Posts Tagged: race
Finding Reproductive Justice: “No Más Bebés” & The Limitations Of “Pro-Choice”
I’m proud to be a Latina, but I wasn’t always. Growing up in a predominantly white community in Georgia, my family and I were often targets of incredibly ignorant and hurtful microaggressions. I’ve lost count of how many times someone has made assumptions about how my parents arrived to the United States, or where I’m really from. Even as a kid, I was hyper-aware of how different I looked from my white peers and begged my parents to speak to me in English in front of my friends. The microaggressions I experienced as a child, questioning my belonging and citizenship, were not just incidents of routine childhood teasing, but were a part of a larger system of xenophobia. These seemingly innocuous and juvenile expressions of contempt can better be understood… Read more »
My Introduction to Pleasure and Sexual Liberation
Disclaimer: This blog includes references to sex and implicit erotic and nude imagery As I raced home from school, I immediately turned on Music Choice, a TV channel that aired popular music videos. I heard Slim Thug’s voice over a silhouette of Beyoncé doing body waves against silk, pink backgrounds. Everything was pink—pink wigs, pink suits, pink leather, pink eye shadow, and pink lip gloss. I remember mimicking Beyoncé’s choreography in the video and trying to keep up with the flexible, agile, and sensual movements of the dancers while following along to the lyrics, “dip it, pop it, twerk it.” A few phrases that repeatedly stuck to me were “check on me tonight,” “boy, I know you want it,” and “lookin’ like you like what you see.” I did not know… Read more »
Taking Space
On a typical school night, I’m usually texting my friends about Bravo reality television, and catching up on some major assignment that I’ve procrastinated on. Last week I was working on a major assignment, and couldn’t find the page count needed. Stressed out once again, I fought back tears as I struggled to finish the assignment. After a dramatic 30 minutes of me crying over school, I decide to look over the rubric one last time. The fog of stress had lifted, and I could clearly see that the assignment was to be no more than five pages. So why was I having such an intense emotional reaction to making such a simple mistake? I think the reason is that I’ve been alive for 22 years, and only truly thought… Read more »
Why The Grammys Hurt So Much
I update my music playlists every three months. If people want the latest reviews on music, I am not the femme they should be speaking to. For some reason, listening to new music stresses me out. For one, it’s extra work. It’s often hard for me to find music, and I don’t download it illegally. Also, there’s the whole sitting there and listening to the music thing. You have to form an opinion on it. All of this is just way too much effort for me. I’d rather just listen to my Kanye West and Florence + The Machine playlist I’ve had since high school, and go on my merry way. Because of my lack of interest in new music, I guess I missed getting stung by the Beyoncé bug…. Read more »
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Boring Me
Beginning in August 2016, 49ers Football player Colin Kaepernick sat down during the national anthem as part of a symbolic protest against police brutality and systemic racism in our country. In an interview, Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Many people found solidarity with Kaepernick, and soon began to stage their own protests during the national anthem. His movement is sweeping the country, starting dialogue, and also gaining the attention of haters. One of those haters just so happened to be the second woman in United States history to serve as a Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a recent interview with Katie Couric, Ginsburg called Kaepernick’s protests “dumb,” “arrogant,”… Read more »
The Perils of Black Motherhood and Police Violence
“We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this,” “We shouldn’t have to protest because you all are treating us wrong. We do this because we need to and have rights.” “Our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore,” “It’s a shame that we have to go to the graveyard and bury them. And we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears.” Zianna Oliphant, a young girl from Charlotte, NC spoke at a city council to bring awareness to the injustices black children are facing due to state-sanctioned violence against black bodies. Zianna is seven years old, and is already well aware of the inequalities she, and her friends, will face. When I see young black girls like Zianna, I feel a… Read more »
An Ode to Equal Pay Day
Dear Equal Pay Day, Oh how I wish this wasn’t necessary. It’s 2016, 53 years after the Equal Pay Act was signed by Kennedy in 1963, and we’re still having this conversation. This isn’t your fault, of course, but the fault of systemic misogyny, sexist societal views, and racism. You’re just here as a way for us to organize and act; as a way to help us get together and fight this oppressive system. I know, I know. This can be a lot to handle. I mean, as someone who has personally worked at an establishment that paid female employees less than male employees, it is immensely frustrating. Not only was I paid less hourly than my male counterparts ($2 less hourly than men who had the same job as… Read more »
5 Victories of 2015
2015 has been a turbulent year to say the least. Activists continue to work fearlessly through media attacks and very real violent attacks. There is still work to do, but I want to take a moment here to reflect on some of 2015’s social justice victories for women’s rights, the LGBTQcommunity, and #BlackLivesMatter movement. Transgender Homecoming Queen In a surge of moving supporting of the trans girl they voted in as homecoming queen, high school students in the Kansas City area staged a successful counter protest to the Westboro Baptist Church. Mizzou Mixed results came out the student movement at the University of Missouri. Student activists, joined by some faculty members, were able to oust their racist president, Tim Wolfe. Their success was met by strong opposition from white supremacists,… Read more »
Black Students Need a Safe Campus
To be honest, I had a great post in mind for today pertaining to love and fat bodies. Had it perfectly crafted, ready to lament of the realities of the subject and how people could look at it from a new, healthier perspective. But then my heart shattered in two and I had to follow my heart. Trigger warning in advance for uncomfortability, white supremacy, racism and the dehumanization of Black college students. If you’ve even been remotely following the news, you would know the immensely scary and heartbreaking wave of social justice unrest that the University of Missouri (or so affectionately called Mizzou) has been enduring for the past 48 hours. It all began when black graduate student Jonathan Butler went on a hunger strike a week ago at… Read more »
Let’s Talk About the Problem of Frats
Last week, the UCLA chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon made headlines hosting what they deemed a “Kanye Western” party in which partygoers showed up in black face wearing chunky gold chains and fake grills. When black student activists showed up to protest the party, they were mocked by party-goers and the validity of their concerns were questioned by the broader campus community. 100 miles to the South, the University of California San Diego chapter of AEPi was publicly reprimanded for creating an official chapter t-shirt that featured a scantily-clad woman serving bread emblazoned with the words “AEPi, Making Women Challah Since 1913”. And that’s just what happened within the last week on two UC campuses. These incidents are not confined to the University of California campuses, either. Earlier this year, the… Read more »
