Who remembers when being "bi-racial" was just called "mixed"?
Yeah. You're old. *sigh*

Dinosaur Man

the look that you gave me whispered your thoughts
there was desire and wanting but shame and darkness and loss
and next thing i know i felt the need to peel my skin off
you make me feel dirty when you look at me that way
as if brown of the skin is the same as some shit stain
i'm ugly
(you say)
i'm fat
(you say)
i'm alone
(how the hell do you know?)
but who would want would want a nigger with black nappy curls??
those are the things you conveyed in that look and
i will not own your diseased mind
nor your cruelty 
nor allow you to pierce me with the thorns in
deathly savage looks

but this much i'm certain that your kind is dying 
the dinosaurs are your people
who are fearful of time and future and change

Dinosaur Man you and your people are slipping away
and none will remain to mourn you or your devilish hate
so cross the bridge to oblivion
take stairs down to the abyss of fate
and stay there with those like you
there is nothing for you in this World
no room for what you name "vigilance"
and we who despise you name "grievous mistake"

Peeking Inside Vintage Black Glamour's New Coffee Table Book

The soon-to-be-released hardcover edition of Vintage Black Glamour is the source of a trove of beautiful never before seen photography that has conquered the internet with rich and utterly striking imagery collected by its tirelessly creative author Nichelle Gainer.

The photography alone could easily be called historical, but it is Gainer's extraordinary research  uncovering the tales behind the photography which reveal startling stories that nearly belie the glamour of the images; famous black men and women -- artists, movie stars, intelligentsia, artists and aristocrats -- captured by the camera in still life, in all their charisma and talent. In appearance devoid of the least worries, yet off-camera forced to abide by the inequity of segregation and American racism.And Gainer has captured each story behind every superficial image endowing her collection with a weight that is emotionally moving and full of scholarly  significance as well.

This image of Josephine Baker is merely one of many, many illustrations Nichelle Gainer collected with her own hands and research from untold hours inside the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. You can find Vintage Black Glamour on tumblr, Facebook and Pinterest. 

vintageblackglamour.tumblr.com

facebook.com/VintageBlackGlamour

pinterest.com/anovelista/vintage-black-glamour

And be sure to check out Gainer's site & sister salon to VBG, Anovelista Media.

"Josephine Baker was born 108 years ago today in St. Louis, Missouri. She was photographed here by the wonderful Eve Arnold at the "Josephine Baker Day" celebration in New York in 1950. " ~ Text and Photo courtesy  Vintage Black Glamour

Photo: Magnum Photos ~ Josephine Baker ~  Vintage Black Glamour

la Neurotique

Your absence is my jail

this dis-ease

this separation 

traps me inside you

but the distance is real,

a secret my heart hides from my mind....

...without you I am neurotique 

a body aching from enforced freedom, 

desiring the chains locking  me to you to unite us 

together for all time

Let's be clear darlings!! Politrixie never, ever condones violence...to a pair of Louboutins.

House of Politrixie is #Team Kenya, FTW

RANT/ Bring The NOIZE.... Dumb-Ass Racism

Last week it was revealed via the news site of such grand repute, journalistic integrity and earthquaking exposees that is TMZ, that  for years now Justin Bieber was blackmailed and manipulated by group of extortionate vulchers, unethical bastards and fame-whoring, money-hungry celebrity chasers. They threatened that if he did not comply with their wishes and serve them, a terrible secret would be revealed. A secret so shattering that his career would end instantly. This secret would define  his fame ever-after erasing wistful memories and beloved devotion to his sexy sounds, deep  lyrics, sincere  R&B/sorta soul-ish vocals rapturously crooning "Boyfriend". It was a secret at the very heart of what it means to be American. A secret that has destroyed oligarchs and toppled kings ---

Yeah. So TMZ had a tape of 15 year old Justin Bieber's dumb ass giggling his way thru an impromptu performance that included charming lyrics like "there'll be one less lonley nigger if I kill  you I'll be part of the KKK".

We flocked, in all our rage filled thousands, to weep. To express emotion and anger. We went  to the only place one can go in difficult times such as these and I mean by this we, individually and respectively clicked to our personal haven within the internet.

 I went to Son of Baldwin as is my wont.  Son of Baldwin is where you go to get schooled with such intellectual gracefulness and  careful depth of thought that one week's conscientious study and reflection will give your brain orgasms. For certain folk who have long since become lifetime graduate students at heart (and mind) willfully devoted to ever more compassionate, clear and piercing analysis of race, class, gender and sexuality from a marginalized perspective rather than seeking to perpetuate the normative status quo then SoB's provides daily literature and lessons to keep you sharp; you will find yourself addicted to his salon. It's even a sort of challenge after awhile to see if you can ever come close to forcing your own intellect through the rigors that must exercise a mind as disciplined and vastly read as Son of Baldwin.

But also it's a great place to hang out and chat and rant hence one other reason I lurk about. 

