Girl, Ebony

Storylined Dreams: I keep on getting nightmares about not knowing where my classes are or missing my classes and not being able to remember...

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:18:13 -0400

Storylined Dreams: I keep on getting nightmares about not knowing where my classes are or missing my classes and not being able to remember...:

myasphyxiatedmind:

genderbitch:

IT HAS BEEN HOW MANY YEARS SINCE I WAS DONE WITH SCHOOL

WHAT THE FUCK BRAIN

I don’t think I’ll ever stop having those nightmares. If they need proof of how stressful school is for kids, maybe they should look into the fact that a lot of people still…

I was *just* talking about how my school related nightmares have returned! I had one about failing a class because a professor thought I wasn’t taking notes. :-\

A former professor once told the story of how one of his colleagues had recurring nightmares of being fired and he was an accomplished academic who had been tenured for years. The fear is real and widespread.

Condescending ass customer service reps who give rote responses to your complex issue assuming you...

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:51:00 -0400

Condescending ass customer service reps who give rote responses to your complex issue assuming you don’t know basic shit need to DIAF.

fyeahblackhippy: Legendary statuses.

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:14:19 -0400

fyeahblackhippy:

Legendary statuses.

Chile Bye: On The Human Torch, Race In Comics, And The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:01:00 -0400

Chile Bye: On The Human Torch, Race In Comics, And The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing:

comicscrux:

According to The Wrap, actor Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) is in strong consideration for the role of Johnny Storm in Fox’s upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. The announcement came shortly after Allison Williams (Girls) was suggested to be a frontrunner for the…

#TeamWallace!!

schomburgcenter: Abolitionist John Brown was born today in the...

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:52:32 -0400

"Though a white gentleman, [Brown] is in sympathy a black man, and as deeply interested in our cause, as though his own soul had been pierced with the iron of slavery." -Fredrick Douglass, 1847

schomburgcenter:

Abolitionist John Brown was born today in the year 1800. He played a major role in guerrilla actions against slavery.

John Brown believed in freedom for ALL men and that slavery was morally wrong. Contrary to most abolitionists, he advocated the use of violence to destroy the immoral and violent institution of slavery. He is remembered for his involvement in what is known as the Pottawatomie Massacre and the Harper’s Ferry raid in 1859, which led to his capture and execution.

Although some may view his actions as unsuccessful, John Brown’s beliefs and actions for the eradication of slavery in America ultimately played a role in the advent of the Civil War.

Chile Bye: Do your little shitty ass Cracker Crumble & call it "Harlem Shake"

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:49:03 -0400

Chile Bye: Do your little shitty ass Cracker Crumble & call it "Harlem Shake":

notesonascandal:

But don’t tell Black folks to shut up & get over it & have a sense of humor when we speak up and out about seeing you shit on our culture FOR FUN.

FUCK YOUR FUN.

Yes, we realize that most of these clam-chowder faced bitches making these videos didn’t know the Harlem Shake…

"Female 'Purity' Is Bullshit" by Lindy West

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:32:51 -0400

"Female 'Purity' Is Bullshit" by Lindy West:

sonofbaldwin:

Girls and women, if no one has ever told you this before, or if you just have trouble believing it: you are good, you are whole, you are yours. You do not exist to please men, and your value as a human being is not contingent upon your sexual capital. “Purity” is a lie. Do not even worry about any of this garbage, because it’s about as real as a fucking unicorn. And like my Nana always used to say, “Never take life advice from a grown man who believes that unicorns are ‘extinct.’”

(H/T Okanomodé Soulchilde)

Let me start off by saying I love Elle Varner. Her first album...

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:19:28 -0400

Let me start off by saying I love Elle Varner. Her first album is great. She’s clever, talented, super cute and this song (“I Don’t Care”) actually has a wonderful meaning about vulnerability in relationships.

And I wanted to love this video. The first few frames feature a darkskinned, Black woman with a TWA (teeny weeny afro) as the lead and I instantly thought “Okay! Dark sistas getting some love! And natural sistas getting some love!” I was all on board..

