The Western Privilege

In my quest to travel across the land of Europe, I have been scourging the net to get stories of black women (evidently, all of whom are American) who have travelled and what their experiences of Europe were. Some stories were good, some were terrible, but what was consistent in all of them was the change in perception by some Europeans when they discovered that the women were from the States. This became famously coined as the ‘American privilege’. I can understand this, because they came from arguably the most powerful country in the world, however, I found some of the blogs written to be slightly arrogant in the sense that all black people who are able to travel should be thankful to these African Americans for they helped to change the negative perception of black people. The fact of the matter is that any black person who can speak well, has a good job and education is a shock to most Europeans. Rather than seeing it as an American privilege, it should been seen as the ‘Western Privilege’ whereby black people, who have been fortunate enough to excel in their respective career paths in the wealthy western countries and are culturally aware are seen in a positive light.

Peace

The Fear

I have dreams, big dreams to travel the world and in my own way fight the injustice called racism. Money, though admittedly I do lack, isn’t holding me back. Neither is the fact that I can only speak English, as you can always learn a language on the go. The thing that is holding me back is fear. Fear of the unknown. What if I absolutely hate it in another country? What if what I set out to do ultimately fails? The biggie for me is what if I do experience unprecedented racism? As much as I try to be subjective with this issue, I can’t ignore the fact that my skin colour will ultimately draw attention to fairly racial homogenous countries in Europe. I don’t think I am built (or maybe ready) for handling situations whereby I have to defend myself due to the colour of my skin.

These are all ‘what ifs’, but they do cloud my mind and are unfortunately holding me back. As 2010 is drawing to a close, I hope that for 2011 I will overcome these fears and actually do live out my dreams.

Peace

The Misconceptions Of Africa

I will try my best to refrain from going into an all out rant, but I'm sure there will be instances in this post whereby it will seem as though I am ready to assault someone. But after reading numerous blogs and articles, I feel that it’s time that this issue needs to be addressed. For every argument there has to be a basis, so I will start the basis of my argument by saying this: AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY, it’s a continent. The amount of times I heard people (most notably Americans) referring it to one is quite frankly, shocking. We have, in fact 54 countries, each with their own government and culture

With the vast knowledge of information at our fingertips why this major detail is overlooked is beyond me.

This then leads on to my second statement: Africa as a CONTINENT is not poor. Yes that's right, it is not poor. It probably has the most natural resources in the world. Oil, diamonds, gold, titanium, cocoa, maize, you name it. This whole nonsense that there is no food to feed the hungry children is totally false. The fact of the matter is that there are economies in the continent of Africa that are doing really well and would give some countries in Europe the run for its money. Botswana has such a robust economy that it actually lends to the IMF. Cape Verde has a GDP that would be fit to contend with one of the countries in the EU.

So bearing the points above in mind, why then the negativity towards Africa? Firstly, there are corrupt governments in various countries within Africa. This is a well known fact, but what is often overlooked is the fact that the West condones the corruption. I'll go right in there and be controversial by saying that it’s not in the West’s favour to see Africa as a rising power. Many natural resources are brought by the West on the cheap, so by having the cost of raw materials rise wouldn't be good. This is natural economics I get that, but how the West ensures that this doesn't happen is to maintain the instability of governments. The fact of the matter is certain governments in Africa are unfortunately corrupt at best and unstable at worst. How this is done is by governments allowing the flow of arms to countries where there is political unrest. You could argue that there are War Lords who supply guns in exchange for raw materials such as diamonds, but to be honest the amount of guns found could not have all possibly been brought from the black market. The flow of arms, hence continued civil wars is what stops certain countries in Africa from being productive. The West is seen in the knight in shining armour by providing aid to alleviate the so-called pressures of poverty. What in fact the West should do is to construct dialogue between warring factions and help to resolve the issue.

