Welcome to One Black Woman’s Blog

Hi there.

I’m known as blksista on the pages of DailyKos, Jack and Jill Politics, and Booman Tribune, among others. If you don’t readily know who I am, you probably heard that I wrote a series of blog articles about the drowning of New Orleans, my birthplace. It took a long time for me to find my voice blogging, and these articles basically made my rep on DK.

I finally realized that I wanted my own blog to continue to talk about New Orleans, black people, culture, gossip/public intellectualism, politics, Buddhism, journalism and ethics, looksism, cooking, fiction, history, womanism, writing, race, fashion, music and other topics of interest during this rather fractious time in American life and the life of the Republic.

Finally, I would like to say that I have a patron saint of blogging, and that, for all intents and purposes, is the late Steve Gilliard. I discovered Steve’s blog while I was living on 132nd Street in Harlem, New York between 2003-2005. Through him, I got a real introduction to New York politics. We talked privately online here and there, but I never got to meet him. I’m sure we even passed by each other while at I-HOP without knowing it. I am so sorry he is gone, because he would have truly enjoyed seeing Obama in the White House.  I think that he would have kept cool regarding our FBP’s striking a grand plan taxing and cutting with Boehner, McConnell and the Republicans, making them look like the charlatans and tools for the rich that they are.  I know that I could never be as audacious or as knowledgeable as Steve was during his short career, but he did teach me a few things. One: to be yourself and two: to say what is real. Then you’ll never be alone.

If you like my work, if you like visiting This Black Sista’s Page, and if you can contribute $5, $10 or more, I may be able to weather some crises and stay afloat. You can use your bank account, Visa, MasterCard, AmerEx with the PayPal button to the top right.

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Not Her “Secret Place” But Close To It: Joni Mitchell’s Recent, Long Interviews

It’s all here, nearly two hours of it.  And I hope the CBC doesn’t pull it.  Jian Ghomeshi is the interviewer.  In the words of that great philosopher, Humphrey Bogart, playing Philip Marlowe in the flick, The Big Sleep, she’s “too big” for him.  Give him a chance, though.

Joni is 70 this year.   I think she’s doing it all, saying it all now because one of these days, she will be silent.  Not dead yet, but just silent.  It happens with certain legends; they just stop being public people, slowly and gently, until no one knows that they’ve effectively bowed out.  So it is a shock when the death announcement comes.

It’s just that there will soon be nothing more  for her to say about anything, this self-proclaimed “black man in a blonde woman’s body.”   Well, she wishes when she says that, but for real, she wouldn’t want the headaches.  Maybe she’ll get her wish in the next lifetime to be a black man.  I can only hope that by that time, things will be better for all of us.  I also note that she calls herself a black man and not a black woman.  Umph.  It’s sorta the weirdness I have found with some black transvestites and transsexuals.  They swoon over wanting to be the epitome of white glamour women and actresses, but hell no.  Not a black woman.

I think Joni should have married that brother, the percussionist Don Alias, their relationship outlined for all time in Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller but, as he said about their final sundering, “It was like a guy breaking up,” he marveled, of her attitude.  “It really hurt the hell out of me!”  Meaning, she had more stones than he.  And when it was over, it was OVAH.  Oh, well.

Nothing more to say soon.  Nothing more to say about anything.  So you’d better catch her before there is nothing more to say.

One of Joni Mitchell’s self portraits that hangs in her L.A. home near her easel. This woman has always been beautiful and informed by beauty (Courtesy: CBC Radio)

She paints these days.  She’s always been an artist.  We saw her art on her album covers.  But she would rather do that regularly than music.  Joni’s really down on the music industry, she’s down on a lot of things like a curmudgeonly grandma, and even in other interviews, she has made some rather tone-deaf comments.  In other words, she’s probably turned into another version of her mom.  I’m glad you gave away and later found your daughter, Joni.  And that was your decision and I don’t dog it, but leave other women to make their own decisions and their lives, okay?  Older people talk very easily about how things have changed for the worse in their view.  This new time is not their time any more, it appears; it seems the world doesn’t want them enough to leave them a space or receive their input.   Hey, sometimes you’ve got to fight for it, but one gets tired more easily, too.  Someone may be looking after her: a younger black man, Mark Gaillard, a son of Slim Gaillard, and a brother-in-law to Marvin Gaye, was present during the CBC interview.  Yes, you really don’t know who she knows, but as always, they connected first and foremost through music.

