jamr0ck83

[jamr0ck83]

Little black girl, they’re coming for your spirit. Don’t let them take it.

Advice for Younger Me and Black Girls Everywhere:

Your name is quite literally “beautiful”. Make them say it right, every single time. Do not allow them to butcher it and walk away, nor laugh at it for sounding “too weird”.

Your hue is the product of all of your ancestors, of which you should be proud. They were not slaves; they were *enslaved*. Educate others, if need be, on the difference. 

Your history is rich and not merely made up of cotton plantations and a master’s last name. You come from a beautiful and naturally-rich continent that, no matter what anyone says, contains your roots. Embrace them.

Your aptitude is not lesser than anyone else’s. You have an inner brilliance, and it’s up to you to recognize it. Do not look to others to validate your potential or acumen. Do not feel obligated to appear twice as smart and work twice as hard unless that’s what you want for yourself.

Your hair does not need to be straightened or otherwise “tamed” unless that’s what you want. It is good hair because it is your hair, long or short, thick or thin. How you wear it is your business and only your business. And if one day, there is no more of it, you are no less than who you were when you had it.

Your heart is pure and full of kindness. Share that kindness with others, but don’t let others mistake it for weakness. Compassion and empathy are good; don’t let anyone convince you that having them makes you a fool. And you get to choose who you share them with. Those who mistreat you need not apply.

As you grow, you will see so much. Some of it will make you happy; a lot of it might make you sad. And that’s okay. You get to feel your feelings. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have a right to be upset or angry. Do not unleash your ire without precision, but do not hold it in. Because depression is anger turned inward, and there’s not a soul on this earth who deserves such pain, especially not you.

You will be tested time and time again. But with every test will come new knowledge, about the world, about yourself. And that kind of knowledge is not bound to one specific place or genre. Keep your horizons broad and don’t feel like you owe it to anybody to shrink yourself down.

Life will be hard a lot of the time, and sometimes you will wonder what the point of all of it is. You will tire and maybe feel like you’ve had enough. You are not alone. And maybe knowing that doesn’t take away the strife, but it does help to keep it manageable. And you will always manage, even when you are absolutely sure you cannot. Even the worst of experiences don’t last forever. And when they’re over, you will be proud you made it through.

Your job is to take care of yourself before you take care of anyone else. Know that this has nothing to do with being selfish and everything to do with protecting and nourishing your soul. You can’t give anybody else anything that you’ve not allowed for yourself.

Learn. Stand. Fight. Feel. Lose. Mourn. Cry. Rest. Prevail.

[jamr0ck83]

The Blatant Caucasity of It All

Do me a favor.  The next time someone tries to tell you that racism is a problem that is relegated to only certain areas of the country and that they’re mostly below the Mason-Dixon Line, point them in the direction of this post.  You would think a largely Democrat state like New Jersey would be chock-full of progressive people with progressive ideas and would patently reject anything that looks like even covert racism.  But if you think that, you would be wrong.  I spent most of my life in Jersey, and any black person who has spent any degree of time living in the state can tell you that racism is alive and well there.  I think there’s an incorrect notion, particularly among the white population, that any instances of bigotry and oppression are few and far between.  And those people are living in a bubble of denial, and they need to branch out.  Ask any black person in Jersey, and they can quickly tell you which cities and towns black people would be crazy to move to because it is so clear that we are not wanted there.  They can tell you which towns not to drive through, because the police will be quick to pull you over when you have literally done nothing anybody else on the road isn’t doing as they zoom past you while you’re stopped.  And they can tell you that a middle-class black neighborhood in any city or town will always have houses which are valued lower than a comparable white neighborhood in the same city or town.  To put it quite simply, it’s really bad, and what’s worse is that white people don’t want to talk about it.  What’s more, they get angry if you try to bring it up.  And if you need proof of that, check out almost any article on NJ.com, and you will see the vitriol that spews so freely from people who are so unashamed that they post comments under their REAL NAMES.  Any article is an opportunity to bash black people, and those comments are often rewarded with a string of likes and agreeing sentiments.  It’s disgusting and the reason why I stopped going to the site even before I moved out of the state.  But for the sake of the edification for those who might have been unaware, take a look at just a few of the racist comments that were posted in response to an article detailing the impact of covid-19 in NJ’s largest city.   And tell me if you notice a theme. (Hint: You should notice a theme.)

And upon seeing this, I began to get an eerie sense of déjà vu, like “Where have I heard these sentiments before??  They sound so familiar!”  And then it totally hit me.  Click on the link below to check out a short clip taken from the documentary series Eyes On The Prize which chronicles the Civil Rights Movement.  Keep in mind that the news footage shown is from 1955.

Clip from Awakenings 1954-1956

Everyone who keeps hurling insults at “the media” for dividing us when it comes to issues of race, this is what you sound like.  Ver-friggin-batim.  Y’all act like oppression against black folks is only something one can witness “in the media”.  And you know what that tells me?  It tells me that many of you don’t live near black people, don’t befriend black people, and your kids don’t have any black friends, either which, incidentally, are all symptoms of these issues of race that we are trying to address.  But by all means, keep yelling nonsensically at “the media” for racial division.  Cuz that’s totally gonna help.  And then you can retreat back to your white bubble of a neighborhood, of which you’ve probably not once stopped to think about why no black people live there.  I’ll give you a hint: It’s not because none of us can afford it.

My overarching point is that, if America is ever going to successfully tackle its egregious history of racism and how the systems by which it currently runs are still reinforcing that racism, we ALL need to acknowledge there’s a problem.  And white folks, if black folks are telling you that it’s a problem, then it’s a problem, and it is NEVER your place to tell us we are delusional just because you claim to have never seen it yourself.  Because you have seen it; you just didn’t know what it was or how to parcel out what about the situation reeks of racism.  And that’s not terribly surprising because, since it doesn’t directly bother you, why would you feel compelled to notice?  And I don’t say that to insult you but rather to point out that you don’t get to argue, insist, and invalidate the black experience by denying racism is a real thing, because you don’t know how to identify it.  So, maybe be a little more willing to listen to those who DO KNOW and not dismiss what is being said because it’s not what you want to hear.  Because at the end of the day, the very fact that you are insisting racism isn’t a pervasive issue that needs to be addressed and are doing so by presenting the same exact arguments that were used to say the same exact thing over 60 years ago (arguments that didn’t stand to reason even then) means that it’s a problem, and petulantly complaining that you don’t want to hear about it will not solve it.  Ever.

[jamr0ck83]

How little things have changed.  Some of y’all out here are STILL blaming the media and the people who are exposing the racism of America for causing the racism of America.  It was nonsense in 1955, and it’s nonsense now.

Clip from Eyes On The Prize documentary, episode titled “Awakenings 1954-1956″.

[jamr0ck83]

Don't Talk If You're Not Gonna Make Any Sense

[jamr0ck83]

What, Exactly, Have You Done to Help Build a Less Racist America?

So, here it is, the end of November.  I think we can all agree that 2020 was not the year we wanted (although I might argue that it’s not all of us who didn’t deserve it).  Yes, this year has been an absolute mess.  But also, it’s not some grand accident that just happened to befall us.  Everything that has transpired this year has been in the making for years, decades, centuries even.

