I Think I was On This Birth Control Once

Ever heard of Annuale? If not learn more here.

Peace!
~F

So Bitch is the New Black? I Don't Think So!

Excuse me for not riding the Tina Fey bandwagon over the whole "Bitch is the new Black" campaign that appeared on last nights SNL program. It appears to me that any person of color, especially Black person & especially Black woman has a right to think carefully about what the possible double meaning of those words are. Some may say I'm looking to deeply into that phrase but let's stop for a moment & actually think. Let's contemplate how those words may sound to an actual person who is Black.

Barack Obama as we know is mixed race but generally labeled Black. Could bitch is the new black also stand for bitch being the new Black candidate? If this is the case I'd like to ask, just what the hell is wrong with having a Black candidate? In my humble opinion Tina Fey's words were divisive, which of late has been a trademark of the Clinton campaign.

This presidential election should not be about white women vs. Black men. It needs to be about bringing the US, all of us, together. Yes I agree bitches get things done. Am I a bitch? Some think so. Because I speak my mind when I feel strongly and do the work that needs to get tasks done. Though I don't really care for that term, one could indeed say I'm a B-word. But Mrs. Clinton is a presidential candidate and school yard terminology is not what is going to help us progress to freedom as a society. And since the word Black has been used by many persons to imply that which is negative, bad or even deathly and also used it as a term for the color of a certain races skin, I believe it's important to think when using the word, term and yes, color, Black. B-word or not, Bitch folks ain't the new Black. Black is, was and will always be just that, Black. And it is beautiful, powerful and more than some idea or nasty word.

No You tube clip yet but I'll put it up when available.
Peace!
~F
Update
Here's the vid. Judge for yourself.

Friday Links on Saturday. Oh Well

It's been yet another busy fawking week in February. For a short month, I feel like it's been really action packed. In fact I should be writing my article for Just Out but had to update the blog I love so. So here we go.

Boka Marimba is coming! I love their shows because I dance like the freaking fool I can be. So check them out next Saturday at the Imago Theater.

An excellent post by Tami in the Midwest from her blog What Tami Said. She discussed being a Black woman and how in terms of being considered a woman and getting the same chivalry from white men is hard to come by if your not white. The post went to the heart of some of my own experiences as a WOC especially when I was less secure of my own beauty. I found her post via Racialicious (of course because it's the best blog ever!) and made a comment about on of my own moments in high school you can read here. Anywho very good post & food for thought!

Also via Racialicious was a post by Wendi Muse about fashion designer Kenneth Cole's latest campaign and I LOVE IT! It's called "We All Walk in Different Shoes" and features folks who are not models but very beautiful & were his items well. The front cover of his website features a picture of a little boy in between two sets of beautiful women's legs. All you see are great shoes, great legs & a cute little boy. Well the legs belong to a married lesbian couple who are this child's parents. What a way to start the website show. On the left side of the site you can click a button that says "Non uniform thinkers click here" and that's where you'll find a brilliant campaign and great fashions too boot. You need to see it to believe it. But included are a woman who is HIV +, a Black man in a wheelchair, a very handsome Sikh and an undocumented Latina. As soon as I can afford some of his fashions I'm going to by some stuff from Kenneth Cole for sure!

Okay that's it from me for now. Hope y'all are having a groovy weekend!
~F

Let me Finger What Drives You

A few days ago My sweetie & I were walking down Burnside. A Street known for being quite busy for vehicles & pedestrains alike. As we started to cross the street a car (and it's driver) pulled all the way into the crosswalk making us go around the vehicle & into the dangerously busy street. Passing the car & lady driver I without much thought flipped her the bird. Personally I hate it when drivers do this especially on busy roads and my first reaction is to flip folks off. It beats what I used to do in my more agro days when I'd kick the cars or throw drinks on them.

