“As a Black lesbian feminist, I have a particular feeling, knowledge, and understanding for those sisters with whom I have danced hard, played, or even fought. This deep participation has often been the forerunner for joint concerted actions not possible before.”
Another historic eve. Another election.
Go out, go vote. I am.
But I’m also sitting in the lab, folded around my work, reminding myself and reminded that community is created through love making on the daily.
This is a guest post by Bianca of Latino Sexuality and of The LatiNegr@s Project. I’ll be cross-posting and blogging! Read a bit more about me when we introduced The LatiNegr@s Project team.
cross posted from my Media Justice column
Last year Hip Hop is for Lovers (HH4L) became a live broadcast online. Since then, the expansion and attention HH4L has received is phenomenal. This is expected as the two women who are the driving force, creative energy, and developers of the series are fantastic. I asked Uche and Lenée if I could feature them for the Media Maker’s Salon as their form of media is one that is so accessible! They agreed. I should share that Lenée and I are homegirls, chosen family and that I am a regular listener, tweeter, and fan of HH4L.
Uche and Lenée both identify as 30 something Black women from the US who are English speaking. Lenée identifies as a “queer working class, anti-academic and Spanglish speaking” Black woman and Uche as a “hetero” African American woman. Their identities are important because this impacts the media they create, conversations they have, and education they provide on HH4L.
What is HH4L? When and where did it begin?
Uche: Hiphopis4Lovers.com conception came from a conversation. First it was a microblog on tumblr and was almost a mixtape but now its a full on radio show and now
budding network. We discuss Love, Sex, intimacy and Hip Hop Music every
Wednesday 8pm-10pm and we have The XD Experience every Thursday
9pm-11pm.
What was the motivation for beginning HH4L? What are some goals you have for the project/program?
Uche: The Motivation for HH4L in the beginning was to create a space where people we could talk about sex and Hip Hop in a real adult way. To address the issues in intimacy and sex that the hip hop generations faces on a daily basis.
My ultimate goal would be to change the culture of how sexuality, sex and intimacy is viewed, and discussed in the culture of Hip Hop. To create a space for adults who still engage in the culture of Hip Hop to deal with issues facing them in their personal lives.
How did the two of you meet and what went into collaboration?
Lenée: We met via twitter, actually. I was out at a wine bar in Brooklyn and Uche recognized me from my twitter avatar. We’ve been hanging out ever since. Later, she approached me about taking her microblog series, Hip Hop is for Lovers, to another level by making it a podcast. In May of 2011, we switched the format to include live broadcasts.
Share with us the importance of the naming of your media. How is language important in the projects you create and are a part of?
Uche: With Hip Hop, one of the main identifiers of people engaged in the culture is language. There is a seeded vernacular that in Hip Hop is this always changing but remains universal to the listeners. In Hip Hop is 4 Lovers we are using that language, that semantic to talk about Sex and Love.
Lenée: Language plays a huge part! The radio show is reflective of and steeped in Hip Hop culture and language — the vernacular we utilize from the larger culture are a big part of the sound and tone of the show. Also, we have our own sayings that are part of the show’s fabric. For instance, Uche coined the term “No bueno on the non consensual anal,” in response to the idea that one partner can surprise another with anal sex. We have HH4L quotables on virtually every episode. Also, we name every episode uniquely — usually something humorous — as a way of piquing the interest of potential listeners.
What themes do you seek to discuss/address/present and how are they received by audience?
Lenée: Our subject matter is based on love, sex, intimacy, and relationships. So, we talk about sex itself, sex work, dating, coparenting, child rearing, etc. We talk a lot about personal agency in relationships and sexual encounters, consent, and transparency. I believe what we talk about on the show is very well received by our audience. I do find that sometimes our shows about very juicy (and for some people controversial) topics sometimes get more realtime feedback on twitter.
Uche: We talk about everything sex/ intimacy related. Everything from parenting to the kinds of sex people are having. Addressing topics like Slut Shaming, Self Love, even Polyamory has struck chords with our audience. We also, always put emphasis on consent and full disclosure in intimacies between individuals. Our audience seems to be excited to have a space where the issues that concern them and (even some that don’t) are being discussed.
How are topics and songs selected? Is this an individual process? The two of you? audience suggestions? something else?