We are getting rocked by Covid-19 because our healthcare system is so inadequate and predicated upon profit that it’s not at all set up to deal with this situation.  Also, one of the things that’s always been held as a virtue in America is its citizens’ sense of individualism.  Everyone is responsible for their own destiny and has the right to make any and every decision for themselves.  That’s what we’ve told ourselves makes us a great nation.  The problem with that is, in this pandemic scenario, many people then don’t feel obligated to withstand any kind of personal inconvenience to help keep others alive, even if those others are their own family members.  We want what we want when we want it, and we won’t take “no” for answer.  Unfortunately for us, pandemics aren’t really concerned with making sure Americans don’t have to play by the same rules the rest of the people on this planet do, and when viruses come to kill you, they will kill you if you don’t respond appropriately, and there’s no chapter in The Power of Positive Thinking that effectively helps you wish death away.

It’s an election year, which should’ve been a surprise to no one, especially not to those of us who have been counting down to this year since the 2016 Presidential Election.  And let’s be real; this was an awful election year.  Due to the realities (as opposed to promise) of living in a democratic republic, we really only have two viable political parties, and real talk, neither of them are meeting the needs of the people, and that’s definitely not new.  The Democratic Party offered way too many candidates, especially when they had absolutely no intention of letting anyone but Biden secure the nomination.  And it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that they did this.  The Democrats have BEEN riding the wave of appealing to the idealistic and progressive portions of the population for votes and then once those votes are received, their focus is keeping their own jobs.  And not even keeping their jobs for the sake of leading the nation and providing the people with what they need; they just want to keep their jobs. And Trump has spent a lifetime of telling half-truths and outright lies, so there was no scenario where he was going to abandon that to become a “respectable politician” this go-round.  So, his entire campaign was propaganda nonsense, and because all of our mainstream news outlets are so concerned with ratings, they played and replayed and replayed every ridiculous thing he said, which was helpful to no one.  Point being, the way our media corporations are cogs in the wheel of unfettered capitalism, that’s not new at all, either.

And then the #BlackLivesMatter Movement became a thing more than black people were talking about.  And to be clear, the movement itself isn’t new and black people being murdered by police with astronomical frequency isn’t new, but apparently things don’t matter until white people care about them, so this became a huge “aha” moment for many of them.  But again, all of this?  Not new.

My point is that all of these things have been building for some time, and it’s unfortunate that they all decided to implode in the same year, but the implosions were inevitable.  But when it comes to #BlackLivesMatter, it seemed like we had reached a crucial moment back in the spring.  People saw that video of George Floyd and then heard about Ahmaud Arbury and Breonna Taylor, and there seemed to be an urgent desire to get some societal changes made which would include tackling racism.  And a lot of people vowed that this time would be different.  White allies were going to rise up in droves and be the ones to see to it that this world, in which their privilege serves to oppress others, was going to change.  They said, “we’re going to have to be the ones to end racism, and we will.”  And as I recall, black folks were optimistic but skeptical, and there was a sense that many allies were basing their allegiance in their need to make themselves feel better instead of a need to see the humanity of all respected.  And to be fair, many of us black folks tried to warn them not to do this.  “It’s not about your feelings,” we said.  “Basing it on that alone isn’t sustainable,” we said.  But allies assured us they were in it for the long haul this time and would prove it with their actions.  And I, for one, was willing to see how that went.  So, I offered resources where they were needed and provided perspective on some of the issues and then trusted that white people were doing the work.  And this was a mistake.  And I don’t think the failure of most white allies to actually do the work is the mark of people being malicious; I just think they got bored and were ready to move on.  And I think they also saw that this wasn’t going to be as easy as getting everyone to “find common ground”.  And as the work began to require them to do more than post a black square and say “black lives matter” out loud, that became too inconvenient and too uncomfortable.

So now, it’s November.  And white allies, many of you were beside yourselves with shock to see Trump get so many votes, and it was nearly like 2016 all over again.  But what exactly did you perceive had changed since May that would mean less voters would align themselves with the white supremacy antics of the Republican Party?  How did you expect those votes to go from Republican to Democrat when you knew just from talking to your family that they had no intention of voting for Democrats?  What exactly did you think had been accomplished in the struggle to fight racism?  And what were the specific things you did in order to help make this happen?  Here; I will list a few examples of action steps, and you can see which of them you did.

Have you read any books by black authors regarding the history of racism in this country and the ways in which we’ve fought against it in the past?

Have you read anything by black authors regarding the contemporary issues facing Black America like higher unemployment and prison rates and the wealth gap to learn more about the systemic reasons why these problems persist?

Have you watched any documentaries about Black History and/or contemporary black issues like Eyes on the Prize, I Am Not Your Negro, and Central Park 5 by Ken Burns?

Have you arrived at the conclusion that the version of American History you were taught is fraught with grandiose lies promoting white supremacy and basically ignores any black people of prominence who weren’t Dr. King or Rosa Parks?

Have you wondered why it’s those two people that have been chosen as our black heroes by mainstream white culture?

Have you realized that even the version of Dr. King and Rosa Parks that you were taught that painted them as passive and nonthreatening is wholly inaccurate?

Have you checked out any black entertainment that you might have never thought to notice before like:

TV shows such as Living Single (which was ripped off and reworked into the mega hit we know as Friends) and A Different World (which tackled many issues of its day including AIDS, bigotry, and date rape AND had such an impact on the black community that, during its original run, enrollment in HBCUs increased drastically)?

Famous playwrights like Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson?

Famous authors like Colson Whitehead and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?

Famous poets like Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni or even someone more up-and-coming and contemporary like Kai Davis?

Famous artists like Jacob Lawrence and Kehinde Wiley?

Famous musicians like John Coltrane, Earth Wind & Fire, A Tribe Called Quest, and Talib Kweli?

Famous films like Malcolm X, The Hate U Give, and BlacKkKlansman (none of which rely on the overly-played and inaccurate trope of the white savior who ends up diffusing hostile racial conflicts by merely learning to care)?

Have you had any meaningful conversation with friends and family in which you explained the basis and need for the BLM movement and why it’s not a political stance to say that black people should not have to still be fighting to be acknowledged and respected in 2020 AND have you done that without validating any of their bigotry and misconceptions with phrases like “Yes, I agree that both sides are the problem” or “Yes, it’s valid to feel that being pro-western culture does not necessarily mean being pro-white”?

Have you looked inward and really thought about the biases you harbor within yourself, where they came from, and what you can do to re-conceptualize these ideas?

Have you checked on your black friends in these past several months?

Have you realized that you don’t really have any black friends or that you don’t have any black neighbors or that there are no black kids that go to your kids’ schools and see how problematic ALL of those things are?

Have you been aware of all the terrible things that have happened since the death of George Floyd that have traumatized the black community such as the death of Quawan Charles and the fact that the grand jury convened in Kentucky was not even given the option to issue murder indictments against the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor?

Have you been following any contemporary black activists like Shaun King, Tamika Mallory, Gary Chambers, and Stacey Abrams who have been doing the legwork of enfranchising black voters, leading protests, and using their voices to lead and denounce systemic racism?

Have you been willing to determine whether white fragility is something you might unknowingly harbor and resolve to change that?

Have you grown concerned that support for BLM has dwindled significantly between the end of May and now, and have you decided to do something about that?

Have you realized that, if you were shocked by how many people STILL voted for Trump in this election, that probably means you’re not as in tune with the prevalence of white supremacy in modern America as you thought you were?

Have you re-examined your base level of respect for the Republican Party after witnessing them spend the last couple of months trying to steal this election and how that was in direct response to the belief that they couldn’t allow too many black votes to be counted because they’d likely be against them, which is not at all the way of a democracy?

Have you maintained the same anger and determination to “be the change” that you felt when you watched that video of George Floyd having the life choked out of him?

Have you finally come to the conclusion that grounding your fire to combat racism in your feelings CANNOT be the way to move forward, because the second you feel better, your desire for change will wane, even if nothing has really improved?

