I initially wanted to write about slave women and the legacy they left that lead to strong black women. Malcolm X said the most disrespected person in America is the black woman. Behind the black women are notorious nicknames like Mamie, Jezebel, and Sapphire. I believe it dates to our time as slaves, where our bodies were literal commodities. Then their sexual abuse by slaveowners, which birthed more revenue, and eventually the cycle repeats. Thinking back on what slave women had to endure, I have been working with myself to not be angry, but proud. Angela Davis wrote in Women, Race, and Class, that sexual violence was used as weapon against slave women to “keep them in place”. It wasn’t until last week that I learned about slaves and contraception. Apparently some slave women had been chewing cotton root, which was said to have stopped reproduction. I love how this relates to present day, because even in the slave era, black women found a way to take back their bodies. I just thought, “Hell yea, girl.” I don’t know; nothing made me more proud.

Maya Angelou writes in Elegy, “Their seeds must fall and press beneath this earth, and fine me where I wait. My only need to fertilize their birth.” Let’s note Maya Angelou is a generational figure on her own. Black feminists often refer to her, but she speaks for Harriet Tubman basically the root of who we are. Honestly I couldn’t even fathom the type of strength it takes to possess the soul of Harriet Tubman. She is a symbol of black women’s strength. Don’t ever try to get how important she is. I don’t even want you to forget how important slavery was. I agree that sounds insane. There’s nothing but pain and anger for me with the faint thought of slavery. No matter, the fact is it happened and that is our history. Who we are today resonates in the soil of slave women.

Wildy Yours,

I’m revealing three of my deepest secrets. This first one I have to credit to my babies for inspiring me to be strong, vulnerable, and to never give up on my dreams. In time I hope to share the full story. The next segment of Two Truths and a Lie will be a story of mine inspired by my desire for escape. Thank you and thanks for reading.

I wrote I’m No Superman when I was in high school. Inspired by Joe Brooks’ song. And maybe a little fangirl. Here is my first short story with hopefully more to come. Thank you and enjoy!

Wildly yours,

September 15, 1963, marks one of the most notorious, racially motivated attacks against black Americans in the US. Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14), were murdered by a group of KKK members in Birmingham, Alabama while attending a church service.

I first learned of this incident in 7th grade. We learned about the historic tragedy while reading a book called “The Watsons’ Go to Birmingham”. A black family from Michigan was traveling down to the south to leave their unruly, teenaged son with a relative to straighten out his behavior. For most of my youth, in school, when we discussed racial incidents it was obvious I was the only one whom could relate. Being one of like four black kids in my class, every time the word nigger popped up in the text, classmates looked at me like I was actually there. Nonetheless, I knew the significance of black history, but played it down for my classmates. I was too young to understand the significance of this event. Yet I don’t know what it will take, even after murders like these, to show people racism has no boundaries.

 Three teenage girls and a pre-pubescent girl were murdered by a bomb, planted by KKK members, in a church. Do I believe those men meant to harm four young girls? I can’t answer that question honest, but mostly because I don’t think it matters. I believe those men were out to harm anyone with black skin. Whom these girls could have been is just the unknown now, besides the victims of a domestic terror attack. I mean literally, the girls could have done anything or been anyone. Of course young people pass every day, however, some young people don’t have the privilege to be seen as young. They’re marked by darker skin which has no age.

 As for the killers, one man died before ever being convicted. Two men died in prison while serving life counts. The last man remains in prison serving a life sentence. Most recently in 2016, he was denied parole after having asked to die a free man. There are a couple of monuments that honor the lives of Denise, Addie Mae, Carole, and Cynthia. The statues mostly seek to embody what would have been for the girls. Below is the Four Spirits statue in Birmingham, Alabama.

To America they’re martyrs, today The Wilde recognizes them as four young girls whose deaths were based solely on their color. It’s 2017 and sadly people are still losing their lives based on color. Happy Black History Month!

Namaste,

Brie Wilde

Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley

If not all, then I’m sure, many of us have heard of “girl” code. In girl world, it’s the so-called law, the unspoken rules. There was also the MTV show Girl Code. There are just tips, rules, and guidelines to being a girl. It’s like some huge secret amongst female being. But historically, I think, it might be quite obvious why girls and women spoke in whispers and secrets; they were barely allowed to speak without permission. To make a long story shorter, girlhood/womanhood is sacred to the point where we all know the move when someone throws in girl code. I, however, disagree.

You see I’ve recently been pushed to the brink. I believe in what I believe. I love what I believe in. I wish more people believed in what I do. But then I guess that would make for far less interesting, critical conversations. Honestly, truly, my alarms always sound when a conservative tries to speak for marginalized groups they don’t even support. I recognize that’s my own flaw. Sometimes things just don’t merit a response. My parents say that with age and maturity my fuse will lengthen. Until then I suppose I’ll have to remain my “abrasive and controversial” self, which means I can say, fuck girl code!

