Using The Field of Science As a Way of Life

The only field of study that never really has the chance to repeat history is science because all they do is test hypotheses. They examine, study, learn, apply and innovate based around their findings. I think Black people ought to follow that model so we would never fall for the okeydoke and see it before it happens in the first place.

We must study our role in this country and how things got the way they were then to what they are currently. What were the attitudes of the masses at that time? How did they influence policies that were made in regards to us as a people? When did those changes take place or if there were changes? Many questions like these need to be asked in order to understand what is going on with us and what has been going on in the past.

People say we should forget the past and look towards the future instead. Blindingly looking towards the future without looking at the past is destructive and keeps a person stuck because they can’t learn from their mistakes. As a result, they will continue to repeat history. That’s where we are… still repeating history because we want to stay blind. Lather, rinse, repeat. Its self defeating at best. Id rather study, learn, do, and innovaate vs stay stuck because, “some things should stay in the past”.

The truth is, we pick and choose what we want to remember. Some are willing to hide the truth and stay willingly ignorant so they can get by. Some rather know the whole truth and be better. But one must ask themselves the following questions: “What side of history do I want to be on? Do I want to be the same as the slave who actually did their best to free themselves and their families? Or do I want to be the elderly slave who accepted their position as a slave and balked at freedom when it became an option?” Your choice.

On Respectability Politics

Come to think about it, respectability politics has many many nooks, crannies, valleys and pockets that a lot of people haven't even examined. Here's my take on it.

When we think about respectability politics, we automatically think of people with professional careers like Dr. Huxtable (Bill Cosby's character), Don Lemon, Ben Carson, and (for the better or worse) Stacey Dash. We think about the rhetoric that comes out of their mouths. We think about Black on Black crime, clothing, jobs church, Martin Luther King, ...well, you get the point. But I see the following:

Nobody actually takes a look at how harmful respectability politics are. They condition people to beg for respect under certain circumstances. It's more of a "Am I doing it right? See my clothes, I speak 'properly', and I denounce anything remotely Black. I'm good, right?"

And I say GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE! to all of that and I say that we should re condition ourselves to demand respect by not begging for it. I say we should actually look at all possible avenues respectability politics tends to invite itself into.

Take the older generation. Some of them are firm believers in the 'begging for respect' avenue. They are so into it that they talk all kinds of crap about those who aren't like them. This creates the "I'm better than you because  :

• I dress better than you
• I make more money than you
• I look better than you
• I speak more eloquently than you
• I'm smarter than you" argument.

They do it openly and gratuitously to the point where kids pick it up. They will imitate it in various ways. The older person might be on the phone talking about what "This (insert derogatory name) did" how, "he/she ain't shit." The kids will not only look down on people they feel are inferior to them, they will do  two things:

• KILL each other, or
• become a "special snowflake".

When I say "special snowflake" I'm talking about the Don Lemons and those who talk bad about people who they think don't fit their idea of whose worthy of their attention and who isn't.

This is why same Black people say disparaging remarks about other Black people, and they may do this in White spaces as well in order to distance themselves from the rest of "the others". 

This is also why a lot of young Black people kill each other. It's because they see another Black person and they treat them like their rival. It's also the same as why some corporate Black people (that list of folks I mentioned earlier) will spend time throwing salt at other types of Black people they feel who fit their idea of inferiority. There are two forms of death mentioned, one verbal and one physical. Enter "The Dirty Dozens" here.  It was supposed to be a fun game where each jokester uses language in order to demean the other person. Each person takes a turn, and tries to one up the other with the funniest joke about their opponent.  Now I've played this game, as long as it was clear that it was a game and not something to be used to insult another person and make them feel inferior. But this game was also used to hurt people, or verbally kill someone. I suspect the hurting comes from the type of argument I mentioned above.

Needless to say, this is a generational problem. Respectability politics have been carried around since its inception, and it's very toxic. It needs to be completely removed from our teachings and lessons. The older generations really need to quit dragging down other Black people and passing it on to their kids. This is why the kids kill each other. This is why we have some Black people:

• being so willing to sell each other and themselves out by dry snitching on themselves and friends
• writing entire raps about killing other Black people
• are disrespecting the women 
• are completely ignoring the efforts of Black women in favor of Black men (inside and outside the corporate setting)
• scrutinize other Blacks who are trying to start businesses
• hate those who are poor or not as "attractive" as them
• define who is a "real nigga" or "the baddest bitch"
• say "it ain't nothing to cut that *** off"
• beat the hell out of their children in order to get them to behave like they want them to. 

