Soft curves

Soft lips

Rough hands

Tight grip on my waist

Giggles and moans

Wet kisses across my neck

Deeply feeling

And inhaling your scent

Left on my collarbone.

I can’t stand the majority of Black political pundits. Even the ‘liberal’ ones play into classist, racist depictions of Black communities. Ambassador Andrew Young on Hardball was just painful claiming that Black people need a solution to gun and drug violence. No, you are confusing the cause and the effect. The ROOT problems of most communities of color lie in elevated poverty rates due to structural inequalities and institutional racism. So no. Don’t paint the issue as Black people need to be saved from themselves because they can’t escape the clutches of the drugs and guns (that btw are pumped into our communities.) Shut up you pompous, arrogant Uncle Tom.

It may sound crazy, but I constantly think about the world in the Parable series. I get fearful about the destruction of the environment, the greed/cruelty of the white & wealthy and the lack of resources in PoC communities. I feel like preparing some sort of emergency pack is not unreasonable.

We’ve seen our communities suffer by the hand of government inaction and destruction when there was no risk to themselves (see New Orleans), let alone in some post-apocalyptic type chaos. Environmental racism already puts our communities closer to nuclear waste, landfills, toxic chemicals, etc. I need to learn more about survival but more importantly have to make sure my sun learns practical skills without being dependent on technology. I am doubtful that this thing we have going on is sustainable & I truly cannot imagine having to survive I am so ill equipped.

There is this man at my job on the custodial staff who consistently makes the young Black women uncomfortable with his touching. He will walk past & grab my shoulders & massage them. I’ve heard from 3 other young women that feel uncomfortable too (there’s only 4 of us on my floor). He has also made remarks like when he saw me cooking, “women cooking is so sexy.” Now this man is in his 50s at least (I think…u kno Black don’t crack) and knows damn well what he’s doing.

Well, this week he got his daughter a job on the custodial staff. And she has a big ole booty, not objectifying but its important for the story. Anyway, her first day she came in and she had on a fitted shirt on and tight jeans, by noon her father had given her an oversized shirt to put over her outfit. She has worn scrubs and this oversized shirt over them the rest of the week.

My question is: he obviously felt uncomfortable by the attention she was attracting from the 95% male warehouse crew—then why would he subject other women to what he is trying to shield his daughter from??? I am somebody’s daughter, as are the other young women whom he makes uncomfortable. Is the connection really that hard to see? I’m sure he wants the men in the warehouse to treat his daughter with respect and not to make lewd/inappropriate comments on her physical appearance. So shouldn’t that be a standard he holds himself to as well?

DC is so proud to talk about declining crime rates, but is it no coincidence that crime is skyrocketing in PG. Gentrification has hit DC fast and hard and ward 9 (PG) is where the majority of low income (and Black middle class) are moving. When you’re pushing out low income communities who have limited options anyway to the suburbs (kinda) where buses dont run as well, train stations are less accessible, jobs depend more heavily on workers having a car and there are less jobs there anyway are we really surprised by the shift in crime? Six students have been killed this school year alone.

Mirroring nearly every other urban area poor Black youth are the ones suffering the most. Yet the Washington Post feels ok publishing an article touting DC’s drop in crime as a monumental shift in the city’s violence when the systematic oppression that causes crime hasn’t changed it just has been pushed slightly outside of city limits. I can hear sirens from Temple Hills at home those statistics mean nothing to me because the police vigilantly march up and down the streets like we live in a warzone but not to protect us just to contain the anger, hopelessness and feelings of loss. As long as it stays close enough to PG or within wards 5, 7 & 8 it’s not a problem. You’re not fooling us with this streetcar going to Anacostia and right past Trinidad, with condos poppin up by Paradise and Barry Farms. We know these aren’t for us and we’re waiting with baited breath for the businesses we’ve been demanding in our communities to come just to realize that you stuck a ‘Yes Organic’ or something equally unaffordable for the future residents you’re anticipating.

