Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Maybe It's Tha Thug In Me...

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The more I date, and I use that word VERY loosely, I'm coming to the realization that my tolerance for bull is becoming VERY low. I remember the days of being bright eyed and addicted to the thrill of falling in love. I was that girl who would doodle last names and add up the letters of our governments to determine if it was "true love" or just a "spring fling." I was a victim of the Cinderella Complex, you know the belief in "Happily Ever After." Not that there is anything wrong with that, but at some point I started becoming cynical realistic. Or so I think...

Within my circle of friends, we all joke so much about how much we are thugs when we enter into relationships. If a man is able to woo and wow us, then the saying goes that "he has our thug on the floor." In the past couple of months, I admit I've had to put out a #ThugAPB, but like clockwork its always came back in a matter of time.

Why? I mean, we are seriously trying to play the game before it plays us and are relationships are nothing but preemptive strikes after another. The bad thing about it is we are so busy trying to make sure we don't get played and to do everything that a guy might do that we don't even realize some of these dudes might not be about that.

Take the old school me and the new school me. If the old school me wants to be in a relationship then that's when you have to court me, have conversation, talk to me whatever. Yet sometimes stuff happens and dudes just become jump-offs. If I get involved with a dude like that and there is no real emotional connection I refuse to let him build one with me because in my mind I'm thinking he's doing it just because he thinks this is what I want to hear.

Women use men for sex, let them go if we assume that they're catching feelings, and more and more we are refusing to eat ice cream and watch pseudo-romance movies when a break up is imminent. It's interesting how the roles are slightly changing when it comes to relationships. Girls are becoming more aggressive and while it may not be a bad thing, hardening your heart isn't the best thing either.

We were also talking about the whole intimacy thing and I really want to pose this question of when did it become okay for women to be like "we can engage in #hoshit, but he can't be my man??? "

Does it come with heartache, disillusionment, growing up, what???

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Dreams Deferred: The Ground Breaking Stage Play

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I was out to dinner the other night with a friend and in the middle of our meal, a gentleman walked up and handed me a plugger. Assuming that it was for a party or some event catering to the urban youth, I began to tuck it away in my purse until I saw the smiling face of a young African American boy and girl. The plugger I had received was for a play called Dreams Deferred, being presented by Operation Safe Passage, a Messiah Equiano Vision. More captivating than the smiles of this young boy and girl was the description of the play that read:

Chicago has emerged to have the HIGHEST youth homicide rate in the nation. Over 600 Chicago school children have been shot from September 2007 to October 2009. DREAMS DEFERRED shows us what these dying youth could have achieved with their, had they lived. Gripping, Powerful, and Inspiring...This is a Must See!



Immediately, my mind went to 16 year old Derrion Albert, an honor roll student at Fenger High School who was brutally beaten to death in October. While Abert's death received national attention, many other Chicago youth killings go unpublicized. Furthermore, we as a community have become desensitized to death. When our kids die, we place balloons, flowers, and cards on the site where they were killed. After the balloons deflate, the flowers die, and the makeshift graves are cleaned up, we move on with our lives, while families are still left to mourn an unfulfilled destiny.

It is my hope and belief that as Dreams Deferred shows us what could have been, we will begin to take more action to ensure that it WILL be. Check out the event info on the left side of the page. Also please visit their website or call 773-929-2383 for more information!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

That's Why You Can't Get No Man!

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Today, as I was perusing Facebook, I came across a friend's status that pondered why seventy percent of professional Black women are single. Sifting through the comments I came across the responses that I expected.

Black women are single because we need to lower our standards

Begin Rant As a 23 year old, aspiring Juris Doctorate and Doctorate candidate, I find this notion of lowering standards to be extremely disheartening. It is my opinion that Black women are the only demographic constantly being told that we should lower our standards in order to get a man. THAT COULDN'T BE ANY MORE WRONG and we need to stop falling for the hype. You mean to tell me that a white woman can be a nanny and have standards set so high that she marries a pro-golf player that is now estimated at a billion dollars, but because I'm a Black Woman with a degree, I have to marry an elementary school janitor? Chile, please...