But what does flipping the bird to these folks really accomplish? Does it really make me feel better? Does it change their behavior making them less reckless & more considerate? I doubt my hostility, however dramatic or mild makes anyone do anything the way I wish them to. And it's these kinds of exchanges that can be subtle & easy to miss as a chance for empowerment, kindness & understanding. No matter how in how wrong the other person is how can the experience be used as on e of those oh-so-fun growth opportunities?

I guess in the end it's all about how I'm feeling at the end of the moment. As with many things I feel utterly compelled to do, I find once the moment of obsession or iritation or amazement passes, so does the need to react to it. And often I find when I resist my first impulse, I was glad I didn't follow through with whatever appeared to satiate my desires at the time. In the end do I want to pretend that flipping off somene will make me get my due revenge? In the end do I want the other person to feel my anger, how ever fleeting, and pretend they'll be more conscientious because of it? These are the questions I need to ask myself if I truly wish to live in the tradition of non-violence.

Violence can be a subtle as flipping the bird to a momentary perceived "enemy." It's not acting out of peace & the belief in the inherent goodness or godliness that resides in us all. So now I must stretch my heart to fit that which my mind already knows. Because I like myself & who I am. I enjoy doing things that make the world a better place & allow me to be the instrument of love that I'm meant to be. My fear of oncoming traffic and reaction to that fear by giving drivers the finger doesn't solve much & doesn't allow for the truth of the situation. So I'll continue to watch for tho moments where I feel a need to react and remember in those moments who I really am.

Susie Bright Has Nice Legs

One of the perks of my job is getting to meet authors. Some of the authors I like & others I don't. Now I never discuss on this here bloggie the ones I don't care for because I have heard of Dooce. So tonight I'm sharing about one writer/editor/sexpert/mom/feminist I was glad to meet and that is none other than Susie Bright. Sadly for her a minute or two into our chatting I began to grill her on why the Best American Erotica series only had white folks on the covers. I mean hey, out of 15 years one would think at least one cover would have a POC on it. She was truthful about how she felt about the covers and what the deal was with them & her answer satisfied me. Then I asked about how she was this famous lesbian but is now partnered with a dude. Gosh I hope I didn't overwhelm her.

Anyhow it was lovely to meet an author whose work I actually own & respect. And too boot she has awesome legs! It was hard for me not to stare at them during the reading tonight. So later, after the reading was over & her fans dwindled I asked if she'd take a picture with me. She suggested a pic of our legs and honestly I was thrilled! So without further ado, a view from my camera phone of my & Susie Bright's legs. Enjoy!

Peace!

This Turns me on yet makes me Very Uncomfortable

It's Only Because I Love You! Friday Linkage

Hot dog it's been a busy week as I previously mentioned. And for some gawd awful reason Blogger's spell check is not working for me lately so I apologize if words are misspelled, but I am a really shitty speller. So before I get to the links I must share this utterly silly pic my sweetie & I took the other night. Now I want you to picture Amy Winehouse singing that rehab song as you view the following. Ready? Are you sure? Okay here is our dog Lucy with what we were trying to make look like a bouffant wig (but is really a dark brown sock!)...

I sent this pic to a bunch of my friends but I'm not sure all of them know wtf was on the dogs head. Okay... time for links!

Here's a handy little link that I found from Girl Robot on George satan Bush's Legacy. Click here to not be suprised by the crackpot job this dude has done for the US of A. Anyone suprised that folks outside the US don't regard this country as highly as they did in 2001? Or that consumer debt is up 5 trillion? Or that we have more un-insured Americans now than we did 7 years ago? I'm not. Before I get steamed up I shall move on.

So what is even more awesome than new good lookin' clothes? Clothes that are sweatshop free of course! Check out SweatFree.org to learn about the campaign for getting the government (aka the MAN) to only do business with business' that are NOT sweatshops. Here's Portland Oregon's resolution. Does your city have one? If not go here to take action.

Okay so have you heard of the dance nights at clubs where they focus one 2 particular artists and kinda pit them against each other for maxium dance joy? Well next Friday the 22nd at the Goodfoot (2845 SE Stark) it will be James Brown vs. Stevie Wonder. It should be worth noting that you cannot really compare these two but you can have a fun time dancing to their grooves. The Goodfoot website doesn't seem to have anything about the event listed as I right this, so call them at (503)239-9292 or try their website in a day or two.

