On White Domestic Terrorism and More of the Usual

May 15, 2022 by Pharoah Bolding in Black Lives Matter, White Supremacy

A white supremacist took Black lives this weekend in Buffalo, New York, in a predominantly Black area in a food desert. This murder spree was live-streamed by a white man in tactical gear that he shouldn’t be able to buy with an assault rifle he shouldn’t have been able to purchase. This white man had been talking about wanting to do something like this for months, going as far as posting a manifesto online about his hatred for Black people and the harm he wanted to inflict. He shared that his murder spree was influenced by terrorist attacks at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, North Carolina, and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

More white people killing Black people just because they feel their hatred for people of color, for marginalized folx, trumps human life.

Just another Saturday.

More of the usual.

On Judge Ketanji, Supporting Black Women, and Figuring Out When to Fall Back

March 23, 2022 by Pharoah Bolding in Black Lives Matter, White Supremacy, Women Empowerment, Black Girl Magic, Black Women Matter

I'm not watching the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. I'm not watching because I like my peace of mind, and I think we all knew this would be some racist, white supremacist, misogynistic, anti-Black nonsense. From what I'm seeing of the snippets and clips I've stumbled across over the last few days? I was right.

These mediocre white folx, white folx who have accomplished nothing in their lives outside of bringing their hate into national politics, are deadset on attacking Ketanji's intelligence. They're throwing all sorts of CRT fear-mongering and random vaguely abortion-related questions. The anti-Black rhetoric, the abrasiveness, the pushiness coming out of these white politicians' mouths as she maintains herself and doesn't crumble under their hatred is a window into what Black women face just trying to exist in this world every day. And this is why I can't watch these events in real-time.

Existing shouldn't always have to be this damn hard, y'all.

Being a Black woman shouldn't always have to be this hard.

Monday's Opening Thought: March 21, 2022

March 21, 2022 by Pharoah Bolding in Opening Thoughts, Black Lives Matter

This week's opening thought: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the CROWN Act on Friday. The CROWN Act is a bill that provides federal protection against hair discrimination with a primary focus of combating racial discrimination against Black citizens for hairstyles like braids, cornrows, and locs in federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment.

The bill was passed along mostly Democratic Party lines 235-189.

Mostly Democratic. Mostly. House Republicans were practically unanimous in their nay vote. House Democrats, part of the party that swears it cares about Black lives while doing performative things like wearing kente cloth and saying horrible things like thanking George Floyd for "sacrificing himself for justice," were not all on board with getting this passed.

Another version of the CROWN Act was previously introduced in Congress and subsequently passed in the U.S. House but has failed to be passed in the U.S. Senate. This one may likely face the same hurdles.

While hair discrimination affects the majority of Black and Brown folx in the United States, Black women and femmes are the most affected when it comes to employment, social service access, and federal assistance.

What does this all mean?

Even when this country doesn't say it out loud, it says "Black women don't matter" loud and clear.

You don't even have to listen that hard to hear it.

On Black History Month, Paying Black Folx, and "Exposure"

January 27, 2022 by Pharoah Bolding in Black History Month, Black Lives Matter, Consulting, DEI, Equity, Race Talks, Representation, White Supremacy, Trainings

Hello, white U.S. Americans who organize events and programming for your company or organization. It's that time of year when the air is crisp, winter is well underway, and white "professionals" reach out to Black speakers, consultants, and facilitators to speak at their corporate events as panelists and teachers to "celebrate" Black History Month. You reach out to us to share our stories, pain, and lived and learned experiences with your white organizations during the shortest month of the year, continuing the cycles of melanated pain porn for white consumption that your organizations have trafficked in for decades.

And you're still asking us to do this for little to no compensation.

On Anti-Asian Sentiments, Ingrained Anti-Blackness, Michelle, and Sandra

January 20, 2022 by Pharoah Bolding in White Supremacy, Race Talks, current events, Black Lives Matter, Anti-Asian Hate

We can't talk about the horrific murders of Michelle Allysa Go and Sandra Shells without examining the ugliness at the intersections of the patriarchal white supremacist national sentiments around homelessness and housing insecurity. We also can't talk about what happened to Michelle and Sandra without examining mental health advocacy and the perceived and perpetuated value of Black and Asian women in the United States. And we definitely shouldn't be having conversations about Michelle and Sandra's murders without incorporating an ever-evolving understanding of the deeply ingrained passive acceptance of anti-Blackness and anti-Asian hate that has permeated this country's mindset for hundreds of years.