It means a Lot

" Nobody's free until everybody's free" Fannie Lou Hamer.

Fannie Lou Hamer spent her entire life fighting for the freedom of her people. She bravely said the only thing they can do is kill you and they been trying to do that our whole life. She was beaten, jailed, beaten in jail, she was harassed, threatened, demonized, and still she persevered. But there was always the threat of death. And in the south death of a black person wasn't necessarily that big of a deal...until one day apparently the death of them was a huge deal. Sometimes white supremacists miscalculate. They did it when they killed four little girls inside of a church in Birmingham 1963 and they did it again in Charleston South Carolina in 2015. I say they because white supremacists don't act alone. They act together, maybe not as a singular group but they are in tune with one another. Much like bees in separate hives all work to protect their queens and make honey as a by product. They miscalculated. They tried to start a war and all they did was strike another blow at white supremacy. 

On June 17, 2015 Dylann Storm Roof (herin after refered to as “the shooter”) drove 100 miles from his home in Lexington South Carolina to Charleston South Carolina and walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and sat down with the members of that congregation for bible study. He sat with those congregants and he worshiped with them for a full hour. During those 60 minutes he was welcomed with love as a guest and treated with respect and kindness. 3,600 seconds after he walked through that door he had built up enough courage to carry out his original plan of action. What was was this plan? Race war.  As foolish and dated as that sounds he wanted to start a war between white people and people of color. The people of color that he despised the most were black. He may have been a stupid boy but he wasn’t without crucial knowledge as to what areas were important to the civil rights movement. He chose Emanuel African Methodist because it was a bastion of black pride and hope. It was a lighthouse of joy in a sea of struggle for African Americans who still struggle with the overt aggression of white supremacy the south is famous for. Now, we all know the north is just as racist as the south. But let’s be honest, in the north you are less likely to be called a nigger right to your face OR have your state flag be actual confederate battle flag. Additionally, you are more likely to celebrate MLK day and not Robert E Lee day and the Civil War isn’t taught as the “war of northern aggression”. In the north African Americans are more likely to see inter-generational growth and a wealth increase and are less likely to believe that the confederacy was fighting for the right to keep slaves and treat them like “one of the family”. 

So, the shooter, full of southern pride and confederate heritage decided he needed to take action.  He needed to take a stand where others coward in the shadows. Even though these people were kind to him and he allegedly had black friends and was not “raised in a racist household” he had come to the conclusion that white people were actually in grave danger. Despite the fact that most hate crimes are committed by white men and the majority of victims are people of color and people with disabilities (as reported to the FBI https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/december/latest-hate-crime-statistics-report-released ) the shooter believed that he needed to take a stand for a white underdog. 

What stand did he take? He pulled out a gun and he killed 9 people. He stood up and told them that “I have to do it. You’re raping our women and taking over the country. You have to go”. The nine people who died were, Cynthia Hurd, 54; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lance, 70; Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Hon. Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; Rev. Sharonda Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59.

 The shooter shot men and women, old and young, and the meek and bold.

After the shooting the shooter drove back towards his home and an image of him was plastered all over the news. He was recognized by friends and family and positively identified by a local citizen who followed him until the police were able to apprehend him (peacefully I might add). In the aftermath of the shooting  the media interviewed everyone who  knew the shooter. When asked if they were surprised by his actions his friends all gave the same answer “NOPE” or more accurately "NAH". They weren’t surprised. The shooter told everyone who would listen that he hated black people and he wanted to do something that would incite a race war. They were all very nonchalant in their responses. They all very calmly and in a matter of fact manner told the media and anyone else who would listen and the shooter hated black people and had planned on doing “something like this” for several months.

I’m floored up by the casual nature of the racism that was apparently rampant in this community.

They interviewed men and women, white and black and all of them claimed to be his friends. Like... how? I could never just sit around and hang with a fucker in a bowl cut who failed out of the 9^th grade who also had the nerve to talk mad shit about how black people were ruining America. Rumor has it that a girl he was crushing on decided not to date him and dated a black guy instead. NO ONE in his life was like hey, dude, you are unemployed, you have a stupid hair cut, your clothing choices are questionable, and you kind of come of abrasively also you don't own a bed you sleep on a mattress covered in plastic you drink all day you do drugs all night you play video games instead of looking for work and you smell because you don't like hygiene things. NOPE. They were all like yea…that nigger just has a big penis so I’m sure THAT’S why she didn't want your funky ass BITCH.  NONE of them checked his madness and so he was able to fall deeper into his lunatic self created delusions of grandeur.OOOOOKKKKAAAAAAAYYY LOSER.

