When I think about poetry, I think about an art form designed to convey various realities through colorful language. I think about the nuances and intricacies of language and how, although it may not always be foolproof, it allows for a communication between different entities that probably wouldn’t otherwise exist. When I think about black female poets specifically, however, I immediately associate them with style, but also easily recognizable issues that are genuine and relatable. Black poets of the past really only had one way to communicate and express what they were feeling to other black folks; this generally involved cutting up and reworking standard English to suit their individual tastes and audiences. Likewise, the only way Black people heard you came in the form of them being able to identify with whatever you wrote down or came out of your mouth. When considering past and more recent poets, especially women like Nikki Giovanni and Gwendolyn Brooks, it is easy to see how their poetry has morphed into the spoken word that many of us go crazy for. All of these women span generations that are speaking out more heavily than the previous one. When Nikki Giovanni started writing her poems, stage presence and delivery were not crucial to her career - she could've survived and prospoered without them. The key thing during her poetic era was her ability to convey with her words alone that there is a message to be found within the clever phrases. Ntozake Shange made waves with her choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf." Though this particular poem seems to be one destined for the stage and screen, it is one that is written for the Black community in a vernacular that Black people easily recognize.
The connections I draw between former Black poetry (pre-Black Arts Era) and spoken word are the successes of technology and the unveiling of real talk. In this converstaion, real talk is the convention of Black life. It is that which has been used by Black people since way back to express real life scenarios in the realest way possible. Real talk is the chance to say what you feel and really mean it. Real talk does not hide behind empty, evasive language and pose as substantial - it inserts itself as that which cannot be refuted. Poetry and spoken word feed off of one another in this respect. With it, and through poetry and spoken word, real talk comes alive and exposes audiences to what Black women are really feeling. We have taken these two very unique practices and applied them where "normal" acts have failed. These two practices took over where the blues left off in allowing real experiences to come to light. Experiences like heartbreak, loss, love, joy, and other everyday struggles no longer had to take a backseat to never being told as well as being second to that of men. Our stories were being told and being represented uniquely by those experiencing them.
Transitioning to femcees, DJs, and B-girls is an easy feat, then. They basically aid spoken word artists and represent the foundation of Hip-Hop. All of these artists work in tandem to show different sides of life in the best way possible. Through music and all of these expressive art forms, Hip-Hop takes shape in allowing its primary (Black) audience a chance to tell their individual stories. This is not to say that other races are not welcome in this sphere, but that Hip-Hop initially served as an outlet for Black people to combat a lot of harsh realities. Collectively, these platforms allow us, and Black females especially, to refute societal pressures and norms.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Phenomenal Woman, That's Me.
The following is Maya Angelou's reknown poem "Phenomenal Woman":
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I'm writing this post today because a classmate of mine presented the rhetoric of Maya Angelou. Her presentation of this poem was actually my first time hearing this poem in its entirety. I felt moved by the words and the message within. Her literary career aside, Angelou is known for many things, including her most recent cameo appearances in many television shows and movies. This poem, taken from ,lists the poem's date as April 4, 1928. The time period it was written in is not my focus here, but this time period, 2013, and its relevance to our culture today is.
Black women and the things we used to do to ourselves, the most obvious being the perming of our hair, were always relegated to trying to be "white." Now there is a heavy focus, and I've heard this so many times, of trying to look Spanish or Indian or whoever. The point is, there always seems to be an obvious act of trying to look less Black. As a result, there are now more "bad bitches" than ever before. You know the "bad bitch" trope. It's being promoted in our music, shown in our videos, and is on the minds of many young, impressionable women. Popularly, this a term given to women BY MEN that denotes seemingly "good" or desirable qualities in women, like having long hair, nice bodies, a good education, a good job, all topped with atypical female actions, like being "a ride or die" for your man and "holding it down." I don't know where on earth this arose from, but I really think we need to take a collective step back and focus on positively validating ourselves instead of leting a lot of these ignorant men do it for us. I'd also like to know where the hell we got the idea, in 2013, as fully educated Black women, that it is okay to internalize racism and hatred from years past and treat ourselves with the disrespect that is EVERYWHERE.
