Great Words from Great People

The best way to stop talking about COLORISM,is to make sure,every type of color of WOMAN,MAN, etc, are CELEBRATED EQUALLY, on NATIONAL platforms. To continue to pick one and exclude another,only reinforces the stupidity that, one color,being celebrated 90 percent of the time,is the epitome of man made beauty when, in fact,its truly a sickness.All you have to do is look at the comments,especially from males who actually believe the stupidity,and openly disrespect others who do not look like females on this cover. Respecting BROWNER GIRLS and their beauty,seems to be a foreign concept for one reason alone.That being, they are stunning and exotic but,the world truly has a hard time excepting it because,their beauty stands out :-) When you have a race of people,who range in so many beautiful colors, why continue to push the worlds idea,which of us as black people,preferably lighter hues of us,is only worthy of being beautiful, be considered exceptable as black men and women on national platforms? Again, black people,come in an array of colors.

Multifaceted. From light,to medium,brown,and dark, (meaning, black is black)and as a black person with the power to control images,from artist,magazine,media etc, each has a responsibility to equally show the differences in our beauty EVERY, single chance we get to do so.PERIOD. Why? Because, we all have family members who range in the spectrum of light to darkest.If you are suppose to be about the love of people,why are you having such difficulty,showing that to others who look like you? The article states that its refreshing to listen to an album thst does not refer to women as bi*&%#-. Well, their are plenty of artist and albums that do so as well but, the implication could be confused that, darker,browner girls dont mind being called out of their name?Given the fact that this man is internationally known,cover art and images are the first thing noticed. Although I understand what he is trying to say,we are not there yet by a long shot.IMAGES and the LACK OF ARE INDEED POWERFUL! The separation of what's black or not black enough, is what's causing the confusion.

-Courtney


____________________________

The problem is the assault and hatred of Dark Skinned Black women. As a Black man this protest pleases me, because this shows Dark skinned people are beginning to embrace and love ourselves as well as call out other Black people (usually men) who hate Darker skinned women (despite them, their mommas and family are dark too) and demonstrate it with their work and lyrics.If color does not matter than the question begs where is the Dark skinned Black woman. All of the women on his album cover LOOK THE SAME. 
-BlackHeywood

 _____________________

 Blackheywood, its why my avatar represents what he should of did.(in my opinion) But, he has the right to his message. All Im saying is, i'm tired of this discussion.Their shouldn't be any separation between us as light ,brown, darker. They keep the divide going but we could kill colorism, if artist like him, who have the power behind them, decided to represent all of us, every chance they get.

-Courtney

_____________________



We COULD kill colorism but that would involve rejecting society's fascination with European features/going against ideas that have been implanted by whites. It would involve recognizing the importance of images and how they can be damaging or uplifting. We would need a larger awareness of who we are and what we are capable of and there are far too many who are blissfully living in their ignorance to have this happen. We also have to recognize that there are stigmas attached to each shade. Regardless of the shade, we have ALL experienced some form of hatred--not just from whites, but from ourselves.

-Mirah318

___________________


But, he has the right to his message Correct and we Black people have the right to challenge and confront him for his self-hatred. All Im saying is, i'm tired of this discussion Sadly that is our burden as Black people in America, educating, challenging and bringing to light racism no where it comes from when it pertains to us. Their shouldn't be any separation between us as light ,brown, darker. They keep the divide going but That is part of our oppression and part of the psychological damage done to us as a people. As racist as the music business is why would a Black person exclude another Black person is my question unless it's self hatred. Pharrell pulled the same thing racist have done to us historically and he should called out about it. CourtneyrrR it is less than 50 yrs since we gained our Freedom as Black people, plenty of psychological damage has been done to us and passed down the generations. Part of healing is learning to Love and Accept ourselves and that's what's happening now. We are as Dark skinned Black people are growing to accept and love ourselves. I cannot apologize or Chastise Black folks for doing what we are finally doing for ourselves.