LIVE STREAMING II: The George Zimmerman Trial for the Murder of Trayvon Martin

(UPDATE (6/17/13, 8:41 p.m.): What is surprising today? De La Rionda lost his temper with a potential juror, H27, who admitted that he gave $20 to Zimmerman’s defense fund; felt sorry for Zimmerman; thought that there was too much crime going on in Central Florida; believed that 17-year-olds think they are “bullet-proof and 10 feet tall”; and said that his sister was a Nevada police officer. De La Rionda got after him for thinking that he could be impartial…and he sure ain’t.  Of course, Zimmerman watched H27 as if he was his main man. Thing is, the courtroom is nearly empty at times.  Many observers are fearful that there may be “stealth jurors” who may sway the proceedings for as well as against Zimmerman, since so many potential jurors in the area have made up their minds on either slanted or incomplete facts.)

Trayvon Martin as a white youth; George Zimmerman as a black man; I think there would have been no doubt of a trial and a swift conviction had Zimmerman been black (Courtesy: Justice for Trayvon Martin on Facebook)

Think about it.  This is a Photoshopped photo to be sure, but if the colors were reversed, George Zimmerman would be spending the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.  Or facing execution via a lethal injection.

The stream still works at the original post as well, but it is farther down.  And it is Week 2 of jury selection.

Meanwhile, during the weekend, Zimmerman’s father Robert released a $3.99 e-book race-baiting screed on Amazon.com blaming the usual suspects—the NAACP, Reverend Al Sharpton, President Obama, Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Black Chamber of Commerce, and others—for his son’s apprehension and trial.  To him, they are the racists in this sad episode because they advocated the arrest of his hapless son for murder.

Before people start flinging “reverse racism” around, understand first and foremost that George Zimmerman was not supposed to be armed, and that he disobeyed police instructions not to follow Trayvon Martin.  He was not a security guard who was bonded and cleared for  the gated community, and most neighborhood watch people are unarmed and belong to bona fide organizations.  For these, and for previous encounters with the law, Zimmerman should have been nabbed that same night.  Moreover, George Zimmerman is a recovering alcoholic who assaulted a cop and resisted arrest and allegedly assaulted a former fiancée.  He was on Restoril, a powerful prescription drug used to treat anxiety and insomnia that sad night last February.  Restoril is a drug that is known to promote hallucinations and aggression in patients, and could have impaired his judgment.

Zimmerman is alleged to have provoked fights while in grade school.   A family member also has alleged that she was sexually abused by him from the age of 6 until she was sixteen years old.  Most importantly, beyond reporting the rape on the witness stand, she said that he was capable of being a totally different person in other environments than he was when he was abusing her, so his air of aggrieved innocence/trapped like a rat is in keeping with that kind of behavior. Variously, he has been described as wanting to be a cop, a judge, and a Catholic priest, all positions of authority and power (and of immediate respect) for which he has few inner resources and positive attributes.

Sidney Poitier as Seen by His Two Youngest Daughters on Father’s Day

I found this at Shadow and Act.

What do I know about Sidney Poitier‘s family life?  Simply, that he has six daughters: four with former wife Juanita Hardy and two with actress Joanna Shimkus.   Poitier’s eldest daughters by Juanita are Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, and Gina.  The two daughters with Shimkus are being interviewed, and they are Anika and Sydney.  Sydney has joined her father in the acting business, graduating from the Tisch School of the Arts and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.  She has worked primarily in television, appearing on episodes of Hawaii 5-0 and Private Practice.

Again, for the record, Poitier has no sons.  (Some may mix Poitier up with Bill Cosby, who did have an only son, Ennis.  It was Ennis who was shot to death trying to help a friend with car trouble in the 1990s.)  The story of the fake Poitier son living off of New York socialites was made into Six Degrees of Separation, the play and the film.

