Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Drop everything and read Britney Cooper, @professorcrunk.

If you only read one person today, read Britney Cooper, on Twitter as @professorcrunk. I've been reading her pieces for awhile now (she has great thoughts on just about everything, from white liberals to Beyonce) and came across a recent one titled, "A black girl's constant fear: Why I thought I'd never live to see 33."

This article brings me back to Kimberlee Crenshaw's discussion of shifting the analytic frame to one focused on the experiences of black women. Cooper shares her own lived experiences, but encourages us to do something with these stories, to let them move us to action and greater understanding. Like Crenshaw points out, if we being to shed light on these stories, we can elucidate structural forces of oppression that are often overlooked in the discussion of helping black men.

Cooper says, "Black women have been passing these narratives around the blogosphere and social media to each other, posting collective laments, and wondering if anyone else cares." I care, and I hope you will too. 

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