I am certainly biased when it comes to certain issues that others may not agree with. Yes I am heterosexual and yes I admire the significance and symbolism of Barack and Michlle’s family and yes I recognize that as a priviledge.

But does that make someone else a better person than me because they can empathize with a struggle that I can’t? Am I narrow-minded because I’m not whole-heartedly critiquing the heteronormativism of what the nuclear family symbolizes (though I recognize that it’s exclusionary)? I don’t see anything wrong with Barack and Michelle being promoted as the “strong Black family”. That’s important to me. I understand that’s not everyone’s reality (it certainly wasn’t mine growing up) but I don’t think that image is all bad.

We all have the power to marginalize some group of people, or some voice and we all do this whether we admit it or not. The question though is whether or not we recognize those traits within ourselves?

However my statement about class is not to say that people outside of the academy are not having conversations about the election or the race, gender, and class dynamics that are being played out. Instead my point was just that are they articulating some of these same points in the same way? I just feel like this dialogue is exclusionary. I myself as a doctoral candidate frankly didn’t understand the context behind some of what was said in the original post. And immediately I felt excluded from the dialogue (and I recognize that was self-imposed and not because someone said so).

I suppose I just feel like sometimes Black feminist or womanist don’t acknowledge their own priviledges too. Perhaps I’m wrong. Again I don’t follow the Black Feminist or womanist movement. In undergrad I did consider myself a womanist. Now I don’t subscribe to any title. I’m just a Black woman who wants there to be a better recognition of the race/class/gender/sexuality/disability/sexual health and etc. disparities that we all participate in everyday either as the oppressed or the oppressor.

I’ve read P.Hill-Collins and bell hooks, and a number of other women but I don’t really identify as a Black feminist because I don’t think I fit that paradigm. If I did try to identify with that I feel like I would, simply put, get played for not following all of the tenants of Black feminism, whatever that may mean. Pardon my cynicism.

But I think we should be careful in making assumptions about people’s ability to reason and their ability know the things we know in this space concerning black feminism. Because to assume that people outside of the academy are not affected by the questions that are posed or to assume that people outside of the academy are not asking similar questions of Obama or to assume that people outside of the academy do not understand some of the terms that are used is somewhat troubling. And I do not mean to beat a broken drum, but I think we should be very careful not to assume that people outside of the academy are not having similar discussions.

I will admit that black feminism is an abstract theoretical concept, but black feminism as an ideology exist in response to the daily lived experiences of women of color who found themselves at the cross sections of many “real life everyday oppressions.” When I ask the question—Why aren’t we willing to “publicly” critique how Barack Obama’s candidacy is framed in very heteronormative terms—I am speaking to how heterosexuality is privileged in ways that marginalize, discriminate, and oppress other sexualities that are deemed deviant. And of course the framing effects are even more complicated when you add race, gender, and class to how both white and black people are viewing Obama, Michelle, and their two children. I think we should talk about the framing because it does have real life affects on both people inside and outside of the academy. (I don’t like the categories of inside vs. outside)

When I ask the question—Why do black feminist “publicly” only focus on the privileges of Hillary Clinton’s white supremacist gendered identity and ignore the privileges of Barack Obama’s racialized gendered identity among black people and black womyn—I am wanting people to remember, acknowledge, and discuss the gendered cultural scripts that operate within the black communities regarding how black men are endangered, how we need married black fathers, how black men have it hard, how we have a history of always wanting to protect black men even when they do us harm. I think these things are important to talk about because they have real life consequences for people’s lives in particular black women’s lives in particular my life.

When I work with black female youth some of them know of black feminism and some do not, but they do tell me that they are treated differently because they are black girls especially when they have brothers. They tell me they are treated differently by men when they walk down the street by themselves or with their guy friends. They tell me they know black men have it worse than black women and it’s their responsibility as strong black women to help black men. I guess what I am trying to say is that the terminology black feminist may be abstract for some, but the concerns and the questions posed on this blog derive their potency from the everyday lives experiences of what it means to be a woman of color who stands at the intersections of many social identities.

But I do understand that often the academy is far removed from the everyday experiences of life . . . but this should not be the case for people of color who are committed to a transformative social justice politic. On some level, the dichotomy of in or out of the academy is antithetical to black feminism.

