tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254824142024-03-07T14:56:48.399-08:00Beyond SistagirlAs a black woman in America, many assumptions have been made about me. I'm here to bust those assumptions.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-83281003999947765682007-05-30T10:49:00.000-07:002007-05-30T11:11:18.655-07:00My Brother (my actual brother)My brother has started a blog, y'all. He says some things that I totally agree with and some other stuff too. He's at <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/blog/rss.cfm?friendID=92856444">http://blog.myspace.com/blog/rss.cfm?friendID=92856444</a>Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1159721870916336902006-10-01T09:44:00.000-07:002006-10-01T09:57:50.930-07:00Black People Outearning White People in QueensThe <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/nyregion/01census.html?hp&ex=1159761600&en=c6c74f860ee30af2&ei=5094&partner=homepage">NY Times</a> has reported that for the first time, Black people in Queens are making more money than white people. It is attributed to a large number of high-earning Caribbean immigrants. <br /><br />This is the first time I've seen this type of thing reported in a major news outlet. Caribbean people always make the distinction between themselves and black americans while it seems that black americans want to think of everyone as part of the same group. <br /><br />The article sheds a little light on the gentle nuances within the black communtiy that includes things like skin tone, hair texture and immigrant status. It is the kind of thing that makes me want to look past differences in all of humanity and just accept ourselves and eachother as we are and be happy with all of it.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1153957396555391982006-07-26T16:28:00.000-07:002006-07-26T16:43:16.570-07:00Another sad day on Capitol HillToday the Senate dealt another <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/washington/26abort.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="_blank">blow to legal abortion</a>, disallowing anyone to help underage girls cross a state line to receive an abortion to avoid parental consent laws. What these men (mostly) fail to understand is that most underage girls who receive abortions actually tell their parents. The ones who don't are almost always in much worse trouble than their parents could imagine or are in trouble that involves the parents themselves. Requiring girls to inform their parents of their abortions will result in deaths from illegal botched abortions and/or abuse by the parents.<br /><br />I have a great many fears around the rest of Bush's term in office. The more I think about his personal stance based on his <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0420,perlstein,53582,1.html" target="_blank">religious beliefs</a>, the more afraid I become.<br /><br />Let's <a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html">impeach him<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/washington/26abort.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="_blank"></a></a> and his whole administration.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1153629152330364462006-07-22T21:20:00.000-07:002006-07-22T21:32:32.346-07:00Bush at the NAACP<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/images/060720naacp_bush.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/images/060720naacp_bush.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> I think George Bush needs to sneak out of the spotlight for a little while. Or maybe he just needs to be clued in to his audience. When Bush <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/20/washington/20text-bush.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">spoke to the NAACP</a> for the first time during his entire presidency the other day, he talked about getting rid of the estate tax again.<br /><br />An analysis of said tax revealed that the number of Black Americans who would benefit from its elimination is <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/08/estate-tax-bob-johnson/">59</a>.<br /><br />Not 59 percent, but 59 total.<br /><br />Can we <a href="http://impeachbushcoalition.blogspot.com/">impeach</a> him yet?Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1152848844250700332006-07-13T20:39:00.000-07:002006-07-14T14:05:56.670-07:00Proof That Racism is not Dead<a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm">The Voter Rights Act of 1965</a> may actually be in peril. It is of interest to a handful of Republicans to hold up its renewal. It feels like we are pushing hard against the walls of Jim Crow era Southern thought. Voters have been disenfranchised visibly in Ohio and Florida and possibly invisibly all over the country. The non-renewal of this act would simply make it official.<br /><br />I can't believe that in the 21st century in the United States of America that I have to fear for my right to vote.<br /><br />I <a href="http://www.political.moveon.org/votingrights?id=8210-5171451-HPrqFnBMUmt3PdIRjE56dA&t=1">signed a petition</a> through moveon.org. Everybody should. Please pass it on.