About
The one thing you need to understand about The Angry Black Woman is that just because I’m angry doesn’t mean I hate everything. You need to get that in your head right up front.
This blog is anti-racism and anti-sexism. It’s anti-prejudice of all kinds, but I focus mainly on racism and sexism because I am a black woman.
There are three bloggers on this site. All of us are angry, black, and female. Only one of us is the Angry Black Woman.
Why am I angry? Lots of reasons. The aforementioned racism and sexism. The way that our culture perpetuates racism and sexism then lies about what it’s doing. The fact that minorities, poor people, immigrants (both illegal and legal), and other marginalized parties are still treated like the gum on the shoe of the white, male power structure in this country and yet we’re all told that things are getting better. Things are not getting better.
This blog is a safe space for talking about these and other related issues. Safe spaces need to be protected. Not from people who disagree, but people who abuse. I won’t tolerate abuse here. Because I’m angry.
It’s true that the Angry Black Woman is a negative stereotype. Black men don’t like us, white people fear us, and non-angry black women wish we would stop being so loud. Anger isn’t going to solve all of the world’s problems, true. Anger is sometimes an unhealthy emotion. Sometimes it’s not. We sometimes need to get angry to propel us toward positive change or to stop injustice and oppression. We can’t stop being angry until the fight is over. And the fight is far from over, kids.
Before you go commenting on this blog, I suggest you check out the Required Reading. It’s required for a reason. I also suggest you check out the Rules, because whether you break them in ignorance or not, you’ll still be treated the same way.
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There are four different header images. Two are modified versions of “Angela Davis” by Jesus Barraza of dignidadrebelde.com. The full image can be found here. The other two are pictures of a Sojourner Truth monument. The second has excerpts from her famous “Ain’t I A Woman?” speech.
Just read Angry Black Woman’s advice to Corby.
Spot on, ABW!
The reason I looked into this website is that I’m seeking understanding into what I have encountered as “angry black females.” I have lived in downtown Atlanta for 4 years and moved here because I wanted to live in a diverse community. Unfortunately, I have had several encounters with black women that have challenged me, and while I do not want to appear racist, I am at my wits end as to how to deal with these women. If they were white, Asian, or a member of any other group, I would be saying the same. I am looking for your help.
I have had several experiences where black women are acting in an inappropriate or rude way and I ask them to stop it and then they get a very hostile, combative attitude. What is making me write you is that last Sunday I was in church and there were two black women behind me that felt it was OK to talk through the entire service. When I turned around to them and asked them to please stop talking, one of the women looked at me, started to shake her head, and said, “Don’t go there.” I then turned back around and they resumed their conversation.
I live in downtown Atlanta and moved here four years ago because I like diverse neighborhoods and have a number of black, white, hispanic, gay, etc., friends. I am just at a loss as to how to deal with these women – I have no problem and support a black woman’s right to be angry, but I on the other hand will not tolerate an “angry black woman” behaving inappropriately and then attacking me for calling her on it.
[sigh…]
SWF: You say that you “do not want to appear racist”, but you’re not doing a very good job of it.
#1, You come this blog written by an “Angry Black Woman” in order to find insight on other “angry Black women” you have encountered. Ever heard the expression “they all look alike”? Well apparently, we all think alike, talk alike, etc. [/sarcasm]
#2, You specifically point out the behaviors of the Black women you’ve encountered. I find it extremely hard to believe that the only people who have ever been rude to you are Black women. Why did you feel the need to set them apart? Have you gone to other blogs and asked for help on dealing with Black men, Asian men and women, Hispanic men and women, and White men? Why not?
Lastly – and I cannot stress this enough – it’s not all about you. I would wager that none of those women could give a damn about how they’re perceived by some “single White female” that they don’t know from Eve. They’ve got their own problems, their own outlooks, their joys and their sorrows. They couldn’t give a damn about you. And that’s their prerogative. Yeah, it sucks when people are rude. But you get over it and move on. Big freakin’ deal.
Ths st s grt – t s s hnst. Ths sht s s fnn. s wht prsn wh s nt th lst bt ntmdtd b BWs (r BMs fr tht mttr) th jst mk m lgh. Th mst nnyng prt bt BWs s tht th s th sm phrs vr nd vr nd vr nd vr. Th bst w t stnd p t thm nd gt rght n thr fc tl yr spt hts m. Th bst w t sht thm p s t smck th blck rght ff thr fc. Tht sll wrks r t lst stns thm fr mnt, bt smtms th strt bck p gn wth nthr phrs. Th rmnd f m f mn lm th w th jst rpt th sm phrs. nd t snt wmn bs f th wgh mr thn y d. Mst BWs r bs s th sll qlf. hv tw frnds tht ctch shplftrs (% BWs). Th hv sm rll fnn strs. Th lv t cll s crckrs nd thnk tht s m fvrt prt f BWs. hv dtd BWs (nt th ft ns, jst th thck ns) – rll th r sft n th nsd. Jst bg sfts. f th jst lst wght nd tk cr f thmslvs th wldnt b s md nd gys wld p ttntn t thm lttl. Th jst nd t b lvd, thn td, n mr BWs. Tht s wh slm blck chcks r lwys swt t wht gys lk m. Th ft ns knw th hv n chnc nd s th gt md vr tm t bcm BWs. Blck gys mstrt m s smtms th g fr wht gys bt w dnt wnt m thr s thn th hv n mn = mr ngr. BWs r vr ntrtnng nd th ht thr kds t th grcr str. Tht sht s s fnn. Bt mstl th nd t b lvd, bt th r ft nd smll s tht s t th wndw. t mks m lgh whn ppl r scrd f thm thgh, wht ppl r sch psss smtms. BWs knw whn th cn gt w wth th rnts nd whn th cnt. Th r blffrs, y jst pll thr crd nd th fll rght n ln. Grt st! Kp p th gd wrk!
^^^Racist, sexist, *and* a complete asshole…
How much you wanna bet that he’s single?
nh, hv lv n grlfrnd. Hw m rcst? Jst tlln t hw t s. Jst lk ths st ds frm BWs prspctv. lk th st, fr spch tc. vrybd nds t lsn p bt nd jst tk thngs fr hw th r. Wht ppl r gf nd w cnt jmp r dnc, BWs r mstl ft, th sk s bl, whtvr. Nt tryng t b hrtfl t nyn, jst syng m pnn. Snc m wht m nt llwd t s t hw t s, gss. Mst b n th BW hndbk. nyw, nt tryng t b n sshl jst shrng m prspctv. ts n pn frm nd h wh nt spc t p sm.
I’m sorry. What on earth gave you the idea this was an open forum?
I’ll de-vowel you Nielsen Hayden style and laugh while I do it.
I liked the honesty of the site but you don’t like my honesty I guess.
Yeah…. here’s the thing. Anyone who comes to this blog and uses the phrase “smack the black off of you” really doesn’t deserve to be respected and treated well. Or even listened to.
I’m consistently amazed how people confuse “unable to hear dissent” with “refuses to put up with abuse”.
Ok, I admit that maybe that was a poor choice of words and you have the right to sensor how you see fit; but the rest of it was dead on whether people want to admit or not. I couldn’t care less if people think it is racist because it is true. I just think that people don’t want to hear it. Sure there are exceptions to the rule etc. If you watch comic view on BET there are tons of generalizations about white people and they are really funny. Am I supposed to be offended because they accurately generalize white people’s inability to dance? No cuz it is true ( I mean we do have Justin Timberlake, but still, it is true)
Anyway I really do like your site for its truthfulness. The funniest part is when white people write about how they are scared of black people (why? they are mostly nice folks) and can’t understand why they are so mad. Black people have sorta been shit on for a long time. i grew up in a mixed neighborhood in the south so racial tension was always there. I got jumped and robbed by groups of black guys, so you just beat the shit out of one of em in front of their friends and their friends pick on em about how they got beat up by a “cracka”. then you get left alone. Big deal. You have to just laugh at it sometimes or you will just start hating each other. Black women are often loud and mad, white people are stiff, asians are usually short. Big deal, I have to chuckle when people take this stuff so seriously.
Anyway, you can delete this too but I just thought I’d put it out there.
I’ll leave it alone now. Keep up the good work on the site.
Lol = Michael?
No, My name is Matt, and the answer to your question was devoweled. I have a live in girlfriend, so i’m not single. I just stumbled across the website and thought it was bold and honest. i can respect that. Just threw in my 2 cents but it wasn’t well received.
Nothing wrong with being bold and honest, just don’t expect everyone to be hand over a cookie or fall over you after showing what sort of person you are.
Lol: It’s funny how you think I give a damn.
