Posts tagged blackness

I’ve noticed that a lot of images of Black folk are exploited and appropriated on tumblr…especially those of my ancestors. 

It is one thing to use a image to create context for a discussion. To name those in the photo and to present a narrative. To use it in a historical context…

But to use it to get at white people. Nope. Can’t deal. Fuck ‘em. I believe that it is not the responsibility of Black folk to tell white folk how bad they are and to ultimately try and change their ways. We do not exist to “drop knowledge” on the white patriarchs and matriarchs of the world so that they can “change their ways.” Hegemony, racism, heteronormative patriarchy, etc cannot be reduced to white people meddling and being whatever they are. And trying to “convert” white people into what we expect them to be, is a waste of energy. This is NOT to say that we don’t fight tirelessly to end [the intersectionalities of] racism, misogny, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc that Black people face every day. But our efforts shouldn’t be to change the minds of white people. 

Granted, I use the term “white” loosely. I mean mostly those that cling to white privilege and benefit from it. 

We [should] use knowledge, produce knowledge, and consequently, use the images of our ancestors for OURSELVES and their reverence. For our own self preservation and humanity. It is OUR history just as much as we make the history of slavery, settler colonialism, Jim Crowe, War on Drugs, etc., the “West’s history.” We are the US. We are Americans, whether by choice or not. We should be far more concerned with ourselves and our self preservation. I could only imagine what our ancestors would say. We often use our own forms of privilege (class, educational) to exploit our ancestors…not to give reverence and honor to them. Not restore their narratives, but to make ourselves feel whatever we need to feel.

Our rage is justified, our sorrow, our pain, our plight…there is no need to herd the white sheep of the world up and convince them that we are just in what we feel. We must save ourselves and our babies. Think about all our folk that don’t have tumblr and don’t attend an institution of higher education..who rely on institutionalized forms of “education” for their understandings of themselves. Why aren’t we so passionate about making knowledge accessible to them? And of course not in a “savior” archetypal way, or in a “I know more than you,” kind of way. 

For if we don’t look out for ourselves, who will? 

Just a thought…

Maybe, I’m terribly wrong…to even be annoyed by this. But the classification of “mixed race” used by folk that have a parent that is white and a parent that is part of Black, bugs the shit outta me…and not just the classification in itself, but the fact that it exists.

Blackness is a construction, a very real construction that matters and is so important to keeping hegemony in tact in the places like the US…I just find it damaging to think of “mixed” Black folk as their own subset/classification when Blackness in itself is not monolithic. To say “I’m Black,” more than implies “mixed” race given the prevalent rape culture in slavery and also migration patterns of Black folk throughout the States. 

Because your parents had the choice of making you, you’re “mixed,” but since my ancestors had white men forced upon them, I’m not…?

Blackness is “mixed.” Acknowledge it? …A lot of folk fall prey to multicultural logics that erase Blackness or (inadvertently) create false narratives of what Blackness is/isn’t. 

Ok, done rambling. 

BYE!

P.S. I might be rong doe, but that’s my take on the matter. 

Men (particularly Black men), make up your minds or acknowledge that you’re confused. Don’t been on the nuts of a woman like Amber Rose, but then talk hella shit about a woman that chooses to get a 2 all around. And don’t hail a woman like Beyonce as a “queen,” if you’re gonna talk hella shit about a woman that wears a weave. Make up your mind or shut your trap and stop being so critical!!!! Hypocrisy is not attractive. 

Thank you. 

*Note: Obviously, there are societal factors that produce certain standards, but there should be somewhat balance between consent (individual accountability) and structural/institutional/societal production (accountability). 

It’s problematic to solely pose people as the victims and not show how they are complicit (whether willingly or not).