AAS 362/HIS 339 African American Women's History: Response to The Life and Times of Sarah Baartman: ...

AAS 362/HIS 339 African American Women's History: Response to The Life and Times of Sarah Baartman: ...: "It was very interesting and fascinating to see that sexual exploitation, or sexploitation, has been apart of our lives for a long time. I am..."

This shows the irony thatsome black women are being exploited voluntarily... and are proud of it... and its crazy good post.

AAS 362/HIS 339 African American Women's History: India Arie-"Video"

AAS 362/HIS 339 African American Women's History: India Arie-"Video"
So many women of all color seem to have given in this idea where every lady has to look like this and that is not the case. So many people try to fit an image that alway can't be accomplish. I believe life should be fun and exciting and free. This is what India Arie asserts in this video.

Epitome of a Black Woman: Justice For All

Epitome of a Black Woman: Justice For All: "The so called 'black community' is suppose to be one of a loving and caring kind. However, in reality, everyone knows that the 'black co..."

Life is twisted the people who you think have your back are the one that bring you down... good post

interview 2 is with Sis Oliver and she is 89 she really didn't want to talk about race but i got a little something

1. What is your name? Maiden and Marriage (if applicable) Margaret Oliver

2. Where were you born?

Panola County 

3. Where did you grow up? Panola county

4. What were your parents names and occupations?Bennie and Louise Oliver and they were sharecroppers and farmers

5. Do you have any siblings? Yes or No, names? Yes Bennie, Lucy and Marie

6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in ____Batesville_____? Well I like to do man work I plowed the mule, ran down the hogs and so forth.

7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain? So sure, we couldn’t go uptown without seeing colored or white only signs. We were allowed to even go in the grocery store if a white person was even in the store. But times have change now and I can go where every I please. He he he he

8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South? Well I couldn’t go to school like I wanted to because I didn’t have sufficient clothing so I only have a six grade education or so.

9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling your about race? Black people need to stand strong and be proud to be Black

10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman? I don’t know but I know my mama would be upset with me when I tussled with the hog with my dress on.

11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?  Yes only if my clothes were sufficent
12. Talk a little bit about those days... I remember going to church and women had to stand up and confess but we don’t do that no more. Pastor Parker would always holler to the women to pull that dress down and take a cold shower… he he he he…

13. What was it like in school for you as a black female? 

14. Did you graduate and attend college? [Ask questions here to get more info regarding education ect.]

15. Did you get married?  To who?  When?  [Ask about the circumstances]

16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many?  Why?  Was this a choice or just happend?  If no children, you could ask them why they chose not to or was it medical reasons. No I never had kids but I do have step kids my deceased husbands had five kids and I call them mine.

17. Where did they work as an adult

18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman? Oh I was a sinner I had to confess. I drunk and sung in the junk house but the Lord showed me that I need to do better and that why I try to tell yall to do right and be better than I was.

19.  Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman

20.  What were their relationships like with other women?  Specifically ask about white and black women. I only see white women when I am in the grocery store or at the doctor

21.  Would they consider themselves friends with white women?  Or do they have friends that are of another race?

22.  What type of relationship do you have with black men?

23.  What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be? [Here, you can ask specific questions regarding marriage and the roles of both men and women inside of marriage]

24.  What do you think about people dating outside of their race?  Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?

25.  What issues do you think most affect black Americans today? That ain’t putting God first and God trying tell this women to get right. God don’t like ugly nah he sho don’t.

interview 1 was my Aunt Meisha and she is 35 years old

1.What is your name? Maiden and Marriage (if applicable)

Lameisha Wright

2. Where were you born?

Batesville MS

3. Where did you grow up?

Batesville, MS

4. What were your parents names and occupations?

Willie and Lena Townsend

5. Do you have any siblings? Yes or No, names? Yes, Donnel, Terry, Prescilla, Deshae, Chris

6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in ____Batesville, MS_____? My life was not bad. My parents never acknowledged that we were poor that was one thing I can remember. My father had three jobs: he taught at the Training School and South Panola High when they integrated, he was a bus driver and he worked on the damn and my mother worked at Panola Mills and later had her on daycare after the factory closed.They always had breakfast lunch and dinner on the table and they believed God was going to make way out of no way.