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />UPDATE</span><br /><br />Hooray for common sense! The Voter Rights Act was renewed today overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives. I can put away my police dog repellant for now.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1149912852760337022006-06-09T21:09:00.000-07:002006-06-09T21:14:12.773-07:00Zarqawi is Dead...but why did they wait so long?Big Bad terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi is dead, but the White House could have killed him before the war in Iraq ever started (<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/">NBC</a>). The blood of Zarqawi's victims is on Bush's hands.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1149225995930605302006-06-01T22:11:00.000-07:002006-06-02T19:59:52.276-07:00Still talking about the 2004 election? Uh...yeah!In Rolling Stone currently, Robert F. Kennedy has written an <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen">article</a> pulling together all the evidence from the 2004 election that proves it was a dictatorship-style fraud and that Kerry really won.<br /><br />I just hope he doesn't turn up floating down the Chesapeake.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1148365008221942562006-05-22T22:53:00.000-07:002006-05-22T23:16:48.233-07:00Oprah Honors...well, Oprah!This evening I watched the Legends Ball, where Oprah opens up her giant estate to super-accomplished black women and the people who love them. And while I was impressed by the line-up, which included Cicely Tyson, Coretta Scott-King and Chaka Khan, to name a few names, I kept feeling like this was a little phony. Like the Oprah magazine and the Oprah show, this event really just showed us the best sides of Oprah. There were portions of it set up to seem like interviews, but who really has the balls to interview her? Barbara Walters, I think, and that's it. What I kept thinking throughout was that this was going to be a great tax write-off for her.<br /><br />The show, and apparently the weekend, wrapped up with a great Sunday church service, which as a non-religious person made me feel a little weird. What I recognized is that in order to be successful as a black woman in the US, maybe even as a black man, but definitely as a black woman, with very few exceptions, you have to accept Jesus as your personal savior and wear a ridiculous hat to church. All the singers sang gospel at some point. (Conspicuously absent from the service were Diana Ross and Tina Turner.) A few people looked as uncomfortable as I thought I might have been, like Tyra Banks, for instance, who tries to put on that "girlfriend" thing but it seems totally awkward. I actually think I could hang with Tyra, given the chance. But I mean as a nerdy girl from the Bronx, I would have not done well in that audience. Oprah even went as far as to say that all the white people felt uncomfortable. Which I know had to be untrue. Diane Sawyer, for instance, can rock as hard as anyone. She never feels out of place. <br /><br />While I appreciate Oprah for being a true striver, I can't believe the hype of all the public hero worship. She gives back to the community and things like that, but let's face it, she always turns a profit. Since I don't watch a lot of TV I feel like I can kind of see the forest for the trees. But for people that hang on every word, I worry a little.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1146086701076254202006-04-26T14:15:00.000-07:002006-04-26T15:19:23.310-07:00Oh, this is precious"Here's the unmentionable secret, racism isn't that big a deal anymore," said new White House pick for press secretary, Tony Snow on Fox News Sunday in October 2003. (<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Snow_Racism_no_longer_a_big_0426.html">link to story</a>)<br /><br />Well I'm glad he's over it! Unfortunately, people still think I'm my son's nanny and my brothers still get followed in drug stores while buying cold medicine. Ah the Republicans. You gotta give it to them on utter misunderstanding.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1145763532866050582006-04-22T20:22:00.000-07:002006-04-22T21:01:18.620-07:00Georgia on My MindI spent last weekend in Georgia with family and realized what makes me so uncomfortable there. No, it's not the long list of dishes whose main ingredients are cheddar cheese and Doritos. It's the fact that things like malls and shopping centers are called "Plantation" this and "Plantation" that. They throw the word "plantation" around as if it just meant "a lovely piece of land". Whenever I hear it, I feel the sting of the whip. And every time I saw a poplar tree I heard the song "Strange Fruit" in my head.<br /><br />Maybe there's such a thing as generational post traumatic stress disorder. Maybe I've watched <span style="font-style:italic;">Roots</span> too many times.<br /><br />The second to last time we visited family in Georgia, we got a speeding ticket and the cop informed us that if there was a next time within the year, my husband would be thrown in jail due to some non-reciprocality law. Georgia makes me nervous. Really nervous. But I love my family enough to risk being lynched.