I am Tired of the Ole "Angry Black Woman" Meme

Inside Nature

Poem: It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn't be done, But he with a chuckle repliedThat "maybe it couldn't," but he would be oneWho wouldn't say so till he'd tried.So he buckled right in with the trace of a grinOn his face. If he worried he hid it.He started to sing as he tackled the thing

That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;At least no one ever has done it"; But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,Without any doubting or quiddit,He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,There are thousands to prophesy failure;There are thousands to point out to you one by one,The dangers that wait to assail you.But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,Just take off your coat and go to it;Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

It Couldn't Be Done
I was truly impressed After reading Stereotyping Black Women. I Love Me Some Michelle Obama Pics! The subject in this blog is very real to me as a black/Caribbean woman living in USA, just as I am sure it meant a lot to other minority women and evolved women everywhere.

After Michelle Obama gave her interview on CBS where she responded to the newly published 'revelations' about who she 'really' was in Jodi Kantor's unauthorized biography, I felt an even deeper sense of pride and joy in the First Lady. Finally, she was speaking up and saying no one speaks for her but her. How many times have I and, I guess, many others like me had to stop ourselves from yelling at one pundit or the other on television who seemed to talk for the First Lady and her husband? I cannot even count anymore.

Yet, I found myself yelling once again the other night when Ed Schultz was wondering why Michelle Obama had to even respond to what was in the book. There I was not refraining from yelling as I told him off real good. I yelled "well, it is 'bout dam time! Why? Because she has sat there and taken this crap from all these people who know nothing about her day in and day out, with a smile on her face. However, she finally communicated that enough was enough by saying to Gayle King:

"But that’s been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced (his presidency) -- that I'm some angry black woman."

You go Mrs. O!

I am so sick and tired of this stupid stereotype that is leveled at strong black women. Even though I am not in her position I feel this everyday in my life and I know many other strong black sisters feel the same way. I feel sometimes that I have to tamp down how I might truly feel about a situation because if I said how I truly felt then I might not get the writing gig I want or connect with the people I want or even cause problems for my daughter with her friend's parents etc. Most of the time I have to do a dance in my head about if I should really put down what I want to say on paper before I commit. Usually, I do commit but not without an internal struggle of what if and who might not like it etc, etc.

However, lately I have decided to hell with it. I am no longer going to sit back and hold back because others might not like what I have to say. So what if my story/journey/perspective is not one that is traditional or simple or neat and tidy? So what? It is my journey and I am going to write and talk about it whenever I get the chance. Hell, I teach my daughter to be always honest and authentic no matter what and it is about time that I fully embrace that honesty and authenticity for myself.

This is why I take every opportunity to celebrate and show my daughter's artwork because if I do not who will? If black women do not share and celebrate our achievements who will do it for us? My daughter (AmaSepiaChan) is an amazing artist and I am teaching her to be proud of that and to push on even when others ignore or dismiss her. She knows right now at 12 that she wants to be a comic book artist and is working towards this goal and we support all her efforts. Yet, some say she is only 12 what does she know? Well, what did famous comic book artist Jeff Smith know when he was 9 years old and started drawing his characters? Today he is the author of BONE the famous comic book that anybody who is into comics has read. If he knew at 9 why couldn't she know at 9, which is when she started creating her characters. Why must she hold back? Why must she feel that she should not share and celebrate work that is obviously beyond her years? Why should she "wait until she is 18" as told to me by a prominent person in Boston's art scene who saw her work? Why should she wait if she knows what she wants and is working towards her goals now? The girl is only 12 and has a concept in place, characters drawn and fully realized and is almost done with the required page layout for submission. She has done all the research for her story and works on the project daily in order to get it done by her summer deadline. These illustrations are not on the website but are closely guarded by her.


Reading the blog entry yesterday about Mrs. Obama made me strengthen my resolve to continue pressing forward regarding her efforts to publish her first comic book. I have nothing in common with Mrs. O than my skin color but I do feel that a spirit such as hers resides within me and I really need to tap into it so that I can help my African-American daughter realize her dream of Comic Book Artist even though others tell me it is a waste of time.

