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  1. The Black Nerd

    May 8, 2012 by elenamary

    The black nerd.  Not sure if  people are saying the phrase “black nerd” more or if I’ve just been reading so much on Donald Glover (swoon) lately that I’m reading the phrase more.  I’ve always had a place in my heart for the social awkward, for the nerds, for those who become fanatical over obscure and typically inherently anti-social pastimes.  Like my old friend Miles Curtiss who is obsessed with open source software, community gardens, and playing really bad music, and throws susagefests where he and the boys pay dungeons and dragons.  My long time friend Derek M, who was the lone black kid in our high school, on the chess team ( I was the lone Latina), and super into Magic the Gathering (GIANT NERD alert).  There are the black visual artist nerds like my friend Derek Stewart and my ex El-Amin Asadi.  Ashley the classically trained performance artist, Jahi the cycling enthusiast (another word for nerd), and KyJah who once said, and it has stuck with me forever, “solving a difficult math problem can be as beautiful as finishing a great novel”.  All the black people in my life are some kind of nerds, or more accurately, all the people I let in my life are nerds, in some way or another.  What I am also getting at, is that black nerds aren’t as a rare of a breed as some would have us believe.  (Did you know there are more black cardiologists than NBA players?)

    A friend of mine was ranting about how someone had told him, he thought he was better than others and I interrupted and said “You are better than others” he disagreed with me and I argued that the world is full of a lot of people and limited time.   The people I choose to let in my life better be awesome or why waste my precious moments?  My friends are better than the average person, and I enjoy their company way better than I do the average person, that is why they are my friends.  Who wouldn’t want to embrace the black nerd?  Who wouldn’t want to embrace nerds in general?   Why is it brilliance and creativity is supposed to be foreign or new for black folk?  Or why does the idea exist that as the non-dominant group we reject nerds?  I sure as hell don’t.  Like it is a bad thing to be around, smart, creative, individuals who wrap themselves in the vivid colors of life.

    I encourage you to seek out creative, brilliant, loving, inspiring people, and I promise to do the same.  Here are a few good places to start I think:

    Read It:

    We Are Respectable Negroes:  “He is also a resplendent purveyor of negro wisdom and collector of Black wit. Holder of the sacred chalice of the Ghetto Nerds. A believer in Black Pragmatism and the glories of the Black Freedom Struggle.”

    Listen to it:
    Roosevelt Franklin Something’s Gotta Give:  “The sing-a-long chorus of “S N M” sums up Roosevelt Franklin’s/conundrum: ‘Smart nigger music/that’s how they label it/like we should be ashamed for saying it/cuz the radio stations they ain’t playin it but I don’t care man, I’m a stay makin’ it.’ “

    Watch it:

    Comics Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele  Comedy sketch about being black nerds

     

    SIDE NOTE:    yes i recognize only one black female nerd getting mentioned here…but that is a whole other post… please remember the black man got the right to vote long before women did in this country…so yeah i am keeping today’s post very heavily male dominated.

    Category personal, race | Tags: | 2 Comments

  2. Cinco de Mayo in the Gateway

    April 26, 2012 by elenamary

    I live in a neighborhood commercially known as “The Gateway” (read government supported gentrification) although I prefer calling it by the more historical name Weinland Park.

    While walking home from the gym last night I saw this advertisement:

    Cinco de Mayo at Gateway

    I did check out the website and the “events and specials” seem to be discounts on alcohol at two bars, the “Irish” one and the “Mexican” one (Kildare’s and Made Mex).  Which to me is personally interesting because an Irish friend visiting the US called me a couple days ago and asked what this Cinco de Mayo thing was all about.  I told her it was an annoying holiday only celebrated in the US.  I compared it to St. Paddy’s but the difference being in Ireland people have actually heard of St Patrick’s day.