"Phenomenal Woman" praises the Black woman. It offers us a sense of self where we don't know who our self is or where to find her. Too often, and especially in the African American community, Black people, and Black women, especially, are hyper-sexualized to the point where it seems ingrained. We are made to think that our greatest value is what we have is between our legs and not in our minds. We are made to think that there is nothing beautiful about ourselves. We are made to think that Black women are horrible, spiteful, mean-spirited creatures. We are told by our men, and trust me, I've heard them say it, that Black women are inferior in every way, shape, and form. We spend so much time cutting each other down and talking shit about the next person that we can't see what another Black woman, a sista, has to offer the world. And, while we do this, we are also hurting ourselves and fail to see the why or how. We are hurting ourselves in the way we violate our bodies with piercings, with tattoos, with the barely there clothes, with the ridiculous changes we make to our bodies or believe in things that society tells us we must possess (bigger asses > ass shots [sometimes illegal]; bigger breasts > breasts implants [that we most likely cannot afford and don't need; make-up [which a lot of us don't need and don't know how to put on; I mean really, some of us could use WAY less]). We convince ourselves that we are not good enough and must therefore change urselves and be "other." A lot of us wear weave. Why? Our natural hair is beautiful. I'm no saint; my 20 inches is extremely expensive, and not only economically. A lot of us spend thousands of dollars on the aforementioned cosmetic enhancements - for what? We are all supposedly made in God's image. Does this mean he is imperfect? We take inappropriate photos of ourselves and put them on social media sites, then cry foul when we are exploited without our permission. Poor Instagram; it done seen more asses and tits than a little bit. We call each other "bitch" and "hoe" affectionately, thinking that changing the use of these words somehow erases or rectifies the history behind them. We disrespect ourselves so fully and completely and wonder why men and people of other races question our worth. You want to know why? Because we clearly don't accept ourselves. Because we clearly feel so low that others can see right through us and peg us as such.
When we, Black women, demand respect from others, it takes gettin' all our lives and having MANY seats. It means accepting responsibility for ourselves and our actions. It means, and I say this with every tired breath in my body, that we have to look within and consider what makes us beautiful, what makes us special - what makes us unique to every other woman of every other race in the world. We have to take "Phenomenal Woman" and repeat "I deserve _______ because I am a phenomenal woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that's me." If repeating this or something similar means accepting your big ass head and big ass lips and big ole ass and wide hips and tig ole bitties, then do it! If it means you're not comparing yourself to the next woman and finding yourself lacking instead of being happy with the way you are, nappy head and all, then so be it. If it means not listening to some of these trifling ass men tell you that you're not good enough or need to have this or that or the other, then to hell with them. If it means telling society to fuck off 'cause you ARE Black, DO have a mind of your own, WILL NOT be quiet for N-O-B-O-D-Y, and are a PHENOMENAL WOMAN, then do you! We really need a change in thinking, because thinking is the action that becomes change. If we want respect, we have to respect ourselves. If we want respect, we have to be the catalysts. This is the absolute only way for anything positive to happen. That means [YOUNG LADIES] stop twerking nasty in the club. That means stop putting these fresh ass videos on youtube. That means stop posting ass shots on Instagram and Facebook. Among all the over things we need to stop doing, it means instilling within ourselves, and our friends and sisters and cousins and peoples that, there is something truly special and awesome and gorgeous about each one of us. We need to, no, we have to, realize that nobody owes us anything we won't give ourselves. Respect starts with you.
And with that said, I'm taking my phenomenal ass to class before I'm phenomenally late! LOL.
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I'm writing this post today because a classmate of mine presented the rhetoric of Maya Angelou. Her presentation of this poem was actually my first time hearing this poem in its entirety. I felt moved by the words and the message within. Her literary career aside, Angelou is known for many things, including her most recent cameo appearances in many television shows and movies. This poem, taken from ,lists the poem's date as April 4, 1928. The time period it was written in is not my focus here, but this time period, 2013, and its relevance to our culture today is.
Black women and the things we used to do to ourselves, the most obvious being the perming of our hair, were always relegated to trying to be "white." Now there is a heavy focus, and I've heard this so many times, of trying to look Spanish or Indian or whoever. The point is, there always seems to be an obvious act of trying to look less Black. As a result, there are now more "bad bitches" than ever before. You know the "bad bitch" trope. It's being promoted in our music, shown in our videos, and is on the minds of many young, impressionable women. Popularly, this a term given to women BY MEN that denotes seemingly "good" or desirable qualities in women, like having long hair, nice bodies, a good education, a good job, all topped with atypical female actions, like being "a ride or die" for your man and "holding it down." I don't know where on earth this arose from, but I really think we need to take a collective step back and focus on positively validating ourselves instead of leting a lot of these ignorant men do it for us. I'd also like to know where the hell we got the idea, in 2013, as fully educated Black women, that it is okay to internalize racism and hatred from years past and treat ourselves with the disrespect that is EVERYWHERE.
