Friday, July 5 happy fireworks day--well happed BELATED fireworks day everyone! :) hope you all had a good one! Ryan posted by Ryan Canty @ 4:17 PM [ e : w ]
I celebrated on Juneteenth (June 19th), that's when Black folks in Texas finally got the word of our Independence (2 yrs after the fact).... posted by Leonardo Colemon @ 1:46 PM [ e : w ]
I hope everyone had a wonderful Happy Fireworks Day! Some friends and I spent last night watching the beautiful (really) fireworks display above the East River from the balcony of author James Earl Hardy's Gramercy Park (or is it Murray Hill?) apartment.
Black Man, consider on this day, if you will, what Independence Day really means to you - and to us. 150 years ago, Frederick Douglass was asked to speak during a commemoration of The Declaration of Independence - an idea that he immediately cast aside as absurd and insulting. He did eventually agree to speak on July 5, 1852 and that historic speech WAS our voice against our enslavement, a voice that was sounded before the 'security' imparted to us by the Civil War. Links and details are available on my site, so you know where to click, right? posted by Donald Andrew Agarrat @ 8:23 AM [ e : w ]
Wednesday, July 3 Hey guys, we're working properly again! I've added a little feature: links to both the author's e-mail ("e") and the author's website ("w") appear after the author's name. Do y'all like that? If not, I can change it back. Please click below (on the 'e' after my name) send me a direct e-mail with your feedback (instead of posting your feedback about the e-mail feature to ourblog) ...
Also, update your profile with your current e-mail address and URL. Make sure this is information that you don't mind sharing. When you update your profile, your change won't be instantaneously changed on ourblog - I'll have to republish, so please do this as soon as you can. Thanks! posted by Donald Andrew Agarrat @ 9:51 AM [ e : w ]
My personal thoughts on inter-racial relationships? Who cares. I know it's cavalier, but really, why waste the time and energy?! It's too reactionary and diverts valuable time and energy from doing for self. With the myriad problems in our communities, it is much, much better for us to focus on positive and uplifting experiences. We should be pro-active with everything we do.
And I think there's one thing that is overlooked: it is possible that a Black/white couple is together because of love. If that is so, why should we make life difficult for them? Again, for me it's a matter of so what. If the Black person is in the relationship only because of some pathological reason, we should be damn glad that they're not polluting our dating pool anyway! ;-)
Tuesday, July 2 Hey guys, Donald here. Blogger is going through some changes - that's why you can't tell who posted what. Not to worry, though, it's a temporary problem that should be rectified within a couple of days.
posted by Donald Andrew Agarrat @ 7:02 PM [ e : w ]
Amen, Leo.
Tell it, PYoruba.
P - I completely agree with your notion aroud discussion of issues. I believe the beast of opression (in whatever form) is like a vampire - they thrive in the dark, and perish in the daylight.
I will cop to the fact that I was assuming you to be a black nationalist, just based on the phrasing of your questions, which was clearly erroneous. I apologize, and I appreciate the clarification. And the truth of the matter is, if I had seen that camera shot, the same thing would have crossed my mind, even if I was in an interracial relationship at the time I saw it!! That is the ridiculousness that is me, and I guess what makes me a human being - all those contradictions. I really just like to debate, and given the opportunity, and depending who I am talking to, I would ask the same questions. And I guess I will begin to question with you: there are enough celebrities, athletes, etc. who do end up with white people that it is worth investigating the pattern.
Lastly, I once heard Whoopi Goldberg say that whenever she has dated black men (or othe men of color for that matter), the press never takes or publishes those photos, partly because the black men she dated were not celebrities the way her white boyfriends have been. But, maybe not. Hmm...
I also think it is important to engage onself, one's partner, and the other black people in your life as to the "whys" of this relationship, on a regular basis, for you are not in it alone. For one thing, you are, as a couple, confronted by America's racial pathologies everytime you leave your house. It is in the eyes, the smirk, the headshakes, and the dismay of every passerby. But then again, so is America's gender/sexuality pathology, no matter what the ethnicity or race of your lover, to some extent (My mother, once again, being the exception...lol).
Kenyon posted by Kenyon Farrow @ 6:53 PM [ e : w ]
"Its less about who you love and more about do you love." -- Michael Franti
What a fitting quote for this conversation! I think due in part it's willingness to focus on Love, The General All-Purpose Action instead of Love, The Transitive Action. However, I think this focus is disingenuous - we ARE talking about how our self-love is reflected in the people that we choose to love.