If we all sit back and listen to all those who tell us "it couldn't be done" then we are doing a disservice to ourselves and the world. Michelle Obama has shown us women of color and women in general that it could be done. So I give thanks once again for her and her wonderful family for inspiring us everyday to be better. If some people think that in the process of doing this she is "angry" then let them. I am tired of the ole "angry black woman" meme! Mrs. Obama is one hell of a woman and I am proud that she is our FLOTUS. She makes all that once seemed impossible or implausible possible and plausible and I thank her for it!

News Coverage of President Obama 9% positive? Interesting...

Graph compliments TalkingPointsMemo.com

Seriously. Now we can understand why the President's approval numbers seem out of whack with his job approval numbers.

To bring it home and make it more understandable...
Think about a person who goes to work everyday who arrives on time, take lunch at their desk, brings work home, turns in assignments on time never procrastinates but he or she never gets a raise or a promotion.

The lone black man in the Corporate office who is the invisible man even though he has more qualifications than his own manager and is more experienced than anyone else in the office yet he is not seen and relegated to do work that the new intern should do. No credit given for being experienced.

Or

The kid who goes to school on time everyday, makes effort in math or science even though he/she might hate it, turns in homework on time, participates in class but he or she is made fun of day in and day out and everyone thinks he or she is a know-it-all and boring. No credit given for being smart.

Or

Think of the athlete who has to sit out each game even though he/she puts in the time and makes effort at practice but in the end the kid, whose parent is the coach, gets all the opportunities to play. No credit given for being prepared.
Or

The housewife who never gets a break or a thank you for all the work she does at home to keep everyone in clean clothes, well-fed etc. No credit for being a mom and a wife.

These people never get a break even though they show up and do the work day in and they out. These people are the turtles not the hares. They are not show-offs or loud mouths; they just get their stuff done. Yet,they never get a fair shake.

This is our President. He gets no credit. period.

The Main Stream Media in this country are full of bullies and are part of why we have a crisis of everything: morals, ethics, values etc. They celebrate the inept and the unlearned but those who put in the time and do the work get laughed out of the room.

This is why we never see as many Dems out there on television on Sundays and why no matter how much he tries the President cannot get a break.

However, I think they underestimate him at their peril. As he says he is accustomed being "the underdog". This poll shows exactly what he means. So no matter how they disrespect him or dog him on their pathetic shows or in their sycophant news papers he will keep going and get the job done. He does not need their approval because he is the damn President and in the end he has the biggest megaphone out there and he will be heard and seen when the rubber hits the road in 2012.

Let them keep on with their stupid antics because in the end the freaking turtle beat the hare!

Why Chris Christie's Weight not an Issue for Republicans

In 2009 President Obama picked Dr. Regina Benjamin for the job of Surgeon General in his administration. Immediately, there was a flurry of online posts about her weight raising questions such as Is she too fat to be Surgeon General. The conversation and direct attacks on her person went on and on with the right wing media leading the charge.

Today we hear that Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is about to make the decision regarding his entrance into the Presidential race. His decision is said to be imminent and the blogs and news articles about him being ‘too fat” are coming at a furious rate. However, I like the take that although there are some who would view Christie’s weight as a negative, the fact that he is a man with power could help him with some constituencies. Paul Campos in his article title Lay off Christie’s Weight! It Just Might Help his chances makes this interesting argument.

“…Fatness in general is considered bad—and to some extent feminizing—but it is a more complex characteristic in men, and especially powerful men, than it is among women. While it’s true that it is bad for a man to be fat, it is unquestionably good for a man—and most especially a socially powerful man—to bebig. Our language encodes this judgment in countless ways: For leadership we look to the big man, the man of substance, the heavyweight contender, the man who can throw his weight around, and so on. In this sense, Corzine’s ad mocking Christie was inadvertently reminding viewers of a powerfully positive characteristic of his opponent. Indeed, I would venture to guess that a short, slim man who wanted to run for president would face more difficulties in regard to the cosmetics of power than Christie…”

The attitude of the Republican Primary voter might also help Christie, Campos noted. Why? Because they are in a mood to go against anything “the nanny state” tells them. According to him, “…could well function as a kind of symbolic flipping off of the endlessly intrusive nanny state, so despised by both libertarians and cultural conservatives….”