"Phenomenal Woman" praises the Black woman. It offers us a sense of self where we don't know who our self is or where to find her. Too often, and especially in the African American community, Black people, and Black women, especially, are hyper-sexualized to the point where it seems ingrained. We are made to think that our greatest value is what we have is between our legs and not in our minds. We are made to think that there is nothing beautiful about ourselves. We are made to think that Black women are horrible, spiteful, mean-spirited creatures. We are told by our men, and trust me, I've heard them say it, that Black women are inferior in every way, shape, and form. We spend so much time cutting each other down and talking shit about the next person that we can't see what another Black woman, a sista, has to offer the world. And, while we do this, we are also hurting ourselves and fail to see the why or how. We are hurting ourselves in the way we violate our bodies with piercings, with tattoos, with the barely there clothes, with the ridiculous changes we make to our bodies or believe in things that society tells us we must possess (bigger asses > ass shots [sometimes illegal]; bigger breasts > breasts implants [that we most likely cannot afford and don't need; make-up [which a lot of us don't need and don't know how to put on; I mean really, some of us could use WAY less]). We convince ourselves that we are not good enough and must therefore change urselves and be "other." A lot of us wear weave. Why? Our natural hair is beautiful. I'm no saint; my 20 inches is extremely expensive, and not only economically. A lot of us spend thousands of dollars on the aforementioned cosmetic enhancements - for what? We are all supposedly made in God's image. Does this mean he is imperfect? We take inappropriate photos of ourselves and put them on social media sites, then cry foul when we are exploited without our permission. Poor Instagram; it done seen more asses and tits than a little bit. We call each other "bitch" and "hoe" affectionately, thinking that changing the use of these words somehow erases or rectifies the history behind them. We disrespect ourselves so fully and completely and wonder why men and people of other races question our worth. You want to know why? Because we clearly don't accept ourselves. Because we clearly feel so low that others can see right through us and peg us as such.
When we, Black women, demand respect from others, it takes gettin' all our lives and having MANY seats. It means accepting responsibility for ourselves and our actions. It means, and I say this with every tired breath in my body, that we have to look within and consider what makes us beautiful, what makes us special - what makes us unique to every other woman of every other race in the world. We have to take "Phenomenal Woman" and repeat "I deserve _______ because I am a phenomenal woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that's me." If repeating this or something similar means accepting your big ass head and big ass lips and big ole ass and wide hips and tig ole bitties, then do it! If it means you're not comparing yourself to the next woman and finding yourself lacking instead of being happy with the way you are, nappy head and all, then so be it. If it means not listening to some of these trifling ass men tell you that you're not good enough or need to have this or that or the other, then to hell with them. If it means telling society to fuck off 'cause you ARE Black, DO have a mind of your own, WILL NOT be quiet for N-O-B-O-D-Y, and are a PHENOMENAL WOMAN, then do you! We really need a change in thinking, because thinking is the action that becomes change. If we want respect, we have to respect ourselves. If we want respect, we have to be the catalysts. This is the absolute only way for anything positive to happen. That means [YOUNG LADIES] stop twerking nasty in the club. That means stop putting these fresh ass videos on youtube. That means stop posting ass shots on Instagram and Facebook. Among all the over things we need to stop doing, it means instilling within ourselves, and our friends and sisters and cousins and peoples that, there is something truly special and awesome and gorgeous about each one of us. We need to, no, we have to, realize that nobody owes us anything we won't give ourselves. Respect starts with you.
And with that said, I'm taking my phenomenal ass to class before I'm phenomenally late! LOL.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Barbara Jordan: Nixon, You Betta Gone!
Hey, hey, hey! Today's post is about Ms. Barbara Jordan. Lawd ain't enough I can say about this woman! I honestly don't even know where to begin! Black women have long been credited with speaking their minds and speaking as loud as they need to to get their point across. Jordan is no different. As keynote speaker of the Democratic National Convention of '76, Barbara speaks in that way she does to sway the audience in favor of Democrats. What I see when I look at this is a BLACK woman taking the fall for (as usual) a man who messed up every-damn-thing (as usual!) and telling everyone that politicians in general need to get it together. Deep, right?