OMG….i just read TOD’s post and I thought I was going to fall out of my chair! I find the majority of all the things your saying to be LIES! YOU must be a politician because your saying one thing, but your actions (as stated in your post) reflect another! In highschool I had an asian women…blk girls wanted blk jocks etc….why were you going after THOSE black girls ..your saying not ONE black girl was intersted in you…EVEN IN COLLEGE! SMH! …And … are you attractive, that has a lot to do with it…cause if your ugly….then I understand …..I would have avoided you like……..JUST KIDDING TOD,
maybe its something your doing giving off…SOME and I stress SOME blk men feel once theyve become succesful to FULLY accent there success they need a anti black women…. and you come off kind of JERKish…im only telling you this because I felt that way , and Im not any of those women you described, Im still coming into my own but I always had class and prestige……DID YOU HAVE BLACK GIRL-FRIENDS…DO YOU HAVE BLACK GUY FRIENDS…
.I will pick out each one and get back to ASAP for now I have finals to study for but you will be addressed! ( you are so brainwashed!) …
questions for now:
WHAT TYPE OF BLACK PEOPLE ARE YOU SURROUNDING YOURSELF WITH?
WHAT BLACK WOMEN WERE ASHAMED YOU MADE IT and PLEASE TELL ME THE CITIES because I need to GO AND check this out myself?
I THOUGHT PEOPLE WERE A PRODUCT OF THEIR ENVIROMENT?
-just because YOU were taught properly about safe sex does not mean all schools teach about it…
birthcontrol is expensive ( i wouldnt kno but I assume it is) girls who grow up in fatherless homes typically look for love in other places girls give sex to get love guys give love to get sex AND….a lot of these girls who are getting pregnant didnt and still don’t have the role models you did AND! and a guy could convince a girl to go raw especially if she thinks he loves her…DUH! im 19 and I know this..TOD STEP YOUR GAME UP HUN
-my friend went to an inner city school and they taught her the underground railroad was a REAALLLL RAILROAD!! so what type of education system are you comparing it to …you can’t compare it to your PRIVITE SCHOOLS OBVIOUSLY there different
NOT ALL BLACK WOMEN WANT A BAD BOY…I a future business women and my sister and our sucessful entourage are filled with Masters, Current Law School/Medical School and current gradschool and PHD candidate…women at that… and we…especially them OLDER WOMEN early to late 20s, DO NOT want bad boys…and were all pretty LIKE REALLY PRETTY so what are you saying?… this must be you
MAYBE THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT IS ATTRACTING THESE loser black WOMEN or loser asian women a goldiggers a goldigger, but do not subject MY SISTERS and MY BROTHERS to these categories BECAUSE I LOVE MY BLACK MAN regardless of hair texture, skin complextion, or status and whenever I am shopping or out and about and I see a black man doing his “thang” working or looking handsome in a beautiful suit I LET HIM KNOW IT! ! ! I am possesive of my Black men and proud but you… no offense kind of reminded me of the black men that make me re-think if i should encourage or bash…you do realize you make black women want to bash black men because of all those things you said…
please dont lump me and all the other black women in the same category…you kno we all are different..from different places..families and I dont know if its me or just in my psychology and sociology books but it does talk about how experience makes you and I and her and him different …unless you believe in that..well we wont get into that…DONT WORRY TOD …YOU GOT MORE COMING!
also you need to re-evaluate where most of those utterly, RIDICULOUS ideas came from because I love you to much to let you go about saying those FOOLISH FOOLISH things I am appauled at the OBAMA remark about a white women raising a black man …other than James McBride and Obama please tell me some more white women who raised succesful BLACK MEN…and WOMEN are all POWERFUL and strong…its like in this once instance you negate all the success of other black men INCLUDING YOURSELF ..you do realize you insulted your MOTHER!, you should really be ashamed for saying that I was taken aback …like you struck a nerve…that angry black women sure is coming out now …but all in all Im here to learn from you so dont take offense and please….humor me!
I am a ABW today and decided to find out if there were any blogs out there for me to vent…that is when I found you. Thank God there is a you!
I just returned from a grad school orientation where the sista’s were sprinkled throughout at least 100 non-traditional attenders. Roughly 6 of us there. I was excited to know about my new school and get busy. There was a little nerves and anxiousness in the air because we are all older and taking this journey together. We were told that two grad school classes would meet with their directors in a different room upon completion of the by-laws of the school. So I was more than happy to be in one of those classes and to hopefully meet my classmates, etc. This is when the hell broke loose…
We were given folders with our syllabi for the introductory course, information about how to set up the email account to submit papers and our name tag, plus some nice give-aways. The director introduced herself and asked that we tell everyone our name, occupation and undergraduate studies. Of the 16 students that were in my class, I and another co-worker of mine were the only black females in the class. As everyone gave their information, I was working it out in my head to make my position sound dignified and reverent when my turn was up. I eloquently said the following: My name is “sone,” and I am an adult educator for (I stated the name of the company) a vocational school and received my undergrad in Business Management.” My co-worker (remember, she is black also) apparently was doing the same thing because her title changed and we both knew it. However, we didn’t say anything about it. We didn’t lie, we just made what we did on our jobs sound exciting. I mean what else could we have done!!! The white people with the undergraduate degrees were directors, leadership developers, operations directors, managers, inclusion and spiritual directors, etc., but we were teachers and recruiters earning minimal-low salaries going to grad school to get jobs like theirs. They have the jobs already that we are going to school to get – – is that an oximoron???!!!
Because I was there to get all the information that I could before I start class in January, I had to focus on the topic. It was when I walked out with two of my classmates to get in our cars to leave that I saw them driving away in new BMW and Volvo; I drove away in my eleven year old (paid for) Ford Taurus. All the shit that hit the fan in my earlier life just came back at me but in full force. I am an ABW and I am proud of the fact that I see it for what it is. I know that we have a long way to go and we haven’t moved too far from the civil rights days. I say, let’s fight for what is fair and right and not back down. I also say, ALL BLACK PEOPLE UNITE and start our own nation. It is time to stop putting eachother down and to start celebrating our inherent gifts. We need to create great businesses and help others that struggle with the same issues. BLACK MEN STOP…getting into business and creating the same environment that hinders black women from excelling. No military mentalities and good-ole’-boys clubs with fantasy football that is a means to isolate. Remember, your mothers were and still are strong black women that faced far worse mentalities. Don’t ever forget that! Let’s have a continuous love for one another and a continuous lifting of each other up. Let’s recognize our greatness and keep in in alignment with what God sees in us!
I’M READY TO TAKE IT BACK!!!!
SWF previously wrote:
I have had several experiences where black women are acting in an inappropriate or rude way and I ask them to stop it and then they get a very hostile, combative attitude. What is making me write you is that last Sunday I was in church and there were two black women behind me that felt it was OK to talk through the entire service. When I turned around to them and asked them to please stop talking, one of the women looked at me, started to shake her head, and said, “Don’t go there.” I then turned back around and they resumed their conversation.
You can say the same benign thing to dozens of people, but the minute you say it to an ABW, their attitude alone makes it ugly. It’s as if they are waiting for an opportunity to go off.
And then they tell you, “Don’t go there” as if to intimidate you from speaking.
(As if they have their hands over ears):
“LALALALALALA”
Are we six years old?!!
Then they wonder why we roll our eyes and they call US prejudice!!
ABW, just get some good therapy .
(no, not one where your rage is incited alone, but where your grief can be worked through as well)
Carrying around that anger isn’t good for you, and it isn’t good for anybody else either.
Yeah, I know, many of you will post that this is just another SWF who wants to repress or quiet BW.
And you’re right–I do. When your anger has to do with you and your issues.
You’re not different because your black. We all have histories to deal with.
(another chance for you to justify how YOURS is different, but it’s not)
The question is, “Are you going to let your history poison your interaction with others, or are you going to deal with it?”
Whatever interaction you choose will create my response to you:
I’ll either respond warmly and smile, or
roll my eyes and shake my head and walk away.
Because I’m not dealing with an ABW (or anyone else) who just wants her rage.
It’s futile.
And it’s yours.
Another SWF wrote: “You’re not different because your black [sic]. We all have histories to deal with.
(another chance for you to justify how YOURS is different, but it’s not)”
Um… wow. Just wow. I’d direct you to the white privilege post, but this kind of statement is just so damn blind I think it would be futile (and I say that as another SWF, by the way). I mean, geez…. Go read this:
http://theangryblackwoman.wordpress.com/2006/09/14/things-you-need-to-understand-4/
This is the funniest site I’ve seen in some time. Reading the comments of the fat, angry fools stroking out here is quality entertainment. “Mew, mew…I’m angry and scary! Yeah, dat’s right!” LOL
Psst…I’m a white male! C’mon and git me! Show me who’s boss! Ooaghhh! Hep me! The Angry Black Woman’s coming to get me! LOL
The truth is, angry people like you are powerless because you’re angry. No one normal – white/black, male/female, gay/straight – wants to have anything to do with you because you’re a mentally crippled pain in the ass.
^^ Says the lonely jackass posting on a blog close to midnight on a Friday night.