Suddenly I’m stuck in this tired, played out scenario when the lead’s love interest (who is white) is being turned away by her father. ‘Cause you know, in this post-racial society it’s the Blacks who are the racist ones! How ironical!!

To add insult to injury, an interracial, gay couple are literally run out of a party by a Black mob. [No, seriously. Press play above]. I’m guessing the director thought it would be interesting to make “I Don’t Care” refer to a couple’s determination to be open and loving despite outsiders judging them. That’s fine, in and of itself, but 1. The song already has a great meaning and 2. Do Black need to be the villain though? Must we reinforce the untrue stereotype that Black folks are the “most” homophobic and the “real” racist ones?

I guess we must.

Listen, Mr./Ms. Director, we’ve all seen, or at least heard about, Avenue Q. You’re not as ground-breaking as you think you are with your wannabe “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” styled flow here. Also Dan Savage already beat you to the “black people are so homophobic” punch. So good job on being far behind the curve. Far behind the curve on bullshit that is untrue and sorry.

I wanna keep loving Elle. So I’m just gonna believe she filmed her part and they sprung all this other racist bullshit on her after-the-fact. Like she cut all of her scenes and they just said “yep, we’re good! that’s a wrap!” Cut to months later she flips on BET, sees all this random garbage and is just as mad as I am.

Assata

Fri, 03 May 2013 20:50:42 -0400

Today Assata Shakur was added to the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list. Making her the first woman to be placed on said list. And I hope she is somewhere in Cuba laughing.

I found it odd in 2005 when the FBI added the first $1,000,000 bounty on her head arbitrarily 32 years after the incident that resulted in the death of the NJ state trooper. And it still seems odd 40 years later that they now want to add her to list of the most wanted people on the planet and add another million to sweeten the pot. Why then and why now? I’m not quite sure.

I also never quite understood why, not too long after the bounty was first placed, her name was suddenly removed (though it had been there with no issue for 17 years) from the community center of our shared alma mater.

What I do understand is how bad this lady is. How many people have you heard of that have escaped from prison and lived to tell to tale? How many people do you know that escaped and were never caught again and forced to return? How pissed off must these cops be that she has gotten over on them so badly? That she is still able to walk free in Cuba and live her life outside of a prison cell?

And a negress, no less! How did a Black woman get over on them so hardcore and for so long?! So much so that all they can do is whine and moan and put her on more “wanted” lists and offer more money for their futile efforts to put her back behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit. Despite all evidence that COINTELPRO was a racist, corrupt, manipulative program that was determined to “neutralize” the Black Panther Party (and by extension, the Black community at large), regardless of legality, we are still chasing after a woman who had the audacity to escape prison when the “legal system” was not designed to work for her.

I hope that her heart is well tonight. I hope she is calm and that this is merely a reminder of how amazing she is. These so-called law enforcers are beside themselves. They got Bin Laden, but can’t get Assata. I hope everyone reading this post, reads her autobiography (a life changing book, btw) in celebration of this day. And I hope she is smiling with the knowledge that she beat them and they can’t touch her.

The effects of unchecked criminalization: Teen charged with felony for science experiment

Wed, 01 May 2013 20:39:39 -0400

The effects of unchecked criminalization: Teen charged with felony for science experiment:

aka14kgold:

onebigpear:

fuckyeahfeminists:

This is what the school-to-prison pipeline looks like. This is how black youth criminalized.

She was doing a science experiment

She’s being charged as an ADULT

She’s being charged with a FELONY

If this all goes the way the prosecution wants, this young woman will be LEGALLY discriminated against for the rest of her life. No voting, housing discrimination, employment discrimination (as if getting a job while black isn’t hard enough), etc. etc.

There is a petition up … spread the word.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-bartow-police-and-bartow-high-school-drop-charges-against-kiera-wilmot

Hey, remember this from yesterday? Go ahead and hit up the petition.

