Back to Africa??? What is That About?

I haven't thought about this in a while, but I was watching something on tv the other day with flashbacks from the 60s showing white people carrying signs saying "Back to Africa" on them. For the life of me, I've NEVER understood that whole back to Africa "campaign" if you will. My whole thing is, aren't white people the ones who brought Africans to America in the first place? So how are you gonna be mad about us being here if it's your fault we're here? The Africans were minding their own business when Mr. Slave Master decided to show up and rip them out of their home. Did they ask to come here? Nope. Not even a little bit.

Then, generations later we have Mr. Slave Master's descendants telling Black people to go back to Africa. I'm pretty sure that my entire family of Black folks was born right here in America, as was I, so how are we gonna go back to a place we've never been? If you have a problem with me being here, blame your ancestors. It's like, us being here was okay for all those years you were getting over on us and forcing us into free labor but once we got our freedom our presence was suddenly a problem. Oh well, not our fault so get over it.

Anyway, that's all I really have to say on the subject. It's just something that always bothered me because if you really think about it, it makes no sense.

That's all for now....

Blackface for Halloween???

So just now (literally a few minutes ago) I was browsing another blog showing celebrities in their Halloween costumes and one person was dressed as be Jay-Z. Now, in all honesty, I've never heard the name of the person before so I don't know the his nationality but the blogger pointed out that this man was in blackface for the occasion. In that case, it's likely this person is white or possibly Hispanic. And sorry, I don't remember his name nor do I care enough to look it up. The writer of the blog gave a side eye for being in blackface. In the comments section of the blog some posters stated that no one had a problem when a black athlete was Justin Timberlake for Halloween and painted his face white and that black people were "too sensitive" which lead me to write this post.

If blacks in this country didn't have the history that we have, I could totally understand such a statement, but we do so I can't. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but back in the day white people would dress in blackface basically to make fun of blacks for minstrel shows and what not. They would either portray a black person as being a complete fool or some savage beast. Birth of a Nation anyone? So yes, because of this I can totally understand why black people would be sensitive when it comes to white people dressing in blackface, even if it is just for Halloween. I'm sure the intention isn't to be hurtful and it's all in good fun but, still. Something about it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Why not have me and a white friend dress up as slave and master? Okay, maybe that's extreme but you get the point.

Personally, I'm only slightly offended. Like, if I saw that in real life I would definitely give that person the ultimate side eye and curse them under my breath, but it wouldn't ruin my night. In a similar situation, while I was out with my friend over the weekend (an Asian girl if it matters), she pointed out that she didn't like one girl's Native American costume because she didn't feel that people should dress up as someone's nationality for Halloween. To be honest, I never thought that deeply about it but I can see where she's coming from. I know it's not exactly the same but like I said, similar.

Anyway, what do you think? Are some black people just being too sensitive? Are others not being sensitive enough? Maybe they're reading too much into it and making a big deal out of nothing. Or maybe they're not making a big enough deal out of it. I suppose it's something you can look at both ways.

What's the Deal with the Pledge of Allegiance?

The other day I posted on Twitter about how my mom refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school when she was a kid because she didn't think it was true. She was a black girl growing up in the 50s and 60s so I completely understand why she would feel that way. Anyway, it inspired me to make a little blog post about the subject so here I am. You're welcome *in my Sadie from Awkward voice*. Now here's how the pledge reads today:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Apparently the pledge was originally written in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress in 1942. FYI, it's been modified four times before being finalized with the version we hear today. Quite frankly that's about as much of a history lesson as I feel like giving so if you want more info, Google it. Now right off the bat, as a black woman, I can see the obvious problems with this pledge. It's a damn lie. But before we get into that, let's talk about the "under God" part of our little pledge. Whatever happened to separation of church and state? I mean, is that something they just made up in the history books? Clearly the two things have not been separated. In fact, it seems the government has a really bad habit of getting involved in religious matters or involving religion as a way to justify things but let's not go there.

Now for the biggest lie ever in existence, "with liberty and justice for all." Please, don't make me laugh. Liberty and justice for ALL is practically nonexistent in America and especially during the 40s when the pledge was adopted. Let's be real. It all started with the Native Americans. Sure, they'd like us to believe the pilgrims and Native Americans were all buddy buddy but we know that's not really the case. We've all seen Pocahontas right? Okay, bad example but you get what I'm saying. Anyway, to make a long story short I can totally understand why someone would be against reciting the pledge because it really doesn't ring true. Just my opinion.

What do you think?

Where Are All the Black TV Dramas?

A reasonable question don't you think?

Recently I was thinking about TV shows, black shows in particular and it dawned on me that there really aren't many successful, long running Black TV dramas. Sure there's plenty of other television dramas that feature one or two black characters as a part of the primary cast but it's not really the same. Then you look at the other side at comedies. There's been a TON of black comedies. Quick, name all the black COMEDIES you can think of! GO!