Secondly the media of the West loves to paint a negative picture of Africa. I am not trying to paint a light hearted picture of the ills of Africa, but sensationalism is key to attracting viewers. This is why you see the bombardment of Oxfam ads and of other charities with extreme scenes of children malnourished in Africa. Surely, you would ask, there is a basis for them to be showing starving children? Simple it’s the extreme example to get a reaction. People would feel less inclined, if they saw a child who looked relatively healthy playing with her friends and the charity is asking for some cash. I personally blame these charities for lumbering up the countries in Africa as one and duping the peoples in west to think that Africa is one big mass of hungry aids ridden people. I also feel that their ‘aid’ in Africa is doing more harm than good, but that is for another blog altogether.

Africa as a continent has its problems that purely on an economical platform you would argue have a lot of catching up to do compared to the West. However, this is not an excuse for the mass ignorance that is out there and the perception that anyone is from the continent of Africa is poor, has got aids or is trying to scam you

Peace

The Exception To The Rule

This admittedly may not have been the best title for the post, but I did struggle to find something more apt in regards to the issue I am about to discuss. The TV programme called the X Factor has been, over the past 2 months or so, been my guilty pleasure. The format has been the same year on year, the show is blatantly fixed that why I bother to watch and believe who I want to win will do so, is a mystery!

This year, one of the contest was a young girl named Cher (yep, that’s her real name) who could both sing and rap. The thing that grabbed people’s attention whether they liked to admit it or not was that Cher was white. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of white artists who have managed to have done fantastically well in what is loosely seen as the ‘black’ music i.e. Hip Hop and R&B. You have to look no further than Eminem to see this. What I found really frustrating in the X Factor was that Cher was seen to be this ‘new’ phenomenon within pop. They kept on saying that is this new niche within pop and describing her performances as ‘edgy’. Cher to me is something that is definitely not new; talented yes, new no. Have they not heard of Alesha Dixon, or Estelle?

One couldn’t help but wonder if the case would have been entirely different if Cher was black. Would they have seen her to be edgy? Creating a new niche? Or simply just another black girl doing the same old urban thing. Maybe I’m just being OTT but whilst you’re deciding have a look at Cher’s audition

 

Peace

La Liga is a pantomime and Mourinho is the Villain

For those who do not have a clue nor an interest in football, I do apologise. You just have to bear with me for this post.

  

I have taken an interest in football as of late, more specifically the La Liga which is the Spanish equivalent of the Premier League. What makes La Liga great is because it has two of the best football teams in the world. What makes La Liga bad is because it has two of the best football teams in the world that pretty much dominate the league. The two teams are Real Madrid FC and Barcelona FC.

Every year without fail, one of the two teams wins the La Liga, which to be honest can be rather boring and as you would imagine they are fierce rivals. Now this rivalry could have just been contained in sport, but sadly it is also political. So to support one or the other brings about a perception (rightly or wrongly) about you.

Barcelona FC is the team of Catalonia, one of the regions in Spain that sought independence, wanting to be a country of its own. This ideology did not go down so well with the Spanish dictator Franco who wanted a united Spain and as a result the Catalans were persecuted. Real Madrid is of course, is in Madrid and was the team whom Franco supported. Even with that fact aside, Real Madrid is known for being ostentatious, spending serious cash on players who are referred to as Galácticos (superstars) based on the astronomical money spent on them.

This then brings about a massive polarisation of newspapers who, to be fair are extremely biased in Spain anyway. On one hand you have the socialists who abhor any connection with Franco singing praises to Barcelona FC. Whilst the centre right/right wing papers often celebrate Real Madrid. From a neutrals perspective, this would seem like a parody taking the focus off of football and bringing across a political agenda instead. You tend to get the pantomime effect with good team/bad team each day.

 Now, the plot has now thickened with the arrival of Mourinho. This guy is the embodiment of ego, but for a reason. He has pretty much won every domestic title in Europe bar Spain. He is now the coach for Real Madrid and has attracted a lot of controversy. If not for his underhand tactics, it would be for the mind games he enjoys playing with his opponent teams. There is one drama or another with this guy and he is now focusing his attention on the big match (El Clasico) where Real Madrid will be playing Barcelona which would ultimately dictate who will win the La Liga. He is subliminally taunting his rival to spice things up for the big match and the press are lapping it up.

