In what I hope to be a film that takes me across the country to the many respondents who are interesting in this subject matter, I created a survey to find the differences and similarities in the relationship between race and sexuality in women (or in some cases *genderqueer people) of color.  I solicited to several different tumblr blogs that focus on topics such race, sexuality, sex, and/or feminism and I received 108 responses as of yesterday.  The racial breakdown of the respondees is what I find the most amazing, they range from “multi-ethnic” (of various racial backgrounds), Black, Latino/a, Native American (of various tribes), Asian (various countries), as well as a small percentage of white respondents.  I asked in the survey, “Does race affect how you and your sexuality are perceived? Do you ever feel misrecognized in any way?”

*Genderqueer: 1. A term which is used by some people who may or may not fit on the spectrum of trans or be labeled as trans but who identify their gender and sexual orientation to be outside of the binary gender system, or culturally proscribed gender roles. As with any other groups that may be aligned with transgender identities, the reasons for identifying as genderqueer vary. 2. People who identify as both transgender and queer, individuals who challenge both gender and sexuality regimes and see gender identity and sexual orientation as overlapping and interconnected.   

1. “What the hell does this have to do with #BlackingItUp and the issues of the world?”
2. “And why should we care?”.

Am I right? Allow me to answer your questions. My contributions to “YOUR 2 CENTS” are here to spread the experiences of a High School Dropout as he takes on this new world that is devolving into simple madness. With this blog, I hope to share my struggles and successes and even spend some time to blog about anything that I enjoy. You aren’t being forced to care about anything that I write here, the least you could do is share it on Facebook and Google Plus so I could get more like-minded people to read a blog of mine. Now without further ado, this is basically how the blogs will look like:

1. “DUDE! HAVE YOU HEARD THAT NEW CHILDISH GAMBINO SONG? DONALD GLOVER IS A GENIUS. Life is hard…”
2. “I JUST BOUGHT A NEW CAR. Shit… I’m too broke for gas”
3. “THE WALKING DEAD LAST NIGHT WAS EPIC. How am I going to pay for college…”

This all started with a little art project and a crowd fundraising campaign to support it. Let me start from the beginning. I am a fine art photographer that has been living and working in New York City for over a decade. My work is focused on telling the stories of those who are overlooked or brushed under the rug. (You can see for yourself at idistudios.com) Being a woman of African descent, the stories closest to me are from those who surround me. Thus, the reImagining was born. The reImagining is a 300 image photography exhibition focused on allowing 100 “ordinary” women of African descent to tell the stories they don’t see on television or in the magazines. The stories of their existence and how they both recognize and overcome the stereotypes that affect their every day lives. Sounds like a good idea, no? Well, I took my idea on the traditional fundraising route for well over two years and got zilch. No matter how I refined my grant applications or fine tuned my letters of inquiry, I literally never heard anything back. I began to wonder at my own abilities until I attended a seminar on grant writing given by a local art council. Myself and another Black female artist, who is a friend, turned in our grant applications for review. When my project was presented for said review, there was a very noticeable tonal shift to the panel. To say the project was meet with some derision, is a polite understatement. Not the merits of my presentation package (they thought that was “slick”), but the idea that this project was at all necessary. I turned to my friend to gauge her reaction and she had the same look of shock on her face. Apparently there is no space for projects concerning Black women in traditional art fundraising. This door was closed to me before I even reached for the doorbell. Lesson learned. I am not one to be discouraged, so I decided to step off the path of traditional funding and search out alternatives. Thus came my second great awakening.

I had heard of crowd funding, but did not really pursue it until the reImagining came along. Liking it’s format, I decided to go with kickstarter.com. I threw up my shingle, well webpage, and….deafening silence. Crickets chirping. Okay so I need to work harder in letting more people know about the project. So the networking and power emailing began. Still crickets. Still chirping. But, another realization. Where do Black women go when they want their stories heard? Yes, everyone is going to assume a handful of publications apparently dedicated to Black women, but no success there either. The black blogosphere? Tried it. The liberal blogosphere? Crickets in that corner also. The feminist blogosphere? Not trying to hear from me either. My favorite left wing podcasts that are always touting their love of the community? Well, it seems as though my project does not fall into that community. So that leaves me asking – where do Black women go to get our stories told if we are not Oprah, Michelle or Halle?

