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[goldenhathor-blog]

They tell me due to the fairness of my skin that I couldn’t be like them. They tell me due to the way that I talk that I couldn’t possibly walk alongside them. But how am I any different from you? My hair is nappy. My nose is wide. And my GOD does my skin glisten with the help of cocoa butter. My hips move to the same rhythm as yours. Yet you continue to let them separate us. You continue to let them destroy our culture that makes our souls shine and our fingers rise to the sky. These tears that permanently stain my cheeks are not from the society that hates us so, But it comes from the same people that I've grown up around. My sisters. My brothers. My cousin, And the Unc that resides outside of the liquor store. They taught us to hate those with less melanin. They taught you to believe that your skin is a sin. They taught me to believe that because I have skin that compares to theirs that I am less than the people I call my brothers and sisters. For a nation that preaches love and acceptance I lie awake each and every night wondering what the hell happened. The land of the free, The home of the brave Has turned into a nation where cowards rant and rave. Our people are suffering each and everyday And they tell us that nothing but prayer can fix the hate. But I ask of you, what about the children that look up to us? The ones that dream of doing what we do? The ones that admire our skin tones and our hair wondering when life will give them the privilege of them becoming like us? Should we continue to let them see the tear streaks flowing underneath our eyes? Should we continue to let them see the way we brighten our skin and cower in shame because society won't let us be who we are without ridicule? Or should we finally come together like our previous leaders and tell them that hope is still alive. Like our leaders, that we too, have a dream. That just like our leaders we have to stand for something or we'll fall for anything. I am a black woman. Regardless of the fairness of my skin. My hair is nappy. My lips are full And damn does my skin glisten with the cocoa butter my great grandmother has made for me so my skin can shine just like my soul. And I refuse for anyone to make me feel like I'm anything less.

confessions of a tired black woman: “The Silent Scream”

[goldenhathor-blog]

I Am Not Your Negro Review

disclaimer: these are my thoughts, i am open for discussion!

I feel as though, any person willing to learn about the injustice and the past movements to help teach them about today’s movements should watch this movie. James Baldwin’s life, from my perspective, is a case of an outsider looking in. I say this because he chose to remove himself from America to seek sanctuary elsewhere. Baldwin’s stance on the Civil Rights movement was prevalent yet also quiet. He did not move mountains in the way that Malcom X did, he did not carve rivers in the way that Martin Luther King Jr. did. It took a lot of thinking in order to find an analogy worthy of his impact and with that I came to the conclusion that James Baldwin was a quiet storm. People reaped the benefits of his writings, debates and speeches.

Within this film, you see that Baldwin doesn’t come from a malicious state and the prevalent theme throughout each section of this film is the exhaustion. He is exhausted for not only himself but his people, and the way he chooses to go about this is beautiful. Bringing light onto situations that even the black community chooses not to recognized, Baldwin sheds light on more issues and goes further into elaboration which left me both puzzled and enlightened. This was a film that left an impact on its viewers and also made you want to look deeper into everything that was happening. My only complaint about the film was that it wasn’t so much about Baldwin’s life, but the many people that surrounded him. However, when I think about it, I feel like that sole purpose because Baldwin’s presence wasn’t as prevalent as the people that he was surrounded by. But I realized without Baldwin, some of these people wouldn’t have been able to prosper as much as they did.