*sigh* January 21, 2017, a day after the inauguration, humans gathered globally to stand with women. I didn’t even realize it was going on, otherwise I would have loved to be at the Women’s March in Austin. For those of us who couldn’t attend we showed our solidarity the way people usually do these days: social media. In my opinion it was incredible. Not specifically Austin’s, or D.C.’s, or anyone in particular, but just as a general whole. Because in the wake of the world’s chaos, my nation’s chaos, and my own chaos, the world was gathering to stand up for all that is femme.

I’m femme af! It is my personal life mission to speak in terms that open the scope of what society defines as female and womanhood. While also standing up against what they are not but have been constructed as. The Women’s March garnered so much attention, like most things that attempt to bring women to a higher status than second class. Imagine that. Women and their allies said, “Square up!” to the world around them that genuinely seeks to keep them “in place”. January 21, 2017 was a beautiful day in women’s history! I could think of many ways some marches were problematic; that wouldn’t be the point. It’s not every day the world comes together for women. Can we cherish that just for a moment?

The problem that really stuck out for me regarding the Women’s March were the women who felt that the marchers did not represent them. To some the Women’s March was vulgar and a waste of time. Not to be a smartass, but those are also adjectives that have probably been used to define womanhood. Your worst nightmare might be women having complete, unapologetic control of their own bodies. Yet that is such a foreign thought across all nations and cultures in the world. Women just birth the babies, right? Another conversation. Now that I’ve ranted I’ll lead you back to my point. There was quite of bit of backlash post-Women’s March. Not the kind about white feminism or cis-women not including transwomen. It was literally women offended because, “I have no problems as a woman. We’re fine.” Shut up. Stop. I find it fair to mention the vulva hat that surfaced on my timeline. First of all, L O L ! Second, stop it. You completely missed the point.

Listen, somewhere right now, a girl just wrote on social media, “How could a girl mess with another girl’s boyfriend?” G U R L ! You know what? Maybe you’re right, maybe I shouldn’t flirt back with the guy who has a girl, who just slid into my DMs all cute. You’re so right BUT not today. Your problem is your little boyfriend, not the person who’s made zero commitment to you. But y’all…girl code!

·      Don’t mess with another girl’s boyfriend

·      Don’t support her rights to her own body

There we are. There is a subconscious responsibility as women to be loyal to other women when their men can’t, but not in the way we should. Rather than speaking up against rape culture, women say, “She shouldn’t have put herself in that situation.” Instead of supporting sexual education or reproductive health, we say, “Abortion is murder.” And when you’re boyfriend cheats on you, “She’s such a slut! I’ll always love my boyfriend!” I’m supposed to stop YOUR partner from pursuing me because if they’re ok with deceiving you then I can’t be, although you’re pro-life, anti-choice, and women have a role and women need to respect themselves. I could say that the Women’s March didn’t represent me as a black woman. I still have concerns with western feminists’ presence in intersectional movements. That’s still not the issue right now. I think there were many supporters amongst the Women’s Marches whom advocate for all female identities. You can easily support someone while not subscribing to the act. I’ve never had an abortion, I might never have an abortion, but I support women who do and I value my right as a woman to make my own decision to have an abortion or not. I don’t want to be a housewife. I don’t want to be the caretaker role on my own. I don’t think plastic surgery is the answer. Nudes have a time and place. On the other hand, I believe housewives and caring for children is a job, some plastic surgery looks great, and who hasn’t taken a naked photo of their body? I will support your right to do those things and your right to live the lifestyle you choose. The list is never ending because girl code is supporting females. Women across the world showed up and showed out to further the truth that female is a force.

I don’t care that you think abortion is murder, that’s your prerogative. I do care that you don’t support my right to one. Way too often women have to say, “I can’t be friends with girls. Girls are bitches. I’m not like other girls.” An angel loses their wings every time internal misogyny is expressed. The moral of the story is “girl code” will never be a real thing if women don’t respect each other enough to support them. And I don’t mean respect the girl whom has screwed you over constantly. Feminism or supporting women has never been about liking every woman. As humans, with thoughts of our own, that is impossible in many ways. Regardless, as people who share such an intimate commonality, of which has been condemned by the “dominant” sex/gender, I think women have come too far. We have taken too much male shit to stand on their side and continue to oppress women. All while males think the same about you. I say this with love. Think about how big male egos get when you try to throw hands with other girls over him? It was literally his idea to not use a condom…

Thanks for the read! February is Black History Month so starting tomorrow, in honor of black history and women crush Wednesday, I’ll be posting some of my favorite influential black women! See you soon, Wild Things!

 Best,

Happy New Year, Wild Things! Honestly, truly, the new year always seems so inspiring. I hate to admit it, but I certainly find myself buying into the hype sometimes. Especially this year, 2017! I have finally graduated college. Yes! After years of this blog and probably a post every three to four months about how school was awful, I finally graduated. It did feel impossible, but now that I’m out I feel like I need a break to refurbish my mental health, so stay tuned to that. Hopefully this means I have more time to write. While I have been working on my own personal writings, I hope to bring more to The Wilde. I have interest in trying new formats; bear with me Wild Things!