The discussion that took place was not, in point of fact, about Bieber himself, not really. Because basically Bieber's actions and words were unsurprising, underwhelming and not worth the dialogue, in and of themselves. Instead with his inimitable ability to crisply identify the true issue worth pursuing  SoB pointed out that  the discussion was really about the perpetuation of white supremacy in America. Clearly, Bieber is not a Klansman, and even if he were offered membership he wouldn't join. 

But the underlying truth of Bieber's adolescent giggly song is that he was aware enough to still count himself lucky to be part of the exclusive club of White Men. He got the joke and knew how to break its point down to the essence.... because Whiteness. Even at fifteen, Bieber knew that being a White Man in America was always a better bet on even its very worst day than the best day of a nigger's. 

To offer greater perspective let me add that Son of Baldwin shared an article from the blog Rhymes With Snitch about  black celebrities who were being vocal in vouching for Bieber's creds as a bonafide non-racist. which served as the opening piece for discussion which shifted along a wide range of perspective throughout the day.

So I offer to you my un-edited, un-rehearsed, off-the-cuff rant on the imminently rantable which I have chosen to call...

RANT/Bring the NOIZE ....Regarding Justin Bieber's Dumb Ass

I understand folks here who are separating "racism" for the sake of acknowledging a person who is "dumb as fuck" but we gotta recognize that  the language of white supremacy and any usage of such "dumb as fuck" principles is a cancerous growth from the same tree. You can't run around singing "one less lonely nigger if I kill you I'm gonna be part of KKK" without being racist.

 He's laughing and giggling while he says it: he gets the joke: those silly niggers, so glad I'm WHITE; that is white supremacy in a nutshell. Bieber was expressing textbook racism. Do I think Bieber is about to run lynch a black man in a fit of temper where he feels his whiteness is disrespected? NO, I think not. He's the type , however, to feel comfortable explaining his actions to a closed group of whites about how he grew up with the word nigger and it's just a thing that describes "certain types of people"; not Usher or Whoopie or any of his Friends,say. But maybe those OTHER types, you know what I mean? *nudge, nudge* Do I think he's absolutely 100% the type of white person who engages in those conversations of The Values of White Supremacy without being smart enough, conscious, self aware enough to understand that his conversation is in fact representative of such values, yes yes #yaas. 

Yeah he's not a conscious hater. He's not a hater who would physically harm any individual with violence in the name of racial supremacy. He is the OTHER kind of racist, the one who will always perpetuate white supremacist values unto the next generation and the next because he is dumb as fuck and doesn't understand that his words signal to millions of whites that even tho he sings soul music (or whatever you call that mess) and dances like Michael that he's still part of their club: he's still a White Man in his heart. 

We gotta stop excusing and making distinctions between Racists who actively engage and passive agressive racists whose racism is so low on the radar that they seemingly are excluded from the big bad ugly club of white supremacy because they are only really Dumb as Fuck. Nah, fuck that noize.

Basically, white folks gonna have to get a grip and stop with all the mess they call "jokes". Yeah, no. As my dear mama often says "Ain't nothing funny, goddammit". Their ways and language have to change. 

And they have to do the work of consciousness raising on the ways in which white supremacy is kept alive thru their modes of thought, action and language, actively and passive aggressively. They will have to go deep in order to free themselves of their hate shackles because some of them fools still clanking around all slow  and loud and jangling acting like they don't see or hear them shackles and then want us to join their game of Emperor's New Clothes. 

Forget that, son. I SEE YOU, FOOL!

This concludes Politrixie: UnPlugged's RANT/Bring the NOIZE of the day.

RANT/Bring the NOIZE: Rachel Jeantel is NOT A Project and Respectability Politics is Some BS

Take a gander at Today's Washington Post's article featuring a one-year Where Is She Now update on Rachel Jeantel, the young black woman who tripped America's racial nerve as she sat on the witness stand during the Trayvon Martin trial. This article was so disturbing to me that I went full tilt into one of my loud brassy curse word laden Rants. I haven't featured my rants very often on this blog but I was so moved by this article that I figured this was an appropriate time to introduce you all to Poltrixie UnPlugged. I am Unapologetic this is me unfiltered!! (Shacondria I love you!!) So welcome to my new column RANT/Bring the NOIZE, This particular gem I left in the comments section on Son of Baldwin's divinely radical blog, centered around race, pop culture and all things socio-politically oriented from a proudly black LGBTQ feminist perspective, in response to the Washington Post's profile of Rachel Jeantel.

Rachel Jeantel's High School Graduation 

(And I can't say enough about how mind altering and utterly deep I find SoB's daily commentary without sounding pure stan so I'll chill. But it's serious recommended daily reading for everyone wanting to check they're own privilege, learn about stuff you ain't know about before, and to intellectually immerse oneself in challenging commentary on  social and cultural normatives. I've been a Ph.D candidate in the Ivory Tower and feel like I could learn more sitting at Son of Baldwin's knee that I'd ever learn within the Ivory Tower's gilded and glass cage.)