-BlackHeywood

___________________

Like many have stated here, its sad to see because , we truly do not understand how powerful we are together. We have to take it upon ourselves and learn about ourselves. The true identity of ourselves. It's the only way to turn this around.
 -Courtney

_______________________

This is the ramifications of our centuries old oppression. Once you own folks mind, you own them. That is our problem many of our minds are owned by White Supremacy.
 -BlackHeywood

______________________

Check out this post from Jamilah Lemieux regarding the album cover and the reaction from some black men:

http://the30before30.tumblr(dot)com/post/77931264731/you-dont-see-us-but-we-see-you-updated

And this article about the oh-so-fabulous Lupita Nyong'o and growing up dark skin:

http://www.clutchmagonline(dot)com/2014/02/lupita-nyongo-talks-dark-beauty-admits-prayed-lighter/?doing_wp_cron=1393613366.7908110618591308593750

-Mirah318

____________________

And yes, it starts with US and OUR COMMUNITY! I feel that it is far time for US to get it together and LOVE instead of hate and take each other down. Before we can be good enough to reach out to others, we must take care of OURSELVES FIRST. I think God wants us to be good stewards over what he gives us. This means I have to attend to my African community first, before I run to China and try to take care of their problems. If each community and the people in them were trying to take care of their own, we would not have half the problems. Like I said, it starts with loving yourself and others around you, we should be so over the house slave that told on others in order to please his massa. With some mentalities like that, we will NEVER SUCCEED! Sidenote: I heard Lupita was at the Essence Award because she won, but she said when she was younger, she prayed for lighter skin. that to me is so sad! Even if I once felt that way, which I HAVE NEVER, PERSONALLY, I would NEVER MENTION IT! White people think we all hate our skin, when WE DON'T! Lupita is just as pretty or PRETTIER than Halle Berry.

-msjames210
_________________________________


Me: We have to clean up our HOUSE before we see true liberation. With the situation in our community, I will never go into a fantasy and try to disregard the struggle of black people. I like the fact that you called our community the African community, because we are all Africans. We have to need to have the KNOWLEDGE OF SELF and love for our black heritage first. If we can't respect ourselves, we can't respect others. That is the reality of the situation. Obviously, Lupita is a very beautiful Sister too.

-By Timothy

Yes she is! Something I have noticed over the years,is that some black people are busy taking care of everyone else's community but their own. People that have resources in money in our community will go hire some other young people from other communities and enable them to do better, while our children go to pot. Not fair and definitely not cool. Whenever i am blessed enough to hire staff, I promised God I would look out for family first, then my community next, and this is a promise I plan to keep.

-msjames210

________________

Thank you those are the Black men who I said were psychologically damaged and who suffer from self hatred. Great Article.

-BlackHeywood

_________________
Thank you SIS for posting these links.Damn, why can't we get articles like the one you just posted, to address this colorism issue that simply wont go away? I thought what this woman said. (black woman, lighter skinned black woman :) said, was so on point. I appreciate the link and I believe ,every black man, person,should read what she has to say on this topic and this cover. “When I was a teenager my self-hate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no conservation, she’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful. And then…Alek Wek. A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was. Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me, as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me, when I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty. But around me the preference for my skin prevailed, to the courters that I thought mattered I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me you can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t feed you and these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.” Nyong’o said that she held onto her “self hate” and did not entertain the idea that she was beautiful until she saw Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek gracing catwalks, magazines, and even winning Oprah’s praise.“I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. “There is no shame in Black beauty.” Lupita Nyong’o

-Courtney's Words (to my Homegirl Mirah)

______________________



I wanted to cry reading her words. I remember the first time I saw Alek Wek. I was jealous of how beautifully flawless she appeared to be. To me, her beauty was unmatched. To read that Lupita struggled with those feelings of insecurity really hurt. Sister to sister, there are a lot of issues regarding beauty that we can solve ourselves independently of everyone--including our men. I make it a point of telling other sisters and especially our young women and girls just how beautiful I find them. It is nothing to see a young girl or a sister and say "You have it going on!" Look how much that validation meant to Lupita from Oprah and it wasn't even directed at her at the time. If we all took the time to bolster each other instead of allowing pettiness, insecurities and ignorance to get between us, imagine how fantastic black women would really be! -Mirah318