And let's not skirt the issue - we are specifically talking about Black athletes/celebrities, what have you who date (exclusively) white - not just Interracial Dating, per se. This trend in our society is riddled with the pathology of Black and white belief in white privilege. To notice that trend doesn't preclude the possibility of non-pathological Black/white relationships, but to ignore it perpetuates its fraudulent prevalence in our society.
I believe that who you love does matter. If you don't really love yourself, you can't love anyone else. I really believe that a Black person who only dates white is revelling in intense and systematic self-hatred.
Donald posted by Donald Andrew Agarrat @ 6:44 PM [ e : w ]
I've read and had quite a few of the discussions similar to the race/ethnicity and dating/love issue taken on here. The questions seem to center around the rhetorical question of "why would they" & "why do they need to" with the (sometimes not so implied) answer pointing toward self-hatred, the necessity of having a 'white' status symbol, not being around those of their ethnicity or cultural identity confusion. It's interesting that all of the suggestions as to the 'why' are placed in a patholigized context. That it centers on a strong probability that because those who are dating/loving outside of their ethnicity/race, they have little or not appreciation for their people; not only that, but also it implies a disrespect for all of our struggles against the evils of racists, and a tacit approval of 'whitness' ( & whatever we associate with that, be it ongoing oppression, privilege, or slavery, violence, rape, etc.). Indeed, we might ask: can any person of African origin date someone of Euro origin outside this pathologized context? Do issues of self-hatred, lack of knowledge and/or respect for history (ancestors) and all the other 'issues' always play a detrimental role in a romantic relationship involving a Black and White person? I posit that in American society being ethnically stratified as it is, -whether one in is a same or differing race relationship it probably IS impossible to get beyond ALL of those issues even if both parties involved are divested of the above-mentioned pathologies.
There also seems to be an implicit assumption that once Black folks make some money, they gotta go get somebody white to be with. Do we know that they did not date whites when they were poor (i.e., money ain't got nothing to do with it, they were dating White folks when they were poor, so why expect them to change)? Granted, some of our folks who have become rich or famous have went out and gotten that white status symbol, but I hesitate to make such a broad generalization. It would be interesting to do or read a survey that looked at the racial/ethnic dating patterns of folks who are lower/middle/upper class, particularly Black folks to see if there is a discrepency of dating practices vis-a-vis > money = gotta get me a white attache. This myth/common perception needs to be debunked!
The way these issues are often talked about, you'd think that Black/White couples are always bogged down in ethnic/racial issues. If an 'out' guy dates a closeted guy, do we presume that they are dealing with those issues 24/7? If a woman dates a man, should we suppose that because of the historical oppression of women by men, they are always dealing with each other on that level? In all of these instances there will be some room to love, and grow. Nobody's politics are perfect and it is rare that everyone does in everyday life what the say they stand for in principle. We all trying to get there. Another fallout of Black 'stars' dating White folks is the fact that some of them are 'role models' and we fear that those who adore them will get the impression that, "wow, all the famous Black folk are dating White folks". That's a concern that has its merit; but there are numbers of famous Black folk who are with Black folk (Denzel, Michael Jordan, Angela Bassett , Me'Shell, Cornel West, Forrest Whitiker, Oprah)...images that can counter the stereotype.
Finally, I'm sure there are a number of Black/White lovers who are aware of all the racial/ethnic issues involved (explicit and implicit) in their being together. These issues are viewed as part and parcel of a number of issues that all couples must face, and they are able to (as functionally as possible, hopefully) deal with them and love each other anyway. It would have been interesting to pick James Baldwin's brain on this subject as he was in a relationship with a person of Euro descent.
Its less about who you love and more about do you love........[I stole that from Michael Franti]
Late,
Leo posted by Leonardo Colemon @ 4:13 PM [ e : w ]
Good Day All!
Brother Kenyon,
You are in no way attacking me, as I believe there is no such thing as a monolithic Black view. If anything we are the most democratic people around with little qualm in voicing our opinion. That being said, I really do not care who the Williams Sisters date just like I have no problem with and expect the like of kobe and tiger to date / marry white women that was too obvious in their case. The Williams sister are now grown women and they should do as they pleased. However I still wish that this was not the case.
My problem / issue is with the hole idea that pro athletes, entertainers, well to do negroes and others of sort need to have that white men and women in their arms to compliment their success. I would like to know the real reasons driving this custom among those black folks. Is it a marketing / PR plot? Is it Isolation from the larger Black community that cause them to seek white companionship? Or is it that internalized racism that forces them to seek such association the minute they are allowed in certain circle? These are the questions that I would like these Negroes to answer. The answers to those questions I may never find out but that is ok too.
