The Blues

"The blues are the breath of our tragedy. The blues live in shanty homes and condemned men's cells. The blues hold a grim knowledge of women and men who survive when any sane human being would just lie down and die.

The blues are the black man's culture, the black woman's race. The are our identity and why we recognize each other in all of our hues and features, religions and origins. The high yellow socialite from a well-respected Atlanta clan knows the pain and emptiness of the coal-colored cowboy riding the lonely north Texas range. She knows because their lot is the same. Their ancestors all experienced slavery and the aftermath of slavery; what America told us was freedom. They both see the world is invisible to most of white America. To them the beating of Rodney King wasn't a crime; it was the picture of a common history that started centuries ago. They saw, consciously or not, tens of millions of Rodney Kings and hundreds of millions of white men with sticks....

....And who are we? Black people, African Americans, brothers and sisters, soul, blood. A family that has had to endure separation, isolation, and the jeers of demented hatred. Our common history and culture is mainly of loss: loss of our African heritage and culture, loss of the ownership of our bodies, loss of our children.

The poetry of the blues tells us all of this. It often sings in a voice of despair. But its the hope and courage of the blues that make us listen and understand."

-Walter Mosley
Black Genius: African American Solutions to African American Problems

So I stumbled across this movie today, and will be watching it tonight. I found it befitting for Black Historty month.

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PDELaSoul

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“They claim that I’m violent, just cause I refuse to be silent”

PDELaSoul

Not Built Like a "Black Girl"

Since I can remember image was everything in my life. Until recently however, I've come to terms that I was not meant to be built the way black girls are supposed to be build according to the psyche of black men, but am content in the slim figure that I've so been blessed with. 

Growing up I can recall how during my sixth grade year, every girl acquired their hips and were full figured "women" except myself; if anything I had two watermelons for breast, which I was more than uncomfortable with, especially among the gawking eyes of nasty  pedophiles---or excuse me older men. Needless to say I mastered the skill of dressing like a tomboy during those years. My uniform culottes were about 2 sizes two big to cover up the fact that my hips had not yet come in and I wore shirts that covered up my abnormal sized breasts. This was the case for as long as I can recall, hoping and praying that my hips would come in and I would one day be a full figured thick black girl, you know the chic with the Coco-Cola Bottled figure. However at age 24, as I continue to evolve into womanhood (an on-going process), my hips have failed to come in according to the definition of what it means to be shaped like a black girl and men may never the learn such etiquette such as it is not polite to glare at a woman's "pronounced" features. I've not only come to terms with my body but even more importantly, I am comfortable and accepting of my image, so much so if  I catch the opposite sex glaring I'll boldly ask may I help them and school them on the etiquette of being a polite man. 

The point in me writing my little spiel is to question when will the black girl's body not be so heavily focused on? Its ridiculous that little girls can not simple be little girls without falling prey to the asinine idea that they must fulfill this bodily image of a coco-cola bottle shaped Kim Kardashian or Buffie the Body! When will she simply get to BE without always being conscious of her body? Granted the illusions of body image is an issue that does not discriminate, when will little girls and in some instances grown women be allowed the simple pleasure to just BE...comfortable and uninhibited without the extreme consciousness of their body make up?
PDELaSoul

Willie Lynch's Reality

PDELaSoul
“….we will use the same basic principle that we use in breaking a horse, combined with some more sustaining factors. What we do with horses is that we break them from one form of life to another; that is, we reduce them from their natural state in nature. Whereas nature provides them with the natural capacity to take care of their offspring, we break that natural string of independence from them and thereby create a dependency status, so that we may be able to get from them useful production for our business and pleasure.”

-Willie Lynch Letter

Irregardless of whether or not we choose to believe that Willie Lynch’s 1712 “The Making of a Slave” is true or not, the state of black people around the world may very well be due to the concepts of “The Making of a Slave”. If I may say so myself, if this letter is in fact a documented part of history; Lynch’s strategic plan to the break down of the black man/race has been carried out successfully. I hate to be critical of the very race that I myself belong to however if being overly critical and conscious does not save us from this path that we have mindlessly embarked on, I’m not sure what will.

In recent conversations and discourse among friends and I concerning the almost dead end path we as a race seem to be on, I’ve come to realize and accept it as truth that the primary factor that has us as a people on this downward spiraling path is that of the media’s propaganda. Almost everyday there is a new study or finding about black people that the news feels the need to air. Majority of the time this so called information is in reality half truth and misinformation that is literally malnourishment to our being. The Willie Lynch concept is very well prevalent throughout our media today and only infiltrating our minds, keeping us bound through mental slavery.

