#modqueenofhearts

Hello! I’m sorry love, I’m not sure when you sent this, but it just showed up in the inbox, and I have almost completed my first week! Very exciting. 

It’s not as hard as I imagined it would be, to be honest. I prepped for it the week ahead of time, and I don’t naturally eat whole lot any way, so other than the midday ache as I call it (which is when I typically have my largest meal), it’s been not bad at all. 

I’ve been reading the quran, and reflecting on my faith and why I choose this path, even if I don’t quite walk it on the straight and narrow. Thank you so much for asking after me love 3

It was a reaction to Blackout. The hashtag Whiteout was a reaction/retaliation. I watched it form. Maybe AFPE didn’t mean it that way, but the speed and switness, and what those involved in Selfie week are tainting it.

I’m glad it was inspired. That’s great. I still find it tactless. I still wish the best for the people involved. I still wish people weren’t complaining about it being too exclusionary. I sincerely hope people feel uplifted. I wish y’all would have waited. I’m disgusted with people who are hoping the following BlackOut Fridays aren’t as successful.

I can’t separate my blackness from my humanity, inasmuch as I try not to show too much bias on here. Honestly this feels like when people tried to shoehorn #BlackLivesMatter to #AllLivesMatter. Yes they do, and yes, everyone should feel pretty and beautiful, but this wasn’t about everyone.

I’m tired Nonnie. It’s a tiredness in my spirit. #Blackout was a shining bright point within all of that, that applied a balm to old wounds over decade old, a rebuke against messages pushed on me that my skin was disgusting, that I would never be as good as my light-skinned counterparts or as rich in cultural depth and majesty as my darker-skinned ones. 

Black issues are not about every person, and they shouldn’t be. But it feels like so many people think that those issues should be about everyone. 

Look, I’m honestly a little disappointed about everyone’s reactions with regards to #Blackout. Even on our blog, from our associated blogs, I see people completely and utterly missing the point. And it really hurts my heart to see all this... this misinformation.

Blackout was started by a Black person for Black people. Black people of all shades and colors and shapes and gender identity. Yes, it was exclusionary. Yes, it was racially charged. It wasn’t just about a rejection of Euro-centric beauty standards, but a celebration of Black people, a vehement, community rejection of anti-Blackness, an event of self-healing and self love that our Black was Beautiful, and that we would support one another in this.

This was something that was ours. The black community, not just on tumblr, but all over the internet, praising each other, and if we were lucky, our non-black friends helping to uplift us as well. Yes, there were assholes who said no one white should post a selfie, but the creators and organizers never did, only wanted the hashtags for the event.

From the creator:

I got inspired to propose Blackout day after thinking “Damn, I’m not seeing enough Black people on my dash”. Of course I see a constant amount of Black celebrities but what about the regular people? Where is their shine? When I proposed it, I thought people would think it was a good idea, but not actually go through with implementing it. Luckily people wanted to get behind the idea, and @recklessthottie created the #Blackout tag.

I thought about the tag #Black Friday, and making it a tradition on the first Friday of every month, because celebrating the beauty of Blackness is of the UTMOST importance. I’m really sick and tired of seeing the “European standard of beauty” prevail. It’s past time for the beauty of Black people to be showcased.  I love all people of color, but this here is for us.

Black History Month is always excellent, but one month isn’t enough to celebrate our heritage and our beauty. No matter what your skin tone is, you’re beautiful. All my life I have heard my grandma tell me stories of how her own people did her because she was lighter than most. She told me some awful stories that will make anybody tear up and its these stories that make me wish that there wasn’t such a divide in skin tones. We need a unified agreeance that ALL black people are beautiful and worthy of praise and admiration, and Blackout day is a step towards that.

Frankly, I find Selfie week to be a little tactless. I hope y’all enjoy it. Honestly I do. I hope you get whatever you need from it, that you feel empowered and beautiful. I hope you understand that the fact that these this week arose as a reaction against #Blackout is why people are upset. I hope your day goes well.

Specificity is not a sin. Enjoy your week kids.

Honestly, I find it’s best be as close as possible to specificity.

“Homo- and polysexuals tend to face” 

“Those on the LGBT spectrum...”

“Black lesbians have a higher incidence...”

“Indigenous people of Alaska...”

“The Amazigh people of North Africa...”

“Afro-Latinos of Arizona tend to live...”

Rather than trying to group such diverse groups under a single label. 

If you've truly studied Islam for several years, there’s a major difference between recognizing the Quran as the one true text and the hadiths and narrations as supplementary information.

The closest thing that can even be related to what you’re saying is about the teachings of generations past and generations future, where one should not raise their child on generation past’s upbringing.

Moreover, criticism of Islam not being a peaceful religion is usually based on either minority fundamentalist approaches or misinterpreted texts. Even so within the Muslim community, there may be misinterpretation of a lot of the text purely on the basis of the cultural history and which sect one follows.

For someone who claims to have studied Islam for a period of time, you’re not touching the surface of the complexity that branches out once you study religion - where many religions have the core belief of inner peace and attempts of seeking spirituality and guidance

Mercy is constantly emphasized in the Quran, as it is a vital part of our lives to show mercy for ourselves and others the way God shows us so much mercy on a daily basis.

“We have a major need for a summer program,” she explained. “Learning stops during the summer for my scholars. We have what is called a ‘summer slide.’ My scholars can’t even go outside. It’s too dangerous. As an exercise, my teachers broke into small groups and took a walk through the community. We wanted to understand how our students live. We went inside the housing projects. The parks and playgrounds were empty because it’s too dangerous. Even the library isn’t a safe zone. Just last Saturday, one of my scholars had two guns pulled on him while he was walking to the community center. In broad daylight. It’s just too dangerous to be outside, so my scholars stay inside all summer. They aren’t learning to ride horses or drive boats, and they certainly aren’t traveling. They miss out on the enrichment available to children from more affluent neighborhoods. They need a safe place where they can do activities and continue to grow their minds. I tried to put together a program last summer, but I couldn’t afford it. I couldn’t really put together any activities, and I could only use teachers-in-training. I need the funds to put together a program with my own teachers so my students have a safe place where they can continue to grow outside of school.”

Ms. Lopez estimates that an effective summer program will cost about $40,000 a year. So every $40,000 beyond the $350,000 we’ve already raised will provide another “safe and productive summer “ for the students at Mott Hall Bridges Academy.

If you hadn’t already donated, please consider helping us continue to empower this visionary educator in her quest to transform her school and community: http://bit.ly/1JmIB8u

-------------------------------------------------

Consider continuing to donate to the Academy friends!

We're sounding less like a Social Justice blog... because we talk about the ways in which media outlets treat black suspects versus white suspects in America?

No sure how talking about race make us sound like those blogs but that's fine.

The submit button is there for you to expand on why you feel that it's so horrible and to show a trend of what you feel is horrible behavior or whatever, and the un-follow button is always available to you if you feel that our blog no longer suits you.

Seeing as the Admin who posted that did not violate the Code of Conduct, I fail to see why they should leave.

Don't tell me how to run my blog, please and thank you.

I... What?

Would you mind sharing some context, because this seems really out of the blue.