.::We are the Facilitators::.

Black life today means less than when we were slaves. Now that we're "free," we hold less value to caucasians, seeing as how they don't own our very lives anymore. So a black life owned by a black person is worthless. Time and time again, caucasians' and their corrupt system show and prove to us that our lives mean nothing. We live in a society where you will get more time for dog-fighting (Michael Vick) than you'll get for the unprovoked, unjustified MURDER of a young, black male.

Caucasians love their animals, but they hate us niggas.

We live in a society where black people get more time for non-violent crimes than caucasians will get for violent crimes! We live in a society where a black and a caucasian can get arrested for the same crime, but the black person will do a longer sentence (if the caucasian does time AT ALL). We live in a society in which a caucasian girl that goes missing gets national coverage, yet the black got who went missing at the same time, got NO coverage (and was found dead). Today's society is no different than that preceding and during the "Civil Rights era."

Never forget that being black/brown is a crime punishable by death, here in the wilderness of North AmeriKKKa.

We live in a society that will allow a caucasian to go free, after that caucasian is VIDEOTAPED unlawfully MURDERING an innocent, unarmed, held down black man in his back. Black life means nothing to these people.

We are harassed, dragged, raped, threatened, brutalized and murdered by these "people," yet you defend them. You throw yourself in front of them to defend them, and as your back is to them, they stab you in it... Repeatedly.

Time and time again, they take our lives and we do nothing. Black life means NOTHING to caucasians... But as little as it means to them, how much can it possibly mean to us, when we sit by and allow such tragedies to take place?

We are the facilitators of our own demise. We are the facilitators of our own genocide.

More to come.
Written by: Genesis/Queen Tiye


*author note* These are the thoughts that just came to my mind, as I contemplated this INjustice. Remember Oscar Grant.

.::I'm Afraid of Your Hair::.

"I'm afraid... It's your hair..."

Imagine being a child and hearing that from your teacher, as she escorts you out of your honors class. Then imagine being removed from honors classes and shoved into regular classes, as if you've done something wrong.

The only crime being that you're a natural hair having, black girl.

The 8-year-old girl had been in class, without problem, for half of the school year and suddenly (in the past 2 weeks) it's affecting the teacher's allergies. She's allergic to the girl's hair... I'm allergic to bullshit. Is this teacher allergic to the hair product, or is she allergic to blackness?

To add insult to injury, the school actually stood behind the teacher, by allowing this to go on and removing the child from her honors classes.

Natural hair tends to offend Caucasian people (not all, but a good portion). I have experienced this first hand time and time again. The stares, the glares, the dirty looks... Even rude comments. It's as if our natural hair is threatening or menacing.

Us embracing our blackness and our natural beauty is threatening to white supremacy and the eurocentric beauty standard/ideal. All throughout the media you see beautiful, black women who are pressing, perming, dying... And trying to be less than black. There aren't a lot of natural hair wearing women shown in media.

Even the commercials are full of black women with long, straight, relaxed hair blowing in the wind. I very rarely see (and it's only recently that I've seen it at all) any commercials of black women with beautiful, natural hair.

Top black movie actresses and entertainers? Straight, relaxed hair... Or wigs and weaves that are long, blonde, straight... No traces of natural hair.

A lot more of us are going natural. This is a beautiful thing... But there are even more of us who are giving into a standard of beauty that we can never meet.

"The relaxer makes white people relax."

To me, this is a sign or gesture meant to show our willingness to assimilate and to conform. It symbolizes us "renouncing our crowns" and rejecting our blackness. It shows how we, too, believe in the eurocentric ideal of beauty.

This 8-year-old little girl has had what is probably her first taste of discrimination and hatred of her blackness. We black women should be up in arms about this and any instance of a little girl being made to feel unpretty for who she is.

The message we are constantly sending to little black girls, is that they are not pretty and they are not good enough. We are not teaching them to value themselves or see that they are beautiful. They are queens! Yet no one tells them nor shows them this.

Some people think that hair isn't a big issue. I argue that it is a big issue. It may not be the largest obstacle we face, but it is an important issue, none-the-less. It is one way that we act out our oppression on ourselves. Sistahs not being able to find the beauty in themselves is a very big issue.

Furthermore, I consider the outward appearance a reflection of what is going on within the person. If I wear blue contacts, dye my hair blonde, try to make my nose thinner, relax my hair... What am I saying to the world about what beauty really is? What am I saying my ideas of beauty are? (Read my blog on natural hair HERE)

My thoughts on the teacher: She should be fired. She needs a job where she doesn’t have to be around people and their “chemicals” (melanin). This doesn’t just need to be “looked into,” as the school said. This needs action. Why would we trust the school to “look into it,” when they’re the ones who allowed this to go on?!

In closing, let me say, kudos to the mother. I have never seen a caucasian and black mixed child that had a caucasian mother who knew the importance of natural hair. So, give thanks for that. That will be one less bit of confusion for the young girl.

Peace, Love and Elevation.

Written by: Genesis/Queen Tiye

The Sky Isn't The Limit ... The Limit Is Where You Set It

Recently, a group of friends and I went skydiving. Yes ... you read that sentence right. We went skydiving! Skydiving is an extreme and highly dangerous activity, but this did not phase us. We refused to let fear limit us, so we didn’t think twice. Had we given it extra thought our minds might’ve talked us out of doing it. Just like the many minds of our peers who called us crazy for doing it, and even worse, we were told that skydiving was not “acting Black.”

Hmmm ... “skydiving is not acting Black.” There’s something wrong with this statement. This statement says that there are limitations to being Black; it says that we shouldn’t delve into activities that aren’t dominated by us. American society has barricaded our minds. As a people, we don’t engage in certain things because we’re conditioned to believe that certain heights aren’t for us to reach.

Living in America alone is enough reason to believe that anything is possible. So much has been accomplished in this country by Black people, and so much has been given to the world by Black people. The world wouldn’t have the advancements it has today if it were not for Black people laying the foundation during Ancient times, yet we limit ourselves by saying that doing certain things aren’t “acting black.”

We need to do a better job of what we allow in our heads, and a better job of what we let manifest in our minds. Society is repeatedly sending messages to us that says you can’t do this and you can’t do that, but you can be a rapper, you can be a football player, you can be a comedian, you can be a basketball player, etc. Yes we can be those things and what’s better than this is that we could BE and DO MUCH MORE ... like skydiving. : )

Skydiving was a great experience, and I recommend it for everyone! I am a different person since my landing, and doing it was just another reminder that I and my people can do anything that we choose to do because life comes with infinite possibilities.

** Kemi Lotus

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.

Henry Ford