The lack of full fledge media coverage of Megan Williams' brutal attack is a reinforcement of the lack of value placed on Black women's lives. Naturally, had she been white this case would have been discussed daily in every media outlet.
But that's besides the point. For me, and I hope for many of you, cases like should rally us to mobilization against acts of violence against women.
We live in a very violent society that begets a level of disrespect and disregard for Black women that is detrimental to our emotional and physical well-being. The violence doesn't have to be as extreme as the Williams' case. It comes in the everyday form of domestic abuse, media assaults and the like. There are a number of people who are organizing around these issues for years, but still it doesn't seem to take precedence, even in the Black community. While I agree that its imporatnt to teach woman of all hues how to protect themselves and to be vigilent in such a hostile environment, I'd like to see equal attention paid to altering that environment by educating against violence of all kinds. In otherwords, we need to start teaching gender equity or literacy in school. Or push some kind of curriculum that address the misogyny–aided by the media and a false sense of inherent Western culture–to make a preemptive strike. For all of you NYC ladies, at the end of the month I will be hosting a workshop on partenr abusive as a part of a Healing Cirlce for Women sponsored by Brooklyn Community Board 8. I implore you to attend–maybe this can be a launchpad for some progrressive, local community action.
The clip isn't working on my computer so I don't know what it is specifically, but at this point in our history the best thing for our mental health is not to expect other than reality. The Megan Williams case is another tragic chapter in our all too long and tragic history. The reality is that the media doesn't give an 'f' about us or violence against us, except to perpetuate it. The reality is that schools created by the same system designed to keep us down, if not destroy us, are not going to teach non-violence or counter misogyny. After-all, school is a gateway to prison for our children. We have to create our own media and our own schools or else we're just begging our oppressor to stop oppressing us and that's like begging a thief to give back your chain. How likely is that to happen?
It is our responsibility to raise our boys (and not just the ones who spring from our own wombs) to respect women, to respect themselves, and that violence does not equal manhood. The catch is that this is an effort that must be led by men, just as movements to teach and empower women must be led by women. This does not mean that we should not still do what we need to do, but we need conscious, woman-loving men to help us raise boys who truly love and respect women, too. And clearly by woman-loving I don't mean womanizing.
I recently saw a man teaching his six or seven year old son to harass women on the subway. WTF!
I would definitely like to attend this Healing Circle for Women event-please post date, place and time. Now we need for men to come together and have their own workshop about partner abuse, child abuse, etc. [Don't even get me started about dude who slammed his baby to death recently!]
Realistically, I think that we have a better chance of convincing our own men to step up than of convincing "the man" to step off.
Five years ago I read Toni Cade Bambara’s amazing novel about spiritual healing, The Salt Eaters. In it, there was an artist collective comprised of sisters of the yam (Africans), sisters of the plantain (Latinas), sisters of the rice (Asians), sisters of the corn (Native Americans) and so on. The idea of women of color communing, forging a bond, and finding solace in each other left a lasting impression. These sisters proudly took ownership of their heritage and fundamental commonalities, ultimately healing themselves and each other.
I want to create that kind of community online, a safe space for all sun-kissed sisters to share, in resistance to the societal divisiveness that keeps us apart. I’m hoping for commentary on our social, political and cultural conditions, as well as information on the plight of women around the world.
2 comments:
The lack of full fledge media coverage of Megan Williams' brutal attack is a reinforcement of the lack of value placed on Black women's lives. Naturally, had she been white this case would have been discussed daily in every media outlet.
But that's besides the point. For me, and I hope for many of you, cases like should rally us to mobilization against acts of violence against women.
We live in a very violent society that begets a level of disrespect and disregard for Black women that is detrimental to our emotional and physical well-being. The violence doesn't have to be as extreme as the Williams' case. It comes in the everyday form of domestic abuse, media assaults and the like.
There are a number of people who are organizing around these issues for years, but still it doesn't seem to take precedence, even in the Black community. While I agree that its imporatnt to teach woman of all hues how to protect themselves and to be vigilent in such a hostile environment, I'd like to see equal attention paid to altering that environment by educating against violence of all kinds. In otherwords, we need to start teaching gender equity or literacy in school. Or push some kind of curriculum that address the misogyny–aided by the media and a false sense of inherent Western culture–to make a preemptive strike.
For all of you NYC ladies, at the end of the month I will be hosting a workshop on partenr abusive as a part of a Healing Cirlce for Women sponsored by Brooklyn Community Board 8. I implore you to attend–maybe this can be a launchpad for some progrressive, local community action.
The clip isn't working on my computer so I don't know what it is specifically, but at this point in our history the best thing for our mental health is not to expect other than reality. The Megan Williams case is another tragic chapter in our all too long and tragic history. The reality is that the media doesn't give an 'f' about us or violence against us, except to perpetuate it. The reality is that schools created by the same system designed to keep us down, if not destroy us, are not going to teach non-violence or counter misogyny. After-all, school is a gateway to prison for our children. We have to create our own media and our own schools or else we're just begging our oppressor to stop oppressing us and that's like begging a thief to give back your chain. How likely is that to happen?
It is our responsibility to raise our boys (and not just the ones who spring from our own wombs) to respect women, to respect themselves, and that violence does not equal manhood. The catch is that this is an effort that must be led by men, just as movements to teach and empower women must be led by women. This does not mean that we should not still do what we need to do, but we need conscious, woman-loving men to help us raise boys who truly love and respect women, too. And clearly by woman-loving I don't mean womanizing.
I recently saw a man teaching his six or seven year old son to harass women on the subway. WTF!
I would definitely like to attend this Healing Circle for Women event-please post date, place and time. Now we need for men to come together and have their own workshop about partner abuse, child abuse, etc. [Don't even get me started about dude who slammed his baby to death recently!]
Realistically, I think that we have a better chance of convincing our own men to step up than of convincing "the man" to step off.
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