FROM RICKY HINDS
TO BLACK MEN
@AMERICANS UNITED AGAIN
"Cut the sh*t.
You can get rid of this social conditioning. Read some books, actually LISTEN to the people you're helping oppress, I mean f*** Google will teach you all you need to know if you're really interested. Within this movement you have options, you have freedom, you have the comfort of those who value you so what the f*** is wrong with returning the favor just because it's the right thing to do?
So what brought me to this tirade? Well for one it was WELL overdue because we've been doing this sh** for too long but the straw(s) that broke the camel's back for me were two things that happened this past weekend. The first was something that happened in the St. Louis area. Activist & Blogger Angel Carter so eloquently put it like this:
"Sunday, April 26th there was a rally held in downtown Saint Louis to amplify the names of black women who have been killed and/or raped by police officers. The desire to incorporate black women into the conversation about police brutality, is not an act of division, it’s an act of inclusion. This was the first rally held to centralize black women here in Saint Louis. It has been long overdue. In comparison to past events, the turn out was typical. White allies were in attendance, kids, signs, banners, blow horns, chants, cops, etc. Every thing was as it always is, minus one thing…. There were only six black men present. I wish I was exaggerating this number, but someone even walked around and counted to be sure. Six black men supporting black women. Even the police exceeded the amount of black men, there were approximately eight of them [policemen] standing behind us."
http://www.americansunitedagain.org/blog/2015/4/28/blacklivesmatter-yesniggaallblacklives-black-men-their-obsession-with-mimicking-oppression
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Hardly anybody showed up for Rekia Boyd protest either. Dante Servin, her killer, walked away in April 2015 after a directed verdict by a white judge. He said the prosecutors case law proved murder while her charges were "only" manslaughter and reckless blah blah blah. Compared to the ruckus raised for Freddy Gray, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, there were crickets. Half the people I spoke to online about Rekia Boyd hadn't even heard her name before.
Yet,"[a]ccording to the Huffington Post, 'early data indicates black women account for nearly 20% of those unarmed blacks killed by officers in the past 15 years.' " http://mic.com/articles/116102/this-unarmed-black-woman-was-shot-by-the-police-so-why-aren-t-we-marching-for-her
Many people I talk to about this obvious disparity of reaction like to claim "It's the media! It's the media! It's the media!" Well that's only somewhat true. I think "the media!" picks up on what's important and echoes what the crowd wants to hear. A lot of times, that's bad for black people in general. But the reason this is bad for black women specifically and over and over again is because black people don't care much. I've seen post after post after post about a single black man dying, within hours of the death. When a black woman dies, IF I HEAR about it at all, it's weeks or months later. The echo chamber that is the main stream media doesn't have anything to echo.
On black men's sites in particular I've seen picture after picture after picture of black men killed by police, often sans a single black woman killed -- when early data reflects 1/5 of the black people killed are female.
A lot of black men are guilty of the exact same thing that white people are -- ignoring all pain and discomforts except your own. Sexism and racism are different facets of the same dirty diamond.
At least Ricky Hinds noticed. Actually, I'll remove the"at least" part. Hinds got as passionate as he should have about the callous disregard for black women's lives. He got AS passionate about the black disregard for black women's lives as so many are passionate about the white disregard for black lives. The only thing he failed to notice is that black female patriarchy is at play here too. Black women rise up for black men's deaths a lot faster than they do for black female deaths too.
I might start calling Ricky Hinds a BLACK FEMINIST whether he wants to be one or not...just for a week or two. Those who cannot bear the weight of being identified as and binding together with black women that identify as BLACK FEMINIST or BLACK WOMANIST do not deserve the title. Black folk who can't take the heat that comes with the "feminist" or "womanist" identity show up for black women sometimes, much like the white person who refuses the "anti-racist" identity (You know who I'm talking about. That white person disappears once the overt racism stops, when the bullets aimed at the unarmed is reduced...as if institutionalized non-violent racism isn't real too)
Racism is clobbering the black community, 90% from the outside. But sexism is the beast ripping us to shreds, 90% from the inside. There isn't too much that shows this more clearly than the disregard shown by the black community for getting justice for Rekia Boyd's killer, an off duty cop who used an unregistered weapon to shoot over his shoulder, hitting her in the back of her head, over a noise complaint.
This makes me remember that 1960's saying: If we don't hang together we will surely hang separately. And you can bet on that. Only a fool hangs around in a relationship where there is no reciprocation. In a relationship where there is no reciprocation there is no respect and a love so puny it's not worthy of the name "love."
On black men's sites in particular I've seen picture after picture after picture of black men killed by police, often sans a single black woman killed -- when early data reflects 1/5 of the black people killed are female.
A lot of black men are guilty of the exact same thing that white people are -- ignoring all pain and discomforts except your own. Sexism and racism are different facets of the same dirty diamond.
At least Ricky Hinds noticed. Actually, I'll remove the"at least" part. Hinds got as passionate as he should have about the callous disregard for black women's lives. He got AS passionate about the black disregard for black women's lives as so many are passionate about the white disregard for black lives. The only thing he failed to notice is that black female patriarchy is at play here too. Black women rise up for black men's deaths a lot faster than they do for black female deaths too.
I might start calling Ricky Hinds a BLACK FEMINIST whether he wants to be one or not...just for a week or two. Those who cannot bear the weight of being identified as and binding together with black women that identify as BLACK FEMINIST or BLACK WOMANIST do not deserve the title. Black folk who can't take the heat that comes with the "feminist" or "womanist" identity show up for black women sometimes, much like the white person who refuses the "anti-racist" identity (You know who I'm talking about. That white person disappears once the overt racism stops, when the bullets aimed at the unarmed is reduced...as if institutionalized non-violent racism isn't real too)
Racism is clobbering the black community, 90% from the outside. But sexism is the beast ripping us to shreds, 90% from the inside. There isn't too much that shows this more clearly than the disregard shown by the black community for getting justice for Rekia Boyd's killer, an off duty cop who used an unregistered weapon to shoot over his shoulder, hitting her in the back of her head, over a noise complaint.
This makes me remember that 1960's saying: If we don't hang together we will surely hang separately. And you can bet on that. Only a fool hangs around in a relationship where there is no reciprocation. In a relationship where there is no reciprocation there is no respect and a love so puny it's not worthy of the name "love."
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