 ________________________________

 Sister to sister, you are 100 percent right.I remember watching Vanessa Williams strut across that stage when she won Ms America, and being so proud of her and acknowledging her beauty as a black woman. The thing is, we all should have equal representation of our beauty and colors. Our validation as black people, black women(light,brown, dark) should not be separated.This nonsense was born out of slavery but, we have the power to take control over how we view each other, treat each other,when we decide to do so. We simply can't afford this man made fight against each other. You are being so proactive when you take it upon yourself to recognize other sisters and what they bring to the table.SO, I THANK YOU for seeing that. WE ALL , should take cue from you and do the same. YOU SAID "If we all took the time to bolster each other instead of allowing pettiness, insecurities and ignorance to get between us, imagine how fantastic black women would really be!" Exactly SIS, UNSTOPPABLE. :)

 -Courtney

 ________________

 My weekend is 'bout to start ;) BUT I wanted you to read this: Edited: check your email for the link. Clutch, Ebony, and (yes even) Madame Noire are also decent. Jamilah Lemieux writes for Ebony and I think the absolute best of her. Text ya later.

-Mirah318

__________


Just got in and will def read it if you are co signing her. Thank you for the info. Text ya later. :)

-Courtney

_________________

Why do some Black men HATE Dark skinned Black women is the real question.This message is to all the Black folks including the author from Brother Malcolm x: Malcolm X: Who Taught You To Hate Yourself? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you t...o hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? You know. When some Black folks adopt the "European Standard of Beauty" they are sending a clear message that they HATE THEMSELVES.

-BlackHeywood


____________

This album cover shows the way our society views beauty. Notice the white woman is in the front? then the ambiguous looking women are behind her,darker skinned black women are no where in sight.

“G I R L” is actually an ode to women. A gorgeously stunning woman with no race, body type or hair length to amplify or demote her worth."

really now, then why do all of the women have the same body type, hair length, and almost the same skin tone? If it is not about race, body type or hair length, then put a big woman up there, put a short haired woman up there, if all of these things don't matter. But see they do matter,

"The conversation becomes personal for me, especially when the girl in question looks an awful lot like me."

wow that must be so tough to see someone that looks like u and not be excluded, it becomes more personal for a lot of black women when we are not shown and when we don't see women that look like us. The only time we see women that look like us are in slave movies, maid movies, etc.

"In fact, they’re even more offensive to the beloved first African American president, who was actually raised by his white mother and family in Kansas. He admits that he learned about blackness from “Soul Train.” Blackness is not a convenient game based on color and hair texture."

blackness is not something u learn about through a tv show, it is something u live, it is something u feel, it is something that cannot be erased, it is something that is passed down from ur mother, Obama's mother is WHITE. it is fine to be biracial, but when biracials ignore or try to tell black people or darker skinned black people to stop whinning about not being represented, or when biracials represent blackness that is a problem.

"But you’re still winning in your cool girl shades and your fierce red lip. You’re standing next to genius, while the others can only witness."

could there be any more shade? who are these others? are they the black women that are tired of being excluded because of their darker skin while the ambiguous looking women can say well we are standing here not u, but btw i'm black too. Black people come in different shades but there is a problem when only one shade is being represented. what about the medium brown shade, the dark brown, and the blue black? I hardly see those shades represented why is that?