Once again it appears that the Republicans are set to have their cake and eat it too. On one hand they wereadamantly against President Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General but there is a possibility that they would accept Christie, even though he has “liberal views” and is "fat".

This is a contradiction but it might not matter to them because they are looking for someone who can knock Obama out of office with a hard punch. Chris Christie apparently fits this bill because he is bombastic and says what he feels. They like that more than anything else.

“…“There’s an insatiable appetite in the Republican Party for a strong fighter, and Chris Christie fits that bill perfectly,’’ said GOP consultant Phil Musser, a former Tim Pawlenty campaign adviser. “Republicans want someone who can go toe-to-toe with Obama. The level of frustration out there lines up well with someone like Christie, who tells it to you straight… .’’

Like Campos says in his article “the contemporary politics of fat are too complicated to draw that judgment”. Even though many might think this country would never nominate a fat President the hunger out there for something/anything different is real: just like it was real when we elected an African-American man by the name of Barack Hussein Obama.

Lysteria, Wall Street Sit-ins and Republican Obstruction

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Fannie Lou Hamer

The AP has posted a Q and A last week to help people understand Lysteria in fruit

The outbreak has left “the outbreak that infected 72 people across 18 states and killed 16”. Right now the FDA is still hunting for clues. It can take up to 2 months before people start getting sick.

Yet, the Republicans cut millions of dollars from the FDA

“…Arguing that the U.S. food supply is 99 percent safe, House Republicans cut millions of dollars Thursday from the Food and Drug Administration’s budget, denying the agency money to implement landmark food safety laws approved by the last Congress…”

Food contamination is still an issue in this country even under the watchful eye of the FDA. Can you imagine what it would be like if we allow the Republicans to gained control of our government again with their mantra of deregulation?

They want to deregulate the FDA, EPA and any area that protects the American consumer from harm. Private companies have no interest in protecting the American people, yet the Republican Party continues to stand on the side of big banks, Agribusinesses, Private Contractors etc.

Fueled by rich donors and lobbyists both parties have been bought but in the case of the Republicans the situation is more egregious.

"...the Republicans held the debt limit hostage to get more spending cuts and now that the summer recess is over, they are ramping up plans to repeal, reduce, and rein-in regulations to boost profits for corporations and further damage the economy and the American people. .."

Many of us know that their thirst for cuts and deregulation are hurting this country but with everything in Washington so broken it seems impossible to find a way to fix our many problems.

It is time to make our voices heard in every way possible to stop this blatant corrupt takeover of our government and our country. The Wall Street sit-ins are ramping up and gaining steam. People are becoming wiser to what is up. It will be interesting to see the response to this new reality from political pundits, politicians and journalists in the coming weeks.

If we do not start being proactive we will have more than Lysteria in fruit to worry about in the coming years.

"The "I have black friends" shield and its righeous takedown"

The 2012 election is a test of whether Obama will be held to standards never before imposed on an incumbent. If he is, it may be possible to read that result as the triumph of a more subtle form of racism. - Melissa Harris-Perry

In her 2009 article, 'Unmasking 'racial micro aggressions' " Tori DeAngelis addresses subtle racism, the effects microaggressions have on the pysche and how those affected by these aggressions can turn them around for their benefit. I was prompted to revisit this article recently because of the blow-up caused by an article written by Melissa Harris-Perry in The Nation. Melissa Harris-Perry, is one of the most credible people when it comes to issues affecting African-Americans. Therefore, I took the words she wrote in her fact-based essay about the "double standard" that progressives allot to President Obama, quite seriously. Published in October 10th, 2011 edition of The Nation, the essay clearly laid out her case:

...The 2012 election may be a test of another form of electoral racism: the tendency of white liberals to hold African-American leaders to a higher standard than their white counterparts. If old-fashioned electoral racism is the absolute unwillingness to vote for a black candidate, then liberal electoral racism is the willingness to abandon a black candidate when he is just as competent as his white predecessors...