How many of these things can you honestly say you’ve done?  And I don’t ask that as some sort of indictment on your character or to shame you.  I ask because I am being honest and realistic when I tell you that any plan you might have that does not include the majority if not all of these things is not a plan that will work.  There are established methods for being effective allies; nobody is asking you to figure that out on your own.  People have been working to secure the rights of the oppressed for centuries, and it’s pretty certain that you’re NOT going to invent some new way that gets the job done AND allows you the comfort you are used to.  This can’t be like Covid-19 when many Americans assumed the rules of science don’t apply to them because they didn’t want them to.  And you don’t get to sit on this until you feel like playing a more active role is convenient, because people are dying while you make your plans for the holidays.  And maybe that’s a low blow, but I don’t know else to put it.  Black people are not a cause you can keep putting on the back burner because you’re not ready to deal with it.  And obviously no one has the power or ability to make you engage in ways in which you are not comfortable, but if that’s the case, then you need to own that.  And stop acting like racism is some rare occurrence in America that is largely on the run.  IT IS NOT.  So, stop telling black people that lie, because none of us believe it, and it’s insulting to constantly be told that, anyway.  You don’t have to be an ally, but you don’t get to opt out of being one and still claim to be a defender of all humanity.  Either you are someone who believes something is wrong and you want to work to change it, or you are someone who doesn’t care.  There is no middle ground, there are no further considerations to be made.  It’s not hard to decide which of these people you are.  So, which one are you and what are you going to do about it?

Above image from WAM Theatre

[jamr0ck83]

The sad reality is that most Americans don’t know a lot of history, or at least not accurately.  What we are taught in primary and secondary schools across this country can best be described as false narratives that promote notions of white American greatness and infallibility.  And as much as American History overall has been distorted to convey this lie that American never does anything wrong, that wholly inaccurate approach to teaching history has had an even more reprehensible effect on the way Black History is taught, if it is even taught at all.  By and large, those who don’t study Black History in higher education settings are not all aware of what it really entails.  And sadly, that is true for both black and non-black people.  And this is a wrong that I feel particularly compelled to correct whenever possible.

As we mourn the recent losses of John Lewis and CT Vivian, I am reminded of some of my first few experiences hearing those two names and learning of their significance.  And no, that didn’t happen in a history class.  I happened when I stumbled upon some old VHS tapes containing the full documentary series Eyes On The Prize that my mom taped off of PBS back in the early ‘90s.  I wanted to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement than what I already knew, which was very little.  And watching this series literally changed my life.  For a long time, there were some copyright issues, and as a result, the documentary could not be broadcast.  But several years back, those issues were resolved, and now the series is available once again for viewing, and I strongly urge you to take advantage of that.  One way in which this is possible is through your local library.  Through my local library system, I learned awhile back that it and many others offer free access to certain streaming services that offer a plethora of movies and documentaries.  There are a few out there, but the one my local library is affiliated with is called Kanopy, and in using my library account, I can stream a certain amount of videos per month for free.  And on Kanopy, one has access to the full Eyes On The Prize series, which consists of 14 episodes, which chronicle the Civil Rights Movement and its associated advancements over the course of over 30 years.  If you know that you have a limited understanding of the Civil Rights Movements and the vast array of its important players, you need to watch this series.  And it doesn’t need to be any kind of marathon-binge-watch experience, but you need to watch the entire thing.  This documentary is widely known as the quintessential guide for the Civil Rights Movement and features numerous interviews of those who were on both sides of it.

I know that Kanopy has the full series, and I suspect other services might have it as well.  Also, I don’t know if anyone is still into Neflix’s DVD-by-mail service (remember that?), but they have the full series through there as well.  But however you have to do it, if you really want to understand the struggles that have faced African Americans over the past several decades and continue to haunt us, this needs to something into which you invest time and energy.

The clip above was taken from Episode 6, Bridge to Freedom.  Tumblr has a size and time limit for videos, so I had to cut this down to be under five minutes, but it features the late CT Vivian, a man whose greatness is not reliant upon his association with Dr. King.  if you do not yet know who he was or much about him, watch this.  He is one of our prized African American heroes, and when he stood up for the rights of Selma, Alabama residents to exercise their right to vote, he stood up for the rights of every single American.  His courage and strength deserves the utmost reverence.

Source Hampton, Henry, Judith Vecchione, Steve Fayer, Orlando Bagwell, Callie Crossley, James A. DeVinney, Madison Davis Lacy, et al. 2006. Eyes on the Prize.

[jamr0ck83]

Let’s Start Talking About Those Often Overlooked in Black History

So, I'm on Instagram yesterday looking at a post about the deaths of both John Lewis and CT Vivian on an account I follow that you totally need to have on your feed if you don’t already, @jowilson_ . And under the post, I commented about how I was sad about this turn of events and how unfortunate it is that many people had never even heard of CT Vivian. And this woman replies to me with, I guess, the misunderstanding that I didn’t know who CT Vivian was and therefore proceeds to briefly explain his significance to me. Here is the post and subsequent exchange.

And I emerged from that moment like 🤨, because there were sooooo many things that were wrong with it. And at first, I tried to brush it off as no big deal, but then I landed back on the post again later, and I was like, “Nope, I need to address this adequately.” So, this is me, addressing it adequately. And I begin with a genuine and heartfelt request.

I have absolutely nothing but respect and reverence for Dr. King. But despite what we were all taught in our elementary school social studies lessons, he is not the only person of note from that era. There were many things that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement that didn't involve Dr. King or his specific efforts. I know that his name is likely one of the only few that you know, but why not broaden your perspective a little?

Look up Ella Baker, who founded SNCC (the civil rights organization of which the late John Lewis would become the chairman in 1963) as an alternative to the SCLC, whom she felt was not as in touch with young black people as they needed to be. Look up Malcolm X, because although I know you've heard the name, I can almost guarantee that you don't know much else about him besides the fact he and MLK did not agree on the method of nonviolent protest. Look up Fannie Lou Hamer, a native Mississippian who, after being the victim of an unwanted and unauthorized hysterectomy (aka the famed “Mississippi appendectomy”), devoted her life to seeing that black southerners from poor and rural communities like hers were allowed opportunities to exercise their rights as citizens to vote. Look up Fred Hampton, who was a prominent leader of The Black Panther Party, which, in part, advocated for Black Americans to honor their second amendment rights to arm themselves to help protect the black communities that were being terrorized by white law enforcement. (By the way, he was murdered in cold blood while he lay in bed next to his nearly nine-month pregnant fiancée by Chicago police officers when a sanctioned raid occurred at the culmination of an FBI campaign to actively interfere in the operation of The Panthers. The FBI had insisted they had done this, because the The Panthers were an extremely dangerous terrorist threat to the country. They were not.) And you need to look up CT Vivian, who was a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and fought tirelessly for African Americans to experience America in the same way that white people have been free to do since the country’s inception. In fact, he was a part of the early marches in Selma to advocate for black Alabamians to be able to register to vote and was assaulted by sheriff Jim Clark as he beseeched him to allow those standing behind Vivian to be allowed to enter the county courthouse so they could become registered voters. This and other confrontations are what led to a nighttime march in neighboring Marion, Alabama where Jimmie Lee Jackson was murdered by police because he was trying to shield his mother from being beaten. This is why the march in Selma was planned for what we now call “Bloody Sunday”. This is the march from which you've seen images and videos of John Lewis marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, only to be immediately brutalized by mounted police. This is the perfect example of a historic moment that did not involve MLK’s direct presence that nonetheless needs to be told and retold as a crucial moment in American history.