Caution: The contents of this rant are very hot and may burn your eyes....if you are a Respectability Politician in which case I have no sympathy for your plight...

RANT/Bring the NOIZE....about the Young Woman Rachel Jeantel Who Is Not A Project and the BS of Respectability Poltics

The thing that upsets the F-U-C-K out of me about this article like D---- who responded above is that all of a sudden you have the black intelligentsia and other Respectable Negro types flying out of nowhere and demanding that she now conform. This whole thing of up at 4am working until 6pm with personal trainers, tutors, lawyers, aesthetic coaches, life coaches, Negro Uplifters etc almost feels like a punishment. Its not! I know that if she can stick with it then there is obviously a major benefit to the "Project". But for a young girl who's already suffering Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome I feel almost as if they're dangling prizes in front of her -- as long as she jumps thru their hoops. Hoops that are in place, mind you, because they want to "help" --- but also mind that the tone of the article and the "helpers" is very much in the vein of "Ohh Rachel Jeantel got out there and embarrassed black folk so we better be seen to be DOING something "about" her" Sentences like this disturb the hell out of me:

"At first, Jeantel tried to buck the control and Vereen grew frustrated with what he saw as her unwillingness to “put in the time to overcome her shortcomings.” He made it clear that if she did not get with the program, the spigot of support and occasional perks would be turned off."

Umm... how many people would be able to go through the trauma she's been through, and then be expected to have their entire worldview changed, be shifted to utterly different work/school environment - one far more demanding than anything she'd ever been exposed to -- for SIx DAYS A WEEK **PLUS** BONUS LECTURES from all these uninvited Freedom Riders who are regularly "instilling" in her "Success mandates"??

 I know how the script goes in this kind of bullshit because I've worked plenty of mentor programs serving "underprivileged" children and I've quit many of them because I can't stand how people talk to young folks  with such condescension, and Rachel is spot on...NO ONE IS LISTENING TO HER.

This is about the Fancy Negroes looking good! They are co-opting her "cause" and issuing threats!! Frightening dizzying heart pounding threats

"See what we'll give you if you do This!"

"Now if you don't want to get with The Program you can go back to your little poor ass illiterate life and we'll let The System do the work! *sigh*

"WE TRIED! She just wouldn DO RIGHT" they'll say if she falls.

Instead of taking her on a paced journey and worrying as much about her human development as her status they're rushing her around in a continued media blitz that benefits them -- at this stage -- more than her.

I am THRILLED that she has mentors who are plugged in and capable of pulling her up ...but if she wants to go to fashion school then why can't they pay for fashion school?? I watch me plenty of LA Hair and it's not true that she can't be successful and social upward as a fashion/beauty consultant!! Why not be giving her all the tools she needs to be a good person, with good ethics and a happy life than pulling her in directions that she's not sure yet that she wants to go?

 Because that is the easiest way to "fall " as a black person when you're led by the nose by "helpful" whites and blacks:

"You need to do this to get here by X time." 

"You have to look this way...talk this way..."

Bottom line is that there's a terrible poisonous vein of hypocrisy beneath this village, and sooner or later the consequences will be Rachel's to suffer. Sometimes it's OUR people who can be allies or enemies, and within this camp of "Helpers" I guarantee there's star-fuckers in it for themselves who can create enough stress and drama to damage this young woman.

Let me be clear: I am for Rachel to be successful and to at least know that she has options in the world. I am glad that this village has offered her membership. But if she decided that she isn't ready to take on the commitment at this level then I won't judge her! Plenty of white kids take a few years before attending college not for the sake of rest and recovery of PTSD but just to do drugs and fuck off a few years.

I extremely dislike this sort of threatening edge to the article and the few comments made by the Viliage elders in the "Project". I hope to God there are a few sincere people in the VIllage whose job it is just to LISTEN.

Black women don't have voices in America. Black women have BODIES....bodies that are meant to work, haul, lift and balance the black community.... black guilt.... black sins. Bodies that don't conform, so they are beaten into submission at work... at the hair salon... at home where we learn "discipline". (Read: Fear)

My gut feels like there's a lot of bullshit involved in this Project and it worries me. But I'm not in her life so I don't know. I hope all the best for her, I felt Soo connected to her anguish when she was put on trial....but I don't like this article and what it suggests.

If she wants to go to fashion school and maybe do hair for a few years or learn to design, and maybe just work for some time to  get a sense of her potential, what life has to offer, THEN if she decides she wants more LET HER!!! OMG!!  I HATE NEGROES WHO TRY TO SHAME YOUNG BLACK GIRLS ABOUT THEIR GOALS!

Photographer Shinichi Maruyama "Nude" ~ 10,000 individual images of a dancer taken over the course of 2-4 seconds