Uche: Its both the HH4L team and our audience. We discuss and brainstorm about our topics and even do research to make sure we are giving a full representation of any topic and not just our own personal ideals.
Lenée: The creation of our library was a collaborative effort — we both add to it regularly. We also take suggestions from our audience, and from artists themselves.
What role does race, gender, sexual orientation, class, and location play in the creation of HH4L?
Lenée: Hip Hop, as a culture and as a genre of music, belongs to People of Color (POC). It began in the Bronx, in a community of working and lower middle class black and brown folks and to this day is largely reflective of the lives and experiences, aspirations, goals, and sometimes the suffering of People of Color. Of course, there are white artists who make this music, and I find that the white artists whose work is best received both commercially and critically are people from working class and or poor communities, like Yelawolf. I think class plays a big part because early Hip Hop was self-made entertainment based on the experiences of black and brown youth. Though an abundance of Hip Hop music is driven by men who identify as hetero (or express heterosexual desires), there’s a lot music informed by what we might call alternative viewpoints. Hetero women, queer women, queer men, and trans people make hip hop — some of which is played on both the main HH4L show and the show on our network hosted by The XD Experience. Regarding location, we are NYC based. NYC is the birthplace of Hip Hop music and culture; this means that for a long time the epicenter of the culture was here — some argue that it still is. I think that the urban experience of working class and or poor People of Color is as integral a part of the music of Hip Hop as rhyming itself.
Uche: As a woman (especially a woman of color) who grew up in the culture of Hip Hop and has no fear being identified as such is a big deal. I have met a lot of women who have a love/hate relationship with Hip Hop. Dealing with issues of “where is my place?” is very real for a lot of POC women who grew up listening to a music that at first glance doesn’t seem to value them or acknowledge their place in the culture. I’m sure that goes for other “alternative”(probably not the right word) identified groups that ultimately identify with the culture of Hip Hop. The fact that the majority of the people involved with HH4L are POC women is a big deal as we tend to talk about what affects us more so than our non POC counterparts.
How has HH4L evolved? How would you like to see it evolve in the future? Are there goals for the year?
Uche: We went from being a podcast to a live weekly show. Now we are branching out to becoming a network by adding The XD experience and some other shows that will be announced soon. We have goals of always expanding the audience and growing as a team.
As media makers, what outlets/equipment/training/workshops/tools/etc. do you utilize to create?
UW: HH4L is broadcast right from my home. I did research on a lot of different broadcast sites style sites before settling on Spreaker.com. We also use lots of social media to get the word out about our broadcasts and the happenings of HH4L. I would say that social media is a major tool for us.
Lenée: I think it’s imperative that people who make media understand the intersections of social media (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr) and traditional media (print/ radio/ video). It’s all linked now. Since Twitter is a big part of what we use to communicate and share our media, I think demonstrated ability to navigate and manage social media is as important as knowing how to update a website via platforms like WordPress. Also, it’s a good idea to learn about sites like podomatic, Spreaker, and Soundcloud.
What are some necessary texts, films, images, photography that you think are essential for youth, especially youth of Color, queer youth, and youth who are marginalized in general, to interact with/read/be exposed to? Why these artifacts?
Lenée: I think for young Women of Color — queer and hetero alike — to begin to actualize themselves, it is imperative that they know their experiences do not occur in a vacuum. I recommend Colonize This!, and Borderlands/ La Frontera for starters. I also suggest Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery and Naked be read in tandem. It’s never too early to learn!
For marginalized youth in general, I think it’s important that they utilize the resources they have access to — be they libraries in the community or at school, or even the personal libraries of people they know and trust. When I was 15, I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, because I thought it was necessary for me to learn exactly how he became an activist. Not everyone is born with a fist in the air — our kids need to know that. I also read Race Matters by Cornel West (required reading by my school) and found the words I had been seeking all along to explain what I felt when my wealthy white schoolmates expressed not just racism or sexism, but classism in their interactions with me and one another.
Have there been any challenges/obstacles, etc. you’ve encountered in creating your media? Will you share some examples with us?
Uche: I would say that my greatest challenge in creating HH4L is that I didn’t know of anything that existed like it before. I had no guide to tell me how to create a site/radio show that wants to discuss Love, Sex and Hip Hop. Sure there are sites and radio shows that discuss sex and hip hop but not together. So I would say my biggest challenge has been creating this form of media that I didn’t know to exist prior to.
