Homosexuality, Race and Religion

As you all know, I have a tumblr and last night, things got a bit serious on the very sensitive subjects of homosexuality, religion and race. From what I gathered, someone didn’t understand how the GLTB community compares themselves to Blacks. From there, I’m not surprised it escalated into a religious debate by “Christians”. (Quotations are there for a reason.) Here’s my two cents:

I just wish people would use their brains to the fullest potential and realize that the GLBT community isn’t trying to compare themselves to the black race but the FIGHT and STRUGGLE for their CIVIL RIGHTS as our African-American ancestors have done for us. Please, do not confuse that with the fight against water hoses and police batons, segregated schools and neighborhoods, or burning crosses in their front lawn. However, they do endure the same type of discrimination: physical, sometimes violent or fatal, and verbal. While blacks had to fight against whites who brought them into slavery for some hundred years and left them deprived of their basic rights as American citizens for nearly another hundred, the gay community has to butt heads with the over-zealous religious community, homophobes and neo-nazi radicals. Guess what? The GLBT community are American citizens, too, and deserves to have their basic rights just as we did. To be honest, I do not understand, for the life of me, how ANY black person, after all the things that our ancestors had to go through to get us where we are today, can discriminate against any other group of people, whether its the GLBT community, whites, Asians, Mexicans, etc. In fact, the black struggle is far from over.

Some people believes that being gay is a choice. Some believes it is natural, while others may believe that it is a result of an unfortunate event that occurred to them as a child. I personally believe all three. I believe it could be a choice based on experimenting and saying “Oh this is better!” I believe a person can be born gay just as a person can be born straight (and if you do some research, you’ll find that this has been scientifically proven). And lastly, the result of an event that could be rape, incest, molestation or perhaps that’s the environment the individual has known and grew up around. An individual who is gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans-gendered doesn’t make them any less of a human being as anyone else nor does it make them any lesser in God’s eyes. 

“God does not like the ACT of gay.” I can see where you’re going with this, and many may have not used their comprehensive skills as I did; however, if there is no “act of homosexuality” then gays wouldn’t exist. They’re the only ones, and some straights who experiment, who commit acts of homosexuality so I can understand how many may take that statement as meaning God doesn’t like gay people. Who are WE to say what God likes or doesn’t like. I could say that He doesn’t like the white boy sitting next to me but in actuality, God may like him more than He likes me. A gay man who goes to church every Sunday probably has a better chance at entering the Kingdom of Heaven than the straightest man who only shows up for Easter. We know what the Bible says; it’s there in black and white text. The problem is the “Christians” who preach the Bible, not according to their own interpretations but what was taught and embedded into their brain as they grew up. Most don’t take the time to actually read and research for themselves, which they could discover so much as I did. I dare you to ask a Christian that claims to read and know the Good Book about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. If the words “homosexuals” or “gays” come up, they didn’t read or research anything because the story makes no mention in any way. So why homosexuality is tied with the word “sodomy” and the story? “Christians”. Overly zealous religious groups that only chooses to single out certain things in the Bible that THEY don’t like. Some of them bearing tattoos, wearing mixed garments of fabric, has cut their hair or shaved their beard, eating pork and shellfish. Some of them have been divorced and remarried, committed adultery or incest, rape or murder. The Bible address all of these sins as the same but the “Christians” address homosexuality as worse. Then comes the “God hates…” or “God says this or that” arguments. This is when I believe they become ignorant and there is no point in continuing the argument because their so-called points become invalid. Did these “Christians” forget let he who is without sin case the first stone? We don’t get to judge who’s going to hell and who’s not. No one sin is greater than the other. God loves each individual as much as the next person. God is love, or did we forget that? The only judgment that matters is God. 

Did you know?: Homosexuality was widely accepted, mostly during ancient Roman and Greek times for long before the Biblical times, when the white men came along with their “Christian” views. The King James version was selected from many versions by the Catholics as the “official version”. The Bible was also used to justify the enslavement of Africans, discrimination and segregation, and war. 

Black Women are mad...again!

So, earlier I was sitting here watching Miss Jia and Slim Thug go back and forth on…Twitter. (I'm on Twitter break but took a lil peak)

I'm guessing she mad.

You see, Slim authored a blog entry (yep, you read that right) for Vibe Online on the subject of black women and there high standards. Basically, he touched on how they have too high/unrealistic standards when looking for love among black men, their anger and bitterness, and blaming black men for their relationship issues. He also touched on the subject of interracial dating and white women, and how black men AND black women need to step their game up.

So Miss Jia naturally, like most black women, got MAD and started her post on the issue with the statement: I am so sick of everybody in the world trying to psychoanalyze Black women and why we’re single.
Um, y'all been doing it to yourselves AND to black men. For YEARS!! And was there NOT interviews and specials on the relationship issues and black men featuring BLACK WOMEN aired 20/20, Nightline, MSNBC etc.?


