The water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, began 3,653 days ago, on April 25, 2014, when the city switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The result was lead contamination being distributed through the city’s water system.
At the time, Flint was 51.5% Black (the Black population in Michigan as a whole was 13.8%) and had a 40.1% poverty rate — meaning nearly half of the people in the city were living at or below the poverty line. The poverty rate in Flint was over double the state as a whole. Flint also had a higher proportion of people with disabilities, which is also a large contributor to poverty.
The city ranked third in violent crime among other cities in the state, and the median income was only 52.5% of the state median.
In other words, in the eyes of the government, these people were Black, poor and easily overlooked, so the government overlooked them.
The people of Flint are still being overlooked.
In 2020, the state of Michigan agreed to pay $600 million for its role in the water crisis while the city of Flint agreed to pay $20 million. Because of delays in the “claims administration process,” the only people who have seen any of that money are the attorneys involved with the case.
10 years later, people in Flint are still suffering the effects of the water crisis
racism
Ben Bolch’s LA Times column on LSU is the latest example of how legacy media perpetuates misogynoir
LinkIn journalism school, we are taught that we need to be objective in our reporting and writing.
I could go into a long tangent about how objectivity in journalism is a myth created by gatekeepers in legacy media who wanted to control both the stories that were told and how those stories got told.
The whole point of “objectivity” in journalism was to not offend the main readers of news, who were and still are white men. Features sections were later added for white women, but at no point were Black people or our stories were not the consideration in legacy media or the entire objectivity debate. White men and white women have always been the target audience, and it’s still that way now.
This means that the way stories get told about Black people was historically told through a lens that satisfied the sensibilities of white people.
New media – or the media spaces that have been created since the advent of the internet — changed all of that.
With more and more Black publications and outlets entering the arena and telling our stories in a way that honors us and uplifts our stories specifically, legacy media has not had the same level of control over what is considered “objective.”
In this day and age, who you are as a person is directly reflected in the way you write your stories and the stories you choose to write.
Opinion writing is not objective; it is, in fact, the exact opposite. It’s subjective AF.
Opinion writing is a subset of journalism in which journalists, commentators, critics, etc. share their personal thoughts on the topic of their choosing.
Those topics can be movies, current events, albums, politics, racial justice issues, social justice issues and the list goes on.
The writing in opinion pieces is a bit looser than the writing you see in reported pieces. Op-eds tend to lean more into the way a writer personally expresses themselves. They may use slang or jargon that may not otherwise appear in regular news pieces, and their personality tends to come out more in the writing because, again, it is an expression of their deep, personal thoughts.
Taking all of that into consideration, let’s talk about Ben Bolch’s op-ed that was published in the L.A. Times prior to the UCLA-LSU matchup in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Ben Bolch’s LA Times column on LSU is the latest example of how legacy media perpetuates misogynoir
Candace Owens is attempting to rebrand herself, and Black people shouldn’t fall for it
LinkI have always viewed Candace Owens as someone who is very dangerous for Black people. Much like Jason Whitlock, she is willingly putting a Black face in front of all the anti-Black rhetoric (some) white people wish they could spew without catching flack for it.
Candace Owens is anti-Black, and what makes it so egregious is she wasn’t always like this. She, like Whitlock, seemingly realized there was money to be made in being the Black spokesperson for white people’s anti-Blackness, so she jumped on the train and started parroting the white supremacist rhetoric of those signing her checks.
She gained a lot of popularity behind it. There is nothing (some) white people love more than a Black person they can point to and tell the rest of us, “She agrees with us!”
There was a time when Candace Owens was actually very critical of Republicans, conservatives and especially Donald Trump. Up until 2016, she ran a website called Degree180, which bashed Trump during his 2016 run for president and even had an article questioning and mocking his penis size.
While she has up until recently been making her living denying the existence of institutionalized, systemic and individual racism in America, Degree180 wrote about these topics quite frequently, calling out people like Ted Cruz for being transphobic.
The flip-flop for Candace seemed to come along sometime in 2017; she was hired by Turning Point USA in November of that year to be their director of “urban engagement,” which is code for “we need somebody dark to talk to these darkies.”