7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain? NO I didn’t encounter racism but I remember my dad talking about how he hated when a white man would call him a boy. He would be furious and ready to fight but eventually cooled down.

8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South? None

9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race? My mother would tell my brothers not to bring a white girl home especially Terry and Deshae when he to the army and to Alabama for school

10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman? My mother instilled in me that I need to look my best when you stepped out the house and that’s probably why I have such a large amount of clothing and shoes in my closet. They would make sure me and my sister’s hair was done so we would go to the beauty shop every two weeks or so.

11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not? Yes because my dad said you going to school or get a job it was no choice
13. What was it like in school for you as a black female? I experienced to racism because South Panola was already integrated and it was a all black school or anything

14. Did you graduate and attend college? [Ask questions here to get more info regarding education ect.]no

15. Did you get married?  To who?  When?  [Ask about the circumstances] yes, but we are seperated

16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many?  Why?  Was this a choice or just happend?  If no children, you could ask them why they chose not to or was it medical reasons. Yes 5 and It just happen

17. Where did they work as an adult

18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman? 

19.  Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman

20.  What were their relationships like with other women?  Specifically ask about white and black women. I work and hang out with black and white women and I don’t have a biased on my friends however I do have a biased on who I date and bring my kids around.

21.  Would they consider themselves friends with white women?  Or do they have friends that are of another race?

22.  What type of relationship do you have with black men? I love black men and I don’t feel like I would be attracted to a white man, maybe a mixed man but not a white man.

23.  What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be? [Here, you can ask specific questions regarding marriage and the roles of both men and women inside of marriage]

24.  What do you think about people dating outside of their race?  Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?

25.  What issues do you think most affect black Americans today?

I feel that Black women specifically have a problem with submitting totally to their husbands or significant other in fear of something horrible event like leave them is going to occur

I feel that black women have to much hatred for no reason due to their grandmother’s, mother’s experience

They need to realize that affects your life and how you treat others and sometimes you don’t even realize it.

An Ann Frame of Mind!: "I'm Watching God"

An Ann Frame of Mind!: "I'm Watching God": "ahhhhhh ....there is nothing like Black Love . It is always portrayed in the media as this violent and heavily sexual partnership but it i..."

I love this movie and it is one of my favorite because it shows how women attemp in trying to find their identity. often some women get caught in society like Jannie being Mayor Starks wife. They only thing about her she was blessed to live on and find out what living and love was and some women don't. I think this movie is all about second chances.

A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

      My mother is a product of rape. My grandmother was fifteen and my "grandfather biologically" was nineteen. To this day he doesn't know my name and I'm the second child, however, he does know my older brother Curtis. He has being under the influence of alcohol for a while. He was my uncle's best friend so he was well known to the family. He was never turned in but my seven uncles all jumped on him which caused him to be hospitalized for a few weeks. My mother was a blessing in disguise. Without this incident, i would not be here. My grandmother has a been through a rough life which is why she is one of my role models. She not only was rape, but when she was seventeen her two older sisters died and her father  her  with four younger boys that she had to feed.  My grandmother dropped out of school and worked three jobs. She was a factory worker in the morning, a maid at a hotel at night and a cotton picker on the weekend.  She later thought she found love in my uncle's father who beat her unconsciously. My mom would tell us stories about how she would remember having to hide in the closet with uncle Johnny because she was so scared. She said they would fight and put holes in the walls. She later was blessed with the only grandfather (who is turning 90 years old this August ) I've known.
               My point is my mother stresses to all of her five children that life IS going to bring obstacles but its up to you to get around it or do something about it. I just feel that my mother's birth was a blessing to show other young women that women don't have to go through the same stuff their mother with through and you can stand up for yourself. She told herself that she was not going to go through the same b.s., like the beating my grandmother encountered, and that's probably why she is tough and don't take anything from my daddy. My mother was pregnant at 15 years old but finished high school. She had me at 18 years old and my sister Sabrina at 19. She married my father at 18 years and they had two more after they moved from Fort Campbell, KY to Mississippi. What makes me so proud of my mother is that she had four children and a husband when she went to OLE MISS and had A's and B's dude. She was pregnant with her last child when she graduated. She graduated at the top of her class (Phi Theta Kappa) with a B.A. in English. She is the only reason why I keep going everyday because i could have easily gave up after I had my child in high school but she would not let me. So this blog is dedicated to "A Blessing in Disguise" my mother, my hero, and my life.... Love you MAMA.