Who doesn’t want anything to do with whom? ;-)
Says the nitwit posting near midnight on Saturday, LOL. You’re not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?
actually, Angel probably wasn’t up near midnight, but my blog is on Eastern time, regardless of where people post from. Still, you are a sad, lonely person. You might want to attempt counseling.
I think you are FAB! and I like what you have to say. Sometimes you have to go there and take folks too. I am not angry all the time—just when I need to call on it. My goal is to move through the world in peace and love, but sometimes a Sister has to get up from the prayer rug and get the vaseline. So thanks for holding it down and setting it straight! I am adding you to my blogroll. A Sister listed you over at Blogher as one of her favorite sites for 2008.
Love,
Babz
we need to stop reverse racism:
people ar you blind , look at what this woman writes:
Firstly, ABWs are angry. Anger won’t solve most of the world’s problems, but it will get people who play at being aggressive and dominant to back down quickly. Second, ABWs are black. And we know that most white people are scared of black people. Third, ABWs are women. So, if the person you’re in conflict is a man, isn’t backing down from the anger, and doesn’t flinch at going toe to toe with a black person, being a woman is really useful. He can’t hit you, you’re a woman. If he does, he’s an abuser. If he calls the police on you, they’ll exclaim “You’re frightened of a woman? Grow a set of balls and leave us alone!” Thus, Angry Black Women have the advantage in almost all conflict situations.
And young lady white people are not afraid of black people , we just to slow to get angry with your kind and prefer to ignore trash like you
*points and laughs*
don’t understand your last comment angry black woman, please elaborate
^^^^
You mean other than the fact that “anonymous” is both sexist and racist while attempting to hide behind the fallacy/nonexistence of reverse racism?
All of which serve in making that poster nothing but a joke.
I believe reverse racism does exist, but what makes me really wonder is why black people don’t go back to Africa? nobody keeps them here and if you so opressed in America go right ahead build a better life elsewhere
Thanks for continuing the joke joe. Now get back to europe where you belong.
Go on now! Shoo!
Of course Joe! So we can make it so much better for poor white guys like you, so that you don’t have to have anyone threaten your status, you want for us to go back to Africa.
You know, our opinion is bothering you more than it’s bothering anyone else. Perhaps hightailing it to Europe would be a much more viable alternative. Besides, After all the blacks are out, then you’re going to want the browns and yellows gone too!
With this said, to add to this entry. I agree. But I am not just angry – I am PISSED.
And half of the comments remind me why I’m pissed, and that, while the anonymity of the internet has something to do with the people who get ballsy and try to make everything about them, there is a surprising amount of White people that subscribe to this belief.
And my fiancee – supports my anger 100%. In fact, he’s pissed to the point of action as well. (And he’s just as white as a sheet of paper.)
Let’s also point out that for most black people in the US, there is no “back” to Africa–they were never in Africa! Most black Americans grew up here. Their homes and cultures are here, and they have the right to live in their home country free from racist crap.
I always wonder about that “go back to Africa” crap people say. Or “go back to China,” or whatever your ancestry is. I mean, what happens when the person who says that (say, Joe) meets a Native American?
Joe: Go back to!… wait…
Does something click then? Maybe the fact that America doesn’t even belong to white people, by that logic? Go back to where now? Sheesh… it’s such a stupid argument.
ok poor opressed black people I feel for you However you have the same opportunities as everyone else , even more with affirmative action so why asians never complain about opressive white people? asians prefer to study and work hard and prosper in this country , majority of black people on the other hand prefer to feel sorry for themselves well you have Condy Rise or Barak Obbama or Collin Powel they worked hard and achieved a lot and I don’t hear them complaining
in this country we all have equal chance so grab it and stop whining
*points and laughs at Joe*
Go back to Europe, you.
Well, he’s clearly never met somebody of Asian descent…
joe:
There’s this wonderful new invention called punctuation. Try it sometime.
And yet…joe can speak for Asians. A white male can speak for asians. This is truly a first.
Another idiot demonstrating his privilege.If you shut the hell up and listened to what minorities have to say, you’ll realize that Asians are just as pissed as we are.
Clearly guys you can not argue with my logic, hence all you can do is to insult me. In 15-20 years white people will become a minority in this country then who will you blame?:)
Actually Angry Black Female I am originally from Europe. I came here 15 years ago when I was 18 years old and had 50$ in my pocket and now I m making 300K and have a PhD and believe me I did not have an advantage over minorities.
That is why I am so intolerant of people who are trying to use their skin color as an excuse for not doing anything. I have a lot of minority friends, but my friends are well educated and hard working Americans and I don’t hear them complaining about evil white people. According to national statistics Asians are the most prosperous minority group and they are not far behind white people income wise if not ahead of them. Now why do you think they are so successful, well very simple explanation sorry for repeating myself again ,they study hard and work hard.
As far as I know we have a free public education so why white immigrant from Europe with 50 $ in his pocket and no affirmative action behind him can succeed in this country and more than 50 % of black kids don’t even graduate from high school? hmmm What are your thoughts?:)
Maybe because, as has been well documented in educational studies, teachers have lower expectations of black students and don’t expect them to succeed (or, therefore, pay as much attention to them, help them to pass the class, etc).
Maybe because, as has also been well documented, companies have discriminatory hiring/promoting practices against blacks.
Maybe because in this country black women are *still* making only 64 cents to the white man’s dollar, and black men are making 72 cents to the white man’s dollar.
Maybe because the stereotypes and prejudices surrounding Asian Americans and Black Americans aren’t comparable (I say this as a half-Korean), because Asians are expected to excel academically and have other advantageous stereotypes, especially re: higher education and technology. And while we still experience prejudice, you can’t treat it like the same thing that blacks experience because it’s totally different. So quit making such a dumbass comparison.
Maybe because it doesn’t matter how goddamn hard you study or how hard you work if your employer doesn’t promote you and instead promotes all the new white guys over your head, as happened to an acquaintance of mine.
Maybe…
You know what? Maybe you should go through the required reading section before you open your mouth again.
Instead of playing around where you obviously aren’t wanted, you can do as Ico said, and read the required reading section.
You are WHITE. It doesn’t matter if you’re from America or Europe, you’re a white male. It doesn’t matter that you’re fresh of the plane, you’re going to get better treatment than a black woman will just because of your race and gender.
Additionally, AA is something that benefits White Women more than it does many racial minorities. So, instead of trying to fall back on your idea that blacks are lazy, (because you are implying that in your posts) you can instead try the required reading, otherwise, you can do yourself a favor and get out.
Also, stop trying to make this about you and what you’ve accomplished. If you have enough time to surf the internet, it makes me really wonder if you do have a Ph.D or not.
I love it!
You believe in reverse racism while dismissing actual racism.
*falls over laughing*
your reqired readings are bunch of B.S.
I argue that in american society it does not matter if you are white, black, indian, asian, male or female. What matters is your education and skills.
Again friend of mine is black with MBA from Harvard Business School . He has a great job and never was discriminated agains because he has great education and great professional skills. Now if you are black or white or asian with no education and criminal historyofcourse I don’t want to hire you.
As simple as that , get over it and stop complaining.
^ ^ ^ ^
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahaha!
So it is a Monday. *continues laughing*
I like your blog, and I’m really feelin’ that “Don’t Touch My Hair” t-shirt.
The worst thing about your blog is that you present it as intelligent and thoughtful when you’re perpetuating the very ignorance and hatred you purport to want to see an end to. Ironically, you are as much a part of the problem as everyone you see fit to complain about. You offer no peace and no solution. If there truly was an end to racism you, and so many others, would lose your sense of self. What would you be angry about? How would you identify yourself then? More immediately, what positive light do you shine now?
Darren:
1. Where do you see hatred?
2. I actually have offered solutions to the problems I address. You obviously haven’t read much of the site.
3. You assume that my battle against racism is the only thing that gives me a sense of self. Typical reaction of the ignorant. You think that just because I have this blog it’s ALL I do and ALL I’m interested in. You never once consider that I am an actual person, with other interests, hobbies, a job, friends, and a career, all of which I care about. Were racism to end tomorrow I would still continue in my job, hang out with my friends, write, read, and in general have a good life which would actually be made better and more fulfilling without the bullshit of racism. My “self” isn’t wrapped up in my internet life, though yours may be. Good luck with that.
4. I consider this blog a positive light. Only people who are afraid of change and benefit from racism see it as overly negative.
Thanks for playing!
Pwned. :D
1. The hatred you spread is the worst kind. It’s not bold enough to be forthright, instead opting to act like it has some kind of rational thought. You have statements and pictures on your page that do not send a signal that you want to have friendly discourse, but seek to put white people in a bad light, and in turn, perpetuate hate. No, your too smart to say it out loud, but it’s there – saying it loud. Your required reading, “A Concise History of Race Relations in the USA” – does that promote love and friendliness?
