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18 ways our community initiates oppression like white society towards black women...

1. Stigmatizing black women, by telling black women “They make black women look bad” when you come across a certain behavior or characteristic that you don’t believe black women should be showcasing.

2. Excluding trans black women from liberation.

3. Telling black women to act behave and dress a certain way in order to garner respect or to avoid abuse and violence through discrimination, racism, intraracism, colorism and other forms of discriminatory acts.

4. When you tell black women to repress our emotions in order to not make ourselves look bad .

5. Criminalizing black girls and women from the hood or ghetto.

6. Judging and dictating how black women should dress, act, speak and wear our hair.

7. Humiliating single mothers.

8. Criminalizing non-respectable black women.

9. Shaming black women for their sexuality.

10. Denying black girls humanity by raising them like grown adults.

11. Silencing black women who speak out against colorism, misogynoir and lack of reciprocity.

12. Not valuing black women outside of beauty and labor.

13. Shaming black women who don’t conform to ideals.

14. Encouraging violence against black women and girls who won’t “act right”.

15. Shaming black women for career choices that do not mirror respectability politics (ex:strippers). 

16. Encourage abuse and ridicule towards black sex workers.

17. Shaming fat black women and girls.

18. Excluding the importance of the livelihood of black women and girls from pro-black politics in fear it would overshadow something.

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Don't approach me at a party and the first thing you say to me is "Can you twerk?" Especially if you aren't black.

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"It felt strange to look at a picture of myself that is so different from what I look like when I look in the mirror. It's an unfortunate feeling."

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Dear Black Women You are not what the media tells you you are. You are not what society tells you you are. You are not ugly, obnoxious, unintelligent, You are not belligerent and unapproachable, You are not unlovable. You are not worthless. You are not a finger-snapping, neck rolling stereotype. You are not a sex toy for men who want to “see what it’s like,” You are not supposed to be silent and complicit in your plight You are supposed to stand up and be heard and fight When aggression and oppression are weighing down with all their might Forcing you into a corner that’s small, cramped, and tight Until you can see no rescue in sight. Black women, let me help you. Let this letter be your rescue. I have been in your place, Have suffered in your space The only escape is to realize what you are. Black women, From your hair to your nose to your lips, From the light to the tan to the dark, From the thin to the thick to the big, You are beautiful. Believe me. You carry the wisdom of every black woman before you, and the strength of the universe within you. You are powerful. You are significant. You are loved. If by no one else, then by me, Because you are all my sisters. Sincerely, A Black Woman.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/dear-black-women_b_9577016.html

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“ I grew to love the skin I’m in. All the acne scars and all the hair. I still look at my mother in amazement. I still watch her glow and I know that I glow too. That’s the great thing about black women, we all glow in different shades like crystallized stars across the darkest sky. “

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“When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was asked a lot of the usual questions.When are you due? Are you having a boy or a girl? Is this your first baby? But there was one question that could really make my skin crawl, because it hit on a subject so insidious and deeply rooted in the black community’s warped beauty ideals that I could only politely smile to acknowledge it while cringing inside: What color do you think she will be?

It’s really a simple question, and one that I am sure was never asked out of malice towards my partner, my unborn child or myself. I am sure that it was asked out of curiosity, since I have light skin and my partner’s skin is dark. I am sure, to the person asking the question, it felt as pedestrian as asking what color I planned to paint the nursery. Still, it stung like a bee because, as a woman of color, I have been told all my life how pretty I am because of my light skin, or how easy life would be for me because of the privilege that comes with being able to pass the ‘brown paper bag test.’”

People Thought It Was OK to Ask Me About My Unborn Child’s Skin Color

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Some dating advice

A guilty pleasure of a lot of women (including myself) is listening to or reading dating advice. There are many black men celebrities who have taken up giving dating and relationship advice to black women. The problem with their advice, however, is that it is clouded by sexism. For example, in the discussion between Rev. Run, Tyrese, and Amber Rose, we see that these relationship “experts” can’t even understand the concept of consent. 

I am so tired of women being blamed for relationships going wrong. I am especially tired of black women always being considered being unworthy of dating because they are “too opinionated” or “too crazy”. I hate the memes that promote black me to “Get you a Sarah instead of a Shaniqua”.

Black women are the group that is least likely to get married, especially when they have more education. Black women are called ugly, welfare queens, angry, and emasculating. These stereotypes need to die. 

And while I am a beautiful, strong, independent, black woman, who don’t need no man, it would be nice to have one. Black women deserve love too

   Women, Stop Listening to Sexist Relationship ‘Experts’

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American Girl Debuts African-American Doll From the Civil Rights Era

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This woman spent over 900 days in solitary confinement while awaiting trial

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We must never forget...

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12 REASONS WHY AFENI SHAKUR IS STILL VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

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My lips giving you sleepless nights

Aamito Lagum, the model whose lips appear in this beautiful image posted by MAC Cosmetics, responding to racist trolls on Instagram 

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There Is Freedom in the Water

The movement for Black lives must consider these things. And It must always consider the least of these — bodies whom are always left behind in the quest for Black liberation: Black fat bodies, Black femme bodies, Black disabled bodies, Black stripper bodies, Black hoe bodies, Black HIV Positive Bodies, Black gender deviant bodies, Black poor bodies, Black unconventional bodies, Black depressed bodies, and Black malnourished bodies. These — and so many others — are all aspects of the Black body: messy, complicated, and whole. This is a metaphor for the movement that must be; it must hold all of us.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamal-t-lewis/there-is-freedom-in-the-w_b_9284868.html