The Goddess Professor Speaks

We're all STILL reeling from multiple mass shootings in a week's time (Gilroy, CA, El Paso, TX, and Dayton, OH) and other shootings ( Wisconsin, Mississippi, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, NY )  that were still tragic and horrible, but didn't make as much news because 1) low death counts and 2) we had TWO FUCKING SHOOTINGS in 24 hours--El Paso then Dayton. Even by our shitty standards, 2 in 24 hours is a bit much. When I say the Dayton breaking news alert on my phone, I thought my app was glitching. Nope. ANOTHER FUCKING SHOOTING while cops and media were still gathering info on the first one. I've tried to limit my exposure to all the non-stop news about the shootings and only took time to read articles when something truly caught my eye, like the fact that the FBI are pursuing domestic terrorism charges or the fact that Mexico is considering suing the U.S. government since some of the people killed in El Paso were Mexican nationals or this article: "

College Admissions Scam. Scandal? Scam? Ugh?! It's a hashtag and Felicity Huffman and Aunt Becky's face are plastered all over everywhere. You know what's not plastered? Their damn mugshots because it's been decided that those won't be released publicly . And where the fuck is William H. Macy's face ? He's Huffman's husband, and therefore, assumably, the father of the kids they were bribing folks to get into college. But nevermind that this mom and this mom 's shots were everywhere--BECAUSE THEY WENT TO JAIL for a similar thing. Goodness, their cases and harsh as fuck sentences seem different in the light of March 2019. Let's see what kind of time ANY of these 50 people get for federal FELONY crimes and RICO violations. My guess: NONE But here's the thing: is this really a scam though? Or is this just normal, business as usual run through to its fallacious, slippery slope end? Is anyone really surprised? Because let's be hone

While I was fixing my breakfast this morning, I was flooded with thoughts from those shitty posts we've seen all over social media about how modern women don't know how to cook, or "to catch a good man, we need to cook a good meal," or "real women cook real meals, "etc. I've been cooking for myself since I was about 7 or 8, so I never felt those posts were talking to me directly, BUT they still annoyed me. They especially annoyed me when the person posting it was a man. My first thought was always, "but do you know how to cook?" In recent years, many women have clapped back, saying things like "why are you depending on a woman to feed you?" or "real men cook too" or "don't go into a relationship looking for your mate to be your momma." And we've even seen plenty of men clapping back in the same vein that "men should know how to cook too," or "grown men know how to feed themselves," etc.

We are all pretty familiar with Godwin’s Law by this point: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches. Well, I’m declaring a new law as a derivative of this one; I’m calling it the GP Law (GP for Goddess Professor, of course). It goes as such: As an online discussion that’s related to race (racism, race-based prejudices, or those perceived as such) grows longer, the likelihood of someone invoking a Dr. King quote from “I Have a Dream” speech increases. We see this shit all the time. I am SO tired of it. Annually, around Dr. King day, we see too many people trot out tired, trite quotes from that speech. Annually, just as many people ( myself included ), write about how ridiculous it is that Dr. King, his work, his legacy, his words are reduced and simplified down to a few quotes from one speech. These people are often, though not always, white. They are often, though not always, poorly educated on anything Dr. K

Bernie Sanders recently joined the 2020 Democratic Presidential race, and of course, that's damn near all folks want to talk about now. I did not want to start this post with him, but in reality, his entering the race was my impetus for a political post I've been sitting on for a minute. I'm over Bernie. He was a super progressive outlier in 2016, but that isn't the case anymore. He can't just spout off his same then -progressive ideas today when many of the candidates in 2020 support those same ideas AND have clear plans for how to accomplish them. Even before Bernie entered, the Democratic 2020 presidential primary field was crowded AF. Officially announced so far (in order of well-know to who?): Elizabeth Warren       Bernie Sanders       Cory Booker       Kamala Harris       Amy Klobuchar       Julián Castro       Tulsi Gabbard       John Delaney       Andrew Yang Has an "exploratory" committee (read: announcement likely coming soon): Kirst

Virginian politics has been imploding for about a week now due to blackface AND sexual assault allegations. Gov. Ralph Northam initially said "Sorry. That was wrong." Then , "nope, wasn't me." And lastly , "hell no, I won't go." Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has denied allegations of sexual assault made by two women, and has asked for a full investigation. AG Mark Herring pre -confessed to wearing blackface when he saw how hot the water was getting for Northam. So far, no one has resigned. The citizens are split on whether some, all, or none of them should resign. And all the damn chickens are in the yard roosting their asses off. Although controversial as hell at the time (and still is for some), Malcolm X's statement after JFK's assassination about chickens coming home to roost has plenty of relevancy here. His statement seemed callous at the time, but in a world where the U.S. supported and sanctioned violence, murders, coups, etc.

