(I was asked to make this rebloggable.)
Anonymous asked: In reference to your Tupac post- I'm a bit surprised to hear support for a rapper who has used and tried to justify the use of the word "bitch" coming from someone who posts in favor of feminism/women's rights so much. Now, I'm not a huge enemy (nor supporter) of Tupac, but since you seem so uptight all the time about women's rights (and often rightfully so, from what I've seen from your posts), I'm curious as to how that doesn't bother you.
Sometimes us uptight black bitches are really complicated. To the point where we contradict ourselves, or indulge in things that to outsiders might seem self-damaging, or support some aspects of a person’s work while being critical of others. It’s cause we’re human, too—crazy, right?
I believe in neither hero worship nor ideological purity. I’ve written about that from time to time (specifically here). My high school hero was Stokely Carmichael, who I found out later said things publicly that were really misogynist. Most of the really important things I’ve learned in life I got from hip-hop records; that’s also where I learned critique. It’s how I learned to take what I need from media or ideas or work. If there’s one main thing I’ve learned from working with teenagers, it’s that you can’t expect anyone to be perfect, or even to always be logical or follow what they say is their ideology, let alone an ideology you approve of.
I also feel like I’ve been unclear if people think I’m getting uptight for women’s rights. I don’t settle for rights, and I don’t settle for alliances that aren’t being forged in all directions. I do decolonization and liberation. I could easily just write off Tupac’s work as being about money and bitches, or I could take and use the portions of his work that are about decolonization and black liberation, which is far more meaningful than just rights.