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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Arrested Development: Why Natural Hair is a Privilege and Not a Burden
by Eris Zion Venia Dyson
My hair has been the subject of scrutiny for as long as I can remember. In fourth grade, a classmate called me “Grease.” In sixth grade, songs were sang about my Jheri Curl “don’t slip on the drip” and “the juice is loose.” By the time I was in eleventh grade, I cut all of my hair off only to be mistaken for a boy and called a d**e (not to mention a little boy said my head looked like a bag of flaming hot Cheetos at the barbershop). My freshman year of college, a professor picked up one of my locs and told me to “take your braids down when you go on a job interview,” and in my senior year of college, I flat ironed my afro only to have another professor say “you look better that way.” I cut all of my hair off the very next day.
This is a mere fraction of the stories I have. From the co-worker who said I looked like a porcupine to the chef at Whole Foods who believed that I was mean and angry because of my “black power” ‘fro. In 2001, I received my very last relaxer. “I still get reoccurring sores on my scalp from the chemicals to this day. When asked why did I “go natural” my typical response is one that laments: If white people can wear their hair the way it grows out of their head… why can’t I?!” Or I respond with: “How can a person ‘go’ natural? I was born natural.”
Black hair care is a billion dollar industry that thrives on the notion that the hair of black people in its natural state is not acceptable. In 2009, Lamya Cammon, a Milwaukee student, had one of her braids cut off by her teacher in front of her entire class because she was “angry” at the child for playing with her hair. The teacher only received a $175 fine and Lamya was moved to another class while this ‘educator’ maintained her job after openly abusing this student. And in Lorain, Ohio the Horizon Science Academy released their dress code which included “Afro-puffs and small twisted braids, with or without rubber bands are NOT permitted.” Interestingly enough two bullet points early the dress code stated that “Hair must look natural, clean, well groomed.” They later released a statement saying they will be updating their dress code “…and by no means did [they] have any intention of creating bias towards any of [their] students.”
Instead of spending paragraph after paragraph delving into how colorism, colonialism, capitalism, and white privilege have given permission for educational institutions to treat children of color this way; I decided to invoke the spirit of Peggy McIntosh who wrote “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Listed below is the Natural Hair Privilege Checklist. While there are only thirty-seven points on the list, I’m certain the list could go on and on. Take a moment to consider how your hair informs your identity.
http://www.forharriet.com/2014/08/arrested-development-why-natural-hair.html
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
4 Lessons I’ve Learned as an Introverted Black Girl
Posted by For Harriet
by Nichole O. Nichols
The thought of an after five networking mixer exhausts me. It’s not that I don’t like meeting new people. It’s not that I’m an anti-social hermit or that I don’t appreciate the slick ambiance, Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi singing in the background, or the myriad of saditty finger foods and drinks (no shade, I love saditty food. It’s actually my favorite type of food) that are usually strategically and beautifully placed around the room to provide something to munch on while staying nondescript—as not to inhibit the hardcore relationship building, contact adding, and lighthearted social entertainment that such an event is intended for. It’s just that, especially if this event is after five, I’ve been around people at work all day, and before I douse myself with another dose of social stimulation, I need to recharge and say the word that Martin Lawrence made famous in Bad Boys: WOO-SAH.
On the personality continuum, I lean much more toward introversion than extraversion, so I cherish my me time, prefer to observe before I act, and contribute to conversation only when I think I have something that’s relevant and worth saying. Being introverted, female, and black has not been necessarily a difficult experience, but it has provided for some very interesting exchanges and interactions that I have learned from over the years. These are those lessons, distilled into four points. There’s more where this came from though.
1. Regardless of how it may seem, I am not alone and there are more of us out there than I thought.
I think that because of the nature of our personality type, introverts in general are susceptible to feeling very isolated at times. I know I felt this way as a child, especially when recess or lunch time came. Sometimes I still feel this way as an adult, and I’ve often felt somewhat “punished” for being less outgoing and more introspective. One thing I love about the blogosphere is the ability it gives us to read perspectives that either aren’t readily represented on TV, on the radio, or in our favorite publications. Writers like Stacia Brown, who wrote this excellent piece about introversion and anger for Clutch magazine, and Slim Jackson, who wrote a piece that is a favorite of mine about this topic. Being able to read a growing amount of introverted writers work about introversion along with the numerous comments from other readers who share these frustrations and observations lets me know that I am not the anomaly that I felt I was back in grade school.