What support systems help you cope with frustration, challenges, obstacles, etc. as POC inclusive media makers?
Uche: I would say our biggest support system has been our growing audience. They have let us know we are doing something needed and wanted by them. That is what I know helps me face any challenges or obstacles I’ve faced.
Lenée: I’m not certain that we’ve faced too many frustrations or challenges as POC inclusive media makers, but I have noticed that sharing with people what I do as co-host and sometimes site contributor to the show can be met with puzzled faces. People really do seem to think that Hip Hop music is all about guns, hoes, drugs, and violence. They’re sometimes surprised… While others think that the music library couldn’t possibly be extensive, as the music within the genre that they like is very singularly minded.
What time management strategies/advice can you share with us about creating media and also finding time for yourself/family/friends?
Uche: There are times that I feel consumed by HH4L. I live it constantly so I make sure to have my down time to “check out.” Its essential for me to create a work/ life balance as it allows my creativity to recharge and grow.
Lenée: We make sure we’re fed and hydrated before the show starts. It’s imperative that we have sufficient nourishment and rest beforehand. HH4L Radio, though it requires a substantial time commitment for me, doesn’t keep me from having quality time with friends and/ or family. I believe Uche has different experiences, though, since she’s the site’s founder and primary content contributor.
Are there any upcoming events planned?
Lenée: With dates TBD, we have a group trip to the Museum of Sex in New York City, and another Lovers Joint!
How may people get in contact with you? listen to the show?
Uche: Tune in to the show on www.hiphopis4lovers.com. Also, find us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. If they want to submit music they can do it through the contact section on the website and also sign up for our mailing list.
Lenée: I don’t know specifics, but we’ve got a good following on Facebook and Twitter. Also, the site we broadcast from shows us our stats including unique listeners to each broadcast and how many downloads we get. I’d estimate that we have just under a thousand folks listening to us, which is quite impressive to me considering that we’ve been doing the live shows for just under a year.
Are there any other topics/issues/etc. you’d like to discuss?
Lenée: Check hiphopisforlovers.com for announcements about upcoming events and to stream our latest shows.
I’m going to make this short and quick. And angry.
Every time you tell someone Rihanna deserves what she gets because [insert misogynistic and ignorant reason here], you are wrong.
Every time you tell someone, Rihanna is “publicly accepting her abuser–nothing more, nothing less” or “it’s so black and white,” you are wrong.
Every time you tell someone Rihanna should or should not have done whatever, whenever, wherever, and how dare she and (my favorite) how COULD she–Congratulations.
You’ve just silenced someone around you who is being abused.
And I’m not talking about Rihanna. This post isn’t about Rihanna.
This post is about the woman in the office next to you who says grace over her food. This post is about your personal trainer and his fantastic thighs. This post is about your best friend from college who you are meeting for drinks later. This post is about your professor. Or your student. Or the kid you babysit for.
This post is about your play cousin and your godchild and your niece.
This post is about your sister and your mother and the pastor’s wife.
Every time you do ANYTHING LESS THAN WALK WITH EMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING WITH HER, you’ve just let someone in your life know that everything that happens to them–abuse, rape, psychological warfare–it is all their fault. If they go back, they are to blame. If s/he hits them next time, they are to blame. If s/he kills them when they leave, they are to blame.
You’ve let them know that there is no reason for them to come to YOU for help, should they decide that this time is too much and it is time to go. Worse, you’ve let them know that even if they are leaving, they can’t come to you because you are no longer–if you ever were–a safe space. A space where they don’t have to deal with the recriminations, the guilt, the pressure and fear and anger that is swimming around them because the society we live in is COMPLETELY UNFORGIVING of survivors of abuse and is especially unforgiving of “sassy,” “spicy,” “ratchet” women of color (I mean, don’t we all deserve what we get?).
Because you’ve let your judgement, your agenda, your own internalized misogyny erase safety from the picture, you’ve let someone you love know that they will not be able to rely on you in THEIR time of need.
Everytime you decide that it is fun or funny or provocative to recirculate pictures of Rihanna’s beaten face, you’ve just closed yourself off as a resource to someone who needs you. Not because you aren’t willing to help. I’m sure you are. But your actions have now shown someone around you, SOMEONE YOU LOVE, that asking you for help is also asking for ridicule. And in a situation that is already frightening and dangerous, you’ve confirmed what they already feared was true–that no one will believe them, that they are crazy, that it is all their fault and their problem, and that there is no support out there for someone like them.
