Independence? Freedom? Liberation? Born In Flames!

I was on my way to a Farce Of July barbecue and was thinking, what can I put out there today that can truly speak to freedom and independence? So many of us could not vote, were enslaved, weren't allowed to marry (and some of us STILL aren't allowed to marry) at the time when we celebrate the "independence" of this country. Its always good to have time off with friends and family, but it can also feel at least a little weird, celebrating this holiday.

I offer an activity to celebrate today-- watch Lizzie Borden's "Born In Flames!" (1983) This is the classic, revolutionary, feminist, speculative fiction film that unites the Black Power/Black Feminist Movement, Riot Grrls, and the Queer Liberation movement in an unprecedented alliance for the liberation of women. It is done in a DIY documentary style that has non-linear 70's psychedelic elements as well. The conclusion is chillingly prophetic too. Check it out if you haven't peeped it! I know i am due to see it again, gonna go buy a copy.

I'll leave you with a clip of the movie (one of my alma maters, Lehman College gets a big up! Boogie Down Bronx in the house!). Maximum respect to all survivors of oppression and your ancestors. None of us are free til all of us are free. Ashé.

Staceyann Chin "Feminist Or Womanist"

After my last blog where I walk through various identities and experiences as a Jamaican man, it seems appropriate to feature Staceyann Chin in this post. In one of her signature pieces "Feminist Or Womanist", Jamaican poet Staceyann Chin navigates her various identities as well, touching on being a queer woman of Jamaican and Chinese heritage, an ex-Catholic, and well, a fierce woman who has survived a lot. Go Staceyann!!

Thoughts on the Isolation of the Feminist Man and the Trajectory of this Blog.

Hey peoples! Thanks for all the comments, links to your webpages, passing this link on to friends, and also thanks for all the encouragement. :)

At this point, I am wanting this blog become a place where one can find resources and community around anti-oppression. more specifically around anti-sexist, anti-heterosexist and anti-racist issues, but definitely also integrating issues of class and global political perspectives. And to be clear, ANYONE is invited to get involved in the discussions on this blog, the comments are open to people of all genders and colors.

I had envisioned this blog to be phase one to starting a social networking site where one could connect with gender-conscious men, and at this juncture i feel i may be backbenching that idea and focusing on letting this blog grow for now.

Personally, I would like this blog to be a place where I could meet with like minded men of color. I hope to go to the Walk Against Rape with at least a small contingent of such men. My hope is that white allies would help us to connect, and that we could make plans to build alliances between the POC men and white men too. But I am definitely feeling the need to connect with conscious black, brown, yellow and red brothers. Perhaps a lot of us are. And again, i invite any men to share perspectives on this blog.

I have a feeling that there are many men out there who are like me: have one or two close male friends, most of our friends are female, and we have some trouble bonding with men because of rigid gender codes and male rituals that usually involve denigrating women and queer folks. I feel like the secret to us building community is... through all our female friends! I feel that women know more men like us than we do. It is my hope that you can help us find each other so we can have community and do good work. Not asking you to educate us, just to help put us in touch, and simply forward this link. If you value us in your communities, imagine how much good work we could do if we formed the fem.men.ist Voltron! aw yeah... fem.men.ist Voltron vs. the Babylon Patriarchazoid! hee... i'm such a boy sometimes. :)

okee dokes, that’s my kickoff for the week. bless up y’all.

~richard

welcome to fem.men.ist

hello people!

wassup. around a week ago, i sent out an email to folks asking questions around their thoughts on a social networking site (for all genders) where one could meet "feminist men" for activism, friendship, dating, etc. i have gotten some good responses which i will paraphrase (hopefully doing them justice, correct me if i fall short!). A couple friends suggested that a blog would really open up the dialogue, so this is my first blog! exciting. :)

looking for feedback on this project, some of my original email said:

"a good place to start would be what the profile would look like- "favorite feminist icon" "favorite feminist book" etc... also pointing out inherent problematic things such a site could have would be helpful, or how to deal with the fact that there are so many places within feminism that one can locate themselves, etc etc. a structural question is whether it should have a questionaire/quiz that is the entrance test, or whether it should be open to all, and people just gotta represent, and get kicked out if they get trollish. thots?"

and here are anonymous paraphrases (that you should feel free to claim, correct or bounce off of) of suggestions/perspectives left by some of the women who responded:


-it should be clear that "feminist man" does not mean "no longer sexist man"

-these men need to define what feminism means to them, and what they actively do to resist a sexist culture.

-the definition should include input from women in their lives, it should be a connected convo with people affected by it and those who benefit/are on the other side of that experience.

-men should share about how they relate to their masculinity and sexuality.

-sexism should be cross-referenced with racism, since they are both visible oppressions, and race clearly influences women's experience of sexism.


...and now, the floor is open! i invite all genders to contribute to this space, bring your experience and knowledge, and hopefully i can give something back that people feel good about. Thank you in advance, bless up!

in solidarity and ffloods of love,
richard