Response for this weeks readings?????

Toni Morrison feels that White women were not trusted within the Women's Liberation Movement. Black women felt that their color situation had a huge part of it. They felt that if you are not black then you are not like us and you don't have to go through what we have to go through. Black women have the hardest because they are not male, white and they don't represent "lady hood" Black women felt that were different because of moral issues; black women would choose to kept their children instead of aborting them whether it was an inconvenience or not. They felt like White women were ignorant of life and depended on their marriage and male support , which was the opposite of a Black woman. Therefore black women feel that white women can relate to them and they could not "uplift the black race". It was kind of crazy because it jump in how they (whites supposedly) tried to create a model for Black women but still doesn' t reach out to the gender/race. Frances Beales touches on the relationship to white Liberation movement also. I feel like she was saying they had no ties with them because they don't have an anti imperialist and anti racist ideology and they don't talk about the problems of capitalism and the racism problem. White women complain about men being Chauvinistic but Black women don't mind the power being in the Black men because that means it is liberation for the whole race. However the Black panther Political party felt that women were apart of the Liberation movement but they didn't regard women as equal to then quietly in the organization. However they do post recruitment signs and say BLACK MEN boldly. I don't know if its the Black Panther Articles but i think it is but one leader talks about women in leadership by being prone" so women were being discriminated inside the party as well."

Double Jeopardy:To be Black and Female

Frances Beale writes about  "Double Jeopardy" in the 1900s and describe it as the struggle for a black woman being just that "Black and a woman". They often preformed the same work, yet receive lesser pair; after work they attend to the house and their children while the man do what he wanted. She blames capitalism for "Double Jeopardy" , which forced women into the workforce and "made it impossible for men to be the only breadwinners". She demonstrated how was difficult to even come close this sort of lifestyle like the cult of womanhood. She know that Black women are going through injustice and have to sometimes be the maid to a white woman  or a wet nurse to white children during the day while their {black woman's}children are "starving and neglected". She blames capitalism for the suffering of men as  "the cruelest assault on mankind". She feels that because of capitalism men were not able to protect their women. As i read this i remember reading about Fannie Lou Townsend's (maiden name) grandmother who had thirteen children and many of her children had green and blue eyes and i could just imagine the animosity black men had towards white men. Black men were damaged mentally by those incidents; it reduced the black man.  What stuck out to me is the quote that says " Certain black men are maintaining that they have been castrated by society but that black women somehow escaped this persecution and even contributed to this emasculation." Yes i agree with the first part but women were not the reason but capitalism was. I feel if black men were paid as high as black women then they would have to work during this time.

ARE THESE LYRICS TRUE? i THINK SO, i WANT A gOOd bLACK MAN!!!!

He is my King, He is my one
Yes he's my father, Yes he's my son
I can talk to him, cuz he understands
Everything I go through and everything I am
He's my support system, I can't live without him
The best thing since sliced bread,
Is his kiss, his hugs, his lips, his touch
And I just want the whole world to know, about my..

(Chorus)
Black Brotha, I love ya, I will never - try to hurt ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true
cuz youre my
Black Brotha, strong brotha, there is no - one above ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true

(Verse 2)
He's misunderstood, some say that he's up to no good around the neighborhood
But fo' your information - alot of my brothers got education (now check it)
You got ya wallstreet brotha, ya blue collar brotha,
Your down for whatever chillin on the corner brother
A talented brotha, and to everyone of yall behind bars
You know that Angie loves ya

(chorus)
Black Brotha, I love ya, I will never - try to hurt ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true
cuz youre my
Black Brotha, I love ya, I will never - try to hurt ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you- forever true
cuz youre my
Black Brotha, strong brotha, there is no - one above ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true

(Bridge)
You mean so much to me, you give me what i need,
I'm so proud of you (I said I'm so proud of you)
I love you for stayin strong, you got it goin on
I'm so proud of you (I'mmmmmmmmm)
Going through thick and thin, brothas you gonna win
I'm so proud of you (I said I'm so proud of you)
Whenever you facin doubt, brothas gon work it out
I'm so proud of you (I got my shakable faith in ya)