Jason Collins Is Not the First Out Gay Pro Athlete

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:56:19 -0400

Jason Collins Is Not the First Out Gay Pro Athlete:

sonofbaldwin:

iwannajamitwithyou:

thepoliticalfreakshow:

There have been a number of out, professional women athletes before him.

Although his coming out in Sports Illustrated is big news, NBA star Jason Collins is not the “first openly gay athlete in professional North American team sports,” as some have claimed. Claiming as much implies that either women’s sports don’t matter as much (or don’t exist at all), or that coming out is somehow less of a big deal for professional athletes who happen to be women. Here are just a few of them:

Retired WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, who came out in 2005 when she played for the Houston Comets. (She later married a man.)

Brittney Griner of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

Chamique Holdsclaw, former WNBA player most recently with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

Megan Rapinoe, member of the US Women’s National Team, now playing soccer professionally in France.

Lori Lindsey, USWNT member in the 2012 Olympics who currently plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League.

There have also been a number of out stars in individual sports—including Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in tennis and Orlando Cruz, a professional boxer.

There have also been other male professional athletes in team sports who have come out, even if they’re not in the “big four” professional sports—like Andrew Goldstein, the goalie for Major League Lacrosse’s Long Island Lizards.

Interesting quote from one of the articles:

“One of the things I wrote back then was this: The concept that sexuality is not just two polar opposites — heterosexual and homosexual — but lies on a spectrum, is a theory that has always been grasped to some degree. It came more to the forefront in American culture with Alfred Kinsey’s reports in the late 1940s and 1950s, when he introduced the zero-to-six “scale” and the then-shocking concept that not all people actually know where they are on the scale. Nor does everyone always stay in the same place.”

People should remember this when they try to put people into a “box”

Whenever queer professional women athletes are open about their sexuality, we mainly take the position (no matter how presumptuous) that all women athletes are lesbians (because only lesbians would be interested in a male field like sports), so they are merely confirming what we already knew.

We prefer the spectacle of male athletes coming out because we imagine that male athletes are “real men” and gay men are not and we are tickled or angered by the fact that they subverted our expectations.

We got problems.

theweekmagazine: msnbc: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:48:30 -0400

theweekmagazine:

msnbc:

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

Jason Collins makes history becoming the first male athlete playing in a major pro-sport to come out as gay: http://on.msnbc.com/1888nO2FB

Yes.

theweekmagazine: The evolution of pro sports’ acceptance of...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:39:46 -0400

theweekmagazine:

The evolution of pro sports’ acceptance of gays: A timeline

2002
New York Mets pitcher Mike Piazza, concerned by implications in an article in the New York Post, holds a press conference to announce, “I’m not gay. I’m heterosexual.”

2013
Kobe Bryant tweets: Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #courage #support #mambaarmystandup #BYOU

fivelettered: madartlang: #transgender #love #transpride...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:50:14 -0400

fivelettered:

madartlang:

#transgender #love #transpride #translove #glbtq #m2f

always and forever. respect trans* women and especially trans* women of color.

ramblingsofanurbanjawn: sexistfacebookdudes: Holy shit this is...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:16:46 -0400

ramblingsofanurbanjawn:

sexistfacebookdudes:

Holy shit this is amazing

woooow.

newlevant: Hi! I’m stoked to present my thesis comic, If This...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:28:52 -0400

newlevant:

Hi! I’m stoked to present my thesis comic, If This Be Sin, based on the life of Gladys Bentley. It’s for sale on Gumroad! You can download the 16 page full-color PDF for $2.

Gladys Bentley, was a blues singer, piano player, and drag king who performed bawdy tunes in Harlem nightclubs throughout the 1920s and ’30s. Despite the social obstacles she faced as a black, openly queer woman, her outrageous and energetic act became a mainstay of the Harlem cabaret. In 1952, under the oppressive social conditions of the McCarthy era, Bentley publicly renounced her previous identity and claimed to have found happiness as a feminine housewife.

