QuoteReplyTopic: Black Hair, Marriage, and Divorce Posted: January 11 2006 at 7:09pm
I mean ITA with the article by Dr. Safisha. that was a great article. She's an educated black woman and I admire that. Would you feel the same way about her if you found out that she beat out a brotha for her job simply b/c she was a woman and black? Or that she was one of the "Super-sistas" that the first article by Mr Bud Johnson that looked down on a brotha who was educationally and financially "beneath her"?
Those seeking to oppress us got us good. Many of us are truly the ones Dr. Carter G. Woodson spoke of when he suggested someone controlling the mind also controls the actions, because we still automatically go to the back door and create them when there is not one. While other folk have sense enough to take care of, support, build, and preserve their own first, we are still trying to be “multi-culturally correct.” We have been bamboozled into believing pro black means being anti everybody else and allowing other folk to convince us we are radical, militant, prejudice and racist. Thus, many of us are quick to say out loud…“I ain’t into that Black stuff,” as if it’s a bad thing. Well, anyone who knows me, knows I am proud to be into “that Black stuff,” because I know it’s a good thang. “That Black stuff” is the stuff our Ancestors held on in surviving chattel enslavement and slave and black codes. “That Black stuff” is what our big mamas and other elders used to make it through Jim Crow, and the movement for civil rights. “That Black stuff” is what we rely on today to combat racism, discrimination and BWB (being while black), despite the fact we are suppose to be better off, academically, financially and socially than our fore parents. Perhaps, if more of us were into “that Black stuff,” we would have our “Little Africa” section of town, as the Black residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma had up until May 31, 1921 when a white mob burned and bombed 32 blocks of Black Wallstreet, destroying more than 1000 Black owned businesses and murdering over 300 innocent Black men, women and children. Maybe, if we were truly into “that Black stuff,” we would have created as many African centered schools in our communities, as there are churches on every corner. I believe if more of us embraced “that Black stuff,” we would have more Black men in colleges than in prison, because by being into “that Black stuff,” they would have learned at an early age the meaning of the Sankofa Experience. They would have known their past, beyond big mama ‘nem, and perhaps would have known they came from the original people, who built civilization, ruled nations, and wrote the worlds first history. I have had non-Black students, who have told me, (as they tried to convince themselves that they were not prejudice) “I don’t see color. I just see people.” My response is always, “Then you don’t see me, because my color is Black.” I am into “that Black stuff,” because I am into Mama ‘nem and my history and people. I will never deny or sugarcoat my love for “that Black stuff,” because I refuse to disrespect my Ancestors. Remember the poem titled, “I Ain’t Giving Up My Blackness,” and never forget, Aluta Continua, the struggle continues.
Edited by Karen Shelton
Look to the skies and keep your eyes on the prize! I been through Hell but, STILL I RISE!
Are Black Women “Black?” Super Sisters often negate family values
By Bud Johnson African-AmericanNews&Issues
“The general myth is that our women have been unaffected by the sexism of this society at large. Usually, this myth is presented in one of the following forms: Historically, the only free people in America were white men and Black women; Black women are not concerned with women's liberation (because they have no need as they are not affected by the same things which affect white women); Black women can take anything. But, historically speaking, how can the woman who was a slave, who was bought and sold on the auction block, and who suffered all of the indignities--such as flagrant sexual exploitation-- that racist masters heap on female slaves...how can such a woman be thought of as a free woman? Historically, the freedom of African American women is obviously a fraud.” Although Kalamu ya Salaam (founder of Nommo Literary Society, a Black writer’s workshop) made a valiant effort to dispel the foregoing misconception in his treatise, “Debunking Myths,” but un-fortunately his research is lost on a disproportionate number of Black males who’re convinced that even female slaves fared better than their male counterparts. Truth is, it’s widely believed that history challenged Black females negate family values. In addition, there’s a preponderance of historical evidence that supports the long held suspicion that mainstream America conspires to use Black females to emasculate and/or control Black males, through various social Trojan horses as welfare, female oriented educational and training opportunities and even social upward mobility. African American News & Issues’ Black perspectives notwithstanding, made in America African’s unique slave experience has been studied worldwide. Especially since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has emerged as the most powerful Black woman in the world. In fact, her relationship with Pres. Bush does, indeed, supports the free White man-Black woman myth. A recent study (“American Demographics and a Sketch of Diversity, Change and Social Conflict”), released by the University of Berlin study, objectively explained the “Super Sister” phenomenon from a historical perspective. “To the extent that African American males have been emasculated by gender-role stereotyping, African American females have been defeminized by gender-role stereotyping. The so-called Black matriarchy has been historically blamed for the deterioration of the Black family. “Because Black women have greater participation in family decision making in a society where male control is the ‘normal rule. Because white stereotyped norms are violated, African American women are seen as being domineering. By virtue of the historical legacy of slavery and discrimination against African American men, African American women were in the labor market, received education, and supported their families.” Denial aside, the fact that Oprah Winfrey is America’s only Black billionaire must be pondered. And surely, there’s also cause to pause and ponder why Sarah