Ladies,
Indeed the re-election of President Obama is important in the tapestry of the historical and cultural narrative of people of African-descent. Indeed those of us who are clear that the selection of future Supreme Court Justices, future economic and social policy, future educational reform, future ownership of the economic system rests in who has the bully pulpit to shape the national dialogue. As spiritual beings, we also know that there are metaphysical influences that also guide our lives, and that God is in control, not who is in the White House. That God directs our paths and orders our steps to make the best decisions that we benefit from.
The election of 20 female United States Senators is also a milestone. This is unprecedented. Women are now 52% of the electorate. I believe these Senators will lobby, advocate and vote on behalf of women. However, if you are a Black woman, you live through the intersection of race, gender and I'll add class for a later discussion everyday. Which means you have to negotiate your womanliness (smile), your race, and if you are a poor or working class woman, you negotiate that economic reality too - are judged, stereotyped, profiled, marginalized, stigmatized and politicized. From shopping, studying, working, attending PTA meetings, advocating for your neighborhood, interacting within your neighborhood, interfacing with your city services, you are viewed as a Black or Latina, a woman, and perhaps as a middle-class, working-class or poor woman. This is the reality. It is what it is.
So as a social scientists, I am aware that Black and Latina women battle economic challenges everyday. We battle lower salaries, lower wages, fewer opportunities, few loans from banks, low home ownership, low marriage rates, HIV/AIDS infections, domestic violence, obesity, diabetes, breast and ovarian cancers, differential treatment in public welfare programs, foster care experiences, employment discrimination, increased incarceration rates, misogynistic social ideas from some powerful White men, and two decades of awful Hip Hop lyrics from some Black men reducing women to objects of sex and money, TOTAL LACK and unfamiliarity with African cultural understanding, YET, we are the backbones of our families and our communities. We underscore the success of our churches, and we support the teachers in our schools. We work more than one job and have a hard time saving money for our future. Insurance is questionable as we tend not to have health insurance (though that is ABOUT To change with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010), life insurance, funeral or burial insurance for our families.
We should be reminded that the ONLY African American female senator in the history of the United States was Carol Moseley Braun, (D-IL), from 1993-1999. She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2003, following the legendary Shirley Chisholm who ran for the presidential nomination in 1968. She has had some remarkable political feats, please read about her. But despite her significant contributions, she has had very similar experiences with economically deprived women - divorce, failed engagement, was victim to a mugging, foreclosed on her home. I don't highlight the latter as weaknesses, but to show that these economic and social challenges are a part of many Black women face. In the history of America, only 30 Black women have served in the House.
So where is my face in the Senate? My narrative isn't there with the polity. So we will have to become much more aggressive and make our narratives a part of the national policy discussion, as we serve as who Ida B. Wells called - The Watchmen on the Wall. We will have forge alliances with those female senators and ensure that the men who represent us, have our voices in their ears. Talk about your observations of the political drama which unfolded, I can't wait to hear from you.
This was awesome! We as woman play so many important roles, that sometimes go unnoticed. The 113th Congress having at least 20 female senators, the most ever in U.S. history, and celebrating our first black president being re-elected is history being made. I am extremely proud of my gender and race. However, as you said Dr. Fairfax, we are proud, but he is only man. I believe we as a country need to pray and support him as much as possible. We as women are so strong. As you said we out number the men in churches, organizations, and are definitely known as the backbone of families. My mother is of course I think the strongest woman in the world. Although the man should be the head of the household, single mothers are working hard and struggling every day to make sure their families are taken care of. Being a black, or latino woman is hard because we are double stigmatized because of race and gender. As a social work major I am learning that race and gender is related to poverty status. We are more likely to struggle intellectual and economically. I think we should be heard and acknowledged more. I also feel we as women do what we have to do to survive, we go into survival mode and work two or three jobs, while attending school, and taking care of our children, and this is overlooked, as what we're supposed to do.
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ReplyDeleteYou are so right Alvina, and it is profoundly important that we tap into the LONG history of who we are. Not just US born Blacks, but as descendants of an ancient and proud people with traditions that are significant. By doing so, we develop a very different sensibility about who we are and what we should be doing to inform who we are. For example, take a look at what is happening political now - certain political leaders are demeaning the intelligence of Ambassador Susan Rice. Yet, the reputation of a certain general remains intact, DESPITE his immoral transgressions within the institution of marriage, and, possibly while he was representing this country. There has been no critical explanation about his behavior at all from the media. The same argument is made of the numerous strands of the liberal movement's neglect and indifference to the enduring impact of institutional racism, yet the presence of sexism and homophobia gets top billing from them. These observations are hard to turn away from and the conciliatory approaches taken have not served the most poorest and vulnerable people in our communities and around the globe. Our intellectual engagement and activism is vital and necessary to articulating who we are and how we shall contribute to ideas, models and paradigms of great change.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is a time where we are grateful to our God, for who we are, what we have in our lives -our family, our ancestry and overall blessings. I am grateful to have been born as a Black woman who, through the social location of my family, access to higher education, and a career that has the potential to change lives through the channels of scholarship, activism, and historiography.
ReplyDeleteAs grateful as I am, I am reminded of who I am everyday. As I continue to see how Black women are treated in the media and popular culture, I cringed with righteous indignation. I shall speak again about the excoriated political remarks about the first Black woman to serve as the ambassador to the United Nations - Dr. Susan Rice, to blaming the first Black woman to earn an Academy Award for Best Actress - Ms. Halle Berry for the domestic violent behavior of her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, to stereotyping poor Black women who need public relief support, because they are locked outside of the economic structure, I still am grateful to be who I am, in this time period of history. All of these women would be treated differently if they were white and if they were men.
The silence from other women, namely powerful White women is unsettling yet revealing. Yet, during this Thanksgiving season, I am grateful for who I am in this period of history. As I am living in the 21st century, so shall I represent the trajectory of strong women, and I shall continue to expose the realities of who I am which informs my sensibility of my community. I welcome the energy of other Black women and of White and Latina women who dare to honestly share a rugged assessment of racial realities of Black women.
The women at NSU needs to be trained and poised to articulate these kinds of issues that are relevant to every major on campus - from business, humanities, social, political and natural sciences, education, international studies, such training articulates the global world we live in and work to make sense of.....everyday.
Well, it continues to unfold - the invitation to be disinvited to the event! None of the U.S. House Committees are chaired by a woman. None of them are chaired by a Black man. Here we go again. The great shut-out. The marginalized polity institutional play book. Let us not mince words here, this means that discussions about rights, insurance, benefits, access to social institutions will be moderated, outlined and guided by people who don't seem be interested in my narrative.
ReplyDeleteThis is important to discuss because those who will shape policy, are not connected to the realities of gender and race in America. They are unfamiliar, and willfully ignorant of the impact of social institutional indifference and biases. So if you are poor, if you are Black, Hispanic and a woman, your narrative is pathologic, problematic, foreign and doesn't belong in the triumphant story of American capitalistic success.
The HBCU tradition is one that is clear of the preparatory intent to engage our students to critically think about their contributions in society that combats these stacked decks. It is our tradition to critically engage these institutional realities in our respective fields. What do you see? What are you going to do?