Rest In Peace Whitney Houston

 

This morning I awoke to the extremely sad news that Whitney Houston had passed on. At first I assumed that Twitter was back to its games of declaring people dead, but when I came across the news at CNN, I could no longer deny the truth.

Growing up in a largely White neighbourhood, Whitney's release of her first album was a godsend. Finally, finally, the kids were singing the music of someone who looked liked me, and praising her as beautiful.  For me, in many way, Whitney was a princess. 

In recent years, her extremely public struggle with her addiction and her divorce from Bobby Brown had diminished her bright star.  There were performances in which she stumbled across the stage, leaving her fans wondering where her beautiful voice had gone, and if anything remained of the talent that so many had once embraced. 

Whitney may have be down, but she was not beaten.  She had recently released a new CD, and apparently had plans for a movie.  As I heard the news of her death, I could not help but wonder if the world realized the talent that we have all lost.  Whitney was far from a perfect woman, but it is absolutely undeniable that she left behind a legacy, in terms of her music, that will continue to give joy to all of those who are fortunate enough to hear her sing.  

Rest in peace, may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest

Drop It Like It's Hot

 Hey everyone, thanks for another great week of conversation.  I think that there were some really great conversations that challenged a lot of what has become normal discourse.  Please remember, we cannot always agree but it is important that we stay respectful and committed to listening to each other. Talking at each other, rather than to each other, get us nowhere.

I am still looking for new contributors.  Though I can write about a myriad of things, we all learn best from the people directly negotiating a particular ism.  I am particularly looking for someone to discuss fatphobia and class critically but I am very open to other ideas. Please be aware that womanist musings also has an open guest posting policy, so please feel free to submit a piece or a cross post from your blog.  You can reach me at womanistmusings (at) gmail (dot) com

Below you will find a list of posts that I found interesting this week.  Please be aware that a link does not necessarily mean an endorsement of the article, just simply that I found something about the piece interesting.  Please be aware that I don't read the comment sections so read those at your own risk.  Well start spreading the love, and when you're done, don't forget to drop it like it's hot and leave your link behind in the comment section when you are done.
It Happens To Us Too: Addressing Mental Health Stigmas Among People of Color
Who says I can’t be a Muslim feminist?
Carnival of Aces: Call for Submissions
White History Month
Finley: If life's cheap, murder's not news
Why I'm Pro Choice, and My Boyfriend Is Too
I am the Only American Indian
Apparently, religious freedom = right to break the law and violate employees’ civil rights
Who are the outlaw mothers?
My Perfect Vulva (note: important piece but there is some cissexist language, and the comment section is extremely transphobic)
Will the Catholic Church support his religious freedom?
Personal Decisions, Global Catastrophes: Capitalism is Not Inherently Friendly to Human Life
Friday Hoyden: Madonna
Not Helping: Cornel West Calls Melissa Harris Perry "A Liar," "Fake," "Fraud" In Interview
Black History Month Kool-Aid Sale
How to Be the Black Friend
The Subtle Bigotry That Made Jeremy Lin the NBA’s Most Surprising Star
This Is What Happened to CeCe

Michael Steele Is Right and Wrong About Gay Rights

After his treatment by the Republican party, for the life of me, I cannot understand why Steele refuses to get on the right side of history.  In an interview with on MSNBC recently, he decided to parrot the ridiculous state rights routine to deny gays and lesbians the right to vote.  It was his contention that theses things need to be decided on the local level, because the federal level would force the issue on him.  I wonder if this fool realizes that without the 1964 and 1965 voting rights act, he would have no say in the government he is so damn concerned about.  I personally believe that civil rights should never be held up to a vote because it leaves historically marginalized people to suffer the tyranny of the majority.  There are somethings that should just be considered immutable human rights, and same sex marriage is certainly one of them.

When John Heilemann decided to ask how Steele would feel of Black men were unable to marry White women across the entirety of the U.S. Steele has the following to say:

First off, let’s just be very clear about a couple of things. There are a significant number of African Americans -- myself included -- who do not appreciate that particular equation. OK? Because, when you walk into a room, I don’t know if you’re gay or not. But when I walk into a room, you know I’m black. And whatever racial feelings you have about African Americans, about black people, that is something that, it viscerally comes out. I don’t know until later on, maybe you tell me or some other way, so don’t sit there and make that comparison. It’s not the same.