-mstoogood4yall

_________________

When I read the article, I read it the way you did as well. Like an underhanded dig or something. As if black women, brown and dark black women, dont mind being called B*&^%es and H*&^%. . Just decided to get to the root of the issue instead but, you broke it down the way it should be. :)

-Courtney

_____________________

mstoogood4yall: • 3 days ago "And it was a reminder… again… that my blackness is less than and certainly not equal to those around me, because of my skin color. And my hair. And the way I speak. And what I listen to. And being constantly reminded that, “She’s only half black.” As though my well rounded opinion based on my nationalities and my extensive education on race don’t matter" If u are reminded that ur blackness is less than and not equal to others(black folks) around u, then ask urself if that is true, why is it that people that look like me are shown more than the blacks that u said u are not equal to? I have no issue with biracials being shown as beautiful, but when they are championed as the beautiful black woman, then yes there will be outrage. Ask urself, why don't they ever have biracial women depicted as the beautiful white woman? whites will not allow it, they will not allow biracial females to compete against white women, but they have no issue with them competing against black women and being seen as the standard of black beauty. As black women we don't fit into the mainstream standard of beauty and darker skinned black women don't fit into either the mainstream standard, nor the black standard. People do not respect blackness, u cannot claim black is beautiful yet only accept it lightened, erased, or replaced.


 _______________________________


 CourtneyrrR:

Ask urself, why don't they ever have biracial women depicted as the beautiful white woman? whites will not allow it, they will not allow biracial females to compete against white women, but they have no issue with them competing against black women and being seen as the standard of black beauty. WOW!! POWERFUL mstoogood4yall. SPEAK THAT TRUTH.!!!! As I always say, we are not competing against one another, light, brown and dark. When any one of us are openly disrespected and pitted against one another, we should all collectively speak out against it and shut it down. Its the only way to do away with colorism, along with education. Never allow anyone to openly disrespect light,brown, dark black men and women ,without showing them that , they are wrong. Its about support. I am a browner girl but, that should not exclude me from standing up for light and lighter black men and women, when they are disrespected .And I feel the same way if it were light black people around ,witnessing a browner and dark black person being disrespected in front of them , in print ,media or other. OPEN your mouth and let people know, it wont be tolerated. Whether it be coming from YTS or ourselves. This bullC&^% has to stop.



_______________





But it is commonly the most politically conscious African Americans who do have an interest in Africa and the Struggle there as well as here. In the 1930s, there were African-Americans from Harlem who even volunteered to fight with Ethiopins against the Italian fascist invaders. Malcolm X was a Black nationalist, but also an internationalist and Pan-Africanist, deeply concerned with and conscious of the Struggle in Africa. And we cannot forget Marcus Garvey, whose Movement encompassed at least one million Blacks in America when there were perhaps only 10-million of us. Garveyism was a form of Pan-africanism. And not until the 1960s would we see a movement at all comparable in scale. Similarly, you find in the writings of Kwame Nkruman, Amilcar Cabral and others a deep awreness of the relevance of the Black Movement to the African Revolution. Dr. King was a guest of honor with Kwame Nkrumah at the celebration of the winning of Ghana's independence from British colonial rule. (I seem to recall that in CLASS STRUGGLE IN AFRICA, Nkrumah argued that 25 millions Afro-Americans were, as far as he was concerne, also part of the global African Revolution. I first learned about Lumumba from my mother).) In the 1970s there was a group called the African Liberation Support Committee that did educational work and mobilization or popular support for the struggles against white supremacist colonialism in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and other regions. Kwame ture (AKA Stokely Carmichael) was an organizer of the ALL AFRICAN PEOPLES REVOLUTIONARY PARTY. (He had earlier been working as a member and leader of SNCC during the early to late 1960s) And, of course, there was the anti-apartheid Movement during the 1970s, 80s, 90s. (dr. king was speaking out against Apartheid in the early 1960s). When Nelson Mandela visited the USA in 1991 (after his release from prison), over 100,000 African-Americans in Harlem turned out to greet him with a hero's welcome. Black church choirs sang the Black national anthem of south Africa. And when Nelson Mandela began enumerating some of the criminal injustices inflicted on black South Africans, many AA folk in the crowd (noticing similarities to their own sitution) shouted "Same as here, brother. Same as here!" I don't know how many in that crowd of 100,000 had close personal contact with Africans. I'm sure some did, and do. But a lot depends also on the development of a political consciousness even if one has little or no contact--recogniti on of a COMMON STRUGGLE. SOME Africans and African-Americans have such a consciousness and recognition. Others do not. But it is usually from the most politically aware members of each group that such consciousness is evident.

