Nuestra Hermana

Discussing gender, class, race, orientation and every ism & phobia under the sun. Through the eyes & experiences of people of color. Allies always welcome.

Posts tagged "women of color"

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7 months ago 1,317 notes women of color WOC beauty

blck-grrlReblogged from blck-grrl

brazenbitch: Within the black community especially, this is unfortunately a reality WoC face. The more eurocentric beauty features you have (fair skin, long hair, tiny nose etc.) the “more desirable” you are to society. It all stems from racism,white superiority, and the extent in which both are embedded in our own *preferences* as well as societal acceptance today. Which is why we should all find offense in the notion that something as simple as the color of your skin dictate your worth.  Fuck that.  If you’re a person of color and you objectify women of color on the “blackness” of their skintone (Yes,objectification lies within racism as well) with their correlation to their beauty or worth, with your ideal “preference” being a partner with eurocentric features, do not turn around and cry of racism done against you, when you yourself have committed the same acts of bigotry against your people. Especially when they are the adopted hate filled ideology of our people created by the very ones that you claim to fight against.  Do not cry of the injustices done against you when you have taken on the face of the tyrant. Criticizes your preferences, because I can assure you they are not truly your own, but a learned affection of what us people of color have never been able to have, the white mans world. We have never fit in there, and in order to come to true radical change within and outside our society, we must question our integrity as people of color and our submissiveness to the white mans world.   Great post. I thought I should definitely re-blog. Also, some related posts: Insecurities About The Darkness of Skin Fair Or Not?: The Snow White Complex Dark Girls: A Documentary

brazenbitch:

Within the black community especially, this is unfortunately a reality WoC face. The more eurocentric beauty features you have (fair skin, long hair, tiny nose etc.) the “more desirable” you are to society. It all stems from racism,white superiority, and the extent in which both are embedded in our own *preferences* as well as societal acceptance today. Which is why we should all find offense in the notion that something as simple as the color of your skin dictate your worth. 

Fuck that. 

If you’re a person of color and you objectify women of color on the “blackness” of their skintone (Yes,objectification lies within racism as well) with their correlation to their beauty or worth, with your ideal “preference” being a partner with eurocentric features, do not turn around and cry of racism done against you, when you yourself have committed the same acts of bigotry against your people. Especially when they are the adopted hate filled ideology of our people created by the very ones that you claim to fight against. 

Do not cry of the injustices done against you when you have taken on the face of the tyrant. Criticizes your preferences, because I can assure you they are not truly your own, but a learned affection of what us people of color have never been able to have, the white mans world. We have never fit in there, and in order to come to true radical change within and outside our society, we must question our integrity as people of color and our submissiveness to the white mans world.  

Great post. I thought I should definitely re-blog. Also, some related posts:

Insecurities About The Darkness of Skin

Fair Or Not?: The Snow White Complex

Dark Girls: A Documentary

(Source: blck-grrl)

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7 months ago 18 notes WOC women of color POC people of color big mama thorton

“Women of Colour Role Models for the People,” Shameless Magazine, Spring 2009. We were on bikes when Leah first told me about Big Momma Thorton. “She’s the original Elvis!” Leah said. “She sang Hound Dog and did the pelvis moves first. She even curled her lip, you can see it on you tube.”“Holy crap!” I said.I knew this research would be troubling, but I didn’t realize how helpless it would make me feel. Let me tell you the lost story of Willie Mae Thornton. When she was 14, Willie Mae’s mum died. She started cleaning the floors of saloons in the Montgomery Alabama. She wasn’t defeated though. She taught herself to drum, dressed like a man and didn’t take crap from anybody. One night at the saloon the singer quit and she sang in her place. She was a hit and got invited to tour with the “Hot Harlem Revue.”In 1953 she wrote the song Hound dog with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stroller. It broke into R & B charts and reached #1, and stayed there for 7 weeks, complete with Willie Mae’s signature curled lip, pelvis grind and menacing growl. She toured with Johnny Otis to the lengendary Harlem Theater “The Apollo,” where she headlined twice by popular request and earned the nickname “Big Mama Thorton.”In 1956 Elvis covered Hound Dog on “The Milton Berle show,” which broadcast to 40 million viewers. His pelvic rock started a national uproar, and he became an overnight icon. In the first year his version of “Hound Dog” sold 4 million copies, and takes 19th place in Rolling Stoned “500 Greatest Songs of all time.” Big Mama received $500. It was also the year that buses were first desegregated in America. In 1961 Big Mama wrote and recorded the song Ball and Chain. Six years later Janis Joplin covered the song at the “Montgomery pop festival.” It was her breaktrough, and she was signed to Columbia Records. In 1962, broke and demoralized, Big Mama made and effort to revive her career and toured with an R&B showcase. She was a spectacle in white student halls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s6r3ka7_8Q&). It was a time that white audiences began to demand bues music. It was also the first year that a black student enrolled in an American university.In 1984 medical personnel found Big Mama in her L.A. boarding room, dead from a heart attack.Text by Elisha Lim. Illustration by Leah Newbold. Transcribed by Nuestra Hermana.