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1144791717774565712006-04-11T14:18:00.000-07:002006-04-11T14:44:19.353-07:00Calling Card<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www2.ku.edu/~sma/printedart/images/piper1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www2.ku.edu/~sma/printedart/images/piper1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This is an art piece called "Calling Card" created by <a href="http://www.adrianpiper.com/about_adrian.html">Adrian Piper</a>, a woman who I should have known about a long time ago. <br /><br />I wish I had this piece of art last week at a friend's birthday party. Let me give you the details.<br /><br />I generally assume my friends and acquaintances are educated, well-informed people with class, or at least smooth enough to make other people think they are. But I am starting to doubt. I will not use names, just to protect you people, but you know who you are. <br /><br />Anyway, I was sitting, talking to a friend who is also a mother and who I admire, when a male acquaintance swooped down on us uttering "What up, dog?" I burst into laughter. The acquaintance, who is blond, started in with,"What? Is it because a white boy is talking black?" to which I was forced to reply, "Actually I still don't understand the term 'dog'. I went to private school. We didn't learn slang." Everyone around us immediately joined me in laughter as the sad ignorant fellow sort of slunk into himself, embarrassed. The thing that got me is that I've had conversations with that guy before. What made him do that? Was he trying to impress my friend? I should have passed him a calling card.<br /><br />But it doesn't end there. Another acquaintance, who is involved in the creation of broadcast media on the national level, and who kind of knows me well, said to me as I was leaving the party with my son, who had acquired a nasty case of pink eye during the evening: "I didn't think black people got pink eye."<br /><br />WHAT???!!!<br /><br />My husband summed it up perfectly. He said, "That is the single stupidest thing I have ever heard you say." Here's a calling card.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1144511779693537882006-04-08T08:15:00.000-07:002006-04-08T08:56:19.703-07:00House Calls?Today I received an email from something called <a href="http://www.blackdoctors.org/">BlackDoctors.org</a>. So far it just looks like a search engine. But I have to wonder what the ultimate goal of a site like that is. I understand wanting to support your local black doctors if they aren't getting enough play. But when I've met a good doctor I usually look at their ethnic background last. I wish there were a site called "NiceDoctors.org" or "UnhurriedDoctors.org" or even "LaughingDoctors.org". My favorite MDs have been calm, cool and intentionally funny. <br /><br />Here is where I have to give a shout to Kaiser Permanente doctors Victoria Wakeley and Claire Fuller at the Pasadena Facility and Dr. Caligari at Sunset. So far, they are the coolest of the bunch. Yes, they are all women, but that's not what I paid attention to first. And, yes, two of them are black, but that's not a big deal to me either. They were attentive and interested in their work. They really <span style="font-style: italic;">want</span> to be doctors. I think that's what counts.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1144378422390946052006-04-06T19:33:00.000-07:002006-04-06T19:53:42.413-07:00Now that's funnyPerhaps you've noticed the google ad at the top of the page.<br /><br />Maybe the ad isn't the same for everyone, but when I opened my blog today I saw an ad for photos of black singles. As if everyone looking at the site written by a black woman is (a) interested in meeting singles at all or (b) focussed on only meeting black people.<br /><br />For the record, I have never discriminated. Also, I am so not looking. I have a totally hot husband who is more culturally like me than anyone I've ever met from any ethnic background.<br /><br />Demographic-busting takes a lot of work, but somebody's got to do it.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25482414.post-1144268392617751332006-04-05T13:01:00.000-07:002006-04-05T13:27:19.460-07:00Beyond SistagirlBecause I am not Southern, although Badu speaks to me, because I was born in the Bronx and never learned double dutch, because I attended a private school and tend not to use terms like "dog" and "son", I feel compelled to share my experiences.<br /><br />I abhor the term African-American because every American is an African-American when you look far back enough into history. I think that separating black people out of American culture in that way is detrimental to the further develpoment of the society as a whole. Don't get me wrong, there is still racism and I think affirmative action and things like that are still necessary. I also think that there is no American culture without recognizing the contributions of people of African descent. I just think that if black people don't start claiming this country as our own as much as anyone else with ancestry in this country does, we will continue to be seen as lesser citizens.<br /><br />I guess this is my opening statement. More to come.Duniahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06700832167693322911noreply@blogger.com0