"Midnight" by Sistah Souljah: A Disrespect and Bashing or Empowerment to the Afro American Female

[hidaya]

Admin OptionsEdit Post Add Tags

Delete Post Manage Blog I was so excited when I heard that Sistah Souljah was writing this book "Midnight". While in my Afro Studies class, a female bought up how she portrayed black women in the book. The discussion went from sister to sister who had read the book. Each one had a differet stereotype and I kept thinking she was going to create that stand up sister that would help wipe them all out. Then one sister said what I didn't want to hear. That she had married him to a Japanese girl. That shit made my top fly off! Are we serious Sistah Souljah is all I kept thinking. I went on Amazon.com and read the first three pages and was infuriated. First page goes on about how he came from culture, that whores are never cherished, blah blah blah, and from that tone I knew where he was going.

With all that said, why am I writing this blog? Well I'm tired. I'm tired of these ignorant ass, sell out authors that find it fit to portray sisters as gold digging, nag, no manor having, no upbring women. Not only is it unfair to us, but is promoting the other races to hold tight their ignorant stereotypes. Why do they always feel the need to promote this stupid "interracial dating" movement. We only make up 13% of this countries population. After jail, drugs, drive-bys, the down low, and AIDS the available brother pool is extremely low. Try and find a motivated brother with knowledge of self, and ha you can basically expect to be single. So what I want to know is, are Japanese girls not sluts? Do they not have whores, pimps, drug dealers, and poor people. Do Jamaicans, Haitians, Dominicans, Panamanians,
Trinidadians, Guyanese and etc not have the same problem?

So Sistah Souljah gives this weak ass excuse about her trying to show black women that we can be more than pussy and loud mouths is so fucking ignorant. So who are the black girls supposed to be with?I am boycotting this book and telling everyone I know to boycott it. If Sistah Souljah calls this motivation, we'll call her in 10 years when our beautiful well reserved black daugthers can't find a husband because their with the non black girls who have "self-respect"!

Can any sistahs or brothers feel me?
Share

[LesYpersound]

It'll never stop being confusing to me when ppl think it's the fault of black women for black men marrying or making babies outside of the race. Honestly... how much work does a black woman have to do? how much blame and essentializing does a black woman represent for all black women when she makes mistakes or is misguided or doesn't conform to whatever is "respectable" in the minds of those who judge? damn...when can black women have their humanity and individuality? :/

regarding the book itself: i haven't read the book (no interest), but maybe someone else has and it isn't as bad as it seems... i'm curious to read up on ppls' impressions of the book too.

[hidaya]

That is my sentiment exactly. I think it is so unfair to the black women to be burdened with the plight of the race when it is supposed to be the job of the black man. We all need to get it together, but a book like this will not help.

[Mlle d. Sade]

LesYpersound said:

I damn...when can black women have their humanity and individuality? :/

Presumably never. It probably won't change.

Black men marry white girls, asian girls, hispanic girls etc., because black women are loud, pushy whores with multiple babies by multiple men.. ..they say.

Normally, when something goes wrong it's ALWAYS the woman's fault. And that's across every race and religion.
It's our fault black men don't want anything to do with us. ..not the impossible burden placed on our shoulders to pacify everyone at every turn because we must please in every way. Or that we don't live up to certain people's expectations of what a woman should be. Or that we are always going to be a silent demographic shoe-horned into any small space designated for us.

I'm a huge misanthrope, btw. I just gave up. ..all this madness will never end.

[Compound Egret]

Every ethnic group has it's bad apples. google "Yakuza" if you want to read about Japanese gangsters.

I hear what you are saying, which is why I usually avoid the "urban fiction" genre as a whole. I read a couple of the Iceberg Slim novels and all they did was make me feel sad about these tragic characters and good about standing still, because I just read 200 pages about people doing much worse.

The subtitle of the book is "a gangster love story". That title doesn't really speak to it being overly positive and empowering.

[hidaya]

Although I agree with your views above, I am kind of saddened that you have given up. If you have a conciousness of self and those around you, trust me it is possible to find a good man. The trick is to make him see how much of an asset you are, and his job is for you to see how much of an asset you are. We as a black women must start looking for quality and not quantity.

[Mlle d. Sade]

amanda davis said:

Although I agree with your views above, I am kind of saddened that you have given up. If you have a conciousness of self and those around you, trust me it is possible to find a good man. The trick is to make him see how much of an asset you are, and his job is for you to see how much of an asset you are. We as a black women must start looking for quality and not quantity.

Oh, I just don't want to care anymore. I'm tired of concerning myself with the issues of the world around me to a moot point/no possible change- it's just running around in circles trying to move boulders much bigger than the here and now- we're all going to die eventually. I'm more concerned with the individual than with the group and in this case the individual is ME.
I don't have to have a black man (and I don't care if it's believe I should remain inside my race box) or woman; I have to have someone who can make an attempt to understand the individual.

[hidaya]

Do you honestly think you are going to find a man outsidre of our race to understand you sistah? Be realistic, if black men try to use and abuse us, how do you think outside men percieve us.

[Mlle d. Sade]

amanda davis said:

Do you honestly think you are going to find a man outsidre of our race to understand you sistah? Be realistic, if black men try to use and abuse us, how do you think outside men percieve us.

