What towns and communities that weren’t destroyed before the mid 20th century, the highway system finished off.

@Anna… I thank God for dat BIG mouth! It’s inspirational!

Blessings!

On another note: I totally hate seeing my avatar in the comments so much! It makes me look like I have a big mouth!!!

Peace!

You said “the prevailing standards of beauty in this country are still unforgiving of African American women”

I agree with you about that, but should we, black people, feel the same way about ourselves? Should black men be tyranized by this standard, having to deal with this double consciousness in regard to their desire for their own women being smashed to hell? Should he have to feel that horrid guilt about not feeling attracted to his own woman, who looks just like his mother, whom he loves? Unless of course she looks as much like a white woman as possible?
Should we accept the “prevailing standards” as etched in stone forevermore, by which we are forced to live? Can black men fight this brainwashing concerning his own dark skinned woman? Or must he remain captured by the “the prevailing standards of beauty in this country (that) are still unforgiving of African American women.”

You also said,
“Let’s not forget that the image of black women exist in a nasty historical backdrop… sexual beings, good for nothing but being raped and pillaged.”
I also agree with that as well. But must that “historical backdrop” define us forevermore? Can we rewrite history for ourselves? Slavery days have long since passed, and we black folks have fought every fight there is to fight, and will continue to fight. But we need to fight the battles that count.
America, the USA, is nothing if it’s not a grand puppeteer over the masses of its people. It uses its grand vehicle, the media, to manipulate every thought that we have. It manipulates its white people, it manipulates its black people and it manipulates every people in between when it’s suitable to maintain its power.

But we can fight back. Brothers, it’s time to fight back against allowing the media to take away from you, your love for your own black skinned woman!!!

J.S. Buford, I’m not trying to come across as an a’hole, and I’m not talking about you, personally. I’m just using your powerful words to teach others who are brainwashed and don’t know it.

“Being overweight for one thing is not attractive on anyone” I was once watching an episode of Oprah (yes I know) and the subject was how beauty is defined throughout the world. In Mauritania, North Africa, men define beauty on a woman as being fat. The women are taught from an early age to do what they can to gain weight, so as to be desirable to their men. So as young as seven years old, the girls are drinking very fattening camel’s milk and overstuffing themselves to get on that road to big voluptuousness. Oprah at her heaviest would be considered an OK weight for Mauritanian men!! Bigger would be even better!!

There is a reason why BET chose to place front and center, a hostess that didn’t look a bit like Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodward, or Kerry Washington. The aforementioned (Alfre & Angela) were staggeringly beautiful in their hey and still are. And Kerry… She Hate Me & I Think I Love My Wife will always occupy a special place in my heart.

The closer you get to a lighter complexion, the more acceptable features that would normally be attributable to African American women become… code words like exotic get used.

Let’s not forget that the image of black women exist in a nasty historical backdrop… sexual beings, good for nothing but being raped and pillaged. Sexual beasts. Lusted after, but not to be loved. Their features characterized, then caricatured. In other words exotic. In this context of course Kardashian becomes a wet dream. A quote unquote white woman with exotic, volumptuous, lusty features…. Picture perfect.

Complexion is an issue. The attractive get treated differently in any society. Don’t get it twisted. It effects self esteem, which determines a person’s capacity to excel more than any outside exigency ever could. And when others harbor prejudices predicated upon complexion it only exacerbates the situation.

Let us not forget the strategy employed by Thurgood Marshall during the Brown Case. It matters. Should it be at the very top of Black America’s to do list. Of course not. But let your child share with you that they are somehow ashamed of their skin color one day…. then let’s see how pressing an issue folks think it is then.

That being said, I have always wanted to visit ATL and hope to make it there someday. Maybe I’ll make it for a Raiders vs. Falcons game! lol! You’re so on point when you state that non Raider fans better not say anything negative about the team that I can hear! I’d quicker fight someone who puts them down than my wife… which is understandable since I’ve loved them longer than I’ve known wifey! [;o)

Let me know when you are planning to come to T.O. My fam is there so I’m there all the time. Ottawa is about 4hrs away. Maybe I’ll be there when you’re visiting and we can hook up. That’s if they let you enter at the border (I read the brohammas post). lol!

Blessings!

On the flip side, there are plenty of white and light skinned women, or just people in general , who most would find unattractive!!! (inside and out)

However, I do feel that people should focus on a healthy lifestyle . I have never seen a person in good health and fit that was unattractive to me. Being overweight for one thing is not attractive on anyone. Drug use and alcoholism is another thing that takes away from a person’s attractiveness; and how a person carry themselves can make then attractive or unattractive.

Black people should stop worrying about what white people think and focus on being the best we can be. The look thing is just plain vanity anyway. Beauty fades away, but ugly holds its own. we have more pressing problems then how light or dark we are. We have employment, education, health, crime, and housing issues, just to name a few. As I write this we have way to many Black people locked up and Black communities across America is being threaten with genocide and hostile police occupation , which leads to high crime in our communities, we have substance abuse and dysfunctional family problems. There is just too much at stake to be worried about the out side appearance, namely skin color!!!!

I love the post. Very true. U.S. a “third world” country behind the veil of wealth, is what I got from this. As a California native now living in the ATL I would say you messed up by not coming into the A! Come here next time, especially during winter so you can thaw out a bit and enjoy another view of a U.S. city you can get no where else in this country, period.

I will be coming to Canada soon. I have friends in Toronto and will be making a visit.

Check out this story and tell me what you think.
http://brohammas.wordpress.com/

We stayed in San Fran but also spent an afternoon visitng a Black bookstore in Oakland. I bought “Negroes with Guns” by Robert Franklin Williams there. Believe it or not, I couldn’t find it here in Canada [;o)

Someday (soon) I want to visit again with my wife and son to watch the Raiders again. I was hoping to wait until they started winning again, but I think I’ll have alzheimers by then and won’t know why I’m there! lol! So we may visit next year!

Just Win Baby!

So what conscious sisters have done is to redefine what beauty is for us. Using their own attributes, features, body shapes, etc. But only CONSCIOUS women can do this. Otherwise, you are trying to fit into the mold, either consciously or unconsciously. Which is your choice to make.
But what we can’t do is pretend that this is not going on. On the surface it looks one way. Maybe we are calling each other names and telling each other to tighten the perm. But we ought to be able to go back to the reason why. The media is the reason why. But thank God through the blogosphere we have created a new, pro black woman media for ourselves and right now there are probably tens of thousands of hair blogs for black girls who want to go natural or at least try it. We need to extend it to more than our hair.

Sisters, there are subtle phenomena lurking every where and it’s up to you to identify it and eliminate it if is to your disadvantage.

What is the significance of Black Tea Party members meeting with the NAACP? To me thats like the right hand meeting the left hand. (Asa & BP, I really had to think hard not to write NCAA…lol.) I do however, believe that, if the Tea Party in general truly means no ill will towards Black people, there should surely be a meeting between the Tea Party and the NAACP. This would, at least, appear to be a step towards pointing the finger at the true enemy. As long as as we struggle with each other, the enemy is not confronted.