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From the Mind of a Black Woman

                                              

By: Chief Rachel

As I sit and think on things that have happened in our community, I am shocked, sick and disgusted by so many things.

But one of the major issues that affects us as the black community is the issue of gay and straight.

Now we can sit and discuss and debate the origin of where this begins or who started it, blah blah—but to me, at the end of the day, who cares?

We have loved ones who identify with what they identify as, and it is what the hell it is.

My question is, why the hate? Why the divide within the divide? Why the attacks? Why the lack of respect? Just fucking why?

I am a person who accepts people for who and what they are at face value. It does not matter to me what you do in your bedroom or anyone else’s bedroom for that matter.

I respect the fact that if you are gay or Gender and Sexually Non-Conforming (GSN), and I respect your pronouns!

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Decolonize Yo’ Diet: Patí Costeño

Patí Costeño Nicaragüense

 

Pati is a popular Nicaragua breakfast or snack that is often made at home if your family is from “La Costa.” I was introduced to Pati from an early age because my mother was born and raised in Bluefields. Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua.

The origins of Pati come from our Afro-Caribbean ancestors, specifically enslaved Africans from Jamaica, a country from which a large number of the ancestors of the Afro-Caribbean ethnic groups that live in the country migrated to Nicaragua.

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Melanin Queens and Sunscreen

By: Comrade Brianna

It’s a common misconception that our African and other melanated  people don’t have to protect ourselves against the sun.You often hear things like “I’m black I don’t need sunscreen” when in all actually that’s not the case! 

The sun can be one of the main factors for premature aging and skin damage so all skin no matter of race needs to be protected from the sun. 

As summer is approaching I wanted to give some helpful skincare tips to keep your skin nice and glowing but also protected the skin is the biggest organ on the body and needs lots of TLC.

 As an esthetician I often get asked ”what’s best for my skin or  what I should be using?” and I always l say…… keep it simple. I don’t know where you from but where I’m from we like to also keep it affordable .

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Just Another Tale From the Hood

By:  Comrade Diva Tareva  

 

 

I can vividly recall my first encounter with the state, I was 4 years old, playing in the park near my grandmother’s home, with my 3-year-old brother, mother, and father. My brother and I had just been rescued from our grandmother’s house, who was angry with my father and decided to hold us hostage for revenge. My father devised a plan to take us out of her house through the window during one of her many naps. We executed the plan flawlessly, and once free, ran to the nearest park only blocks away. Sometime after our arrival to the park, 3 LAPD cars screech up, sirens going, guns out!

They tackle and arrest my father and mother on charges of child endangerment and kidnapping. My grandmother shows up and attempts to retrieve me and my brother from the pigs, but they refuse to release us. We are taken to the department of children and family services and would never be returned to the custody of our parents again. Continue reading “Just Another Tale From the Hood”

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A Collective Call for Black Power!

By: Comrade Z

Should non-black activists participate in saying “Black Power” with fellow Black activists? The short answer is no. But I am sure you did not come here for the short answer. So let me try to break down my answer a bit…. We live in quite a politically shallow-minded country. A country where most of our ‘political’ perspective is obtained from the same propagandist machinery that has direct material investments in our enslavement, exploitation, and genocide. In other words, we tend to repeat what we hear from the mouths of our oppressors. So in 600 words or less, I’m going to try and give a not so short answer. 

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The clinical contradictions of colonialism.

 

By: Comrade Rachel

I am writing this article as a medical professional to share the ins and outs of the medical industry from my experience.

After witnessing the birth of my grandchild and the lack of autonomy and attention my daughter received, I’ve gained even more perspective.

We all know and understand that Black men don’t like to go to the doctor let alone to a hospital. Black people are led to believe that we can’t and shouldn’t get sick. Consequently, Black people rarely go and get their ass checked out. And unless you have been hiding under a rock or got your head up colonizer ass you would know that, although Black women have less of an issue getting to a doctor than Black men, neither are not treated well at all.  

