Sleep is important to your Black-Ass life
You can’t be woke if you never go to sleep. Welcome to the third installment of This Black-Ass Life! This week, we’re talking about why sleep deprivation is both a racial justice and public health issue. Did you know there’s a “Black-White sleep gap?” Everything from environmental factors like police sirens and street lights to stress from dealing with racism keeps us up at night. Check out the facts and get some tips on how to improve your Black-Ass sleep. We also debate LL Cool J's legacy so buckle up for that.
Don’t forget: Send us topics, texts from your parents, Kanye Omari West updates and any Black-Ass anything from around the world and the web. Don’t forget to also forward to your friends to subscribe.
l. The Facts
Black people get less and worse sleep than any ethnic group in America.
On average, 54.2% of Black people get at least 7 hours of sleep a day, compared to 66.8 percent of White people.
This is nothing new, Black people arrived in America sleep deprived (and frightened) after spending months chained together on cold bare floor in extremely cramped quarters on The Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Once they got here, enslaved people still slept in tight quarters, were under round-the-clock surveillance and suffered extreme anxiety. Enslaved Black women were especially anxious at night because they were most susceptible to rape from White men.
To make you more angry and sad, slaves were often punished for getting the shut-eye they so desperately needed. Frederick Douglass writes in his autobiography that “more slaves were whipped for oversleeping than for any other fault.”
Today, Black people still aren't getting enough sleep for a few reasons. Namely, our neighborhoods are generally noisier, brighter at night in big cities, and our work schedules are often more unpredictable.
However, the main culprit for why we can’t get a good night’s rest? Researchers think it’s because we are stressed the fuck out about about racism and discrimination. Even when we move out of noisy neighborhoods, become wealthier and have a more predictable work schedule, the disparity in sleep still persists.
Why is this important?
Not to be hyperbolic or anything but chronic sleep deprivation might lead to you getting almost all of the diseases known to man. Researchers have found that sleep deprivation may be one of the causes of a host of diseases including hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure, and bipolar disorder. It gets worse: neurologists also found that short-term sleep deprivation seriously impairs cognitive functions in otherwise healthy adults and has a profound negative effect on the immune system. Also, there is a link between lack of sleep and chronic fatigue syndrome, psychosis, and long-term memory loss.
Not only does not sleeping well make us sick, White people have longed perceived our exhaustion as a deficiency in character and ability. For example, trifling ass individual and known rapist Thomas Jefferson once said that White people could pursue intellectual or creative endeavors, whereas “negroes” were deficient in the powers of “reflection” that allowed them to do so.
The same argument is perpetuated today in more coded ways i.e: when Black students are inattentive at school, they are labeled as not valuing education when they just might be sleep deprived and exhausted).
A Closer Look: Can sleep explain why black Americans die younger than white Americans?; The Black-White Sleep Gap; African Americans don't sleep as well as whites, an inequality stretching back to slavery
What can my Black-Ass do?
We don’t have the power to reverse historically oppressive practices like redlining, but you can invest in some blackout curtains so you aren’t as exposed to streetlights.
While we work to dismantle over-policing and the sirens that come with it, we recommend noise-cancelling headphones or a white noise-machine in the meantime.
As we challenge the inflexibility of the system holding us back, we also suggest SworkIt app to improve your flexibility. The app comes with preloaded free yoga and meditation routines, among other workouts. There are free and premium memberships.
The world - from teachers to police to neighbors and community members - may come for our Black babies, but we can do our best to keep them calm at home. Specialists recommend meditating with your kids and sticking with a strict bedtime routine.
This is what you shouldn’t do: buy an Arianna Huffington-endorsed bed for your phone (that is White nonsense)
ll. Other Things
Jumoke <3 Lady Love Cool James
Even though Around The Way Girl is forever on repeat, LL Cool J is one of those people I sometimes forget is an actual living legend. In my defense, I grew up with In The House LL, hosting the Grammys with a durag LL, NCIS LL, and ohmyGOD LL Cool J better not be a Republican LL. But without a doubt, the man is an Hip hop pioneer, a forefather of rap, and one of the greatest American artists ever. This is obviously a shared opinion fact because LL was just nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received Harvard University's 2017 W.E.B. Du Bois medal, and also just became the first hip-hop artist honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors.
Mitu wants to point out that while this man is a legend, he asked White people to forgive his gold chains in exchange for the iron chains that chained Black folks. Confederate flags even make for a fun shout out in this little ditty.
Ugggghh. I (Jumoke) totally forgot about the idiocy that is the Brad Paisley/LL collabo. I still stand by LL’s legendary status, but now I think he might be getting some recognition because he is a pioneer and a hip hop artist that is is palatable to White America?
The Caliphate in the Caribbean???:
So the scourge that is ISIS is recruiting in the Caribbean and it is scary AF. Particularly of concern is Trinidad and Tobago, which has the highest rate of ISIS foreign recruitment in the Western hemisphere. This article goes in depth into how Muslims, a minority in T&T, are ostracized and the process of their radicalisation. It is very scary to think that ISIS being almost defeated in the Middle East means that they might pop up in the Caribbean. It is somehow scarier to think of how Orange Julius Ceasar’s Administration would respond to terrorism on an island full of Black people.
Our Black-Ass song of the week (Jumoke):
Don’t just listen to Jul’s "My Wave" ft. Sona and Odunsi The Engine (2017; UK). WATCH THE VIDEO and I promise you will be happier in 4 minutes and 22 seconds.
This song is another proof that the most inventive afrobeat is coming out of the UK. See Sona’s Ginger and Maleek Berry’s Nuh Let Go for further proof.
Obligatory Kanye check-in (Sorry, Jumoke. I have two updates.):
The unthinkable almost happened: Nicki Minaj says she had to convince Kanye West to keep “Monster” on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (could you imagine if we missed out on this Nicki verse and song on this incredible album??)
Another beautiful baby on the way: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s surrogate is due to give birth ‘before Christmas’
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not forward to:
I’m (Mitu) looking forward to whatever Beyoncé has instore for us. The signs. The signs are there. Arrange your 401(bey)’s. Plus my friend hipped me to a potential Bey-Bardi collab.
I (Jumoke) am not looking forward to holiday traveling since the NAACP just warned Black people to avoid American Airlines and placed a travel advisory on entire state of Missouri. Maybe my family can come to me and fly Delta?
lll. Text from a Black-Ass Mama braggin on her baby (and herself). Thanks for the submission, Ariel!
To be young, gifted and Black, Oh what a lovely precious dream. Have a great week. We’ll hit your inbox next on November 13.