“Women of Colour Role Models for the People,” Shameless Magazine, Spring 2009.

We were on bikes when Leah first told me about Big Momma Thorton.

“She’s the original Elvis!” Leah said. “She sang Hound Dog and did the pelvis moves first. She even curled her lip, you can see it on you tube.”

“Holy crap!” I said.

I knew this research would be troubling, but I didn’t realize how helpless it would make me feel. Let me tell you the lost story of Willie Mae Thornton.

When she was 14, Willie Mae’s mum died. She started cleaning the floors of saloons in the Montgomery Alabama. She wasn’t defeated though. She taught herself to drum, dressed like a man and didn’t take crap from anybody. One night at the saloon the singer quit and she sang in her place. She was a hit and got invited to tour with the “Hot Harlem Revue.”

In 1953 she wrote the song Hound dog with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stroller. It broke into R & B charts and reached #1, and stayed there for 7 weeks, complete with Willie Mae’s signature curled lip, pelvis grind and menacing growl. She toured with Johnny Otis to the lengendary Harlem Theater “The Apollo,” where she headlined twice by popular request and earned the nickname “Big Mama Thorton.”

In 1956 Elvis covered Hound Dog on “The Milton Berle show,” which broadcast to 40 million viewers. His pelvic rock started a national uproar, and he became an overnight icon. In the first year his version of “Hound Dog” sold 4 million copies, and takes 19th place in Rolling Stoned “500 Greatest Songs of all time.” Big Mama received $500. It was also the year that buses were first desegregated in America.

In 1961 Big Mama wrote and recorded the song Ball and Chain. Six years later Janis Joplin covered the song at the “Montgomery pop festival.” It was her breaktrough, and she was signed to Columbia Records.

In 1962, broke and demoralized, Big Mama made and effort to revive her career and toured with an R&B showcase. She was a spectacle in white student halls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s6r3ka7_8Q&). It was a time that white audiences began to demand bues music. It was also the first year that a black student enrolled in an American university.
In 1984 medical personnel found Big Mama in her L.A. boarding room, dead from a heart attack.

Text by Elisha Lim. Illustration by Leah Newbold. Transcribed by Nuestra Hermana.

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8 months ago 7 notes Slutwalk 2011 feminism human trafficking immigration transnational feminism women of color slut walk

suzy-xReblogged from suzy-x

AF3IRM Responds to SlutWalk: The Women’s Movement Is Not Monochromatic.

suzyxisntreal:

From the moment the first call for a SlutWalk in the US went out, the AF3IRM membership – transnational women who are im/migrants or whose families are im/migrants from Latin America, Asia, and Africa – has been analyzing and discussing this burgeoning movement to address the issue of sexual violence and continuing victimization of rape victims by police, the justice system and other agents of authority. 

It is a testament to the compelling nature of SlutWalk’s call against women’s victimization that we hung fire for months, hammering out our position and analyzing why, while we applaud the effort of those who organize SlutWalk, we remain uneasy about responding to such a call. 

We realize that we are the ones who compose the majority of sex trafficking victims in this country, who comprise the majority of those sold in the mail-order-bride system, who are the commodities offered in brothel houses ringing US military bases in and out of this country, who are the goods offered for sexual violation in prostitution. We who are and historically have been the “sluts” from whom traffickers, pimps, and other “authorities” of the global corporate sex trade realize $20 billion in earnings annually cannot, with a clear conscience, accept the term in reference to ourselves and our struggle against sexual violence and for women’s liberation. 

We therefore feel it is our responsibility to address the organizers and participants of SlutWalk and remind them that Women’s Struggle Cannot and Should not Be Monochromatic. 

(Click the link above to read the whole statement.)

