Today's Prompt is I Thought About It! And don't laugh, but I really have painted an entire scenario of what my life would be like if I was a man for one day! I have thought about it and here's why. One day, after watching a rerun of Scandal I made a declaration, "Oh, if I had a penis for a day." As I watched Olivia Pope secure Fitz professional career after she had a complicated meeting with him, it became clear; Men live by completely different standards than women. Men have a completely different experience. As I do with many matters, I went to my mom, Mama Daisy. We both decided we would only need 24 hours of the experience. So here's how my day would look.
7 am- Wake up and scratch my balls. (I would probably marvel at myself for a while, honestly.) My mother laughingly said she would put her leg on a chair just to boast about herself. HA! This is a little inappropriate, but did you really expect me to leave this out?! 8 am- Shower and leave the house! I would have to get my day started early. I've only got 16 more hours of manhood. 9 am-12 pm- I would get breakfast up North in a very Caucasian restaurant, flirt with the waitress and experience what it is like to be a menace just because I am Black and a Man. I would find some woman to woo during this period too. 1 pm- I would drive around for an hour waiting to be pulled over. If I am left alone, I would gain more hope for my community. If, as expected, I am pulled over for a "rolling stop," I wouldn't be phased. I am, after all, a Black man. *I would wear a sweatshirt and sag for the first half of my day. I would like to know what it is like to be educated and Christian and be stereotyped as a thug.* 2 pm- I would change into much more appropriate clothes for an educated man, like a suit or a fitted slacks. I would then go to the Southside of Chicago and stand on the corner. I would avoid the areas where Black men dressed in slacks at all cost. 3-7 pm- I would spend my evening confounding the stereotypes of Black men, the ones we put on ourselves. I would also find a woman to woo during this period too. 8 pm- Now, I'm sure that most folks would expect me to find a bar or a club. BUT, I would go to a church. I would find out how many thots frequent the Lord's house. I would also fight off these fiendish women with the proclamation that I am abstinent. I would see how many church hoes would try to change that. 10 pm-12 am- I would spend my last hours as a man writing a book about all the times I was accused, accosted, and stereotyped. I would also talk about the many women I wooed during this period too. The next day I would chronicle my day as a woman and compare the difference between my male perspective and my female perspective. I mean, I was just thinking! Haha What would you do as a man?
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I was in the club dancing, shocked at all the hip hop floating through the air when YG came on. *RECORD SCRATCHES* Me and my bestie went from all smiles to this..STRAIGHT FACE. First, it was the two drunken White girls to my left screaming the chorus. Then every, and I mean every, person in the club proceeded to yell MY NIGGA, MY NIGGA at the top of their lungs. Seeing as the crowd in the venue was extremely diverse, my first response was to cease movement and furrow my brow. I was completely appalled. And somehow I was alone. Even my best friend, who had experienced this phenomenon before, was jaded. Initially, I felt like I needed to picket or riot or slap somebody. But then I remembered, those were the words to the song. Once that fact slapped me, another one did. Five seconds earlier when the word nigga was sprinkled in songs, I was cool. So you see I had a pretty complex situation in front of me. I had to address the scary truth that the reason why White people were hollering the N-word in my ear was because of Black rappers. Then I had to chew on the fact that I was completely comfortable with the irony of Hip Hop in this techno club until it became blatant that people outside of my race would embrace all of Hip Hop music; even its use of the word Nigga Sitting real pretty on top of this truth cake was the behavior accompanied with the hollering. The crowd wasn't angry. They weren't pointing at the Black people in the club. In fact, the Black people were irrelevant. Everyone was jumping around with their arms around their friends just as I would have done. The truth hurts. I'm sure one of my teachers is turning in their desk chair because I, the girl who has defended the word Nigga for YEARS, am finally admitting that it has no place in the mouths of ANYONE. Standing in that club gave me a reality slap, and I only have to be slapped once. I suddenly realized that claiming back the word Nigger and making it "positive" by replacing its ending with -a is baseless. I promise before this experience I was a crusader for the N-word. Hailed as the "Angry Black Girl" since high school, I thought I was fighting for the African American tradition of taking scraps and making riches. But I see now that all my fighting just reduced the issue of the word in the first place. I thought throwing the N-word back in the universe after renaming it was a brilliant way that Blacks showed their resiliency. But now the N-word has lost its importance. Its just another profane lexicon. It might as well be the word Bitch. It's a classic case of 20/20 hindsight vision. But I must add this; if we expect Hip Hop to continue being a successful genre of music, then we must also accept all races using the N-word. We must also accept underhanded and polite forms of racism. My Nigga, my nigga, we can't be mad when they jokingly call us Niggers. I'm choosing to keep all variations of the word out of my mouth. I'm sure it will be a hard habit to break, but having those strangers screaming "My Nigga" in my ear completely scarred me. Check out the song by YG and Rich Homie Quan and tell me what you think! Is there a variation of the word nigger you think is ok? Was the word Nigga serving a purpose in the days of NWA that it doesn't serve now? I need some feedback -Mk This week began with headlines that affected every American. Its end has been just as biting. I was so reluctant to post on the occurrences of this week because I felt passionate about every matter that occurred. The things that affected me most were those which took place in the judicial system. Though I have opinions on Snowden and Paula Deen, I'm sure you've heard enough about those instances.
I Vote No I was heartbroken to see that, instead of suspending flawed sections in the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and suggesting congress do something to better them, the Supreme Court chose to eradicate useful sections of the VRA altogether. The VRA ruling was the most event of this week because it gave a blow to all American people. The blow given to the skates over apparent discrimination in electoral processes. For me, the Court's decision was a lot less about disregard of the Civil Rights Movement and more about ignoring the obvious truth. The decision was a setback for American democracy because it suggests to the politicians already in court for voter fraud and discrimination that they could utilize unconstitutional efforts to get the votes they desired. The decision gives states with current cases addressing the very issues in the VRA, a nod for the go ahead. It does so, while slapping MLK in the face. I am wagging the index finger at the Courts and giving it a huge shake of my head. I don't see any efforts of the GOP-ruled House in fixing this issue any time soon. But, I do see the anniversary of the March on Washington in August being a huge ordeal now. Yay for the Gays The Court tried to sweep up their poop by following with a decision that love overrules tradition. I am glad that they deemed love more potent than a due process. No, seriously, all sarcasm aside. I am very happy that Court upheld the belief that no class in society should be considered second-class. As I said to Mama Daisy, I don't completely agree with a lot of things but I will always be an ally for equality. Heterosexual individuals desecrate love all on their own. So, the argument that allowing gays to marry negatively affects the sanctity of marriage is flawed. I am giving the gays a thumbs up! Zimmerman Vs. America While an entire post is dedicated to this case, I would like to reflect on the fact that this historic case has brought many American issues to the table. Reporters on CNN have continuously argued on whether race affects the justice system. Education has become the buzz of the Twittersphere. And the question of what self-defense really means has been posed. I don't believe anything happens on accident. Trayvon Martin's life has served as the basis point for all American's to place this country on trial. In a tweet, I declared that we are all on the bench. And if Martin's life served as a looking pool for us to examine our democracy, it was one well worth it's 16 years. As always, enjoy your weekend Strogger's. See you next Friday. -MK |
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More About MkMk is 23 year old Chicagoan. She attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., studying English. Now back in Chicago, Mk has focused on writing her truths. Outside of ATS, she also writes on Youth Alert, a blog for young Christian believers. Mk is also a stylist at Akira Hyde Park. When she isn't working on the Mag, Youth Alert, or at Akira, Mk is with her family, she spends her time with a good book or cooking.
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