Funny how the story of the week, the murder of Kassandra Perkins, has yet to elicit even a peep from the media concerning violence against Black women. People are talking gun control, people are talking Black rage and people are discussing this incident as an isolated incidence. It’s not. The statistics and life experiences of many Black women speak for themselves. It’s dangerous to be a Black woman where many of us aren’t even safe in our homes let alone out in this world.

Pretty disturbed by the commentary surrounding Jovan Belcher and his murder suicide. I understand all suicide victims should be mourned in a certain way, but it seems like 90% of football analysts forgot that he also is a murderer who left his daughter orphaned. So before we reminisce about all his positive traits can we take a step back and let the story come to light, as well as mourn for his girlfriend Kassandra Perkins.

I admit it, before I had my sun I was one of those people who would secretly judge broke mufuckas for buying their kids Jordans, Polo Boots, Nike Boots, etc. To a certain extent I still do think some people get outta hand with it (I’m not gonna be living hand to mouth and have my sun in True Religion jeans c’mon now). I haven’t bought my sun Jordans, etc. but his father, godmother, etc. have and his shoe collection has been poppin since before he could walk.

What I have come to realize though is that I am willing to buy my sun material bullshit whose pricetag is too much to replace the really valuable things that I will never be able to afford. A $30 pair of Jordans (for babies) isn’t much in comparison to the best daycares in DC which start around $10-15G/yr. I want the best for my child just like parents living in Bethesda and Georgetown do. But realistically I can only do so much to ensure that he gets into the best schools, I’ll sign up for every waiting list for highly ranked charter schools, but if that doesn’t pan out my zipcode ensures his education will be subpar. I don’t have the assets to ensure he is in a school that feeds into Georgetown Prep or Gonzaga or some other elite high school in DC.

But you know what I can afford? I can afford to splurge occasionally on my sun. When he goes out he gets all the compliments and I keep him fly because that is within my reach. It’s extremely easy to judge parents (I did it too), but unless you have ever had the sole responsibility of being broke while raising, feeding, clothing, educating a child then you really just don’t know how difficult it is to know that there is only so much you can give your child.

The Clutch Mag article this week titled, “A Black Mom-in-Chief is Revolutionary” really spoke to me as a revolutionary mother. As a college student I was known for speaking out on anti-Black and racist issues across campus, as well as demonstrating for various on-campus injustices. I graduated and continued working toward my “radical” ideals of equality through classroom teaching. After 2 ½ years of teaching I got pregnant.

No longer was I the revolutionary, Black activist woman, but I became simply a mother—and a stay-at-home mother at that. My choices in motherhood and staying with my sun were seen as opposing the beliefs I had espoused. Having a child restricted me in certain ways that made me seem less dedicated to being an educator or activist. I won’t pretend that my sun hasn’t changed the path I was on, but I think he has also given me a lot of clarity and focus.

For me personally, motherhood has expanded my interests and my views on what issues are important to me and my sun. I am revolutionary through my parenting and my expanding sense of what issues are critical to a group of women that are often forgotten when discussing radicalism and revolutionary lifestyles, mothers. The parenting choices I make, as well as the choices I reject are revolutionary. I will continue to make revolutionary choices because raising a Black child has to be revolutionary.

I have to defend my 1 year old’s Blackness when we go to a playground that is predominantly white and he strikes fear in parents. I have to resist friends and family defining what my sun’s masculinity will or will not mean. I have to stand up for his right to define what type of adult he will become. I will have to define my sun’s Blackness when he enters school and will also have to re-teach him topics that were taught through the lens of white supremacy. I will have to teach my sun whether to resist or embrace ideologies that will be presented to him outside of our household. I have to teach him not only what I believe are the right paths, but also how to avoid the many ways Black men can get caught in the system.