As a young girl, my daddy told me NEVER settle for anything LESS than what I think I deserve. Now with that said, not every black woman has the same standards. We assume that a Black woman with a bachelor's degree will only want a black man with one or higher, but that is not the case. I've dated black men that only had associates or technical degrees, you know those "I AM A PHOENIX" type degrees. However, standards come in all different shapes and sizes. What a degree is worth to one woman, another woman just may want a man who informally educates himself. In the words of Lil' Jon Read a Book, Read a Book, Read a Muthafuggin book!

Some standards aren't about education at all. Some women just want a man that makes them laugh and forget about the stresses of their day. C'mon you all have seen the Tyler Perry movies. Some standards may be a little more superficial, but nonetheless the women are entitled to them. If I'm 5'2" and want a taller suitor that's my prerogative. Afterall, I have to think of the children. If I'm a non smoker, non drinker and the perils of your life render you to such where you can't imagine not pouring a drink or rolling up, then I have a RIGHT to not date you. If you use too many damn smilies and exclamation points in a text message and that irritates me, then I have a RIGHT to not talk to you because of that as well. o__O

Okay, you all get my point. Nevertheless, when it comes to dating, people make Black women out to be an oxymoron personified. The complaint is that Black women are too picky, yet we don't know what we want. Or Black women always want the educated man, yet we only want to date thugs. No, how about I want the man who can rap about the state of black people without blaming the man, can make me laugh, can wrap his arm around me and make me feel safe, and let's me be the woman because he's a man?

Black men, is that REALLY all that you're worth that you're willing to be the Black woman's substandard? Oh, yes, believe me, if you expect a woman to go BELOW the standard that she has set for herself, it is at that point that you allow yourself to become a substandard. TSK. TSK. Is it soooo wrong and unfathomable that as we want more for ourselves, then we should want more from a suitable mate? Many black men claim that Black women are too hard on them, to overbearing and so forth. Well, what do you expect when you've convinced your women to accept you in all your below standard glory? Work on being her complement. If you aren't where you want to be, let her know that you're working on a plan to get there be it education, your demeanor, or your appearance (except if it's the height thing...sorry, fellas). Black women WILL work with you if we know there is the hope of progress, but what no woman appreciates is a stagnant mate.

We live in a society where not only are seventy percent of professional Black women are single, but seventy percent of Black Households are single parent households headed by black women. Not that there is a direct correlation, because not all professional women head a household and not all Black women who head a household are professional. However, the alarming rates of both of these statistics is important to note when thinking of telling a woman to lower her standards. Perhaps if some of these women had stuck with their standards they wouldn't be in this predicament. Perhaps if some black man wasn't satisfied with simply being a substandard he could have understood his value in the household and stayed around to raise his child? Or if that Black woman didn't lower her standards she could have appreciated that black man a little bit more and not treated him as though he was beneath her. Just throwing out hypothetical scenarios...

Black women, embrace your standards, love them. Hell, the very same black men telling you to lower your standards have some as well...and best believe if you don't meet them they won't hesitate to drop your ass and go "Becky" on you. See, to me, standards create a balance. They create an equal partnership, where I'm not stuck wondering what I could have had or what a relationship could have been.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

A Presidential Proclamation

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In case you haven't heard, or haven't had the time to check it out yet, on November 25, 2009 President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation for World AIDS Day. Read it below:


The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
November 25, 2009
Presidential Proclamation-- World AIDS Day

A PROCLAMATION

Our Nation joins the world in celebrating the extraordinary advancements we have made in the battle against HIV and AIDS, and remembering those we have lost. Over the past three decades, brave men and women have fought devastating discrimination, stigma, doubt, and violence as they stood in the face of this deadly disease. Many of them would not be here today, but for the dedication of other persons living with HIV, their loved ones and families, community advocates, and members of the medical profession. On World AIDS Day, we rededicate ourselves to developing a national AIDS strategy that will establish the priorities necessary to combat this devastating epidemic at home, and to renewing our leadership role and commitments abroad.

Though we have been witness to incredible progress, our struggle against HIV/AIDS is far from over. With an infection occurring every nine-and-a-half minutes in America, there are more than one million individuals estimated to be living with the disease in our country. Of those currently infected, one in five does not know they have the condition, and the majority of new infections are spread by people who are unaware of their own status. HIV/AIDS does not discriminate as it infiltrates neighborhoods and communities. Americans of any gender, age, ethnicity, income, or sexual orientation can and are contracting the disease.

