"In North America, the Black immigrant is used to downgrade the North-American-born Black population; in Europe, the North American Black is used to downgrade the Black European and African and Caribbean permanent residents there. Each instance allows the dominating populations to conceal their racism by appealing to a worse racism elsewhere and by castigating the resident population for failing to excel under the status quo. How often have I heard American Blacks speak of how wonderfully they were treated in Europe! My experience--perhaps from looking too African in Brussels or too Black in Prague--is that European Whites are not particularly different than U.S. Whites when they think the Black is one of their "own," which ironically includes the type of immigrants they are used to."

--Lewis Gordon

(via The Black Feminist Manifesto)

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Reblogged from Tudo Bom(b)

"A lot of men can't tell you what it means to be a man because they were never allowed to learn. They were only taught patriarchy."

 --@Anti_Intellect

(via Tudo Bom(b))

Fascinating mini-doc about (the lack of) open sexuality in Africa

EATEN BY THE HEART (Interview excerpts) by ZINA SARO-WIWA from ZSW Studio on Vimeo.

The man describing learning how to kiss (presumably as an adult) and having to teach himself to find it pleasurable is the critical moment of this short film to me.

"Of course, not all women of color are sexualized in the same way. For example, while Black women are considered lascivious, always consenting, and out of control, Latina women are considered exotic or overly sensual, and Asian women are considered childish and prude. These particular stereotypes are reinforced through popular culture and pornography...The common thread here is that non-White women's sexuality is seen as outside the norm of White heterosexuality. It's therefore something to be uniquely desired, manipulated, extorted, or controlled. Within this rather toxic climate, being a woman of color who's in touch with her sexuality is an act of resistance. Pushing past the negative media depictions and still finding a healthy, healing, erotic, and functional sexuality is no small feat."

--Samhita Mukhopadhyay

(via The Black Feminist Manifesto)

Can We Please Have Sleepovers In Our 20s?

All of this, basically. When did everyone get so concerned about sleeping in their own beds? Attention friends, I will have sleepovers any time you want. This can involve nail-painting, movie watching, popcorn/cookie-making/eating, snuggles, deep conversations about life, whatever. Just say the word.

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Reblogged from Free Bird

I learn something new every day.

Reblogged from come correct

"You know that feeling. It's the one that makes us hear about Trayvon, and now about Jordan Davis, and reach back across decades into our history, for the name of another boy named Emmett Till. Then, it was a whistle at a White woman. Now, it's a hooded sweatshirt, or music being played loudly from a car. But always, this one thing has been the same--no presumption of innocence for young Black men. No benefit of the doubt. Guilt--not determined by what they did or said--but presumed to be inherent in their very being. They need not wield a weapon to pose a threat. Because, if you are a young, Black man, who you are is threat enough. And in yet another case, it seems, that perceived threat is justification enough for someone who would play judge, jury, and executioner."

--Melissa Harris-Perry

(via Sister Outsider)

The venomous attack of The Good Men Project on most of the feminist spaces I follow on the internet is making me want to distance myself from people who call themselves feminists again. I dislike aligning myself with people who want other people to remain silent when their stories aren't the stories they want told.

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Reblogged from The Black Feminist Manifesto

Wait, I'm actually crying.

Reblogged from Jack and Jill Politics

This person wins today.

"I hate how the phrase 'have some self-respect' is used to shame women who are comfortable with their sex lives. 'Have some self-respect?' I do respect myself; that's why I wanna have a fucking orgasm tonight, thank you very much."

 (via come correct)

To illustrate why Jada is winning all the points with me:

"They question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women, girls, are constantly reminded that they do not belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power of self-determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to know that her body, spirit, and mind are HER domain. Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It's also a statement that says that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother's deepest insecurities, hopes, and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be."

--Jada Pinkett-Smith

(via Lavender Labia)

All of this.

"I want to talk about intimacy. I want to talk about desire. I want to talk about fucking. I want to talk about touch.

I want to talk about how Black and Brown bodies are denied these things. I want to talk about how Black and Brown bodies thirst for these things. I want to talk about how Whiteness constructs Black and Brown bodies in opposition to these things.

I want to talk about how Black and Brown bodies are rejected by other Black and Brown bodies. I want to talk about how we can't always find comfort in each other because we're so busy finding comfort in Whiteness.

I want to talk about how Black and Brown bodies tear themselves apart for these things. I want to talk about how Black and Brown bodies struggle for these things. I want to talk about how it's never enough.

I want to talk about intimacy. I want to talk about desire. I want to talk about fucking. I want to talk about touch."

--$Store Glitter Lion

(via come correct)

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Reblogged from On the Bright Side

GPOY

"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."

--Audrey Hepburn

(via Free Bird)

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Reblogged from Lavender Labia

"Jada (Pinkett-Smith) unchained her daughter. Our mothers, grandmas, and aunties taught us to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible as we make our way through the world--or if we should be noticed, make it only for our exceptional achievements. Too many of us were taught that Willow's style and demeanor are for White people; 'we' don't behave that way. But personal freedom isn't just for White girls. Every little colored girl deserves a chance to grow into the woman she longs to be. I could not be happier that preteens today who look like me now have Willow."

--Kimberly Foster, "A New Model for Black Motherhood: Why We Need More Jada Pinkett-Smiths"

(via The Black Feminist Manifesto)

#ThingsILearnedCelebratingRGsBirthday

1. Cake is bread.
2. The people who own Busboys and Poets, which is my favorite establishment in DC, own a soul food restaurant modeled after the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston. Their food/drinks are on point.
3. Concerts by indie White Canadian bands are trippy as fuck. (I took a cue from @Baratunde Thurston and did a little #negrospotting--besides our party of 5, I saw 5 other visibly Black people, and heard on good faith that there were two more I didn't see.)
4. If you have developed a close bond with a particular bartender at a particular bar, he will take care of you and your friends on your birthday. He will, in fact, make delicious shots, give them to you at a discount, and take one himself. 
5. The amaretto sours are much better at Front Page than they are at Sign of the Whale.
6. DC has a no-touching rule with regards to strippers that extends to no lap dances.
7. Female patrons get special attention/privileges from female strippers. I had dancers do moves for me they hadn't done for any men, and one even caressed my face despite #6.
8. The G2 likes to go incognito after a certain time and say it's not in service, but it is. Next Bus won't be able to give you any information about it, but it will show up right on time and take you where you need to be.