Every time you decide to judge Rihanna in the Saturday Morning sitcom binary of leave/success or stay/fail, you are LETTING SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE KNOW THAT YOUR LOVE HAS CONDITIONS, THAT YOUR AID COMES WITH STIPULATIONS AND CRITERIA THEY NEED TO MEET BEFORE THEY CAN BE DEEMED WORTHY
If not Rihanna, who is worthy? Sad faced white women? Puppies? Chris Brown who “apologized?”
The funniest part of this? Three years ago, half of y’all couldn’t even be bothered. She deserved it then too, so I guess I should be surprised that she deserves it now.
But I am.
Because, again, this isn’t about Rihanna.
But someone in your life who thought they could rely on you is hearing you. And they just unpacked their bags. Because you just closed the door in their face.
Shame on you.
(This post is dedicated to my boo, @dopegirlfresh)
If a video drops in a forest of things that seem to matter a lot–like fingers waving in presidential faces and self-deportation–does it make a sound?
Nicki Minaj dropped “Stupid Hoe” last week.
Maybe I’m too old to have my thumb on the relevant spaces in the interwebs, but it seems like the video barely caused a buzz. Responses from Jezebel, Clutch, and Vibe were mainly negative, complaining about Minaj’s use of animalistic imagery, neon colors and her less than creative wordplay. Black feminists offered mainly negative critique for obvious and perfectly legitimate reasons. Minaj’s challenge to “stupid hoes” included a reference to “nappy-headed hoes” and images of a pale, plastic, Venus Hottentot Barbie.
Me? Minaj hurts my head. She perplexes me. I think of her as Trickster, two-faced in her betrayal of global black feminist possibility and powerful in her contradictory elucidation of black woman’s power within the realms of celebrity and hip hop. Reading her as Ellegua, that frightful guardian of the crossroads and the in-between and the everything-that-is-not-yet seems to fit an artist who switches alter egos as easily as she switches clothes. Conjuring the ritual and physicality of possession seems to fit a celebrity who changes clothes as she changes personality, putting on her and taking off her tropes as each personality comes down. The sometimes garish, sometimes delightful carnival of color, glitter and expression–even the repetitive dancehall/house music refrain–also fit a woman whose aesthetic choices continually find their footing in her Trinidadian roots.
In other words, I think of Nicki Minaj as diasporic black, as radical, and as speculative.
Fleshy Professional Avatar spent the weekend in Richmond, Virginia with colleagues and friends at the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History. I tagged along for the ride, made a minor appearance in time to introduce myself to amazing and dynamic public intellectuals like @NewBlackMan and @DrJamesPeterson. Then I dove right back in to life and work here in the DMV with the arrival of the Mobile Homecoming Project (@alexispauline and @juliawallace) for their week-long university residency. This was another event Fleshy Professional Avatar was signed up to do but I hung out in the wings, dipping in when Alexis and Julia referenced their trip to AMC 2011 and the Shawty Got Skillz workshop, taking a breath of peace when I saw @Mdotwrites and as I was introduced to another professor-cum-insurgent. And when I looked up, I turned around to find we’d formed a circle of womyn of color who do intense intellectual work and activism around saving our own lives in spaces that are almost universally hostile to everything we are and represent. And yet…there we were. Queering the space with our very own light energy, turning the room on its side and moving the group as a whole along a new wavelength of ultraviolet visibility.
For a moment, just long enough to breath in and out twice, I was able to be Kismet and Flesh at the same time. The two bodies overlapped and co-existed in time and space together.
But it was only a moment.
Rihanna’s video for “Man Down” dropped last week and set the web on fire. The way justice and rape, innocence and violence work in the video–and the non-sensical responses to it–have already been outlined by better writers than me.
I’m writing this post to take the video to its logical conclusion:
In the future, do we kill our attackers?
Lady in Red. Posted by Rocka-Bye Baby! Reblogged by Come Correct
Submit to the #ComeCorrect Spring Fever Blog Carnival!!!
“When all else fails, masturbate like its May,” ~La Bianca
You can’t describe it but you know it when it’s here. You notice the sun warming the air and your skin flushes. Hot. Unrelenting. This heat is brazen. It slides beneath the hem of your shirt and strokes the skin of your thighs. It fingers the zipper of your jeans. It begs, cajoles, climbs into your mouth and between your teeth and trembles there.
