ALICIA GARZA MATTERS, MATTERED, AND WILL ALWAYS MATTER

A belated happy birthday to her. March 4th was her birthday. Read some of her words, know her importance, and learn more of her vision. She's all in. She into Black Lives Matter for the long haul. Are you?

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FROM THE GUARDIAN:

Nearly four years into a task she expects to take 40, 50, even 60 years to achieve, Alicia Garza is done with compromise.

Garza is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter: once a hashtag, now a national organisation and a global rights movement. When your goal is to end violent policing, the oppression of black people and racism in the United States – and eventually everywhere else – you can’t hope to bring all parties to the table.

“Everybody is now aware of Black Lives Matter, for the most part … but it doesn’t mean systemic racism has been eradicated,” she says before her appearance at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney on Saturday. “We’ve got dozens and dozens of laws that prevent discrimination, but there’s still discrimination...

~THEGUARDIAN.COM 

Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/02/alicia-garza-on-the-beauty-and-the-burden-of-black-lives-matter

A LETTER FIT FOR FEMINIST MOMS TRYING TO BUILD FEMINIST DAUGHTERS

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Hopefully you won't read anything in this letter that you haven't already heard from me many times before. I've always tried to lead by example when we are together, so I will do the same in this letter by reminding you of a few thoughts that will help you navigate your incredible life journey ahead:

• Always be present,  

• read the signs,  

• stay in your lane,  and  

• never back up more than you have to.

I have always tried to be present for you regardless of how old you were, where we were, or where I was. I wanted you to know that I am always there for you spiritually, emotionally and digitally. You never need feel isolated or alone. You know I am on 24/7 for advice, love, or just to share a funny filtered photo, bitmoji or laugh (even though I know I laugh inside). Being fully present, by listening, feeling, empathizing—always holding serious eye contact, and often the touch of a hand—builds trust. 

Trust builds confidence and confidence enables you to look forward, dream more and focus on others vs. yourself. Being present is the greatest gift you can give another person, and the greatest way to more closely connect with them. When you are present, you are living in the moment vs in your mind. You are seeing, hearing, and feeling another person, and together you are even more empowered to do great things. This is a gift that often comes more naturally to women.

I have also tried to share with you as many of life's precious lessons and secrets as I can so that when I am not here, you have a solid foundation of learnings and values regardless of what potholes in life you may hit along the way.

Stay open; always try to read the signs as you pass by them or they pass by you. I've often reminded you that there are no coincidence 

Everything that happens in your life is for a reason or was predestined. Every book you receive, every new person you meet, everything you call lucky is a sign just waiting to be read. It is tough when you are young and so inward-focused, but once in a while you will look back, make the connection and then be more open to and curious about those signs in the future. You see, signs aren't blatant or obvious. You have to be open and present to instinctively feel or intuitively see them. You've seen firsthand, and we have often discussed, the role signs have played in my life and the incredible things that have happened as a result of me listening and reacting to them. You are blessed as sensitive women to more naturally understand this.

You are fully aware of how blessed you are, the incredible gifts you were born with that your brother doesn't have and the gifts he has that you don't possess. You know how happy you feel when you are doing what you love and that comes so easily and naturally to you. So please, please, please connect to your passion, and then just stay in your lane. Great athletes, musicians, scientists, etc., all have an expertise that they focus on and perfect. 

Don't let anyone persuade you to do anything that doesn't feel natural or isn't aligned with your values or God-given gifts. You know what excites you more than anyone else. The sooner you recognize your passions, and the more you focus, the happier you will be and the greater success you will achieve. Still, don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what your lane is yet. The path will illuminate itself so long as you stay present, open to the signs, and follow your passions. It’s all related.

Lastly, my loves, never back up more than you need to, and this means in life, not just when driving. Just as you are blind to what's behind you while backing up a car, if you keep looking back in life and focusing too much on the past, you may find yourself running things over and over in your mind,often seeing or creating things that never existed in the first place. Even worse, living in reverse blinds you to what lies ahead: Your lifelong dreams waiting to be achieved, your destiny waiting to be fulfilled.