• Martin
• The Cosby Show
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• The Jeffersons
• Good Times
• Family Matters
• The Jamie Foxx Show
• Sister, Sister
• The Hugleys
•  My Wife and Kids
• Everybody Hates Chris
• Sanford and Son
• Eve
• Girlfriends
• The Game
• Those Tyler Perry shows
• Half & Half

I could go on forever baby! (dig the Home Alone 2 reference). Now let's try the same thing with black television DRAMAS.

• Lincoln Heights
• Umm.....
• Hmm....
• *Crickets*

Now if you're anything like me, the only relatively recent black tv drama you could think of is Lincoln Heights. Even that took me a good 10 minutes to remember. So I ask, where are all the black television dramas? Why aren't there more of them? Is it that "the man" is only willing to accept us if we're shucking and jiving and making him laugh? Is there really no genuine interest in this particular type of television series? What's the problem? Do you know, because I just don't get it.

After doing admittedly MINIMAL research on black television dramas of the past I was able to find a pretty decent list of them on Wikipedia. Two problems with that. One, most of the shows I've never heard of in my life and some I would consider comedies rather than dramas. Two, it's Wikipedia. Need I say more?

Some of the shows I found included Lincoln Heights that I mentioned before and also the show Roc but I remember that being a comedy. The reasoning was that at some point the show started taking a more serious turn so it was considered a drama but I disagree. Also included was In the Heat of the Night which my mom used to watch but the only people I remember are Carol O'Connor as the sheriff, a black cop named Vergil and that skinny black lady who was on In Living Color. There's also Hawthorne with Jada Pinkett-Smith which I totally forgot about even though I watch it religiously. Other more familiar shows listed were New York Undercover, Oz, Noah's Arc, Soul Food and, get this, Moesha. Really though?! Moesha was NOT a drama series! But like I said, this is Wikipedia we're talking about. The other shows I mentioned I never really watched myself so I'm not sure about the casts. Except for Soul Food which is obvious because it's based on the movie. See their complete list here.

What do you think of their list? How many black dramas have you even heard of? Any thoughts on why there aren't more and they're not more popular?

White people and the 'N' word...wtf is going on?

A touchy subject that 'N' word isn't it? Once again I've been inspired by the situation of others. This all started with a Facebook status which just convinced me even more that Facebook can and will get you into trouble eventually. Anyway, on to the point of this post.

A white girl, who I'll call 'S', posted a rap lyric on her FB status using the N word (the 'a' version not the 'er' version). Just as a little background, this isn't the first time she's used n***a in a status of hers but I'm not entirely sure if they've been song lyrics in the past. Also her kid is half black so I'm pretty sure she's not racist. Anyway, back on topic....after she made this comment my friend, who I'll call 'L', commented on her status saying something to the effect of 'do you really need to use the N word?' From that point it got a little heated because S got all pissy and started throwing attitude and L threw it right back, etc. You know how that whole thing goes. Then another white girl, M, commented that she thought it was okay as long as it ends in 'a' and not 'er.' *sigh* And that's why I'm writing this.

To all my white friends out there it is NOT okay to use the N word ever for any reason. I don't care how "down" you think you are or if you think you have a so called "hood pass" or if you grew up around Black people your entire life. It's just not cool. Period. I don't even like when Black people use the word too much. People are just way too comfortable throwing it around these days and I just don't get it. Hell even Hispanics use is sometimes (for examples, see Fat Joe and other Latino rappers). That whole 'we took the word and turned into something positive' BS excuse that Black people try to use is just that...bullshit. How the hell do you turn a derogatory term into something positive? Is that even possible? Just another lame ass excuse if you ask me.

And before anyone asks, yes I have used the 'a' version of the word in the past and probably will again in the future. Is it right just because I'm Black? No. Is it okay because I'm Black? Maybe. At the very least it's less wrong, if that makes sense. In any case, I'm working on not using the N word at all which is completely doable. Sometimes it's the first word I think of but it's really not that hard to stop and think for a second before you actually say something out loud. I think the worst part is that I know better yet I've still used it but I'm trying. What can I say, I'm still a work in progress.

"I can see you married to a white man...."

The title sentence of this post was uttered by a good friend of mine while we were on vacation. Oddly enough, I had never really thought too much about the possibility of marrying a white guy until she said that. I've dated people from different races so it really doesn't matter but for some reason I never considered it.

Like I mentioned before, this whole thing started while we were on vacation in Miami for a few days and I guess my friend, who I'll call 'M,' noticed a difference in my behavior/communication with black guys vs. white guys. M told me that I'm more talkative and engaging with white guys than with black guys. Apparently with black guys I was looking around, not making as much eye contact and not talking to them as much. I never noticed any type of change in my behavior when talking to guys of different races so I was a little surprised by her comments. There's really no explanation I can think of as to why this happens because I don't prefer one race over the other and I've had both good and bad experiences with both black and white guys.

After doing a little self reflection, I realized that it is much easier for me to talk to white guys. I have no clue why but that's just the way it is, for me at least. At the moment I'm crushing on a black guy and a white guy so I guess I'll have to be a little more observant of my behavior towards each of them to see if there are any real differences. Nothing wrong with a little self analysis every now and again. With that being said, in the words of Big Pun: "I don't discriminate, I regulate every shade of that ass."

Happy Dating! :)