What Miss Jia got from reading his blog: Black women ain’t sh-t. 
Talking about REACHIN'! Hell-fuckin-lo!!!!! I could have sworn I've heard, read and saw black women saying practically everyday that same exact thing about us black men.


I'm trying to understand why is it okay for black women to diss, generalize and psychoanalyze all black men (in their words "black men ain't shit") but it's a problem if black men do the same about black women? I mean, they get MAD. Kinda stupid, isn't it? 


Now let me be honest, it does go BOTH ways but 98 percent of the time its the women. Let a dude say ONE thing, women will practically jump him. They get pretty hostile and angry if/when the situation is reversed, like it's okay for them to do it but not okay for black men to do it.


But I 've come to realize that most black women, and this isn't a generalization, are negative. All they speak is negativity but they damn sure don't like it when it's directed at them.


Lemme say this to both black women AND men: STOP DOWNING AND DISSING YOUR OWN PEOPLE! If you don't like being generalized negatively, don't do the same to anyone else. I swear black people are the most negative group on this planet. 
  

Black folks, we gotta do better...

Black people are the most negative amongst each other out of all the races on this earth.

Disagree if you want but that statement is true. The Academy Awards held this past Sunday is proof of that.

Let me start by saying congratulations to my favorite hairy-legged banshee Mo'Nique for winning the Oscars Best Supporting Actress category for her role as Mary Jones in the film "Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire". It was well deserved. I mean, she was the best. (And congrats to Sandra, although I wanted Meryl to win.)

Now, as I was saying, the Oscars telecast brought out the negativity, jealousy and hateration from black people. They complained because the ceremony used a certain clip from the movie Precious. Y'all know, the chicken run. Guess what? It won Best Adapted Screenplay. It was a very popular scene. Why not show it? Of course, those that still have that slave mentality were offended because it was a big black girl with some fried chicken. Y'all know how us black folk be bout dat fried shikkin!

Then there's the complaint about the Oscars only awarding black actors for playing roles "depicting the black race in the worst way possible." HUH?! Like, really???

Denzel Washington for playing a crooked cop. Halle  Berry for tricking out a white man. Jennifer Hudson for being a big, washed up singer and a single mother hiding her child from the baby daddy. Mo'Nique was an unemployed, neglecting, hateful and abusive single mother that didn't give a shit that her daughter was raped by the man she loved. Jamie Foxx was a blind singer and womanizer. Forrest Whitaker as a brutally animalistic polygamous dictator. All of these award-winning actors portrayed characters which BLACK people nitpicked as the negative roles.

Have we forgotten? Hilary Swank as a transgendered man in Boyz Don't Cry. Glenn Close as a psychotic lover in Fatal Attraction. Charlize Theron as a lesbian serial killer in Monster. Kim Basinger as an neglectful alcoholic mother in 8 Mile. Are these negative roles? I don't hear any WHITE people complaining about anything.

Um, if I'm not mistaken, the roles played by ALL of the actors I've mentioned, both black and white, actually depict REAL LIFE SITUATIONS. Regardless of race - black, white, Asian, middle eastern - all of these characters EXIST on this earth. They're REAL and have been brought to life on the big screen to show the people who don't know how it is to live this way or what real people go through. This world is not all "peaches and cream", and people need to realize that. Real people exists that relates to these stories about real life. Nothing about these characters are typical "black" roles.

All of these actors were recognized for their performances, their range and the emotion they bring to the characters. They broke away from the normal, typical roles they usually play. Look at Training Day and the rest of Denzel's work, Monster's Ball and Halle's resume, or even Precious and Mo'Nique's credits. Notice a difference? These roles are the hardest to portray and those with the extraordinary acting abilities were selected to bring them to life. Any actor, no matter what race, could have played the crooked cop in Training Day but they wouldn't even amount to half the job Denzel did. He owned that role. And who would have thought Mo'nique could be taken seriously and tackle a role that required some real acting chops to get to the deepest and darkest, most screwed up depths of the human soul? Well, guess what? She signed, sealed and delivered it straight to that Oscar win. Mo was Mary Jones.

Does Will Smith deserve an Oscar? Of course he does, based on his roles in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. The reason he lost both is because Denzel (Training Day) and Forrest (Last King of Scotland) took home the prize. But since "we black folks" love to nitpick the negatives, let's REALLY look at the two films: Ali was a cheater and Gardner was homeless single father with a kid whose mother abandoned. Still think he should have won? *Roll-eyes* Anyway, Will's time is coming but I have to say I feel that he's being typecasted into comedic and good guy roles without realizing it.

I'm sure Asians in Hollywood aren't happy that most of their movies are about karate. Native Americans must be up in arms that they're always being represented by tanned white actors. When was the last time you saw a comedy or a love story, let alone black comedies and love stories, that was Oscar-worthy? Yeah, I thought so.