The Maude Complex

April Scissors is a writer and cultural critic. She works to explore and uncover the historical and present implications of faulty representations of people of color, women, and other marginalized groups in politics, popular culture, and media. Find more of her work at aprilscissors.com and on Vocalo.org 89.5fm in Chicago where she is a frequent guest and contributor.  

Despite what my bio says, I am not just a cultural critic—simply put on this earth to analyze, inform, and hate on all the things that make you happy. I am actually something much more prolific than that. I have been granted a special power that absolves and heals white guilt. Yes, it’s true: I am a race priestess. By divine blessing, I have the power to not only attract white people who need to confess their nonprejudiced, nonracist frame of thinking, but my very essence heals them from the pain and awkwardness that comes with being white and knowing that some white people have done really horrible things to people who look like me. 

There was the older white woman who approached me in the “African-American Literature” section at a liquidated Borders. After telling me all about an episode of Oprah with Terry McMillian, she segued into a story about how she’d always been quite liberal and never had a problem with Black people (or gays!). 

There was the man at a suburban library who noticed my copy of bell hooks’ Killing Rage: Ending Racism and shared with me his experience of working with young Black men in the army. He explained, “I’m not prejudiced, but I was hard on them because they wouldn’t listen. They saw me being tough as being prejudiced. I don’t have a prejudice bone in my body. I don’t have a problem with black people. Black people are humans too; you all put your pants on one leg at a time…just like the rest of us.” 

There was the college professor who chatted me up in the locker room at my gym. She wanted to know my thoughts on why Black people in the 60s didn’t like blues-influenced white rock music. She blamed it on the Civil Rights Movement because, according to her, it taught Black people to be self-sufficient and segregate ourselves. 

*My personal favorite* Though he wasn’t quite looking to defend himself in race court, an elderly man saw my friends and I sitting together at a local Red Lobster (I know, but it was my birthday) and was struck by the fact that “all three races [Black, Korean, and Jewish]” were “sitting together at one table!” He’d “never seen that combination before!” Like unicorns and leprechauns, racial integration is such a rarity in America that when one stumbles upon it, he must stop and marvel. 

Chekhov's Junkshop

Chekhov’s gun is a theatre and literature term coined by Anton Chekhov saying: "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it."

Or, in other words, you shouldn’t have something in the plot if it is not relevant. If you mention something, it should add to the plot, the characterisation, the world building - something. Well, reading Urban Fantasy, we have gone beyond mere Chekhov’s gun. We’re lost in Chekhov’s junkshop. We have so many irrelevant things piled on the shelves, stacked under foot  and hanging from the ceiling, that it is an arduous task to battle through it all.

If you are an avid reader of fiction, I am quite certain that you have come across this little trope. For the life of me, I don’t understand why writers have a tendency to tell rather than show.  This of course results in copious amounts information delivered in the most dry fashion possible, that leads a reader to look at their toilet and think that it would far more fun to clean it, than read another ponderous word.

And when showing really needs to be the norm when it comes to emotion. Aside from the fact we really do not need to know every single little emotional nuance a character feels at every given moment (seriously, it’s like having a mood ring attached to the book), please show us. We can usually infer anger, sadness, etc from their actions, we don’t need to be told - and if your telling us takes the better part of 2-3 pages of moping, for you to adequately describe just how very very sad your character is, then I am going to go find something more interesting to do. Like clean tile grout. And if there is anything worse than telling rather than showing - it is showing AND telling. When I see lines like this: Jane collapsed, sobbing piteously. Her heart was like ash, she never imagined she could ever feel happiness again, she sobbed in misery, her grief almost overwhelming I despair. The minute she was prostrate and sobbing piteously, I knew how sad she was. I don’t need 5 more paragraphs to tell me the sad character is sad.

Speaking of telling, not showing. We know your world is fascinating and interesting and we know you want to tell us about it. But World Building should not be a series of info-dumps. If we want long lectures we can go back to university or dig up our text books - show us the world, introduce us to concepts as they become relevant - don’t treat us to essays. And on the subject of essays - if you have a degree in English literature (or any field) your novel is not the place to show off how many books you’ve read and can quote or how much you know. If you’re that desperate to establish your credentials, include your letters in the “about the author” section.

