I got a couple comments offline about my iRock post that were surprisingly negative.  They were from guys who said that they were tired of us black womenfolk uplifting ourselves and what about the fellas…  Weeeeeeellllll, I didn’t know that uplifting someone equated downplaying someone else.  I believe that uplifting women is one major key to uplifting a community.  In the media, we have been hearing so much negativity, especially us educated, supposedly too independent, grouchy, emasculating, career-focused black women.  I know so many awesome black women who don’t know just how awesome they are, and in turn, the people around them don’t necessarily see how awesome they are because they downplay themselves.  So I wanted people to come on here and celebrate how they rock.  Men could too, if you rock.  We don’t hate around these parts–we acknowledge how important both men and women are to our community.  So c’mon.  Can you give us some love without feeling neglected?

Malcolm X once said that black women are the most disrespected, unprotected people in America.  Sometimes I wonder how we got to the point where YouTube video battles about the contention between black men and women became just as mainstream as harping on negative statistics about us every chance possible without providing some solution besides date whoever winks at you.  I don’t know what the solution is, but we’ve got to get back to a point where we respect each other.  I was listening to Michael Eric Dyson today, and a guest on his show, Dr. Raymond Winbush, author of The Warrior Method: A Parents’ Guide to Rearing Healthy Black Boys, said something that really struck a cord with me.  He said that we so often use the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child,” but we never talk about how our village has been torn apart or about how to rebuild it. Ok, I may have added some of my own into that, but you get the picture.  I want to know how we can improve the overall relations within our community (I know not ALL people men-bash or women-bash so don’t start with me please and thanks).  How can we stop the finger pointing and start the embracing?  We all have stuff to work on–it’s not a one-sided issue.  What can we do today to ensure that our kids will respect each other?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

This next video is to add to that convo about guys who love to call out women who aren’t smiling as they walk down the street. Lol–it’s not that deep on a daily basis, but still something to think about.

And y’all know I love me some good music.  This is dedicated to all my girls who rock (even if you didn’t come tell me why, lol).