1. Nycetwin i completely agree. as scholars/black activists/feminists/whatever… at some point we have to start thinking about the usefulness of these type of discussions. what are we really accomplishing? of course it can be argued that it is providing a space that doesn’t currently exist for black feminists (and those connected to them) to talk about the presidential elections… but ultimately… isn’t it just preaching to the choir? we talk about the privledge of obama and clinton… but ultimately aren’t we just perpetuating our own privledge through these spaces that are closed to most non-educated and/or poor people? even the language of this discussion for the most part is inaccessible… not only to the groups just mentioned but to anyone who isn’t familiar with black feminist scholarly work. if there is any hope of a black feminist rhetoric truly influencing anything outside of itself… it would seem that the most important thing would be to starting thinking about critiques of the candidates that the everyday black woman can engage in on a meaningful and significant way.

2. poet… i disagree… i think one of the amazing things about this electoral season is the way in which it has opened up politics to the everyday person. i go to the beauty salon or the barbershop… and i see cnn on instead of jerry springer…. people are not only voting before and after they go to work (remember the polls are open from 6am to 9pm in most states)… but they are continuing to engage in the political process in a number of different ways…

3. as far as the question(s) at hand… primarily.. why aren’t (all/some) black feminists publicly critiquing obama in the way they may or may not be critiquing clinton? quite simply.. unless the said black feminists have decided they are going to disengage from the political process because of its inherent problems/biases/etc… (which doesn’t seem to be the case)… then they are going to pick a candidate to support… and if the candidate they chose is obama… then why would they publicly critique him? it just wouldn’t make any sense for alice walker or toni morrison to write the beautiful endorsements that they did for obama and then turn around and publicly critique him… it would on the other hand make sense for them to have private conversations with him about whatever they see as problematic in his campaign or platform… which may or may not be happening… i wont pretend to be a political insider…
now if a significant number of black feminists are choosing to endorse obama thats an entirely different question… but i wouldnt even think to start generalizing as to why any one person or group of people are making the political choices that they are.

ultimately… i think this all goes back to my original point… yes the american political system is broken… it was probably built with a couple of pieces left out from the beginning (lol). but the reality is that it is a political system that is affecting the lives of our friends.family.daughters.sisters.mothers.sons.etc. in real.tangible.significant ways. so it is critical as people of color/women with the privledge of accessing these spaces of influence… that our work remains grounded in that reality. in other words. if our work doesnt remain grounded in the everyday. and instead becomes trapped in our own privleded ivory tower… what better are we then the white scholars that we fight day in and day out?

this is not to say that theoretical discussions have no value… or that having a vision beyond the current structures that define our lives is not important… instead… it is just a reminder of why we are all here.

peace.

nontheless, the real issues is what has this brotha done as senator? what has he vote on? what has he strayed away from and what has he embraced? how effing messy or unmessy is he?

why vote for obama
i still think my answer is the ‘bestest’
cuz he got ears like will smith. *shrug*
that’s as good of an answer as ‘cuz he’s Black’

but seriously, i can understand why elders would vote for him jus b/c he is black. they showed a 90 year old lady and her 75 year old daughter voting last tuesday right after i saw the elders on the screen and i looked at through their eyes.

i was talking with my great aunts, and for them, as wit many elders. it’s as simple as them never thinking in their lifetime that they’d see something like this- a Black man with such a good chance of at least getting the democratic nomination and possibly becoming president. oh and let’s not mention that he sounds like a baptist preacher, that definately does help. he got the messiahtic (sp) thing going on, and the comparisons to mlk.

and yes, as fal pointed out it is very heteronormative (sp) how he is being played up. many Black folks are supporting him b/c they are happy that he represents an image that counteracts all other images of us in pop culture. and not to mention black folks are annoyed with bill clinton, our ‘first’ black president lol lol lol, for bad mouthing obama. so they support hilary.

and yes, we all know ‘family’ does not neccessarily have to be the traditional man, womon and child. but, pop culture shows/presents so few HEALTHY Black families, albeit heteronomative or any other, that Black folks are happy to see him. he is a breath of fresh air for many. so though that aint my take on obama, i totally get it. yeah, it’s six in one hand and 1/2 dozen in the other.

yes, obama is problematic. moreso, on what he has voted on as a senator and his waivering views on some keys issues, but, i can see why elders in particular would vote for him. elders in particular, b/c of what they’ve been through and them wanting their vote to be counted and matter. moreover, they want to exercise their right to vote. unlike me, who believe in exercising my vote but is okay with writing harriet tubman’s name on the ballot if the people running arent someone i would vote for.

a 12 year old told me saturday that he would have voted for obama b/c he was black. he said, “not that he is great, but a nigga in office would piss them off….then again, they will try and kill him!”

it was a primary…how many us voted for cynthia mckinney?

