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Tonight at 7pm UNCG Pride! along with The Wellness Center will host a live video presentation from Michael Wilke, founding Executive Director of the Commercial Closet Association. The presentation will explore stereotypes and issues of LGBT people and how they are portrayed both positively and negatively by media and marketing companies, and corporations.
Last year I was introduced to the works of Frances E.W. Harper, a poet and activist of the 19th and early 20th century. A phenomenal woman who boldly addressed a crowd of white women when she delivered her speech, “We Are All Bound Up Together,” at the Eleventh Women’s Rights Convention in 1866. Her speech captured my attention because of its unapologetic discussion of race, gender, and class discrimination. Despite her limited human rights, Harper exhibited great depth and wisdom as she used the Convention as a platform to explain the ripple effect of injustice. When one person suffers, we all suffer–we’re just not all aware of the universal connection.
1866? A woman? A black woman? A black woman born in the South? How many of us know of this extraordinary woman who was one of the nineteenth century’s best-known African American writers and activists? One of my former history professors urged students to recognize that blacks were agents of historical change, and therefore critical in the formation of this country, its economic growth, as well as in the abolition of chattel slavery. In grade school I was taught–we came from Africa, we were slaves, and then Abraham Lincoln freed us. How bad is that to a young person’s psyche when they’re taught that they descended from a sea of nameless, faceless slaves? Besides the usual group of five we’re taught about during Black History Month, what about David Walker, Ira Aldridge, Prince Hall, and so many others I’ve yet to learn about.
Writers such as Harper should not be limited to the classrooms of Women’s Literature, African American Literature, or African American history. After-all, Harper stated, “We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.” Isn’t that a quote we should all live by?
Thank you to all those, past and present, who are artists, writers, activists, musicians, freedom fighters–who inspire me to THINK FREE.
In my Women’s Studies class, we were assigned to read an article titled “White Privilege and Male Privilege.” The article is quite dated now having being written in 1988, but I was 8-years old in “88 and a few of her comments transported me back in time to the days when I was struggling with my identity (when the struggle first began). I remember up until the age of five being totally immersed in black culture–I was rarely around whites, or any other race for that matter. We lived in a black neighborhood and my preschools were all black. It calls to mind my days at Howard University–it was possible to see only black people if you so desired (well almost, as long as you lived on campus, didn’t venture too far from Georgia Ave., and did not run into those few minority students who do attend the University).
Anyway, I digress. At age four we moved clear across town, still in a black neighborhood–but our schools were nearly all white. What a shock to my system! I practically retreated into a shell. Although no one ever explicitly stated, “you are inferior,” I certainly felt that way. In first grade, I was the only black child in my class–no one to identify with. I can remember speaking one way at home, and adopting a more proper tone at school. Not because anyone made me, but I felt completely like an outsider if I didn’t. This created for me what W.E.B. Du Bois called “double consciousness,” and my confidence suffered because of it.
My parents were great in helping to boost my self-esteem–although I never spoke with them about the inner turmoil I was experiencing. Peggy McIntosh, the author of the article, compiled a list of privileges that white people enjoy. Of these, “I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race” I immediatly identified with. Presently, finding these things are not as problematic for people of color, but when I was a child they were damn near impossible. Now we at least have the black section of greeting cards in most stores, and black and brown faces can be seen in magazines and toy store aisles. As children, my siblings and I were constantly bombarded with images of people who did not look like us. My parents attempted to counter this system of cultural imperialism, so when gift-giving time came around we recieved images that looked like us. We had a huge collection of barbie dolls, but not one was white (well there was that one that was fairly light, but my mom said she was of mixed race. Hahaha.). One of my favorite gifts was my Indigo doll. When I was younger, I was in love with everything Rainbow Brite. As a Christmas gift my mother bought me Indigo, the only black friend of Rainbow Brite. After that, it was “Rainbow Brite who?”
*In this post the term Indigo Child is not being used in the manner in which it is typically defined.
Have you ever wanted to learn Kiswahili? I have become increasingly interested in learning the language commonly referred to as Swahili by non-speakers (Jasiri means bold/courageous in Kiswahili). The Kamusi Project (kamusi=dictionary) is currently working towards establishing new dictionaries of the Kiswahili language. The project established the Internet Living Swahili dictionary that allows users to search for Kiswahili translations of English words and vice versa. The project is an undertaking of the Yale Program in African Languages and the Council on African Studies. The website is a wonderful resource, but unfortunately the project is out of funds and cannot proceed with any further development of the internet dictionary. However, all of the current features of the project are still available so check out the site, and add your financial support for this important project.
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