLS 
(JOURNALIST, FIRST ANTI-LYNCHING RESEARCHING SOCIOLOGIST, NAACP FOUNDING MEMBER)  
July 16 1862

JOAN MORGAN 
(WRITER/ACTIVIST - HIP HOP FEMINIST)
?

bell hooks  
(WRITER/ACTIVIST)
Sept 25 1952

Melissa Harris-Perry
(WRITER/TELEVISION ACTIVIST) 
October 2, 1973

Malaya Yousafzai
(ACTIVIST) 
July 12, 1997

Beyonce, 
(SINGER)
September 4, 1981

Don McPherson
(EX FOOTBALL PLAYER/FEMINIST ACTIVIST) 
April 2 1965

DELORES HUERTA, 
April 10, 1930


ANGELA DAVIS, 
(CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST)
January 26, 1944


Daisy Bates 
(CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST)

November 11, 1914



Rosa Parks
(CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST)
February 4, 1913

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHE 
(WRITER) 
September 15 1977

Coretta Scott-King  
April 27, 1927
(Never self-declared but this women's rights activist regularly showed up/spoke at feminist events like those hosted by Delores C Tucker) 

DELORES C TUCKER,
ACTIVIST
October 4 1927

Shirley Chisholm
November 30 1924 - 2005

India Arie 
(MUSICIAN)
October 3, 1975

BEVERLY BOND 
(BLACK GIRLS ROCK CREATOR)
December 19 

Jessica R Williams 
(Daily Show Comedian) 
July 31, 1989

Mara Brock Akil 
(PRODUCER/CREATOR BROWNING HOLLYWOOD 
ONE ACTOR/ACTRESS/DIRECTOR AND MUSIC ROYALTY AT A TIME)  )
May 27, 1970

Eva Longoria, 
(ACTRESS)
March 15, 1975 

Maya Angelou,
(POET)

April 4, 1928



Nannie Helen Burroughs (*no photo)

(Activist Shaped Black Church) 

May 2, 1879

AUDRE LORDE,
(WRITER/POET/ACTIVIST/SPEAKER) 
February 18, 1934


ALICE WALKER,

(WRITER)
 February 9, 1944

GLORIA ANZALDUA
(WRITER/SOCIOLOGIST)
September 26, 1942

SONIA SHAH 
1969?


PATRICIA HILL-COLLINS,

WRITER/SOCIOLOGIST  
May 1 1948


GLORIA STEINHEM, 
(WRITER/ SPEAKER/ MS. MAGAZINE FOUNDER)
March 25, 1934


DOROTHY PITTMAN HUGHES

(WRITER/ SPEAKER/ MS. MAGAZINE FOUNDER)
1938

Amandla Stenberg and Her Mama
(ACTRESS/SPEAKER ACTIVIST)October 23, 1998



PAULA J GIDDINGS  
(WRITER)
November 16 1947

SOJOURNER TRUTH  
(SPEAKER / ACTIVIST)
Born Isabella ("Bell") Baumfree
Born in 1797  
died November 26, 1883 

FREDERICK DOUGLASS
(SPEAKER/ABOLITIONIST/ SUPPORTER OF SUFFRAGE)
February 14 (chosen date) 1818  


HARRIET TUBMAN

(UNDERGROUND RAILROAD LEADER)
March ? 1822

MELISSA HARRIS PERRY'S READING LIST





DebLynn Additions (including fiction)


Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi.  Americanah 
(Fiction: An African Woman Moves To United States. This award winning book has everything: drama, love, colorism,  and comedy) 




(Written like a journal entry/tabloid. But dozens of interviews give a fuller picture of Josephine)

Boyd, Julia A. Can I Get a Witness?
(Black Women And Depression)

Boyd, Julia A. In the Company of My Sisters

(Black Women And Self-Esteem)


(Very, very subjective, even as memoirs go. And her approach to life seems anti-feminist 80% of the time in the book. But it seems like an important alternative view of The Black Panthers nonetheless)



Burroughs, Nannie Helen (born 1879)

(IN SEARCH OF A GOOD BIOGRAPHY since I think she probably had a large hand in building the black church strong enough to be a central site for civil rights by the time the 1950s came around. Until then a link:  http://teachinghistory.org/system/files/black_women_and_reform.pdf) 


Butler, Octavia.  Kindred
(Sci-Fi. A black woman falls back through time and meets a white ancestor during slavery)

Danticat, Edwidge.  The Farming of Bones

(Historical Fiction - Dominican Republic/Haiti) 


(14 essays by 14 Black American Women)


hooks, bell.   All About Love: New Visions
(Radical new ways to think about love in private and public spaces)



(Black Women and Self-Recovery) 



Hurston, Zora Neale.  Their Eyes Were Watching God

(A classic brought back to the masses by Alice Walker. Janie is one of the strongest, most vulnerable protagonists ever written.)