-Savant
 __________________

 Abdurratln knows NOTHING about King's philosophy or theology. In fact, he is philosophically illiterate. No big deal. King DID claim socialism--democratic socialism. And I've not encountered King scholars who contest that point. Even in a letter to his fiancée Coretta he states OUTRIGHT that he is of a socialist persuasion. He states the need to move toward Democratic socialism in one of his later meetings (in Frogmore) of the SCLC. His autobiographical notes reveal his interest even in traditions of democratic socialism in Scandinavia If Assdurratin simply wanted to say that KIng was not a MARXIST, I would not object. Dr. King WAS NOT a Marxist. Duh.....PERSONALISM, his basic philosophical position, is a form of IDEALISM, not Marxian dialectical materialism. But you don't have to be a Marxist to be a socialist or communist. Early Christians were often socialists and communists.(The Acts of the Apostles reveal as much). Many people involved in the German Peasant War were Christian socialists or communists. Dr. KIng was a Christian, democratic socialists. Even his STUDENT diaries from the late 1940s--early 50s reveal as much. It is true that given the right wing red baiting of King and the Movement, King was cautious about advertising his socialist convictions. Most Americans are too politically and philosophically uninformed to distinguish between the Christian and democratic socialism of King (and many others within the democratic left, both religious and secular) and the authoritarian dogma and practice of Marxism-Leninism. King didn't want to help the Right in discrediting and possibly destroying our Movement before our people had gained even BASIC civil liberties (let alone socialism). But socialist King clearly was, though also OPPOSED to Marxism.

 -Savant
 ________________________________

 Actually, Africans (like African Americans) are at varied and unequal levels of moral and social consciousness. Your positive description of Africans certainly fits someone like the recently deceased Madiba. It hardly fits Chief Butheliezi, or Mobutu or those scoundrels who killed hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda. the same can be said of African-Americans. We have people like Rosa Parks, Dr. King, Fannie Lou Hamer and others. But also thugs like Little Melvin, opportunists like Clarence Thomas and agent provocateurs like Gene Roberts. Whole groups of people or ethnic groups are not superior to other ethnic groups or human collectivities. If one person is superior to another, then it is due to his or her qualities of mind and character, not to whether he is African, African-American, or what have you. -Savant

______________




Go read MARSHALL LAW and THE GREATEST THREAT, and you will know some of the books he read. Nkrumah, Lenin, Fanon, Malcolm, Che--these are just a few authors virtually every Panther (now former Panther) I ever met has read. I made mention of the fact that Marshall Eddy Conway was one of the LEADERS of the Black Panther Party of Baltimore. You've said that you were once a member of the Black Panther Party; and though I was too young to join even I know that regular, daily study and political education was a REQUIREMENT, especially for Panther leaders. You ought to remember that if you were a member.

-Savant

http://www.topix.com/forum/afam/TKKMMJHT2MVFU7IKH/p45#c997

_______________

Read WHY WE CAN'T WAIT. You will be surprised to learn that Dr. King promoted civil rights, economic rights and even Affirmative Action (on BOTH race and class grounds). The economic agenda was laid out more thoroughly in WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE, CHAOS OR COMMUNITY? You might also find informative his TRUMPET OF CONSCIENCE. Liberals and conservatives BOTH oversimplify King. King was actually to the left of both liberals and conservatives. However, that also means (since liberals are to the "left" of conservatives), that King was politically more distant from conservatives than from liberals. Mainly, liberals weren't radical enough. King was a REVOLUTIONARY, albeit a nonviolent revolutionary Christian.