(Source: suzy-x)

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8 months ago 68 notes transgender gender non conforming trans* queer women of color trans women immigrants people of color

tranqualizerReblogged from tranqualizer

Call for Participation in Trans* Resource Book

tranquality:

SEEKING PEOPLE OF COLOR, IMMIGRANTS, TRANS WOMEN AND POOR/LOW-COME FOLKS FOR A NEW RESOURCE GUIDE BY AND FOR TRANS PEOPLE
 
A new resource guide by and for trans people is looking for people of color, immigrants, poor/low-income folks and people on the feminine spectrum who are interested in sharing their stories, expertise and experiences for this groundbreaking book project. You don’t need to be an academic or professional - we welcome everyone. If you are trans, TG/TS, genderqueer, GV, gender nonconforming or intersex and would like to help us make sure this resource reflects your community’s experiences, please read on!

***************

ABOUT THE PROJECT: Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (TBTS) is a groundbreaking resource guide in-progress, being written by and for trans people. It is based off the idea of Our Bodies, Ourselves, but will cover a much wider variety of topics, including coming out as a trans person, relationships and sexuality, parenting, identifying with multiple communities, finding employment, seeking wellness, legal advocacy, and representations of trans people in the media. TBTS is integrating discussions of class, race, ability, status, and many other parts of trans identities throughout each chapter in an effort to show how different and varied trans people’s experiences are. The book will provide resources and guides from people within diverse trans communities, and will include personal anecdotes, advice, stories and art. TBTS is conducting outreach through numerous community forums, an online survey, and targeted outreach to diverse communities in order to include as many voices as possible. More information about the project, including the TBTS survey and bios of many of our authors, is available online at www.transbodies.com.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: The Trans Bodies, Trans Selves team is currently looking for more contributors to help ensure that TBTS will represent a broad a range of trans experiences. Specifically, we are looking for people of color, people on the feminine spectrum, immigrants and/or poor/low-income folks who are willing to contribute their stories, expertise and experiences. Contributors do not need to be “experts;” experience is first and foremost, and we welcome inquiries from any and all people within the trans community who are open to speaking their own truths. TBTS is aiming to be as accessible as possible and will use everyday, easily understood language - not academic jargon - so contributors of all educational backgrounds/levels are welcome.

If you are interested in contributing to TBTS, please contact Amanda Rosenblum at amanda@transbodies.com to find out more about how you can get involved. TBTS is currently looking for:

   * A range of short pieces (typically 800 words) that are personal narratives and/or that include specific resources and how-to’s
   * Other forms of writing and art
   * Folks who would like to share their experiences through interviews with the TBTS team
   * Authors for chapters on Immigration and Class


Please indicate in your email which topic(s)/experiences you might be interested in addressing and tell us a little bit about your background. While we cannot promise publication, we are committed to working with potential authors/contributors to identify topics that have yet to be covered and to help bring your unique perspective to the project. We are also happy to consider works that may have already been published elsewhere, subject to appropriate approval.

In addition to authors, we are also looking for volunteers who would like to review chapters and/or responses to the TBTS online survey, many of which will be incorporated into the book. This project is entirely volunteer-based and we appreciate any time you might be able to contribute to help us make TBTS as useful, informative and interesting as possible.

Please reach out to us if you are interested in contributing to the Trans Bodies, Trans Selves project, or if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you!

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

(Source: tranqualizer)

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8 months ago 491 notes WOC Women of Color WOC may choose to take back the term colored

poemsofthedead-deactivated20120Reblogged from poemsofthedead-deactivated20120

Women of Color vs “Colored” Women (in handy bullets)

notyourkinddear:

  • The word “colored” is a loaded term based in racism. DON’T USE IT.
  • The word “colored” does have different context in different countries, but the end result seems to be always based in racism/affirming the value of whiteness and societal stratification based on shadeism and/or ethnicity. DON’T USE IT.
  • Women of Color (WOC) is a politicized term created by non-white women.
  • WOC encompasses ALL non-white women.
  • Women of Color does not have anything to do with actual skin shade. Some women of color “appear” white but are of non-white ethnic backgrounds.
  • WOC is sometimes, but not always, synonymous with “Brown”. Brown should not be used to ever exclude Black, however.
  • Brown is also a politicized term and does not necessarily reflect actual shade of skin.
  • Some non-white women may not care to be identified as “women of color” & it is their right to self-identify as they see fit.

(via poemsofthedead-deactivated20120)

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