Candace Owens is attempting to rebrand herself, and Black people shouldn’t fall for it
A ‘colorblind’ society upholds white supremacy
LinkHello friends, non-friends and white people who claim they don’t see color.
I want to give a special shoutout to the “colorblind” white people. Life must be so special for you. How do you even match your clothes on a daily basis? Is your colorblindness related to the racist bone that is not in your body?
These questions need answers, but since we are already here, let’s talk about this idea that we should be a “colorblind” society in America.
You see, there are some white people who will tell you that bringing up race and color is the real issue. They say it’s divisive and only causes more problems. If only we would stop talking about race and color, all the bad things would go away, they say.
That is a lie. The truth is that ignoring race and color means ignoring the injustices that go along with race and color in this country. Declaring yourself “colorblind” means you are also blinding yourself to the inequities and injustices suffered by Black people.
A ‘colorblind’ society upholds white supremacy
America continues to gaslight Black people about racism
LinkThis past Monday was the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, and if you ever needed an example of how America continues to gaslight Black people and play in our faces, look no further than the tweet the FBI sent out in “commemoration” of that day.
“This #MLKDay, the #FBI honors one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement and reaffirms its commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of fairness and equal justice for all,” their social media person wrote as a caption to a photo of the MLK monument in Washington, D.C.
A Twitter community note added to the tweet said, “The FBI engaged in the surveillance of King, attempted to discredit him, and used manipulation tactics to influence him to stop organizing. King’s family believe the FBI was responsible for his death.”
America continues to gaslight Black people about racism
For Black People, Reparations Are About More Than Slavery
LinkIt is important for any discussion of reparations to include the ongoing and lasting impact of the legacy of slavery, but we cannot allow the conversation to be derailed by those who seek to whittle it down to the simple act of the enslavement of Black people.
Those people are either oblivious, willfully obtuse or flat-out disregarding the lasting impact the enslavement of Black people in America has left behind.
It’s not just about people being treated like chattel. It’s about the ways in which America has continued to do its best to subjugate an entire group of people who played one of the biggest roles in the building of this “great nation.”
For Black People, Reparations Are About More Than Slavery
Let’s talk about some words that trigger white people
LinkMoist.
“Moist” is a polarizing word out here in these streets. There are so many people I know who hate the word “moist,” and I don’t know why.
Is it because it sounds wet when people say it? Is it the weird combination of letters used to spell it? Why do people hate the word “moist” so much?
There have been many articles written over the years that have tried to explain why people have such a bad reaction to that word.
My editor, Genetta Adams, is one of those people who doesn’t like the word moist. When I asked her why, she said, “It’s stupid for me not to like it, and I know it’s stupid, but the way you say the word ‘moist’ just sounds nasty.
“Only weird and gross things are described as moist,” she continued. “That’s basically it. It just sounds wrong. It just sounds icky.”
“Cake is the only good thing that is described as moist,” she added. “Otherwise, it just feels like you are describing something dark and dirty.”
Most people recognize that their aversion to the word “moist” is irrational, and their reactions to hearing it usually never extend beyond cringing, shaking their head or asking the person to stop saying it.
I’m sure they recognize the word is not actively harming them, so they don’t have to treat it like a grenade.
I wish the same could be said about (some) white people and certain words that seem to trigger (some of) them whenever they hear them or see them in print.
The words that seem to feel like hot grits on the delicate and fragile skin of (some) white people are “white,” “race,” “racism,” and “racist.”
Let’s talk about some words that trigger white people
No matter how high we climb, white people will find a way to put us in our ‘place’
“The party took place in the garden of the Forest Hills home of Dr. Duroseau and Claude, and the guests were all Black or Latino except for one person.
“According to the lawsuit, as the party was coming to an end, a white woman walked into the Duroseau home uninvited with a “large, menacing German Shepherd” and demanded they turn the music down. Duroseau told her they were having a birthday party and that it was wrapping up soon. He asked her to leave and went back to the backyard where guests continued to socialize.
“That’s when another white neighbor, a man identified as 48-year-old Marcus Rosebrock, decided to turn his water hose on the partygoers to make them leave.”
No matter how high we climb, white people will find a way to put us in our ‘place’
Jann Wenner is an example of why Black media matters
LinkIf we leave it up to white men like Jann Wenner, Black stories won’t ever get told.