(Chorus - twice)(Chorus)
Black Brotha, I love ya, I will never - try to hurt ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true
cuz youre my
Black Brotha, strong brotha, there is no - one above ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true
only my
Black Brotha, I love ya, I will never - try to hurt ya
I want ya, to know that, I'm here for you - forever true
cuz youre my

ohhhhh, ohhhh ohhhhh uh uh uh uh

i DON'T KNOW ABOUT Y'ALL BUT I'VE SEEN TOO MANY BLACK WOMEN HAVE A GOOD BLACK MAN AND BE TRIPPING. THISSTORY IN PARTICULAR SITUATION WAS  ORDINARY BUT MY FRIEND DATED THIS GUY AND HE WAS PERFECT FOR HER. she KNEW HE WAS AND WHEN HE LEFT SHE REGRET  IT. SHE CALL ME ALL THAT TALKING ABOUT WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPEN. He WORKED AND PAID THE BILLS. He TOOK CARE OF HER SON AND TOOK CARE OF HER TOO. HE GAVE HER ATTENTION EVEN WHEN SHE NAGGED AND PHYSICALLY HIT HIM. HE STILL WANTED HER AND SHE DIDN'T APPRECIATE ANYTHING HE DID. ITS CRAZY CAUSE SHE TREATED HIM LIKE S***.  NOW SHE IS SINGLE AND REGRETTING EVERY MOMENT. IT WAS NOT LIKE SHE WAS A TEENAGER OR EVEN EARLY TWENTIES; SHE WAS TWENTY SEVEN YRS OLD AND NOW SHE THIRTY BEING MOMMY AND DADDY. WITH THAT SAYING, "MANY OF US CRUCIFY OURSELVES BETWEEN TWO THIEVES---- REGRET FOR THE PAST AND FEAR OF THE FUTURE".

Still I Rise by MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Double consciousness

The struggle of being black and a woman
When Black women left Africa, they never completely had control over their own body until emancipation and still then were swallowed up by domestic volience and white bosses. So, when African American put up walls and hold their standards high does it mean they are protectors of themselves and their families or are they are just bitter... YOU CHOOSE?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/447467/still_i_rise_the_africanamerican_woman.html?cat=37

Do we have to have "TOUGH SKIN"? Can African American, Black women Compromise????

Is this cycle ever going to end? Yes, African American Women have been the foundation of the family but is it possible for us as Black women to learn how to COMPROMISE!!!!?

Why is it that 70% of African American Women are single?

-by choice (choose to marry older, stabilize their lives but often women get set in their ways when they are older and aren't willing to change)
-class issue
-More black women than black men

STEROTYPES OF WHY BLACK MEN DON'T DATE WHITE WOMEN!!

EVERY BLACK WOMAN DOES NOT HAVE BAGGAGE OR ATTITUDES!!

Do Black men REALLY prefer white women over Black women?

http://hellobeautiful.com/sex-love/hello-beautiful-staff/why-do-black-men-love-white-women/
This link shows the some of the reasons why black men like white women and some are: g
-gives the relationship a thrill
-white women look different
-they act different (attitude)
-smell different
-comes from a different world
There is also a link  http://www.afieldnegro.com/photos.html that shows ALOT of African American WEALTHY men married or going out with white women you should check it out!!! When I seen it I like man I did not know all these men were married or engaged to all these white women. It kind of made me upset to see all these Black men with white women!!! MAN! Its from Shemar Moore, James Earl Jones, Neyo, Kanye West, Russel Simmons, Mehkhi Phifer to Dave Chappelle. when I seen Dave Chappelle I was like ARE YOU SERIOUS ?? I'm STILL IN SHOCK.  All these men are good at what they do and I will ask the same question that she ask on her sit IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SOME BLACK WOMEN ARE DRIVING BLACK MEN AWAY?

IT MY OPINION WE ARE!!!! SOMETHING IS GOING ON!!  THIS MY FIRST VIEW ON SEEING ALL THESE BLACK MEN WITH WHITE WOMEN BUT DO IT LAST???