I REALLY don't believe in that separatist "only a person of your own race can understand you" for several reasons: 1) A person is SO MUCH more than race 2)Not all non-black people are scary hob goblins that make believe that racism isn't real (or that racism has vanished) and slavery didn't happen. There are non-black people walking around just as conscious as we are. Don't be a reverse racist- not all non=blacks are "ignorant". Have you ever talked to any of the Jewish people that lent support in the civil rights movement? 3)"Race" is a categorizing tool used to separate and conquer. ..an imaginary concept that has no basis in any science of any kind except the "psuedo-tell'em-what-they-want-to-hear-rather-than-the-truth" variety and is something made "real" by insecurity and race separatists that can't live for the sake of living and like living in a box 5)That's not cool, sistah- really not digging the separatist vibe; I may live in the south but that doesn't mean I need to hear "stay with your own kind" from a black person.
6) I didn't even say "understand" I said "attempt to understand" because an open mind is all it takes. Of course someone not black can't understand PERFECTLY but perfection is not needed. Half-way there is what is needed, not "all the way there so I don't have to try at all". Just as someone who's never suffered from severe clinical depression can't understand it but if they can try to meet you there and support you and pull you up. ..that's all that matters. If they can support in all that I do- even without fully understand anything except it's important to me (and other people). ..if they can notice it's significance. ...

You can stay in your little box, I like the wide open world much better and won't be limiting my options any time soon.

[hidaya]

First and foremost a box is far from what I live in sweety. I know more about the Jews than the Jews themselves. For one I have studied anthropology, so when it comes to open minds I'm about as open as they get. Before you go stating biological or scientifical facts you need to do your research. Before you say it does not exist, you need to have a clear understanding of what race is. Secondly, there are no black people in this world you are right. There are Africanoid people, derivitives of the Zinjanthrope which originated in West Africa. Thirdly, if we were all the same, then why is is that our Caucasian friends lack melanin? That is a biological, genetical make up. And yes I will say that you will be less likely to find someone outside of our culture with an understanding for most people are severely caught up in the media. And those that are concious, are concious on spreading their history and culture, not ours. You sound real ignorant when you tell me that I am a reverse racist for I do not feel I am superior to anyone. So you might want to study the etimology of these words before you start throwing them at people. And to answer your question, I lived in Crown Heights with a number of Hasitic Jews that "marched" for our rights. And so you don't get it twisted they had vested interest. They weren't marching because they wanted to see black people get rights, they wanted to see themselves stop being discriminated against. Again, I ask you please do your research before you try to defend. The Jewish lobby has done nothing for the Afros Displaced since they approved affirmative action.

[Mlle d. Sade]

amanda davis said:

First and foremost a box is far from what I live in sweety. I know more about the Jews than the Jews themselves. For one I have studied anthropology, so when it comes to open minds I'm about as open as they get. Before you go stating biological or scientifical facts you need to do your research. Before you say it does not exist, you need to have a clear understanding of what race is. Secondly, there are no black people in this world you are right. There are Africanoid people, derivitives of the Zinjanthrope which originated in West Africa. Thirdly, if we were all the same, then why is is that our Caucasian friends lack melanin? That is a biological, genetical make up. And yes I will say that you will be less likely to find someone outside of our culture with an understanding for most people are severely caught up in the media. And those that are concious, are concious on spreading their history and culture, not ours. You sound real ignorant when you tell me that I am a reverse racist for I do not feel I am superior to anyone. So you might want to study the etimology of these words before you start throwing them at people. And to answer your question, I lived in Crown Heights with a number of Hasitic Jews that "marched" for our rights. And so you don't get it twisted they had vested interest. They weren't marching because they wanted to see black people get rights, they wanted to see themselves stop being discriminated against. Again, I ask you please do your research before you try to defend. The Jewish lobby has done nothing for the Afros Displaced since they approved affirmative action.

Whatever, all I'm saying is that it's mighty wrong to be like "I can't consider you as a serious partner because you are not the same race as me". Which is racism.

"Yeah, I'm not going to consider marrying my soul mate cause he isn't a Freeman/Ofuskee Cherokee hybrid like my folks so we're totally not going to work out"

Right. I suppose the human race needs to devolve.

I never said we were all the same. Yes, they lack the same amounts of melanin (minor differences in physical appearance do not a race make :P) but since I don't believe in pseudoscience I don't believe that makes them worse or so different it's like trying to mate with a chimp or something I mean the human race is just one big mixed race of different peoples (with different physical appearances- imagine that) mixed and forming cultures. China had no Chinese people in the beginning and the original "Japanese" are long gone so what's the point?

I'm not ignorant, just not interested in treated people differently just because they aren't the same race/culture as me. ...because that would be ignorant.

Find me someone, some person who hasn't been discriminated against in some way around the world. Seriously, solidarity among the "races" would be helpful to end it ALL but since everyone's got these lines drawn in the imaginary sand based on "oh, they'll never understand because they aren't MY people," ask why do they need to understand YOU- ask why everyone needs to "understand"; the individual needs to understand.

[hidaya]

So you didn't read what I said. I said, if a person has the ability to see me for human, then by all means we can rock. But that is not the world sweety you and I both know that. Secondly, if you are sure of self with the knowledge it will take to educate this person, then by all means do what you do. But when your child wakes up telling you they prefer one culture over the other, you try to fix it. If you have a mate who is secure in his knowledge them I assure the child will be well versed, but again this is the minute and comes about far and wide.

[LesYpersound]

Compound Egret said:

Every ethnic group has it's bad apples.

The only comparisons that can be made about this specific issue are with the misogynist/male-centered views and treatment of women in a majority of societies and cultures presently...


and i basically agree w/ Mlle de Sade... i'm not going to assume about what specific non-black people do or don't think until they communicate their views or ignorance. i try and treat ppl as they come and not filter/dehumanize everyone else through stereotypes. that said though, there are practical points of experience ppl should share for a solid foundation on which to build relationships on mutual respect... i care less about the details, but do care about the effects of similar processes on people v. dominant society.

whatever... ha.