The really inventive writers then of course get into bed with Mr. Thesaurus in an attempt to make their ramblings seem more important.  This means we get the happy marriage of over written prose, combined with words that no one has used since the 1400’s.  Please, please, if you must bore us with over written pretentious nonsense, for heaven’s sakes at least spare poor Mr. Thesaurus such abuse.  What did he ever do to you, to result in such a continuous beating?  If you must continue to thrash Mr. Thesaurus, may I recommend that you have the decency to at the very least introduce him to Ms. Dictionary.  You see, using a word improperly further throws off your useless prose and makes it even more frustrating to have to slog through, in the hope of somehow magically finding a plot.  Sometimes finding a plot behind all of the info dumping and useless world building is like searching for the one grain of salt in the pepper grinder. 

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Dreaming of Eryn's Sermon

WoodTurtle is a Canadian Muslim feminist currently using her extended maternity leave to explore developments of Islamic feminism in the Western and Muslim world.  As a woman who wears the hijab (owns several abayas and a niqab monogrammed with her initials in pink, sparkly sequins), she writes frequently on genderized Islamophobia. She also works toward dispelling myths and stereotypes about women in Islam for both Muslims and non.

There’s no compulsion in religion and God has sent a message to everyone – so there’s no reason to find faults in the beliefs of others. Think about what you’re saying and how your words will be understood. How they can offend or mislead. Take fasting for example. If you say that we only go out to eat when the sun goes down… people are going to think we’re a bunch of vampires.

I never laughed so hard at Friday prayers. The imam was jovial, frequently engaging women in constructive dialogue during his upbeat pre-sermon talk – which was easy, since we were literally only a few feet away from the minbar. We were in an “open concept” mosque, where women and men shared the same prayer space. It was segregated, but arranged so we could all pray side-by-side. A runner divided the room in half, giving space for people to move in-between the rows without disrupting the sermon or prayer.

Eryn and I chose to pray close to the Hubby instead of joining our friends at the back of the room, where two wings off to each side of the main prayer space provide privacy for anyone who want seclusion. I’ve prayed in the wings once before and liked how they were built with shaded glass at the front – giving people a clear view of the imam and the main hall. I didn’t feel separated from the congregation at all – especially when I used the microphone for people to ask questions.

Now that Eryn is old enough to pray, we both prefer to be at the front near the Hubby so we can worship together. As a family.

Comedian Dave Ackerman Dresses in Black Face to Ask BYU Students About Racism and Black History Month

Dave Ackerman is not saying on his Facebook page that this was a social experiment and that only a few people bothered to point out that he wasn't Black.  He is further comparing himself to Franchesca Ramsey who's Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls Video quickly went viral.  I debated posting the following video but have decided to in order to answer his comparison and his decision to wear Black face.

When Ramsey made her video, she was talking about her lived experience as an African-American woman.  What Ackerman did is no way the same thing. Talking about racism is not now, or ever will be, anything like living with racism.  He may have shown how ignorant and racist the White students at BYU are, as well as the ignorance and internalized racism of Black students but Ackerman is not guilt free in this situation.  There is absolutely no justification for donning Black Face.  The fact that those he spoke to largely did not see his actions as problematic, does not erase the fact that Ackerman went into this experiment with the intent of releasing this video online.  I am highly offended by Blackface, regardless of the context in which it occurs.  His decision feels more like he was trying to be edgy rather than actually proving a point. 

Outside of a historically Black college, I believe that Ackerman would have found the exact same circumstances because education is not invested in teaching Black history or trumpeting Black accomplishments.  To be educated in the West is to learn the oppressors truth.  Those who actually become racially aware, tend to do so through self learning rather than being part of an institution.  Even the additive Black History Month has proven not to be enough to raise consciousness enough and this is specifically why as children of the African Diaspora we need to demand that history of POC be taught from the very beginning throughout the year.  Elevating slave owning, colonizing privileged Whites as the be all and end all example of humanity does not even come close to telling the history of the Americas.

Without further ado, here is the video that has gone viral.  I am very interested to hear your take.

Organic Food and Privilege

Nomade is a 23-year-old Mauritian graduate student living in the United States. She is interested in the areas of Francophone culture, bilingual identity and post-colonialism. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, painting and writing fiction. 