Here's an idea. I'm gonna include a snippet of her speech below:
Now what the hell do we make of this? First of all, at this time, Nixon has resigned. He resigned when he should've had his ass WHUPPED for lying like he did. Barbara was the black woman carrying on about what he did, and rightfully so. At this convention, she clearly states that as our nation's leaders, we the people should expect more from them. Our politicians, she says, are held to the highest law of the land (the Constitution) by the people and in doing so must reflect the people. Nixon didn't reflect a damn thing but his own political agenda and indirectly, Jordan condemns that. She condemns the idea of everyone in office acting for self instead of the greater good and future of the nation.
Jordan's rhetoric here is simple but powerful. In the same way she addresses her colleagues in talks of Nixon's impeachment two years prior, she evokes the principles of the Constitution and her own professionalism as a way to capitvate the minds and sensibilities of the entire country. She calls upon her knowledge as a Senator first and a black woman second to demonstrate that she is not only capable of holding her position, but that she, too, is subject to the ideals originally constructed in the development of America. In this speech, Jordan is outlining the function of government and the way it serves the people. Or, in this case, how it was supposed to function before Nixon tried to get slick with his.
Jordan's speech and her political career work as rhetoric in the way she delivers her message(s). At this time, she evokes a response from her audience in the ironic seriousness of her carriage and words. She also envokes passion on behalf of her admitting that (in the aftermath of having Nixon as President)the government has done the nation a disservice, accepting the responsibility as her own. Putting herself on the chopping block, in this instance, is powerful for the very reason that she casts off characteristics that define her and anyone else that isn't white - being black, a woman, a blah, blah, blah... She insists here that she is part of a body that is made to serve and must therefore, although it hasn't been its most vigilant, do all it can to uphold rules and standards set by this country's forefathers. This is ESPECIALLY important since African Americans were not originally included in "our" forefathers' proposed new land.
Personally, Jordan is interesting enough as having the title of "First Black Woman to..." over her head and ignoring these in favor of acting as her position dictates. She focuses on the issues at hand instead of pandering to an audience (white males in power) that wishes her to not be outspoken, not make plain what they ignore or designify, as well as not be a black woman saying what they should inherently know! I appreciate the fact that, like Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan uses this country's failings as a way to make it even more obvious that a change is desperately necessary. On top of all that, she makes it plain through what she doesn't say that those who voted against Chisholm were some damn fools.
***For those who don't understand the title, "gone" translates as "go on." (Anybody from the South would understand.)
Here's an idea. I'm gonna include a snippet of her speech below:
Now what the hell do we make of this? First of all, at this time, Nixon has resigned. He resigned when he should've had his ass WHUPPED for lying like he did. Barbara was the black woman carrying on about what he did, and rightfully so. At this convention, she clearly states that as our nation's leaders, we the people should expect more from them. Our politicians, she says, are held to the highest law of the land (the Constitution) by the people and in doing so must reflect the people. Nixon didn't reflect a damn thing but his own political agenda and indirectly, Jordan condemns that. She condemns the idea of everyone in office acting for self instead of the greater good and future of the nation.
Jordan's rhetoric here is simple but powerful. In the same way she addresses her colleagues in talks of Nixon's impeachment two years prior, she evokes the principles of the Constitution and her own professionalism as a way to capitvate the minds and sensibilities of the entire country. She calls upon her knowledge as a Senator first and a black woman second to demonstrate that she is not only capable of holding her position, but that she, too, is subject to the ideals originally constructed in the development of America. In this speech, Jordan is outlining the function of government and the way it serves the people. Or, in this case, how it was supposed to function before Nixon tried to get slick with his.
Jordan's speech and her political career work as rhetoric in the way she delivers her message(s). At this time, she evokes a response from her audience in the ironic seriousness of her carriage and words. She also envokes passion on behalf of her admitting that (in the aftermath of having Nixon as President)the government has done the nation a disservice, accepting the responsibility as her own. Putting herself on the chopping block, in this instance, is powerful for the very reason that she casts off characteristics that define her and anyone else that isn't white - being black, a woman, a blah, blah, blah... She insists here that she is part of a body that is made to serve and must therefore, although it hasn't been its most vigilant, do all it can to uphold rules and standards set by this country's forefathers. This is ESPECIALLY important since African Americans were not originally included in "our" forefathers' proposed new land.