I know what you’re thinking: why do Dad and I always have our old family photos streaming on Apple TV? This is O.K., because your family is your foundation, and also your greatest enabler. When it comes to your family, we should be with you everywhere you are, as you are always and forever with us.

I love you, 

Mom 

#IWD2017 #LeadersAndDaughters

SOURCE: http://leadersanddaughters.com/ 

thankherforsurviving.blogspot.com

Womanism Is to feminist as purple is to lavender

a repost

WOMANISM, A DEFINITION
"Womanism is a feminist term coined by Alice Walker.

It is a reaction to the realization that “feminism” does not encompass the perspectives Black women.

It is a feminism that is “stronger in color”, nearly identical to “Black Feminism”. However, Womanism does not need to be prefaced by the word “Black”, the word automatically concerns black women.

A Womanist is a woman who loves women and appreciates women’s culture and power as something that is incorporated into the world as a whole. Womanism addresses the racist and classist aspects of white feminism and actively opposes separatist ideologies. It includes the word “man”, recognizing that Black men are an integral part of Black women’s lives as their children, lovers, and family members.

Womanism accounts for the ways in which black women support and empower black men, and serves as a tool for understanding the Black woman’s relationship to men as different from the white woman’s. It seeks to acnowledge and praise the sexual power of Black women while recognizing a history of sexual violence.

This perspective is often used as a means for analyzing Black Women’s literature, as it marks the place where race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect. Womanism is unique because it does not necessarily imply any political position or value system other than the honoring of Black women’s strength and experiences. Because it recognizes that women are survivors in a world that is oppressive on multiple platforms, it seeks to celebrate the ways in which women negotiate these oppressions in their individual lives.

SOURCEhttps://afeministtheorydictionary.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/womanism/


CONCLUSION:  IN SOLIDARITY WE CANNOT COMPLETELY TRUST

WE HAVE TO HAVE A WHOLE SELF BEFORE WE CAN BE JOINED TO ANOTHER.

Every adult woman should know this. A knowing of self, reducing self-abnegation to comparable levels with your partner, and wholeness are ultra important when a woman decides to join with another person, a man, in marriage.

And all of these things are equally important when a womanist decides to join forces with white feminists in opposing a similar (but not the same) oppressions.

ALL ABOUT LOVE 3

by bell hooks

Genuine love is rarely an emotional space

 where needs are instantly gratified. 

To know love 

we have to invest time and commitment

…dreaming that love will save us, 

solve all our problems 

or provide a steady state of bliss or security

only keeps us stuck in wishful fantasy, 

undermining the real power of the love, 

which is to transform us. 

Afro Art - Jean Pierre-Louis

Many people want love to function like a drug,

giving them an immediate and sustained high. 

They want to do nothing, 

just passively receive the good feeling...

Giving generously in romantic relationships, 

and in all other bonds, 

means recognizing when 

the other person needs our attention. 

Attention is an important resource.”

― bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

Afro Art - Pierre Jean-Louis

“Individuals who want to believe 

that there is no fulfillment in love, 

that true love does not exist, 

cling to these assumptions 

because 

this despair 

is actually easier to face 

than 

the reality that love is a real fact of life 

but is absent from their lives.”

― bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

ALL ABOUT LOVE 2

“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape...

“We fear that evaluating our needs
|and then carefully choosing partners will reveal
that there is no one for us to love.

Most of us prefer to have a partner who is lacking
than no partner at all.

What becomes apparent is 
that we may be more interested in 
finding a partner
than in knowing love.”

"To love well is the task
in all meaningful relationships,
not just romantic bonds.”
― bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

ALL ABOUT LOVE 1 --> http://thankherforsurviving.blogspot.com/2017/02/all-about-love-1.html

IDA B WELLS WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT THE IN NY TIMES IN 1895

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It looked rather unremarkable, just one short paragraph tucked at the bottom of Page 1 with the headline “Ida Wells Married.” 