Globally, there are over 33 million people living with HIV. While millions have died from this disease, the death rate is slowly declining due, in part, to our Nation's global effort through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. However, HIV remains a leading cause of death worldwide. Women and children around the world are particularly vulnerable due to gender inequalities, gaps in access to services, and increases in sexual violence. While the statistics are distressing, new medications and scientific advancements give us reason for hope.

Tackling this disease will take an aggressive, steadfast approach. My Administration is developing a national HIV/AIDS strategy to bolster our response to the domestic epidemic, and a global health initiative that will build on PEPFAR's success. We will develop a strategy to reduce HIV incidence, improve access to care, and help eliminate HIV-related health disparities. We have already ensured that visitors to our shores living with HIV are not marginalized and discriminated against because of their HIV status. We have also secured the continuation of critical HIV/AIDS care and treatment services. Today, we recommit ourselves to building on the accomplishments of the past decades that have dramatically changed the domestic and global HIV/AIDS landscape.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2009, as World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the States and the territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and the American people to join in appropriate activities to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS, and to provide support and comfort to those living with this disease.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

The Red Pump Project

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In March 2009, my sister along with a friend, founded The Red Pump Project, an awesome organization, dedicated towards raising awareness on HIV/AIDs. Since its founding, The Red Pump Project has become Nationwide in its efforts to raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages ladies to take action.

I joined the Red Pump Project because the faces of those most affected, look just like me. I joined because apathy is not a cure for AIDS/HIV. When I graduated with a minor in African American Studies and a concentration in Gender Women's Studies, I had in mind a passion to help women of color in areas of health care and education. The Red Pump Project combines the two. While I fully support the search to find a cure, I firmly believe that awareness has to be at the forefront of people's minds. In September I posted an article on The Red Pump Project, entitled The Power of One, explaining why I joined the organization. Go check it out and check out the rest of their blog!

Oh and I don't want to forget: Tomorrow, December 2, 2009 the Red Pump Project, along with their brother organization, The Red Tie Project, will be hosting an event in Chicago. The event details are as follows:

The Red Project Collective (The Red Tie Project and The Red Pump Project) cordially invites you out for an evening of relaxation, socializing, cocktails and fundraising.

In honor of World AIDS Day, The Red Pump Project & The Red Tie Project is hosting "Say RED: Cocktails & Conversation" at Ai Sushi Restaurant & Lounge on December 2 from 6 - 9pm.
Join Karyn (The Fabulous Giver), Luvvie (Awesomely Luvvie), Patrice (Afrobella) and others for an evening of socializing, drinks, and conversation about the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.

Location:
Ai Sushi Restaurant & Lounge.
358 W. ONTARIO
CHICAGO, IL 60610

$5 martinis ALL night, $4 sushi until 7pm.

Most importantly, this will be a fundraiser as ALL proceeds will be donated to a local charity to be determined. The event will feature a silent auction, cash bar, and raffle prizes.
Silent Auction Items were donated by:

* Emmy Ward-winning AIDS activist Rae Lewis-Thornton
* MAC Cosmetics
* Pretty Afrika Jewelry
* Blogging While Brown Conference

Bring cash or checks to bid!
SPACE IS LIMITED so please RSVP to secure entry!
There is no admission cost however donations will be greatly appreciated!

World AIDS Day - December 1, 2009

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Today, Black is Breezie is turning Red in commemoration of World AIDS Day. I have been away from blogging for awhile, but today was the perfect day to come back. This will be one of a few posts dedicated to World AIDS Day.

As of today there are over 33 million people across the globe affected with HIV/AIDS. On this 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day we appreciate those who have worked to bring awareness to this disease as well as erase the stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS. Particularly, in this country, HIV/AIDS has been typecasted as a gay disease, a disease of the whoredom, or an African disease. Coupled with the attitudes of invincibility we have been reckless and lackadaisical in taking the necessary steps to protect ourselves. While we live in a society that is over saturated with sex, we fail to adequately warn of the consequences.

The irony of invincibility is that, immortality becomes synonymous with ignorance. As people engage in reckless behavior the reality of HIV/AIDS prevents them from being tested. The stigmas of this disease, the imminent fear of mortality, specifically in the Black community have caused us to ignore the reality that HIV/AIDS is real. When it comes to HIV/AIDS the saying has never been more true: People perish for a lack of knowledge. With the many advances in medicine and science, HIV is NOT a death sentence. What kills us is being afraid of the unknown and holding off on being tested.