    My Mexican aunt who first witnessed cinco de mayo a few years ago, asked me why all the college students were sitting in their yards drinking beers while wearing sombreros.  How would you answer that one?   Anyway, back to the advertisement,  I am offended by it but am having difficulty articulating why, and was hoping my readers could help me out.  On a positive note, it is less offensive than the “spicy” one the North Market had a few years ago:
    Cinco D' Ohio

    Category language, Latinos, Ohio, personal, Politics, race | Tags: ,,,,,, | No Comments

  3. dots, feathers, and oh my

    December 1, 2010 by elenamary

    I received an invite to a  “Whiskey Drinking” party. Who doesn’t love whiskey? I said yes, to the invite, as I do to just about every Facebook invite I get, and didn’t pay to much attention to the rest of the invitation.

    My friend later told me that she too had been invited but that she didn’t want to attend the party because “They are inviting people to dress up as Pilgrims and Indians. I don’t want to go to a party where people are dressed-up as Indians and putting their hands to their mouths and making ‘woo’ ‘woo’ sounds.  It is racist.    I told my friend hosting it that I was uncomfortable with it and she told me that I could dress as a turkey.  I tried explaining this didn’t address the issue of racism.”

    I could see how my friend thought the party was racist but it didn’t quite hit me until I saw the pictures.

    It was when I saw the pictures that I realized “Holy shit! My friends threw a whiskey drinking party, during thanksgiving weekend, handed out face paint as well as construction paper for paper feather headbands. When did it ever become okay to put paint on your face for enjoyment at the expense of an oppressed group?“   When I expressed my concern to some of those in attendance I got different responses; “Well, some people were making fun of thanksgiving so they also added small pox face paint” or that face painting to be like another ethnicity was about as similar to my rainbow party costume, “It’s about as cool as dressing as a rainbow“, or that “Nobody actually *dressed* as indians, they put on construction-paper headbands and facepaint, kindergarten-style.”

    Adding small pox does not take away the pain of painting yourself to represent an ethnicity or race. Comparing a rainbow during a political demonstration bringing awareness to bikes,  to a hipster in a gentrified neighborhood dressed as a “Indian” during Thanksgiving lacks understanding  of  the oppression, genocide and overt and covert racism.   One of the party hosts tried to explain to me why she party’s this way: “I celebrate Thanksgiving because it reminds me to be thankful for my wonderful friends, and whiskey, and a sense of humor, and facepaint, danceparties, music, old warehouses, and good times. Enough said.”

    I am not chastising my friends for having fun, or dancing, or drinking, I love all these things (who doesn’t?!) I want people to have a good time, to acknowledge our childhood memories.  However, some of the things we did as children were hurtful, we weren’t wrong as children, we were children, we didn’t know better.  We know better now.
    I guess my friends just don’t get it. I don’t know how to help my friends understand that their partying, like this, hurts me and offends me.  Not only are they not trying to understand the pain caused, they are looking forward to the next event:

    “Private party hosted by my girlfriend and some other friends. The original wild turkey pilgrims and Indians party was 3 years ago in Italian Village. It took place in Franklinton this weekend but not associated with any group or organization. I had a blast and look forward to 2011′s.”

    Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends, if you asked them if racism was something we should tolerate they would all disagree.   I just don’t know how to get them to see how their own actions are hurtful and racist.  Maybe in June, we can hold a Juneteenth party, and put on black face, and drink forties, or if people are uncomfortable with that we can offer that  they dress as watermelons?

    Category Latinos, Ohio, personal, Politics, race | Tags: | 1 Comment

  4. White Man’s Burden, Again

    November 16, 2010 by elenamary

    I first blogged about this in 2004.

    This happens to me every year, and every year I get angry.

    Every year some self-righteous white man, feeling empowered with his white man’s burden, asks me to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a homeless person.

    Today I was asked “Don’t you want to put a smile on a homeless child?” My response, “Do you really want to engage in that question with me?” He said “No”.  Smart man. But I informed him it was too late because he had already started talking.

    You see there are soooo many issues with it. The homeless shelters prefer the cans of peanut butter, jelly and bread, more than they prefer receiving a soggy sandwich.  The shelters in fact, have requested that sandwiches not be donated .   Making soggy sandwiches does not recognize nor bring awareness to any real issue surrounding homelessness, or hunger.   Rather, it counter serves  in that it gets privileged students to believe that they have now done a good deed and addressed the issue when at best they’ve wasted resources and instilled a false sense of positive contribution.