Yet the wedding announcement, published in The New York Times in 1895, was anything but unremarkable. That the nuptials of a black woman, born into slavery 33 years earlier, could make the front page of The Times, speaks to a woman who was, by definition, remarkable. 

By the time Ms. Wells married Ferdinand L. Barnett in Chicago, she had risen from being orphaned as a child to one of the most forceful voices against the lynchings of black Americans. A muckraking journalist, she investigated the true motivation behind a vicious lynching in Memphis — a white businessman’s retaliation against a successful black store. In 1892, she was run out of the city, after she wrote about her discovery that white mobs often murdered black men under accusations of rape to cover up consensual sex between white women and black men.

At a time when women still did not have the vote and black Americans were fighting for basic civil rights, Ms. Wells, outspoken and passionate, refused to live within the roles defined for people like her. Three decades before Rosa Parks was born, Ms. Wells was arrested after refusing to give up her seat in a whites-only railroad car and then took her case all the way to the Tennessee Supreme Court, where she lost 

And this all happened before she was married. Her anti-lynching campaign (which would later be taken up by the NAACP she helped to found) was waged before, during, and after her wedding and giving birth to children.

~NY TIMES

Read More: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/weddings/165-years-of-wedding-announcements/ida-wells-wedding? 

ALL ABOUT LOVE 1

“Individuals who want to believe that there is no fulfillment in love, that true love does not exist, cling to these assumptions because this despair is actually easier to face than the reality that love is a real fact of life but is absent from their lives.” 


― bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

ACT LIKE A GENTLEMAN, THINK LIKE A WOMAN?

The article below is an ancient review about a movie that's now ancient by some standards.

I bring it to you now because
it comes shows feminism in its truest complicated and loving form; because it tells a smidgen of the story of a naturally acquired black feminism and black female history; and because it's written in a Joan Morgan style, in that the author, Heidi Lewis asks herself, like Joan Morgan herself in the short book, "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down" 

• “Can you be a feminist and admit out loud that there are things you kinda dig about patriarchy?” 

 

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I remember reading [Joan Morgan's] book for the first time almost 15 years ago, and it’s still comforting to be reminded that I’m not alone. 

I’m a young black woman in America.  It ain’t often that I get to watch films on the big screen that feature a black man trying to come rescue my ass. 

Yes, brotha—come GET me!

I think I feel this way, in part, because my black feminist foremothers taught me that the black superwoman myth often hurt us more than it helps.  In “Black Man, My Man Listen!,” Gail Stokes writes, “You are dependent, very dependent, upon my proddings, my ideas, my dreams, and at first I am glad that you need me so.  I eagerly and happily feed you from the plate of motivation knowing that it is difficult for you to help yourself. But, then at times you cause my arms to grow weary as I work harder straining myself in order to build you up.”  Yes, brotha—come get ME! 

In Ain’t I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism, bell hooks writes, “Most black women have not had the opportunity to indulge in the parasitic dependence upon the male that is expected of females and encouraged in patriarchal society […]

The social equality that characterized black sex role patterns in the work sphere under slavery did not create a situation that allowed black women to be passive.”  Yes, brotha—come get ME!

~Feministwire.com

Read More
http://www.thefeministwire.com/2013/02/yes-brotha-come-get-me-a-black-feminists-late-response-to-think-like-a-man/

GABRIELLE UNION AS NATE PARKER'S KEVLAR VEST

"Nate Parker, however, seems to want to somehow un-save himself. Despite countless attempts to help him remove his own foot from his own mouth — and even actually successfully doing it for lack a week — he seems hellbent on placing it back in there and keeping it there for perpetuity. Like he likes the taste of size 12 Timberland and can’t get enough of it....

Below is a small list of people who have either allowed Nate to explain himself ....

