Then there’s hair. I had a producer ask me once, “So what does your hair require?” I replied point blank, “It requires someone who can do black women’s hair.” Black women’s hair is a varied assortment of curls and kinks, sometimes four different types of which are on one head. We have edges, and kitchens, and baby hairs, all of which need to be properly tended to with a skilled hand and a keen eye. Handling our hair is an art. So when you have a natural, and you arrive to a set, and the hairstylist is a white woman with a curling iron in hand, there is always a moment of concern. I don’t care if you’re offended, I’m going to ask, “Are you versed in doing black hair?” If you’re reading this, please just be honest. If you don’t do black girl hair, don’t claim to, because if you jack my shit up, WE WILL HAVE AN ISSUE. No, I don’t want pomade in my hair. No, I don’t want you to “bump up my curls with a curling iron.” No, this is not a weave. No, I didn’t bring my own products, because no, I shouldn’t have to. Did any of these white women have to bring their own products? No, they didn’t, because you considered them. Is it really too much to ask that a hairstylist keep a baby hair brush, edge control, leave-in conditioner, and heat protectant JUST IN CASE she has a blacktress on set? No, it is not too much to ask. The mark of a professional is displayed when you ask, “Can you do black hair,” and the stylist replies, “Yes, heat or no heat?”
Discrimination comes in many forms and indifference is one of them. On behalf of all the black and brown people in all forms of entertainment, we ask you, artisans of the hair and makeup world, please consider us when you are training in your craft. Expand your skill set to reflect our world, and it will increase your perspective and your income!
SIDE EFFECTS OF
The White Bubble
With perimeters of privilege
It’s been built on a lie
Preserved by cowardice
It can only be popped from the inside.
I have been fortunate to know many white allies in my life. A key characteristic to their allyship is the ability to both acknowledge and use their privilege while popping their “white bubble” and not validating the construct of whiteness. When the tragic events of Charlottesville, VA, took place in 2017, Alison Faircloth, a close friend of mine, Dr. Phillips High School classmate, and a woman who happens to be white, wrote this on Facebook. It is valuable for several reasons, one of which is her understanding that as a woman who happens to be white, her voice on this topic is essential to cutting through the noise and reaching the white people who need to hear it. This is how you ally:
A Few Thoughts for Shocked White People Everywhere:
• The event and demonstration in Charlottesville is domestic terrorism
• This terrorism is fueled by racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, white supremacy, Nazism, malignant complacency, and run-of-the-mill ignorance
• The protection of terrorism and hate speech under the mantle of “free speech” is another example of institutionalized racism/white privilege
• DJT (though he lacks the intellect, skill, and power of Voldemort, he shares our disdain, therefore we do not say his name) has CONSISTENTLY empowered and emboldened all of the above pre-existing conditions through coded language interpreted as promises by the KKK, David Duke, and anti-Semitic and white supremacist groups
• DJT continues to make veiled appeals to this now unhooded, racist base
• Supporting DJT’s presidency IS supporting the amplification of white supremacist terrorism and everyday racism
• Murder and violence is a direct result of the above
• This should not be a surprise, fellow white people
• This is the result of historical, intentional, systemic, institutionalized racism that has been present since the inception of this country
• If you, as a fellow white person, are shocked by these events—I lovingly suggest you are naive at best, complicit, or worse
• For shocked white people who are naive, let these events be a wakeup call to gift yourself a deeper understanding of the shameful legacy of racism and xenophobia in this country
• I challenge you (as I challenge myself) to make it a priority to learn, listen, and identify how you can be an ally to POC and the systemically disenfranchised, and disempower the myth of Whiteness
• If you choose not to do so after the events of today, you remain willfully ignorant and part of the problem
• While I do not support the empowerment of Whiteness as a concept, I acknowledge I benefit from white privilege daily
• White people who feel threatened by equality and protection for POC or simple statements like Black Lives Matter are suffering from highly problematic white fragility at best
• That was a joke—the white people aren’t the ones suffering here
• It is the responsibility of white folks to make themselves and those they love distinct from the faces of racism and white supremacist terrorism through BOTH words and actions as they move through the world EVERY DAY, not only on days when it makes the news
• It is NOT the move to ask your POC friends to fill you in. If they volunteer, listen—and be mindful of whitesplaining. If you misstep here, apologize and don’t shy away from future conversations.
White People Litmus Test:
Do the phrases “structural racism” and/or “institutionalized racism” bring specific events and policies to mind for you? If not, you need more info.