Generational names and classifications have always fascinated me. I guess they continue to fascinate others since every few months or so, the names or actions of a generation sparks a new crop of articles. Millennial bashing, and now Gen Z bashing, has become a monthly, sometimes even weekly occurrence. And then the requisite, Boomer bashing in retaliation for the previous Millennial bashing.  I get SO tired of millennial bashing. Not just because I get tired of "think pieces" ragging on an entire generation of people because often, it's misguided and seeks to lay blame on people rather than the systems that affected the people. And who can forget the interesting and dismissive (perhaps intentionally so) chart from CBS News that completely omitted Gen X. The ensuing tweets and memes were hilarious and spot on. Lots of people claimed that it's highly likely that a Gen Xer created the chart (because of course they did) and purposely omitted Gen X because that's

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag-map_of_Rwanda.svg I recently finished  Black Earth Rising on Netflix. The show stars Michaela Coel (as Kate Ashby), Harriet Walter (as Eve Ashby), John Goodman (as Michael Ennis), among many others. It's about a Rwandan genocide survivor Kate, who was adopted by an international lawyer (Eve) who prosecutes cases in the ICC. Over two decades after surviving the genocide, Kate and all those around her are forced to come to terms with some seriously uncomfortable realities of what happened before, during, and after the genocide. The show got in my head... One, it was great to see so many beautiful, brown-skinned people in a show and to experience a story of modern African history--albeit horribly, tragic history. And every time Coel was on screen, I marveled over her beauty--beautiful, smooth, brown complexion, amazingly shaped eyes, beautifully pronounced cheekbones and full lips. Two, although fictionalized, I learned a LOT more

I finished watching Black Earth Rising last night. More about that later, but one thing that I kept thinking every episode was how beautiful Michaela Coel  is. Her beautiful brown skin, amazingly shaped eyes, toned af body, and prominent African features. This was highlighted all the more because of the subject of the show--the Rwandan Genocide--and how many beautiful black/African people were in the show. https://blackexcellence.com/?s=benefits+of+melanin+rich+skin Then I awoke this morning to a post in an FB group asking for POC (people of color) to comment about how they'd feel if this poster was hung in their child's biology class in a school that is 3/4 predominantly white that has had racial tensions, and the bio teacher is also white. There are so many things to unpack here. First, it's interesting that the poster offers scientifically supported reasons to celebrate and love melanated/melanin-rich skin. Note: I'm going to use melanated because I love t

The post below was written in 2015, but never posted. (Not sure why.) Goodness, has the world changed in those 4 years. Now, our "president"--45--and EVEN more police brutality and racial bullshit situations have forced us to talk about what we have avoided for far too long. The below post represented a turning point for me in what topics I use for class. I'm glad I made that turn. I now actively work to decolonize the classroom and reiterate bell hooks' call to use transgressive teaching. Join me. From https://www.flickr.com/photos/collegelibrary/10859112445 For the first time in too many years to count, I've decided to use articles in my classes that openly discuss race. I purposely selected " The Topics Dystopian Films Won't Touch " by Imran Siddiquee and a response to that article titled " Why The Hunger Games  Is about Racism " by Alissa Wilkinson because both articles focused on a book and film series that most students nowadays

Being a parent is about always adjusting to the "new normal." But for a person who doesn't accept change well, always adjusting to a new normal can be hellish . Each new year brings different situations. Each new age brings a new set of challenges. From sleeping habits to teething to crawling to walking to running AND falling down (a lot!) to learning to talk and expand their vocabulary then trying to un teach them the colorful liquid lubricators that eventually slip out then teaching the proper audience, purpose, and context in which to use those words (#BecauseEnglishProfessor #BecauseLanguage #BecauseWordsMatter) to finding sitters then day cares then selecting and getting them in the best schools to monthly, then yearly and of course, random and frequent doc visits because new environs mean they catch EVERYTHING to developing a group of family and friends who can pitch in and help out with less than a 24 hours notice to juggling their new full schedules with your

Yesterday was the day the U.S. observes the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for 2019. I've always been rather annoyed with how much the safe-negro version of Dr. King is trotted out on the day he's memorialized each year, and folks strip out the more raw, realer, in your face, often uncomfortable. statements from him. We so easily quote pieces of his " I Have a Dream " speech, but pay little attention to his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech--despite the fact that that speech lost him some support AND was given one year to the day of his assassination. What abo ut his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech--literally given the night before he was assassinated ? Too often, we look back at Civil Rights leaders who have become cultural icons and sanitize them down to a more palatable version of who they were in their life. This isn't only reserved for cultural leaders and icons. It happens upon d

So,  clearly  there's a gap in  time (apparently, like 3+ damn years) betw een these  recent posts  and my last  ones. Sadly, as I scrolled back thro ugh  my last posts, I reali zed I  didn't  even  finish a series  I'd set  up .  Tsk  tsk on me. No other excuses, other than--well, life  got crazy  and busy  and crazy busy. Honestly,  I'm  not  really  sure why I abrupt ly  stopped blogg ing before. Maybe beca use I  questioned  my releva nce or if anyo ne  ac tually  gave a damn. Questioned whether I was shouting into the abyss. Questioned if my voice actually mattered. Questioned my existence and identity. ( I'm  not fishing for  reassurances here.  I'm still  the same  person with the same perspective-- read  my  shit or  not; I  know I have rele vant  things  to say.  And  my friend/boss/mentor in  badassery  Jenn reminded me:  I'm a public intellec tual, so yes, what I say matters.) In the interveni ng years, a LOT of shit has happened. P