Personally, Jordan is interesting enough as having the title of "First Black Woman to..." over her head and ignoring these in favor of acting as her position dictates. She focuses on the issues at hand instead of pandering to an audience (white males in power) that wishes her to not be outspoken, not make plain what they ignore or designify, as well as not be a black woman saying what they should inherently know! I appreciate the fact that, like Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan uses this country's failings as a way to make it even more obvious that a change is desperately necessary. On top of all that, she makes it plain through what she doesn't say that those who voted against Chisholm were some damn fools.
***For those who don't understand the title, "gone" translates as "go on." (Anybody from the South would understand.)
Friday, April 5, 2013
Ethos and Nommo: There's Not a Black Woman Without It (Revised)
I originally wanted to do an essay for this class. I started it... looked at it... stared at it a little bit more... it was awful. How do you write a formal, traditional, made-for-college essay on some really incredible women? Easy. You can't. Well, I can't- I couldn't- whatever! The first person I considered for this piece was Shirley Wilson Logan. In class we looked at various Black women like Sojourner Truth and Maria W. Stewart who used public forums (previously inhabited by white males) to present their cause to largely white audiences. These women, these BLACK women, took it upon themselves to get on white stages and make whites AND blacks pay attention. Stewart spoke on behalf of slaves' struggles. Sojourner? She spoke on behalf of not only black women, but women in general and the rights, privileges, and courtesies extended women of different races. Ida B. Wells attempted to inform America of the violence inflicted on Black people by whites in the most racist parts of the country. Numerous women are likewise included in this chronological history of women with persuasive discourses.
With all of this said, I'd like to bring attention to the ever-present component of Black women that make us who we are: ETHOS! Yes, ethos. Logan describes ethos as "platform presence" (Logan 8). Ethos ain't all we got, though. In the anthology Honey, Hush! by Daryl Cumber Dance, Nikki Giovanni states in her foreword that "Black women have always appreciated Nommo- the force of the word, the power of giving things their names and thereby bestowing upon them her life force" (Giovanni 2). So, I've introduced these terms, but what do they mean? Ethos and Nommo are collectively stage presence. These two terms, and more importantly, their definitions, comprise the spirit of Black women and make them so unique to the world. With these, the message a woman has to spread, her discourse, her rhetoric, are allowed a much greater shine due to the way her words flow, her body moves, and how she acts when given her figurative stage.
Ok! Enough of the academic stuff, let's get to something fun and universal: music. Music draws everyone together. Music can build you up, and it can also take you way, way down low. It has also been the most effective way, in my opinion, for anyone EVER to get their message across. And what better way for a black woman's rhetoric to reach the world than music? I want to take a look at several female artists and the ways in which their music fosters their rhetoric in a personal perspective.
As a starting point, I will be considering the lovely Erykah Badu and the meaning behind her songs. I'm sure if you're reading this, at some point in time you've come across this woman. Like a typical Black woman, she pulls no punches and will damn sure get her point across, especially in her music. The song I want to examine is called "Window Seat." Highly controversial in its depiction of Badu stipping off her clothes and walking through the streets half, and then fully naked, Badu does and accomplishes what so many women before her sometimes failed to or accomplished. She has, through her performances and presence, proved that she is a woman who is not without fear but BRAVE. She uses her Nommo and her Ethos to speak out against systematic signs of oppression, racism, prejudice, and inequality. In the video, linked below, Badu pulls off her clothing, shedding what seems to be layers of...something. I'm not entirely positive. I do know, however, that this experience is one that America ain't ready for! Who wants to see a black woman, with no long, processed hair, flat, firm body unfit for mainstream dictates, and the word EVOLVING etched across her back, walk down the street talking about "Can I get a window seat?" NOBODY! Cause ain't nobody got time for that! For it, she is a genius, and one black woman that is, for a lack of a better word, un-fuck-wit-a-ble. (Learn it!)