Jann Wenner is the Ron DeSantis of music journalism. He would rather erase all the voices that aren’t white and male than admit that anyone else contributed anything to a culture he is directly benefiting from.
Jann Wenner is an example of why Black media matters
White Principal Blames Black Teacher For Assembly That Singled Out Black Students For Low Test Scores
LinkThis is a story about Florida.
I’ve written before about the anti-Blackness being fostered in the Sunshine State; their governor, Ron DeSantis, is leading the charge by legislating anti-Black racism and all other kinds of bigotry in the state.
It is especially egregious when anti-Blackness is targeted at innocent Black children.
Let me explain.
In case you missed it for whatever reason, Bunnell Elementary School in Flagler County, Florida — a school district already notorious for their low test scores — pulled all of its Black fourth and fifth graders into an assembly late last month where they were shown a PowerPoint presentation that blamed them for the school’s low scores on state standardized tests.
The children were told that if they didn’t bring the test scores up, they would likely end up in jail, dead, or shot to death.
Never mind that Black students make up only 14% of the student population at Bunnell. In a school where white students make up 60% of the student body, only 32% of students are meeting or exceeding the required measurements on state assessments. That ain’t the Black kids’ fault.
These details didn’t matter, however, as even Black students who were meeting or exceeding the metrics were pulled into the assembly.
No other students in the school were made to attend such a presentation or spoken to about the low test scores.
It was racist, and it’s OK for us to call it racist. To not acknowledge the inherent racism and implicit bias in this incident is to spit in the faces of the Black children who endured this injustice.
Parents of the Black students said their children were traumatized by the assembly — especially the part where they were told they would be “shot dead” if their scores didn’t improve.
White Principal Blames Black Teacher For Assembly That Singled Out Black Students For Low Test Scores
It’s safer to be a neo-Nazi in Florida than it is to be Black or LGBTQ+
LinkIn the same press release, which denounced the demonstrations for the bigoted hate parades that they were, the ADL said another demonstration took place later that same day. The two extremist groups involved in that hate gathering were identified as the Goyim Defense League (GDL) and Blood Tribe (BT). The second “demonstration,” which the participants called the “March of the Redshirts,” included 51 people — all of whom were wearing red shirts, black masks and black pants. They carried swastika flags, performed Hitler salutes and yelled things like “white power” and “Jews will not replace us.”
USA Today reports that some of those involved in the demonstrations displayed messaging in support of Ron DeSantis, their resident bigot-in-chief.
Some Florida lawmakers have come out to denounce the demonstrations, but you know who has yet to say anything about them?
Ron DeSantis.
Through his words and legislative actions, DeSantis has created an environment where bigotry feels free to walk proudly in neon clothing out in the open. It doesn’t have to hide under the white hoods and sheets of yesteryear. It can show its face proudly because the highest-ranking member of the state government has given bigots a pass to do what they want.
It’s safer to be a neo-Nazi in Florida than it is to be Black or LGBTQ+
Stop trying to whitesplain Black women’s experience in America
LinkIn other words, white people love to come around and whitesplain the Black experience to Black people even though they have never been Black a day in their lives, and judging from the way their fragility and thin skin erupt into irrational outbursts on the internet, I’m going to guess they have neither the mental nor the intestinal fortitude to survive even one day in a Black experience.
White people don’t understand the inanity of having your tone policed when you are speaking up for yourselves in a situation when the power dynamic of race comes into play. They don’t understand that in situations like what Coco went through, you have to adapt to the sensitivities of the white person you are addressing even as they are trampling over yours with no regard. They can’t imagine a world where everything you do is viewed through the lens of you being Black and how that lens is clouded with the smudges of implicit bias, systemic racism and white privilege.
In fact, it is white privilege that thrusts them into the position of thinking they can speak with authority and tell us how we are misunderstanding something that happened to us and not them.
Stop trying to whitesplain Black women’s experience in America
Ron DeSantis Makes It OK To Be Anti-Black In Florida
LinkWhite people frequently tell us that we “make everything about race.”
Ron DeSantis Makes It OK To Be Anti-Black In Florida
They use it like some sort of “gotcha!” to derail any type of discussion on race, racism, or racial justice.