History has never been kind to the stories of Black women – Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mae C. Jemison, Shirley Chisholm, Sarah S. Goode, Regina Anderson, Dorothy Height, Dr. Deborah Willis, honestly I could go on for days….and yes, they are hyperlinked so you can read up on these amazing women. Being in my early 30s I am a product of the decade of the woman – the 1990s! Intellectual rap, riot grrls, and Lilith Fair. Power suites without the horrible 80’s shoulder pads. So I have to say, I kinda stumbled when I noticed that the stories of Black women still do not have a reliable outlet. At least one that I am aware of. And that is my biggest hope, that I am just unaware. I may be grasping at straws, but I hope that there is something out there that I am just missing. If there isn’t, it makes the reImagining all the more necessary. In trying to bring this new history to bear, will this be my overlooked story?

If you would like to support the reImagining please support our campaign here!

I’m not having such a good time at work lately, though. I don’t think I make enough money, but in this economy I’m so lucky to even have a steady paycheck at all that I kinda have to keep my head down and shut up, even though being paid at this level has caused me to burn through the savings I was able to build up at my last job at an alarming rate. I’m trying to learn to bite my tongue, but that’s never been a skill I’ve had in abundance, and my commute is killing me. It’s not the twenty minutes up I-77 and I-85, that’s actually not too bad at 7:45 in the morning, in spite of what everyone says.

No, the rough part happens about five minutes in, when I drive by the reproductive health clinic and see these middle aged white women declaring their prayers to end abortion. My hands tense on the steering wheel and my jaw sets, I can actually feel my molars starting to grind together. I have to force myself to untense, to not stop my car, get out, and let them hear, both barrels, about how utterly self-serving and privileged they are.

Most of these women, by the looks of their Burlington coats and artfully (*cough*) frosted, highlighted hair, are married, stable and secure in themselves. They’re not worried about the things I’m worried about- keeping the lights on, not getting another angry letter written to corporate about their attitude, complaining to the boss every week that the medical insurance card STILL hasn’t come from HR. They have, apparently, free time. Free time to stand outside of a clinic and protest a procedure that other women may be having that is none of their business.

I’m a bit biased on the subject of abortion. Without abortion, you see, I wouldn’t exist. Most people mishear that, when I declare it definitively. They think I must mean the opposite, that my mother decided against abortion and thus I am here. No, I’m a fertility drug baby, my mother wanted me very much. But before me, she was date raped by her high school boyfriend on multiple occasions, a fact that she has always been very honest with me about. And on one of those occasions, he got her pregnant, and she had an abortion, and she’s glad that she did. She’s glad that she did because she was poor, she wasn’t out of high school, and she didn’t have any money, and if she hadn’t had that abortion, she wouldn’t have been able to join the Army at 19, move to Germany, and meet my father. Hence, no abortion, no me.

This story doubles up on the other side. My father, Catholic teenager that he was, didn’t believe in condoms and didn’t practice safe sex with his high school girlfriend- though at least his sex was consensual. As a result, he got her pregnant three times. My grandmother, being incredibly practical and resourceful, helped my father and his girlfriend pay for the abortions. Three of them. As a result, my father was able to graduate from high school, then college, then join the Army, go to Germany, and meet my mother. Once again, without abortion, I wouldn’t exist.

I am, as I mentioned, thirty years old as of last week. Moving was sort of my birthday present to myself. I was also a sexually active high schooler, though my adult life has been pitiably devoid on that score. When I was in high school, I used condoms and spermicide and I only had one heterosexual/male partner, but I made it perfectly clear from first base that I was by no means interested in having any babies. I’m still not interested in having any babies. If my damned HR would hurry up and give me that Blue Cross of Texas card, I’d go talk to a doctor about a Mirena IUD tomorrow, because it’s still nigh impossible for a thirty year old unmarried childless woman to get a tubal ligation in this occasionally backwards ass nation. But all it would take to ruin me, financially and morale wise, would be one man with a desire to rape me and a pair of functioning testicles. If it’s still legal, necessarily I’d be on my way to the abortion clinic. I can’t afford and don’t want children.

But these women in their Burlington coats with their frosted hair think they know better than me what I should and should not do with my body, and they like to carry catchy signs and vivisected pictures of fetuses to try and convince everyone else that their “moral” position should be mandated by law.

I want to educate them. I want to pull over every day and explain to them, “Look, this is why you’re wrong. Now, don’t you have bills to pay? Don’t you have jobs? Go home. Stop making my commute exhausting.”

I can’t. I don’t have time, and they wouldn’t listen to me anyway.