1. Fans of Nate Parker
2. Classmates of Nate Parker at Penn State
3. People who’ve seen Birth of a Nation and believe it’s an important movie that needs to be seen
4. People who haven’t yet seen Birth of a Nation, but wish to and recognize that it’s an important movie that needs to be seen
5. The homie Britni Danielle at EBONY6. Jesse Williams, in a way
7. Fox Searchlight
8. Gabrielle Union, who, by sharing her poignant and powerful words about her own experience with sexual assault, has practically made herself Nate Parker’s kevlar vest

http://verysmartbrothas.com/support-birth-of-a-nation-or-not-but-just-know-that-nate-parker-is-probably-peak-fuckboy/

 * * * * *

from September 2016
Of course they asked Gabrielle Union for her opinion on her co-stars rape trial. Of course, people wanted to know. I wanted to know, especially since she identifies herself as a feminist.

But I was very disappointed. I didn't like Unions answer. I thought it weak and more than a little cowardly despite the fact that I'm not sure I could have done that much better.As thoroughly disgusted as I've been with Nate Parker, I'm still trying to put myself in Unions's place.

I'm trying to imagine what it's like to have known some for a year or more, have them be pleasant to you wind up thinking he's a good guy or a good enough guy --average in his sexism like most men--- before finding out about a rape trial. 

Then you read about your co-worker in court documents and think...what? What do you think?  No matter how you read the court documents or what you think the legal definition of rape should be,what he did was reprehensible. 

And then he says he never thought about what he did to that woman again? How does a Christian repent if he doesn't think about how he's harmed other people? How does that work exactly?  What church is he going to? The church of me, myself, and I? The church of ONLY BLACK MEN MATTER?

How does a rape survivor wrap her mind around this and say a thing that's even half way like a defense? I don't get it.

Maybe if I knew him personally, like Union does,  I wouldn't have so instantly drawn the conclusion that inviting other men to rape your unconscious date makes you a rapist yourself.

Maybe.

Maybe Union has an excuse for essentially saying, "Well...we don't know what happened. We weren't there." Maybe she was stuck having to protect the movie she's attached to for professional reasons. Or maybe she's just not that bright.

I still remember how long it took for Phylicia Rashad to reluctantly some forward to defend Bill Cosby when he's probably responsible for 80% of her current wealth. She doubled back with a quickness when people came for her head. But I could tell she didn't want to say anything the first time.

It can't be easy to look at a black man, respect him personally, and respect his work, then find out he is foulness itself. Black women are conditioned from birth to think black men have it harder than black women, conditioned to coddle them too. Regardless of all that maybe a loyal person's mind can't move that distance from friend to foul but so quickly.  

Still, I'd like to think I could jump that hurdle of calling myself "judgmental" and/or "petty"to try to make a new estimation of my friend, acquaintance, or co-worker if I saw evidence that made me pretty sure he's a rapist.

I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't look at Union's defense of Parker too hard.

Maybe...

Unlike Union, I suppose, I saw problems with Parker before I heard the rape accusations.

http://thankherforsurviving.blogspot.com/2016/02/nate-parker-chris-rock-and-fourth-wave.html

But this problem of black men seeing black men as the only black people with white racism problems is hardly unique to Nate Parker and his defenders.

That's why I wonder if, for black actresses, working with a lot of black men is just like working with white people. 

As a black person, you wear the mask and ignore white racism while you're at the white dominated office. Maybe a black woman wears a different mask and ignores the black sexism while at the black male dominated movie set.

I guess I'll never know.

 But I  actually recoiled when Union said she plays a rape victim who doesn't speak in  The Birth Of A Nation.

Now, no two feminists have to be alike. But she allowed herself to be used as a piece of background that motivates the real hero of the story? And she's not playing the usual black-female-background to the real story either --wife or mother who pats the black male hero on the back and says "go get em" then is never seen again. No, Union is playing a raped piece of background for the story to launch from.

To me her character, the rape victim herself, not being valued enough to speak sounds like Nate Parker's Nat Turner has a female possession in the form of a wife that he must avenge rather than wife as person

--just like 95% of all rape victims 

portrayed in male created movies
where the woman is NOT one of the main characters. 