Now, you look at this video and say "What? What was that?" THAT, my friends, is ethos. That is nommo. This woman has everyone in arms. Radical as her video is, it seems that she has clearly lost her "rabbit ass mind" when she starts taking her clothes off. And not only does she strip to nothing, but after doing her bit, she gets shot! How bizarre is that? Not very. Look at the history of America, a country marked by labor exploitation and racism, a country marked by having those who oppose its policies and tactics killed or otherwise hunted down (Martin shot, Malcolm shot, Assata in Cuba, Black Panther Party labeled as terrorists; don't get amnesia now), and one that has political leaders believing racism no longer exists, and see if this video isn't powerful in concept and execution.
On the surface, "Window Seat" seems to be a song that talks about her personal feelings or experience being such an outspoken and steadfast performer, true to her African roots. However, in the following video, Ms. Badu explains the reasoning behind her video and the song itself. It definitely moved me, and got me to thinking about the institution of group think and the way it affects us all, even in 2013. Acceptance = group think; a lot of us suffer from this under the facade of being solo dolo, of being an "original." An original copy is more like it. So sure and confident we are removed from this, it is evident that we haven't, when we can't even look this gorgeous Black woman in the eye with her clothes off 'cause it ain't "right."
Logan and Giovanni's Ethos and Nommo are in full effect here. Women like the ones listed above paved the way for women like Erykah Badu to literally take her clothes off and get "buck" naked in the middle of a crowded street. Commercialism, capitalism, and consumerism did not, at any time, affect ANY of these women. They all, regardless of the specific message, endeavored to share their message, their rhetoric, in various ways. Whether looking at Sojourner pointing to her work-hardened hands and arms when asking "Ar'n't I a Woman?" or Badu rocking her cultural headwraps and garb (or in this case, a wig cap), it is evident that Ethos and Nommo are the basis of how a Black woman's rhetoric is able to reach the masses and attain societal transformation.
****
Giovanni, Nikki. "'No Big Thing for 'Oman'." Honey Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women's Humor. Ed. Daryl Cumber Dance. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. 1-3. Print.
Logan, Shirley Wilson. We Are Coming: The Persuasive Discourse of Nineteenth-Century Black Women. (1999) Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. Print.
With all of this said, I'd like to bring attention to the ever-present component of Black women that make us who we are: ETHOS! Yes, ethos. Logan describes ethos as "platform presence" (Logan 8). Ethos ain't all we got, though. In the anthology Honey, Hush! by Daryl Cumber Dance, Nikki Giovanni states in her foreword that "Black women have always appreciated Nommo- the force of the word, the power of giving things their names and thereby bestowing upon them her life force" (Giovanni 2). So, I've introduced these terms, but what do they mean? Ethos and Nommo are collectively stage presence. These two terms, and more importantly, their definitions, comprise the spirit of Black women and make them so unique to the world. With these, the message a woman has to spread, her discourse, her rhetoric, are allowed a much greater shine due to the way her words flow, her body moves, and how she acts when given her figurative stage.
Ok! Enough of the academic stuff, let's get to something fun and universal: music. Music draws everyone together. Music can build you up, and it can also take you way, way down low. It has also been the most effective way, in my opinion, for anyone EVER to get their message across. And what better way for a black woman's rhetoric to reach the world than music? I want to take a look at several female artists and the ways in which their music fosters their rhetoric in a personal perspective.
As a starting point, I will be considering the lovely Erykah Badu and the meaning behind her songs. I'm sure if you're reading this, at some point in time you've come across this woman. Like a typical Black woman, she pulls no punches and will damn sure get her point across, especially in her music. The song I want to examine is called "Window Seat." Highly controversial in its depiction of Badu stipping off her clothes and walking through the streets half, and then fully naked, Badu does and accomplishes what so many women before her sometimes failed to or accomplished. She has, through her performances and presence, proved that she is a woman who is not without fear but BRAVE. She uses her Nommo and her Ethos to speak out against systematic signs of oppression, racism, prejudice, and inequality. In the video, linked below, Badu pulls off her clothing, shedding what seems to be layers of...something. I'm not entirely positive. I do know, however, that this experience is one that America ain't ready for! Who wants to see a black woman, with no long, processed hair, flat, firm body unfit for mainstream dictates, and the word EVOLVING etched across her back, walk down the street talking about "Can I get a window seat?" NOBODY! Cause ain't nobody got time for that! For it, she is a genius, and one black woman that is, for a lack of a better word, un-fuck-wit-a-ble. (Learn it!)
