"I Do See Color" weekly newsletter: April 12, 2023
Weekly newsletter 28: Combination of race- and culture-related posts from "We Need to Talk," "I Do See Color," "BlackTechLogy," "Homegrown Tales" 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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Now let’s get into the weekly newsletter!
Each week, eight carefully selected posts will be chosen, which focus on culture, politics, health and race from a black (wo)man’s perspective.
NEW! 1. Megaphones get you expelled from Congress, moving your mouth doesn't ~ The dumbest excuse of 2023 to defend why white women can protest but black men can't
9,800
That’s how many people have died by gun violence in 2023. And by the time I press “publish,” this number will be outdated. U.S. voters will often ask local-level politicians, state-level politicians, federal-level politicians and even the president to do something about people being killed by gun violence in massive numbers. And Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives showed exactly what happens for politicians who dare do so.
2. Stop equating feminism and racism ~ The flaws of 'And Just Like That': Oppression competitions are getting women nowhere
“Either she realizes it and doesn’t care, or she doesn’t understand the weight of calling a black woman ‘intimidating’ and ‘scary,’” I said to my co-worker, sitting on a restaurant rooftop and gazing around at the scenery.
“Or a woman at all,” she responded. “Women are always misunderstood when they stand up for themselves.”
I turned my gaze back to the white woman sitting across from me.
“No, I said what I meant — a black woman being referred to with those labels holds more weight,” I repeated.
She shrugged. She didn’t get it. Nor would she ever.
3. Prepare Your Daughter for Her First Gynecology Visit ~ As uncomfortable as sexual health topics may be, not forewarning her ahead of time is worse
As a pre-teen, I couldn’t wrap my mind around why someone would purposely go see a doctor who would put a piece of steel inside of their vaginas, open the speculum so a doctor could poke around inside and that lady must keep her legs spread out into stirrups. This sounded like the world’s worst game of upside-down Twister that I’d ever heard of.
I asked my mother, “Does that hurt?” She said, “Yup. A lot actually.”
I nodded my head. “OK, then I’ll just be a virgin forever and hope I never get cervical cancer.”
4. Republicans in hiding, Democrats on the surface ~ Storytelling: How Black Liberals figure out who is really on their side
Beer and the opening theme of “Cheers” has been on my mind a lot this past week. I don’t like the taste of beer. Never have. Whiskey sours have been my go-to since 1999. (Don’t bother with the math. No, I wasn’t 21.) It’s not really the beer that’s been on my mind though; it’s hanging out in bars. I’ve been to enough of them, especially after a yearlong volunteer gig.
I was the host for a monthly storytelling series, and anywhere from five to 40 people would gather in a back room to tell stories about damn near any topic you could think of. Most of the stories were Liberal leaning or all about their love lives, but when I visited other bars where I wasn’t the host, I’d notice a change in tune. I raised an eyebrow at the difference in some content when the black lady host wasn’t doing the introducing.
5. Boys will be boys in every country, but why is racism a constant factor? ~ The undeniable leadership of Amsterdam fire chief Leen Schaap
One of those debates that I’ll occasionally have when speaking up about anti-racism, anti-sexism and all the other -isms/-phobias is with those who swear the United States of America is the only place that is riddled with racism. According to these unsolicited travel guides, the go-to place where racism miraculously disappears is always Europe. My response to this declaration used to be a short tale about one of my 50 childhood pen pals who’d tell me her own experiences. Now? Now I have a better comeback: “Tell me why Amsterdam fire chief Leen Schaap got fired then.”
6. Another season of hard-to-watch episodes of ‘Love Is Blind’ ~ Stop jumping through hoops to date white people
I was coming from the break room, and he walked up to me smiling. He asked me how classes were going and talked about an upcoming vacation. He was the person responsible for me getting that retail job and (still is) consistently one of the nicest guys I’d ever worked for. There was a clear vibe from him that he was used to being around women of color, which I assumed came from the fact that he had an Asian wife. But even with that added sense of comfort, there was one thing about him that gave me the creeps: his bright, blue eyes.
I don’t know what it was about those eyes. Mainstream America would’ve told me to fall in love with the baby blues far more than his reddish brown hair. I thought he was attractive (solid 9 out of 10), and his hair complimented his face. But those baby blues weirded me out. I have yet to understand the fascination with blue eyes (or blond hair).
7. Chelsea, Kwame doesn't like your dog Rocky ~ And six other warnings for people who date anti-pet people
These are examples of black men who love their pets. This is an example of a black man who loves his pet squirrel, one of which is named Richard. I bring these examples up solely in hopes that women like Chelsea from Netflix’s “Love Is Blind” can recognize the signs when brothas (or white men or Asian men or Hispanic men) do not like your dog. On each episode of the fourth season, I wave my arms up in exasperation, listening to her and Kwame (her fiance) talk about her dog Rocky.
8. Go4Rent Magazine (Vol. 7R): Know Legal Ramifications of Recording Tenant-Landlord Disputes
Whether it’s the tenant’s fault, the landlord’s fault or the calendar dates changing, there will come a time when tenants will have to contact property owners to make repairs. But what happens when a landlord refuses to do so and the tenant needs a record of their discussions?
“Deuces” ~ “I Do See Color” newsletter’s bonus interviews:
1. “Role Models Are Necessity In Chicago Jail School System,” CBS Chicago, January 19, 2015
According to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ), 50 percent of admission into IDJJ are for parole violations. However, between 2000 and 2013, court admissions into IDJJ dropped over 50 percent as well. But while youth are there, specialists are responsible for the education of anyone under the age of 21 who has not earned a high school diploma or GED.
Karen January, an author and behavioral specialist, is one of many professionals who chose to educate these students.
2. “Chicago Operations Analyst Gives Pros and Cons For Entrepreneurial Work,” CBS Chicago, January 26, 2015
Accounting, microeconomics and statistics courses are done and dusted. The business degree is personalized for each new graduate and yearned for by aspiring students. But what happens after that is an independent decision.
Choices of gaining real-world experience in the business world include internships, entrepreneurial projects with a staff, working in corporate America or going at it alone as an entrepreneur. Chicago businesswoman Nicole Knox chose to test out the waters in both worlds.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote,” “Tickled,” “We Need To Talk” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday.
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