My first post of the new year I’m bringing discussion topics! I’ve found that maybe I don’t write as much because I don’t particularly like to make a whole post over a small thing that managed to piss me off. Or, the topic is just so irritating and I can’t bring myself to dedicate a whole post to it. What I’ll be doing is nothing innovative, I’m just at a point where it feels crucial to continue to put my writing out there. Thank you and I hope 2017 works out for us!

 TRUMP AND RUSSIA: Look, I didn’t vote for Trump. He’s awful and a wide majority of his supporters are racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, etc. Make America Great Again, is a joke y’all. So anyways, I guess Russia may or may not have tampered in the 2016 election. Yes, I was voting for Hillary. I’d still vote for Hillary, but the election is over. She lost, that’s that. If Russia did hack our election…well what the fuck? What concerns me is that Russia even has the desire to do that, but you wanna know why? BECAUSE PRESIDENT ELECT DONALD TRUMP THINKS RUSSIA WILL BE AN ALLY TO HIS PRESIDENCY. WHEN HAS RUSSIA BEEN NICE TO ANYONE? Putin, y’all. Trump may be president and our previous presidents may have been in corrupt political situations, but you don’t trust the new doctor because they just got their medical degree today.

 CAREFREE BLACK GIRL: The other day I was thinking of the title, “carefree black girl”, this in my opinion does deserve a whole post, but I know I have posted something similar. I may actual even still follow-up with a post sooner or later. What I mostly want to talk about is what being a carefree black girl means. I don’t speak for everyone, but in my experiences, a carefree black girl is one who is proud of who she is, specifically when it comes to black features that have been repeatedly used against us. In high school I was happy to be light-skinned, not because I knew that the black race comes in all shades, but because being a light-skinned where I came from was better than being darker. According to them and nearly every person comfortable enough, or stupid enough to tell me, “You don’t even really look black.” Now I know that all of the black history I have learned, all the women and girls I’ve seen just be beautiful in exactly who they are of the black race, is strength in whom we’ve become in spite of all that was done to us, and to be frank all of what still remains. I have started to move into the steps of being a carefree black girl.

 PASSENGERS: Listen, I didn’t go see that new movie Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. I actually asked my friend for the synopsis, on account that I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to see it. After hearing about the movie I’m glad I didn’t see it, but I will be sure to snatch it when it comes to Redbox. I mean basically Pratt’s character wakes up Lawrence’s character from their weird like comas as they travel to a world that is years away. I had to keep wrapping my head around that Pratt didn’t know Lawrence, he chose her, a complete stranger. The concept of the movie is amazing! Honestly! Traveling to another planet that is basically in the future. How much? And can I have a loan? It’s kind of awesome. But you know what is not awesome? Waking up a complete stranger who had some pretty amazing goals, I hear, all because Pratt’s character was lonely. No offense, but if that ain’t the most sexist shit! Hollywood and movies have this weird thing where women sacrifice their lives for a man and love. Look, those are two great things, but why do we keeping making women, whom were once young girls, think they can’t have their lives and love. Lawrence forgives Pratt or whatever, they live old together, of course. But she had an amazing plan, y’all, but a stranger messed it up and they fell in love. I know it’s a movie, as a writer I know sometimes you need a good storyline. Sadly it’s usually at the expense of women, or the men become martyrs. Bye. There was never any common ground in this situation where it made it fair for Pratt to disrupt Lawrence’s life. Hmm, it’s like women can’t be equal to men.

 NEW YEAR, NEW ME: Okay, okay, it’s the new year and I made new year resolutions. I usually don’t do that. I usually hate when people post their resolutions. By February 2nd, no one cares. I say the 2nd because February 1st is Harry Styles’ birthday, so just be respectful and don’t be an asshole that day. But yea, new year, new me, just stop. I don’t know where people come off recreating themselves every January 1st and then remaining the same person. I don’t know Scoob, maybe you should just say new changes. New year, new changes. That’s what I have planned to do at least. I feel as though my slate is clean since I’ve graduated. This will be the first time since ever that I will be not be attending school. Very grateful, but it’s so weird. As corny as this sounds, I feel somewhat free because I can finally work on writing, read a book I actually want to read, garden!  I hope I work at coffee shop honestly, and maybe just maybe I can go on some of those small adventures I so yearn to go on. Maybe this year I will realize that Ellis Grey was right, “The carousel never stops turning.” To me this means that no matter what I should keep going, at this point my journey is about me, as is yours maybe.

 Welp, that’s its for now! I hope to be back soon! I’m wishing you all a very good new year. Here’s to maybe not being destroyed by Trump’s presidency. Love you! Bye!

 Wildy Yours,