In an article/blog in Clutch Magazine Online  concerning educated brothers opting out of relationships, a friend, in response to the article stated that “…when you buy into such [media] propaganda (black men aint sh--, black women cant get a man, they all date white women, etc) you contribute to the break down of the black family and the dehumanizing of black men…”. Reading her comments did not quite click with me until I read another blog on the depiction of black women’s body on Coco and Creme Online Magazine  (also by the founder/creator of Clutch Online Magazine) which allowed me to reflect on the abovementioned friends quote which resonated with me and were no longer mere words. The more I hear the propaganda that the media spews to the public the more I begin to realize that it’s all a means to keep us down. The more that the media’s half truths flood and infiltrate or minds the more likely we are to become accepting of them and inevitably become manifestations of what the media claims us to be. The media is literally programming a race of people and what is even more sad is that we’re blinded to this very truth.

Now my whole spiel is not to solely place blame on the media, but is more so a call for us to become more conscious and aware as to what we allow to permeate or minds and thus our whole being. If only we were to become more accountable for our actions and the state of our race, maybe just maybe we may have a chance at back tracking and return from the dead end path that we seem to be on. The solution to saving ourselves as a people right now is to become conscious, aware, and accountable for our actions.

WyClef Jean. The Next President of Haiti???

PDELaSoul

Possibly Haiti's next president, WyClef Jean

I will always remember WyClef Jean, the former Fugee member as the individual who made it cool to be Haitian during a time when I and many my peers had to fight to defend our culture during a time when it was frowned upon to be  Haitian and we were referred to as boats. However at the speculations that Clef was running for president I was a bit perturbed. While a great humanitarian, despite the rumors behind the management of his organization Yele Haiti's finances, I from the beginning reacted as if this had to be a joke. Albeit having a strong sense of compassion for his native homeland, Clef lacks the political background, skills, and experience needed to run a country, especially a nation who is desperate for help in their current state. Apart from any other critical factor needed to run a country, Clef simply does not have the experience. 

I agree that it is time for change and that Haiti is in need of a more progressive political party/presidents however, Clef is not that man; I can not reiterate that enough. While the youth in Haiti and abroad applause his decision to run for president in the November elections, they fail to look at it his decision from a critical stand point. I am in complete agreement with Sean Penn on the Larry King Show,;we as Haitians in Haiti and abroad have to be very critical of Clef's decision. Is his decision to run for president a concert one with the United States and the other powers that be in hopes of capitalizing on the native people's desperation? Also despite stating his 4 pillars in regards to Haiti's current circumstances, how does he plan on carrying out his proposed vision for Haiti without any skills in running a country? Clef's candidacy as president of Haiti is one that will only bring gains to the self seeking, opportunist powers that be; he is only a pawn  and a mere puppet in a bigger game and the youth that rally behind him are only blind to this factor in his candidacy.

If one were to actually study Haiti's history after its independence, it is more than obvious that the powers that be had a hand in Haiti, she never truly gained her independence. Though free, Haiti's commerce and her affairs were never truly hers; she was raped of everything that we she had and was disenfranchised; crippled and unable to stand on her two feet. Clef's candidacy as president only perpetuates this cycle of a disenfranchised and crippled Haiti.

Despite my commentary and being a member of the Haitian diaspora and not truly a Haitian citizen, the people of Haiti will make their decision and I pray that they awaken to and become more conscious of the future that looms ahead. And for the conscious members of the Haitian diaspora, this is not a time to sit idle and watch as these events in Haiti unravel, however this the time where we come together as a collective group and better ourselves ultimately leading to the edification of Haiti and her citizens.

 

Jezebels, Sapphires, and Mammys

So which one are you? You've got three to choose from: you can either be Sapphire the rude overbearing bitchy, loud and malicious black woman or you can be Jezebel an over sexualized promiscuous whore and last but not least you have the choice of being Mammy, a domesticated and nurturing "yes-a-mam" woman. Jezebel, Mammy and Sapphire once prominent caricatures since the time of slavery are now real life breathing characters within our society. Despite being an age old topic of discussion within the black community; if ever the discussion was needed along with a solution to the problem, now is the time.

After reading a blurb on  Coco and Creme's online magazine about the depiction of black women’s bodies and sharing the link on facebook, a friends response was that the article was a little too vague, which I had to agree with. I'd like to give the writer the benefit of the doubt (it is an age old issue) however with a topic such as this its not to be taken lightly and have the surface of it just touched. Thinking about the state of black women today it dawned on me that despite trying to disprove these stereotypes about us we have in fact brought into and now embody the abovementioned caricatures. For each of the three caricatures I can give many examples of black women who have in fact materialized into these caricatures.