In the male created movies where the male hero is the central character and his girl or his wife is raped, it is the male hero who is REALLY damaged. I've watched entire movies where the male hero is out avenge the weeping raped wife who doesn't care about herself but wants her husband/boyfriend not to get hurt on her trifling behalf. 

I hope black female body as doormat/launch pad is not what's in this movie. But I don't know how Union's character could be anything else if she doesn't speak --especially if this rape that never happened in real life was made up by Nate Parker and Jean Celestin.  

And even more important than the
potential e-race-sure of black women
from pro-active blackness
in a historical movie
is the fact that rapist
is creating the image of a rape victim. 

I can't imagine that a person that refuses to understand what rape is can possibly create anything but a stereotypical, trembling virginal rape victim. It is unlikely that people like Parker can think any other type of woman CAN be raped.

So now I'm wondering if the black women in his movie stiff-upper-lip it after being raped, if they go on as the stereotypical strong, praying, black woman slave usually does or if his rape victims stands around tearful but strong, waiting around to be avenged as is more usual for white-woman damsel-in distress character.

It's likely that there are only a few ways a silent rape victim being played by an actress of Gabriel Union's stature, who has her own TV series, can be portrayed by a man like the unrepentant Nate Parker .

Again, I'm pretty sure one cannot create art that deviates very much from who you are. 

White people have proven this to us again and again that you can't create art/fiction/movies that deviate much from you are. 

For example: When white people create movies about black characters you get movies like The Blind Side, Black and White. Both movies are mixtures of white savior complex and the idea that white racism is a slight misunderstanding. Both of these white fairy tales that are a hellacious mess compared to black people make movies about themselves like  "12 Years A Slave,  Selma, Do The Right Thing, Devil In A Blue Dress, Eve's Bayou, Hollywood Shuffle"    

And when a man who has raped but doesn't think of himself as a rapist (because he probably doesn't believe ho-s can be raped and says "You put yourself in that position" and "We ran a train on _____".) makes a movie, why wouldn't he create a rape victim with virginal image draped in white who doesn't need to speak?

The pristine-good-girl rape victim is the backdrop against which the black male hero can shine and Make Black America Great Again sans any black female agency.

Again, no two feminists have to be alike. But I don't understand how Union allowed herself to be used in this way.  Even if she'd never heard about the rape trial, why would she think it important to play a non-speaking, pristine looking rape victim that just reinforces a stereotype that only "good girls" can be raped? Why would she let him pour gasoline on that idea even she'd never heard of his rape trial?

And if the depictions of black women are as ridiculous as one reviewer has said, why didn't her reading of the rest of the script let her know to stay away from The Birth Of A Nation?  I mean, she read the whole script right? She said she read 700 pages of the trial transcript because she was a rape victim herself. Yet all she came up with when talking about Parker was the equivalent of "Well....we weren't there so we don't know what happened."

Weak answer

Cowardly

Maybe her career depended upon her helping her studio or a studio she might need in the future not losing all 17.5 million dollars they invested in Nate Parker. Again, maybe I wouldn't have done much better.

Maybe.

But I'm still annoyed.

In any case, there are other black folks you can see at the movies. I can recommend two movies.

1) Westerns don't come along every day. And Denzel Washington is in damn near every scene. (He's getting like Tom Cruise that way). So go see THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. It's not problem free by any stretch... But it was entertaining. 

THE QUEEN OF KATWE had some adult themes. But I would think a kid above 12 or 13 could handle it.  Women of color made, this is a true Disney film. It's one of those David and Goliath films. I loved it. Lupita Nyongo stars in it along side, Madina Nalwanga, a new little girl actress I hope we're going to see more of.



WHY I AM A MALE FEMINIST

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I wanted to do something to make him stop raging against my mother. In those moments, I felt powerless because I was too small to confront my father. I learned early that he had an unfair advantage because of his gender. His size, strength and power intimidated my mother. I never saw my father hit her, but I did witness how injurious his verbal jabs could be when they landed on my mom's psyche....