All of these so called friends listened to him make overtly racially derogatory statements and talk about doing harm to black people and they shrugged it off. HOW?!?!?!?! Like did he come over and grab a beer from the fridge and say

 “Man I thought some more about fucking killing a  bunch of random niggers today”

And they were like

“Dude, calm down. You are ALWAYS talking about killing random fucking niggers. You know they just make more. Let’s just play call of duty and pop some molly”

and he was all 

"Fine, ok but I'm going to think more about killing those niggers tomorrow when this high wears off"

Is that how they spent their days? Brushing off his constant threats of violence? For months? And no one thought to alert his parents or the authorities? Even in these post Columbine Days? Oh. Ok Lexington. This is why I’m not raising my children in the fucking south. 

His black friend said he made racially derogatory jokes but this plucky octaroon was reluctant to actually label him a racist. Why? Because this boy probably wasn't taught to SEE racism as racism. I think a lot of people aren't taught to truly see racism for what it is. If black people in this country were able to TRULY see racism then all these American monuments to problematic leaders and who have actually been devoted to white supremacy including schools named after slave owners, and plantations that serve as wedding destinations and retreats would have to immediately be set on fire. Just reduced to ashes on General Principle. So, his part blackish friend was reluctant to describe him as a racist because he doesn't really know what a true racists looks like outside of klanwear. NO ONE in his life called him a racist. Do you know how incredible that is. What more would he have to do for them to actually call him a racist? Would he need to show up in a white hood and burn a cross in their living room during Christmas dinner? The sad answer is probably yes, and even then they would be like well....he is just acting out. 

So here’s the jig, when a black gang banger shoots up a black neighborhood there are certain reactions that occur. Just for the record, Black people HATE THAT SHIT.  Black people do not enjoy living in fear. Black people do not enjoy violence. However, white supremacy has created a pressure system (through the denial of wealth, benefits, title, land, and resources) that sometimes makes areas that are predominantly black more prone to violence. You have to remember that black people were brought here in violence. They were kept here in violence. Less than 60 years ago they were still openly hanging from trees in violence. The violence done to black bodies was and continues to be sanctioned by our society which had white supremacy built right into the democratic framework. White people see black children as adults. They see black people as fucking super humans, and they give our society’s peace makers the permission to treat them like animals.  To deny this reality is to be willfully ignorant of the systemic sociological issues surrounding the causes of violence in the black community.   They come in and they are disrespectful to victims and survivors. They arrest individuals who have nothing to do with the crime that has been reported. They are deaf to the pleas and concerns of the neighborhood and they become so antagonistic that eventually the communities that need them the most stop calling them all together.  In Chicago there are marches, community meetings, coalitions, discussions, panels, neighborhood watches, and summits that all seek to deal with the violence in the community. Just because you can’t be bothered to notice doesn’t mean black people aren’t trying to respond the violence that white supremacy has caused.

So when violence occurs in the black community the community mourns. They try to find answers. Some in that community are uncooperative but they are the outliers. Black mothers and fathers are just like other mothers and fathers, they want to see their children live and thrive and be better than them. But for generations the American structure has made that impossible.

Contrast this with the white supremacist who commits hate crimes against people of color. They go out and commit crimes in the black community as well. However, their victims don’t always give them forgiveness but other white people are EXTREMELY  reluctant to call out their racism and call their crimes acts of terrorism or racial violence. Let’s be clear about one thing, silence is tantamount to consent. White supremacists are terrorists but white America refuses to accept and believe this and act accordingly. This is an internal problem that white America needs to fix. Black people have been trying to address this issue for a hundred years. But we can’t fix this. We don’t have access to white Americas intimate moments and private occasions. We can’t parole your children and your parents. We can’t have those hard conversations with the love and understanding in the particular way only family members can. If white America truly believes in making this union a better place they have to start by having these conversations. They have to have the hard conversations because not having them is costing us American lives. 