Awareness and personal agency go hand in hand. HIV/AIDS is preventable. What are you doing to protect yourself? Men lie about being negative, women lie about being negative, but the statistics don't. Be positive you're NOT positive. Stay safe.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Not So “Precious” Debate

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Three weeks ago, I was invited to a private screening of the movie Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire. I remembered seeing the trailer for this movie back in January when I went to the theatre to see Notorious (there is no hidden anecdote here, this is REALLY the first time I saw the trailer). I could remember being so wound up by this movie that I could not wait for the day that it came out. Then I finally got a chance to see it and I was left speechless, yet with an eagerness to engage in a debate about the rawness of this movie and its reality for a population that is largely ignored and even relegated to simply a Black stereotype. Now on this day as theatres across the county begin to show this movie, and reviews come in I worry about what “we” will lend our focus to and deem the centrical theme Precious.


They say that people perish for a lack of knowledge. However, what about when people have TOO much knowledge. This is one of my main problems with the black “elite” and how I believe most of them will view Precious. Actually, this post came as a response to reading a article entitled “Pride & Precious” by Armond White. In his verbose rant, he lessens the film to the likeness of Birth of a Nation, and harps on everything that he believes is wrong with the movie INCLUDING the casting of actress Gabourey Sidibe, with whom he says is “presented as an animal-like stereotype” who is “so obese her face seems bloated into a permanent pout.” Crazy, how justified he feels in his hatred for this movie that he goes out of his way to insult the size and features of the main character as though her look was manufactured for the film, and not her everyday appearance. Colorist much?


The truth is it doesn’t matter whether or not the main character was a heavy set, dark skinned girl casted opposite to three biracial actors. Perhaps it would matter if the movie did not give a voice to Precious girls everywhere; girls, who are short, tall, light skinned, darkskinned, pretty or aesthetically unappealing. Unfortunately, while the message of Precious is staring us right in the face some of us are so concerned about imagery that we will refuse to believe the reality of this situation.


In the wake of Precious, it is times like these I scoff at the Black “educated” and their desire to label EVERYTHING as coonery and a perpetuator of stereotypes. Take the recent controversy between Tyler Perry and Spike “Do the Right Thing” Lee, in which Lee blasts Perry as a coon, in an attempt to revisit the message of his 2000 movie Bamboozled. Of course this is not the first time Perry has been called a coon, but I find it interesting how a Christian family on TV or a gun toting matriarch receive more flack from the general public than reality programs that air on networks such as BET and VH1. (Oh and if to this day you watch shows like Frankie and Neffe, For the Love of Ray J, and in the past you have denied your family quality time at Thanksgiving to sit alone and watch marathons of Flavor of Love or I Love New York then your right to offer a serious critique on what is or isn’t coonery has been revoked).


iDigress. There are times when I feel that the educated black mind, when it comes to issues of race and identity, offers itself up as a sacrificial racist’s playground. TOO concerned with what white people will think or how something looks in mainstream America, we tend to be overly critical of images while overlooking importance. The educated black person is too often concerned with proving how they are not like the rest of “them” that in their desire to assimilate they forget to give voice to the social ills of the marginalized population from which they are have escaped.


I wonder how it would feel for the “Precious” girl living in inner-city Chicago, or Detroit, or any other underserved urban community to be told that a movie reflecting her struggle is no more than a burden to the entire black race. Or to hear from someone that a movie that touches on the harsh reality of the incest, rape, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy, hopelessness and despair that they may have gone through is SUCH an exaggeration because they’ve never witnessed it let alone lived it. However, when inner city schools can’t pass minimum standards tests and when Robeson High School on the South Side of Chicago has 115 teen moms, and when over half the percent of all HIV infections reported are amongst people aged 13-24 then Precious must be seen at as an intimate invitation into the lives of these girls.


Two years ago I volunteered in a program called SOLHOT (Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths). On the first day, we went around and lit an incense in remembrance of someone we had lost. At 17 years old, a young girl lit an incense for her cousin who was found hanged in her bedroom, in an apparent suicide. After investigation, it was found out the 14 year old victim was killed by her stepfather after learned she was pregnant, by him. SHE is a Precious girl and if I never heard another story like that again, my arrogance would not allow me to believe that this movie is a fabrication of a author’s or a filmmaker’s imagination.


