TACTICAL
A few weeks ago I got a text from KT and her Mom. It seems that they were having a conversation about KT’s heritage and our daughter has it in her head that she is “mixed”. Her reasoning being that her father is half-white and she leans a more to the “black” in her! I had a good laugh and it made me smile knowing that I am a part of their conversation and in KT’s thoughts. The self-deprecating humor of the comment was not lost upon me, because my non-conforming character has always meant that my “authentic blackness” would be called into question. Then the Rachel Dolezal story broke.
If you get my feed on Facebook, then you may know that I was captivated by her story. Jezebel had an article on Ms. Dolezal and it brought tears of laughter to my eyes as I read it the Saturday morning after the story first broke.. I had never heard of anyone ever claiming to be African-American when they weren’t, and the anguish of “passing”, immortalized by the book and movies (there were TWO of them!!) of the same name, “Imitation of Life”, is at the root of the issues between light and dark-skinned African-Americans. For Ms. Dolezal, this seemed to be an obsession of sorts for her, as her parents indicated her fascination with African-American culture in her youth. After her parents adopted 4 African-American children, her obsession took her into an entirely unforeseen direction.
Maybe part of Rachel’s desire to leave behind her whiteness could have been due to the upbringing she endures. Her claims of abuse notwithstanding, I have often been given to ruminate on dysfunction in the social systems of families where faith is a critical component to the philosophy of how a family lives. This is not to say that only religious families suffer from these kind of social and intra-family breaks from standard. You could substitute “faith” for “ignorance” and pretty much find a similar kind of problem within a family. When I was a child, the saying “follow an ugly child home and watch an ugly parent open the door”, could have been just as easily be substituted with the word “stupid” or “ignorant”. In fact, the PRIDE within a social community on their lack of intellect or desire of the pursuit of knowledge is one that simply staggers the mind.
...MEANWHILE
Still haven’t been able to confirm travel dates for Lexxie. Going through her Mom is difficult, as she harbors an ill-will towards me. There have been times where discussions have been smooth, but more often than not, she get angry and jumps the track, which unsurprisingly, leaves us with nothing accomplished.
I am progressing nicely towards my goal of lifting 1200lbs between my deadlift, bench press, and squat. After I do that, my next fitness goal will be to find my legs and get back onto a regular running schedule. I will do more cardio, adding kettlebell swings and combo exercises with lighter weights. And I expect to take my certification test in July, mid-August at the latest.
And that is that with that..!
2 comments:
i know i am not gypsy enough to ever be fully accepted in that culture and i really know very little about my dad's parents other than what i cobbled together from my paternal grandmother's recolections. i think i like to think about it in a romantacized sense, in a way that seems normal for an adult child who had no ties with half her birth family for most of her life and a very strong desire to be able to conect with that unknown part of myself.
after the rachel business, i did some self reflection and was able to find some genuine empathy for her, as another little girl who grew up one way and as an adult did whatever she could to escape that upbringing. i really don't get the path she took, but i understand the motivation.
be well and keep on those goals- i've begun wii boxing for fun and fitness!
xxalainaxx
Good luck on the certification! I may have to hire you!!!!
Rachel? Black women have a hard enough time without imposters throwing themselves in the mix. I hope all works out for your daugther's visit.
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