And Brother Kenyon, I do not understand myself to be a nationalist but rather pro Black with a deep respect, appreciation and love of my Africanness. For that I make no apology.The nationalist movement as it manifested here in America is way too narrow, misguisded and to certain instances a ruse of those who profess to be nationalists to embrace a carbon copy of regimes, cultures and ways of those they want to seperate from and yet decidedly envy their patriotic, priviledged and corrupted ways. That brand of nationalism excapes me vastly. I want to see a movement that truly understand the diversity and complexity of Africanness / blackness that complexity that came as a result of our migration throughout the globe but yet have that common denominator of a deep feeling of familiarity and connection in mannerism that yet simplify our oneness. That gift therefore make us one people no matter where on this globe we happened to be born. That I believe the American brand of black nationalist movement fail to understand and or believe in. That was the type of Nationalist Movement that Leopole Senghor, Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkruma understood as well as the Negretitude Movement and Pan Africanism of the of the 1930's through the early 1960's had tried to promote.
I am tolerant and do respect other people's choices in life. What I would not stop doing however is questioning the motive behind the choices made? I raise these issues to provoke honest discussions and in hope that would prompt us to do some deep self assessment and ultimately get the courage to address these internalized issues that we are carrying around and that will forever eating at us if left unaddressed.
It has been very enjoyable to read your posts on this subject and I truly hope that more of you would chime in.
Until next time.
Peace Always!
PYoruba. posted by P. Yoruba Paul @ 11:44 AM [ e : w ]
Monday, July 1 Hey Ryan, that was my blog about white pride and Color Me Queer, but whatever. I ended having a pretty good time in the March, as I was among friends and was a part of the Youth contingent, representing FIERCE! and the No More Jails For Youth Coalition, and it was worth it for me to get mad love and support from brown folks and radical white queer contingents(Queer Jews Against the Occupation, of note) on the issues that effect our communities, as we carried signs and passed out info on the gentrication (and the criminalization) of youth of color in the West Village. I didn't even see any of the white muscle queen floats for the most part, which was good. PRIDE should be fun, no doubt, but that does not mean radical politics have to be removed or silenced in order for people to "have fun"!
PYoruba is right. In fact, I think both sisters are dating white men, but don't quote me. As far as how I feel about it, I am not so sure. As someone who has dated white men before ( I can almost hear the "oh no, here we go"...lol) I feel like I am no position to judge their decision, because I have done the same. I made the decision to only date men of color, but I feel no shame or regret in the two relationships I had with white men, and by no means feel like I was, or am, less "black" than I was before.
My mother is, politically, a 70s Black Nationalist. I don't know what Mr. Williams politics are, but I can say that as completely comfortable as my mother is, regarding my sexuality, she was not terribly thrilled when I was dating the two ex's who were white. I say that to say, he, the father, may or may not have anything to do with it. I think my own politics are definitely influenced by my mother's, but more in the sense that she has been an activist, and I am an activist, and the tradition of activism and passion for liberation have been passed to me, but I see terrible flaws in nationalistic, absolutist politics.
I find nationalism useful, in uniting people under a common identity (which is usually race, religion or ethnicity in this current world), to uprise against an oppressor. And whereas I am all about toppling this "White Republic", as Baldwin once called it, I have also witnessed nationalism turning, and it usually begins to turn on people among the ranks who do not believe in monolithic politics. Nationalism, utlimatley, is very conservative as best. At worst, it can be fascistic, a la Rwanda, Bosnia, etc. Hell, screw Bosnia, our own government is using the public's post 9-11 nationalistic sentiment to do all sorts of dirt, and create an atmosphere where people feel like they cannot speak out against any of their new policies for fear of being labeled "pro-terror, or anti-American", which has happened already to some of our greatest progressive minds.
More than whether or not they date white men or not, I find it more directly damaging that they have helped NIKE and other corporations sell their product which are made in sweatshops in China and Ho Chi Minh City, in sweatshops which are based on the American plantation model, to our children in the neighborhoods who may or may not be really able to afford them.
Brother PYoruba, I want to thank you for opening up the discussion. My intent is not to attack, as my politics, I hope are always have love in the forefront. I am just puttin my thoughts out here, as another perspective of many.
Much love in the struggle & keep the thoughts flowin'...
Kenyon posted by Kenyon Farrow @ 8:42 PM [ e : w ]
-P. Yoruba, I missed the Wimbledon Tennis match between Venus Williams and Maureen Drake of Canda -- It'll be good to hear what others have to say about the 'situation'.
Antonio posted by Antonio Gaskin @ 4:51 PM [ e : w ]
Hello All!