If you are silent about the casual racism that you see in your everyday life you are condoning and supporting it. The white community sees racists as “quirky” or “quaint”. These racists are their old uncles or fathers. They are their crazy aunts who say inappropriate things or their weird cousins who they only see every few months. These people are slightly outcast but still a part of the community and they are allowed to participate even though they are blatantly problematic. The shooter’s family said they didn’t raise him to be a racist. That’s fine, maybe that’s even true who knows. But they knew he was racist and they knew he was mentally unstable and they gave him a got damn gun. What the entire fuck?  The shooter walked around his house wearing racist clothing and sporting confederate flag paraphernalia. He was always high and or drunk. He couldn't keep a job. He lived in squalor.  But his community didn’t do anything to stop him or warn others and 9 people are dead now because of it. The temerity of white America demanding that Muslims condemn their Islamic  brothers  who might look like they could possibly be in ISIS while inviting their klan family members to thanksgiving dinner is galling.

This brings me to the confederate battle flag. Some white southern scoff at the effort to take it down and remove it from civilized society. They say that removing that flag isn’t going to get rid of racism. This is true, however that flag, flying boldly in places where black people are required to be is a symbol of fucking gall and white supremacy of the highest order. The flag stands for the idea that black people are subordinate and inferior to white people and taking it down is the first step is dismantling white supremacy as a whole. If you scoff at that idea that this symbol has power and taking it down is a blow to that power, it’s because you are so invested in the system you can’t see a way around it, or you don’t want to see away around it. There’s a reason the klan picked that flag as their banner. It was never meant to mean anything other than a symbol of hate. It started flying in public during the civil rights movement to intimidate black people and to discourage them from challenging the white dominate social structure. Burning every single battle flag is the first step to telling white supremacy that it’s days are numbered. If you want to operate do so in the shadows because the light is no longer a safe place for your bigotry and your fucking intolerance. Men wrapped in that flag strung up black bodies from trees like strange fruit all across the south and made macabre post cards to send to their families in proud defiance of the black man demanding equal treatment.   If you had suffered under the thumb of Slavery, or the old or new Jim Crow and if you had seen your family separated and beaten just for being born black you would know what good removing that trash ass rag would do.

They used that flag as a banner when they stole away mothers from babies and fathers from wives for earl morning murder. The klan waved that flag as they killed our bright, strong, beautiful civil rights leaders. That flag was a harbinger of death. That flag is a traumatic reminder of the many of fathers and grandfathers stolen in the middle the night who turned up floating in the Mississippi days or weeks later. Of mothers and grandmother raped by their white employers and told that if they complained they would lose their jobs and never work again and possibly lose their lives. That flag is a symbol of abject oppression. What good does removing from the statehouse do? Would you dare ask a Jew if they would like you to remove a swatiska flag from a statehouse in New York? No you wouldn't, but when it comes to systems that offend black people they have to fight and justify their feelings at every turn because they aren't seen as human or worthy of basic fucking common human decency.

It’s hard for white people to talk about race. Part of the privilege in white privilege is not having to talk about race. But without these conversations it’s up to black people to continually shoulder this burden. However, if white people want to be included in this brave new world they need to be a part of it not a part from it. Look at the census. Minorities are going to be majorities soon. White isn’t going to be the controlling ethnicity for long.  White people need to be able to have these conversations with their children so that their children can participate in this global  economy  and not sound completely ignorant. A recent study showed that millennial are just as racist as their parents were( http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/23/millennials-are-just-as-racist-as-their-parents/ ) . This is because people don’t talk about tolerance and they don’t talk about race appropriately and they don’t engage people of other races. We live in our fishbowl communities and we don’t try to expand our knowledge and our kids are raised without the skills and tools they need to be global citizens. The shooter was born in 1994 for fucks sake, 40 years after the Civil Rights Act was signed and just a decade before the country would see it’s first black president. We have to do better than this. We can’t keep having kids who keep holding the same blind prejudices as their parents. Aren’t our kids supposed to be better than us? How can they be when we don’t give them the tools to succeed? 

DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT. FUCK THAT FLAG. BREE NEWSOME THE GOAT. 

Injustice is more dealy than....

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“Love your neighbor as yourself” means you picture yourself (or your child) being choked and surrounded by five men while you say, “I can’t breathe,” –Scott Slayton. 

