“Which brings me to last night. I was at a function and a black man asked me what I wrote about. I said hip hop and feminism. He then put up the two fingers and said, “Are you an L?” and I looked at him, unphased, as I saw it as a teachable moment. Then I said, eye brows furrowed, “Hunh?” He joked “There is nothing wrong with that as long as I can watch.” I guess he THOUGHT he was going to humiliate me. All I could think was my ipod died two weeks ago, my relationship died three weeks ago and I took the GRE this morning, nothing really was going to f-ck with me. I let him speak, he stuttered and stammered and then he noticed that I was serious. I responded saying “It’s interesting that I say I am a feminist and you joke about me being a lesbian, I am currently writing a piece titled a A World Built on Black Pussy.” He raised his eyebrows this time. It was clear that I was serious. I added, “The rappers talk about it all the time, but if I do, I am being tacky.” We were then able to have a more civil conversation that wasn’t based his lesbian fantasies.”
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[Comment: I wrote this in ‘08 and I think I was @ the party for the Honey Mag digital relaunch. It is deep to read these words, as I just came across them looking for a post that I wrote on why it is HARD for some Black men who LIKE Nicki Minaj, to listen to her as an emcee. #Patriarchy stays busy, but #BlackFeminism is busier. Anyhoo, I shared it, b/c I think some of ya’ll would get a kick out of it.If you are in DC I am going to be doing a panel on Hip Hop, Sexuality and Gender on Monday @ UDC @ 6:30. Come thru. ~@Reninawrites]