1. The Critique of Barack Obama Being Viewed as Support for Hillary Clinton

I have received several emails and have had several conversations regarding the 10 questions. Most people automatically assume I am Hillary supporter primary because I make no mention of Hillary in the ten questions. As indicated in earlier comments I have many critiques of Hillary along the same lines as the critiques I have concerning Obama. The reason why I posed the questions to black feminist is because of the ideology of black feminism. The intersectional lens must not only be cast upon Hillary, but also upon Barack. I find it quite interesting that some black feminist are upholding a strategy of “lets not publicly critique Obama, wait until he gets elected” or “lets not publicly critique him at all because he has a lot of things to stand against already.” Hm . . . reminds me of some of the augments made in the early 90s concerning Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court (I am not saying that Barack Obama is a Clarence Thomas, not at all!). I think its okay to electorally support Obama if this is your choice, but it should not silence critique especially if you purport to be a black feminist.

Furthermore, the same type of caricature we accuse second wave white feminist of doing “if you support Obama than you must not be a real feminist or truly committed to liberating women,” is the same type of caricature some Obama feminist supporters are doing to black women who critique Obama or who support Hillary “you must be white woman or the white woman’s Mammy” not knowing that some of the women who publicly critique him are supporters of him electorally. In general, I should not have to say I do not support Hillary to legitimize my critique Obama.

2. The Strategy of Electing Barack Obama

Above I’ve mentioned this. I’ve received emails and have had conversations with people concerning the ten questions and they have said what some have said on this blog that “we can’t afford to critique Obama publicly” because: (1) He is an intense primary delegate competition with Hillary Clinton; and (2) We cannot give more ammunition to the Republicans for the general election if Obama is the one chosen to represent the Democratic party. I find this somewhat troubling because once again we are being told to silence ourselves “publicly” as black feminist and support Barack Obama. And if we have problems with him “wait” until he is elected and than critique him publicly . . . “we must be united together.” This political strategy of “we must be united” quails dissent and has historically marginalized women of color and other communities that exist at the intersections of various social identities. This strategy is reminiscent of “don’t air the dirty laundry.”

3. The Critique of Barack Obama as Being Anti-male

Black feminist are not anti-male. The critique rendered against Obama on this blog is to begin another conversation concerning the candidacy of Barack Obama. Black feminist have publicly critiqued both second wave white feminist and Hillary Clinton, but there has not been much “public” conversations regarding Barack Obama’s privileges. So perhaps those who think this space seems to be anti-male because we critique Obama or the framing of Obama’s candidacy must also keep in mind that there are many public spaces were one can read critiques of Hillary and read critiques of second wave white feminist support of Hillary.

4. The Lesser of Two Evils

Also, I find it very interesting that many people I talk to say “Obama represents the lesser of two evils and we need to support the lesser of the evil” which once again is saying “we must all unite behind” Obama and not critique him in public. To this I say as I said above, support should not silence critique. Furthermore, why must we choose any evil??????

As for Hillary, I will never forgive her for her cowardly war vote. Ironically she didn’t want to appear as weak if the war went well and thus dampened her presidential prospects. She and Bill have proven over and over again that political expediency quickly trumps principles. My opposition to her has nothing to do with gender.

2. The “audacity of hope” is quite compelling and I see people being moved by what Obama represents more so than what his politics are. I’ve asked many people who say they support him because they like the “idea” of him and he is inspiring. But what does that really mean? Is the idea of him or the fact that he’s inspiring going to stop gentrification? Is it going to break down the school to prison pipeline? Is it going to make the U.S. sign the kyoto agreement and get on it about the environment?

3. Electoral politics can only go so far. We live in an illegitimate country that refuses to acknowledge that it stole land and performed multiple genocides to exist. We must not forget that every time we validate the U.S. political system we are also invalidating the lives of indigenous people. That said, it seems the both/and of feminism must be at work here. We must be simultaneously critical of electoral politics on all fronts to ensure that we elect someone who is most capable to fight for the rights of the most marginalized and we must also think about the way elections distract us from the fundamentally imperialist nature from which they come. We must always remember that elections are not designed to fix the system but perpetuated it and this system is ultimately too toxic to be salvageable.

4. We have to ask these questions of obama and of hillary. We even have to ask ourselves when will we ever have a viable multiparty system if we don’t take green or communist candidates seriously. Both candidates are extremely moderate, otherwise they wouldn’t have the funds to still be in the race. As my friend Brandy said “you’ve got to be trickin’ to be a front runner.” I mean it seems criminal that both campaigns are allowed to waste all this money on this foolishness and that money could be used for a million different things.

5. My only hope is that whatever way it goes, people who were moved to participate in this election because of obama (definitely a point in his favor) don’t throw in the towel if he looses or if he wins. I hope people stay crunk and on him and don’t think that thing are over if he makes it into the white house or doesn’t.