Breedlove, who was born on a Delta, Louisiana plantation on Dec. 23, 1867, was the first African American millionaire? For the Black History challenged, Sarah is better known as Madam C. J. Walker. For sure, you remember the Super Sister, who turned Black women’s desire for straight (White women’s) hair into a multi-billion dollar industry. Perish the thought, that we’re bashing industrious, entrepreneurial Super Sisters, although Black males throughout “Sportsdom” were buzzing when they learned that BET co-founder Sheila Johnson became part owner of the Washington Mystics on May 24, 2005. Sheila, Bob Johnson’s former wife, is the first Black female to own part of a professional sports franchise (She also shares Bob’s NHL Washington Capitals and NBA Wizards stock.) Brothers, however, may accuse Super Sisters of being out of touch with reality (when they fail to factor in institutionalized racist), after reading an article (“Super Single Sisters of 2002-African American Women”), in the July 2002 edition of Ebony. “From a psychiatrist to a soccer player to Rudy Huxtable, these 24 sensational Sisters are making Brothers' heads turn in all directions. They are the cream of the crop, and Brothers better come correct, if they hope to have a chance,” the article propagates without invalidation. “They are doctors and lawyers and sports stars, women looking for men who can fulfill them emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. From Coach Stephanie Ready to nuclear pharmacist Dr. Ella Armstrong to news anchor Regina Carswell to Phoenix Mercury star forward Lisa Harrison, these women are strong, self-sufficient and sexy. Despite their independence, they all admit they'd like someone to share their life with, (they would if Black men were not held back) someone just as ambitious and assertive as they are, and someone who can handle dating a successful Black woman. “To appeal to one of these Sisters, a Brother must have more than smooth lines and a handsome face. ‘There are a lot of attractive people out there,’ says actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, ‘but not a lot who have their own goals, their own determination.” Conversely, those who buy into that popular misconception don’t consider Super Sisters like Johnson, who divorced a very successful Brother. Or Oprah, who has played games with Stedman Graham for years? In essence, many “together Brothers,” conclude that ego-tripping Sisters have been miseducated to embrace White, elitist values, sans a descendent of slave’s perspective. Thus, to paraphrase the Holy Bible, as people think, so are they. Need we answer the question, “Are Black Women ‘Black?”
Can you buy this? Even more so do Black women know that they are being used to emasculate their own men? Do they enjoy it? I think some do, and then there are those that are fatherless and ignorant because their mother did it too.
Edited by Karen Shelton
Look to the skies and keep your eyes on the prize! I been through Hell but, STILL I RISE!
"Black children are only half as likely as white children to be living in a two-parent household, and are eight times more likely than white children to live with an unwed mother.
For black children under six, 'the most common arrangement -- applying to 42 percent of them -- was to live with a never-married mother.'"
citing Andrew J. Cherlin,
Edited by Karen Shelton
Look to the skies and keep your eyes on the prize! I been through Hell but, STILL I RISE!
Having No Dad Affects Black Boys' Self-Esteem Life with father translates to stronger kids By Julia McNamee Neenan HealthSCOUT Reporter
MONDAY, Sept. 18 [2000] (HealthSCOUT) -- Living in a fatherless family damages a black boy's self-esteem, says a study released today. "In the black community, there's a slogan, 'Black mothers raise their daughters and love their sons,' " says one of the study's authors, Carolyn B. Murray, an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside. "It's the father who holds that boy accountable. He has that boy toe the line; he holds the rules and responsibilities."
But when fathers aren't present in black families, regardless of such things as family income and education, young boys' self-esteem drops, the study says. That doesn't appear to happen with young girls in these families, it says.
What this means for the boys, experts say, can range from their having problems in school to participating in gangs as part of their search for male role models in fatherless homes with INDEPENDENT mothers.
Edited by Karen Shelton
Look to the skies and keep your eyes on the prize! I been through Hell but, STILL I RISE!
DIVORCE AND MARRIAGE AFFECT BLACK CHILDREN MORE May 25, 2005
Divorce and marriage play much bigger economic roles for black children than white children in the United States, according to a new study by two UC Davis economists. Marianne Page and Ann Huff Stevens find that in the first two years following a divorce, family income among white children falls about 30 percent, while it falls by 53 percent among black children. "This difference increases dramatically in the long run," Page and Stevens write. "Three or more years after the divorce, about a third of the loss in whites' household income is recouped, but the income of black families barely improves."
In fact, three or more years after the divorce, the black families' incomeremains 47 percent lower than if the parents had remained together. Marriage appears to have even greater benefits for black children whose single mothers marry than for their white counterparts, according to the study.
Page and Stevens estimate that while the family income of white children rises by 45 percent when their single parent marries, the family income of black children rises by 81 percent with marriage. One reason for the difference in improvement is that married black mothers are more likely to work than married white mothers. On the other hand, when divorce occurs, the probability of black mothers working does not change, while recently divorced white women have an 18 percent greater probability of working.
The study, published in the February 2005 issue of Demography, followed a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of Americans conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. That means it can be proven!!
Edited by Karen Shelton
Look to the skies and keep your eyes on the prize! I been through Hell but, STILL I RISE!
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