Precious girls are real and their story MUST be told, whether we like it or not.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Jesus is My Homeboy

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Karl Marx once commented on religion as being the "opiate for the masses." This way of understanding religion, recognized the ways in which this ideology of a supreme being has been used to both usher and numb people through the pains of the world. Anyone who knows me knows that my relationship with religion, the church, God, and the entire concept has been off kilter for quite some time now. However, in all its coincidental glory, in the wake of my tumultuous relationship with the church, I have come to notice the interaction of others with the spiritual force that is supposed to control their lives.

A few years ago, I remember the slogan "Jesus is my Homeboy" came out. Started by a younger generation, who had grown up during a time where Kirk Franklin began to combine the secular with the sacred, this slogan appeared to make Christianity sound so appealing. While slightly combated by some who proclaimed "Jesus is NOT my Homeboy, He's My Savior," the preface behind the first slogan still proves to be prevalent.

Then Kanye West came out with "Jesus Walks." As a rabid Kanye West fan, this record can still do no wrong in my eyes. Yet, even before he interrupted Taylor Swift on stage, walked the red carpet with a bottle of Hennessey, and traded his soul for a blonde dyke started dating Amber "Catsuit" Rose, his actions were contrary to the lyrics he professed about in his song, or the Jesus piece he wore around his neck. Anyways, enough of Kanye West, after all the relationship between rappers and religion is sketchy by default anyway. Something like the rapper who thanks God at the Award Show after he wins an award for his LP "Big Booty H*es Talk A Lotta Sh**" o__O. However, I have to wonder about some of the people I see and talk to everyday.

Take for instance the guy whose profile I visited on Facebook yesterday who had a status message asking if any ladies received "fallacio" last night. After being corrected that women give and do not receive fellatio he re-asked the question as to whether any women had received or wanted some "cunnalingus" <-------head in hand. I promise I have a point and I'm not just writing this to poke fun at his stupidity, lol. Flash forward to this morning and a status of his pops up in my newsfeed:

"WOKE UP WITH THIS ON MY MIND. NOW WE ALL HAVE FLOWN B4 CORRECT? WE GET ON A PLANE WITH THE MINDSET THAT I KNOW THAT DIS PILOT IS GOING TO LAND THIS PLANE. NO MATTER IF TURBULENCE STRIKES THE PLANE OR NOT. HOW COME WE CAN'T FEEL LIKE THAT ABOUT GOD & LIFE? I KNOW THAT HE'S TAKING ME THROUGH TURBULENCE RIGHT NOW IN MY LIFE BUT I KNOW MY PILOT IS GOING TO LAND MY PLANE? BUILD YOUR FAITH NOT YOUR FATE!"

Ya'll know I was giving the o__O. I mean the sentiment was BEAUTIFUL really, but c'mon dude. I can't take you seriously. Like you need more people. Preferally, yes preferally, Jesus, Joseph, Mary (both of them), AND the twelve disciples. Under his status someone commented "If you keep this up, I'm gon have to start calling you Rev." REALLY??? The same dude that was asking people about sexual actions not more than 20 hours ago?

Or what about the chick whose status read "God Forgive me, but this fat b**** is getting on my nerves!" To which I asked her... "o__O sooo do you really think he'll forgive you?" I mean I just think that at some point in time people need to stop with the "God know my heart" excuse.

I know, I know. The relationship that a person has with Christ is a personal one, we aren't supposed to judge, and so forth. However, when I was a little girl there was a simple little song that said "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." However, nowadays I don't see much of that anywhere and I have to wonder how did this happen?

*Black is Breezie Disclaimer* Now this post is not to be judgmental, it is just to point out what I have been noticing lately about the way people, specifically African Americans, treat religion as some sort of scapegoat to do the same mess that non-believers as though their proclamation of a relationship with Jesus overrides their foolishness. How did there become such a disconnect between the reverence and representation of the God that people claim they serve?

Monday, November 2, 2009

Age Ain't Nothing but A Number???

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The other day, as I was on my way home, I was on the bus sitting across from a couple of urban youths. They seemed to really be into each other and for a moment the thug in me died as I remembered my days of puppy love and being boo'd up. You know, before I became a cynic, everything became so complicated. As the ride continued, the couple got into a conversation in regards to a friend of the young lady. From what I heard, the friend was eighteen and her boyfriend was twenty eight. Of the young couple, the girl expressed strong dislike for the relationship stating "the man was too old," and "ten years was too big of a gap." To this the boyfriend responded "yea, but she's legal she can do what she wants. If you don't think that what she's doing is right, what does that mean for us?"