-Savant

 _______________

 It was believed in the early 20th Century that the Black population was dying out. Many believed that we would not survive the 20th Century. Obviously, those projections were erroneous. Of course, the future is still not certain. But there were 4 millions of us at the end of the Civil War (1865), and 9 million of us when Du Bois wrote his THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK. There were about 20 million in the early days of the 1960 Civil Rights Movement. There about 45 million of us today. This is no guarantee of our perpetual existence. If we lose too large of our population to the prison industrial complex, our survival could obviously be endangered. If our communities and families disintegrate, we could cease to exist as a people even if we do not become physically extinct. The existence of a people as a people involves more than physical survival. Can we sustain community, a culture, a common identity and common purpose? -Savant

 ________________________

 WHY WASTE YOUR TIME? I saw the Youtube clip of Sotomayer mentioned in another AA Forum thread. My question: Why do you waste your time on him? Why don't you READ more and pay attention to YouTube less? And if you're going to deal with YouTube, then check out Angela Davis or Michelle Alexander on YouTube. Check out THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE on YouTube. Check out Cornel West or even AA philosopher Tommy Curry on YouTube. Check out Rev. Barber, spokesman for the Moral Mondays movement for economic justice and defense of our voting rights (which have been eroded by the Supreme Court).. If you feel the need for entertainment, then at least let it not always be MINDLESS entertainent. Why waste your time, Black people. tt's later than you think.

 -Savant

 ____________

 QUESTION: Why are you paying attention to this Sotomayor character. Whether he really is a "deadbeat dad" or CIA agent as someone says, he's clearly an EMPTY BARREL. Instead of that idiot (and female equivalents of that idiot), tune into FREE ANGELA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS. Tune into THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE. (Since so many of you are into Youtube, but not reading, you should know that the very informative BLACK POWER MIXTAPE can be found on Youtube). But why do so many Black folk waste their time on trash?. We have first rate political and intellectual minds that we need to listen to. There was the MORAL MONDAYS demonstrations on YouTube fighting forr the defense of economic justice and our voting rights (eviscerated buy the Supreme Court last Sunday). I'm not big on religion, but Rev. Barber, spokesman of the Moral Mondays movement for justice is worth listening to. Sotomayer and his ilk are a waste of time. Why do you waste your time, Black people? It's later than you think. -Savant

 ______________________

 I saw that Sotomayor youtube clip someone mentioned in another thread. Maybe folk should spend less time with Youtube and more time studying and thinking about things of substance. Maybe folk should instead of Youtube spend time reading W.E.B. DuBois, Anna Julia Cooper, Angela Y. Davis, Frantz Fanon, etc. Maybe folk should at least spend more time imbiding our Black literary tradition. Then we'd all have less trash on our minds, and the level of discussion and dialogue in AA Forum and elsewhere might be greatly elevated.

 -Savant

 ______________

 You know, I've not read Marable's book yet,and I do have reservations given what I've heard. I put it off partly because my recent philosophical research on King took up most of myh free time, but also partly because of what I'd been hearing and reading about Marable's take on Malcolm X. But as a scholar and advocate of revolutionary change I must read it, and also CRITIQUES of it. Probably that will happen this summer when my university closes. I must say that I am surprised at what I've read about Marable's book, but will try to withhold final evaluation until I've studied it. I actually met Marable while I was a student during the 1980s. At that time he was advocating both socialism and revolutionary black nationalism. He wrote an interesting essay called "Black Nationalism in the 1970s" (Or maybe 60s, not sure). In discussion with him while he was teaching at Fisk University (as well in my reading of some of his writings), he was very clear that as far as his assessment of the 1960s were concerned, the Black Panthers--not NOI, not US and the buffoonish Karenga--were the most advanced elements within the Blak nationalist Movement (even though the BPP has its weaknesses). He was stating pretty clearly that he saw the need for a renewal of revolutionary Black nationalism in the 80s and moving forward). But I also heard that in the 1990s, after being with the Ivy League for awhile, he began to change gradually. He eventually all but abandoned black nationalism, and moved from being a socialist revolutionary to a social democrat, and eventually an academic liberal. I wasn't reading Manning Marable much from the early 90s on, so I didn't get to watch his trajectory. Too bad that a potentially revolutionary intellectual has forgone his revolutionary potential. Academia does have its pitfalls.

 -Savant


_______________________