2. You may be right, I may not have spent enough time reading the site to find your solutions. I did, however, spend about 45 mins. reading before I decided to write. If I can’t find your solutions in 45 mins., how deep are they buried? Please send me the direct links or titles so I can read them.
3. I assume nothing about you except what you give me on this site. I did cruise around the internet and try to find you and if the angry black woman I found doing radio and press is you, you have made a handy little career out of this oppression you suffer. If it is not you, then some other people seem to be doing fine with their oppression.
And no, my “self” is not wrapped up in my internet life. I do not have a blog to spread my every thought.
4. This is the interesting thing and why I wrote to you – you could be a positive light. Through the “anger” you do seem to have intelligent thought. The shame of it is, so many lack the ability for rational thought and are looking for a reason to fight. You are giving them fire and negative energy instead of positive. Please do not misconstrue my intention when I say it is negative. I see no benefit from racism or insulting any group as a whole for the actions of a vocal part of a group.
If the egos and need to “win” could stop – from both sides – the whole issue could then be discussed and real solutions could be approached.
opting to act like it has some kind of rational thought
Heh. ABW, you’re just “acting like” you have some kind of rational thought! Actually, it’s all a charade!
if the angry black woman I found doing radio and press is you, you have made a handy little career out of this oppression you suffer.
Oh, yeah. How much did you pull down this year, hon? Five bucks? No, wait, let me factor in carfare…I’m going to guess…-50 dollars. Do I win?
Veronica, you always win.
But yeah, I have done NPR a few times and been mentioned on other blogs and websites and such, and I wasn’t actually paid for any of that. Do you see ads on this site? Only the thing about the store to the left, and I have sold exactly 4 shirts, so obviously all my angry blackness is turning a profit!
But to get serious for a moment.
1. The hatred you spread is the worst kind. It’s not bold enough to be forthright, instead opting to act like it has some kind of rational thought.
I have to say, you are about the first person who has ever accused me of not being forthright. That’s truly a new one on me. It’s especially interesting because just this morning I was contemplating writing a post on how Angry does not equal Hateful. Now you’ve illustrated the great need for it.
I don’t hate. I get angry about things that are unjust, unfair, and wrong. How is that hateful? I point out the systematic racism in this country and the individual instances thereof. How is that hateful? I don’t allow people to get away with bullshit. How is that hateful? That you would come here and tell me that the things we do – raising awareness of and fighting against racism, sexism, and prejudice is hateful because we’re not doing it politely? That smacks of racism, sexism, and prejudice.
You have statements and pictures on your page that do not send a signal that you want to have friendly discourse
And yet I still manage to have friendly discourse with people who actually engage me intellectually and aren’t just closet bigots. Go fig.
but seek to put white people in a bad light
Well, the only white people who end up being in a bad light are the ones who belong there. In case you hadn’t noticed, there are several white readers and commenters on this blog. And they are regularly angry right along with me when they see prejudice. Those white people aren’t in a bad light. White people who don’t do or say things that reveal their racism aren’t in a bad light. So basically what you’re whining about is me saying bad things about bad people. Go you.
and in turn, perpetuate hate.
I actually see calling out people who do bad things and saying “Hey, quit that” as perpetuating non-hate. The main message of this blog is: Don’t be Racist or Sexist or Prejudiced. I would say that this message is against hate. So tell me again how I’m forcing others to hate?
And again, you are confusing Hatred with Anger. Those are not the same things.
Your required reading, “A Concise History of Race Relations in the USA” – does that promote love and friendliness?
It’s meant to illustrate a truth. If the truth it illustrates makes YOU uncomfortable and causes YOU to hate people, then that’s not actually my bad, is it?
#2 – Every time we speak out about an incidence of racism, sexism, or prejudice, we are offering a solution. the solution is: quit doing this bad shit, yo. Every time I post about something heinous and wrong I say: this has got to stop. In fact, I don’t even really need to say it anymore, because it’s implied and most intelligent folks get that. The solutions I offer up are: people, quit acting like assholes.
For further information, please take a look at the “Monday Debate” and “Things You Need To Understand” categories.
#3 – Also, if you’ve actually read any of my press or listened to my appearances on NPR or the DogHouse, you’ll notice that I make no mention of being oppressed nor spend any time wallowing in my oppression parade. In fact, I don’t think I talked about oppression at all. Mainly I talked about the issues in the news, or how to balance comedic/artistic freedom and inappropriate jokes, or how I feel about Stargate: Atlantis. So, if you’re found something to the contrary, please point it out. I’m sure we’d all like to see.
But damn, the fact that you’re already creepily stalking me doesn’t give me confidence that this is going anywhere but downhill.
4. This is the interesting thing and why I wrote to you – you could be a positive light. Through the “anger” you do seem to have intelligent thought.
and I’m going to stop you right there. being angry and having intelligent thought are not mutually exclusive. It’s true that sometimes, when people get mad, they don’t always think straight. But it’s also true that anger can help clarify things for a person. And just because I’m angry doesn’t mean i spend all my time frothing at the mouth. You seem to still have a problem understanding how the internet works. Just cuz I call myself ABW doesn’t mean I spend all my time stomping around like the Hulk.
So, to reiterate: a person can be angry and intelligent at the same time. A person can be angry and be a force for positive change all at once. One can be rational and thoughtful and still find bullshit annoying. The fact that you appear to be saying that none of this is true makes me question your intelligence.
Sorry not to be positive there, but whenever walking cliches like you come by I find it hard not to be dismissive.
“Just cuz I call myself ABW doesn’t mean I spend all my time stomping around like the Hulk.”
Hee hee. Best. Mental image. Ever. :D
Is it bad of me that I seriously think it would be fantastic if you did? Really, some of the stuff I see out there does make me want to go, “HULK SMASH!!!”
Just cuz I call myself ABW doesn’t mean I spend all my time stomping around like the Hulk.
But your Hulk impression is what I like best about you!
Man! I can feel the love, the desire for peace, harmony and oneness coming at me. You ARE the angry black woman!
I never suggested that you couldn’t be angry and intelligent at the same time. Actually, I said the exact opposite. As a matter of fact, I said many other things that you chose to not address. Your assumptions about what I think are interesting. I want you to know I am someone who wants to have a clear, educational back and forth and through your insults, assumptions and decision to cherry pick parts of my statements to ridicule for the entertainment of your “believers,” you have failed have at what you propose to be your solution –
“The solutions I offer up are: people, quit acting like assholes.”
I am not surprised that you have people who want to have friendly discourse in spite of your delivery. This is a subject people want dead and many polite, intelligent people are anxious to discuss it with anyone, especially those who do not seem friendly.
I am not creepily stalking you. You actually have it on your site that if anyone wants to find you, they can with very little searching. I hadn’t even thought of it until I read it. I am open to you and followed your suggestion.
I realize I am a “walking cliche,” but you failed to address some of my statements. I will send them again and ask you to comment:
1. If the egos and need to “win” could stop – from both sides – the whole issue could then be discussed and real solutions could be approached.
2. so many lack the ability for rational thought and are looking for a reason to fight. You are giving them fire and negative energy instead of positive.
The zeal with which you approach this site is admirable, but you should realize not everyone’s intelligence is on your level and while I recognize the difference between anger and hate, many do not. By putting this site up you have thrust yourself into a leadership position and that comes with responsibility. See, I do understand how this internet thing works, and I also understand that people follow the lead of a strong-minded person, which you obviously are. Calling out heinous actions is admirable, but having that “go directly to jail card” at the top of your page is only perpetuating negative energy. As does the “A Concise History of Race Relations in the USA”. It WAS a truth. There have been many actions taken since those things happened. What purpose is served by having those things on here? At what point do we move forward? Before you can say it – I’m not dismissing or downplaying the history of, or incidence today of, racism. But if you continue to bring up past wrongs, you will never get past them. So continue to discuss specific happenings today without dwelling on something that can’t be undone.
Please note I did not number my statements and highlight your comments accordingly. That can only create tit-for-tat and I am not here to win. Initially, I got caught up in the heat of the angry black woman and lost myself in her anger and delivery. That is not me. I would like to have a real, non-insulting back and forth but this is not the right place for that. It wouldn’t be exciting enough.
Thanks for letting me play and good luck!
Maybe I’ll buy a t-shirt – I’ve always liked the number 5.
Darren- You’re a white guy, right? You’re whiteness is leaking from everything that you wrote. Of course, please do realize that this observation is coming from a white woman. And also note that when I use the word white, like ABW, I do not equate white with bad.
You say that if we give up our ego and need to win on both sides, then maybe we could discuss things and come to solutions. I want to know what this looks like. For me, the need to win means I reach the goal of ending racism. So if I give up that need to win, then what is my goal? To halfway end racism? To accept bigotry only some of the time? To agree with people who are racists that racism, on occasion, is okay? None of that is acceptable. Now I know you may say that is taking what you said too far. But really, come on! This is one fight where the need to win is SO important.
