In thinking about racism, I was reminded of the Five Stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance) developed by David Kessler and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. I realized that facing racism has a similar process. There are stages of facing the reality of racism.
White Feminism always needs a participation trophy. Take yourself OUT OF THE CENTER WHITE WOMEN! It is okay to stand with Black people, to understand injustice and NOT MAKE IT ABOUT YOU! It isn’t about your “sadness” because you are White and privileged.
Trusting Black Women is more than a catchy hashtag. It is more than a talking point on the campaign trail. Trusting Black Women is more than inviting a Black woman to the table without any leadership or decision-making authority. Do not invite me to the table if I am expected to sit pretty and poised with no power. Making a hashtag does absolutely nothing without clear motives and actions behind it.
Let’s just get right into it – Beyoncé is THAT BITCH! PERIODTTTT!! ALL THE T’s!! There is no greater living entertainer on the planet. Period. Before I take it back, I will add more to it. Argue with your aunties and grandmas don’t argue with me.Beyoncé came to Coachella to snatch all the vanilla, #FFFFFF, flower crowns and snatch them she did!
What y’all don’t understand is before we even leave the house we have already decided what’s gonna happen that day. We have already decided just how much bullshit we are going to deal with. We shower, get dressed and put on our “I wish a muthfucka would” lipstick, “Ain’t no one Fenty bother me” foundation, spray a little bit of “I don’t give a damn” perfume on our wrists, slip on our “Try me if you want to” stilettoes and grab our, “I will turn into Annalise Keating up in here,” handbag and head out the door, singing Take Me To The King the entire drive to work.
*(Before I get into this blog, please do not comment on this blog about people needing to be grateful that they have a job. I believe that anyone working is thankful for their job and happy they can pay their bills, put food on the table and have […]
In her quick rise in social justice circles, her continuous missteps show me that Alyssa has no foundation on which to stand when it comes to being an ally. Her activism is a house of cards built on sand. It is easy to commandeer someone else’s movement as your own. It is easy to go online when you have a vast platform and post something that “sounds” progressive and get thousands of likes and retweets. It is easy to comb through poems and pick a line or two that may help undergird your tweets. It’s easy to dress up in a handmaid’s costume and not see how your real life actions are not indicative of supporting all women. It’s convenient to post a Martin Luther King quote that makes you feel good. It is easy to do all of those things without doing any of the real work. Moreover, the real work doesn’t start on Twitter. It doesn’t start with a pink pussy cat hat. It doesn’t start with some catchy sign held up at a protest. I dare say it doesn’t even start with a hashtag. The real work begins when you first look inside yourself and challenge yourself to be better and to do better.
Dear White People, please stop saying that you do not see color. We all know that is a lie. Short of having an issue with your eyes, you do see color. However, you believe by saying that you do not see color you are saying something that proves you “can’t be racist” and shows that you are progressive and edgy. In fact, you sound ignorant.
A few days ago on Facebook, I was tagged in a post by Rani Whitehead. Her post is below, and I have copied it in its entirety. I believe this conversation was more significant than me responding to her on Facebook and I wanted to share it with my readers so they can see two women have a conversation about race.
Did a Black man really ask Black people to put ourselves into the shoes of a White person? Are you KIDDING ME, Cory? WHAT SHOES? Shoes of privilege? Shoes of cognitive dissonance? Shoes of denying racism exist? Shoes of “just get over it?” Shoes of Make America Great Again? I don’t need to step into the shoes of White America.
