Survey finds stark divisions on race issues in the UK

#Not My Harriet: Who gets to represent black American history? | The Stream

Full disclosure: I have not yet seen the movie Harriet, starring Cynthia Erivo. However the following video asks a very relevant question: Who gets to decide who represents the African- American experiences and histories in Hollywood films and adaptations? Erivo was cast to play one of the greatest women ever born in the United States, Harriet Tubman in a movie about her life. Some people are saying that its wrong to cast non African-American actors in roles of African-American people. They argue that because she is British and Nigerian she is not qualified to play Harriet Tubman because she does not have the personal connection to American slavery that an American black actress would have. Added to the controversy some argue that Erivo disqualified herself due to her statements on Twitter and in interviews regarding African-Americans and not respecting us. I agree that not respecting the history and problems that current African-Americans are dealing with today misses the point of Harriet Tubman's life and work, but I am not certain that Erivo is guilty of such short-sightedness.  I also don't think that it's fair to say that a black actor cannot play an African-American if he/she is not African-American just like I would not say that an African-American actor/actress should not play an African. That's not because I would argue that the lives, struggles, and histories are interchangeable or non-unique,  but because of the idea of an African Diaspora that is world-wide and pervasive. Not all Africans are the same but racism, slavery, colonialism, and oppression are things visited on almost all people of African descent regardless of where you grew up and to where your ancestors were sold. To think that Harriet Tubman solely belongs to us because we live and grew up in America cheapens and diminish who she was. She was not just a hero for America, but her sacrifices and work helped people all over the world. She is a person who transcends nationality and race and should be considered a hero for all people. Such a person deserves to be portrayed by a talented actor even if that Actor is a Nigerian. Tubman herself was even likely descended from Nigerian slaves anyway.  It came full circle.  I see nothing wrong with that. Tubman belongs to Nigeria, Haiti, Brazil, America,  and anywhere that needs to be reminded that anyone can rise above their circumstances and be a blessing to everyone around them - contemporaneously and for the next couple of hundred years plus. 

Agnostic Skeptical Centrism. - knowledgeequalsblackpower: Dr. Mae C. Jemison ...

 Here is a really great post from tumblr. I did not even realize that we have had that many black women in space. I think we must make sure that everyone knows this so that even young girls can know they can be Astronauts if they want to be Astronauts.