Never mind that the entire construct of race was conceptualized by white people in order to make themselves “superior” over everyone else.
They don’t want to talk about that part. Instead, they would rather use a twisted form of DARVO to make a villain out of anyone who brings up racism, white supremacy, white privilege, or whiteness. In their eyes, the problem isn’t racism, white supremacy, white privilege or whiteness; the problem is that we “darkies” won’t stop talking about it.
Their skin is so thin, and their egos are so fragile, that they have to legislate not talking truthfully about race and racism in order to create an environment where whiteness, white supremacy, and racism can exist and thrive unchecked.
Whiteness does not care about the comfort or education of Black students
LinkLast Friday, the school singled out all of its Black fourth and fifth graders and pulled them into an assembly where they were held responsible for the school’s low test scores.
A PowerPoint presentation, titled “AA Presentation,” was shown to the students. The presentation itself contained typos and errors, and the irony of that is making me constipated because how are you going to create an entire assembly to shame Black children for the failures of the system (of whiteness) when you don’t even have it together enough to proofread said presentation? Y’all are just sloppy all around.
It identified Black students as “the problem” in low test scores because they “have underperform [sic] on standardized assessment for the past three years.” It notes that the school only has 32% of its students who are where they need to be when it should have 41%.
It then tasks the students with committing to getting themselves up to where they need to be on the standardized tests; passing all their curriculum-based assessments with a 75% or higher, and committing to “maintaining high iReady scores within their individual track.”
There were no bullet points in the presentation that detailed how the school was going to help the Black children keep these commitments.
Whiteness does not care about the comfort or education of Black students
Elon Musk wants to remove the ‘block’ button on X, formerly known as Twitter. That would be a huge mistake.
LinkIn May, after I wrote extensively about the Citi Bike Karen incident, I was doxxed repeatedly, and when I reported a few of the accounts on Twitter, I got a response back saying they had found no violation in the person’s tweets.
I’m not the only one.
Black women are targeted for abuse daily on the app as are members of the trans community and the LGBTQIA+ community at large. Racists, Trumpers and everyone in between look for every opportunity to try and make someone else’s day miserable. I spend a lot of time blocking accounts in order to protect my peace.
Marginalized communities already face an onslaught of abuse on Twitter, and with this latest decision, Musk is proving that he doesn’t care.
It is highly likely that his desire to remove the ability to block people is directly tied to people blocking him (it obviously hurts his little feelings that no one cares to read what he has to say) and a large-scale campaign to block Twitter Blue users who pay to have their tweets prioritized over everyone else.
And since the introduction of tweet monetization for that same user base, the rage farming has increased as blue checkmark accounts try to incite people into engaging with their content so that they may suck at the teat that is Twitter’s ad revenue — or so Elon has promised them.
Elon Musk wants to remove the ‘block’ button on X, formerly known as Twitter. That would be a huge mistake.
Edward Blum, the man who targeted affirmative action, says he wants equality, but his actions are anti-Black
LinkIt wasn’t his first time trying this lawsuit. He did it before in 2012 with a white girl, Abigail Fisher, who didn’t get into the University of Texas. That case flopped, and Blum obviously set out to find a more sympathetic face to use for his cause.
Blum was also the architect behind Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court case that essentially dismantled the Voting Rights Act.
Blum recently filed a new lawsuit in Atlanta that targets Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm that provides $20,000 grants to Black women who run businesses.
Edward Blum, the man who targeted affirmative action, says he wants equality, but his actions are anti-Black
Here’s what Sarah Jane Comrie could do to fix the Citi Bike situation, but she won’t
LinkWe are upset because Sarah Jane Comrie chose to react in a way that was too over the top for the type of dispute that was happening at that moment.
The boy’s side of the story has now come out, and we’ve learned that she initially asked three of the boys in the video if she could take their bikes, and after being told “no” by all three, she proceeded to try and commandeer the bike of the boy we see resisting her in the video.
His side of the story makes her look so much worse. She comes off as entitled at the very least, but the history of white women weaponizing their whiteness and tears in the name of causing trouble for Black people is what has people — Black people in particular — on edge.