Also, you speak about the importance of history and then dismiss it as past wrongs that we need to move past. I find this logic hard to swallow. First, history does matter- you stated this as well. Second, history is NOT in the past, but alive and well in our present and in our future. Past wrongs- I imagine that you are speaking of slavery- may have happened in the past, but the effects of those “past wrongs” are still felt today and will continue to be felt hundreds of years from now. Why? Because our entire society in the US is rooted in these so-called past wrongs. We have build our lives around these actions for the last few hundred years.
I have a book reccomendation for you about the interaction of the past and present- it is called Racial Formation in the US From the 1960s to the 1990s (2nd edition) by Michael Omi and Howard Winant.
And as for the comment of this site giving folks negative energy, let me give you my viewpoint. I, as a WHITE woman, do not get that feeling from ABW’s site. I enjoy the humor to which she approaches topics, the intelligence she weaves into her posts and comments, and the patience- yes patience- she has for the never-ending stream of white people who use HER site for their racist rampages and distaste for strong Black women.
Darren, you wrote that ABW “cherry pick parts of my statements to ridicule for the entertainment of your ‘believers'” — like, what, we’re sheep or something? Like a cult following blindly agreeing with our fearless leader?
While it’s a fun idea, it’s really not the way this site works. For example, this “believer” is another white woman who has gotten into plenty of debates here with both bloggers and commenters. Yes, I was entertained by her response to you — that’s because I happen to think your comments reveal glaring ignorance about the way racism works.
Especially re: this statement: “if you continue to bring up past wrongs, you will never get past them. So continue to discuss specific happenings today without dwelling on something that can’t be undone.”
In the first place, everything transgressingengineer said about the past’s influence on the present. In the second, er… have you read the site? Did you *really* look around for 45 mins? Cause I’m pretty sure most of ABW’s posts have to do with current issues and current events, with racism and its effects on people of color right now, today.
You claim that you are “not here to win,” that you like a reasonable discussion, but your comments ooze condescension. Furthermore, you seem to be making an awful lot of assumptions about ABW, this site, its readers, and its general effects in the world. For me as a WHITE WOMAN, I have found the site enlightening and invaluable — a “positive light” and one of many “real solutions” to the ever-present problem of racism (and sexism, and prejudice) in our world.
Now that I’m back from having a life outside of being angry and black, I can address some of your concerns, darren. Though my commenters have done a bang up job already!
1. If the egos and need to “win” could stop – from both sides – the whole issue could then be discussed and real solutions could be approached.
Yeah, I’m not sure what exactly you’re on about with this one. The need to ‘win’ what? the argument? Well, if the argument is: “Racism exists and is bad,” against, “No, it doesn’t exist, you’re too sensitive,” then, yes, one side DOES need to win because the attitude of the latter is completely wrong and responsible for much badness today.
Winning this argument isn’t about my damn ego, it’s about making an important change in the mindset of a majority of people. A mindset that is, frankly dangerous.
As I say in the post about the Race Card: this isn’t a game to me. It may be a game to you, but that’s because your stake in it isn’t all that high. Which makes most of what you say on the subject very nearly useless.
2. so many lack the ability for rational thought and are looking for a reason to fight. You are giving them fire and negative energy instead of positive.
You know, of the people who come to this site, I’d say 80% of the ones who stick around for more than a minute do NOT lack the ability for rational thought. That other 20% is not filled with stupidity and hate and ignorance because of me. They showed up that way. And honestly, if I were to cater to people who can’t think rationally? I would spend my whole day herding stupid. I just don’t work that way.
Calling out heinous actions is admirable, but having that “go directly to jail card” at the top of your page is only perpetuating negative energy.
The only people who feel negatively about that card are those who don’t find it kinda funny, and those who don’t find it kinda funny are *usually* folks who are already looking to dislike me because o the name of this site.
That image is up there because it says a lot about how little I’m willing to be nice and polite about racism around here. I’m a blunt person. I don’t try to ease into discussing racism. My header is an element of that bluntness. It may not make you feel warm and fuzzy upon seeing it, but that’s okay. Being uncomfortable is an important step to erasing racism in our times.
At what point do we move forward? Before you can say it – I’m not dismissing or downplaying the history of, or incidence today of, racism. But if you continue to bring up past wrongs, you will never get past them.
As others already said, this is a stupid statement. The aphorism “Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them” isn’t just something pretty people like to stitch onto pillows, my friend. It’s a truth. To understand where we are right now, we have to look at how we got here. the concise history cartoon is actually about the NOW, not the past. It illustrates how incredibly stupid it is for white people to say “You blacks are just looking for a hand up. *I* got here on my own, why can’t you?” when the reality is that white people got where they are by standing on the backs of blacks and other minorities. It’s referencing the past in order to talk about the present. That you don’t get that is sad. Really sad.
We cannot talk about racism today without talking about the past. We, as human beings, do not exist in an ever-present Now in which nothing that happened yesterday or last week or last month or last year or last decade or last century doesn’t matter. Trying to stop people from analyzing the past is basically just trying to cover up things you find uncomfortable. You want us to believe that things what came before are not relevant. But generally the only people who feel that way are the ones who damn well know it’s relevant but are ashamed.
Initially, I got caught up in the heat of the angry black woman and lost myself in her anger and delivery.
I love how it’s MY fault that you were angry and did/said things that make you ashamed now. Really. That is too hilarious.
I would like to have a real, non-insulting back and forth but this is not the right place for that.
Actually, this IS the place for that. Want to know the secret to how that happens? Don’t start out here with a condescending tone and ditch the white privilege. That will help.
You know, I like the card, but I don’t like it as much as I like “probably some dumb shit you did, white girl.”
Hey! Why did you delete the words “white girl” from that quote?
To make it more all encompassing… sometimes white guys do dumb shit, too ;)
Here is my story. I am an irritated white woman a lot of the time. I think media images are killing our little girls and giving them the idea that the need to be anorexic and the next contestant on the Bachelor. But I don’t have anything new to say about this…
I did notice a poster above had a complaint about liberal whites. I wanted to make the comment that there is no way we know what it is like to be black but we do think Bill O’Reilly is a douche bag hate monger, too.
I grew up as a Republican in Oregon (our town was totally white.) I did not know what racism was until I joined the army and moved to the South. I didn’t know what sexism was until I became a paratrooper.
As soon as I got out of the army I became a democrat. From living with enough black women(in the army) I have a pretty good idea why they are pissed and I think they are right to demand power.
But you need to know that even if liberals don’t get it, we actually go out of our way to try to understand. We are actually conscious enough to care about your complaints and try to do the right thing. You don’t want to slap a stereotype on all of us.
Here is my story. I am an irritated white woman a lot of the time. I think media images are killing our little girls and giving them the idea that the need to be anorexic and the next contestant on the Bachelor. But I don’t have anything new to say about this…
I did notice a poster above had a complaint about liberal whites. I wanted to make the comment that there is no way we know what it is like to be black but we do think Bill O’Reilly is a douche bag hate monger, too.
I grew up as a Republican in totally white town. I did not know what racism or sexism was until I joined the military and moved to the South.
As soon as I got out of the army I became a Democrat. From living with enough black women(in the army) I have a pretty good idea why they are pissed and I think they are right to demand power.
But you need to know that even if liberals don’t get it, we actually go out of our way to try to understand. We are actually conscious enough to care about your complaints and try to do the right thing. You don’t want to slap a stereotype on all of us.
SIX CHEERS FOR ICO-and I take issue with the fact that white people assume all Asians are on easy street with six-figure incomes, three storied mansions, and two SUV’s when that ain’t the case.
1. What about the Asians working and striking in sweatshop’s for peanuts.
2. The information professionals in indentured slavery in Mississippi.
3. The Asian professional that faces the glass ceiling at work.
4. The recent Asians that did not come from good backgrounds with money and education that struggle here now.
DAMMIT, I know you get the picture here ICO.
Just for observation’s sake, though-a poster was saying in the future when whites are a minority who will they blame for their problems. My question is,
1. How does this change the problems minorities have with things enough white people do now, and how does scapegoating minorities for all their problems solve theirs?
Another observation is that money and education is all that matters in America. My other question is this,
If this is all that counts in America, why is it that a white man without a high school degree and a criminal background able to get a job quicker than a black man with a college degree and no criminal background? Answer me that, smartasses?
I am the other ABW but shout out to the blogger?
“DAMMIT, I know you get the picture here ICO.”
Well… sometimes. ^^;; I’m still learning to be conscious of my own white privilege (which I grew up with despite the half-Korean blood). I’m very grateful to ABW for this site. It has broadened my awareness a lot, and I am trying to work that into my art, my writing, my teaching (whenever I get back to it).
And right on with the assumptions about Asians being on easy street! Particularly Asian women, with all the objectification and degradation as submissive, exotic toys for white men to enjoy.