knowledgeequalsblackpower:
Dr. Mae C. Jemison
Stephanie Wilson
Joan Higginbotham
Dr. Yvonne Cagle
As we admire these women this month, we must also remember how difficult of a journey they must have had. And we must make a commitment to make the journey easier for little Black girls who are interested in science.
In her book Swimming Against the Tide: African American Girls and Science Education, Sandra Hanson explodes the myth that black girls are somehow disinterested in science due to hyper-religiosity or “culture.”   Hanson found that, despite significant institutional and societal barriers, there is greater interest in science among African American girls than in other student populations. She frames this seeming paradox in historical context, stressing that “Early ideologies about natural inequalities by race influenced the work of scientists and scholars as well as the treatment of minorities in the science domain.  Racism is a key feature of science in the United States and elsewhere.  This has a large impact on the potential for success among minority students.  Early work on science as fair has not been supported.”
Hanson outlines some of the obstacles that confront budding African American women scientists from elementary school to the postgraduate level.  Stereotypes about girls of color lacking proficiency in science, the absence of nurturing mentors, the dearth of education about people of color who have contributed to science research (i.e., culturally responsive science instruction), and academic isolation often deter youth who would like to pursue science careers.
…
Conservatives who disdain “liberal multiculturalism” in higher education dismiss such concerns about diversity in hiring as handwringing.  According to this view there is only one standard academia should use; objective and unbiased, untainted by affirmative action.
Yet white students are beneficiaries of cradle to grave affirmative action.  White students grow up seeing the dominant image of rational, trailblazing scientific discovery (from films like Dr. Strangelove to 2001: A Space Odyssey to Close Encounters to The Right Stuff) as spearheaded by courageous rugged individualist generally white males.  They are socialized to believe in a template of “purely” meritocratic success and individual achievement. Meritocracy becomes gospel and lucre.  They can take it to the bank and use it to repel the less qualified savages.
…
While she was at UCLA Devin Waller was the only African American woman in the Astrophysics department. On the first day of her upper division classes she recalls being asked by male students befuddled by her presence whether or not they “were in the right class.” Since peer networking and study groups in science departments are largely white and male, white academic success and scholarly legitimacy in science become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For black women in white male dominated professions, showing vulnerability and having any kind of public failure are simply not options. Like many women of color Devin’s approach was that “You kind of go in there and set a precedent. Everything you do is watched. You have to establish yourself as intelligent. There were no black women in my classes. No one who looked like me.”
Not having anyone who looks like them as a faculty member, administrator and/or mentor influences the sense of isolation, anxiety, and burnout that students of color often experience in science disciplines.  As an Electrical Engineering major Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, a nonprofit dedicated to developing African American girls as computer programmers, also found herself “feeling culturally isolated” during college.  On her website she argues that  the “dearth of African-American women in science, technology, engineering and math professions…cannot be explained by, say, a lack of interest in these fields. Lack of access and lack of exposure to STEM topics are the likelier culprits.”
In her autobiography Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life, Mae Carol Jemison (the first black woman astronaut and first woman of color in space) reflects on how, after professing interest in being a scientist to one of her teachers, she was told to set her sights on being a nurse instead.  As a sixteen year-old undergraduate at Stanford University, Jemison was practically shunned by her physical science instructors.  Although her experiences occurred during the sixties and seventies, the dominant view of who is a proper scientist has not changed and nursing is still a more acceptable aspiration for black women who are culturally expected to be self-sacrificing caregivers for everyone in the universe.
Read more
Agnostic Skeptical Centrism. - knowledgeequalsblackpower: Dr. Mae C. Jemison ...

Racism Is Still Here In 2012

I find it amazing that there still so much racism in 2012. In the past week it's like a blanket has been pulled back and we can see how ugly some people's hearts truly are.

1. This past weekend I heard about the murder of Trayvon Martin. The young man was only seventeen years-old and he was murdered for wearing a hoodie killed because he was dressed in a way that made him seem suspicious to George Zimmerman. To make it worse there are people trying to excuse Zimmerman by finding something Trayvon did that lead to him being shot.







2. I also heard about a black man and a black woman killed in Chicago by cop and there does not seem to be any good reason for this. 3. I admit I have not yet seen "Hunger Games" or read the books, but apparently some people who were fans of the series have made shocking and racist remarks against a young black kids that was cast as one of their beloved characters. I guess these people have really bad reading comprehension skill because the characters were described as black in the books. These idiots claim that this revelation has detracted from their enjoyment of the franchise. Here is a picture of one of the young people being insulted for no other reason than the color of her skin.

'Hunger Games' Cast Subjected to Racist Attacks in Shocking Tweets

Related articles

• Justice for Trayvon (queerd.com)
• Should Trayvon Martin's Past Be Considered In His Murder Case? (hellobeautiful.com)
• Geraldo Rivera blames Trayvon Martins murder on the type of hoodie he was wearing (bazaardaily.com)
• Trayvon Martin Hoody March In Phoenix (1015jamz.cbslocal.com)

Baratunde: Michelle Bachmann is running for president on a pro-slavery, anti-porn platform? | The Angry Black Woman

I have seen four blog posts today criticizing Michelle Bachmann for signing a document called "THE MARRIAGE VOW: A Declaration of Dependence Upon MARRIAGE and FAMiLY." It's a vow that political candidates for public office are being asked to sign to show that they are against pornography and the move to change the definition of "marriage" to describe anything other than a man and a woman. The thing that seems to have upset many people is the following:

Of course this new-found little-talked-about Black history tidbit is noted in a social-conservative pledge known as “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family”. You know, some form of Christian conservative gibberish like the following:

Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President. (source)