Quick-Start Action suggestions:
• Watch the documentary 13th on Netflix
• Make a donation to a relevant organization
• Hope this helps. I have a lot to learn myself and welcome conversation.
That’s how you get invited to the BBQ.
GEM DROPPIN’
White Ally vs. White Savior
I’M GONNA TALK DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE READING THIS who benefit from white privilege. I always say that there are only two types of white people. People who are white, and people who happen to be white. People who are white consider their whiteness to be a part of what makes them great. People who happen to be white know that though they possess white privilege, whiteness is not based on anything biological or anthropological, has nothing to do with ethnicity/culture, and is merely a construct created to oppress others. Before you can even step forward to truly be a part of the destruction of racial oppression in the world, you must first truly come to terms with where you fit in the binary. Now, once you’ve come to terms and understand and live by the truth that you just “happen to be white,” the natural instinct is to ask, “What do we do now?” . . . to a black person. However, the reality is, deconstructing the global concept of racism lies squarely on the shoulders of those benefiting from it stepping forward to actively work against it. From this notion is born the white ally and the white savior. Now listen, both folks are coming from a good place, but there are very important distinctions to be made between the two.
The biggest, most glaring distinction is that white saviors don’t know their place. I can imagine some of you clutching your pearls right now. “My place, what does that mean?!” Partially because with privilege often comes the entitlement of not ever having to consider that there is a place that you don’t have access to. Your “place,” so to speak, is an appropriate position taken when you enter someone else’s space. When you were a teenager and thought you were grown and came out your whole entire face in the junior’s section of some department store in some mall, your mom had to either give you a few choice words, or, unfortunately, a quick pop to the mouth to put you back in your “place.” As an adult, the social rules of knowing your place can be a bit hazy, but in the context of being a change agent against racism they are very basic, and white saviors miss the mark every time. This is because as a white savior, though you may truly consider yourself to be a person who “happens to be white” you have not checked your privilege. White saviors do not realize that they have lived in a world where their voice, no matter what class they�
�re in, has always been considered more valuable than the voice of a person of color. They fail to grasp that, even when they have had the epiphany that race is a construct and that they are simply a part of a tool used for hatred—that they are, in actuality, late to the party. People of color in the fight against racism been knowed that! You’re just showing up. Lastly, they are still coming from a place of distance that views people of color as “an other,” versus “another.” Because of these obstacles, when a white savior enters a situation where they can be of help by using their white privilege, or simply by just being a good person, they inevitably attempt to dominate the voices of the people of color that are actually in the situation. It sounds something like:
White Savior: Black people of the world, I am Ashley H., and I have come to cure you of all of your woes! I, too, voted for Obama . . . twice! I, too, saw Selma, and Ava Duves is amaze! And every first Thursday of the month, I volunteer at an inner-city high school in Chicago for two hours. So, I KNOW YOUR STRUGGLE.
The People: Umm thanks Ashley but actually we had a question about . . .
White Savior: Excuse me, sister, I’m speaking . . . anywhoo . . .
Sit down, Ashley. White saviors show up to the fight thinking they know everything, and they haven’t even asked questions. This is not helpful. It is an obstacle. Though it may not be hate-fueled, it is ego-fueled, and white supremacy has spent centuries indoctrinating white people in this way. Making y’all believe the lie that simply because you’re white, you’re better, and the world is yours. White saviors unwittingly carry this energy into the change space and in doing so mute the very voices that they should be using their privilege to amplify.
White allies, on the other hand, know how to step into a situation and become a part of the landscape that’s fixing the problem without considering themselves to be the entire landscape. I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to do. Again, FOR CENTURIES, in books, in music, in entertainment, in media, in school, in literally every facet of social existence, much of the world has literally told white people the biggest lie ever told, that your melanin-less skin makes y’all the best. Couldn’t be further from the truth. To come to terms with that can be a doozy and requires you to change your way of moving in the world and even your language. At the same time, you must balance the understanding that until racism has truly been smote out, regardless of your personal awareness of the fallacy of it, you still, by nature of your snowflakery, benefit from the privilege associated with it. A white ally has successfully done this and therefore knows that when they enter a landscape where they can help underserved people of color, it’s really about using their privilege to empower the people that are already there doing the work. The ally carries another, even more important responsibility. I call it the “Get Yo’ People Initiative.” It is not enough to help give voice, resources, etc. to marginalized people. In addition, the white ally must use their privilege to engage with and challenge the white people who are an impediment to the eradication of racism. The white ally must SPEAK UP when in the presence of racial discrimination. The white ally must ACT when faced with the realities of appropriation of privilege and implementation of supremacy. The white ally must TAKE A VISIBLE STANCE that they are a change agent. I know some might read this and say, well what if they’re Schindler’s listing and are using their position to do the work on the low. In my opinion the time for that is no longer. When white supremacy was literally the law of the land it was necessary to move in the shadows. However, now, the shadows are the places where the racism continues to live, and they are growing, so allies must be the light of truth that dissolves them.