Moshi Moshi (which I can't vouch is sweatfree) is having a Mr. T art show for their grand opening at their new digs on West Burnside and 9th. I personally love the persona of Mr. T & hope to see some good art that honors him. March 6th is the day and 6pm-9pm is the time. Learn more about Moshi Moshi here.

Last but of course not least is yet another goody via Girl Robot. At Rands In Repose there is a terribly on point post about nerds. Need to understand a nerd in your life? Try this handy Nerd Handbook! Not only is this post funny but may be helpful to nerds & non-nerds alike. For instance it's helpful to note that the nerd needs a cave to work on projects. Or that the nerd always has in her/his head the relevancy factor. Or how "small talk is the bane of the nerds existence." God gawd how fawking true. The only thing I couldn't totally relate to is the computer thing. Though I love computers I refuse at this point to have one in my home. But I think it's because I am so nerdy, I'd never leave the fawking house if I did. Anyway if you get any of what I'm saying, check it out.

Well I'm off to do laundry. Peace y'all!

Is it Just Me or is February, Like the Busiest Month Ever?!

Holy Helsinki I can't seem to find the time to finish up some of the blogging projects I've been excited to do. My Black History features have are a bunch of saved drafts at this point. My awesome interview is still being written and all in all I just can't seem to focus on what I wish to blog about. Ahh the joys of Mercury in retrograde! Don't get me wrong. I'm so grateful that my life is brimming with meaningful activities outside of the blogosphere. I just want to complete some of the tasks that I set up for myself here. *sigh*

Here are just a few things I've been doing:

Wedding Plans-
Now that my beloved & I know for sure we'll have our ceremony & reception in Eastern Oregon, we're scouting out locations do what were gonna do. Also we needed to figure out just where in Mexico we will honeymoon and for how long. The invitations are another project because she's an artist and I love to design, so we are going to create our invites and then have them printed instead of just picking out some pre-made thing. It's all fun stuff to explore but they take time.

Activism/Volunteering-
Seems like I've been more busy than usual with equality projects. It's wonderful to be able to serve my fellows. So seriously no complaints! With going out of town, writing articles, speaking and such I just seem to need to take that extra important down time in decent sized chunks so I don't get too burned out. My recovery home group also voted me in as Intergroup Representative, which isn't so bad but it does mean I have one more meeting a month to go to & one more thing to regularly report on. Oh and speaking of stuff I'm doing, please come visit the Q Center tomorrow night at 7:30pm for the viewing of the documentary Brother Outsider, about the life of Bayard Rustin. After the film there will be a panel discussion that inclues moi. Learn more here!

House Cleaning-
Enough said!

There's more but I don't wish to bore anyone with the detail like that I not am going to my naturopath/acupuncture doctor every week to work on my endometriosis the natural way. And that I've got to track all of my food comsumption due to my new anti-inflamation diet to treat the endometriosis and shed a few pounds before the wedding. Blah blah blah. Life is beautiful & though I'm not getting all my blogging goals completed, some good things have and will get done this month. So I'm letting myself off the hook here. Right now all I can say for the things on this blog I wish to accomplish is... I'll get to it when I get to it. In the meantime I wish all y'all a happy Valentines day... and night!
Peace!
~F

Show Your Presidential Support with a Lovely Thong!

Thanks to Cafe Press, you can show the world, or at least the ladies in the locker room, who you support for president! And people say Americans are obsessed with sex & politics. I beg to differ!

This Vanity Fair Cover is Yucky

Can someone explain to me why Vanity Fair and photographer Annie Leibowitz decided this was a good cover? Not only are the colors not very exciting or flattering to the majority of the ladies but the photo is clearly racist.

