I am the stone that the builder refused, the saint that sins frequently, and the indigo child that runs wild. I am the unicorn to the lion and we created a supernova. I'm something like amazing.
Sisters Mentally Mobilized - Oakland/Bay Area invites you to join us virtually on Sunday, 12/13/2020 from 1:30p-4:30p as we navigate grief and loss. This will be a time for us to understand the various stages of grief, how to engage others in loving and supportive ways and also how to hold space for ourselves when experiencing any type of loss. There will also be an opportunity to do some mindful journaling so feel free to join the circle with a pen and pad. All Black women are welcome to be a part of this circle so feel free to share and join by registering using the included link.
I wish parents of Black boy children taught them what protecting others truly encompasses. We teach them that it requires physical strength but far too often leave out the need to mentally and emotionally guard others. So we raise sons who think protecting girls and women has nothing to do with their emotional well being and THAT is where they end up doing the most harm. Then we have the audacity to ask the question “why don’t we care about Black women?”
Are we teaching our children (this includes our girls too) to care about them? Are we unlearning the bullshit we were taught so that we can care for them like we know we should? Do we as Black women care about our sisters as much as we care about our brothers? Do we bend over backwards in the same manner that we’d do for a man? These are the tough questions to ask ourselves but we won’t get anywhere without being honest, facing the truth and then committing to doing better.
If we cannot have an honest discussion about this, I don’t want to discuss anything about the treatment of Black women because it starts here… with how we’re raising our children and the beliefs we carry on throughout life about Black girls and women.
We love quoting Malcolm X’s words that “the most disrespected woman in America, is the Black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America, is the Black woman.” What we repeatedly leave out is the part about needing to respect these Black women. If we truly respect people, we will see them as a whole ass person with more than physical needs. So the question begs to be asked, when will we be ready to stop disrespecting, neglecting and leaving Black girls and women mentally and emotionally unprotected?
And before anyone tries to deflect, Black girls are already taught to protect Black boys and men mentally and emotionally. Yes, there are examples of it not being done but as a whole, us being taught from a young age and not the boys, has been to our own detriment because it isn’t common for it to be reciprocated. Need examples, look around you. Watch the news. Repeatedly say every last Black woman’s name that has been slain in the last six months alone. Then… do and be better.
This wasn’t a government stunt to try and avoid doing something meaningful, but a coming together of community artists who did it for free. Which is why it’s the best.
reposting because I don’t agree 100% with the notion that “we attract what we are”. as humans who possess a natural duality of life (whether we acknowledge it or not), our similars and our opposites will be drawn to us. the reasons aren’t always immediately clear and to assign the value that “I am that so that’s why I attracted it” is… hasty and not always accurate. I am a child of the universe so just by existing, I will attract all sorts of people and things. my responsibility to myself will always rest in who I allow to stay. life has taught me to not allow anyone or anything stay a minute beyond their expiration date.
I don’t understand how the world is full of so many historically oblivious white people. How do so many of them NOT know the scourge their people have been to everyone that is non-white? Maybe they don’t see their legacies as harmful to others and more of a means to an end. I say this because they’ve also been a terrible pestilence to their own people too (see: the treatment of Jews).
I often wonder if this chronic destruction is written into their DNA the way trauma has been written into Black people’s lives. Do unaware white people possess a form of amnesia that wipes their thoughts clean of remembering their filthy crimes against humanity? Is this how they freely & proudly take hold of a heritage obtained by heinous means? How do they cling so doggedly to self-ordained supremacy while cherry picking how it was obtained in the first place?
They view their claim to power as a birthright, with no regard to the laws of nature or humankind. Unaware, racist white people genuinely think they’re righteously above it all and it is destroying us as a species.
How does this happen, universe? Why have you allowed it to go on for so long? When will you tip the scales of balance and retribution? Non-white people can’t be the only ones consistently learning strength of character through incessant suffering. When will the world be a place of harmony for everyone instead of a select few?
A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope (2014)
Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic.
With stories by: Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Patrice Caldwell, Dhonielle Clayton, J. Marcelle Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Justina Ireland, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, L. L. McKinney, Danielle Paige, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, and Ibi Zoboi.
Evoking Beyoncé’s Lemonade for a teen audience, these authors who are truly Octavia Butler’s heirs, have woven worlds to create a stunning narrative that centers Black women and gender nonconforming individuals. A Phoenix First Must Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between. Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of A Phoenix First Must Burn shine brightly. You will never forget them.
Patrice Caldwell is a graduate of Wellesley College and the founder and fund-raising chair of People of Color in Publishing–a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting, empowering, and uplifting racially and ethnically marginalized members of the book publishing industry. Born and raised in Texas, Patrice was a children’s book editor before shifting to writing full-time.
In 2018, she was named a Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree and featured on The Writer’s Digest podcast, PBS’s MetroFocus, and Bustle’s inaugural “Lit List” as one of ten women changing the book world.
She currently lives in New York City in an apartment overflowing with tea and books and is obsessed with purple lipstick. Visit her online at patricecaldwell.com,