I’m thinking what I might do instead is stop by a card shop, then go into the clinic and give the staff there a sincere Thank You for what they do. The necessary option that they provide, and that I hope they will continue to be able to provide, in case I need them. In case someone like my mom or my dad’s high school girlfriend needs them. In case of emergencies, like the ectopic pregnancy that nearly killed one of my aunts. Whyever a woman needs an abortion, she needs to be able to get one without some frosted-haired white woman in a Burlington coat trying to tell her different, but even if she can’t have the way unobstructed, even if my commute can’t be unobstructed, these people do a hard job, and someone should express gratitude.

And I think I can afford to do that. For now.

I have been thinking with all this Rush Limbaugh stuff that we need to support the media we actually believe in. So I created some ideas I have so show support:

 
~ Share their Blogs/Podcasts:
Even if its not your thing, someone you know may LOVE it.

~ Listen/Read Their Stuff:
You may be able to provide an perspective they have not heard. That makes them and you better…

~ Donate Money:
If 5 listeners gave 10 dollars, that’s enough for a domain name and/or a starter microphone.

~ Donate Your Account:
Many of your favorite podcasts are registered at the “Donate your Account” site… Check out their webpages or social network pages to check.

~ Donate Time:
You can ask if there is any backend help you can provide. Many podcasts/blogs are one or two person operations.

The thing is this: Your interest equals your effort. So if you really want your media to change, YOU are the people that can change it. Don’t let folks tell you otherwise.

Well, don’t just stand there… Get to work….

M. Brooks

I would like to reframe “EMO” in this case, and call it innocents. It is our innocents that we all look back at and laugh. All the … “How could I have believed that..”, “How could I have done those things”, etc, etc… All of those things, believes, actions were done but by the innocents.

But one of the great things about our innocents is that the purity and sometimes simplicity of our principles, dreams, actions. Often there is a sweetness associated with our innocents and it is present in all that we do. We see the world as it should be instead of how it is. Part of what happens with age is that those two things; how we see the world versus how the world is, the gap between the two lessen. Generally this is Awesome. When you don’t get want you want, you get experience. But there can be side effects that can make us miss our “EMO”, our innocents.

We have a choice, to embrace the jade that our experience can bring or to fight hold on to the sweetness of our innocents and absorb the experiences that life has given us.

That’s my 2cents

MrAyodeji

Let’s be clear. Anyone whose votes are policy driven was not surprised by this. No one with critical thinking skills didn’t see this coming. If anything, it’s more surprising that it took as long as it did. However, there’s a significant portion of the Republican party that actually believe that not only was Cain qualified to be President, but that he’s also been unfairly vilified by the “mainstream media” because he’s a black conservative. What bothers me most about Herman Cain is his overt willingness to play the victim, and the fact that his supporters enable this behavior. He has repeatedly gone on camera, time and time again, portraying himself as some kind of visionary, persecuted by the left because of his AMAZING ideas. And when these ideas are revealed to be poorly thought out and fall considerably short of the hype, it’s everyone’s fault but his own.

Cain supporters like to trot out quotes from other prominent black figures to back up this fervent claim of victimhood, like this one from Cornell West:

“I think he needs to get off the symbolic crack pipe.”

Republicans were quick to jump on it, linking the comment to the crack/cocaine epidemic without actually analyzing the comment for its meaning and intent–a common theme in crafting GOP talking points. In an interview with Elon James White on the award-winning podcast “Blacking It Up”, Baratunde broke the metaphor down for those who didn’t get it, explaining that the Republican party was “addicted to poisonous ideas”. Considering the obstructionist nature of the current GOP electorate in Congress, it’s hardly a stretch. Newt Gingrich wants children to turn America into one large real-life production of Oliver Twist, for instance. Republicans all over are willing to allow the sick and disabled to twist in the wind–even veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s kind of environment of discussion that would be synonymous with the word ‘poisonous’.

Another Republican ‘example’ of what they consider to be ‘black-on-black crime’ is a quote from Al Sharpton:

“So I would assume he is either socially ignorant or playing games to get votes.”

First of all, it’s not ‘black-on-black crime’ for one black person to criticize another. Clearly, someone needs to re-evaluate their definition of criminal activity and take another run at quasi-punditry. Then again, there really isn’t much to be expected from the same group of people who think that ‘high-tech lynching’ is a perfectly acceptable term to use when Herman Cain (and for that matter, Clarence Thomas) are anything but worth that sort of incendiary, race-baiting language.

