This past week has been very enlightening and exciting with the recent announcement from Joe Biden on his VP pick! I, like many others, did a celebration dance when my Soror Kamala Harris broke history as the first African American and Indian woman to be nominated as VP in this country!!! Then came the backlash…my goodness! It is apparent that no matter how “woke” we say we are or how many protests are going on, we are still revisiting this antiquated notion of BLACKNESS. The question is WHY? It’s really simple. We’re wrestling with generations upon generations of an identity crisis. Now some of you will say, “Well, now wait a minute, Afrisa, I know exactly who I am!” Great, but I don’t think there isn’t a single one of us who has a crack somewhere due to slavery. Let’s be real here. Just 100 years maybe less, there was the brown paper bag test, 60 years ago Blacks within their own communities were segregated based on how light skinned you were. The lighter the brighter. If you were dark, good luck! Still don’t believe me? Look at old pictures of Blacks who went to college. You can tell that they were lighter. And let’s face it, some that were able to pass, did so and never looked back because it was just pure hell and THAT’S where we are today!
I’m not denying that the notion of “never looking back” is not happening because it is. You and I can think of someone who has, but let’s talk about the two people in the picture and why there’s a disconnect. I remember when Pres. Obama first ran and in addition to facing out right racism, he was catching it from us too! The problem? His father was Kenyan therefore he was not a descendant of slaves so he wouldn’t be able to relate. The way I saw it, it was a win win because he didn’t have the slave mentality. And it worked to his advantage because he always kept the straight and narrow. He knew who he was and no matter what they said, he kept on truckin’. PERIOD. And unless he spent his head under a rock his whole life, he knew there was racism, etc. and he dealt with it personally himself. He was out there as an organizer in those neighborhoods. He saw firsthand what was happening. But that wasn’t enough. Then came the “What’s he going to do for Black America?” And unfortunately to this day, some of us are still saying he didn’t do enough for the Black community. I’m sorry but one person in 8 years cannot fix a 400 year old problem especially up against a 400 year old system that has been dominated by white men. That’s the truth! And that was so unfair for anyone to expect such a monstrous task!
So now we have my Soror Kamala Harris. The attacks about her blackness and her record as prosecutor really do sadden me particularly because people aren’t doing their homework. I see a woman who, like Obama, knows who she is and is proud of it. She graduated from Howard and PLEDGED AKA. I’m going to say that again for the people in the back…she PLEDGED AKA. Now I didn’t attend an HBCU, and I went graduate chapter. Believe me, there is a big difference! But we can’t see that. Is it because we don’t understand college life, let alone sorority/fraternity life at an HBCU or is it because we’re blinded by our own insecurities? And therein lies the disconnect between us and other Blacks in other countries. Folks, they are not the enemy. If anything, they show us what’s possible!!
I know you’ve heard this time and time again. We truly have got to do better! And this really was the litmus test and once again, after all of these last few months of protests, anguish, grief, anger and whole ‘nother level of “wokeness”…We failed! Now, I’m not saying that the negativity will outweigh the excitement that is going on in communities of color, women, along with the Greek (Divine 9) community. It won’t! America is getting ready to see something that it has never seen nor is prepared for! I’m saying that we need to look down within ourselves and stop taking it out on people that are truly there to help us!
One last point, before you start your “blackness” meter, please be sure you know your history and are teaching it to your children (if you have any). Some of us don’t, and it shows because we are repeating history!!!!
And I’m sorry, but I know an Uncle Tom (I’ve actually read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, have you?) when I see one and Kamala Harris isn’t it. Stay WOKE!!!!
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