"She is both hellfire and holy water, and the flavor you taste is how you treat her" – Sneha Pal
“Cora Unashamed,” a short story in The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes, is a story about the White Studevant family and the Black Jenkins family. Cora Jenkins is a housekeeper (to put it politely) in the Studevant’s household and the story discusses the way that she moves through life as a Black woman in the rural Midwest. Among many… Continue reading “Cora Unashamed” – Cora Against the Cult of Domesticity
So there they were – two Black women and one White woman sitting in their office break room. Black woman A (we will call her Alpha) was eating her lunch and minding her own business. Likewise, the White woman (we will call her Whiskey) was doing the same. Enter scene Black woman B (we will call her Beta). Whiskey apparently is under the impression that Alpha and Beta are wearing the same hairstyle and says, “Oh! Did the same person do both of your hair?"
I expect to be treated like a human being
The documentary did an excellent job of putting everything together. It showed the relationship between media, self-image, and power (or lack thereof) of women. It came with numbers, statistics, interviews, and clips of news anchors, podcasters, and radio personalities saying abominable things about women in the public eye (and ear). This was not a group of women sitting around drinking wine bashing men for two hours. It was well researched, organized, and executed.
I really just want to give a shout out to all the awesome women out there. Whether you're the CEO of your own company or the CEO of your home. Whether you're a kick-ass drummer, boxer, basketball player, accountant, or mother. I want you to take a minute to think of all the awesome things you've done today and pat yourself on the back. Give yourself a hug. Pour yourself a martini, or have a piece of chocolate. You deserve it!
Freedom Reader 