But yes, CT Vivian did work alongside Dr. King as a part of the SCLC as an activist in The Movement. But lady (and we will temporarily sidestep the egregious issue of you trying to whitesplain his significance to ME when YOU clearly know so very little), if this is all you know about him AND think this is the best way to quickly explain his significance to someone who doesn’t know it, there is something incredibly wrong and disrespectful about that. I almost hesitated to write this, because especially as #BlackLivesMatter is no longer 'trending",  I am annoyed (but not particularly surprised) by how quickly visible white liberal outrage has dissipated about the systemic racism of America and its harmful effects on African Americans. And so, when I do see a white person who is still paying attention to our cause, I feel compelled to "cut them some slack" when they do something that offends me. Because I don't want them to feel offended or attacked and then decide that there are a million other things to which they would rather devote their time and energy instead of Black Lives Matter. And then I think more about it, and I ask myself this: 

How is what I just described any different from the way I've been operating my whole life? How is this different from me falling all over myself to keep the white people around me in a place of comfort despite whatever that costs me? How is this not ignoring the things that I need to prioritize the comfort of those who are likely already pretty comfortable? And I realized that it's not. I realized that continuing this compulsion that I've exercised my entire life to make sure that my blackness doesn't make anyone feel threatened (because I know that I don't need to do anything else but be black for some people to find a reason to discount me) does not serve ANYONE well. It doesn't serve me well, because it has made me quite resentful. And it doesn't serve white people well, because they HAVE NO IDEA that I'm doing this and therefore have no appreciation for it.

It's time for me to leave behind the things that clearly don't work and embrace the things that better suit me and my wellbeing. So, as much as I appreciate continued allyship, I MUST implore you, white allies, to occasionally check yourselves. We want you to join us in creating a better America, but your participation in that effort needs to be absent of condescension or placing your perceived elevated stature ahead of our black lives and experiences. We don't need you to explain to us the mechanics of racism or how to rise above it, because, real talk, you do not have a better vantage point of either of those things. And we don't need you to provide us with the most pertinent facts about the great icons of our community if you, yourself, don’t even really know what those facts are. I know who CT Vivian was; I don't need your shoddy recap of his importance. There are times to speak and times to listen. We need you to know the difference. I know that's not something America has done a particularly stellar job of teaching you how to do, but that's what WE need from you. And it is high time OUR NEEDS take precedence over YOUR comfort.

As a parting thought, assuming that you are on Instagram (and I’m really struggling with why you might not be but 🤐), I would like to encourage you to follow @jowilson_.  Her posts are consistently the best ones on my feed.

[jamr0ck83]

I’ve seen more people post that picture of Aunt Jemima chained to a table with a stack of pancakes in her hands than I can count at this point. For the record, the pic is apparently from the 1980s and is a statement piece. It doesn’t nullify the fact that American consumer culture has been using stereotypes of black people to sell products and entertainment for, like two centuries. But making up a story about the subject of this picture isn’t helping to further legitimize the movement going on right now. . So, if you’re posting stuff, I’m all for that, but make sure it’s not just neatly assembled lies in a jpeg. I saw something about Jack Johnson having invented the wrench, and that’s why people started calling it a monkey wrench, and I was just like 🤦🏾‍♀️. America has been responsible for more than enough horrible things. We need not invent even more. . . #therandomthoughtsofmybrain #randomthoughtoftheday #blacklivesmatter #NoMoreLies #TheTruthIsBadEnough #VerifyBeforeYouPost #MemeDoesNotEqualFact #FYI #WhatsYourSource #IfItSoundsHellaShadyItProbablyIs #HashtagsAreFun #NowImDone https://www.instagram.com/p/CBzGfrlpa3D/?igshid=vk9pmwnz1tqb

[jamr0ck83]

Say What You Need To Say

As we emerge further into this current era of Black Lives Matter protest and activism, it occurred to me that many of the terms that we've been using to discuss what is currently going on in America and what has been going on for centuries are not well understood by many people, especially non-POCs.  On one of my previous blog posts, someone replied to it (thanks, btw) and innocently but incorrectly defined colorism. And that made me realize the importance of everyone and especially white allies being given the opportunity to learn what these important terms mean so that they can then use them appropriately as they continue to advocate for change.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it is a good place to start for those who want to ensure that they understand what we are advocating for and how they can aptly convey that message. ⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Antebellum - literally means "before the war"; in America, this term is most associated with the era of slavery in the American South before the onset of the Civil War and subsequent emancipation of slaves and is often referred to with nostalgic undertones which many Black Americans see as problematic slavery romanticism

Bias - when a person favors one perspective or group of people over another; does not need to be based on race or ethnicity Example: I am biased against those who refuse to acknowledge that Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player to have ever played the game.  (That’s right; I said it.  Fight me.)

BIPOC - a relatively new acronym that stands for "black, indigenous, and people of color" and includes all non-white people who have suffered at the hands of systemic and explicit racism in a dominant, white society; but specifically highlights black and indigenous people, noting their long history of combating slavery, genocide, and European colonialism Note: It turns out, even I was using this term incorrectly, and I had to defer to information provided by both The New York Times and Dictionary.com for help with this one.  I’m definitely learning new things, just like everybody else.

Black Power - a slogan that was popularized by civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) in 1966 to accentuate the need for Black Americans to seek and exercise the agency needed to advance the pursuit of black equality Note: I referenced Encyclopedia Britannica for the year noted above and the correct spelling of “Ture”.

Civil Rights Movement - generally refers to an era that occurred in the middle of the 20th Century during which African Americans and their allies actively protested through marches, boycotts, sit-ins, freedom rides, and other methods to advocate for African Americans, particularly the South, to reap the full benefits of their previously established citizenship rights

Colored - a term once used to officially categorize non-white people; in America, this term most often referred to African Americans, but has largely been abandoned since the mid-20th Century, and modern-day usage is considered offensive Note: This word appears as a part of the acronym for the NAACP, which stands for “National Association for the Advancement of Colored People”.  In this context, no offense is generally taken, given that the organization’s origins are dated fairly early in the 20th Century.

Colorism - when a culture and the people within it have embraced a standard of beauty that celebrates those of any race with lighter skin tones because they more closely align with traditional European ideas regarding what features are most attractive

Karen - a term coined by Black America to identify white women who routinely utilize their privilege to instigate trouble or aggression against people of color who are largely innocent of any wrongdoing; this includes instances of being dishonest about a person of color being a legitimate threat in order to invoke fear within that person of color and ultimately establish her power and authority as a white person over them Note: Some white women have attempted to decry this term as a racial slur, but said assertions have largely been ignored, and the term is now widely used by those in the black community as well those of the larger American society who abhor Karen-like behavior.

Microaggression - ideas and statements directed at people of a marginalized group that, on their face, appear to be neutral or even complimentary but are actually reflections of internalized biases that have informed someone’s impressions of that particular group of people; examples include complimenting black people for speaking eloquently, referring to America as “a melting pot”, teachers who fail to prioritize learning how to pronounce a student’s name even after being instructed how to do so, and complimenting boys for showing leadership traits while admonishing girls for being “bossy” Note: Ideas for solid examples were aided by referencing a page on the University of Minnesota’s website as well as a page on the Messiah University’s website.

Negro - another term for black people that was once popular in the United States and used for categorization purposes but has more recently been deemed antiquated and offensive when used Note: This word also appears as part of the acronym for the UNCF, which stands for “United Negro College Fund”, and like the use of “colored” in “NAACP”, is not considered offensive in this context.

