I recently read a blog posting called "Why Are Black Women Rated Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women but Black Men Are Rated Better Looking Than Other Men?" I didn't make that up. This kind of mind-numbing absurdity has been rampant lately and I'm so sick of it! If one were to read only that brand of B.S., they'd think black women were irrational, mean, perpetually single, fat, diabetic, sex obsessed, diseased, gold-digging, uneducated, baby-making machines. This ridiculous and untrue caricature is so pervasive that even black women are buying into it. The articles, blogs and YouTube vlogs have been coming fast and furious for a solid year and surprisingly, most of the vitriol on YouTube about black women is coming from black men.
I'm fighting back. This is my shot across the bow.
To the black men of America,
We need you. We can't beat back these horrible perceptions by ourselves. This is your fight too, because if black women are reduced to "throwaway" status, then guess who's next? You, your sons, your friends, your brothers and your fathers. The attack on black women is really about tearing power away from black men. Don't get it twisted. The minute enough of you disregard black women as people who are beneath you, you've made yourself more vulnerable. Think about that for a moment.
Of course, we've always had a deep and unwavering love for you. It's the kind of love that made Nikki Giovanni tattoo 'Thug Life' on her arm, made Beyonce sing "You set me free" and Lauryn Hill write lyrics like "Sweet prince of the ghetto."
Don't write us off.
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| Nikki Giovanni shows her Thug Life tattoo |
To my black sisters,
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
The brazen lies, misconceptions, bullshit "research", deliberate negative imagery and editing depicting black women as vile, angry sapphires has messed with your head.
Remember the last psychological attack on the black community? The overblown and much over-hyped down low "epidemic"? There were never any real statistics about this phenomenon but black men were made out to be lying, sexual predators responsible for the increase of HIV infections in the black community. And then just like that...the panic stopped.
This attack on black women is more of that same kind of bullshit. Don't buy into it. Don't believe that you're something you're not.
Maya Angelou is NOT a booty bouncing skank.
Phylicia Rashad is NOT mean or emasculating.
Michelle Obama is NOT a diseased, gold-digging whore.
Condoleeza Rice is NOT uneducated and vapid.
Zoe Saldana is NOT perpetually single and desperate.
Oprah Winfrey is NOT a sex crazed nympho.
Assata Shakur is NOT a baby-making machine.
Kimberly Elise is NOT unattractive.
For all of the disgusting stereotypes used to label black women, there are legions of black women disproving them all. Including YOU.
Keep your head up...
Remember who you really are.
Love you ladies! See you next post. Until then, keep it cute!
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