I think that it’s interesting that, at least with his younger children, Poitier is acknowledged as being with his daughters, playing with them, counseling them, being present and natural with them between films and other activities.   Poitier cut a wide swath among women in his younger days, before and after his tempestuous affair with Diahann Carroll, which almost derailed his first marriage.  One wonders whether he had time to be with and raise his girls during the time he was striving in Hollywood, and even after the marriage failed.   He’s probably a grandfather several times by now.  It’s refreshing to see the curtain parted on this important area of his life.

Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE, and Bahamian ambassador to Japan and to UNESCO, is 86.

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Louis C.K. on Being a Dad

I like Louis a lot.  And he’s a smart guy.  His comedy comes straight out of real life experiences about sex, about lust, about love, about marriage, about divorce, and about children.  Being a daddy.

I know that it is quite late in the day, and Father’s Day is almost over.

But I think that this piece is relevant for any American male who is or is going to be a father.  At the very least, dudes:  don’t be afraid of being a man who makes mistakes as a dad but who daily strives for perfection.

Enjoy your lives.

 

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Okay, Cue the Music: Kim Kardashian Gives Birth

Kim Kardashian, top heavy with the baby daughter she gave birth to this afternoon in Los Angeles, CA; mother, daughter, and father are doing well I suppose (Courtesy: N.Y. Daily News)

I do not normally cover the Kardashians.  They are the epitome of wretched excess, self-promotion and over-exposure.  I’d rather cover the Real Housewives of Atlanta.  I breezed by a couple of their shows, and the eye rolling, eye-cutting, receptions and parties, heavy make-up, pointless arguments and weaves were almost too much to bear.   But the Kardashians—they are the spittoon of America.  Self-absorbed, empty-brained, nit-picking over everything from cars to jewelry and from nails to hair, talking and parading (in and) about their products, when they really don’t have to do much except breathe.  They occupy a different planet from you and me, but it’s an empty and vapid planet full of gold-plated things, sunny locales, and tables always set with food amid the pettiness and quarrels.

However, the word is coming onto Facebook and other social media sites.  That after a labor that lasted from yesterday afternoon into today, Kim Kardashian gave birth to the expected infant girl some five weeks before she was due.  No word yet on the name of the child.  (One wag indicated that the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William’s wife, was due about the same time as Kim on July 11, but that’s now going to be all Kate’s show.  I can well visualize Buck House publicists and spin doctors breathing a sigh of relief.) No photos or videos were made of the birth that we know of.  Yet.

She’s here! Kim Kardashian has given birth to a baby daughter, a hospital source confirms to Us Weekly. The E! reality star welcomed the tot with beau, Kanye West, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood, Calif. Originally due July 11, the star couple’s new bundle of joy arrived a bit early, and as a special (early!) Father’s Day gift for West.

“Kim had her baby,” a hospital source tells Us exclusively. “She’s five weeks early. Kim got sick last night and had the baby early.”

The source added, “They’re all doing great and amazing!”

Okay, I am not going to be the only one to wonder whether the birth was induced to coincide with Father’s Day for maximum publicity, or whether this woman had had it being preggers.  It was a toss-up whether Kim hated what pregnancy did to swell her body, or whether she was upset about health scares and pain while pregnant.  Of course, she was fat-slammed.  (Word to you size-ist idiots, women gain weight when they are pregnant.)  Everytime I saw her in photos, this woman was unhappy.

That Photo From Facebook: Let’s Call Her The Woman Who Doesn’t Wear a Size 4

I saw this photo this morning on Facebook from Elegant Plus.com.  Elegant Plus provides guides to apparel, shoes, and jewelry and accessories for the size 12W-34W bunch.  I think that it is wonderful.  It doesn’t matter how big you are or how old you are, you can still create value and be valuable, especially when the whole world, it seems, only values whether you fit into a size 4.

It doesn’t mean that you should be happy to be weighty.  But be healthy with your weight and in your body.  Don’t be teetering on the edge of heart disease or diabetes.  Many black women—like this beaming sista with gray in her hair—look exactly like her. Yet they are badgered from ages 12 through old age about their size. Whatever happened to men who appreciated women with roundness in them?

Of course, I don’t know her name, at least not yet. I’m sorry that this is a small photo, at least for now. But I love her, even though she is only wearing a smile.