Keckley, Elizabeth.Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, And Four Years in the White House (Even if this is a white controlled autobiography meant to glorify Lincoln's widow, this narrative is important as far as understanding the roots of class and color divisions in the black community)





(Haven't finished reading this yet)


(You wouldn't know who Martin Luther King was without her and the Women's Political Council)




Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

TRUMPS TRICKLE DOWN EFFECT OF HATE SPLASHES THIRD GRADERS


Fairfax County [Virginia] school officials confirmed the account. “The teacher has spoken with the students, and communicated with parents of the class, regarding appropriate classroom decorum,” John Torre, a spokesman for the school system. “FCPS works to create an environment that is conducive to learning and where everyone is treated with respect.”
The hashtag #EvelynMomplaisir was all over social media, even though she removed the post from her Facebook page
WASHINGTON POST

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-trump-effect-is-contaminating-our-kids--and-could-resonate-for-years-to-come/2016/03/07/594a7f46-e47a-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_dvorak-2pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory



SNOPES CHECK
http://www.snopes.com/fairfax-county-racism-posting/
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Monday, March 7, 2016

VOODOO CHILD



Voodoo Child
Jimi'd be proud.
Posted by Esquire on Saturday, March 5, 2016



Awesome wasn't she?




Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Sunday, March 6, 2016

EVEN MORE EVIDENCE THAT MICHELLE IS THE BEST FIRST LADY EVER





Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama, made surprise visits to two elementary schools in Washington, D.C., where she kicked off her nationwide garden tour, and the students’ reactions were priceless! 󾌧Making the official announcement today, throughout the spring the First Lady plans to visit gardens across the country as a part of one of her first initiatives, “Let's Move!”. "Since we planted our White House Kitchen Garden and created our 'Let's Move!' initiative to help kids grow up healthy, I've heard from people across the country who've been inspired to grow their own gardens and change how they think about the food they eat. And in my final year as first lady, I plan to get out and visit some of these folks."First Lady, thank you for being such a positive role model and helping create a better future for us all! #becauseofthemwecan
Posted by Because of Them We Can by Eunique Jones on Thursday, March 3, 2016
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Saturday, March 5, 2016

CECILE EMEKE'S STROLLING SERIES, FRANCE - EPISODE 1

A repost
Strolling/Flaner

Connecting the scattered 

and untold stories 

of the Black/African diaspora 

FRANCE





'Strolling' is a short documentary film series created by Cecile Emeke where we take a stroll with people in various cities and countries around the world, having refreshingly raw and honest conversations about various issues at the forefront of their society. We touch on everything from feminism, sexuality, gender, race and politics to philosophy, art, history, capitalism, war and poverty… and everything else you can think of.
#Strolling: Connecting the scattered and untold stories of the Black/African diaspora.


This Episode


black french culture, 
Movie: "bande de filles" ("Girlhood")
 afrofuturism, 
fatou, 
sisterhood








Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

MURDER THREAT HAS TO GO VIRAL BEFORE FACEBOOK OR POLICE TAKE A BLACK WOMAN SERIOUSLY

I first saw these screenshots days ago, on Love Life Of An Asian Guy's page, when he gave me and other black women readers a public service announcement about a man named Matt Walters.



The fact that this man made such threats of murder, kidnapping, and torture due to racism were somewhat shocking. I say somewhat because I am used to the idea that white men will become verbally violent when they are certain nobody will hold them accountable. And it's been apparent to people of color for a long time that white racists have found a safe haven in Facebook.

That's why the story that went along with these threats of kidnapping and murder were not surprising at all.  

The black woman that was threatened, Heather, called the Houston Police where the man lived and was unable to get police to take her seriously.  Myself, I tried to post something on the Houston Police's facebook page but was unable to. Friends were able to post Matt's threats on twitter-- hence the "going viral."

And when the woman reported the incident to facebook and facebook did absolutely nothing, which is pretty standard based on what friends have told me. But that the level of threat being so high, I was a little surprised there wasn't some pseudo investigation just to cover their backsides. I expected at least that much. But they didn't bother to do anything.  When Heather put the screenshots up of what was said to her, that's when facebook becamse worried about community standards. They cut off Heather's account for a few days.

This wasn't the first time I've heard of somebody complaining about racism to facebook and facebook responding by supporting the oppressors right to oppress while actually turning around to harass the victim.