Here’s what Sarah Jane Comrie could do to fix the Citi Bike situation, but she won’t
Mother Of Teen In Citi Bike Video Speaks Out: ‘No One Bothered To Ask Him What Happened’
Link“This situation is really driving me crazy and making me sick,” Betty said. “We have never been in this situation before.”
“We came to this country to make a better life for our kids,” she continued. “We are not thieves. Just because we are poor doesn’t mean we are thieves.”
Betty said Michael had to stay home from school for a few days because of the mental anguish of the incident and all that has come after it.
“As a mother, you don’t want to see your child like that,” she said.
Betty said she was horrified when she first saw the video.
“My reaction when I saw it was ‘oh my God. I almost lost my son in that moment.’ Do you understand me? I am not from here, but we all know this country,” she said. “But how the policemen here do our sons, and our husbands, and our fathers. They kill us.”
Mother Of Teen In Citi Bike Video Speaks Out: ‘No One Bothered To Ask Him What Happened’
Accountability is like kryptonite to whiteness
LinkThe racist mob has tried to make the narrative be about everything but Sarah Jane Comrie’s behavior in the video — even though it’s her behavior that everyone is upset about.
There is a reason for this.
Accountability is like kryptonite to whiteness. Whiteness does not like being held accountable. Whiteness doesn’t like seeing white people being held accountable.
Accountability is like kryptonite to whiteness
The ‘receipts’ don’t matter. The bike doesn’t matter. Sarah Jane Comrie’s actions matter
LinkHer lawyer’s statements in the media are meant to obfuscate the actual issue at hand. He is making it about whether or not she tried to steal a bike and whether or not she actually paid for said bike, but even he has to know on some level that’s not the real issue.
Judging by his statements in defense of her, the employment lawyer representing Sarah Jane Comrie understands that her very loud and public outburst where she weaponizes her tears and begins screaming for help even when she was in no imminent danger is the issue.
People who saw that video understood exactly what Sarah Jane Comrie was doing. It was evident in the smug look you see on her face right before she began screaming for help.
Attorney Justin Marino knows that even Sarah Jane Comrie’s employer, NYC Health + Hospitals called her behavior in the video “disturbing.”
The ‘receipts’ don’t matter. The bike doesn’t matter. Sarah Jane Comrie’s actions matter
White People Like Sarah Jane Comrie Always Get The Benefit Of The Doubt
StandardIt’s really funny the way white people get all up in arms about one of their own being dragged through the media, but they have no issue with it when it’s a Black victim having their past dredged up in the wake of their murder ala Jordan Neely. The hypocrisy is blinding and white.
Adding to the madness is a follow-up article from the New York Post in which they claim to have receipts sent to them by Justin Marino, an employment lawyer defending Sarah Jane Comrie to help her keep her job with NYC Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H).
Marino claims the alleged receipts prove that Comrie rented the bike first and it was immediately put back in the rack one minute later, and then she rented another shortly thereafter.
The Post follow-up was written after Marino sent a letter in response to their original article.
White People Like Sarah Jane Comrie Always Get The Benefit Of The Doubt
Sarah Jane Comrie used her whiteness to try and steal a Citi Bike
LinkContinue readingSarah Jane Comrie knew exactly what she was doing when she began yelling. She wanted to draw the wrong type of attention to those young men so she could force them to give her what she wanted — the motorized bike.
She understands that as a white woman, she is always going to be viewed as the victim in any situation. She knows that white comfort is always prioritized over everything else. She is aware that if she makes a loud enough scene, some white man or a cop will come flying in to “rescue” her.
It’s what she wanted.
Sarah Jane Comrie is a 2023 version of Carolyn Bryant.
Bryant, who died two weeks ago on April 25, should have been tried in Emmett Till’s murder, but she never was. She died of old age — a luxury she denied Emmett Till.
Emmett Till was murdered because of her lie.
Sarah Jane Comrie Is A 2023 Version Of Carolyn Bryant
Once again, it’s Monique’s Mailbag
Monique’s Mailbag came out on a Tuesday this week, and it’s good.
Continue readingThe Tennessee State House just did the most racist thing
I believe Elie Mystal said it best when he told MSNBC, “Tennessee has now given the entire country an object lesson in critical race theory better than any AP history course ever could have. Everybody sees it now. Everybody knows it now. Everybody gets exactly what is going on.”
