1/25

PITTING PARTY

Really hate these "Black girl magic" articles that subtly promote pitting black men & women against each. The media narrative being pushed from all quarters is that BW are actively & responsibly participating in democracy & BM are NOT. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/politics/black-women-voters-michigan/index.html
2/25

Think about the Alabama Senate race a few years back where ultraconservative Roy Moore was on the ballot. The narrative then was how "black women saved America from Roy Moore" with their record turnout. One problem: black male voter turnout was damn near just as high.
3/25

So why push a narrative that black women are MORE politically conscious & involved THAN black men? Notice the capitalization of the words. Any time U see these words in a sentence about black men & women, know that we are being put in competition w/each other.
4/25

You can't be together if you are in competition w/each other. This country was founded on splitting black people up, especially black families. Inside every black person in this country is a yearning to be back in community with that which white supremacy tore apart.
5/25

Many of us don't recognize this force, but its there. A classic example was the basis on which most black women supported Barack Obama's candidacy. Hear me black women & I need U 2 be honest. Many of you supported Obama b/c he had a black wife. Make Michelle Becky & white &
6/25

Obama doesn't sniff black women's support. Now let's digger deeper into the why. On some level black women were in awe of a black couple in the seat of power. In their eyes, they were enamored by the possibility of an intact black family occupying the White House.
7/25

There is nothing wrong with this. In a country that ripped black families apart, there is nothing wrong with wanting to see 1 black family survive white supremacy's destructive forces 2 reach the pinnacle of power. That fantasy resonates w/so many black women & its natural.
8/25

However, there is a danger in this type of thinking, for if Obama, with black wife & children in tow communicated to black women the possibilities of a unified black family in the seat of power, what will the rise of Kamala Harris communicate to many black women?
9/25

The same thing that articles like the one above communicates: that black men are expendable, politically incompetent & U don't need them to rise to a position of power. In fact, black men are a hindrance & will only stop a black woman from reaching her full potential.
10/25

So whose pushing this narrative? The same people that are giving black women opportunities they wouldn't dare give black men. The same people who let black mammies in their parlors. The same people who let bed wenches in the BRs. The same people responsible 4 all dis shit.
11/25

Never forget that black women were the first blacks allowed in master's house. Facts. In many ways, this phenomenon has repeated itself through out history. Consider the movie "Hidden Figures," which chronicled the integration of black women mathematicians into NASA.
12/25

The real hidden figures in this film were NOT black women but black men. I need U 2 get this. In a period where more black men earned degrees in math & science, black women got more opportunity. This is the only way you get that many black women at NASA, but NO black men.
13/25

White folk were always more comfortable w/black women than black men & this is reflected in college admissions & corporate hiring. Black women are 25 times more likely to be admitted to a white university than black men despite comparable qualifications.
14/25

Black women are 30 times more likely to be hired by a white company over black men despite comparable qualifications. Once hired, black women 47 times more like to be promoted. None of this statistical resuscitations are meant to cast black women as unqualified.
15/25

However, black women should not fall 4 the ruse in believing that they are where they are & black men are NOT 4 the simple reason that black women just work harder than black men. The fact of the matter is that you're there b/c white people don't feel threatened by U.
16/25

I am fortunate to be married to a black woman that get's this, but its only b/c she saw it first hand. Many people see my success now, but hafe no clue what I went through. Even after being armed with a PhD, JD, MBA, MDiv, M.Ed & BS degrees, I still could not get a job.
17/25

I only wound up working for myself b/c no one would hire me. Yet my wife came to DC & got a job in 2 weeks. She worked that job for almost 20 years, got laid off & got another job in one week. Real talk. In fact, the last job I applied 4, how I found out I didn't get-
18/25

hired was b/c when I walked thru the front door, my wife was standing in the kitchen crying reading my latest turn down letter. She was angry as shit & yelled, "How da fuck does a black man w/6 degrees cant get a goddam job even as a part-time professor?" Real shit.
19/25

My wife read every one of my 5,136 turn down letters. Hell, one of them wasn't even a letter. One was an email from the Obama administration. I spent 3 months filling out a 63 pg online application only 2 get a 2 word email from an immigrant w/a community college degree
20/25

that read "not qualified." Read that back. That's another post. The only point I am making is that my wife has half the education I do & has never had any problem getting a job. Some years ago, I was at a birthday party w/4 other black couples. Check out the positions of-
21/25

the black women: a college president, a law firm partner, a doctor & a judge. All of the husbands were "consultants," which is often code word for "unemployed." It was the elephant in the room. Each of these brothers had Ivy League degrees, but none of them had jobs.
22/25

In fact, one of the sisters told me that her & her husband had a "living on the lot" strategy. That is an old throwback term from the Reconstruction era where black people had to travel large distances to find work & would often live on white folks property.
23/25

Just like the good old days! She would negotiate a spousal hire for her husband wherever she went. I know several black couples that do this now. The man cant get independently hired, but the black woman can. So she gets her foot in the door & then negotiates a spot 4 him.
24/25

There are a few black couples that hv built entire careers w/this strategy. Think about how sinister white supremacy is that forces black people 2 live this way. Nevertheless successful black couples learn quickly how 2 navigate white supremacy & doing so requires watching
25/25

what U buy n2, not allowing yourself 2 B used & not falling 4 the myriad of ways white folks try 2 divide "Us." BM must not fall prey to white induced insecurity thru denial of opportunity & BW must ask this question in every room she walks n2: where are all the black men?
26 POSTLUDE

Let this be your little protest against the white supremacy that rips us apart. Every moment U get, no matter what room U walk into, ALWAYS SPEAK OF BM & BW TOGETHER.

For all others:

BEWARE OF PEOPLE WHO SPEAK OF BLACK MEN & BLACK WOMEN IN ISOLATION OF EACH OTHER.
You can follow @DrAlexHamilton.
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