Facebook has been guilty of similarly unsatisfactory responses to racism in other countries as well. 

In 2015, Germany and France both too Facebook to task for it's lack of action against racists and racist content. So now I'm wondering when that's going to happen in the U.S

Actually, I'm wondering what we need to do to make it happen. Do we actually need to push our lawmakers to put laws on the books for Facebook to comply to? Is that the answer? Should we look to France and Germany to see exactly what laws and standards they have that we don't?


Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sydney-latimer/online-activists-question_b_9372588.html
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Friday, March 4, 2016

ZOE SALDANA AND LIGHT FRAGILITY

If you didn't believe that light skinned actresses with white features were/are enjoying preferential hiring practices before, despite multiple decades worth of proof, all you have to do is look to Zoe Saldana being hired to play Nina Simone.

Saldana's skin color and white features, however, are less than half the problem. Considering Zoe Saldana's colorblind, colorism blind, racism blind attitudes choosing this nitwit to play Nina Simone is akin to choosing Donald Trump to don blackface so he can play Martin Luther King. *

“As one light-skinned black woman to another: We need to check our privilege.”
Feeling Rebloggy


Being light-skinned isn’t a problem and it is not something that we ever have to apologize for, just as white people don’t have to apologize for being born white.
I’ve never been looking for white people to apologize for being white. I’m looking for white people to dismantle the system of White Supremacy that builds them up on the backs of people of color. 
And dark-skinned black people aren’t looking for us to apologize for having light skin, they are looking for us to help dismantle the system that places us above darker-skinned black people in society.

The same system that holds us above and separate from our darker-skinned brothers and sisters is the same system that holds whiteness above and separate from us. And we are a part of this system the moment that we benefit from it. And we do benefit. As a light-skinned black woman, I’m viewed as more desirable, more intelligent, less threatening. I’m treated better by bosses, I have better odds in job interviews. People don’t cross the street when they encounter me on the sidewalk. Yes, there is a large price to pay for all of that—I am fetishized by many in the white community [and black community, both and then] ostracized by many in the black community—but when placed on a scale, I benefit...


Read More: Nina Simone, Zoe Saldana, and Light-Skinned Fragilityhttp://www.theestablishment.co/2016/03/03/nina-simone-zoe-saldana-and-light-skinned-fragility/


Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone?
Not Even Half the Problem
Follow us: @EbonyMag on Twitter | EbonyMag on Facebook
http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/zoe-saldana-as-nina-simone

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Thursday, March 3, 2016

THE MOGULIZATiON OF JANELLE MONAE

Feeling Rebloggy
The label-as-family vibe is no accident. "We looked at what Puff and Jay Z have done,Jack White and Prince as well," Monae says. "But I'm also really inspired by strong women in business, like Mellody Hobson and Queen Latifah."
WONDALAND

Monae has run Wondaland as an imprint for several years, but began to ramp up late in 2013. She and all the artists met with several majors and got interest from many -- including Monae's home label Atlantic -- but collectively made the decision to join forces with Epic after meeting with CEO L.A. Reid and president Sylvia Rhone.
"I walked into the studio and all of Janelle's acts were in there together, they all looked like stars and they were ready to go," Reid says. "I actually met her many years ago when she was a background singer for one of Big Boi's artists. I wasn't fortunate enough to sign her at the time, so I wasn't going to let Wondaland get away."

~Billboard 

READ MORE:http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6472849/janelle-monae-mini-mogul-wondaland-label-epic-la-reid 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

A BLACKFACE IS BLACKFACE LESSON FOR ZOE


Wearing blackface is unacceptable in 2016

Blackface is unacceptable on white people
Blackface is unacceptable on light people

Because

Blackface is Blackface 

And we as black women get to say that we want women who have chosen to IDENTIFY AS BLACK WOMEN to play our historical figures, our icons who also identified as BLACK WOMEN.  

 That's why I, for one, had no problem with Halle Berry playing Dorothy Dandridge.

Dear Zoe,
Don't misunderstand us. We are not calling on you to identify as a black woman because it is clear that you are not one. Blackness is not biology. It is sociology.  

And you have made it clear that you are not socially constructed as a black woman. Therefore, you are correct in not identifying as black women, for reasons that have nothing to do with your skin tone.

I know plenty of light-skinned black women, who identify as black women, who responded with dismay when they found out you --a non-black woman who gets acting jobs due to having paler skin and whiter features-- was going to play Nina Simone, who was routinely criticized for being darker-skinned with zero-white-features.... which is why you had to wear black face to take the role.  