“minorities, poor people, immigrants (both illegal and legal), and other marginalized parties are still treated like the gum on the shoe of the white, male power structure in this country ”
I am all of those, as well as white and male. This statement is both sexist and racist. My god you have NO IDEA what you’re talking about!
^ ^ ^ ^
Translation: WWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
Angryguy, you’re just an idiot.
As long as you are white and male, you aren’t exactly a minority in this country. Racism and power still work to your benefit.
Before you spout out buzzwords that you have no clue on, read EVERYTHING.
White people kill me. Sometimes their arrogance is amusing, other times it’s downright disgusting.
I love it how they cling to “inclusiveness” when they’re trying to make a point, as in “Why don’t you people (black people) just call yourselves “Americans”…why do you call yourselves African Americans…why don’t you just forget slavery, Jim Crow, Civil Rights Movement, and just be “American”…why do you all give your children made up or African names, why this, why that…”
Strange that white people “yearn” for “inclusiveness”, yet in 2008, the noose became popular again…and although it wasn’t hung around our necks, it WAS hung over our desks, and left lying on our desks, in workplace offices across the country. White people claim to want inclusiveness, yet cannot or will not see how they play a part in the racism and injustice that still permeates this country.
White folks don’t want inclusiveness, they want control…any human being who would question a grown ass group of men and women as respects what they CHOOSE to call themselves, has some serious control issues.
you know…after reading an article on here id like to reformulate some of my past statements…im not asking people to censor themselves..but by saying stay objective and avoid “off-putting remarks…” i guess i am. see where i’m coming from is that im young enough to not really have power over who gets loans, housing, scholarships, jobs, ect…im only old enough to recognize how i treat and interact with people. i get offended with implications that i’ve raped and oppressed people–if someone accused you of such things, that woudn’t make you feel good either.
that doesn’t mean these concerns shouldn’t be voiced, however. so i guess i’ll just have to bite the bullet on that, but it still doesn’t seem fair or constructive to me, personally.
most people, more specifically white people, who come on here have at least some idea of the struggle and are trying to understand and do their best to help. after all, it’s not like kkk members frequent these boards. it’s generally people trying to understand and help. if a friend is helping you move your couch and you’re trying to maneuver through a doorway, you wouldn’t berate and belittle them would you? i’d have to believe you’d politely tell them the right way.
sorry, dealing with bigotry isn’t the same as moving a couch, but i think you get my point.
I am doing an art exhibition and would love for you guys to host a panel discussion about recreating the African American Family. As black women we have been pushed out of our community and made nomads of this country. Separating us from our men. Our family and our children. The name of the exhibit is called “Afro Gypsy” More info to come… is there a direct email address I can send you about the traveling show?
Egad! I’m pretty sure I’m lost. I am exactly what probably makes you angry…short, fat, middle-aged white woman who is oblivious to the world at least
38% of the time. Living in South Dakota…yeah, pretty much the center of whiteness…I am a bit sheltered and I’m not real angry, but I love your site. Dripping with sarcasm and anger is great and add the fact you are a super writer and intelligient, I’m flippin’ glad I’m lost. To tell you how racially behind the times we are, I can still remember the first time I saw a beautiful little girl with the hair you don’t want touched…love the tee by the way…She was gorgeous and I was so jealous I couldn’t look like her and pissed because I sunburned every day of my life. Yeah, we are more racially diverse now in the northern plains, but I still have a lot of Mary Kay makeup I didn’t realize was for bronze/black skin when I first started…We just don’t have enough Angry Black Women around here…I guess…just me…a not so angry white bitch…Again…love your provocative site.
I love your rules!!!!!! Can I borrow some?
i am new to the bsphere and it was great to stumble into your space.
what i will say is i spent many many years being an ABW. When people would ask me why i was so angry i would ask them if they were paying attention.
then a strange thing happened. I was targeted and finally forced out of my job at a supposedly progressive and feminist organization. My transgression was one made by many black women in the work force (and in life)- i spoke the truth about the unethical practices that were killing the spirit of the organization.
things were very bleak for me back then. i almost lost my home and was out of work for months. it was then that i discovered the law of attraction-i’d always flirted with metaphysics but it was until 2004 that my life began to change.
at any rate- now i am back in the battered women’s movement and beleive me there is much to be angry about- but i cant seem to conjer it up any more! i am still opinionated but not nearly as angry as i used to be – its like all that metaphysical “stuff” squashed some of my anger and replaced it with a desire for peace
the funny thing is, even though i am more peaceful i sometimes wonder if i am living in a state of denial-other times i feel like i lose some of my fire with each passing year
its a mystery.
anyway, sis keep doing what your doing!
z
Angry
Never
I am a 30 year old single mother of 2. I grew up in a house with a mother who loved drugs, parties, and men more than my brothers and me. As a little girl I watched my father beat the crap out of my mother and was molested by my step-father. I didn’t graduate from high school because; I became a mother at 16, and decide to work full-time to provide for my son and myself. I will never consider myself to be angry.
I have 2 sons by two of Indiana’s worst dead beats dads. I work a crappy job, which I have been on for the past 8 years. My hours are being cut more and more everyday prices of food and gas continue to rise while quantities and qualities continue to fall and I still don’t qualify for any type of public assistance. I pay for health insurance and can’t afford to go to the doctor. My credit is bad from hospital bills and other little dumb miscellaneous depts… I’m still not angry
I continue to watch my grandmother (the love of my life) dwindle; mind and body because of alzimers. Because of her I will never be angry. For she taught me to remain strong, hopeful, prayful, motivated, determined, clear minded, humble, hard working, inspirational, eager to teach and be taught, passionate, encouraged, confident, secure, convinced, positive, enthusiastic, keen, excited, willing and ready, modest, unassuming, down-to-earth, buoyant, cheerful, lighthearted, unbent, etc…..Never angry
So much hatred, eating away the life in our souls…
When i first came across this site i became very interested! I tought to myself “wow a powerful black woman is educating people of all kinds” But then i realized that other opinions which contradicted the ABW’s thoughts were immediately discouraged, i was disappointed. I sat here and read this entire blog dating back to 2006. I read the opinions of those like Steven, Angel H.,ABW, Juan, Darren, joe and others. People like Steven and others who told the angry black woman to just move on perhaps did not have that right because they have not experienced what she has. But at the same time she had a negative reaction to what he said, she completely shut off his thoughts and opinions and basically said “You don’t know anything, I AM right” and not in those exact words. Instead of asking him why he felt in such a way and getting him to comprehend why she feels the way she does. So in my own personal opinion…ABW, that’s defeating the cause. Yes perhaps you’re not here to debate psychologically with someone like him, but you can’t offer solutions if you’re not able to acknowledge others. I am a 26 year old college black woman and i am NOT angry. My Sista, i have been descriminated against many times, i have been believed to have less accomplishment capacity compared to other races. Am i angry? NO…becuase i am persuing(and with great success) a carreer 10x’s higher than that of those who doubted me. I am on top of my game. I have a question for those Angry black women, do you feel that all blacks are loud, ghetto, and less educated? NO, right?…well my sistas, the same way you preach those views you should preach that not all white people are the same! That same white person that may have denied you an opportunity in the past because of your race or judged you unfairly, is not the same white person that you will be faced with in the future. And if you take that negative belief with you, you take a great part in creating and fueling those “stereotypes” you yourself are trying to defeat. My SISTAS we all know our people were enslaved and treated horrendously but thankfully it came to END!!! Why are you blaming and taking your anger out on todays white man? Where they the one’s holding a whip to your back?Many of our people say “we don’t have have the same opportunity that the white man does”….THE HELL WE DO!, i am 6 months away from becoming a Microbiologist….And you know what if you ever feel like you’re not getting an equal opportunity….well guess what you gotta keep your head up and try elsewhere! If you come across someone who is being racist towards you, just laugh at their ignorence, because that’s what that person is, an ignorant human being which attempts to judge you knowing exactly nothing about you…he judges you off of assumption…. Don’t you know that our people suffered to get to where we are now? Don’t you know that our people put their lives on the line for our generation? People who hold on to that anger and refuse to let go are making sure that the stuggle our ancestors went though was all in VEIN!! I will never forget our people’s enslavement and i will make sure our future kids know, but i will not let it choose my future or create the type of person i am.Many of you ABW might be saying right now “well there’s people treating me bad now, i have a right to be angry”….you have the right to be angry if you choose to….but you will carry that anger with you for a long time and blogging will never be enough to help you release your anger! Till this day i bump into somebody who treats me unfair, even if it is indirectly, but guess what, i let it GO…because i am too smart of a person to let someone elses view of me have any affect on who i know i am. I seen previous blogs about black men leaving their women, and not having jobs..and too many kids….Sistas don’t try to block the sun with one finger, some of our men ARE like that, and you know it!….but guess what…not ALL of them are like that…why should we get angry when someone says this….Previously someone stated that we comlain about our men being low lifes, and “letting” them be that, but yet we wanted the thug with the gold tooth….well guess what that’s true as well, if you’re going to choose a man with those qualities, don’t complain about the way he treats you or the life style you live. . I am dating a wonderful black man with goals and dreams, and he isn’t “white washed” either. We know we are black and we enbrace it to the fullest. We have had other people of our own race tell us we were “trying” to be like the white man simply becase we have a good education and speak without slang. Well our own black people cry about how we are stereotyped as loud and ghetto but yet when a black person makes a change our own same black people do not support us. I AM NOT white…nor do i wish to be, I AM black and proud. When i come across a racist white person (which will happen) in the future i will not pass on the hatred they pour on me toward another white person…it is time to move on!…many of you “angry” black women can attack everything i say after i post this….if that’s the case so be it, keep ur anger, if not you can open your mind and choose to be better than that. I have no intensions of returning to this blog, so for anyone who wants to reply to me negatively, don’t waste you fingers…i won’t be seeing it….have a good life everyone and god bless?