It was during my daughter’s pregnancy I noticed small things that would be said or done to my daughter or other patients that I found to be fucked up and unprofessional.

I will not speak on my title because I know that white power exists and so we are supposed to play dumb and pretend to not know anything about what they are doing. But we see y’all. We all know about that black girl magic! And I love when the time is just right to show them how this shit works!

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AGAINST ‘GENDER REVEAL PARTIES’:  ON DECOLONIZING THE CELEBRATION OF BIRTH

By: comrade Hee Jun Suh 

‘Gender reveal parties’ are a capitalist money-grubbing scam. They were created by corporations in an attempt to revive the holiday industry, which like many industries, is dying as capitalism progresses to its late stage. This, by itself, is reprehensible enough: to urge the working class to participate in extraneous capitalism, bombarding them with the idea that they’re not doing enough for their loved ones unless they do so. I type this on Valentine’s Day, one of many holidays created for this purpose. Fuck celebrations of capitalism; we should celebrate February 14 as the day in 1779 that the indigenous people of Hawaii defended their land by killing the white settler colonist Captain Cook – but I digress. Compelling the proletariat to consume even though they do not have the means to do so, and then telling them they’re ‘lesser than’ when they can’t is despicable enough on its own. However, with gender reveal parties, there’s another level of harm; a reinforcement of the gender binary, and in turn, violent transphobia.

Hijra of India 

The gender binary is a false notion introduced to societies by settler colonialism. It goes hand-in-hand with other oppressive systems such as cisnormativity (the idea that everyone is cisgender by default) and patriarchy. We know this by looking at history. Before colonization and even now despite genocide, gender variation existed/exists in societies all over the world. Genderqueer and transgender people existed/exist under many names including the two-spirit people of indigenous First Nations, the Ashtime of the Maale people in Ethiopia, the Hijra of India, the Muxe of Mexico, the Māhū of Hawaii, the Xanith of Oman, the Mangaiko of the Mbo people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Nádleehi gender spectrum of the Navajo tribe, the Ihamana gender spectrum of the Zuni tribe, and countless others. Ancient Egyptians recognized third gender thousands of years ago. In the indigenous religion of Korea, the mudangs (shamans) are considered inherently trans, as they are possessed by momju (gods or spirits) of various different genders. The Dogon tribe in Mali worships Nommo, mystical creatures reverently referred to as “The Teachers” and described as intersex and androgynous. 

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Who’s really REAL?!

By Diakiesse Lungisanni Chief of Political Education and Culture

Fem Queen performance has been and will ALWAYS be one of my fave’ categories when it comes to the Ballroom scene. For those of you who have been living under a rock during the era of the FX show Pose, a fem queen is basically a transgender woman who competes in the Ballroom scene. Fem Queen Performance is a category where Fem Queens compete against each other through voguing.

The sensuality, THE HAIR! Most importantly the pure, raw, uncut creativity CANNOT be matched anywhere else! 

“What in the entire f*ck?” was my reaction when I was watching some recent clips of the Fem Queen Performance category at The Last Time to Shine Ball, Old School Edition, via Youtube, where this Icon, a supposed leader within the Ballroom scene, criticized and CHOPPED a young transgender woman because she was wearing padding. This clip alone has started a conversation, not only within the Ballroom scene but in the GSNA/Black Queer sector of our nation as a whole. What became overwhelmingly clear was the divide between GSNA men and African transgender women, and the disgusting, vile ideals of gender “normality” forced upon us by wyt power!

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Decolonize Yo Diet:“Dhokla”

 

Gujarati Cuisine

By: Chief Gigi Lopez, General Secretary

Black Power Comrades!

For this section of Decolonize Yo’ Diet we are going all the way to West India. This recipe was provided by a comrades grandmother from our Agitation & Propaganda Team!

We chose a very tasty snack called “Dhokla” that basically translates to fermented batter derived from rice and chickpeas. It is a very popular snack and street food in parts of India and can even be used for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or preferably just as a snack. One of my favorite things about this snack is that it can be served hot, cold or room temperature and it still slaps!

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