Let’s be real, we could have a festival of “If it wasn’t for this white person” films.
• Dangerous Minds: Thank goodness this cool white lady showed up in her leather jacket to rap with Coolio about teaching us how to read.
• Freedom Writers: Thank goodness this other cool white lady showed up to, once again, teach us how to read.
• Finding Forrester: Thank goodness this cool old white man showed up to show me that I already knew how to read.
• Green Book: Thank goodness this mediocre racist white man needed money so bad he came along to drive me through the segregated South and watch me be such an exceptional human and teach me, a black man, about soul food and soul music before inviting me to dinner with his racist family.
I could go on! So of course when you’re shown constant images of white people being supplanted in a situation and all of a sudden making everything better, you’re going to think, “Hey I have the power to do that too!” But guess what, there were a bunch of people there before you showed up wearing your Khaleesi “I shall bring them freedom” cape. A lot of folks don’t understand that when you come in and you dominate the situation, you’re still a part of the problem—you’re not helping the problem. I get a lot of people asking me, “Amanda, I’m a white person and I want to help, what can I do?” The first step to being a white ally and truly being able to help is to understand that it is NOT the responsibility of marginalized people, ESPECIALLY BLACK PEOPLE, to give you an Ikea step-by-step instruction manual on how to dismantle the racism that your ancestors created, that some of your folks continue to uphold, and that all of you benefit from, directly or indirectly, whether you want to admit it or not. White allies create and support platforms and safe spaces for people of color to speak their truths uninterrupted by white privilege, white guilt, and white tears. White allies educate themselves, they research, they listen, they hit the Googles, then they hit the ground however they can be of service. One thing that this movement has that the Civil Rights movement didn’t is the internet. Use it, unless you’re asking someone about their specific experience as a POC, you have access to the same information we do about the racist past and present. Most importantly, white allies understand that though race is some bullshit, it does have real-life consequences and that it is their position, and their role, to be a part of actively challenging that by speaking truth to action, speaking directly in the face of those who uphold racism, and doing so without speaking over black people who are actively challenging it. You master that and you’re beyond someone who happens to be white, you’ve hit the ultimate goal, “Woke White!” Now, get on out there and figure out how to bring the real to all your problematic family members at the next Thanksgiving dinner!
The Negro National Anthem
THAT ONE TIME
My mother is from Grenada, and I grew up in a Caribbean household. So, although I had a lot of exposure to all things Black American, from The Cosby Show to the Soul Train line to what is the precise amount of sugar to add to Kool-Aid, there were certain things that fell through the cracks. One of those was the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” However, my failure to learn the Negro National Anthem was less about my Caribbean mother and more about the white bubble of America, because the fact of the matter is, as a newly anointed American citizen, my mother should have had to learn it along with the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The test for citizenship in this country is chock-full of dates and presidents and capitals and all types of rigamarole, but conspicuously leaves out the acknowledgment that black people of American heritage were so marginalized and unique in their American experience that they had to come up with their own damn anthem. Not to mention the national anthem that we are forced to sing at sports events and morning assemblies is actually racist! Yea, second verse. Look it up! In my case, it’s no wonder I hadn’t learned the NNA. Some of y’all are reading this right now like, “Wait, what?? There’s a Negro National Anthem???” Yes! Remember when Obama was elected and you were at that party and all the black people started singing along with the CNN feed of a black church congregation singing in unison? You may have looked around with an awkward polite smile as if to say, “I don’t know this song that everyone seems to know but it is pretty . . . maybe it’s a Baptist hymn???” No! That was the Negro National Anthem, and at a certain point every black p
erson in America learns it and we sing it at black thangs like HBCU events, my comedy shows, and even that one time at Bey-chella. I grew up going to school in regular ol’ public schools being taught regular ol’ curriculum that paints America, in so many words, as a place that went from Pilgrims to presidents with various random happenings in between, and a “BTW slavery happened, too” kind of approach to US history, so it’s no wonder that the fact that there has been a Negro National Anthem since James Weldon Johnson and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson wrote the song in 1900 somehow did not make it to my consciousness until the tenth grade.
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