Gumroad is super simple to use, you just have to enter your credit card number and you’ll be sent a direct download, plus Gumroad will email you a link to re-download it if you ever lose track of the file.

FOR EVERY 100 NOTES, I’LL GIVE AWAY A DIGITAL COMIC TO A RANDOM TUMBLR USER so please share if you can! (Within each 100 notes, only people who reblog are eligible for a free copy.)

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the comic!

fuckyeahfeminists: THANK YOU. That’s my boy!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:46:38 -0400

fuckyeahfeminists:

THANK YOU.

That’s my boy!

notime4yourshit: One thing that happened to me that was magic...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 01:20:53 -0400

notime4yourshit:

One thing that happened to me that was magic when I was leaving Africa, was that I was sitting in the hotel lobby, and a voice said, “What do you see? Look around.” And I looked around, and I saw people of all colors and shapes, and the voice said, “You see any niggers?” I said, “No.” It said, ‘You know why? ‘Cause there aren’t any.’ There aint no niggers in Africa! Cause by then, I’d been there three weeks and hadn’t said the word nigger once. And it started making me cry, man. All that shit. All the acts I’ve been doing, as an artist, as a comedian, speaking and trying to say something & I been saying that. And that’s a devastating fucking word. That has nothing to do with us. We are from a place where they first started people, in Africa. In Kenya, Dr. Leakey, a white anthropologist ‘I have to say that so that white people will believe me, ‘Well that could be true! White? Yeah, that’s good!’ I mean he found remains of man five million years ago, that stood up and walked on the Earth. You know that motherfucker didn’t speak French. I mean, Black people, we are the first motherfuckers on the planet. What else I found out is, the fact that aside from us being from the original people, so are the white people that we so call that. Cause we all family, that’s it jack. And fuck all that other shit, cause it don’t mean nothing, except about some cash. Cause the Black man was the first motherfucker to stand on the Earth and say ‘Where in the fuck am I? And how do you get to Detroit?’ - Richard Pryor

yourgoodgirl: give to me. The tank tops though!

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:54:44 -0400

yourgoodgirl:

give to me.

The tank tops though!

gradientlair: Black women who made the TIME 100 List For 2013!...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:29:01 -0400

gradientlair:

Black women who made the TIME 100 List For 2013! First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, creative geniuses Beyoncé, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde (of Nigeria), and Shonda Rhimes, and President of Malawi, Joyce Banda.

Maya Angelou wrote the essay for Michelle Obama, in which she included this: ” She has remained herself, with her grace, her gentleness and her sense of humor. That she would dare to wear clothes off the rack. Or go out and garden. Or have a grandmother in the White House. She knows how to be a public creature without being separate from her family.”

Nancy Pelosi wrote the essay for Kamala Harris, in which she included this: “As a child, Kamala accompanied her parents to civil rights marches in Oakland. She’s been making strides for justice — and breaking down barriers — ever since.”

Baz Lurhman wrote the essay for Beyoncé, in which he included this: “No one has that voice, no one moves the way she moves, no one can hold an audience the way she does. And she keeps growing and evolving in the ways that she expresses herself as a singer, as a performer and now as a mother.”

Richard Corliss wrote the essay for Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, in which he included this: “Nollywood enthralls millions more who come for the thrills, the uplift and the artful agitations of Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde — the Queen of Nollywood.”

Oprah Winfrey wrote the essay for Shonda Rhimes, in which she included this: “Gay, straight, single, divorced, lost, searching — everybody gets a seat at Shonda’s table. She creates an assemblage of worldly foibles and aspirations. She understands that every dream is valuable and every identity deserves inspection through the looking glass of television.”

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (President of Liberia) wrote the essay for Joyce Banda, in which she included this: “President Banda is committed to using her position to improve the lives of women across the continent, not just in Malawi. She has great strength. I am delighted that I’m not alone in Africa anymore.”

The linked names in the first paragraph leads to each respective essay.

Jay-Z and President Obama made the Time 100 List as well; thus there are two Black couples on the list.

Full Time 100 List