You have got to love him, (or in the case of Catalonia) hate him for he is a man who knows which part to play and is enjoying it immensely.

The naming of a child

So I have been deliberating for a long time in what to call my online magazine and a suggestion that was close to being the official name lost out based on the fact that has already been taken (damn). The naming of any entity is obviously important as this is what will affectively define it. You wouldn’t name a cookery book for 40 year old housewives Gangsta Grillz, because quite frankly that would not go down so well. Perception of your product is very important to your demographic and it literally makes you or breaks you.

This made me think about the naming of a child and what are the implications the name has on the child as he/she grows older. This sadly made me think about being not only being black, but African and how having an African name can influence my life.

I have never (well not to my knowledge at least) been a victim of racial discrimination based on my ethnicity. Every contest I have been involved in has been fair or even biased in my favour. It is not unusual however, to hear of people who have been discriminated against based on their names. In the case of France whereby you were most likely to be turned down if you had a name of ethnic origin...

It does beg the question whether, for the sake of conformity to name a child a typical English/German/Spanish/etc name. This would at least help to overcome the first barrier of racial profiling, i.e. CV won’t automatically be thrown in the bin at glancing at Babafemi Adeyinka. What then happens when Babafemi, gets called for the interview? Even though the company where impressed with his CV, the racist perceptions held by the company would still stand and unless he really does performs  outstandingly well, would loss the job to his white counterpart.  

All in all, naming your child is a very personal choice and factors such as how society views the name or your ethnic group should not really matter. We unfortunately cannot eradicate racist views of some people but at least ensure that our children are brought up right to help debunk the stereotypical myths of our ethnic groups.

The Angry Black Woman (amongst the other stereotypes of the black race)

Why is it that every time there is a portrayal about black people, 9/10 times it peeves me off? We have the ‘angry black women’, to the ‘misguided youth’ to the ‘black gangsta’. If the saying that TV is a reflection of what is going on in the society is true, then I will be the first to say that black people scare me! The fact that we are so misrepresented not only is damaging to our reputation by giving credence to the ignorant out there claiming that‘black are failing’, but is also has a negative impact on the younger generation as what is being shown to them is the definition of 'being black'.

This of course is not true as I have met black doctors, barristers and dare I say it gentle, black women who debunk those silly stereotypes. Whilst, I can’t ignore that a minority of black people are like that, it is not representative of us all. The media has got it wrong for so long now that I do wonder when we are going to take a stand.

While it is easy to point the finger at the media (which is pretty much run by the white man) and cry racism, sadly, I think that some of us actually like to reinforce these stereotypes in the media. All you have to do is go on to the music channel and see a black man who may never has seen a gun in his life trying to be ‘hard’. Some of the black comedies that exist have at least one black woman depicting the ‘neck moving angry black sista’.

I guess my main qualm is that don’t have a real balance in the media. For every black dude selling crack we should have a black doctor trying to save lives then maybe such negative stereotypes can be removed. But until that happens I will continue to cringe at my TV...

United Race?

Listening to my favourite Hip Hop and R&B radio station; I was slightly taken aback when I heard this conversation:

Radio DJ: So do you like the Big Brother contestant Makosi?

Caller: Nah man! She is African!

Given that the caller was also Black herself, it would seem absurd that she would harbour a dislike for someone who is Black too, based on where she was born. Sadly, this is a hidden truth amongst the Afro-Caribbean community, where there seems to be a deep rooted fascism propagated by certain groups.

There is no innocent party as I have been told that I could marry who ever I want as long as they are not Jamaican because all they do is ‘smoke weed and get girls pregnant’. Certain Caribbean’s look down at Africans as they feel that they are’ loud and brash,’ and generally are ‘poor people’

Whilst there are some culture clashes between the two groups, I wonder whether the root to the animosity is much deeper than that. It would seem that some Caribbean’s have not forgiven the present Africans for their ancestor’s greed, who were willing to sell their brothers into slavery. Certain Africans may feel that the Caribbean culture is very different to their own, weary to accept that a group of black people, have a culture much more familiar to their white counterparts.