Spring fever is here. And there is no better time to #ComeCorrect
Bring it on!
If you are a black gyrl who knows black feminist sex is the best sex EVER…..if you’re a Puerto Rican mami who believes radical women of color cum harder….if you’re an Asian boi who loves bondage…if you’re an activist building an archive of intimate relations in rural communities….if you’re a professor teaching a class on Sexting While Black……
Bring. It. On.
The way it works: Write where you live, but send in a link to your post (and/or HTML or embed URLs if it’s a vLog or image) by midnight on Monday, June 21, 2011 to bettacomecorrect@gmail.com (just in time for summer!).
There are ZERO restrictions. Previously published posts, images, and videos are all welcome! The organizers are cis women of color and we strongly encourage contributions from trans and cis women, nonbinary and trans* feminists of color
Don’t hold back–this carnival is so very Not Safe For Work (#NSFW). We want it to burn the glossy off your monitor.
The #ComeCorrect Spring Fever carnival will be hosted across the interwebs @:
Come Correct
Crunk Feminists Collective
Latino Sexuality
Mamita Mala
Manifest Freedom
New Model Minority
Nunez Daughter
Pretty Magnolia
If you’re interested in hosting, shoot us an email. If you’d like to curate the next one, let us know!
Questions, comments? Hit up bettacomecorrect@gmail.com or ask online at http://bettacomecorrect.tumblr.com/ask.
Your #ComeCorrect curators this #FeverSeason are:
ABOUT COME CORRECT:
BECAUSE BLACK FEMINIST SEX IS THE BEST SEX EVER…
COME CORRECT WAS CREATED BY THOSE OF US HAVING AND COMMITTED TO HAVING TRANSFORMATIVE EROTIC EXPERIENCES WITH/AS BLACK FEMINISTS. (AND BOTH! OH BOTH!!!!!!)
THIS IS ALSO A WAKE UP CALL TO ANYONE WHO INSISTS ON INTIMACY WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY, CONDONES VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK WOMEN, OR REFUSES TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THE ECSTATIC MIRACLE THAT BLACK WOMEN EXIST. YOU ARE SERIOUSLY MISSING OUT.
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Kismet Nuñez is one of the Skillsharers of the of the 3rd Annual INCITE! Shawty Got Skillz workshop at the 2011 Allied Media Conference! Help us get to Detroit! Click here!
On Monday, I woke up anxious.
I’d been watching Grey’s Anatomy all night and the Christina-Burke story line was stuck in my head.
Remember that one? Yeah. You do. It’s the one where a young, professional woman of color falls for a mature, professional man of color, slowly loses herself in his expectations of their relationship, and gets left at the altar only because he couldn’t make her go through with it.
(yeah. that one.)
Most of me knows that Shonda Rhimes is to black (professional) love as Tyler Perry is to black (professional) women…
[Moment]
By Bill Earle, Art Model Moon Marie (posted by Narkissa, reblogged by Come Correct)
~ M/M, “My Body is Not My Body,” Bekhsoos, 2 May 2011
(She had me at archive.)
Read, view and hear other #rwocsex & #blackfeministsex interludes over at Betta Come Correct. Happy Saturday.
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Kismet Nuñez is one of the Skillsharers of the of the 3rd Annual INCITE! Shawty Got Skillz workshop at the 2011 Allied Media Conference! Help us get to Detroit! Click here!
With slut walks, slut shaming, #KanazawaScience and Beyonce running the world , this may be a Most Complicated Week Ever for #blackfeministsex. Whew!
So why not kick off Thursday Readin’ with a few final reflections on Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s novel Wench?
The Cool Kidz Book Club (@fortyoneacres & @Mdotwrites) started and finished this book last year. And I won’t even pretend I read slow. I don’t. But I do read with careful attention to violence and danger. And since I research women & slavery all day, everyday in the Flesh, I need to watch how I enter that space when I am reading for pleasure.
Lucky for me, Valdez got me in and out safely. She pushed me but she didn’t burn me up and she didn’t leave me with the happies. She left me just where I should be after a book about enslaved women negotiating for their lives–disturbed, invigorated and ready for battle.
Reading Wench Part 3 & 4 after the jump….
The AntiJemima Life 
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