There is so much more that is hard to explain to anyone who isn’t a parent, but especially to the white feminist and Alice Walker disciples who holds their stance on motherhood to be antithetical to revolutionary womanist thought and action. If raising a Black child in Amerika isn’t revolutionary in it’s damn self then I don’t know what is. 

theblackamericanprincess:

Reflecting on the post about Michelle Obama from last night I think that perhaps people are generally overcritical when it comes to exercise and weight. While there are campaigns that are intentionally body shaming, “Let’s Move” is not one of them. 

There is nothing wrong with promoting exercise to children in a way that is fun and entertaining by infusing Beyonce songs and spotlights on exercise into favorite children’s tv shows. When people talk about the fact that there also needs to be a component of body acceptance, I do agree, but I think MOST important is offering exercise as a choice to every able child.

As someone who has worked extensively with children and seen the various ways that children are continually shamed and mistreated by parents, students AND teachers I know that the need is real for some sort of comprehensive health programming (but then again when basic needs for education aren’t being met let’s be realistic about the chances of that happening).

Exercise for children is about much more than simply their weights or BMI, it is about promoting a lifestyle which many children do not actively see, it is about engaging them in an activity when many low-income and urban schools have cut all gym programs. Have you ever seen a child go through a full day of school without any exercise? I’ll give you a hint: everyone suffers. Exercise is a fundamental part of childhood that is increasingly being replaced with screen time. 

Anyone who has started (or maintains) an exercise regimen can attest to the fact that it is more than just about their body. Exercising increases endorphins and regardless of your weight/size can make you feel more positively about yourself. This is especially true of children. Exercising is mental as well as physical. 

I completely understand the fact that people are unhappy with the execution of “Let’s Move,” but there is nothing wrong with the message that exercise is an important life tool that is necessary for children.

Reflecting on the post about Michelle Obama from last night I think that perhaps people are generally overcritical when it comes to exercise and weight. While there are campaigns that are intentionally body shaming, “Let’s Move” is not one of them. 

There is nothing wrong with promoting exercise to children in a way that is fun and entertaining by infusing Beyonce songs and spotlights on exercise into favorite children’s tv shows. When people talk about the fact that there also needs to be a component of body acceptance, I do agree, but I think MOST important is offering exercise as a choice to every able child.

As someone who has worked extensively with children and seen the various ways that children are continually shamed and mistreated by parents, students AND teachers I know that the need is real for some sort of comprehensive health programming (but then again when basic needs for education aren’t being met let’s be realistic about the chances of that happening).

Exercise for children is about much more than simply their weights or BMI, it is about promoting a lifestyle which many children do not actively see, it is about engaging them in an activity when many low-income and urban schools have cut all gym programs. Have you ever seen a child go through a full day of school without any exercise? I’ll give you a hint: everyone suffers. Exercise is a fundamental part of childhood that is increasingly being replaced with screen time. 

Anyone who has started (or maintains) an exercise regimen can attest to the fact that it is more than just about their body. Exercising increases endorphins and regardless of your weight/size can make you feel more positively about yourself. This is especially true of children. Exercising is mental as well as physical. 

I completely understand the fact that people are unhappy with the execution of “Let’s Move,” but there is nothing wrong with the message that exercise is an important life tool that is necessary for children.

Most people who post rants about welfare don’t really know what the hell they’re talking about. Like there is some big “welfare office” where people can just sign up and get free food, housing, money, etc. and just “live off the government.” No, just no. And if you want to get really specific “welfare” same as “food stamps” haven’t existed since the 90s because it had such a negative connotation among middle & upperclass whites that they made many sweeping changes (including the names) to appease people whose lives aren’t even affected by these programs/agencies. When you talk about cutting “welfare” or being against it do you even really know what specific services you think you are opposed to? Is it child care vouchers so low-income parents can go to work? Is it subsidized (usually substandard) housing that ensures that every homeless shelter & park bench isn’t filled to the max? Is it TANF that overwhelming helps single mothers & children with monthly bills, as well as helps to ensure child support is being payed? Or is it SNAP or WIC which have been shown time and time again to primarily feed children?