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Little Grace Colbert, Star of the Cheerios Biracial Family Ad, and Her Parents Speak

Remember, she’s only six.  And she thought that all the hubbub was about her smile.  No, cher, it’s far more than that, but that’s okay.  One thing at a time.  Love your little life.  We have your back, too.

Oh, yeah.  Don’t be surprised if Stephen Colbert (that’s pronounced, cole-BEAR) asks for you and your daughter to come on his show for about ten minutes of fame.  I can well imagine what that fertile mind will do with the play on surnames, as well as ask the ultimate question, are you a cousin or something? 

Being part of a biracial family, it’s just the reality,” said Christopher Colbert, the father of the six-year-old Grace, on MSNBC Tuesday. “We’re also part of the face of America.”

Colbert added that he was “excited” about the reactions to the commercial, both good and bad, in that they brought much-needed attention to the growing number of biracial couples in America. According to Census data, interracial marriages are at an all-time high, and over nine million Americans self-identify as multiracial.

Who a person chooses to love “shouldn’t be an issue anymore,” said Colbert.

His daughter’s starring role in a Cheerios ad transformed into a starring role in the national conversation about race two weeks ago, when her commercial drew offensive attacks on YouTube. Within days of the ad’s upload, commenters responded with references to Nazis, “troglodytes,” and even “racial genocide,” simply because the ad featured a child with a white mother and black father. General Mills disabled the commenting feature as a result.

Jezebel had a few comments lauding Grace for being just a normal child:

These comments (by her parents) were made as Grace whispered to herself, sighed, squirmed and generally behaved exactly the way you would if you were trying to have a conversation with a man you had never met via satellite. We did learn that Grace has gotten “a bunch” of auditions and got the inside scoop on the reaction from her friends at school: “They said they saw my commercial.”

I think we have to remember Grace, just as we still remember Rodney Allen Rippy of Jack in the Box fame, first black child adored by whites as well as blacks  for looking  like a five-year-old kid with a Jumbo Jack that he could barely handle (Rodney was so beloved that a Peanuts comic strip had Snoopy waking from a dream in which he had been invited to dine with the little boy).  We have to remember Grace as we do  Diahann Carroll in Julia; and Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek, and the first few black people to do commercials on television, starting in the late Sixties.  Why?  Because she is The First to be a real live child of color—of mixed color—on television with a black father and a white mother in an environment where nothing is tragic, lacking or troubled.  Even if she folds back into obscurity after her 15 minutes are up, Grace Colbert should be remembered for this moment because it has had a positive impact  as well as a controversial one, as evidenced by essays like this one from Meaghan Hatcher-Mays, “I’m Biracial, and That Cheerios Ad is a Big Fucking Deal.  Trust Me.”  Hatcher-Mays manages to put a few in against the “racist dicks” who got so exercised at the ad on You Tube.

This commercial is a huge step for interracial families like mine who want to be seen in public together and maybe eat some heart-healthy snacks. But it also validates the existence of biracial and multiracial people. Often we’re treated like exotic flowers, who should feel complimented when people say stuff to us like, “All biracial women are so beautiful” or “I would kill for your skin.” One of the hardest things about growing up the way I did is feeling like you need to choose one racial identity over another just to fit in. The fact that strangers constantly ask you to identify yourself (forcing you to put yourself in a category) makes you feel conspicuous and gazed upon. You catch strangers looking at you. You know what they want to ask you. You know that they won’t leave you alone until you give them a rundown of your heritage.

So, this is just a stupid commercial about Cheerios but it means a lot to me. It shows interracial families and their children being normal and cute, not something to gawk at or to question. Hopefully this commercial will lead to even more positive representations of not just interracial families, but all kinds of non-traditional families. To Cheerios, I give you one internet high-five, for doing your part to normalize families like mine and people like me. Increased visibility of our differences leads to things like “acceptance” and “disrupting the status quo” and also “not arresting biracial people’s dads for kidnapping.” Bravo. Now excuse me while I go dump a box of cereal on my dad.

Those negative You Tube commenters wouldn’t know what a Nazi is if s/he came and bit them.  Racial genocide?  Please.

Not when you’re eating something like “heart-healthy” Cheerios, I’d bet.

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