    It was infuriating to see the students buying coffees from inside the Wexner Center in order to stay warm while standing in the street making soggy sandwiches to put into Ziploc bags.   Take that coffee money, take your time, take those Ziploc bags and plastic gloves, and put it elsewhere where it can be less destructive.  What would be even cooler and better yet is if you did something that addressed the real issues of hunger in this country.

    Category Ohio, personal, Politics, race | Tags: ,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  5. take your racism out of my yard

    September 14, 2010 by elenamary

     I was seated at my desk when I heard lots of noise in my front yard.  Honestly, I figured someone was probably trying to cut a bike lock so I got up to go check it out.  I looked out the window and saw a lot of white people, with trash-bags and gloves, all wearing the same shirt that said “United Way” and “We Care”.  I was surprised at how angry I felt at seeing them. My chest pounded and I thought “If one of those fudgers picks up any trash from my yard I am going to scream.”  They didn’t because there wasn’t any to pick-up.

    People wanted to know why I felt so angry, here is a list of reasons:

    1.  It is patronizing and insulting that you think you care about my neighborhood but that I don’t?  I know my neighbors, they know me, we take care of our neighborhood.   We are not some lazy slobs who can’t take care of ourselves and need you to fix our woeful problems.

    2. This reeks of gentrification. Do you think our neighborhood would only be nicer if we cleaned it up a bit;  then your investment on those overpriced new college student apartments on the corner will be worth it?   Just protecting your investment are you?

    3. Our street doesn’t have any trash in fact street sweeping people just came through yesterday, so why do you think we need your help? Thanks for being so condescending.

    4.  Want to help our neighborhood? Ask what we need. Who are  you to tell us we need to clean?  Actually you didn’t even tell us let alone ask you just did it.  You know what our neighborhood actually needs?  More street lights, better sidewalks, and for you not to drive 45mph on our 25mph street as you use it as a thoroughfare to your jobs.

    5.  We are a mixed race neighborhood. It spews of racism and classism at the idea, that you know what is better for us, and send out white, well dressed people to take care of us.

    6. A complaint as much as a question, does your sense of entitlement that you can walk into my yard and decide what is appropriate come from your racism or your classism?  Or are they so intertwined that it is impossible to know where your entitlement comes from?  I am glad you didn’t try to take away my compost pile.

    7.  You made a judgement call, and although your intentions may have been good, your judgement of my neighborhood, of me, was insulting.  Let’s say you came over to my house uninvited, came into my kitchen and started to organize mop the floor, your intention may have been to help me clean-up but it would be insulting and unsolicited.

    So yes this list could be shorter (and most assuredly a bit redundant) but I think El Pocho Abogado summed it up best:

    I think when people do the basic kind of services in your neighborhood and UW doesn’t ask if you want to participate or give you notice, then it’s pretty patronizing. Most people don’t like to be thought of as charity cases. It’s pretty rude to assume they are. A lot of times those assumptions are tinged with racism.

    Category personal, race | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  6. Hispanic Heritage Month

    September 8, 2010 by elenamary

    I’ve been asked to describe what it is to be Hispanic. I want to answer with a quote from Cherrie Moraga. We both came from one Mexican parent, one Anglo parent. Both of us struggling with our Xicana idenity and both of us abhoring the term Hispanic.

    “I call myself a Chicana writer. Not a Mexican-American writer, not an Hispanic writer, not a half-breed writer. To be a Chicana is not merely to name one’s racial/cultural identity, but also to name a politic, a politic that refuses assimilation into the U.S. mainstream. It acknowledges our mestizaje — Indian, Spanish, and Africano. After a decade of ‘hispanicization’ (a term superimposed upon us by Reagan-era bureaucrats), the term Chicano assumes even greater radicalism. With the misnomer ‘Hispanic,’ Anglo America prefers the Spanish-surnamed the illusion of blending into the ‘melting pot’ like any other white immigrant group. But the Latino is neither wholly immigrant nor wholly white; and here in this country, ‘Indian’ and ‘dark’ don’t melt.”– Cherrie Moraga

    Category Latinos, personal, Politics, race | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

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