The Goddess Professor Speaks

Phew chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile. It's been awhile since I posted, and we "sick and tired of being sick and tired," quoth Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer . That ma n has been in office barely 9 months, and it has seemed like over a year already. D'Angelo just died. Neo-soul has lost a King. And my goddess, one of the articles about his death reminded me that Angie Stone died THIS year too. Two Neo-soul legends gone and one young man losing both his parents in the same year. And that's just this week. I could go on and on, but enough of the sadness... Shit is hard. Seems like it's getting harder day by day.  Folks literally trying to legislate away people's rights, existence, identities. Corruption and cons left, right and center. History constantly repeating itself. Realizations that the folks who most Americans point to as the worst of history--the Nazis--actually got many of their ideas from the Jim Crow era . Seems like controlling forces, who want to subjugate, cage, g...

" She's 83 " has been trending on Twitter and that's a damn shame. (As of this writing, Lady Hussey is still trending.) This relates to the racist, offensive encounter between Susan Hussey and Ngozi Fulani at an event hosted by the current Queen Consort Camilla, King Charles wife (former Duchess of Cornwall and former, former longtime side-piece). For too long, we've let age excuse shitty behavior--well, let me clarify, we've let age excuse shitty behavior from white people, even when they were WELL past an age at which they should've known better and even when we've allowed them to be called "kids" when they were in their 30s and 40s . I reject that and I call it bullshit. 1) because I have my own racist encounter as to why, and 2) no other race is allowed to use age as an excuse for being shitty or offensive. Years ago, while at a professional thing (I won't name what, but those who know me and were there know what.), a friend and I and...

It's also why they erase the ugly parts of their own histories--like 5$ Indians. In Fall 2020 (right before THE pandemic school year started), I attended a virtual session titled The Legacy of Historical Trauma: A Discussion of the Black and Native American Existence, Identity, and Moves Forward to Healing . It was SUCH an enriching, rewarding, spiritual experience for me. I listened to the panelists (most of whom are Black and Indigenous or were raised in Black/Indigenous households OR are raising Black-Indigenous relatives) speak of the intersecting identities and the double oppressions of being both Black and Indigenous and the acknowledgment of anti-Blackness handed down from our collective oppressors and often internalized and laterally expressed in Indigenous communities, really in both communities. The anti-Blackness being weaponized and stripped from Indigenous Peoples by the dominant culture, to the point that Black-Indigenous people would need to deny their Blackness in ...

Although no one asked me and I'm sure no one will, I'm gonna share my 12 cents about Will Smith smacking Chris Rock. I'll be real honest... it's complicated. My thoughts and feelings are entangled. My feelings come from my multiple identity groups in these United States and on this planet with other fallible humans. As a fallible human who works hard to process her own emotions and unlearn the habit of hitting when angry, no, it's not cool that Smith hit Rock. But as an intersectional person who analyzes the shit outta everything, it ain’t so cut and dry.  As a fallible human who knows in general that one should not choose violence as a first response, but who also acknowledges that sometimes, just sometimes , choosing violence can be the answer, well, it's still complicated. As a fan of Smith and Rock, ugh, this is hella messy. (I know my fandom has nothing to do with this and honestly, it doesn't make me dislike either of them any less. It just makes shi...

There is rarely a Fourth of July that goes by that I don't think of and/or read Douglass' "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" I typically post it yearly as well. Last year, we were blessed with descendants of Douglass performing parts of his speech and reflecting on who they are and where we are today, as they relate to his speech. Today, I ask slightly different questions: what to the American descendants of slavery (ADOS) is the Fourth? What to any of us is the Fourth? In a year where we've seen the symbolic victory * of federal recognition for Juneteenth while simultaneously witnessing state legislatures across the country and nationally elected folks attempt to shut down any conversations on race, racism, slavery's role in the founding and growth of this country, and real American history instead of American mythology, what to ADOS does this day mean?  At a time when we've lost more than half a million (605,533 as of 11:25a on 7/5/21, accordi...

One hundred years ago today, white Tulsa citizens stormed into the Greenwood district of Tulsa and began attacking Black citizens. Like many incidents like these throughout American history, it started when a Black man was accused of doing something to a white girl/woman. I say "something," because it's still unclear what happened on the elevator where the "something" allegedly happened. One hundred years ago today, the Tulsa Massacre began. It would end only a day later ( fortunately just one day because it could’ve been much worse had it lasted longer) once the National Guard was called in, but after hundreds of Black people had been injured, thousands of Black people made homeless due to their homes be burned and destroyed, and an untold number of Black people killed. Untold numbers. Hmm. Some estimates say as high as 300 people were killed. Some records seriously lowball that number, but it's hard to do an accurate counting of the dead when their kille...