You Too Can Be A Black-Ass Problem!
Welcome to This Black-Ass Life! This week we’re talking about the nonsense of critiquing young women who set healthy boundaries and the understanding that people who are oppressed can be oppressors.
I. The Facts
Kind of like when I become a constitutional scholar after reading an article about a Supreme Court opinion, I (Jumoke) am now a women’s college basketball aficionado. Shout out to the Black girls with the cute lace fronts who beat the 8x11s from Iowa a couple of weeks back.
As one of our nation’s leading sports analysts, I was rooting for Angel Reese and the LSU team because I simply love to see Black people, especially Black girls, win things. But before the game was even finished, white people were already on some racist ish because Angel did what sports people do, and then lots of Black people piled on because they wanted to tone police her (valid) response.
We see this often. A Black person, typically a Black young person, is attacked for doing a very normal thing (i.e.: mourning the sudden death of their mama), and then Black people pile on by tone policing or get on some respectability bullshit. Never mind that the derision is often rooted in anti-Blackness.
Black people mimicking the talking points and behaviors of the oppressor happens with Black public figures, as well as in our communities. For example, while having more Black teachers in classrooms has a long-term positive impact on all children, Black teachers also hold anti-Black/pro-white bias in what researchers call in-group implicit bias. Although this does not happen as frequently as with white teachers, those biases shape judgments for Black teachers in the same way it does for whites.
Why does it matter?
Black people, especially those who are children, disabled, fat, queer, trans, women, and/or poor, deserve our greatest protection, not our greatest scrutiny.
You, yes *you!*, in your beautiful Black-ass glory, can be both oppressed and harm others. It’s easy to believe that because we are Black, we can’t engage in misogyny, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Blackness, and more.
When we refuse to interrogate what we’re doing, where we’re getting our information, or even on whom we’re choosing to dogpile, we further contribute to oppression and invalidate the experiences of other Black-ass people.
For example: Your ableism can look like ignoring the significant overrepresentation of disabled people in being arrested, incarcerated, and killed by police (more here). Your transphobia can look like ignoring the 1-in-4 Black transgender and nonbinary people reporting attempting suicide in the last year. Your passion for policing behavior and respectability can look like ignoring the Black students who are overpoliced in schools, especially Black girls, who are punished more often and driven to drop out or worse. Your Passport Bro ways, traveling for the sole purpose of preying on economically vulnerable women, is literal white supremacist imperialist colonizer behavior.
Sidebar: We have both been to Colombia recently, Mitu in 2019 and Jumoke earlier this year, and we’ve both witnessed Black passport bros IRL. Disappointing and disheartening.
White supremacy and what comes with it is in the air we breathe; Black skin doesn’t allow you to shake that off! It sticks. Period.
What can my Black ass do?
Check yourself! Seriously. It feels obvious, but we should always be open to learning, understanding how and why we’re acting, and take accountability for how we can harm others.
We must stop with the “if I don’t, then they will” thinking in regard to how we parent and regard Black children. Physically punishing children for misbehaving, surveilling them as if they are criminals, and utilizing policing tactics such as stop and frisk, just makes you a bully with a Black face.
Be on the lookout regarding where you get your news and information. We are in the midst of an economic recession, and people are choosing the path of right-wing media cash grab. Read: The Black culture platforms that push right-wing extremism, the ridiculous backlash from Black people to future WNBA MVP Angel setting boundaries and saying she doesn’t want to go to a house where she doesn’t feel welcomed, and the sheer number of influencers and social media journalists openly joining right-wing networks including the one Erykah Badu clocked as a cartoon mouse.
II. Other Things
Black-ass happenings
Go Sha'Carri! Won her first race of 2023 in record time.
We are ready for more A Black Lady Sketch Show. The biblical sketches are our faves because we are VBS graduates! IYKYK
With that, love to Robin Thede.
Winston Duke is one of our favorite himbos with these holiday wishes.
Teyana Taylor has officially confirmed a Dionne Warwick biopic is in the works.
On Mo’Nique coming out and the fight she took on with Netflix for all Black women.
Brittney and Cherelle Griner made up for missing Cherelle’s 30th birthday last summer in the sweetest way.
Black stylists are getting called out for their shenanigans. Y’all, I (Jumoke) saw someone charging $700 for braids the other day. Girl, in what universe?!
Our Black-Ass song(s) of the week (Mitu):
My heart is telling me to make the song of the week, L to the OG. Consider this This Black-Ass Life’s formal petition to award the cast of Succession with NAACP Image Awards.
For a Black-ass song, enjoy the perfect video and song from Janelle Monae, Float.
Things we look forward to:
I (Mitu) look forward to Brett and Tiffany’s wedding. Love is Blind is often silly and chaotic, but their love is lovely.
I (Jumoke) look forward to Mitu telling me about Love is Blind and Brett and Tiffany’s love. I cannot wait to get seriously invested in a show I’ve never watched.
lll. Text from a Black-Ass Genius
This is the only take we need about Clarence Thomas and his allegedly billionaire-funded lifestyle.
Stay Black, have a snack, and take a nap today. We'll hit your inbox next on April 25!