I know plenty of light-skinned black women who identify as black women who do NOT HAVE TO HAVE  IT explained to them that....
Black face is unacceptable on white peopleBlack face is unacceptable on light peopleBECAUSE Black face is Black face. 



If you're not raised as a black person this is going to be as confusing for you as it is for white people, many of whom also claim colorblindness as a virtue.  I understand that. 
But please do make an attempt to understand this:
1) Blackface is blackface
(on you, on Sandra Bullock, on Brittany Spears)

2) Race is not biology. Therefore YOUR blackface is blackface TOO (And it would be on Halle Berry or Vanessa Williams)

3) Race is a sociological construct.

4) You do not identify as Black. And a blind person can tell you are not black by your words.

5) Nina Simone was one of us and all the way black

6) You need our permission to play one of us. You didn't get it and you wouldn't have gotten it --same as the producers of "The Gods Of Egypt"

7) Nina Simone is probably spinning in her grave knowing somebody who does not identify as black is playing her in a movie while wearing blackface. 

Black women understand this. Brown women understand this. A bunch of white women understand this. You would understand this too if respect is any part of your mental repertoire. 

The grave spinning is likely why Nina Simone's Official Twitter account just took the gloves off
Read More:
http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2016/03/nina-simones-official-twitter-account-just-told-zoe-saldana-all-the-way-off/

Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

SAY HER NAME: JOYCE CURNELL'S DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY

A black woman who was arrested at a hospital over the summer for failing to pay court fines died the next day because she was deprived of water at the Charleston County jail, her family’s attorneys said Wednesday.


A black woman who was arrested at a hospital over the summer for failing to pay court fines...died because she was deprived of water
A black woman who was arrested at a hospital...died.....was deprived of water 

A black woman...died...deprived of water





EVERYDAY POLICE BRUTALITY for BLACK PEOPLE:

Joyce Curnell was in a hospital for court costs -- not for robbery, not for kidnapping, not for murder. The police went to get her in a hospital due to unpaid court costs. Then they didn't tend to her as if she was ill....when they went to get her in a hospital


ORIGINAL STORY:  DEADLY JULY: FIVE BLACK WOMEN FOUND DEAD IN JAIL CELLS
http://thankherforsurviving.blogspot.com/2015/07/deadly-july-five-black-women-found-dead.html
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

BRAZILIAN BLACK LIVES MATTER, THE CABULA 12


As Salvador kicked off Carnival, residents of Cabula...gathered to commemorate the murder of twelve black people on Feb. 6, 2015.

Brazilian newspapers called "The Cabula 12" would be bank robbers and glorified the police officers as heroes. Yet, once more the victims of these police shootings were mostly black and poor black as Amnesty International says they are at least 80% of the time. Autopsy reports show, according to one article, that these "bank robbers" died on their knees with their hands on their heads. A secret video tape of what looks like a hospital corridor shows that three of the "robbers" have bullet holes in their backs.
Brazil's population is 50% of that of the United States. "Yet Brazil's police have managed to kill "more people in a five year span than U.S. police have killed in the last 30 years."
“The numbers are equivalent to a country at war,” said Hamilton Borges, a black liberation leader and founder of the anti-police violence movement Reaja ou Sera Morta, meaning “React or Die.” “In Brazil, and especially in Bahia, it is dangerous to be black.”

...Days after the massacre, protests erupted in slums throughout Salvador. Family members broke their silence and spoke to the media. During the carnival, a popular Afro-bloco group staged a die-in honoring Cabula and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Countless murals dot the city with the words: “We will never forget those killed in Cabula.”
America.Aljazeera.com 

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2016/2/25/the-cabula-12-brazil-police-war-blacks.html

Cops in Brazil
Image Source: Twitter
 It sounds like a new day is dawning in the black areas of Brazil. 





Black people in this country need to take notice of the fact that black people in other countries are looking at us.
We, as Black Americans, have power that those in Brazil don't, power that those in France don't.

We, with our whole 13% and American ideals,  have the ability to make ourselves heard in this country and also on the world stage. And we've probably had this power, without most of us being very aware of it, since Civil Rights Leaders used television so effectively to show how the United States was treating black people in the 1950s and 1960s.

 
I consider the willingness of the protests in Brazil to stand up another victory for Aliza Garza, Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors and their entire Black Lives Matter movement. And if the Black Lives Matter first function is to act like a spotlight, then let us all turn our eyes to the south, toward Brazil, and lift up their struggle.

 If the U.S. can be embarrassed into treating us better than the did prior to the 1960s, Brazil can be embarrassed into stopping it's police force from murdering black people at will.     

Read More On the deaths of The Cabula 12 
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/02/fighting_a_black_genocide_in_brazil.html
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)