Oppression - the act of subverting the growth and progress of a particular group of people often based on the biases held by the predominate group in power Note: Despite the insistence of those who denied the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic, being asked to socially distance, remain at home as much as possible, or wear a mask in public in the name of preventing the spread of a deadly illness IS NOT an example of oppression.  They are confusing their distaste for not being able to do as they please in order to serve the greater good as losing their civil liberties, most likely because they have had no prior experience having actually lost their civil liberties.

POC - an acronym which stands for "people of color"; it encompasses those of all non-white backgrounds including black, Asian, Latino, and indigenous populations

Prejudice - when one holds a pre-established belief of particular groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, sexual identity, or similar social categories; the person with this mindset often believes that those who do not share the common attributes with which he or she identifies is therefore less worthy of having their humanity acknowledged and respected Note: This does not require one to exert power such as with racism. Therefore, people of color CAN be guilty of exhibiting prejudice against white people.

Racism - an umbrella term used to describe a system of beliefs in which those who are in power value their own race ahead of the needs and importance of other races and believe they are wholly deserving of this power; without power, there is no racism

Reconstruction - refers to the period of American history that occurred after the Civil War during which specific initiatives were implemented to ensure that Black Americans who were no longer enslaved were able to establish themselves as free persons and exercise their citizenship rights.  This included efforts by Northerners to prevent former Confederate Southerners from exercising retribution against the formerly enslaved and working to establish ways in which Black Americans could exercise political power.  This period was cut short, however, due to many reasons but largely because continued involvement in Southern affairs no longer appealed to many Northerners, and they had grown tired of issuing the necessary funds to pay for its continuation.  This failure directly contributed to the establishment of the Jim Crow South and other policies that greatly inhibited the advancement of Black Americans after emancipation.

Reverse Racism - a fallacy; often used to describe an instance when white people believe that a person of color, specifically in America, is inflicting pain and suffering in some way upon white people solely due to their race; despite the assertions of white supremacy apologists, this is not a real phenomenon, because a key component of racism is power, which people of color in America DO NOT have

Stereotype - ascribing a specific characteristic or trait to everyone who belongs within a particular community to further insinuate that they are all the same; they can be positive ("Americans are all rich") or negative ("Black people do not like to read"), but they are often oversimplifications of complex individuals within an even more complex culture and are, therefore, largely inaccurate

Systemic Racism - a specific subset of racism that refers to the ways in which practices of subjugation have been embedded into the core fabric of a system and continuously upheld in order to deny people of certain races access to opportunity, prosperity, and power

Systematic Racism - a specific subset of racism that goes beyond just the bigotry and hateful acts of individual people who are racist but also includes a larger structure or methods through which these racist people can thrive and continue to exercise their bigotry and even join forces

White Fragility - a term that refers to the prevailing sense among people of color that, historically, white Americans have been catered to and placated to the extent where now many of them greatly object when they no longer experience such treatment; it is, in part, the perception that some white Americans believe everything revolves around their comfort and feelings, and ideas and initiatives in conflict with that should be avoided at all costs Note: This term also refers to a tendency described by author Robin DiAngelo in which some white people become defensive when asked to discuss issues of race and racial inequality and “lack the racial stamina to engage in difficult conversations”.  While I concede the validity of this definition, I also contend that the aforementioned issues are also at play.  As such, when I use this term in my writings, I am referencing my more encompassing definition.  Perhaps that’s not “allowed”, but it’s my blog, so I’ll do what I want.  😁

White Guilt - a sentiment in which white Americans acknowledge that racism still exists in America and might thus feel compelled to act in ways that they feel will atone for that, even if those acts are themselves couched in racist ideology; it can also prevent white Americans from wanting to hear or learn more about past transgressions against people of color because doing so is uncomfortable for them

White Privilege - the benefits that come with being white in America that allow for one's advancements to not be inhibited by one's race;  it does not mean that white people do not deal with their own forms of adversity, but those impediments to their success are not based on the color of their skin

White Supremacy Apologists - those who may not necessarily subscribe to overtly racist ideology themselves but continue to allow and make excuses for those who do; they may also lend their support to policies and practices that are more covert instances of racism which hide under the guise of more innocent pretenses such as opposing initiatives like forced busing in order to integrate schools and claiming that this stance is due to a desire to preserve “neighborhood schools”

White Tears - a term that is also associated with white fragility in that, once a white American has experienced that aforementioned discomfort or perhaps is confronted for exhibiting racist behavior, they will sometimes weep or otherwise display visible sorrow that is not necessarily reflective of feeling regret for the harm they have caused others as much as it is self-pity now that people are upset with them in ways that might lead to additional consequences previously not anticipated

Womanism - a term coined by author Alice Walker to encompass the activism of black women who have found themselves to be left of out the gains of feminism because they are not white and the gains awarded to black men in the name of civil rights because they are not men.

Xenophobia - a term that reflects either an individual's or a culture's belief that the race and ethnicity that is predominant in a particular country is superior to others, and those who do not belong to that predominant culture but wish to emigrate to that country are unwelcome; often denotes fear and/or hatred as a motivating factor Note: I referenced Dictionary.com to help me craft a more comprehensive definition.

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I figure that’s enough for now.  If needed (or requested), this list can be revisited and updated to include more pertinent terms.  I hope this was helpful in some capacity as we all work to navigate this new more inclusive, more accepting, and less hateful America that we are actively trying to mold.

[jamr0ck83]

The link above is to a rather compelling essay that was written by a former colleague of mine. It hits on many of the points I made in my previous blog post about what qualifies as racism and what is needed from our allies (check it out if you already haven’t), but it addresses them from the perspective of a white ally.  This perspective is refreshing and also might feel more accessible to those who are coming from that same place, so I asked her permission to link to her work, and she agreed.  Please check out her essay.  She, too, is advocating to engage in allyship that is both deeper and more substantial as opposed to performative in nature.  Thank you, Karen, for letting me share.

“But while visible support is a component of allyship, I worry that it is the easiest to undertake, and that it lets people “off the hook” for the more difficult work they need to do as allies - that a person can post a black square and a hashtag, pat themselves on the back for being a good ally, and then go on their merry way without further engaging in all of the ways their thinking, their behavior, and their circumstances are all deeply enmeshed in larger systems of racial inequality and injustice.”

[jamr0ck83]

If Nobody is Racist, Then Who Exactly is Keeping Systemic Racism Going?

Everybody seems quick to insist that they’re not the ones who are racist.  So, then who is?  If it’s only the people you say, then why are we like this as a country?

Recently, someone with which I somewhat briefly attended grad school for education (And no, I don’t want to talk about what happened with that whole endeavor) posted the following image to their Facebook profile.

On its face, it seems like a completely reasonable and acceptable statement, and as such, it was generating some likes.  At the time I first saw it, I think there were 6.  But before I, too, submitted my approval of this image, I thought a little more about it, and its implications.  And I realized that I didn’t really agree with it.  I knew the person who posted it had no ill intentions, and I think they even found the image on the profile of another POC.  But the more I reread the sign featured, the more I was sure that it was not a true statement.  I knew that my stance was not going to garner nearly as many likes or other accolades as if I had posted a phrase like “Black Lives Matter”, which at this point, it seems like all reasonable people are able to agree that they do (or at least it’s the obvious appropriate thing to say in this moment).  I knew I might receive some pushback or criticism, and while that did admittedly make me nervous, I knew that I needed to speak up in this way and in this moment.  And I was willing to deal with whatever consequences came my way.  I decided it was that important for me to make a case for a diverging opinion.  So, I typed out the reply below and posted it.

