A Personal Encounter with Black Feminist Politics

So, I am a college student (which is why I created this Tumblr in the first place) and I am currently taking a seminar about Sarah Baartman. Last week I encountered an incident that made me walk away from the situation feeling somewhat foolish, but in retrospect, I do not think I am the fool. A group was presenting a PowerPoint presentation linking images of Sarah Baartman to images of Black women in the media today. To present some sort of parallel, they used Beyonce's "Dance For You" video. In discussing the video, one of the presenters said something along the lines of "like, how much is he paying this woman?" and the class nodded in agreement. (Let me give you some context: there are about 12 people in this class, only one of them are male. I believe I and maybe one other person are the only 2 who can identify as African-American. The professor, I believe, was born in Africa. And once the group stopped the clip, the professor informed us that she "can't stand" Beyonce.) I, then, raised two questions: 1. that this video may perhaps be a reference to something or someone, as Beyonce has done before in her videos (i.e. "Love On Top" and "Deja Vu). 2. under what context is it okay for a Black woman to want to dance for a White man? The professor (with support from the class) argued in favor of the belief that this video depicted some sort of oppression of Black women, with evidence in where the video took place ("in an office") and what they were wearing ("she's in a little dress and he's in a suit"). I brought up the lyrics and the professor argued that we need to look at the video on its own: this Black woman is dancing for this White man, and that is a result of oppression. Since the rest of the class was agreeing with her, I dropped it. Now, a week later, I'm thinking about it and I'm not wrong! They're wrong! Including my professor! They're wrong for assuming that this woman did not choose to dance for this man- that she is being paid- because she is Black! Because that's what they did: immediately assumed that she is not dancing for this man by choice. And why could that be? Not strictly because of their clothes or their setting, but because of her race. Because if it was only about her clothes/their setting, then what is this video doing in a presentation about Sarah Baartman? So, I ask again: under what context is it okay for a Black woman to want to dance for a White man? When/where can we see this happening and not think that she is doing this against her will?

The Pleasure Principle: A Post-Hip Hop Search for a Black Feminist Politics of Pleasure. Sponsored...

The growing discussion of pleasure!

(- posted by Sarah)

Lamar says the industry needs “more balance” in terms of skin tones

by Makkada B. Selah Posted: March 3, 2013

  Rapper Kendrick Lamar told radio personality Miss Info during a recent interview that he fired the original female model chosen for his “Poetic...

Poetry, Beauty, Tears.

"Same Love" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Sort of restores your faith in hip hop/rap/the music industry.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month!!!

Thus far, my sorors and I have been working hard to spread the word, from our “Teal Tuesdays” (teal is the official color for the commemorative month), to sharing statistics and facts with the student body, to our whiteboard campaign. It was great to see my peers willingly join in and express themselves, as we worked to raise awareness about SAAM. :)

This is just a few of the MANY photos we have taken, posted, and shared…and from what I’ve been informed, our movement has been picked up by the Deltas and our sorors at Bethune-Cookman University, as well.

Service…gotta love it!

Dorian Whitford from Salem, Oregon; Ben Emery from Memphis, Tennessee; and Corey Woods from Salem, Oregon are all potential rapists.

SO MUCH MISOGYNY in his music

Thinks rape jokes are fine and hilarious: “I think it’s odd that you can’t joke about rape, when people joke about murder all the time. A lot more people are dying than getting raped. I think it’s a comedian’s...

“I need feminism because guys in my school can still wear “Cool Story Babe, now make me a sandwich” shirts, but I’m still PUNISHED for wearing SPAGHETTI STRAPS.

After being bullied because of being raped by 4 boys at age 15, 17 year-old Rehtaeh Parsons attempted suicide last week. Her family took her off life support Sunday.

Amsterdam is turning rainbow for a visit of the Russian president Putin. The council of the city of Amsterdam has decided to hang out the gay pride flag on all council owned buildings and offices, in protest to Russia’s new anti-gay law.

they almost drown but, yes, heidi klum is the one who "suffers"....

good lord..!!

I’m so done with this planet