I posted this on my personal Blog I thought of sharing with this space ... Please feel free to post feed back.... may that will get me to post a bit more here
peace always,
PYoruba.
I hope it is NOT so!!!
Today I was watching the Wimbledon Tennis match between Venus Williams and Ms. Drake of Canada. When a shot of Serena Williams (Venus' sister) and their mother were sitting on the stand watching the match came up on the screen. Suddenly, another shot of Serena sitting in middle between her mom and this man. I did not think much of it until more shot, of Serena, Oracene (her mother) with that man talking to Serena in a manner that sends signal of intimacy between close friends or a couple. All I could think of is PLEASE LET IT NOT BE SO as in he is Serena Boyfriend. All the while wishing that this man is part of her security details may be a lucky fan or one her coaching staff or something.
Call me a racist if you wish but I rather have her next to a brother = A BLACK MAN then that specimen. That had quite a smirk on his face. Although Serena look kept her head facing the court and said nothing to him at least on camera. I hope that Richard had done much a better job than that. That picture I saw this afternoon really took me by surprize. I expect that more from the tigers and kobes of this world, not the Williams Sisters.
Yes I do expect feed back from whoever reads this and want to discuss this issue.... e-mail me pynyc@yahoo.com. Especially those of you watched the match this afternoon.
Until next time!
Peace,
PYoruba posted by P. Yoruba Paul @ 4:28 PM [ e : w ]
hey everyone! ryan here...i agree with you on pride, rHEio--i marched in the parade (for POCC People Of Color In Crisis) and I too have always been disturbed and alarmed by the WHITENESS of it...i missed the color me queer dance (i wanted to get up and make SURE i was at the float in time) but idid go to the party Emil Wilbekin threw at Cheetah for the Bellevue HIV Service Center (or something like that)--it was FIERCE! David Morales (who is SO fucking fine--id have like 10,000 of his babies if i could! lol!) was the dj--his set was a little tired at first but he wore it out at theend....Ashanti (the guest performer) was blah--im NOT feeling why folk love her so much when her vocal skills ARENT that strong and she could BARELY hold a tune live--girl, taint NOTHING wrong with vocal lessons...i had a GREAT time at pride it made me feel good to marchin the parade and have the people of color who WERE in attendance show you love...it was good.
i think ill DEFINITELY attend the Color Me Queer dance next year....to alaric and RHeio: im looking for apartments (im aiming for october 15th, 2002 as a move in date) and Im checking out Bed Stuy (in addition to the bronx, queens (astoria and jackson heights) and some parts of northern manhattan {wash heights, harlem and inwood}) can the both of you email me: Nubianman22@hotmail.com i have some questions regarding looking for and getting an apartment in bed stuy....
Sunday, June 30 Good Afternoon (from New Orleans) Bloggers: First, I apologize for my prolonged absence from OurBlog. Besides unexcusable procrastination, so many things have happened in my life that have demanded immediate attention. A disruption in my career, relocation, and a break-up that shouldn't ever been a been a "make-up" to begin. But as Mother's Wit taught me: "Trouble don't last always." The career pathway is getting brighter weekly; the relocation isn't as difficult as I thought it might be (In fact, it has put me closer to the sweetest love of my life.); and, I am free of one of the most dysfunctional situations I've ever allowed myself to become a part of. Oh yes, life is good (as it's always been), even if allowed that reality to slip my consciousness. God is good. Great. I am blessed: I have a small but wonderfully affirmative group of friends (Donald and Jeffery and Abraham among them). They love me, are honest with me, and see beauty and value in me when my own vision of myself becomes blurred. I've grown closer to my younger, "renegade-ish" sister. (The girl has a big heart. And she a bigger, well, let me just say "personality.") And, most recently, I've fallen--as in an easy, willing submission of the body and soul--in love. I have met the man that I will spend the rest of my life with. (I know that's a serious, maybe even a lofty, pronouncement. But, I ask that you trust MY judgment, of and for myself. It is true.) I have met my soul mate. It's a love and friendship that I don't yet have the enough adjectives or, possibly, the vocabulary to describe. All I will say for now is that "I am blessed and that I thank God daily for the love that my lover/partner/friend/soulmate shares with me every day." posted by Darrell Diggins @ 6:03 PM [ e : w ]
I hope everyone had a wonderful Happy Fireworks Day! Some friends and I spent last night watching the beautiful (really) fireworks display above the East River from the balcony of author 
Black Man, consider on this day, if you will, what Independence Day really means to you - and to us. 150 years ago, Frederick Douglass was asked to speak during a commemoration of 
Hey guys, Donald here. 