I want to agree with this, but I'm not sure if I do. Please hear me out. It is entirely possible to be a Trump supporter and not be a person who has ever uttered a racial epithet or been otherwise explicitly or overtly racist. However, I do believe that there are degrees of racism, and if you're someone who has responded that "all lives matter" or "blue lives matter" when another person asserts that black lives matter, I would argue that you are on the spectrum of holding onto or entertaining some form of racist ideology. If you watched the video of George Floyd having his life choked out of him and then watched the footage of riots from that first night in Minneapolis and thought "It's a shame that guy died, but what they're doing now is uncalled for", this might indicate that you prioritize law and order (no matter how unjustly they are being enforced) over the life of a man whose only transgression was that he was black, and that, too, places you on that spectrum of racism. Racism isn't always waving a confederate flag and yelling at POCs to go back to where they came from. Sometimes, it's knowing that the politician you support will turn a blind eye to or even praise people who march around with tiki torches yelling, "Jews will not replace us" and wanting to vote for him anyway. Sometimes, it's hearing black people beg to have full access to the citizenship rights that are due them but deciding it's more important for you to vote for the guy who advocates for you to keep your semiautomatic rifle. If you are deciding that your wants (not needs) have priority over the humanity of POCs, then I would argue that you are on the spectrum of racism. And that demands some self-reflection. Complicity is part of what makes racism so destructive. What's the point of knowing better if you refuse to hold others accountable for doing better?

And then I waited.  I waited for blowback.  I waited for pushback.  I waited for agreement.  I waited for literally anything anybody might feel compelled to say.  But the only feedback I received was a single “like” whereas the post itself had garnered six additional since the posting of my comment.  So, people obviously disagreed with my stance but couldn’t bring themselves to make that known in any kind of direct fashion.  And frankly, that concerns me.  A great deal, in fact.  And there are a couple of reasons why.

Firstly, and this is something of which I was starting to become more aware even months before the death of George Floyd and these subsequent protests, white people are very quick to assert that they, themselves, are not racist.  They are also quick to assert that most people who look like them are not racist.  According to them, hardly anybody is really, truly racist.  But if that’s actually true, then why is this country such an absolute mess, and why have we been that way for centuries?  It’s as if the term “racist” is being reserved for truly egregious and over-the-top cases.  And everything else is just the way people are.  White people seem to have a very specific and narrow idea of what racism looks and sounds like, and that allows them to never truly have to consider whether they, themselves, might be racist.  Or if their family members are racist.  Or if the politicians they actively support are racist.  Under their definition of that word, it barely applies to anyone. And as a black woman who considers herself knowledgeable of both history and current affairs, I will confidently say that this is wrong.  

I have had people who cloak themselves under the banner of liberalism say some things to me that would make me raise an eyebrow if I knew at all how to move that particular facial muscle. And no, it’s not the times when the racial epithets and slurs are used that I feel compelled to do this.  It’s actually the times when I’ve made some sort of assertion about the impact of oppression on the lives of black people today, and I am met with sentiments such as “It’s not fair that we keep getting blamed for everything” or “You weren’t a slave, so the legacy of that institution doesn’t create any modern-day problems for you” or “Slavery ended over a hundred years ago, so why do you keep wanting to bring it up? Why can’t we all just move on?  Life is hard enough”. (That last phrase is a direct quote from a white woman who replied to something I said on Instagram regarding the role that white women have historically played in the role of oppressing black bodies.  She objected to my assertion that this is an issue that is rarely discussed, because dwelling on it would cause white women to feel discomfort, and that is in direct opposition to this silent societal code we all seem to follow that says that we must do whatever we can to prevent white women from feeling uncomfortable.  Ironically, she was shutting my argument down, because it made her uncomfortable.) Also, I’ve been told that the ways in which I have experienced oppression throughout my life just aren’t true, that I must be mistaken and that I am making something be all about race when it’s not about race at all.  And finally, I’ve been told the oldie but goodie “I don’t see color; I just see people”.

To the people that are brave enough to read this right now, I will submit to you that these statements and sentiments all reek of racism.  Every single one of them.  And every single person who uttered these phrases would have gone to the grave denying that they could be considered racist.  And sorry, people who made these statements, but this assertion by you would be wholly incorrect.  By so narrowly defining what racism is, we have given many people permission to absolve themselves from any responsibility for how it continues to thrive in American society. Nobody needs to look inward; nobody has to come to terms with any mindsets they might harbor that are truly problematic. And if nobody is willing to deal with anything or even acknowledge it, how are we going to change anything?  If we can’t even recognize and talk about what racism is, how are we going to put an end to it?  And the short answer is, we’re not.

My second concern is that, while it seemed like almost no one who saw my comment agreed with it, no one felt compelled to say anything, give any sort of reason for WHY they disagreed with it.  Maybe it’s because I’m black that they felt like they should just let me get on my soapbox and say what I needed to say, and that would be their form of allyship (even though at the end of the day, them doing this was just a dismissal of everything I said so they could go on with their lives, which kind of flies in the face of being an ally).  When these protests first started, I think many black people were reasonably skeptical about the degree to which we could rely on non-black allyship for the duration of however long we needed it.  We wondered if the outrage and fervor exhibited was sustainable.  And we wondered if white allies, specifically, were truly willing to endure discomfort if it would eventually lead to the advancement of our movement.  And I hate to say it, but I feel like the instance of this post about racism and who it applies to gave me substantial reason to believe that they are not.  The fact that there are people aligning themselves publicly to the BLM movement who are already seemingly unwilling to settle in their discomfort in order to be a more effective agent of change greatly concerns me.  It indicates to me that for some people (not all, but some) a lot of what’s going on right now is an exercise for them in anti-racism theater.  To put it simply and bluntly, they are not “in it to win it”, because “winning it” requires that they sacrifice more comfort than they are ready to do.  And while that’s certainly not everybody who calls themselves an ally, I worry that it represents a substantial number of people who we are currently relying on as allies who really aren’t.  And when they start drifting away from the protests and the posting of hashtags because this movement is no longer the fun, new thing we’re all doing, the people who remain are going to have to pick up the slack and work even harder to account for their absence.

To be clear, I’m not trying to knock anyone who wants to be an ally or make it seem like I want to nitpick at everyone and that there isn’t anything that any non-black ally can do that would truly please me.  If that’s what you are thinking now as you read this, I would implore you to reconsider. Because that perspective is one that stems directly from the notion that we are trying to hurt people’s feelings. It stems from this idea that it is our responsibility to make our white allies feel good about what they are doing right now so that they will continue to feel encouraged, or else they will walk away.  But this movement is not about pacifying white people’ feelings, whether they consider themselves to be allies or not.  We are not here to make you comfortable.  We are here to seek the justice that we are due.  We are here to seek the rights of citizenship that we have been routinely denied.  We are here to put an end to systemic racism.  Catering to allies’ feelings is nowhere on that list.  It’s not even a close fourth.  We need people to put their own individual feelings aside (discomfort, guilt, or whatever else) and help do what needs to be done.

And I realize this might be a harsh reality check, I do, because I know that many black Americans have spent a significant portion of their lives doing whatever they could to make white people comfortable.  During slavery, we performed their backbreaking hard labor so they wouldn’t have to but could still reap the financial benefits.  In modern times, many of us deliberately hold back a lot of ourselves in white people’s presence, because it’s always been an expectation that successful black people who have properly assimilated in the larger American society need to make sure that nothing we do resembles anything that might make them remember that we are not the same color.  For many black women, this means stifling their voices and hiding their frustrations, because nobody wants to deal with an angry black woman.  For many black men, this might mean being keenly and constantly aware of their physical stature and proximity to other people, because they don’t want anyone to find them intimidating in any way.  I think white people take these acts for granted because we’ve always done them, but they are not “just the way we are” or “just the way we like to be”.  They are a series of survival skills that we have been forced to adhere to, because to refrain from doing so would allow others to perceive as people they’d rather not deal with, if possible.  That means, we wouldn’t be the ones who get into the good school or get the good job or even get to keep our lives.