My niece is 18 years old and heading for college in the fall. I am incredibly proud of her and aside from learning and finding an academic passion what I hope most for her is that she is able to learn more about and embrace her racial identity.

A little background: my niece is half Cambodian and half Black. Her mother is Cambodian and was adopted by a white family and as a growing number of people adopted outside of their race do she ran away to discover her own racial identity, which was never taught to her by her adopted parents. Soon after she met my brother and had my niece. My brother, who has had problems with drug abuse and addiction throughout his life, was not a father to his daughter and instead let another man raise his child.

Because of the strained relationship my brother has with my niece and the physical distance between her and my family she doesn’t have a close relationship with us. Her mother friended me and a few other family members on facebook a few years ago and then shortly after I found her on facebook and little by little she has friended other family members. 

Now that we are privy to her and her mother’s facebook page we have become increasingly aware of some of the anti-blackness she faces. Despite the fact that her mother has 3 other kids whose father is biracial (Black & white), she posts comments about being in a part of town where there are no white people & she feels scared, as well as numerous other racist comments. 

I can only imagine what type of self-hatred she has instilled in her children and what anti-black rhetoric she spews in private, especially to my niece who is darker and has kinkier hair than her siblings. 

The town that they live in is also not very racially diverse and the kids my niece call her “friends” sporadically post racist comments on her wall, call her “Chocolate Bear” and other derogatory comments to which she responds with “lol.” This was a picture someone posted on her wall this week:

My heart breaks every time I see some little ignorant child posting malicious anti-black, racist things on her wall & knowing that she doesn’t know better than to put her “friends” in their place. I can really only hope that with time she wants to learn more about her other half and will explore books, films and family history to know more about herself than what these white people and her racist mother have taught her. She deserves to know about the complexities of Blackness beyond the stereotypes that are constantly hurled at her that she has come to accept as truths.

One of the things I have noticed most about tumblr is that people rightfully shun others for speaking for groups they are not a part of (trans*, queer, Black, Latino, WoC, etc.) I agree that people can be allies, but they have no right to speak on behalf of a group they don’t identify with.

However, most likely due to the lack of representation of low-income individuals on tumblr, people feel that they can take up the cause for the poor. It is okay to want to be an ally (especially if you grew up poor or are some paychecks away from being poor), but please don’t try to speak on behalf of those of us who live and struggle daily with poverty. Like any group of people we are also not homogeneous; there are things that affect different people based on geography, race, sexual orientation, gender, etc. When you make wide claims that things are impossible (like getting a good education, eating healthy foods, raising a family, etc.) based on someone’s class it is degrading. Both sides of the spectrum from the very conservative who decry the “government handouts” to the very liberal who infantilize the poor are harmful. It is insulting and most often you are incorrect in the assumptions you make.

The further removed you are from poverty the less valid your opinion is regardless of if you once were poor or have poor family members. Low-income families are judged every time our children wear something that is considered nice, when we buy food with our WIC checks, when we apply for SNAP (food stamp), Medicaid or childcare vouchers, when we dare to treat ourselves to anything and when we tell people where we live. So stop talking & start listening because we’ve been judged enough and by speaking on behalf of someone else’s struggle you are showing your privilege. 

…who are so often ignored. To the Black fathers who dodge the barbs of both women and men, Black and white for the sins of others—happy father’s day. To all the men who I see taking their children to school who are asked, ‘are you so-and-so’s Uncle?’ To all the men who raise children that are not biologically theirs. To all the men who are doing it by themselves, but get zero credit because they are thought of as anomalies. To the men who haven’t ever had an example of what a father is but is doing the best job they know how. To the men who are out there working 2-3 minimum wage jobs & trying to keep food in their child’s mouth & the lights on. To the men who put up with your child’s unfit mother but do the best to maintain a positive relationship for your child. To the men who go out into the world to be dehumanized everyday, but still come home & don’t bring the hatred from the world to their children. To the men who hear people telling their child’s mother “happy father’s day” because people assume that you aren’t present in your child’s life.

Happy Father’s Day.