 After the police in Staten Island choked Eric Garner (pictured above) to death on camera with a complete disregard for his safety, life, or the rule of law, I had some frank conversations with my friends about the police state and how people of color are affected in exponentially greater numbers. We know the police work hard. We know they are in a dangerous profession but they chose that profession. Unarmed black people being killed didn't chose that option. The fact that citizens commit crimes against other citizens isn't relevant to the oppression of systemically racist policing. We don't pay private citizens to keep us safe. We pay the police to keep us safe, not to shoot first and lie about it later.

 While having a conversation with a white friend I realized something. Our biggest obstacle to equality is passive racism. It’s the every day subtle thoughtlessness that people don't realize perpetuate racial stereotypes.  We were discussing a residential issue. A white neighbor with some racist tendencies kept calling the police on her black neighbor because she felt he had too many people “coming and going” into HIS HOUSE. This man was a legal landholder and has the right to have whoever he wants over whenever he wants. After several calls the police told her that her neighbor has the right to have guests as long as they aren’t violating noise restrictions, which he wasn’t. The white neighbor wasn’t impressed and continued to call the police about the “suspicious” characters who would visit her black neighbor. The man owned a music studio and had a lot of people use the sound proof studio in his basement to record music. My white friend suggested that the black neighbor should go over and try to make peace with the white neighbor. She said that he should “be the bigger person” and try to find some common ground with her. He should work to assuage her fears and help her see him as a homeowner equal to herself. My friend put the onus on the harassed black man to prove his right to exist in a legal manner.  Here’s the deal, if a woman was being harassed by a man and someone suggested SHE approach him to stop the harassment that would be considered a callous solution. However, black people are expected to not only passively accept harassment but also to then change the behavior of the harassers by submitting to their prejudice. Be the bigger person and kneel before the oppressor and beg for our humanity.

“We are tired of being the bigger person”, I said.

“We? What do you mean we? I didn’t realized black people operated on a fucking hive mentality,” she replied.

There it was. Clear as day. Black people are smart enough to think for themselves, there is no overarching queen and mindless drones working towards a collective survival. Black people (like all humans) have the capability of thinking for themselves and we do not work as one monolith. However, are white people able to see us as individuals when it's inconvenient to do so? 

 Society tends to see black people as a unit, they transmute characters between individuals, those characteristics are immutable until that unit desires collective bargaining or demands realization that collective/shared trauma is real and should be remedied. In that moment society demands that each black person become an individual.

The collective trauma black people suffer from was inflicted by a system designed to prioritize white people. White racist misogynists created our country and it’s hard to shake the legacy they set in place. It’s even harder to admit the traumatic effect of that legacy on black people. If that trauma is legitimate then white people must admit our trauma is the result of white privilege. If they admit to white privilege they have to question a system set up to benefit them and their children.

I would imagine that self-reflection of that magnitude is terrifying. Instead society continues to make black people the “other” that is dangerous and scary. There is a wealth of statistical information that says white people perceive black people as stronger, more violent, and a lot older than their actual ages. White people who know a few black people who may have unfavorable characteristics will then transfer those characteristics to ALL black people. For instance, these are actual things white people have said to me regarding racial inequity…

“ Well, cabs didn’t stop for you because we’ve had a few cab drivers who were robbed by black people”

“Look, the cops shot that unarmed black child because some OTHER black kids beat up a bus driver two weeks ago”

“He was choked to death because of his SIZE”

“My cousin was robbed at gun point by some young black kids so…”

“I see black women use EBT cards at the store while carrying designer bags and driving expensive cars which shows that black people don’t really value hard work and saving”

My friend isn’t a racist. She doesn’t believe white people are superior to black people. But she is reluctant to see just how many ways white privilege and institutional racism permeate our society. Our country is centuries old. It is only within the last 50 years that we have actually made a concerted countrywide effort to recognize ethnic equality. Compare centuries of bigotry, prejudice, and hatred running through the veins of our country sickening us like diabetes. In the last 50 years we’ve tried to inject insulin to remedy the illness but it obviously will take awhile to show positive effects.

One of the lingering effects is that there are no individual sins with regards to black people. The sins of one are the sins of many. However, the grievances of one are NOT the grievances of many.

It’s a convenient logic. To deny the reality of collective trauma is to support a philosophy that blames the oppressed and absolves the oppressor. It is the logic of the lazy ally. White people who lack a basic understanding of how institutional racism works and of how they benefit for from racism would like for black people to help them understand. They ask for patience and understanding however, black people are often required to couch our language so that white allies continue to engage. Black people have learned to tailor our language when speaking to white people about racism so that we don’t offend. We make sure they use accessible language and don’t sound too harsh because then the white person will get cagey and not want to talk about it anymore. Therein lies the crux of the issue. White people can choose not talk about racism.