Herman Cain constantly puts himself in the spotlight, simping and pandering to the right while saying absolutely nothing of substance. That has, in fact, been the foundation for his entire bid for the nomination. His and his supporters’ wailing about the media’s portrayal of him rings hollow when one considers how much face time he’s willingly put into crafting that image. If it’s not the narrative that he wanted, then that’s a serious referendum on his own political savvy and that of his staff. It also paints him into a disadvantageous corner when it comes to the national election; if the media was as left-leaning as the GOP would lead one to believe, they’d more than welcome someone as policy-ignorant as Cain as an opponent. Libya, China, Uz-beki-beki-stan-stan… The GOP would have a field day trying to work damage control with a candidate like Herman Cain, considering they’re supposed to be the party of national defense.

Never mind the fact that he genuinely thinks all left-leaning black voters are ‘brainwashed’. One has to consider for whom that particular statement was made–leading anyone hearing it and actually listening to one of two conclusions: either Cain is woefully unaware of the GOP’s war against poor and middle-class Americans in this country or he’s simply tap-dancing for the nomination. Socially ignorant or playing games to get votes. Nothing racially motivated about it–it’s fact, plain and simple. Most of the GOP nominees fall pretty neatly into the category of the socially ignorant, so it’s really not that far a leap for Herman Cain to be in their number.

It’s especially interesting how, in this article, the writer repeatedly admonishes President Barack Obama for being a ‘community organizer’. I would much rather a President treat the American people like members of a community than employees in a business. Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly has never worked as an employee in a large business before, and doesn’t have the faintest clue as to how a business is run. Republicans have this romanticized notion of large businesses being ‘job creators’ when the fact of the matter is, they’re all more than willing to slash payroll in the sake of their bottom lines. At the end of the day, an employee can be replaced, and their lives mean very little to the company as a whole. It’s the sort of detached mindset that many liberals see as par for the course in the Republican agenda–something that transcends color, despite GOP talking points.

Going out the way he did is probably the smartest thing he’s done since emerging onto the national political scene. It’s an easier pill to swallow that he was ‘viciously attacked for being a black conservative’ than to believe he was a terrible candidate with more holes in his ideas than Swiss cheese.

The idea of OWS is far reaching in its intentions whether the occupiers know it or not. The processes of getting money out of the politics, breaking the strong connections between lobbyists and politicos, and regaining the power of the voting public are not handled in a winterized tent outside of the New York Stock Exchange. The literal occupation should be phase one. Now that you have captured the attention of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, politicos, news media, and John Q public its time to transition into something that brings results. The Teaparty is often compared to OWS due to the “grassroots” like beginnings of both movements. However, if one does any research they can see that the Teaparty was very well funded from corporations and individuals like the now infamous Koch Brothers. The amount of money that was spent to send people from all over the country to Washington D.C. on fancy air-conditioned coach buses was a mere start to the benefits of corporate money for the “grassroots” movement. OWS does not have this, but what they have is numbers, popularity, and message. The favorability of OWS is high but will begin to fade as the literal occupation fails to make any tangible changes. The Teaparty for all its faults, and there are many, was able to move from yelling at town halls to replacing Congressional representatives as they saw fit. That is seriously tangible.

So the time of being noticed may be coming to an end with flash bang grenades and nightsticks, but that’s not where it has to end. The legacy of OWS can be a simple, “they yelled and sat in a park for a while,” or it will be the 99% getting out to vote. Going door-to-door and working for real change. Change comes from the bottom up. Things like prison reform and voter registration affect the 99%. I would like to see a replacement for ACORN come out of this movement. As state after state works to make voting harder for the poorest of us we need a movement to bring light to it before its too late. The OWS/99% movement is poised to this. So the removal from a park matters not, the movement is with the people not in one single location. Take this opportunity to capitalize on your favorability not wallow in your current phase.

Phase Two of Occupy Wall St. starts right now…

It’s a strange and paradoxical dichotomy we live with. Black people are hyper-sexualized in various forms of mass media, and our youth (and many adults) absorb this information and reflect it in our daily lives and our attitudes. But when it comes to actually talking about sex in any serious kind of way, we become, alternately, shrinking violets or turn the conversation into a joke, because with the messages we receive and internalize, the idea of fostering high levels of communication about sex is not among them. We still get most of our early sexual education from our parents, who learned from their parents, and the further you go back generationally, the more conservative said education becomes. Plus, once that’s over, we’re left to our own devices and learn the rest (or don’t) from life.

I can’t say with any authority that the attitude is significantly different among other ethnic communities, but in certain social communities, and presumably when dealing their children, the attitude is MUCH different. Specifically in the BDSM/kink community (which, sadly, is predominantly white), there is a great deal of frankness and openness when it comes to sexuality and gender, but specifically when it comes to talking about sex itself. Here is an area where the normies can learn something from us freaks.