As much as it disheartening to find that a minority of people like the caller above harbour such ignorant views, the progressive steps taken by Afro-Caribbean organisations promoting social cohesion, will make sure it stays like that. A minority

UK STAND UP!

When it comes to urban music, I have to admit I was always biased to the US. The UK just didn’t for me. I felt that UK artists were just copying the US style and the videos to be frank, were under par.
However, in the last 5 years there has been an emergence of UK artists who are storming the charts with some good music. We have middle class England trying be ‘down with the urban kids’ to try and get that cool creditability and even our neighbours across the pond are beginning paying attention
The flag bearers in my view are the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Kano, Tinchy Stryder and (my personal favourite) Tinie Tempah, have managed to create good music with authenticity that is so often lacking in urban music. What makes me particularly proud of these artists is their ability to create the music without the drama. No ‘beefs’, no overhype about their ‘hood’ or the need to create the typical street persona in order to sell records, but just good music. Artists such as Taio Cruz have created distinct UK sounds that have managed to conquer the good old U.S without the need to compromise in order to be favoured in the U.S. They have now opened the door for other artists to shine and are finally genuine contenders to the US counter parts.
So to end, sit back enjoy a lil bit of the Tinie Tempah

Peace

Are the Right actually right?

There has been a bit of a furore in America surrounding Michelle Obama’s holiday in Spain at the moment. The chief perpetrators to the drama are none other than the right wing publications. But let’s forget for a minute that Rupert Murdoch – a staunch conservative Republican who abhors anything remotely liberal, owns most of America’s media and the right wing politicians when criticizing the Obama administration are being malicious and sometimes racist may actually have a valid point to their argument?

Now Michelle and her youngest daughter Sasha may not be ‘living it up’ in a lavish hotel suite in Dubai, but given the dire economic state of the country at the moment, the 10% unemployment and not to mention the catastrophe of the oil spill along the Mexican Gulf, one could have been a little more prudent.
Depending on how you much you believe when reading the American newspapers, some are saying that Michelle is on holiday with a posse of 40 deep (that’s not including security), enjoyed the luxury of using the Air Force 4 (costing several thousands of dollars) and she is snapped hobnobbing with Spanish royalty. In any other circumstances this may not have really made headlines (using tax payers money, or not), but in a time when there is a global recession, it is bound to make a stir.
The key thing to consider are the ‘optics’ .i.e. how things are perceived by others. By reading some of the comments left by readers from various newspapers, the general consensus from those who criticize Michelle, is ‘Why couldn’t you holiday in America?’ Or even yet, ‘Why go on holiday now??’ A lot of western leaders who are indeed conscious of the optics have planned a holidays close to home, even the outlandish leader of France, Sarkozy is keeping it low key
Until the right get their way, they will always be petty and look for real or unreal faults of the current government, but questioning the validity of spending thousands to go on holiday during a tough period in America now, may actually be...right?

Nice To Meet You...

I liken the first post of my blog to going on my first date with a guy. We first of all meet and he gauges whether I am the kind of girl he wants to get to know. As time goes on with the relationship, he will see my flaws, but I should have done a good enough job on the first date to ensure he will ask me out again!

If you guys stick it out with me, you will find my blogs to have a witty view on life and hopefully leave you with some food for thought (I did say hopefully!)
During the course of our relationship (thinking ahead here), you will find that I have ambitions to take over the world – well at least get an online magazine started. I am a person of faith, who is very keen on the media, in particular how it depicts people of colour. I am fanatical about music and one who is curious about the urban scene in Europe, in particular Spain.

I too would like to think that I will get to know my readers well, so do feel free to comment about the posts or submit any articles for discussions to notqty@gmail.com and I’ll surely get them posted.

That’s all from me at the moment, so until our next date...


Remi