Most black people can’t go their entire lives without discussing racism. The reason black people assume racism is involved in the murders of Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, and a host of other unarmed black people is because we were raised in households with elders who remember the segregation.  The Civil Rights Movement was NOT THAT LONG AGO. To think that the government could legislate what has taken centuries to cultivate is one of the best fairy tales I've ever heard. White racists based entire social organizations and familial structures on their belief in racial superiority. All those people didn't just magically die out and take their entire racist blood line with them. Black people remember this. We can't forget it. We don't have the luxury. 

This country was settled by the west centuries ago. We still see it every day. We are slapped in the face with it. We don’t get the luxury of forgetting. White men with a criminal record are more likely to be hired than black men with college degrees. When faced with THAT reality how do you explain away the trauma of knowing you can follow all the rules and it still won’t matter? It's unacceptable to tell Jews to get over their genocide. When Irish and Polish immigrants discuss the hardships they faced after emigrating here we listen with reverence. When Japanese Americans discuss their encampment during the second World War we respect it. Only black people are told to "get over" slavery. That would be easier if the effects of slavery weren't still splattered all across the American landscape.

For my 30^th Birthday I went to Las Vegas with my sister and my cousin. I was sick (a lupus flare up) and a little under the weather. I rented a scooter to get around. I wasn’t moving fast enough for the group of white men who were walking behind us. They called us “nigger bitches” several times and threatened to rape and beat us. I am an attorney, barred in two states and I still get followed around while shopping in stores. People ask and say bigoted things to me at work and in public. Despite all this I’m asked to let it wash off my back like water off a duck’s feathers.  It is hard. I don’t think white people realize how hard that is. It’s like telling a woman who has been sexually assaulted to just “get over it”. You wouldn’t say that to someone who is the victim of abuse …so why is that acceptable to say to black people who are the victims of systemic and persistent abuse. 

So what next? What is the purpose of this discussion? The purpose is discussion. WE need to have open honest and forward dialogue between black people and white people. We need to have to this. When black people talk about white supremacists and racists we are not talking about ALL WHITE PEOPLE. White ally's can help by not taking discussions of institutional racism as accusations.  White people ally’s need to talk to other white people and start checking everyone’s privilege.  White people are reluctant to see their privilege when confronted by black people. When the message comes from other white people it is more palatable. Additionally, when white people can speak about institutional racism in a logical and coherent manner black people feel like they are being heard. Speaking with compassion and understanding (not shame) will help people of color feel respected and valued. Educate yourselves and stand up when you see injustice.

Why the Colors Were Hidden

I just watched a documentary on the Hidden History of people of color.

Of course, I had to ignore the kemetic crack pot but there were other highly qualified scholars. It was a whirlwind of information. Regarding the African influence around the world. How the Moors taught Europeans about hygiene (hey why don’t you guys built the animals their own houses and you guys don’t sleep in a cabin full of shit?) and music (instruments and writing) and math. How they brought science (alchemy) and chemistry (healing and medicine). The first university were started by Moors. They brought trade and education AND the running theme is that black people did all this WITHOUT WIPING OUT THE EUROPEAN PEOPLE.

What the Moors brought to Europe --> http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/10/07/when-black-men-ruled-the-world-moors/

Early depictions of the holy family showed them with Moorish features. Early depictions of great scholars and men of affluence showed Moorish features. Moors (a word meaning dark) helped influence the entire world.

He spoke about how Africans were involved in cross-Atlantic

trade long before Christopher Columbus and his clumsy misguided antics. I learned that he brought Moors with him to help him navigate and upon his arrival in the “new world” there were Moorish looking natives there to greet him. Picture of the Ohlone Indians show clear African features. Supporting the premise of intermingling and cultural exchange.

 The Moors managed to travel across the Atlantic Ocean and engaged in cultural trade WITHOUT killing all the natives. They intermarried, intermingled, traded goods and WENT THE FUCK BACK HOME. People of color are shown in the ancient art of people all over the globe. Traditional African features are seen from Asia to Ireland.