Thank you for this space. It is much needed in a world where black women’s issues do not matter and our voices are silenced. Shirley Chisholm once said, “black women are a part of everyone else’s agenda but our own”.
Personally, I embrace the moniker Angry Black Woman because it comes packed with a powerful history. A history of rebellion, resistence, resiliency and resolve. From Phyllis Wheatley to Harriet Tubman to Sojourner Truth to Ida Wells Barnett, to Rosa Parks to Fannie Lou Hamer to Shirley Chisholm to Barbara Jordan to Maxine Waters to Gwen Ifill…and the names stretch towards infinity. Call me “angry” and I’d say, “damn right”!
If black women were more angry these days, we wouldn’t have one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. If black women were more angry, thug rappers and their white enablers wouldn’t be getting filthy rich off our backs and that of our communities. If black women were more angry. mothers wouldn’t be burying their sons and daughters because of senseless gang violence. If black women were more angry, feminism wouldn’t dare assume that black women who are supporting Obama are doing so because of race.
Thank you again for sharing this sacred space.
Peace, The Vixenne
You go, Angry Black Woman.
There appears no end to it, what there is for people of color to righteously rage against…And white people need to get upset about it, too. No matter how many disrgruntled , clueless white people there are who ask, “So what do *they* have to be so mad about? Why do *they* make everything about race?” As if everything weren’t already made into “about race” by white privilege, as if anger were not an utterly appropriate, human, loving response to systematic dehumanization.
And i say this, not as a person of color myself, but as the Euro grandma of a little man of African and Native American as well as Euro descent. He’s just three months old, and already I’ve had to tell someone not to call him a monkey.
No, not Amanda Marcotte, but someone who probably also didn’t seem to learn anything about why and how that “savage hunga-bunga Africa” imagery is not, um, the essence of progressiveness. Three months old, and the racial profiling has already begun…
Hey ABW- love the website
This may be a bit personal, but from one black woman to another, ” When”s the last time you had some awesome, angry, blow your back out ,toe curling sex with a black man?
I know, we have much bigger fish to fry as black women, but it’s friday night, I’m at home with a horrible sore throat, it’s that time of the month and I have election coverage fatigue.
I would say peace to you ABW, but with out justice, I know you don’t want it.
Have a good evening anyway.
ucsister1
? @ ucister1
ABW, just discovered your site, and i’ll be sure to read more, seems like high quality….
Black Woman(not angry), on August 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm Said:
When i first came across this site i became very interested! I tought to myself “wow a powerful black woman is educating people of all kinds” But then i realized that other opinions which contradicted the ABW’s thoughts were immediately discouraged, i was disappointed. I sat here and read this entire blog dating back to 2006. I read the opinions of those like Steven, Angel H.,ABW, Juan, Darren, joe and others. People like Steven and others who told the angry black woman to just move on perhaps did not have that right because they have not experienced what she has. But at the same time she had a negative reaction to what he said, she completely shut off his thoughts and opinions and basically said “You don’t know anything, I AM right” and not in those exact words. Instead of asking him why he felt in such a way and getting him to comprehend why she feels the way she does. So in my own personal opinion…ABW, that’s defeating the cause. Yes perhaps you’re not here to debate psychologically with someone like him, but you can’t offer solutions if you’re not able to acknowledge others. I am a 26 year old college black woman and i am NOT angry. My Sista, i have been descriminated against many times, i have been believed to have less accomplishment capacity compared to other races. Am i angry? NO…becuase i am persuing(and with great success) a carreer 10x’s higher than that of those who doubted me. I am on top of my game. I have a question for those Angry black women, do you feel that all blacks are loud, ghetto, and less educated? NO, right?…well my sistas, the same way you preach those views you should preach that not all white people are the same! That same white person that may have denied you an opportunity in the past because of your race or judged you unfairly, is not the same white person that you will be faced with in the future. And if you take that negative belief with you, you take a great part in creating and fueling those “stereotypes” you yourself are trying to defeat. My SISTAS we all know our people were enslaved and treated horrendously but thankfully it came to END!!! Why are you blaming and taking your anger out on todays white man? Where they the one’s holding a whip to your back?Many of our people say “we don’t have have the same opportunity that the white man does”….THE HELL WE DO!, i am 6 months away from becoming a Microbiologist….And you know what if you ever feel like you’re not getting an equal opportunity….well guess what you gotta keep your head up and try elsewhere! If you come across someone who is being racist towards you, just laugh at their ignorence, because that’s what that person is, an ignorant human being which attempts to judge you knowing exactly nothing about you…he judges you off of assumption…. Don’t you know that our people suffered to get to where we are now? Don’t you know that our people put their lives on the line for our generation? People who hold on to that anger and refuse to let go are making sure that the stuggle our ancestors went though was all in VEIN!! I will never forget our people’s enslavement and i will make sure our future kids know, but i will not let it choose my future or create the type of person i am.Many of you ABW might be saying right now “well there’s people treating me bad now, i have a right to be angry”….you have the right to be angry if you choose to….but you will carry that anger with you for a long time and blogging will never be enough to help you release your anger! Till this day i bump into somebody who treats me unfair, even if it is indirectly, but guess what, i let it GO…because i am too smart of a person to let someone elses view of me have any affect on who i know i am. I seen previous blogs about black men leaving their women, and not having jobs..and too many kids….Sistas don’t try to block the sun with one finger, some of our men ARE like that, and you know it!….but guess what…not ALL of them are like that…why should we get angry when someone says this….Previously someone stated that we comlain about our men being low lifes, and “letting” them be that, but yet we wanted the thug with the gold tooth….well guess what that’s true as well, if you’re going to choose a man with those qualities, don’t complain about the way he treats you or the life style you live. . I am dating a wonderful black man with goals and dreams, and he isn’t “white washed” either. We know we are black and we enbrace it to the fullest. We have had other people of our own race tell us we were “trying” to be like the white man simply becase we have a good education and speak without slang. Well our own black people cry about how we are stereotyped as loud and ghetto but yet when a black person makes a change our own same black people do not support us. I AM NOT white…nor do i wish to be, I AM black and proud. When i come across a racist white person (which will happen) in the future i will not pass on the hatred they pour on me toward another white person…it is time to move on!…many of you “angry” black women can attack everything i say after i post this….if that’s the case so be it, keep ur anger, if not you can open your mind and choose to be better than that. I have no intensions of returning to this blog, so for anyone who wants to reply to me negatively, don’t waste you fingers…i won’t be seeing it….have a good life everyone and god bless?
THIS WAS A GREAT BLOG………….!!!!!!!!!!! All angry black women read this over and over and over and over and over and over and over. YOU spread your own circle of hate–you are the worst kind–YET YOU THINK YOU HAVE JUST CAUSE…..
Than l you for the opportunity to include my two cents
I should say up front that I am not American. I have been here for a few years and I have had experiences with the ABW. I find that it is worn as a badge or honour. I completely respect the right of all to be disgusted at the ills and evils of the world. Becoming angry in turn is not a solution. We can act for change without acting in anger. Our anger can be channeled into something positive. I honestly believe that we accomplish less when we act in anger.
I don’t believe that not every expressions of disagreement or every note identifying acts of discrimination is posted in anger. Our host seems a little angry but she has provided a place where we might vent. I am not hereto tell anyone to get over anything because I have not walked in their shoe. I will however restate that acts carried out in anger is most often ineffective. We need to be deliberate and deliberative in our actions. It is only through action that we will b able to make a change. The actions starts with an improved self image. We are not an angry people. We are the foundation of civilization. What other people have endured and continues to endure all that we have? Let us wear that as a badge and continue to strive to reclaim our place.
Thanks for your time
Sprinta
This site must be a great catharsis! Props for you doing you.