In the BDSM world, when it comes to play of any kind, there is typically a pre-activity period referred to as (as dry as it sounds) “negotiation.” This is where the people involved talk about things they like doing, things they don’t like doing, things they might like doing, hard limits, safewords and signals, possible emotional triggers, and of course protection. Of course such a thing doesn’t have to be this sterile process that’s taken care of at a table in a conference room (though sometimes it does involve a written contract depending on the people and the dynamic); negotiation can be and is often quite fun. After all, you are talking about potential sexy things to do to each other, and that’s often very fun to talk about. The whole idea is to foster an atmosphere of open communication so that there are a minimum of assumptions made, and so that the experience can be pleasurable for all involved, and if each person’s wants and needs cannot be reconciled with the others’ then play will be either limited or cancelled entirely. While going so far as to have written documentation may be a bit much for a typical sexually active teen, I personally believe that the level of communication and the ability to be so open is something that needs to be fostered among teens and especially among black youth.

This goes back to what was already mentioned on the show: empowerment. More than one person, among hosts and listeners alike, agreed that when a child or teen is given the knowledge and information along with the accompanying reasonable, realistic warnings about sex, that individual is empowered to make their own responsible decisions. Likewise if the ability to communicate about sex to the aforementioned level with a potential partner were given to our youth, especially in the black community, it is my opinion that we would begin to see less of the issues around sex that we’ve seen historically.

Does this mean that all of our youth need to learn about sex from Jay Wiseman? Not necessarily; i’m more a fan of Mollena Williams, myself. But shifting toward more frankness and open communication is going to do much better for us, individually and at large, than sticking with the current level.

The Bay Area is a little different. It cannot be explained, It must be experienced.  They replace “very” with “Hella” for goodness sake. Tupac, E40 and Keshia Cole are played more than Biggie, JayZ and Beyonce. It must also be  known that Bay Area folks don’t steal spotlights, The lights just end up on them.

That being said, if the area as a whole is different, the politics will be different also

The birthplace of Ethnic Studies, the Black Panthers and organized Collegiate Anti-War Demonstrations, Bay Area Folks know how to protest. Its in their DNA. Remember Representative Barbara Lee, The ONLY person to vote against the use of force after 9/11? The  people of the Bay Area is who she serves.

What does that have to do with Occupy Oakland… EVERYTHING

The Occupy Oakland movement began on October 10. In most areas, that would be considered Columbus Day in most areas.  Here, it is “Indigenous Peoples Day.”  And to be honest, I didn’t understand it more than I understood the Occupy Wall Street Movement. But Then again, I am a known cynic about Bay Area Protests. They often reflect a “Shiny Bauble” feel to things, where every rage to injustice has a shelf life and then forgotten.  I thought occupy Oakland would end on October 25th when 13 different Police agencies  came in. But they were back the next day.

I decided I had to evaluate the situation from a different perspective. On October 29th, I took my Son (Da Youngsta) to the Occupy Oakland Site. The perspective of children in situations like this is awesome.

So Da Youngsta looks around and asks the first person he sees, “So, why are you guys here?” He listened, then continued asking other people. I let him gather information for him to report back.  His report was simple… “Mom, it looks like only a little bit of people have all of the money and these people don’t like it…” Before I know it, Da Youngsta starts passing out flyers about the November 2 Day of Action and telling me how his money needs to be moved to a credit union.

Another supporter won over with conversation.

The Day of Action was beautiful for the most part.  way more organized than before the police came on 10/25 and so polite (I call them the “Excuse Me, Pardon Me” coalition). They had orderly, organized marches and speakers on everything. News reports the attendance of the rally at over 6,000 and the attendance overall to 100, 000 over the course of the day. With all that, there is still a question as to their purpose and relevance. I still don’t quite understand it.  Let me rephrase… I support their right to take the actions, I just don’t know what the end goal is.

Then I was taking a ride around Lake Merritt today and hear some folks talking:

 ”…but you can’t complain about those occupy cats unless you can actually give them a solution. This my city, I have to do something…”

That stuck with me while I was riding the lake in the “New Oakland.”  25% white, 27% Black. what used to be considered a good working class wage has been converted into a upper lower class existence. After years of  keeping your head down and trying to just make it to Friday,  Its hard to get folks active in anything.

So maybe, the Occupation Movement is for City Hall, or even Me.  I know that I have the ability to create change in at least one person a day. Maybe it is for the people that feel that nothing can be done because they don’t have power. Maybe it’s for them.  because now folks that never had any inclination to do anything are changing banks, providing food and provisions and supporting this thing.

The tide is turning in Oakland.  and I “Hella” Love it…