The myth surrounding Black men and inter racial marriage is perpetuate by whom and for what reason? First, less than 5% of Black people marry inter racially. Second, Blacks are the most conservative people in the country when it comes to inter racial marriage. Third, Black men marry white women at double the rates that Black women marry White men, however, Black men have the highest divorce rate in the country with White women. Read and research for your self. Just think of who benefits from keeping Black men and women at each others throats? Why do we have computers at our finger tips AND BOOKS AND JOURNALS IN THE OLE MISS LIBRARY and refuse to seek the truth but rather continue to speak with emotion first?

Destiny Child tells women to put their clothes on yet they take theirs off less than a decade later. Is it because that's what American society expect or want now or is it a morality issue? Do Grandparents and Parents watch what their children put on cause not just adults show their bodies but little kids do also? Are Black women priorities mixed up? Has the grandmother's nurturing influence left American society? Where are the Big Mamas???

Recreating Image!!!

We watched "Their Eyes were watching God" yesterday in class. It showed how Jannie recreated her image and not the image that society gave her. Her husband Mayor Starks was a man who was paternalistic and order his wife to cover up everything even her hair. Jannie didn't enjoy not showing her beauty so she lashed out a few time in front of the townsman. She experience domestic abuse and left the house. Her husband ended up dying and she ended up with the whole own of Eatonville.  She later met Tea Cakes and fell in love. Townsmen were skeptical on her leaving town with a younger boy and condemned but she left anyway. Jannie said " Our love is like the sea it is a moving thang and its different at every shore", which explained their love. I believe this story shows that African American can change what society protrays about Black women but its up to us to change that. This story shows that women are strong and often when Black women  find out about "living" Black women may feel liberated. Maybe black women need to stray away from what society wants us to be and feel free to live life loving every moment of it after they become liberated whether its your husband, father, mother, grandparents or whatever. Black women need to create a positive image.

Black women's hair

Depiction of African American

Europeans were the first group who felt that the African people were not human. Europeans went to South Africa and ran into Khoi Khoi tribe. The thought the women were strange because of their larger buttocks (which uncommon for European or Scottish women) and their protruding lips. They took her and displayed her like an animal. They thought their anatomy would be different so they dissect her and took out her organs. Her brain and genitals were taken. They finally understand that her body was not different than a white woman. Her body is depicted as a trophy so why are Black women still exploiting theirselves (without any assistant like Sarah Hataman: Hottentot) and when is going to change?

Race/Gender: Who opresses Who?

What does gender have to do with race? Gender creates race because America is based on a hierarchy. For example, a white male is over a black male; a black male is over a white woman; a white woman is over a black woman. Black women are at the bottom of the hierarchy, so why is that one black woman is the example of all black women?Why is that black women feel that they would better off dancing in a video rather than stay in school and get a degree?  IN my opinion, black women are exploited by society and by themselves. They feel they are taking back their bodies and in doing so they feel that have to look and maybe be sexual animals. They have not had someone who respected them or cared for them enough to say that is not cool and you should not do that. People don't realize that they are the depiction of the rest of your family. if do something horrible then society is going to look at your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They are going to look at how they raised you and how they influenced your life. However, maybe the quickest way out of their community is through a video and they feel their is no other way. Many primarily black communities don't see black lawyers, black doctors, black senators, etc. They don't see prominent black affluent families in one neighborhood so they take other routes such as dancing in a video. So my question is Who is the forcing mechanism who oppress women? Is it women them selves or society?

What is race?

Race is a social construction that is based on your physical attributes and culture and it is not scientically based.

Jennifer L. Morgan in her piece called " Some Could Suckle over their shoulder": Male Travelers, Female Bodies and Gendering of Racial Ideology 1500-1770" states the character of the female African body: " a body both desirable and repulsive, available and untouchable productive and reproductive, beautiful and black. This shows the contradiction,  as the historians says, to justify slavery based on religion and morality. How can you lust over something that you reject in society and through Christianity? If religion actually justified slavery, then why are they lusting ( Thou shall not covet) and it goes on from sin to sin I believe Christianity was just an escape goat that did not openly banned slavery. And i know that it is scripture that tells the slave to submit to their masters, but Jesus said if you don't remember anything else remember the Golden Rule. Love is the greatest gift of all. You can't love God/Jesus without loving your brother. So do you think Christianity is a reasonable justification of slavery or do you think its an escape goat?? (No, money/wealth was the reason for slavery not just because it says slave be submissive to your master)