2. Since our personality type is opposite of the loud, irreverent black woman stereotype, many people are perplexed by us and don’t know how to deal with us.
I think a lot of people would be shocked if they could listen to the conversations in my mind. They’d probably be even more shocked at the responses that I swap out at the last minute with more appropriate quips when I’m asked questions like “Why don’t you talk?”, “You’re so quiet”, or my favorite one, “You’ve got to watch out for those quiet ones”. Maybe it’s just a theory, but I think that part of the expectation for me to show out, get loud, or simply have a bold, bigger than life personality comes from the age-old stereotype about black women that characterizes us as such. Through the years, we’ve all seen images in the media of the sista girls with the rotating necks, shrill voices, and tempers that go from zero to 100 in two seconds. As hard as it is to believe in a society that is more diverse than ever, there are still people whose only exposure to black women are shows like Love and Hip, Basketball Wives, and Real Housewives of Atlanta, which seem to never showcase an introverted black woman. I guess they don’t cause enough drama. Thank God for Issa Rae. Stereotypes persist because they remove the need to get to know people as individuals, at least in the minds of those that like to use them. People usually hold on tightly to their stereotypes, and they don’t take kindly to them being dismantled, even if the stereotype has always had plenty of examples that prove it wrong.
http://www.forharriet.com/2014/08/4-lessons-ive-learned-as-introverted.html
Washingtonian ✔ @washingtonian
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Today in #longreads: How @mattmendelsohn discovered the story of the CIA’s greatest mission—right next door: http://bit.ly/1zNxrXz
9:22 AM – 4 Aug 2014
https://twitter.com/Interior/status/499946493898674177/photo/1
https://twitter.com/nlbmprez/status/500069210316214273/photo/1
I listened to this today on my lunch hour. Interesting. He’s from St. Louis.
Author Eddy Harris on his next trip spanning length of Mississippi
The Daily Circuit 11:45 AM · Aug 15, 2014
AUDIO:
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/08/15/daily-circuit-eddy-harris?from=dc
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/500400309941043201/photo/1
UPDATE on the Open Carry folks in Texas
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Open Carry Texas Cancels March Through African-American Neighborhood, Blames Black People
By Susie Madrak August 15, 2014 12:51 pm – Comments
The group released a statement claiming that “certain individuals” were pitting them against the community.
Ammosexual advocacy group Open Carry Texas has been encountering numerous problems with their planned march through a predominantly African-American neighborhood. Originally planned for Juneteenth, but postponed until August 16, the White People March was intended to raise awareness of the supposed racism behind gun control.
“Somebody’s got to stand up and sit at the front of the bus,” organizer C.J. Grisham actually said in June. Despite the group’s acquisition of their very own ‘token black guy‘ for the march, residents do not trust a group of predominantly white gun nuts to run amock in their neighborhood–especially people whose idea of a protest against an African-American lawmaker includes fried chicken and slavery.
The open carry ammosexual support group has once again postponed their Cracker Crawl, and they’re blaming black people for the need to do so! You know, because they don’t want these creepy-ass crackers patrolling their neighborhood with loaded assault rifles.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/open-carry-texas-cancels-march-through
The Associated Press ✔ @AP
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BREAKING: Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicted for abuse of power over threat to veto prosecutors’ funding.
5:46 PM – 15 Aug 2014
Oh! Oh!
HA HA HA HA! You can take the glasses off now, Perry. They can’t help you gain any brain power.
this is just tickling me.
https://twitter.com/capecodtimes/status/500366210874499073/photo/1
Watch live as Ofc’s name is released:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/watch-live-chief-expected-release-name-cop-who-shot-michael-n181326
Name of Officer who killed Michael Brown:
Darren Wilson
Is giving out
Dispatch records
Video footage of store that experienced a strong armed robbery
11:51 – There was a 911 call about a robbery at a convenience store- a different officer went there
12:01 – Darren Wilson encounter encountered Michael Brown
12:04 – A second policeman arrived following shooting
12:05 – A supervisor was sent to scene
Good Morning Everyone
Happy Friday Rikyrah. And I mean FRY-day… :-)