Before I delve into it let us look at the definition of Tokenism. According to Google, as provided by Ocrod Languages, tokenism is defined as: the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from under-represented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality within a workforce. Let us go even further by defining what perfunctory means-- (of an action) carried out without real...
She is the calm before the storm She is the storm in a teacup She is the cup that keeps on pouring Until She decides to stop or cracks. Whichever comes first. She is loud. She is quiet. She is sunshine on a rainy day And raindrops when the skies are clear She is light She is dark And any other hue in between That God graces her with And all are beautiful in their own right She does not need to dim her light She is in the recipes that have been passed down The photos that grace the mantelpiece...
For as long as I can remember I've always been uncomfortable with the term' strong black woman'. In my opinion it is just as dangerous as the 'angry black woman' stereotype and I'll discuss why I think so too. According to google one of the definitions of strong is : 'The ability to withstand force, pressure, or wear'. On the surface it's not necessarily a bad thing and really, who would want to be 'weak'? My issue is that when juxtaposed with 'black' as well it just becomes a double negative...
So if you aren’t aware, Dappy from the former group ‘N-Dubz’ released a track and the N word was used. By that I mean ‘N*gger/a’ or whatever silly way people choose to spell it. Now, I’m not here for to hear why it’s acceptable but I will let you know why I feel it’s wrong that he used it on so many levels. First of all however let’s look at the common reasons as to why people say it’s fine for him to say it: Black people use the word on each other so what’s the issue?
In late June or early July I experienced something I hadn’t before. So, basically my friend and I were at a restaurant and this woman was asking around for money. For one reason or another she was sent out of the restaurant as we too were walking out. She then proceeded to ask me for money/ change which unfortunately I didn’t have. What happened next was unbelievable to be honest with you but I’ll write down the conversation as it happened- the most relevant parts anyway.
Who knew about a lady by the name of Rachel Dolezal? Well, neither did I until a few days ago. Get this, she ‘pretended’ to be of African- American heritage for many years. Recently she was ‘outed’ by her parents for being a liar. When I say my response was shock that is an understatement. I didn’t know what to make of it all. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried. I mean, why on earth would anyone do that? Now, unsurprisingly she is facing a lot of backlash. There are many...