Remaining attached to certain ideals even when – and sometimes, most especially after – privileges that accrue to such concepts have been pointed out and problematized, should force us to ask some serious questions about the relation of citizenship and subjectivity, the relation of citizenship as subjectivity, to ongoing processes of exclusion and violence. The […]
Category: Capitalism
On the Queerness of Self Love
While conducting a seminar with college students about self-esteem, Yolo Akili heard a young person say something that remains an important touchstone for those of us trying to do liberatory work in our communities. When talking about loving oneself, a Black woman said, “Self love? That shit’s gay!” I’ve turned this statement over in my […]
Reconciling the Non-Profit “Post Industrial” Complex with Black Girls in Mind
Who is Anna Julia Cooper? Click here to learn more. Awesome FIRST wave Black Feminist. On Monday, I went to visit the Score Small business mentoring office to learn about the benefits and limits of a 501 (c) (3) versus an LLC or a conventional corp. #planning. #wingsup. I was REALLY surprised to learn that […]
Love Overflow: A Red Reflection (and a Trigger Warning… SMH)
It’s early on Valentine’s Day, an invented holiday by U.S. greeting card companies (for real, look it up!). I just learned about Too Short’s “Fatherly Advice” to young boys about how to “turn girls out” in a video for XXL. While this is not shocking for Too Short, it also speaks to the culture we […]
Culo, Coffee and Crime: More on Disrespectability Politics
From an Australian researcher claiming Beyoncé’s name and her celebrity bum with a horse fly, a pissed Wisconsin congressman attacking the national obesity campaign by deriding the First Lady’s derriere, to Diddy riding on somebody else’s butt for more fame in his new book called Culo, across the academic, political, and the popular, our booty […]
Some Reflections on the Limits of Sainthood
How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: […]
Some Thoughts on Jay-Z and Those “Occupy All Streets” T-Shirts
Sometimes, for the life of me, I cannot figure out why we expect rappers to be invested in social justice. Rapping is a job. This is not to say that they can’t be. I only ask why we expect them to be. When Kanye showed up at OWS NYC, I thought this is interesting. The […]
Leave Kim Alone!
I upgraded my cable package a few years ago and have been keeping up with the Kardashians for a few seasons now. I’m not sure what happened the first few years, but thanks to E! marathons I am certain that I’m up to speed. I have no problems admitting that I’m a fan of the […]
Somewhere Between Black Power and White Rage
There have been several public “events” privileging race, gender, and class during the past weeks in New York City that featured prominent Black feminists. After the film screening of The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, the conference about Anita Hill 20 Years Later: Sex, Power and Speaking the Truth, and the Occupy Wall Street movement based […]
The Choices We Make
Story #1- Last Monday I picked my son up from his afterschool program and was met with a full on tantrum. He was upset that I would not allow him to eat the gummy Starbursts given to him by his chess coach and informed me that he had already had some at “snack” time. Story […]