I have read the document and I do not think it is pro-Slavery! I know however it's historically and culturally inaccurate. I think it is what is making people upset is that it appears to be saying that single-mothers are a modern thing and during slavery all black children had both parents. Anyone who knows history knows that in America slaves sometimes couldn't marry. Sometimes marriages were arranged despite what the man and/or women wanted. Sometimes families were split up - husbands, wives, and children sold away from one another like cattle. My own family experienced such horrors. Way to make a stable family. I understood the document as trying to say that there were more intact families in the black community than today. This isn't true. But it is true that across the board all races in the America have failed to maintain their families. In black families we can't place all the blame on slavery but it didn't help in any shape or form. I don't look at the document as saying things were better for black children during slavery. I think that they are trying to say that as bad as things were for us that things, they are worse because we have so many children growing up without both parents for no good reason - mostly because men will not be responsible for their children. I say that because my father broke that trend. I am taking care of my children, sticking to my wife, just as my father does. We can do better. We must do better. I think that the pledge is racist. Family problems in other races are not really singled out. Just the black community. As if they wanted to say "See, electing a black man didn't help you." Being a bad parent has nothing to do with race but the condition of your heart. The things that the pledge asks people to do to protect marriage are good ideas. I just which they had added to "check out your history before you speak about stuff you don't know anything about."



Baratunde: Michelle Bachmann is running for president on a pro-slavery, anti-porn platform? | The Angry Black Woman

Related articles

• Michelle Bachmann is running for president on a pro-slavery, anti-porn platform? (baratunde.com)
• Michele Bachmann-Signed Pledge Says Black Children Worse Off Under Obama Than During Slavery (mediaite.com)
• Michele Bachmann Agrees: Black Children Were Better Off Under Slavery (alan.com)
• Michelle Bachmann Signs Pledge that Says Black Children Better Off During Slavery - Jack & Jill Politics (k1nsey6.com)
• Bachmann Believes Black People Were Better Off During Slavery? (theroot.com)

“Being here in America doesn’t make you an American…” | The Angry Black Woman

“Well, I am one who doesn’t believe in deluding myself. I’m not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on that plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn’t need any legislation; you wouldn’t need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn’t be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D.C., right now. They don’t have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a Polack an American. No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver — no, not I. I’m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.”

- Malcolm X

“Being here in America doesn’t make you an American…” | The Angry Black Woman

THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Racist Republican Strikes Again: Obama's Parents Were Monkeys

Image via WikipediaThis is "post-racial America"! Or so I keep being told. I guess someone forgot to tell Marilyn Davenport. She forward an e-mail picture of a 3 chimpanzees dressed like a human family with President Obama's face superimposed over the Baby's face with the Caption, “Now you know why — No birth certificate!” She said it was only a joke, but in order for her to say that one of the following must be true:

a. She's ignorant as to how black people have been stereotyped and mocked throughout American History.
b. She thinks we are all stupid.

I like this particular article because it bring up a point that I haven't been thinking a lot about. I thought that this "birther" thing would have been squashed by now, but as the blogger points out that Arizona has taken this a whole step farther.

It's bad enough that Arizona passed a "Birther" law which requires anyone (who they think is Kenyan) to submit a birth certificate, or show that you're circumcised (if you have a penis) to be on the ballot. This has never been done before in history (yeah white folks, see how they change rules once Black people get in the game?). Now you have this so-called non-racist because she has Black friends, continuing in racist tradition. Oh yeah, watch the following video and listen to them detail her racist and racism-defending antics as well as those of others. Hopefully Republican officials get her out of there; she gotta go. Everybody knows her, "I have Black friends," response is quite typical.

It's a scary world.





THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Racist Republican Strikes Again: Obama's Parents Were Monkeys

Related articles

• OC Republican Circulates Racist Email: Obama and His Parents Are Apes (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Racist Orange County Republican Email Shows Obama and Family As Apes (themoderatevoice.com)
• VIDEO: Tea Party Activist's Racist Email Shocks Orange County GOP (huffingtonpost.com)

The Dunamis Word: The Most Dangerous Place

Elder Harvey Burnett has written a very interesting blog posting pointing out a backlash of criticism of the picture on the left. Given the following paragraph:

In response to a high abortion rate in New York city which touts over the 17,000 black babies murdered at the hands of abortion providers in 2010. That's almost 50 abortions per day by black women in New York City alone. Then there's the statistic that although Blacks only comprise 13% of the US population, they are over 36% of abortions annually. Pointing out that dismal statistic is an antiabortionist group called Thatsabortion.com. Building on solid statistical data they have undertaken to place another add bringing attention to what can only be considered to be a genocide occurring within the black community.

I find it amazing that pro-Abortion organizations and Planned Parenthood would be crying foul. They don't deny the fact that in America Black people make up a small part of the population but make up more the 1/3 of abortions. I highly recommend, Elder Burnett's post because he traces the fact the genocide against Black people and poor people has always been the aim of the Planned Parenthood. No, y'all, getting rid of Hitler did not get rid of Eugenics. Am I offended by the poster? Nope. But I am offended by people pretending they ain't trying to kill us while pretending to do us a favor - advocating disobeying God all for the sake of convenience. No one can tell me that even 90% of those abortions was because of rape.

The Dunamis Word: The Most Dangerous Place

THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Recovered Black History: Arturo Schomburg

Here is a very important article about Arturo Schomburg. I am grateful for this article because I've never heard of him before now and I owe him a great deal for all the work he has contributed to education and documenting history of black people. Truth is that in proving that there are heroes throughout history from the African Diaspora, he became one of those heroes. Read the article by going to the link below.

THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Recovered Black History: Arturo Schomburg

Related articles

• blackpowermovement Schomburg News: February 1-15, 2011 (narmer.wordpress.com)
• Harlem's Schomburg Research Center Gets A New Director (theroot.com)
• blackpowermovement Schomburg News: February 1-15, 2011 (cinquez.wordpress.com)

DEA Looking For People Who Can Translate "Ebonics" - The Snob Blog - Danielle Belton's The Black Snob

I just could not resist linking to this story. I do agree that not all black people can understand every single slang term out on the street. I know I don't. The article is interesting. I should have seen this one coming. I especially like the clip from "Airplane" embedded in the post. I wonder if the DEA ever saw this and decided it was a good idea.

Compose
DEA Looking For People Who Can Translate "Ebonics" - The Snob Blog - Danielle Belton's The Black Snob

THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Guest Blogger: Aren't Black Women Worth Fighting For? [By MsLadyDeborah]

I just read a blog article about the Scott sisters - Gladys and Jamie - who are serving life sentences in Mississippi for stealing $11.00! They have already spent 16 years in prison (that is half my life!). The article make the point that had the sisters been black men their story would have been more published and black "leaders" would have been up in arms. I think she has a point. Often black men and black women get into arguments by whom America screws over worse and I think that's pointless. It goes back to slavery where men and women, light-skinned and dark-skinned, were set against the other to keep them from working together. There is no need to keep that going. The truth is I think if given the chance the same thing would be done to any economic disadvantaged man or woman no matter their race. It just so happens to be more likely that such people would be black. This isn't justice. I would like to see justice in this matter. Please read the article and maybe we can get Justice for them. You might need justice next.

THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Guest Blogger: Aren't Black Women Worth Fighting For? [By MsLadyDeborah]

Are Black People Cursed?

I found a tweet from an atheist containing a link to with the title "Are Black People Cursed?". I immediately thought that I wouldn't like this because the tweeter is an atheist and I wasn't sure what the intent of the tweet was. I am glad I read the post. It's a Slide presentation showing how no way can you get slavery, racism, or that black folk are cursed by God out of the Bible. I agreed with almost everything in the presentation and I recommend that everyone read it and give the information and view point presented some thought.

Are Black People Cursed?

View more presentations from Pastor Irby Johnson.

Are Black People Cursed?