Some white liberals were so incensed by her post that they had to respond. David Sirota penned his response stating that Perry was wrong in her summation saying that Harris-Perry used "...such overly broad rhetoric to ignore legitimate, fact-based progressive dissent -- and doing so in a liberal magazine like the Nation without marshaling a single empirical fact to support the accusation -- does great harm to the cause of racial equality..." Joan Walsh could not hold herself back and she responded saying that the piece "touched a nerve"and even claimed that Harris-Perry was her "professional friend". The "I have black friends" claim is used in Joan Walsh's criticism of Harris-Perry's piece. However, Harris-Perry was having none of that, responding:

Although I disagree with her, I have no problem with Walsh’s decision to take on the claims in my piece. I consider it a sign of respect to publicly engage those with whom you disagree. I was taken aback that Walsh emphasized the extent of our friendship. Walsh and I have been professionally friendly. We’ve eaten a few meals. I invited her to speak at Princeton and I introduced her to my literary agent. We are not friends. Friendship is a deep and lasting relationship based on shared sacrifice and joys. We are not intimates in that way. Watching Walsh deploy our professional familiarity as a shield against claims of her own bias is very troubling. In fact it is one of the very real barriers to true interracial friendship and intimacy.

Melissa Harris-Perry's piece stirred up those white-liberal-Obama-basherers really good and their feelings are now hurt. But Harris-Perry is really speaking for many African-Americans who are just sick and tired of white progressives/liberals like Walsh and Sirota taking advantage of them and using them only when it is convenient. These feelings have been fomenting for a long time because when we look around in the media, in politics, on-line our voices are not sought after as much as white voices are. How many black anchors or well-known African-American bloggers are out there? You would think that the election of our first black President would help our case and causes but President Obama's election has only served up a whopping backlash against the African-American/black community and many have just had it.

Quite frankly, there are many issues that have been festering in the black community for a long, long time. These issues, such as low unemployment, poor housing, low level education have been endemic in our communities under many Presidents before President Obama including the much-loved Bill Clinton. Where were the white liberals like Sirota and Walsh defending us then? Where were they? Now they want to bait and bash the only black President and take offense if African-Americans are offended and find them to be a day late and a dollar short? Let them stew in their own rancid mess as far as I am concerned. Harris-Perry did African-Americans a favor by calling them out and I was happy to see that her piece was supported by a letter to the Editor on Salon directly refuting Joan Walsh. Titled: Why Joan Walsh---doesn't get it, the take down of Joan and her friends came full circle and was oh, so sweet. It is about time!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Published at ThePeoplesview.net

Biden on 17th Anniversary The Violence Against Women Act

Today is the 17th anniversary of The Violence Against Women Act.

President Joe Biden made an appearance on the view to talk about the Act's accomplishments over the years. He also addressed an issue that is prevalent in today's society, which is teen violence. The Vice President was very adamant about the importance of giving our young people tools that would help them to deal with issues of violence.

On September 13th, Vice President Biden released a statement from the White House in which he

" called on high school and college students to share their ideas for how to prevent dating violence and sexual assault at their schools and on their college campuses. Over the next two weeks, young men and women are invited to join this important conversation by submitting their ideas via the new whitehouse.gov/1is2many page or by using the hashtag #1is2many on Twitter..."

Today's technology makes it easy for young people to connect with one another in ways that parents would have never imagined. It is important that work such as this is publicized so that parents and students in middle school through high and college know that there are people working on their behalf if ever they should need help.

On The View today, Vice President Biden brought along two women with him to talk about their situations and how the Act helped them . Both of the women, a teenager who was raped and then shot in the face by her boyfriend, and a mother whose daughter murdered her boyfriend are raising awareness by speaking out about their experiences. They both are fighting to get laws passed to protect teens against violence.

Whoopee made an important point that is sometimes missed in the whole debate surrounding violence against women. She told Vice President Biden that it was important that women should also know that they should not hit men to provoke them.

“The only way we’re going to stop it is for all of us to speak up and act and make it clear that violence against women will not be tolerated at your school, on your campus, at any time, for any reason period,” Vice President Biden says in the video message. “No means no. No means no if she’s drunk or you’re sober. No mean no if you’re in a dorm room or on the street. No means no even if she said yes first and changed her mind. No means no, no matter what.”

Organizations to get help:

Linsay Ann Burke

The Tina Project

Love is not abuse

Posted at ThePeoplesview.net Tuesday, September 27, 2011