Some explain why the woman with the darkest skin, Zoe Saldana, is the only one wearing a swimsuit? I suppose for Vanity's sake they feel they're damned if they do include women of color and damned if they don't. But to include this actress, regardless of her talent in the one & only outfit that would not be acceptable to wear at a ball, like the other women in the photo (or walking down the street for that matter) because she's wearing a freakin' swimsuit! *sigh*

More thoughts at Jezebel on this.
Peace!
~F

Life is Good!

So much to celebrate! So much to do. And that means it's extra important to have down time to relax. So I've taken this Friday off to have a 3 day weekend and chill with my boo & meditate on the lovely changes that are coming into my life.

First things first. Pics of the rally for equality sponsored by BRO. I'm sorry it took so long to to get around to uploading them & they're not that great of pics, but you get the idea of how many folks stood in the rain to show they care about all families.

And of course best of all starting yesterday same sex couples are able to get civil unions! I don't really care for the term domestic partnerships so in the future I'll say civil union but y'all will know I mean "domestic" partnerships. My beloved & I are going to get legal at the end of the month! Yay!

The workshop I did for OSCC went well I think. Though I was nervous & as usual forgot entirely what I was talking about at one point, it seemed folks got was I was sharing for the most part & I hope I get asked back next year. Though I didn't get to see much at the conference due to friends coming into town from Pendleton, I had fun!

Tonight my brother in-law to be is coming over for a celebration of his 25th birthday. He doesn't know this but we have some suprises in store!

Okay so even more about me, soon you'll be able to see my name in lights! Okay not really but yesterday I got my first assignment from Just Out and will be writing for them on a regular basis. I'm really excited to stretch my wings & hopefully write things for my queer sisters & brothers in Oregon that they find interesting. March will be when my first article comes out so stay tuned!

Next week on valentines day the Q Center is having an event that is near & dear to me. QDocFest will be showing the film Brother Outsider at 7:30pm. The movie is about one of my all time favorite activists Bayard Rustin. He not only organized the well known March on Washington but had the courage to be an out gay Black male activist. His story deserves our attention so please stop by the Q Center on February 14th. What a way to experience the love & peace he has brought to us all by coming on down that night. Also I'll be there speaking on a panel about the queer Black experience. So ya know, please stop by!

Finally my best gal pal in Portland Zee made the cutest film of her dog Rennie running around chasing a remote controlled car. Too cute! Here it is.


I have not forgotten about featuring Sylvester or the awesome QWOC interview. They're a coming so stay with me. Hope all y'all and enjoying the glow of a little bit more equality this week. I know I am! Peace!
~F

Time for a Change

Well folks it's time for a change. That's right! All good things do change & hopefully become better things. QWOC will soon be it's own website at a new address and everything. This includes a title change because I need to keep things fresh! Though I love Blogger I decided to host it at Wordpress because I'm new to all this web hosting whatnot & decided it will be easier on my brain to go through Wordpress right now.

When Mercury gets out of its current retrograde I'll start working on the actual design of the new website and at that time reveal where to find me. Until this stay tuned to QWOC for all yummy queer woman of color related insights and gossip & TMI on my love life and various silly items and of course my own personal gay agenda! Ha!

More later. I just wanted to give an update for now.
Peace!
~F

Holy Crap! We're Getting Domesticated!

Words cannot express how wonderful it is & how excited I am that my sweetie & I will be soon legally bound! I love her & now we can have the protections (In the state of Oregon) for our little family! No matter what y'all... always always always believe in the power of love to make the difference! Many thanks to Basic Rights Oregon for fighting the good fight with & for all Oregonians!

Back tomorrow!
~F

Little Break

Howdy y'all. I'm off to Corvallis for the Oregon Students of Color Coalition's annual conference at OSU. I hope to see some of you there & if you make it look for my workshop titled: Countering Oppression: Tips, Trick & Technology to Make the World a better Place. If you can't make it feel free to send good vibes to all the sisters & brothers in Corvallis.

Be back Sunday with pics from the rally for domestic partnerships, pics from the conference & a meme that I was tagged on. Peace y'all!
~F