*leans in*

"How come she can't date an older man, but you can?"

Defensively the girl responded "that's different, we're only five years apart."

"Yea, but I'm twenty-one." STOP!

That would make her sixteen. STOP!

What the hayle is a sixteen year old girl, doing with a twenty-one year old man? Nevermind the fact that as a twenty three year old woman, who was once twenty-one and thus dated twenty-one year old men, I found them to be nothing more than fifteen year old boys on steroids. However, the law says otherwise. I sat in my seat giving ALL kinds of mental side-eyes o__O ... O__O ... O__o Just judgmental! Until I remembered, I was once a seventeen, sixteen, fifteen...(o__O, yeah you get my point) year old girl who thought I was super grown. I was the girl who thought I was mature enough to talk to a man that was five years my senior, just like the girl across the aisle from me.

Too often we focus on the role of the predators males in these situations, and not enough on the young girl who has a skewed view of beauty, love, and womanhood. Or when we do focus on the role of the female, it is not one of compassion, but one of criticism. "She's fast," "she's a ho," or "she wanted him to pee on her." o__O (Please don't get me started on the Robert "Define Teenaged" Kelly situation). Yet, to fully grasp the issue of loss innocence we must understand that not every sixteen year old dating a twenty-one year old is a victim, but not every one is a vixen either. Nevertheless, it's easy to place blame upon the young black girl, and not on the society that rears her.

At sixteen years old, I'm sure she can recite every lyric from Lil Wayne's "Every Girl." I'm sure she's sat hours in front a mirror perfecting that hypnotizing hip roll done in Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video. At sixteen years old, I'm sure she's leaned on her girls for support, while she grinded her ass into the pelvis of a sixteen year old boy, at her high school dance. More importantly, I'm sure this didn't start when she turned sixteen. See, from an early age, particularly in the music we listen to, black girls are cultured by an image that paints them as deviant and oversexualized.

Yet, the focus of this media that has been debated by black political scholars, music artists and even congressional panels, often leaves out the effect that this music has on young black girls. The conversations often dwell on how this music perpetuates misogyny, thus its affect on males. Ironically, like the music and the media in general, these conversations rely upon the existence of black girls while rendering them to the position of spectator.

As an adult I can sing every lyric to Lil Kim's Hardcore LP. Ask me how many of those lyrics I learned AFTER I was an adult and the answer is... not one. I learned them, in 1996, when the album first came out. I was ten years old singing "Big Momma Thang." o__O

"I used to be scared of the d***, now I throw lips to tha sh**, handle it like a real b****."

What did I know about that!?! NOTHING. Yet I thought it was appropriate to sit in my room with my headphones on and listen to it. Nevertheless, these lyrics in all their vulgar glory, speak to the interaction of black girls with society. These lyrics speak to the right of passage for black girls that comes at the expense of being recognized and accepted by our male counterparts.

A sixteen year old, dating a twenty-one year old, has undeniably traded her innocence for acceptance.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Black is Breezie

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Daughter, Sister, Focused Feminista, Princess of Politics, Hip - Hop Head, Lady Laureate, concerned with the past, present and future of African Americans and in Love with Life, a Chicago Native by way of Mississippi, a college graduate, middle class, an aspiring law student, a mother of an adopted stray cat named Mink Elle, a south sider, a renter, a CTA commuter.

In 2008, I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a B.A. in Political Science, a minor in African American Studies with a concentration in Gender Women's Studies. I have a passion to help women of color in areas of health care and education, which is why you can find me doing work for The Red Pump Project, an HIV/AIDS awareness organization.

In April of 2009, when I first became introduced to the Twitterverse, I also began having a desire to create a blog. Albeit I was tentatively content with reaching people in 140 characters or less I also had to accept that I have a story to tell. Six months later, my blog was born. Anyone who knows me, I mean REALLY knows me, knows and understands that my PASSION is African American past, present, and future. While, I don't consider myself a part of the black intellegencia, I do consider myself a student of all things good and bad with our culture. Be it the culture, the politics, or the way we interact with each other socially or romantically. It is my aim is to discuss these situations with concern or criticism, seriousness or satire, delight or disdain.


That being said, welcome to Black is Breezie!
 
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