One morning, after my father yelled at my mom during an argument, she and I stood in the bathroom together, alone, getting ready for the day ahead of us. The tension in the house was as thick as a cloud of dark smoke. I could tell that my mother was upset. "I love you, Ma, but I just wish that you had a little more spunk when you argue with Daddy," I said, low enough so my father couldn't hear me. She looked at me, rubbed my back and forced a smile.

The f-word turns off a lot of men (insert snarky comment about man-hating feminazis here) -- and black women too. But I think you should read more on why black men should be embracing the "f" word at this point. 



Read More
"Why I Am a Male Feminist"


http://www.theroot.com/views/why-i-am-male-feminist

FEMINISM OFF TRACK

Groups with less power do what they always do the same thing to get more power: They ape the group with the most power--copying the good, the bad, and the ugly for better or worse. And there is always a lot of "worse" being copied when you do this. Yet blacks did it with whites.

And in the early days of feminism, women feminists did it with men. They tried to become equal by becoming the same.

When feminists realized their mistake in trying to become second rate men some tried to hold onto old gender roles at the same time. Let's call this the **I can bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan** phase of feminism of the 1970s.

That is, 'I'm going to go to work as men have traditionally done but I'm going to hold on to my old gender-roles too. Dear Future Husband, Do NOT be afraid! You can keep the mommy-list you always use when looking for a wife. I'm STILL going to do the traditional woman-stuff WHILE I work full time' which includes:

• 70% of the running behind the children,

• 80% the cleaning,

• and the 90% cooking

• SEE! Aint I a STILL 100% woman!

All women got from that line of thinking was burn-out. And then they tried to blame men for it.

The thing is, ORIGINAL feminist goals had men gaining just as much as women. Original feminist goals imagined men focused on the home more and MUCH happier for it.

Men were supposed to be able to let go of their jobs being their identity. Men weren't supposed to be glad NOT to carry the entire financial burden of the family. Men were supposed to share the financial burdens or maintaining a family and stop dropping dead so much earlier than women.

A man was supposed to be able to marry even if he had no-job (just like women did). A man was supposed to be able to stay married to a woman with a higher-paying job (like Barack did) A man was supposed to let go of being THE main provider and be able to be fine with his woman working while he stayed home for a bit if he:

1) wanted to
2) needed to
3) was inspired to change career direction *(just like Barack did).

Men were supposed to be able to let his wife's career take precedence for periods of time. Men were supposed to be happy to spend more time with their children and work less when his woman was working more. Men were supposed to be able to let go of the idea that my-making-the-money-makes-my-decisions-more-important-than-anyone-else's.  
And black men were supposed to commit suicide a lot less often


Things are a lot better than they were in the days of Mary Tyler Moore. Women have careers. Black women have careers and not just jobs they do on the side for a little bit when money is tight. There are still significant gaps in pay, especially in high prestige jobs but women are GETTING those high prestige jobs a lot more often than they use to.

And things are STILL a-changing.

A decade or so ago (for federal employees at least?) Bill Clinton changed the rules of who can stay home with the children when they are first born. I've seen husbands and wives take turns taking time off to stay with their babies.


I don't think we've seen all the positive outcomes of that yet. It hasn't been long enough. But it makes me smile. I imagine hearing men-stories like "yeah I liked my father. I admired him. But I didn't really know who he was," a lot less often.

I'm not sure how we get feminism back on track but I know it's going to take men pulling in the same direction to move us there. Find beautiful male feminists as friends, lovers, and husbands....and create a few. Find male feminist friends to help you talk to your sons AND DAUGHTERS if you don't have husband, father, male S/O to talk to your children.

How the next generation of boys and girls turn out can be ours to shape

JESSE WILLIAMS: EXACTLY WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE

There are some women who don't think men can be feminists.

I'm not one of them.