Not only that, they are doing a lot of these things in order to be liked, or in order to get money; from Clarence Thomas to any mainstream rapper that surprised some of us regarding how they got signed. But here's the thing:

I get it, we need money. All people invested in capitalism need money regardless of their race.

But at what cost are we willing to go there in order to get it?

Solutions, you ask? Well here it is. I think we need to divorce ourselves from respectability politics all together. We need to break up with it and cut that shit off, for real. It's killing all of us. Some of us won't be able to make it out. Just ask Clarence Thomas and Mia Love. But some of us will and can.  Now I'm not saying that we all will be able to magically get along with each other and live in harmony, but divorcing respectability politics and re conditioning ourselves would be a great start because you can't cuss out and mistreat your people in order to get them to unify. If Morgan Freeman can wake up after providing the mantra for "self professed 'color blind' people" then there is a still a bit of hope in my heart. 

Black Women, Depression and the "Strong Black Woman" trope.

Okay. I saw this article regarding how Black women are pressured into being superwoman all the time and how it affects us. One of those ways it affects us is that it shows up in the form of depression. It doesn't explain why we become depressed, so I'll tell you.

America created the "Strong Black Woman".  We have to endure, thrive and live. We face a lot of obstacles while living in this country. We have to navigate everything and everywhere, and deal with a lot of foolishness. Some days, it's like, "What kind of bullshit I'm going to have to deal with today?" So we act accordingly. We lose our tempers, we get cagey. We try to ‪survive‬. Now, the "Strong Black Woman" has turned into a racist trope. You can see the trope online and on tv. They're trying to make us look like crazy hoodrat type people. They mock us, and when they talk to us, they start rolling their eyes and necks. And they put on this "voice" they think we all sound like. That's a bunch of bullshit right there. They wonder why we are mad. Well, if we didn't have to deal with a bunch of straight up ignorance then we wouldn't be mad. And now this article comes out.

As a person who has to deal with depression, I understand this article. BUT one has to examine why a lot of us experience depression and anxiety. It's because of the world we live in. Our hairstyles, names, and addresses determine whether we get the job interview. We're lucky when we get the job in the first place. And when we get the job, we have to deal with ‪fuckery‬. Sometimes the work environment can get hostile, so we get depressed because it happens everywhere we go. It's supposed to be a joke that we should be able to take. We are tired. We are tired of the bullshit we have to endure because somebody wants to make jokes.

We can disagree with someone and all of a sudden we're aggressive, or rude. The same thing happens when we bring up different ways to handle something. They expect us to smile and nod. We are only there for the background. And if we look good enough (where "enough" is subjective), they might take a picture for their pamphlets. This happens everywhere. And it weighs down on you.

I should know.

For those who have turned the "Strong Black Woman" into an online meme and or trope, I 'd have to tell them to GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT.

That goes for all and any media outlets out there who wish to make fools of us for trying to exist in a circumstance THEY created.

On Black People and Visiting Museums

Ok. I saw this article that said Michelle Obama attacked American museums by saying they are only for White people. 


This particular sentence stood out, "If black kids don’t think that museums and other such places are “places for them,” then that is a problem with black culture, NOT our museums."


All I could say was GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT!!


Really? So that's licence for the curators to team up so one could talk about the exhibits while the other can follow and stalk the kids?

I remember going on a field trip to the Old Courthouse and the Jefferson Memorial as an eighth grader in the St. Louis Public School system. There was another school that was there as well, so we all went together. I kept thinking, why were the White kids were touching everything? The curators specifically told us not to touch anything because the oil on the fingerprints will degrade the artifacts over time. That was told to us before we even started the tour. Well a couple of Black kids noticed (including myself) so we were whispering among ourselves about the situation. We decided to perform an experiment. One of the Black kids tried touching the same artifact after one of the White kids did. The vigilant curator ignored the White kid touching the item, but was quick to tell the Black kid that they couldn't touch anything.


This happened throughout the museum. I didn't learn anything pertaining to the curriculum aside from what I already knew. But I learned more than I bargained for.

I suspect the kids didn't learn anything either. From that point on, every time I hear about the Old Court House and Jefferson Memorial, all I could say is "Maaan Fuck those places! "

All I came away with was. "That predatory behavior really takes the fun out of learning."

BUT today, I try to visit art exhibits whenever I can. And I always have that feeling of people watching me with piercing eyes just to make sure I'm not touching anything, or "getting too close".