Now, you look at this video and say "What? What was that?" THAT, my friends, is ethos. That is nommo. This woman has everyone in arms. Radical as her video is, it seems that she has clearly lost her "rabbit ass mind" when she starts taking her clothes off. And not only does she strip to nothing, but after doing her bit, she gets shot! How bizarre is that? Not very. Look at the history of America, a country marked by labor exploitation and racism, a country marked by having those who oppose its policies and tactics killed or otherwise hunted down (Martin shot, Malcolm shot, Assata in Cuba, Black Panther Party labeled as terrorists; don't get amnesia now), and one that has political leaders believing racism no longer exists, and see if this video isn't powerful in concept and execution.
On the surface, "Window Seat" seems to be a song that talks about her personal feelings or experience being such an outspoken and steadfast performer, true to her African roots. However, in the following video, Ms. Badu explains the reasoning behind her video and the song itself. It definitely moved me, and got me to thinking about the institution of group think and the way it affects us all, even in 2013. Acceptance = group think; a lot of us suffer from this under the facade of being solo dolo, of being an "original." An original copy is more like it. So sure and confident we are removed from this, it is evident that we haven't, when we can't even look this gorgeous Black woman in the eye with her clothes off 'cause it ain't "right."
Logan and Giovanni's Ethos and Nommo are in full effect here. Women like the ones listed above paved the way for women like Erykah Badu to literally take her clothes off and get "buck" naked in the middle of a crowded street. Commercialism, capitalism, and consumerism did not, at any time, affect ANY of these women. They all, regardless of the specific message, endeavored to share their message, their rhetoric, in various ways. Whether looking at Sojourner pointing to her work-hardened hands and arms when asking "Ar'n't I a Woman?" or Badu rocking her cultural headwraps and garb (or in this case, a wig cap), it is evident that Ethos and Nommo are the basis of how a Black woman's rhetoric is able to reach the masses and attain societal transformation.
****
Giovanni, Nikki. "'No Big Thing for 'Oman'." Honey Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women's Humor. Ed. Daryl Cumber Dance. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. 1-3. Print.
Logan, Shirley Wilson. We Are Coming: The Persuasive Discourse of Nineteenth-Century Black Women. (1999) Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. Print.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Reintroduction
Wow! It's been sooo long since I've last posted! So much in my life has changed and grew and... and... I'm just exploding with words and smart stuff! (LOL!) When I initially started this blog, it was for school and I didn't want to do a THING! It really was like pulling teeth to get me to post anything, and as you can tell, I clearly didn't care about editing or grammar or anything 'cause some of these posts are just a hot mess. However, knowing what I know, I'm going to leave these posts exactly the way they are because they mean so much to me as a writer, as a student, as a black woman... (You get the idea.)
There will be no adornments in this post. There will be no pictures; no extra anything to highlight that this truly is a reintroduction. HOWEVER: I must introduce something, right? I want to state that, yes, this IS for school again, but I have a new twist to the things I will be posting. I'm making no exceptions. Pulling punches? Not happening. I will be as real and as honest as possible, spreading what I know and what others, who know way more than me, know, and all in the name of RHETORIC. Yes, rhetoric. African American women's rhetoric, in fact. I will be bringing you MY take and MY views on what Black women in this field have to offer the world and the ways in which actual and theoretical rhetors have actually changed the world with their discourse. This won't be pretty. I make no apologies for the things I write, and the only caveat I'm giving you is that THE TRUTH WILL BE SPOKEN. If you don't want to hear the truth, please, and by all means, keep doing what you've been doing. If you do, stick around! You may not be interested, and you may not care, but I do (Duh!), so get ready!
There will be no adornments in this post. There will be no pictures; no extra anything to highlight that this truly is a reintroduction. HOWEVER: I must introduce something, right? I want to state that, yes, this IS for school again, but I have a new twist to the things I will be posting. I'm making no exceptions. Pulling punches? Not happening. I will be as real and as honest as possible, spreading what I know and what others, who know way more than me, know, and all in the name of RHETORIC. Yes, rhetoric. African American women's rhetoric, in fact. I will be bringing you MY take and MY views on what Black women in this field have to offer the world and the ways in which actual and theoretical rhetors have actually changed the world with their discourse. This won't be pretty. I make no apologies for the things I write, and the only caveat I'm giving you is that THE TRUTH WILL BE SPOKEN. If you don't want to hear the truth, please, and by all means, keep doing what you've been doing. If you do, stick around! You may not be interested, and you may not care, but I do (Duh!), so get ready!
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