I have been deemed a quiet person my entire life, and while some of that is due to my genuine introverted nature, the majority is supplemented by the fact that, in most situations, if I am given the choice between being the quiet and unassuming black girl who nobody really has a problem with or the more vocal and passionate black woman that asserts herself but then has to deal with the consequences of nobody really wanting to be around her, I choose the former.  And I started choosing it at a very young age; I was definitely still in elementary school.  It starts that early.  Because we know that early.  We know that this country was not designed with us in mind unless it was to depend on our labor or our ability to entertain.  We know that the system is literally rigged against us in such ways that, if we were to inform white people of all those facets of oppression, they would accuse us of being paranoid.  Actually, that is precisely what happens when we try to tell people about our experiences of being black in America.  There are a lot of people out there who are masterful at gaslighting and being utterly dismissive of our struggles.  And that is a response that is literally for the sole purpose of driving the other person to the point of insanity.  So, for the most part, we stopped telling you things, because you weren’t really listening, anyway.  And we realized that, if we were going to make it in this country, then we really did have to work twice as hard, be twice as amiable in demeanor, and twice as resilient. Was that fair, for that to be put on us? Of course not.  But we shouldered that burden.  Because what was the alternative?  So, we did it, and we’ve done it fairly quietly for a very long time.

But we’re tired.  And we’re angry.  Because no matter what we do, people keep killing us for little to no reason and then justify it to say that we must have done something to deserve it. “Well, you should’ve known that wearing a hoodie makes you look threatening.”  “A toy gun could look a lot like a real gun, so that’s an honest mistake on the officer’s part.” “Oh, wait.  You were minding your own business sitting in your apartment when somebody shot you?  Well, were you really living beyond reproach and therefore entitled to keep your life? You sure you’ve never done anything wrong? Don’t you smoke weed sometimes?”  These are the ways people have justified our deaths.  And I would argue that all those statements and sentiments are couched in racism.  All of them. None of it is okay, and it all needs to end.  And we need everyone we can get to commit to joining us in this fight.  But if you’re really going to sit there and maintain the party line that racists are really few in number and that you, the non-black ally, don’t need to consider the ways in which you might harbor some racist ideology, then you’re not ready to be an ally.  And you can’t help us.  And you won’t help us.  Because as soon as things get a little less trendy or a little more uncomfortable, you will prioritize that over our humanity.  And that, in itself, is pretty damn racist.

[jamr0ck83]

Non-black people, you ever wonder what it’s like to be African American? Many times, it’s this. Actually, lately, it’s a lot of this. Please ask yourselves: Would you wish this for yourself? Or anyone you love? Or anyone at all? #randomthoughtsofmybrain #angryblackgirl #angryblackwoman #angryblackhuman #blacklivesmatter #africanwithoutthememory #americanwithouttheprivilege #icantbreathe #inmyfeelings https://www.instagram.com/p/CAwBNj4p7tc/?igshid=oo2pbzrymu01

[jamr0ck83]

Kick Rocks With That Centrist Nonsense

This post in response to an NPR article discussing the dangers of a divided America during the coronavirus pandemic. Originally, the words below were just supposed to be a reply to a comment regarding said article, but...words tend to get away from me. And they all felt important enough that I should post them in their entirety.

I can agree that the media does seem to portray a larger divide than what might actually exist. Cuz really, 100 people on a sidewalk isn’t a sizable movement; it’s a few people shouting inane mantras and holding up ridiculous (and often insulting) signs who don’t need to be receiving a national platform to broadcast their nonsense. And it troubles me that the mainstream media is more willing to cover a relatively insignificant gathering of armed white people on some state’s capitol steps than report on the vast amounts of incidences of injustice and racist vitriol that people of color are dealing with right now. To me, I know which story seems more concerning. But we keep seeing these protesters on the news in between cuts of Trump babbling incoherently about shining light into the body to kill a virus. I know the media is super concerned about ratings, but what happened to their responsibility to the public to provide us with factual information that we absolutely need to know?

That being said, I respectfully disagree that the crux of our national divide is built upon extremism on both sides and that the proper approach is a more centrist view. Our nation has been divided since before its inception. I think Americans have this notion that we need to “get back” to unity and mutual respect, but it seems to me that this idealized era never happened to begin with if it took so very little for people’s incredibly harmful biases and prejudices to become center stage as they now have. We were never united, and we were never in harmony. Any period of time you might point to as one of evidence that we used to see eye-to-eye on things, I will show you at least one group of people who, at that same time, were facing severe injustices and oppression. America has never been good for everyone; that’s a myth that needs to die, because it prevents us from moving forward in any meaningful way if we’re constantly looking back to a romanticized past.

If you want to blame someone for our intense divide, blame this current presidential administration and the larger Republican Party who refuse to do anything but stand idly by as our democracy implodes. At no point, has Trump tried to unify the country. Why would he? He loves division; he thrives on it! Division is how he was able to get elected to an office he has no business holding. He will never be presidential, he will never be the voice of reason, and he will never consider the needs of the country ahead of his own. He genuinely doesn’t care about any of us, not even his supporters. If it made him more money or got him more power, he would sign off on the literal destruction of any one of us in a heartbeat.

That brings me to my third point, which is that this idea that it’s the extremists on both sides that have made life in America unbearable is patently false. I’m an independent, and I lean pretty left. And the reason I do that is because to not lean left is to align myself with people who are clinging to archaic and bigoted ideas about who deserves to be treated like people and who is unworthy. I say this as someone who used to consider themselves fairly conservative; there is nothing that the right is doing right now that speaks of respect or concern for anyone who doesn’t look or sound like them. When you have a side that has couched themselves in both covert and overt rhetoric that is sexist, racist, and homophobic, you don’t get to claim “to each his own”. When your political and social views demand or dictate that I be stripped of my rights and/or my life, I don’t have any need to consider your position as equally valid as mine. And I don’t owe you compassion or respect if you are actively fighting for my destruction. That’s not hyperbole; that’s exactly what is happening. Black people are being attacked and murdered by police and vigilante citizens at alarming regularity. Kids whose parents are just trying to relocate to a place with opportunity and a chance to survive are locked in cages. The LGBTQ+ community is constantly on the receiving end of violence, are being denied the same rights as other citizens, and are being told that they can’t live a peaceful life that would allow them to be themselves because that makes some people who don’t even know them feel uncomfortable. Women are degraded and minimized to a degree that is appalling, and despite everyone being fully aware that the wage gap exists, people are actually (still) debating whether that’s problematic. And then you have the other side that believes all of these aforementioned things are patently abhorrent and need to be fixed. What middle ground exists within that dynamic? Give black people the right to live but let’s hold back on letting LGBTQ+ people exist with any sense of being full citizens? Let’s keep migrant kids in open pens instead of cages, and don’t give women equal pay but maybe just a slight increase so that they’re now being paid 85¢ for every male dollar as opposed to 81¢? None of that is just nor a fair compromise, because you can’t compromise when you’re fighting for someone’s humanity to be acknowledged. Either it is or it isn’t.

