What a year for being Black and female!
It seems like a new level of consciousness regarding Black women was kicked into gear with the whole Don Imus incident back in April.
Then of course we were hit with the pervasive ugly behavior of "New York" and the Flava Flav girls of Charm School. Then there was Opie and Anthony co-signing on the "joke" about raping Condoleeza Rice.
Next, there was that perpetual statistic about 70% of African American women being single to imply we weren't desirable by men.
Then the fight against other Black women (i.e. BET's Deborah Johnson and Jam Donaldson) in decision-making capacities who took on the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude with regards to capitalizing on the negative images within our community with support of Hot Ghetto Mess (now known as We Got to Do Better).
It seems like the final straw, however, has come with misfortune of the sexual assault against the 35-year old Haitian woman and her son in Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida by 10 Black teens. I think it's fair to say that enough is enough.
Of course we do have the balancing images of Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and now the courageousness of Robin Roberts of ABC's Good Morning America who - after a successful surgery to address her breast cancer - resumed work Monday.My point? Several years ago with the advent of gangsta rap and the socially acceptable existence of the terms "bitches" and "hos" in rap music, a misogynistic and demeaning impact began to take place in the minds of Americana and those around the world concerning Black women - especially young Black women.
There were those who said...
We know. Just as it's getting good, we send you to our sistah's site.