Check this list of Academy Award-winning African Americans:

•Hattie McDaniel, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gone With the Wind (1939).
•Sidney Poitier, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Lilies of the Field (1963).
•Louis Gossett, Jr., Best Actor in a Supporting Role for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982).
•Denzel Washington, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glory (1989).
•Whoopi Goldberg, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ghost (1990).
•Cuba Gooding, Jr., Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jerry Maguire (1996).
•Halle Berry, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Monster’s Ball (2001).
•Denzel Washington, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day (2001).
•Sidney Poitier, Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award “for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence.” [awarded at the 2002 Academy Awards Ceremony]
•Jamie Foxx, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ray (2004).
•Morgan Freeman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Million Dollar Baby (2004).
•Forest Whitaker, Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Last King of Scotland (2006).
•Jennifer Hudson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Dreamgirls (2006).

•Mo'Nique, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire (2010).

•Geoffrey Fletcher, Best Adapted Screenplay for Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire (2010).

I'd say that's a GREAT list. This is better than having films like Friday After Next or Booty Call or Baby Boy being recognized. Those movies damn sure not Oscar-worthy.

I'm getting so sick of my people and this slave mentality B.S. We can't even praise or uplift one another but we're quick to bring each other down with negativity. It's getting old...seriously. We cannot advance living this way. We need to open our eyes and our minds. Are we THAT overly sensitive? If so, it's for all the wrong reasons and the wrong topics.

Oh, hell to da naw!!!

Meet the Coles. This family is the center of a new TLC reality series, ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY. Big as in literally, like the Klumps. And BLACK too.

Am I over-reacting? I DON'T THINK SO!

This shit is playing into all the stereotypes there is about big black folks. "I've been eating fried chicken since I was 2"...???????? I ain't down with this at all.

And I thought BET was bad enough....

In Living Color...

Maybe I’m the only one but I think there’s a double standard among black women.

The other day, my cousin and I were talking about our current favorite TV shows. She mentioned one show that both she and I used to watch…House. I stopped watching because I boycotted the Fox network, all thanks to Fox News Channel, which I despise. What struck me was the reason she stopped watching –Omar Epps’ character was given a non-black love interest. She went on to say, with glee, how Shamar Moore’s character was initially given a non-black female love interest but later, shortly after, a black female lover. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Reggie Bush, Russell Simmons…that’s just to name a few. She’s always denouncing when black men date outside their race. Yet, she cheers when a black woman has a man of any race, white or Hispanic or Asian, instead of a black man. *By the way, my dad is married to a Hispanic woman but she’s never said anything about it…at least in my presence.*

My baby mama Halle Berry, for example: (a) her character roles in Monster’s Ball, The Rich Man’s Wife & Perfect Stranger and (b) her baby daddy-slash-lover Gabriel Aubry. Another example: Sanaa Lathan in Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys. Speaking of Tyler Perry films, I Can Do Bad All By Myself finds Taraji P. Henson’s character falling for CSI Miami alum Adam Rodriguez’s character. (I never saw the movie so I’m assuming they may have gotten together, knowing T.P.’s film history) 

Why is it that black women have problems with black men being in interracial relationships but it’s okay for black women to have a little “jungle fever”? Black women come up with all kinds of excuses for their reasons of dating outside their race: no good black men left, they’re either married or gay or bi/DL, have no job or are man-sluts, can’t treat women right. The list goes on. Some even claim men of other races are more goal-driven and treat women better than black men. *Blinks* Just tear the bruthas down, eh? But when it comes to the “bruthas” ditching the “sistahs” for other women of other races, these same black women complain: all these beautiful black women (BBW) available, they’re intimidated or can’t handle strong educated BBWs, they’re scared or suck-ups, bourgeois or think they can boost their status/image.

What’s worse is when my cousin, same one from earlier, said she hope the Saints lose and Reggie Bush blow his back or his knee out…all so Kim Ho-dashian can leave him. *Now…you don’t go around jinxing my future baby daddy like that.*  Father Russell said it better:

“That’s pure bullshit. I prefer funny, charming and yes, beautiful women. I like Black African women like Ms Tanzania, Flaviana, or Kiara; and I like French-African like Noemie Lemoir. I like African-American women like Porschla and Katie Rost. I like - no, LOVE – Asian-Black women like my children AND Kimora Lee. Oh, and I like Swedish women like my old girl Tova Johannsen. I like blond Texas girls like my ex girl Julie. I like Danish girls like Heidi Albertson. I like Puerto Ricans like Heidy Alliende. I could go but the point is made. I’m sick of racist self hating women suggesting that I prefer this and that. I prefer hot funny charming non-cigarette smoking, non-fur wearing women from any place in the world.”

My black sistahs, #GetIntoIt! So what if a brutha like a little White, Mexican or Asian. Ain’t nothing wrong with dipping into a little vanilla every now and then. It’s almost 2010. This racial double standard among black people, period, has gotta stop.

Sign’d

AJ