Bleek on Activism, Politics and Socio-Political Discourse

When it's on White it's Alright, When it's on Black it's Wack - The 'White Effect' in the acceptability of Black Features and Black Culture

Now I'm all for mixing of people, I believe in free borders, open dialogue between nations and sharing the positive aspects of our societies knowledge and cultures. But what is becoming more apparent, mainly within the fashion industry, is the praise of White people who either adopt Black adornment practices or have  features that are typically associated with Black people, or other people of colour (POC). They are praised for the same things that, usually Black women, have been abused and denigrated for throughout history and to date - see MAC Lipstick fiasco for a recent example. What's also quite sinister and insulting is the  praise of a 'new' technique, that really isn't new, renaming it and eliminating the need for credit to Black and other POC. We can thank social media for exposing these double standards, as the often racist comments are called out; challenging the beauty standard of Whiteness and sparking discussions about what is beautiful, fashionable and ultimately acceptable within the mainstream media. I'm talking cultural appropriation and the hypocritical abuse that is levelled at usually  Black women, for the same thing White women get praised and validated for.
 
Now history tells me this is not new & neither is cultural appropriation levelled solely at Black people. The invading aggressor has always simply taken what it has wanted from the societies it has oppressed; and often denigrated the practices they don't want and the features that are different as a way of further demoralising and controlling the population it presides over. But this is 2016, the British empire is dead and the  Jim Crow era is over, but sadly the ugly entrails of its legacy are left behind, that of the racist language and stereotypes perpetuated by certain members of society. It's frustrating, the very things that we are often ridiculed and made to feel were ugly on us, we then find praised and widely sought after if a usually famous  White woman has it, or uses it herself.  If we call it out, we are told racism is over and we should 'just get over it', but it's hard to get over it when there is abuse like 'n*&$er lips', 'ghetto hair' and 'ugly fat arses' levelled at us; if racism is over, apparently some people didn't get the memo.
 
Below are some examples that have appeared recently, but this is by no means the complete list sadly:-
 
  • Fuller Lips: The Kardashian family have a lot to answer for - last year we saw a craze sweeping those of us with too few brain cells to properly process what we were doing, in the form of the 'Kylie Jenner lips challenge'. The internet lost its dam mind praising her for her fuller lips and the Internet exploded with tutorials on how to get fuller lips, often with ridiculous results,  sometimes using dangerous techniques. Skip ahead to 2016 & model Aamito Lagum was subjected to comments like 'fish lips' for having full lips just like Kylie, my heart just said *eurgh when I saw the hypocrisy and the racism aimed at Aamito- it's hard to believe racism is dead when people are using the same language from a time when this kind of  overt hatred was an acceptable part of every day life. Now tell me again to get over it?
 
  • Nail extensions: Somewhere over the last decade or two it's become acceptable for women of all colours to wear nail extensions, especially if you call it 'Nail Art'. Now you may be thinking, who's ever had a problem with nail extensions? I'll tell you who - just about every fashion editor, public figure and conservative going; they've never tried to hide it, calling the practice 'ghetto' when it's on Black women, but somehow now that celebrities are doing it, it's chic and an essential part of your pampering regime. There's even a pinterest page named 'Ghetto Nail Art' celebrating the technique. I mean seriously, they can't see the hypocrisy in that?
 
  • The Rope Trick: Oh sweet lord in heaven give me strength, apparently a practice that's been circulating amongst the Black natural hair community for a number of years now is 'new'. Apparently they thought we wouldn't notice as they quietly take a technique from our culture, repackage it and rebrand it, using, usually a White woman and completely obliterate any connection to Black people in the process. In this day and age of social media and the Internet I'm not really sure how they think they can get away with it? But they've tried it, we've had Bantu knots magically transformed on  the heads of catwalk models into 'mini buns' and the latest theft comes in the form of 'Boxer braids' or Cornrows as we've known them for hundreds of years!!!
 
And maybe we could just about handle it, if it wasn't persistent, deceitful and downright dangerous to our personal safety; I'm talking about the rebranding of us as thugs, when the same behaviours get labelled as coming from a 'damaged' or 'mentally ill' person if you're White. When we get slut shamed for having larger bottoms and twerking, when before twerking there was the Mapouka dance and other variations that have originated from West Africa, and of course if Miley does it, it's 'artistic' and she's expressing her 'sexuality'.
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Aamto Lagum for MAC Cosmetics
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Kylie Jenner
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Twist out tutorial from http://www.curlynikki.com/2015/10/flat-twist-out-tutorial-on-dry-hair.html
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The 'Rope Trick' apparently...
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Katy Perry was featured in a gallery of 'Celebrity Nail Art' http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/celebrity-hair-makeup/g3507/celebrity-nail-art-manicures/
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'Ghetto Nails' according to some...

Quite frankly It's tiring and infuriating. It's tiring because we shouldn't have to constantly remind people that we exist, that we have contributed to western culture in more ways than we are given credit for and that we are in fact beautiful, intelligent and multifaceted.  We're tired of being abused for the same things that others get praised for and we're tired of the verbal and physical violence that's forced on us whenever we 'step out of 'line' or dare to celebrate our features and culture. It's time to stop the cultural appropriation and stop stealing our heritage, our culture and our lives.

Pretty.Period.

If you've ever heard the phrase "You're pretty for a dark girl" and been enraged, then this is the site for you! Celebrating those with more melanin than most, the Pretty Period campaign aims to do away with the back handed compliment that is so often used against darker beauties.

Its creator Yaba Blay, Professor of Africana Studies at Drexel University explained the genesis of the site this way: “Enter ‘Pretty. Period.,’ a (soon to be) trans media project created as a visual missive in reaction to the oh-so-popular, yet oh-so-offensive “compliment” – “You’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl.” Our collective response is, “No, we’re pretty. PERIOD.”

Take a look for yourself, but I warn you, you may not be able to handle all the Black Girl Magic.

#prettyperiod