In America the black African family was systemically and purposely undermined. The black African family was a supreme threat to white slave owners. Before the advent of the civil war black slaves were revolting all throughout the south. Africans built the pyramids and taught Europeans how to build castles. They have a history of greatness that has been erased from the propaganda the west tries to spread as history in an effort to bolter the European genetic line. Europeans are the ethnic minority on this planet. European colonizers effectively changed the mindset of the people they colonized. They made black people hate their hair, their skin, their bodies, and denied them the patriotic pride that comes with a true accounting of history.

Then Tariq Naheed becomes a troll of epic proportions. He says that the break down of the civil rights movement (and black mental liberation) was due  (1) the women’s rights movement and (2) effeminate men. SIR. SIIIIIIR. He says that before civil rights women didn’t have any complaints. Well, he says black women were already equal to black men and when white women started the feminist movement black women joined them and created a rift within the black community. THEN the white man started making the black man effeminate.

OH?

 tell me more, Sir Troll. 

Or maybe I can tell you...FIRST the women’s rights movement was black women saying that they deserve to be respected within their own community as well as in the white community. Black women were saying NO to rape, domestic violence, misogyny, and oppression. The black man would go to work all day and have the white man shit on him often he would then come home and shit on his wife. When women started saying they didn’t want to take that type of abuse anymore black men saw it as an affront to the black family.  IF you were the type of man who respected and appreciated women THEN THEY WERE NOT TRYING TO CHANGE YOU. Additionally, the women’s rights movement said women have the right to be paid as much as men AND have access to birth control.  Unwanted children prevent women from contributing financially to their homes. Increased pay at work meant more money for the UNIT as a whole. WHY would you disagree with this? Black women, Black feminists, Womanists have ALWAYS supported the black man and tried to create a community that would nourish and uplift them. 

Tariq the Troll says that one day women up and decided they no longer needed men to have babies. BRUH. BIOLOGY would seem to suggest that it is impossible for black women to have babies without …a…man… Don’t blame women because your masculinity was challenged.

SECOND. Effeminate men are the white man’s way of creating genetic genocide. I’m still a little foggy on how this occurs but I’m assuming he is talking about gay men not going out there making babies with women. However, black people aren’t having any trouble having babies in spite of the allegedly high population of gay banditos that are running around shaking the very foundation of the black family community. SIR a black gay man organized the March on Washington. LOOK AT BAYARD!!!!!

He was also erased from the history books because of his sexuality. Now you seek to erase him from our movement because he doesn’t fit YOUR view of masculinity.

Why are black men SO threatened by a men who don’t their perception of what a man should be. He challenges the men who tried to wear heels on campus at Morehouse. These college men. These men who are going into business and medicine and education. He dismisses the possible positive effect they can have on the black community because they wear heels. However, I notice that he doesn’t have anything critical to say about black men spending hundreds of dollars on gym shoes they don’t need and cars they can’t afford. He doesn’t talk about how our obsession with material things we don’t need is slowly driving us away from a unified movement towards true racial equality. LET’S HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW MUCH BLACK MEN LOVE WHITE WOMEN! Let’s talk about how much they love the white aesthetic. They prefer light skin, light eyes, straight hair, thin bodies. Does Tariq talk about how the black man’s love of white women has contributed to the break down of the “black family”? NO. Of course not. Because that would take away from his message denigrating and marginalizing the black woman.

Tariq is wrong. His philosophy is colored by his obvious gender insecurity and his not so subtle homophobia. What is damaging the black community is our internalization of the white man’s oppression and xenophobia. Black people want to find someone lower than them on the totem pole and they believe that gays are sitting right on the bottom. Bigotry is what keeps us from prospering. Misogyny keeps us from advancing. Women have been the backbone of the American black community for  500 years and any man who would disrespect her is jealous and insecure and the reason we as a whole cannot find a way to finally beat white oppression. Only by working together can we achieve our goal. White people don’t need to be unified (In America) they are the majority and the oppressors. Black people can’t afford to have these arbitrary factions. Everyone comes in. Every contributes. Everyone does their part and we all rise. 

Woody or Kelly

In January 2014 Woody Allen was presented with the Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement Award. Woody Allen creates critically acclaimed films. He has won four Oscars and received several other prestigious awards throughout his lifetime. The film industry is full of critics that are predominantly not people of color. Additionally the people who find Woody Allen’s work to be brilliant and incomparable are predominantly not people of color.  This is important to note because recently Woody Allen’s receipt of the lifetime achievement award was followed by an open letter  to the New York Times written by his estranged daughter Dylan Farrow. Dylan detailed abuse allegations her father perpetrated against her over 20 years ago when she was 7 and her parents were separating.