To me, saying "I am a feminist" is similar to saying "I am black" When I make the declaration that "I am black" about myself, I am saying that I belong to a group called black people even though I am not exactly like every single black person in the same group.

When I say "I believe in the Black Lives Matter Movement" I am declaring myself as belonging to a group dedicated to racial equality, to stopping the deaths innocent black people at the hands of police. When I make declarations like "I am an anti-racist" about myself I belong to a group that is dedicated to stopping racism.

I don't think the "label" of belonging that is "feminism" is any different. I am not like every other feminist but I belong to this group that is dedicated to women's equality and gender equality. I don't think "feminist" says "I am female" I think it says I am dedicated to women's issues. I think a man's ability to say he is anything that SOUNDS female in this misogynistic country is one baby step in the right direction, the direction of equality for women.

Some people don't want to declare their allegiance, to be supportive of the group called "feminists." They are afraid of the f-word, calling it a meaningless label  so as to excuse themselves when the f-word, "feminism", is about as meaningless to me as my calling myself "Black," or "Black American" or "African American."  

Sometimes people can't deal with the stereotype associated with the f-word. And if you can't bear the weight, maybe one day you will. I feel the day is coming where sexism and misogyny are going to be taken just as seriously in the black community as racism is as it is damaging the black community just as much or more as racism is, but from within.

I think the reality that "feminism" is just common sense will sink in with more and more black people one day. And those that think feminism is "white created" will realize that's just echo of some black men trying to retain their superiority over black women joining their voices to the section of white people who believe they've created everything on this planet that is worthwhile.  

So, I have not found an article on Jesse Williams' feminism. I see his name and his speeches all over feminist sites. But I have not seen him declare himself as one of us. Again, he could have, but I haven't found an article on his feminism.

But Jesse Williams is precisely what a black male feminist looks like and sounds like. Furthermore, he is most definitely feminist created. 

You wouldn't even know who Jesse Williams is, if it weren't for feminists.

Shonda Rhimes raised him up by making him famous on "Grey's Anatomy" and Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created Black Lives Matter Movement that he is famous within and all of them are feminists. And like I said, he is being megaphoned on feminist websites because he doesn't "forget" black women.  

Jesse Williams' specific shout out to black women aside, you know the biggest difference between a black male feminist and other black men?

Black male feminists, like Jesse Williams whether he has courageously declared himself to be one or not, aren't even casually divisive. Black Male Feminists don't forget Rekia Boyd when making a list of the unarmed dead killed by police. Black Male Feminists  rarely "forget black women" and by using the phrase "black men" as if it is interchangeable for "black people." They only say "black men" when they mean "black men." 

  

AISHA TYLER ON HER LOVING HUSBAND AS THEY DIVORCE

Feeling Rebloggy

Aisha Tyler, 45, announced that she and her husband Jeff Tietjens are divorcing after 20 years of marriage. The two met in college and were together until their separation in January 2015. On Monday’s episode of The Talk, she began to cry as she discussed the media furor her marital strife has caused.





Read more: http://shine.forharriet.com/2016/04/aisha-tyler-opens-up-about-her-painful.html#ixzz46HzO426H 

A mature feminist's love never dies.
It just changes form.

SISTER CITIZEN BUCKS AGAINST HER BLACK FEMALE LOT IN LIFE, THE ABSENCE OF RESPECT

The Party Of The First Part:
MSNBC --Just can't find a reason to give respect where respect is due when a black woman is involved

The Party Of The Second Part:
MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY --Simply refuses to be patronized and tokenized out of existence

THE FEBRUARY 2016 HEADLINE 

"Melissa Harris-Perry Walks Off Her MSNBC Show After Pre-emptions"

Melissa Harris-Perry's Story

On Friday afternoon, media reports emerged about my friend Melissa Harris-Perry’s refusal to host her eponymous weekend program on MSNBC on Saturday. I was one of the original producers on the show when it launched in 2012, leaving for another job in 2015. Dr. Harris-Perry asked me today to publish the note she sent to her staff — most of whom are my former colleagues — informing them of her decision. You can read it in full below.

