"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: March 15, 2023
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"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: March 15, 2023
Weekly newsletter 24: Combination of race- and culture-related posts from "We Need to Talk," "I Do See Color," "BlackTechLogy" and "Window Shopping"
Welcome to the “I Do See Color” newsletter (with a bonus section of two first-person interviews called “Deuces”).
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Each week, eight carefully selected posts will be chosen from Substack’s “I Do See Color,” “Black Girl In a Doggone World” and “Window Shopping,” along with Medium’s “We Need to Talk,” all of which focus on culture, politics, health and race from a black (wo)man’s perspective.
NEW! 1. Hey activists, you can't force everyone else into activism ~ The hardest lesson I learned as a 'contumacious' activist
“I’m worried about you,” he said. “I agree with everything you’re fighting for, but you’re fighting harder than the entire black population on this campus. I’m defending you against faculty, but I’m worried about your grades. Are you keeping up your grades while you’re in this one-woman activism campaign?
I stared at him. Then I blinked. At that moment, I wasn’t altogether sure what my GPA was or my grade on my last college paper. I had to really think about it.
I was acting exactly like Will Smith was in “Bel-Air.” But while watching the dramatic documentary spin-off of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” I realized how annoying 18-year-old me was. I started wondering if I was borderline bullying my peers the way Will was doing with Carlton Banks. Twenty-three years later, I’m pondering on whether I’m still doing the same thing.
2. For the culture: How travel can be the best history lesson ~ Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Native American history, other lessons learned in Canada
There’s a switch that goes off in a child’s head when she hears an unpopular opinion or has a new cultural experience. She’s not quite sure what to make of it after normalizing certain behavior. Is that culture right? Is that opinion wrong? Why didn’t anyone tell her sooner? Should she correct others now?
That happened to me twice while I was traveling to Canada at the age of 17. It was a high school graduation gift from my mother, who’d talked me into being her travel buddy for my former Girl Scout troop.
3. Melanin talk: The simplest way to discuss race to youth ~ Explaining race and skin tones before racism can begin
“You burned your hands?” she asked me from the bleachers of a college football game.
“No, why?” I responded.
“Then why is it a different color from the other side?”
That was the first time I ever paid much attention to the fact that the dorsal aspect of my hand was a different color than my palm. When you’re born and raised in a predominantly African- American community, that’s not something you bother to pay attention to. And it was definitely the first time someone asked me about it.
4. The joy of black women as friends ~ My favorite part about ‘Insecure,’ ABC’s ‘Queens,’ BET’s ‘Twenties’ and more
I was amped to watch shows like “Living Single,” “A Different World,” “Martin,” “Girlfriends” and “One on One.” Yes, Gina and Pam, Whitley and Kim, Freddie and Kim, Gina and Lena, Khadijah and Maxine, Denise and Jaleesa, Joan and Lynn, Joan and Maya, and Spirit and Breanna had their moments of bickering. But you couldn’t tell me these duos weren’t homegirls. I loved that. Part of me enjoyed it because I flocked to hanging out with guys my entire life.
I didn’t have any biological sisters. I’d hang out with my godsisters, girls from my Girl Scout troop and a neighborhood friend every now and then, but I still spent a considerable amount of time with the fellas.
5. Shame Carolyn Bryant, then I’ll shame Jussie Smollett ~ When Smollett gets someone kidnapped, eye gouged out, beaten, thrown into water and shot in the head, then we can talk about punishing him
What was all that talk of the kidnaps and the beating? Oops, my mistake, I mixed up the liars. The other one was 87-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the same woman who is still alive and served no time for wrongfully accusing 14-year-old Emmett Till of whistling at her.
“Let that goddamn stuff die,” Bryant said. “Look what they done with Beckwith [the white supremacist who killed NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers]. And now they want to get me, well, to hell with them. I’m not gon’ talk about it. Can’t ever tell what they might do nowadays, they might change the Constitution.”
Although the Constitution didn’t do anything at all to punish her for a lie that lead to a torturous, wrongful death, karma got ahold of one-half of Emmett Till’s killers. J. W. Milam died of cancer in 1981.
6. Fun fact: You can leave the stereotypical character out of black shows … and we will love the show anyway
I watched Camille and Quinn on Amazon’s “Harlem,” as they leaned over and twerked in yoga class, happily chanting “nigga, nigga, nigga” and boasting to the white yoga instructor that “we’re niggas.” I laughed. Then I wondered why I laughed. It didn’t take me long to realize it was more out of embarrassment than thinking the scene was funny. I still love Meagan Good as an actress and like that she teamed up to work with Grace Byers.
I sat through TV’s most cringeworthy wedding on “Games People Play” last week, one of a laundry list of questionable things that Quanisha has done on Season 2. I am still perplexed. Kareem, Quanisha’s fiance, was not this bad on Season 1. Who decided he needed to be this ghetto — and bring a friend? Lauren London left the show for a season, and this is what the writers came up with? I’m very curious what Brandi Denise Boyd is like in another project though.
7. Atrium Health and Best Buy Health partner for at-home care services ~ Tech giant meets health concerns for higher aging communities
In less than two years of the partnership—from November 2021 to February 2023—Current Health by Best Buy Health partnered with Atrium Health. While it’s not uncommon to find Atrium Health workers celebrating mental health courtesy of a singalong, the company is largely known for its access to nurses, paramedics, physicians, social workers—and now at-home technology.
Of course, Best Buy is fully aware of what its branding is known for.
“We're never going to provide health care but, with Atrium Health, we want to help enable health care at home for everyone,” said Deborah Di Sanzo, president of Best Buy Health via press release. “It's getting the devices to the home when Atrium Health and the patient needs them.”
8. Condo insurance protects against dog bites ~ Taking legal steps to cover your pet before and after someone has been bitten
When homeowners and condo association members renew their homeowners insurance, they may often focus on coverage for floods, property damage, guest medical coverage, and stolen or damaged items. Dog bites aren’t always at the top of the priority list, mainly because pet owners hope their dog would never bite anyone.
Unfortunately, more than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year in the United States, reports the American Veterinary Medical Association. Additionally, one in five people who are bitten by dogs can’t just shake it off; they require medical attention. Of this group, children are the most likely victims of dog bites—and it’s usually a dog who they’re familiar with already.
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. “Chicago Psychologist Set On Helping Her Community,” CBS Chicago, February 22, 2015
Homelessness, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, poverty, STDs and youth violence can happen to one individual. But when living conditions like this persist within a community, a unique issue then becomes a community problem. And with that comes the study methods of those in community psychology programs.
"Once you treat that person one-on-one, they may get well," said Dr. Kimberly Martin, owner of the consulting firm Advance Consulting Ventures. "But when they go back to their environment, their environment sometimes puts them back in that same place. It's hard for them to get well."
2. “Educator Teaches Chicago Students The Language Of The Nursing Industry,” CBS Chicago, February 15, 2015
Technology has not only made the job market change when it comes to hiring practices, it has also affected the way nurses are being trained for their positions, including their level of education and relationships with patients.
According to the National League for Nursing, one of the top 10 trends include consumers' growing knowledge of the health care industry. Consumers are paying more attention to disease prevention, alternative health options and demanding more participation in clinical decisions.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “Tickled,” “We Need to Talk” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter to keep up with all posts at once.
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