(This is the link the Dylan's statement. 

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/an-open-letter-from-dylan-farrow/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0)

The break up between Woody Allen and Mia Farrow has been meticulously detailed by the media and the legal system. 

(This is the link to the settlement agreement between Mia Farrow and Woody Allen.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/1994524197AD2d327_1461)

There have been several articles written about this topic over the years but this recent revelation by Dylan and the response by Woody have created a flurry of written responses from the journalistic community.
(Link to the state of public opinion regarding the Allen case. 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/02/woody_allen_v_dylan_farrow_the_court_of_public_opinion_is_now_in_session.html)

There have been multiple articles written either in support of Mr. Allen or in support of Dylan. There is ambiguity regarding the veracity of the allegations. 

(http://www.salon.com/2014/02/03/the_uneasy_ambiguity_of_the_woody_allen_case/)

 There is a multiplicity of perspectives regarding this issue but there is no shortage of differing perspectives.  Some people call on the public to divorce Woody from his work. They mention flawed great artists of the past and point to the fact that their work outlived scandal. Mozart wrote semi-incestuous letters to his mother.  Roman Polanski still created wonderful films despite allegations of rape. These artists were flawed but we still revere their work because of the independent benefits we particularly and intimately derive from them.

Juxtapose this to the media reaction to the release of R Kelly’s 12^th Studio Album “Black Panties”. 

(Review of R Kelly's most recent album
http://www.hotpress.com/R-Kelly/music/reviews/albums/R-Kelly--Black-Panties/10992723.html)

The media reaction from various media outlets were relatively similar. They were all bothered that R Kelly was  accomplishing any success with this album because of accusations in his personal life.  In 2008 R Kelly went on trial for allegedly having sex with a minor. He was acquitted of these charges but for years before and after he has been labeled a pedophile and a deviant. What I have noticed a distinct absence of are articles supporting R Kelly and asking if we can separate his art from the personal complaints against him. The amount of people who are supporting R Kelly in print are virtually non-existent.  Additionally, the majority of R Kelly fans are people of color. Their voices are  not held in the same critical esteem as people in the majority racial/ethnic group.

            These men are different in a variety of ways.  Woody Allen is a shy, introverted, seemingly benign and not explicitly sexual.

 His movies deal with complicated casts and human emotions but are not overtly erotic. He is soft spoken and polite. He has high profile and influence actors who are honored to work with him and give him glowing praise.

(Who is praising Woody Allen?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-woodyallen-idUSBREA1203A20140205)

R Kelly on the other hand is a big, black, and hyper-sexual. He writes about sex, he sings about, his music videos are carnal and sensual and he’s unapologetic for being a passionate Lothario. 

            The difference between these men is obvious and subtle at the same time. Some will point to particulars to distinguish them. Woody was never married to Mia Farrow, he never spent much time with the children, he was the subject of an intense investigation and was found innocent. R Kelly has settled with numerous young women and their families. 

(Read the allegation surrounding R Kelly

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2013/12/read_the_stomac.php)

He actually saw the inside of a courtroom and there are lots of affidavits detailing his wrong doing on file. Woody Allen engaged in questionable activity with the children of his former partner.  R Kelly is the scary black buck. He’s terrifying and worrisome and America assumes he’s King Kong coming for every white woman he can find. He’s a danger. He’s a scary Mandingo. He’s the monster under the bed. There are a lot of people who connect to R Kelly’s work because it is fun, catchy, accessible, and speaks to the experiences people of color tend to have. 

(What it means to support R Kelly

http://ucsdguardian.org/2014/01/what-it-means-to-support-r-kelly/)

Should his work be linked to his personal life because the people who appreciate it don’t make the rules for what is  “high art”? 

(Details of the allegations against R Kelly

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2014/01/r_kelly_sex_tape_underage_crimes.php)

Ultimately these men are living the exact same truth. Both were accused of committing heinous acts against children and neither man was actually convicted of any wrong doing.

 The overarching conclusion would suggest that these men be treated the same by the media.  The media advocate for both sides of EACH story or neither of any story. Either allow both men to have personal flaws that are independent of their work or inextricably connect the accusations to their art.