I’ve heard harsh words originating from each side, and that does, indeed, reflect a lack of respect. But I’ve approached many a conservative with the mindset of having a thoughtful exchange of ideas in hopes that we might both understand each other more aptly. And as a result of that, I’ve been insulted, diminished, and literally told to shut up the minute I’ve made a point someone either can’t figure out how to reasonably address or I have indicated that I believe myself to be a knowledgeable human being not looking for their permission to exist. Frankly, I’m done being nice, and I’m done showing compassion in hopes that the other person might be swayed, because they never are. That has often left myself open for verbal abuse for absolutely no reason, and I can’t do that anymore; I shouldn’t be expected to. Sometimes, I HAVE said mean things, and I meant every word of it. I will not ever allow someone to degrade me in the futile hope that I can appeal to their humanity. Because the second you began to treat me as “less-than”, you forfeited your right to see my good nature, and I don’t owe you anything. Especially not when the argument you are making is in support of me not being able to enjoy the liberties and freedoms that are due me.

I often cringe when people make the argument for political centrality, because it honestly feels like a cop-out. A person is willing to forego taking a stance, because they can afford to, usually because their lives don’t depend on it. That’s not a privilege I have. Decisions are being made today that affect me deeply, and I cannot sit back “objectively” to find the middle ground. Either you believe in science or you don’t. Either you think it’s wrong that, in NYC, cops were beating black and brown people in the Bronx and putting them in jail for “failure to social distance” while they politely handed out masks to the white people in Central Park, or you don’t. And if you have to stop for an extensive period of time in order to figure out where you land, it’s already clear that you have not chosen the side that respects all humanity.

This country is an absolute mess, but it’s been a mess in the making for hundreds of years. Every citizen needs to decide what it is they stand for and what kind of country they want to live in. Now. And there can be nothing gradual about whatever shift we need to make. People are suffering. Now. They don’t deserve to be sacrificed just so others who don’t like change don’t feel too inconvenienced. “With all deliberate speed” was a bullshit strategy in the 1950s, and it’s a bullshit strategy now. Cuz we waited 60-plus years, and what has really been accomplished in all of that time? We got schools all over this country never even been integrated. But yet we pat ourselves on the back and call ourselves a post-racial society.

No, fam. Just no.

If you like what you just read, please follow me on Instagram. @TheRandomThoughtsofmyBrain

[jamr0ck83]

If you’re not following @agirlhasnopresident, you should be. This post is in response to one from that account which a user commented on but then deleted her comment when POC tried to help her understand an important issue of race. Let’s stop pretending race isn’t a thing. It’s a thing, whether you want it to be or not. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_0w8nSgoJn/?igshid=1sao98tuaejk0

[jamr0ck83]

[jamr0ck83]

Today’s Edition of “Really, America?! Is this what we’re doing?!”

Hi, there!  Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Today’s post is focused on a specific area of gun control no one seems to want to talk about, and that’s the way in which African Americans are never considered when people want to argue in favor of more permissible gun laws.  The NRA has seemed to only argue for the open-carry rights for white men and now white women.  Have you ever witnessed the NRA stand up for a black person trying to carry a weapon in public?  I’m going to answer for you and say, “No, you have not.”  It’s always the white male who is seen as the ideal gun owner.  And yet, when there’s a mass shooting, the culprit is almost always a white male.  Do you ever wonder what our gun laws would be like if it were black people arguing for the right to own an AK-47?  Of course, you don’t.  You know why?  Because we have all already assumed that the prospect of that is ridiculous.  “Black people don’t need guns” is what we have all subconsciously told ourselves.  But why?  Why don’t we have a right to protect ourselves and families in the same way that white people are deemed good enough to do so?

Truth be told, I’m not a fan of permissive gun laws, and I believe it to be wrong for all the reasons most other people who oppose military-grade weaponry being made accessible to the general public.  People are dying in mass shootings, and every time it happens, it’s horrible, and yet it keeps happening, which is just stupid.  But my main reason is that it’s a racist double-standard.  I’m supposed to be gung-ho about all the white people owning guns, but then be okay with the way black people are criminalized and often murdered for this same gun ownership?  Either we can all have them or none of us can have them.  The Black Panthers wanted to arm themselves to protect the black community, and the government came out with a bevy of restrictive gun laws to prevent them from doing so.  (Also, the FBI made it their personal mission to destroy The Panthers despite their only goal being to uplift the black community, but I digress.)  If you think the prospect of a black man or woman owning an military-grade rifle is the recipe for disaster, but have no issue with all these white guys at these gun shows in Omaha or wherever stocking up on guns, I would beg you to look deeper into this double-standard and see how your own opinion reflects the biases of our society.

I don’t always enjoy Adam Ruins Everything, mainly because, well, he ruins things I would prefer to not have ruined (it’s like stealing a security blanket from a baby, which Adam would totally do).  But he makes some pretty good points here.  And I know some might be annoyed with the “whitesplaining” of it all, but it’s unfortunately true that most people won’t acknowledge something as being true until a white person says it, and I appreciate white people who have taken note of that and advocated for spreading truth on our behalf while we actively fight for the agency to speak for ourselves in a way that results in the same impact.

[jamr0ck83]

My first edition of the new biweekly column “Really, America?! Is this what we’re doing?!”

So, I was watching DL Hughley’s most recent stand-up comedy special on Netflix the other day, and something he said really resonated with me. He was talking about the recent popularity of DNA tests like AncestryDNA and 23andMe, and he pointed out the ridiculous situation African Americans find themselves in, having to pay to try to trace their roots in this country and beyond.

We’ve been given the option to pay for a service that will trace our heritage, with any luck, beyond the point at which our ancestors were pulled off a ship, branded, and made to be someone’s slave in America. And even to get to that point is a major feat considering the ways in which slave families were torn apart and kept track of only as it related to detailing the property and owning rights of white slave masters. Low and behold, these companies come up with various DNA-testing products that have the potential to shed some significant light on where our ancestors may have originated and lived their lives. “What an opportunity!” says the historian in me. There’s only one problem; to sell us this “opportunity” is utterly ridiculous.

Essentially, what we are being offered is the chance to find out information about our families’ roots that has been lost for generations only because, when we were enslaved, all of that knowledge was taken from us. Everything that made us who we were (our names, our languages, our religions, our cultures) was forcibly stripped from us as we were debased and treated like subhuman property with no need to have well-rounded identities for ourselves nor future generations.

So everything we had was stolen from us, and now we are being asked to pay $100 (or more) to get these white-owned DNA companies to trace our roots for information that they willfully withheld from us, either through blatant attempts to treat us as objects or due to perfunctory record-keeping. Now, you can pay for the capability to find out 13% of you may have come from The Congo, unless of course your results change from month to month, and that 13% has dwindled to 5% and the majority of your DNA has now been narrowed down to the not-so-terribly-specific African South-Central Hunter Gatherers. Slavery is truly the gift that keeps on giving even over 150 years after its abolition. Does this sound like a hot mess of a situation to anyone else but me (and DL Hughley)??

You stole my identity, and now I have to pay you to get it back in a form that might not even be particularly accurate?! How on earth have they managed to sell this to us as a benevolent service? Even I fell prey to it; I bought a DNA several month ago but have yet to do the test and send it in for analysis. And the sad thing is that I will probably proceed with getting my results, because what other choice do I have if I want to find out where I come from? None, is the answer; I have no choice.

And that’s the crux of black oppression; we have systematically been denied opportunities and choices simply because those in power have stolen that from us time and time again. So before you try to lecture me on “making every issue be about race” or say that slavery was over 100 years ago so I should get over it, think about the various and extensive ways in which African Americans have been (and continue to be) denied what is theirs. Reparations doesn’t sound quite so ridiculous now, does it?

Thanks for reading. Check back in two weeks for my next post under this title!