I hate the Organic Crowd. There, I said it. Don’t misunderstand me; there is a part of me – a part that longs for the noisy markets of my hometown and is nostalgic for the days when, in late December, we would pick bunches of red lychees off the tree in my back garden – which it appeals to. However, it is more likely to get on my nerves, especially in the U.S.

One reason that I tend to dislike people who talk about buying organic food – and make sure that you see them filling their carts or inquiring loudly about free-range chicken at restaurants – is that I suspect that many are buying into a fad rather than making these choices as a result of careful research and thorough understanding of the subject. Organic – and so-called whole, raw, vegan – food has been deemed the only acceptable food to eat in the West; not only is it a trend, it is a label. That Whole Foods paper bag and the “Grass-Fed Cows” sticker marks you as one of the Enlightened; one of the good people, who cares about what they put in their bodies, wants to save the cows and trees, and cares about starving children in India. Unlike your lazy colleague, you wouldn’t dream of touching a frozen dinner or run-of-the-mill eggs. No, you make time to cook cage-free eggs in a fabulous frittata because you’re just wonderful that way.

Victoria's Secret Angel Saving Her Body For Her Husband

Victoria Secret model, Kylie Bisutt has decided to walk away from one of the most coveted positions for a model.  Kylie became an angel at the age of 19, just after getting married. She has since decided that her religious convictions will no longer allow her to model for the famous lingerie brand.

“Victoria’s Secret was my absolutely biggest goal in life, and it was all I ever wanted career-wise,” she told FOX411’s Pop Tarts. I actually loved it while I was there, it was so much fun and I had a blast. But the more I was modeling lingerie, and lingerie isn’t clothing, I just started becoming more uncomfortable with it because of my faith…

“My body should only be for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing,” she said. “I didn’t really want to be that kind of role model for younger girls because I had a lot of younger Christian girls that were looking up to me and then thinking that it was okay for them to walk around and show their bodies in lingerie to guys.

“It was pretty crazy because I finally achieved my biggest dream, the dream that I always wanted, but when I finally got it, it wasn’t all that I thought it would be. Especially being married I just wanted to keep my marriage sacred because divorce rates now in America are pretty high, and I just want to do everything I can to keep my marriage special.”

“It is a very hard industry to be in without falling into things you don’t want to do,” she said. “I’ve fallen into many things that I wouldn’t have wanted to do, it’s a very tempting industry.”

I am a big supporter of a woman's agency in terms of her physical body, but I am not sure where I sit with this one.  Christianity is an extremely patriarchal religion.  Womanist and Feminist theologians have had to work extremely hard to find a liberationist theology, in which 'woman' can be empowered, and yet their work is nowhere near a mainstream level.  Week after week, in church after church, sexism is preached as the word of God. Preachers love to quote the Pauline gospel as justification for their sexism.  Thus sayeth the apostle Paul, should be a clue that it's time to leave that church. My click moment in terms of women's activism happened in a church, and to this day, I remember the slut shaming the minister engaged in, in his anti-abortion rant.  This man damn near cost me my faith.

Black Gay and Beaten, What Responsibility Does the Victim Have?

A young Black men was exiting a store when he was set upon by several other men, who were also Black. They kicked him and punched him repeatedly while screaming a gay slur.  At this time, the victim has failed to come forward and so we have not idea whether he is indeed gay, however there can be no doubt that homophobia was absolutely the inspiration for this attack given the slurs that were shouted during the beating.

What follows is a video of the attack.  Please be forewarned that it is extremely graphic as it caught the assault from start to finish.  Trigger warnings apply.

Is Christina Aguilera Latina Enough?

Okay, I am going to go out on a limb with this one, because I am not Latina.  Huffpo has a piece up today in which Christina Aguilera answers critics who question her personal identity.

Christina Aguilera says she's been criticized for not being Latina enough.

"I've dealt with that [criticism] my whole life," she said in an interview with Latina Magazine. "I don't speak the language fluently. And I'm split right down the middle, half Irish and half Ecuadorean. I should not have to prove my ethnicity to anyone. I know who I am."

In the magazine's March issue, Aguilera opens up about her Hispanic heritage, her turbulent relationship with her father, and her role in the reality talent show "The Voice," which is starting its second season.