Bigotry, ethnic stratification, xenophobia, prejudice, racism, sexism and the countless other terms for exclusivity point to the human race’s preponderance towards superficiality. I mean how can folks be faulted for this? The first thing you notice, if you are not blind, is how something or someone looks. On top of that, our loved ones, environment, culture and even religions help to cloud true independent judgement and thought. It is a rare person who can say that they wait to get to know someone before they pass any judgement on them.
I am the child of a French-Canadian, Scotch-Irish, English and Sioux father and a Spanish-Filipina, German, Chinese mother. That’s right. A true American! Guess what I look like? Beyond the word “beautiful” you probably thought “WTF?!” Well I basically look like a typical Caucasian, whatever that is! I’m like 1/8th of eight different “races”, I guess! So I’m Everyman…
My father was in the USAF and as a result we were very nomadic. Most of his “tours” lasted ~3-4 years as do most permanent military assignments. As an elementary aged child in the mid-late 1970’s I did notice that the integration “on base” was much more advanced as compared to “off base”. I had White friends, Asian friends, Black friends, Hispanic friends, Mixed friends– well just “friends” as far as I was concerned. I never, ever thought about coloration or lack thereof, just that you were “cool”, genuine and trustworthy, or you were the opposite. That’ not to say that there was no racism or other “isms” in the military’s version of America, just that it was not as apparent. Trust me there was, and are plenty of bigots in every branch of the military. Of ALL races, but especially the Whites.
I lived the majority of my primary school years in the South. My father took assignments in Alabama, Florida and South Texas. We lived on base in the first two and in a subdivision a ways from the base in South Texas. Our neighborhood was very integrated. Many of my friends were black, but many were white and hispanic too. I had two asian friends. Most of them didn’t care what ethnicity I claimed and I didn’t care what their government defined “race’ was either. This was during middle school so kids started developing “cliques”. I noticed at school that there were mixed crews, but that many were racially exclusive. Mexican kids, white kids, black kids started where their parents probably left off. I saw and experienced the first signs of intolerance and hatred.
My father’s last assignment took us to the Philippines. Thank God! I was just starting high school, so I’m glad i didn’t get stuck in Texas, for numerous reasons. My first day of high school in this new place was culture shock. Every single ethnicity you could imagine from different regions of America and sometimes the world was at my school. I liked it.
Suffice it to say that it was 1982 and I befriended a group of like-minded young cats who all became B-Boys in some form or another. We had Filipino, Mestizo (Half Filipino-Half American), White, Black, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, and more in the various incarnations of my crew. No racism or hate was tolerated. In fact “tolerance” was not tolerated. That was a term used by evil adults, social scientists and other forms of fascists :)! It was pure, unadulterated “ACCEPTANCE” or nothin’ . To this day most Americans still use that limited term– tolerance. Like they’re swallowing some nasty tasting medicine or something. Idiots, hahaha!
Anywhy, I dated whoever the hell I wanted. Every single “color”. A real African chick and a real Swedish chick and everything in between. Being a B-Boy I was loved by the real and hated by the plastic. The chicks definitely felt me, if you know what I mean. Most crackerish white and asian folk called me a “wanna-be”. That perplexed me because my pasty self was in no way delusional enough to think I could ever have anything but the appearance of a “typical white boy” to the average savage. Albeit I was muy guapo ;)!
Anyway, I often wondered why it was alright to emulate the staus quo, but anytime you vibed with something outside of that the ignoramuses started with the “labeling”. Would wanting to do a “Black” thing (whatever that means) be so bad? Why? Was I the first non-Black person to do a “Black” thing? What about Blues, Jazz, Rock-n-Roll…
I did feel that I was human and all of us humans were only one race. Proof of that is the fact we can all procreate and have viable procreating offspring. We aren’t tigers and lions, or donkeys and horses.
But really with my popularity and skills what the heck did that common thinking mean to me anyway. I thought, for a supposed Caucasian I had all the graf’ writing ability, lyrical acumen as an emcee, rhythm as a popper and breaker and musicality as a d.j. (“turntablist”) of the stereotypical “Black’ B-Boy. It’s not the style it’s the stylist.
Heck if you were a B-Boy, Black B-Boy sounded weird. I mean in the true (Hip Hop) culture a B-Boy/B-Girl is that and nothing else. Not “that white emcee” or that “dope asian turntablist”. Only you fools who have helped perpetuate social engineering and “assimilation” talk or think like that. Now you know what Eminem was trying to say, but can’t ’cause he’s tainted by the boosheet too. Ridiculous.
So I’m here to tell you that you can label yourself all you want. Identify yourself as an angry person, or clarify by adding “green” and “hermaphrodite” if you want. America loves caricatures. To those of us who have grown up with no thought of limits based on anything other than ability, knowledge, creativity, uniqueness and SKILL it seems very, uhhh, American and, uhhh, stereotypical White, to tell you the truth.
The people I chill with are World Citizens and members of the Human Race. Most are just Americans. Not White Americans, Africa Americans, Asian Americans. Just Americans. Trust me, to the myriad Americans out there who think that your cousins in Mexico or Africa or Indonesia are the same as you, you better untwist that notion. You are forever altered once you become an American or your ancestors relocate to this New World. Be proud that you are an American and nothing else. That’s your point of novelty. It IS the best place for us to be or else you’d be living in Siberia, Kosovo, Cairo, or Tokyo. Those places are alright, but they are pretty homogeneous and BORRRING!
“My” cadre includes physicians, dentists, lawyers, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, paramedics, chefs, c.o.’s artists, execs, performers, producers– you catch my drift. Our one culture is based on free thought, leadership, good works, money-making, integrity, responsibility, accountability, wisdom, fairness, altruism, peace, unity, love and havin’ fun! IOW our culture is the true nature of real American culture. Oh and we are all very strong physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and most of all as an amalgam of diversity. The “Hybrid Vigor Theory” is in effect. Step.
Be careful not to let others define who you are. In the end it’s all just energy, regardless of our travails and endeavors. Make sure you create more positive than negative. Don’t let “the powers that be” dopplegang who we really are or can BE.
Peace,
B-Cuz
I’d just like to throw in that those who equate Indigenous enslavement with white enslavement of black people, need to read their histories from another source, and recognize the very limited scope that they are reading their histories from.
Indigenous peoples (Indians) such as the Cherokees and Seminoles did not engage in slavery out of racist-based presumptions, as white people did. For centuries Indigenous communities accepted workers – “slaves” from other Indigenous groups in times of war and negotiation. Sons and daughters were often traded off to other communities, in exchange for other people. In times of war, the capture and retention of slaves was a very significant element of battle.
This is NOT, however, the same ideology underpinning white slavery which sought to use it as a very specific tool of oppression meant to hold back people deemed inferior based on skin color. It is crucial to be aware of these vastly differing approaches before grouping people together. Along the same lines, when considering the history texts that you learn Indian peoples were slaveholders, again consider the source. The same texts that inaccurately/incompletely address black history from black perspective also neglect to address history and perspective from Indian perspective.
Oh, and one more topic I’d like to discuss.
For those (such as Gloria Hopkins) who hope to elide the white privilege that has formed the basis of society today, I have to say I am disappointed. While it is true that there are some very cool (for lack of a better term) white people today who bear no immediate responsibility for generations of racist oppression, they are also people that exist in a position of privilege because they society they reside in was built on the backs of other non-white peoples, and built to the benefit of the future generations of whites. It’s the old “my great great great grandfather was a racist, but I’m not” claim.
Simply because we would like to imagine a world without race or racism doesn’t make it so. Millions of people the world over (not just America) remain in flux because of the oppressive and racist policies of white colonizers. It’s not enough that white people now say “we’re over race and we’re all sorry” – people are still suffering and struggling under racism that has been imbedded into American political structures. Yes, race has no basis in biological fact, that is true, but it is very real in its consequences and cannot be written off because it’s difficult for whites to take responsibility for their ancestors behavior.
To those who question Gloria Hopkins Nativeness and assert that they suspect she is definitely “more white” in her mindset, please don’t. One person fell back on the “you don’t know me so don’t judge me”, yet thought it perfectly okay to post a comment “voicing an opinion” that they knew what part of her heritage she was REALLY aligning with (rather, hiding behind “voicing and opinion”). This achieves nothing. There are people who are “100%” Native that agree with the perspectives she espoused about the “end of race”, and accusing her of “thinking white” achieves nothing other than highlighting your own ignorance.
The goal should not be to attempt to strip people mixed people of their non-white identities who don’t see things in a “Native” or “black” enough way, an in essence re-inscribe the stereotypes of what “Native” or “black” thought should be – that’s very essentially. The goal should be to educate people those who seem to have a limited perspective on the current state of racial issues, and make them into allies…..not enemies.
I just found my way to this site and have been making my way through the Rules and Required Reading. The articles I’ve read so far have been wonderful. Thank you for organizing this site!