#nerdland, forever.
Jamil of MTV

Dearest Nerds,

As you know by now, my name appears on the weekend schedule for MSNBC programming from South Carolina this Saturday and Sunday. I appreciate that many of you responded to this development with relief and enthusiasm. To know that you have missed working with me even a fraction of how much I’ve missed working with all of you is deeply moving. However, as of this morning, I do not have any intention of hosting this weekend. Because this is a decision that affects all of you, I wanted to take a moment to explain my reasoning.

Some unknown decision-maker, presumably Andy Lack or Phil Griffin, has added my name to this spreadsheet, but nothing has changed in the posture of the MSNBC leadership team toward me or toward our show. Putting me on air seems to be a decision being made solely to save face because there is a growing chorus of questions from our viewers about my notable absence from MSNBC coverage. Social media has noted the dramatic change in editorial tone and racial composition of MSNBC’s on-air coverage. In addition, Dylan Byers of CNN has made repeated inquiries with MSNBC’s leadership and with me about the show and what appears to be its cancellation. I have not responded to reporters or social media inquiries. However, I am not willing to appear on air in order to quell concerns about the disappearance of our show and our voice.

Here is the reality: our show was taken — without comment or discussion or notice — in the midst of an election season. After four years of building an audience, developing a brand, and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced. Now, MSNBC would like me to appear for four inconsequential hours to read news that they deem relevant without returning to our team any of the editorial control and authority that makes MHP Show distinctive.

The purpose of this decision seems to be to provide cover for MSNBC, not to provide voice for MHP Show. I will not be used as a tool for their purposes. I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by Lack, Griffin, or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back. I have wept more tears than I can count and I find this deeply painful, but I don’t want back on air at any cost. I am only willing to return when that return happens under certain terms.

Undoubtedly, television nurtures the egos of those of us who find ourselves in front of bright lights and big cameras. I am sure ego is informing my own pain in this moment, but there is a level of professional decency, respect, and communication that has been denied this show for years. And the utter insulting absurdity of the past few weeks exceeds anything I can countenance.

I have stayed in the same hotels where MSNBC has been broadcasting in Iowa, in New Hampshire, and in South Carolina, yet I have been shut out from coverage. I have a PhD in political science and have taught American voting and elections at some of the nation’s top universities for nearly two decades, yet I have been deemed less worthy to weigh in than relative novices and certified liars. I have hosted a weekly program on this network for four years and contributed to election coverage on this network for nearly eight years, but no one on the third floor has even returned an email, called me, or initiated or responded to any communication of any kind from me for nearly a month. It is profoundly hurtful to realize that I work for people who find my considerable expertise and editorial judgment valueless to the coverage they are creating.

While MSNBC may believe that I am worthless, I know better. I know who I am. I know why MHP Show is unique and valuable. I will not sell short myself or this show. I am not hungry for empty airtime. I care only about substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work. When we can do that, I will return — not a moment earlier. I am deeply sorry for the ways that this decision makes life harder for all of you. You mean more to me than you can imagine.

Yours always,Melissa

From Medium.com

Melissa Harris-Perry's Letter
https://medium.com/@JamilSmith/melissa-harris-perry-s-email-to-her-nerdland-staff-11292bdc27cb#.hkkov53qb


More On This Storyhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/business/media/melissa-harris-perry-walks-off-her-msnbc-show-after-pre-emptions.html?_r=0

I know there are two sides to every story. And I only really know one side. But the other side's story in such situations is always the same - mumbled apologetic gobbledy-gook. So I step out in faith saying, " I am damn glad Melissa didn't go down like a punk." And I hope we can rally behind her. But I'm just so glad she didn't just lie down hoping to get a better gig elsewhere, as so many of us have done in the past.

Black people, and white people even more, need to hear about what happens to us on jobs at the hands of people who will usually swear they are "colorblind" and/or "race bias pure"