"I wouldn't be questioned [about my heritage] if I looked more stereotypically Latina," she said. "Whatever that is. All I know is no one can tell me I'm not a proud Latina woman... I dove headfirst into a Spanish-language album for that reason and I'm planning another one even though I don't speak the language. I'm sure that doesn't sit well with some people." [source]

Aguilera got her start on the Mickey Mouse club, and we all know how friendly Disney is to people of colour.  There can be no doubt that despite her identity as a WOC, that Aguilera exists with passing privilege.  Passing privilege means that she has absolutely been offered opportunities that have been denied to darker skinned women.  This of course is the effect of living in a White supremacist state. The lighter skinned a minority woman is, the more likely she is to be uplifted by the media and this is no different with the Latina community.  That said, Aguilera has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard, and she is a true diva.

Pennsylvania University Puts "Morning After Pill" in Vending Machines

According to News One, the vending machine at Shippensburg University’s Etter Health Center now contains Plan B, along with condoms and decongestants.  The pills are available to anyone over 17, without a prescription, and cost a total of twenty-five dollars each. How awesome is that?  It's about time that women's reproductive choices be treated with ease.  It also frees women having to deal with pharmacists, who seem to feel that they have the right to interfere, and not do their jobs due to religious objections. If that were not enough, some pharmacy's don't even carry the pill, which they justify by claiming that Plan B is an abortion drug.

Obviously, condoms combined with foam are the best way to go, but we all know that things happen and condoms can break. Plan B prevents conception, which is something that is often misconstrued by conservatives, who have a very nasty habit of claiming that it's an over the counter abortion pill and therefore against their religious principals. This argument has never made sense to me.  It seems to me that if one is anti-abortion, that the best possible way to reduce them, is to ensure that pregnancy does not occur in the first damn place. Their refusal to see this tells me that the issue is about controlling women's bodies, and not a dedication to lowering the abortion rate.

I came across the story at Madame Noire, where some of the commenters are concerned that the introduction of Plan B to vending machines will increase the STD rate, and that it will promote unsafe sex practices, because of the ease at which the pill can be obtained. 

ElvisWasAHero2Most: I can see our pro-life friends shaking their fists with anger...

As one who isn't too far removed from school, I have vivid memories of my glory days, running down to the lobby to grab a handful of condoms (even though I'd only need 2 a semester) when the moment got hot.  I wonder would things have been different if my school had a plan B vending machine. 

One backlash that is foreseeable is an increase in the STD rate.  I don't know if it's just me, or other guys think this way as well, but my priority when having sex is making sure I don't birth a seed... I guess that has been my priority because I've always assumed since dealing with college educated women, I won't have to worry about an STD... which yes I know, is stupid as all hell.  However, if these pills are readily accessible, the need for a condom will likely decrease.  Kids will get in the heat of the moment and not worry about a condom since they can avoid that baby the morning after.  Sounds problematic.

Ms_Sunshine9898: It's a good thing and bad thing. Quicker access to it but then it promotes "well we don't need a condom, we can just run to the plan b machine in the morning. . .

Say it with me folks .... horse shit. The more opportunities women have to access contraception, means that they are more empowered to make decisions regarding their reproduction.  Granted, Plan B is not meant to be used specifically as contraception, but we all know that people are not always as responsible as they should be when it comes to their sexual activities.  What the introduction of Plan B means, is that they will not have to have an abortion, or birth a child that they don't want.  Anything that empowers women, is a good thing.

It is also worth noting that whether or not women can access this pill at a vending machine, they can still legally access it, and so I fail to see how making it convenient suddenly is an argument to suggest that it will lead to unsafe sex activities.  Convenience does not mean promotion, it simply means increased access.  Every time something progressive happens in terms of encouraging women's reproductive freedom, the naysayers gather to make their fallacious arguments.  I am particularly troubled that the negativity occurred at a site aimed at Black women, especially considering the historical interference in our reproductive freedom.  We have been sterilized against our will, we have had our children stolen from us, and it seems to me that anything that puts a WOC firmly in control of her body, is something that should be touted, not argued against.

As a woman of colour, I see this machine as incredibly important. It is a well known fact that women of colour have abortions at a higher rate than White women.  There are several reasons for this, but I believe access to Plan B, at a reasonable price, will do much to stem this tide, especially if it comes with increased education on sex.  The more access women have, the greater the chances that they will make the decisions that are best for them.  I see this as a really positive step, and hope that other universities and college campuses follow suit.