Rodney's Rambling's

  I know why the Caged Bird Sings -Songs of Freedom -- "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud."   Throughout our history of trials and triumphs, our songs have been of freedom; as we plowed the fields of justice and planted the seeds of equality, we sang of a brighter day to come. That day is today, as we "lift up our eyes unto the hills." Our faith, resilience, and determination have brought us a new song of freedom. We have now come full circle. And what have we learned? What is the truth? For far too many, the story and reality of Africa spring from the imagination of Europeans. It is a story of initial contact situations in which the Europeans discovered Africa and the Africans. This story is part mythology, part apology, and part ideology, as Europeans emerge as white, superior conquerors, and the Africans are defined as black, inferior, and victimized. We explored how even what is considered science is replete with racial overtones.   Much like the ...

  Chapter 7: The New John Henry, Stereotypes, and Authentic Black Masculinity   There is no single Black Masculine type.  Black masculinity is complex, multilayered, multisituated, and multigenerated.  There is no inherent, intrinsic, or natural Black gendered role.  The system and the community structure gender role orientation, adaptation, and realities.  Between these two extremes, the individual navigates exercising choice.  To ignore Black male agency is to ignore Black male realities.  Under those situations where Black male agency is constricted either by systemic racism or circumscribed by the community, then their ability to effectively navigate is also affected.  Several possibilities exist to alter the effects of systemic and community limitations.   Examining some of these possibilities demonstrates how Black males can successfully create authentic selves devoid of the stigmas and traumas often projected upon them....

Chapter 6 Unsung Warriors -- Black Women   The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.   Malcolm X ’s Speech about Black Women     Black women’s identities have been prescribed and conscribed almost from the beginning of our Nation.  These representations of the African woman in America have rarely reflected the contributions to the American project.  Even when there is an attempt to grudgingly acknowledge their true histories, it barely scratches the surface.  Black women have blazed the trail, set the bar, and creatively constructed their identities and realities from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the Industrial Revolution to the era of civil rights, and from “Hidden Figures” to “the Black Lives Matter Movement.” This chapter, acknowledges the various ways Black women have been both ...