Continue readingMLK is not your Black Jesus, white people
Today, on the 55th anniversary of his murder, I wrote about how white people weaponize Dr. Martin Luther King, his work, and his message against Black people.
“One of the biggest lies ever told about King is that he believed in a colorblind society. This is false.
It is an idea derived from a 40-word passage from his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in which he said, ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.’
And if we are being honest, that 40-word passage has been whittled down to nine simple words “not be judged by the color of their skin.”
What King meant when he said that and what white people have twisted it to mean are two different things.”
Dear white people: Martin Luther King Jr. is not Black Jesus. He did not die for our ‘sins.’
It’s Monday, so that means I’m checking (white) people. Again.
There is a new issue of my newsletter, “off the record.”
Continue reading‘Fo shizzle, my nizzle…’
I’m sure Barbie was a beloved part of people’s daily news routine down there, and that’s fine, but there’s this thing that happens when white people get too comfortable around Black people: They start thinking they can say and do things they normally wouldn’t if they didn’t have that familiarity.
To be clear, “nizzle” is a euphemism for the n-word. Most of us know that, and I’m sure Barbie Bassett was well aware of that before she let it come out of her mouth. Using the euphemism instead of the real word when you are a white person is still egregious no matter how you try to defend it or spin it. You shouldn’t be trying to use that word in any way, shape or form, even if you try to say she was just emulating or paying homage to Snoop Dogg, it’s still wrong.
It’s just like the digital blackface conversation — there are no passes for this.
Bassett has not appeared on air since the incident happened, and according to multiple news reports, no reason has been given for her absence. While station vice president and general manager Ted Fortenberry said on social media, “WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters,” there is no official word on whether she has actually been fired. Her bio is no longer on the station’s website, and she has reportedly removed any mention of WLBT from her Facebook page.
A white lady news anchor said ‘fo shizzle my nizzle’ on air and got benched for her trouble
Let’s talk about digital blackface
To be clear, Black people were not always equally represented in the GIF game. In fact, aside from some really creative people making their own, there was a decided dearth of Black reaction gifs for us to share. That changed in 2016 when Jasmyn Lawson became the culture editor at GIPHY and made it her mission to make “their library of GIFs an inclusive reflection of the world.”
She accomplished her goal. She added some of the funniest and most iconic moments with our favorite Black celebrities, athletes, and social media personalities to the mix and suddenly we had a way to express ourselves with each other on social media. It was like having a graphics version of AAVE to speak in.
Black folks speaking in memes and GIFs with each other on social media is a type of shorthand we all know and recognize. It’s a way we signify with and relate to each other.
Our use of these memes and GIFs comes with an inherent cultural understanding of where they came from and what they represent when we use them with each other.
That type of understanding and nuance is not present when non-Black people try to use them in the same way.
There are levels to this ‘digital blackface’ discussion
Y’all started it
LinkBefore I get started, let me be clear about one thing: All white people have white privilege.
Whenever white privilege comes up as a topic, there are always white people who want to claim they don’t have it because they are poor or uneducated or whatever excuse they come up with to try and distance themselves from the very thing that gives them a leg up no matter their class or circumstance.
White privilege is an inherent gift that all white people benefit from just by virtue of being white. You can put a poor white person in the same space as a poor Black person, and the white person is going to be viewed as somehow better no matter their station.
White privilege is about opportunity.
Being the smartest, most educated and experienced person applying doesn’t guarantee a Black person will get a job, but a mediocre white person can get a job over them because of white privilege.
White people made everything about race
My latest for theGrio discusses the social construct of race, whiteness, white privilege and white supremacy.
White fragility *is* white violence
Link“I consider my writing to be a form of activism. It is my way of using my voice, my natural writing ability, and my words to speak up for myself and other Black people.
It is a form of protest, in my opinion, and baby, protest is not supposed to make you feel comfortable.
If you, as a white person, feel personally attacked by the things I say and write, that requires a level of self analysis that I can’t help you with. It’s not up to me to smooth it over for you and make it easier for you to digest.”
The frustrations of a Black woman who writes about race