Throwback Thursday 2/13/14: The Working Poor (poetry)

Goodness! I almost forgot about Throwback Thursday again! I got it this time. Here is my throwback poem (back when I use to type in Ebonics aka African American Vernacular English):

The Working Poor ~ 22 September 2011

This is You.
Lookin out your three story house sippin on your lemonade.
You.
Basquin in your hand-me-down legacy your rich daddy gave you.
You.
Drivin your Mercedes Benz you didn’t even buy cuz its a family heirloom.
You.
Holdin your Ivy League Degree cause your family could afford it.
You.
Neva worked a damn day in your life because you neva had to.
You.
Yes You.
I’m talkin ta you.
But do you see me?
Do you see me workin sun up to sun down tryin to make a life’s pay?
Me.
Dat Asian factory worka who sows dose clothes you wear and gets paid lil ta nothin.
Me.
Dat Hispainic immigrant workin in the fields growin da food you eat wit no health insurance.
Me.
Dat Black janita who cleans up afta your I’ll-get-it-lata messes wit no help from a union.
Me.
Dat Indian telemarketa who helps promotes ya stocks wit no investments of my own.
Me.
Dat Native American who is one of few left cuz my genocide was traded for your wealth.
Me.
Yes me.
I’m talkin bout me.
Do you see Us?
Do you see us who try to live this “American Dream” and fall short every time?
Us.
Who work so damn hard but when we look around there’s nothin ta show for it.
Us.
Who hope ta shift our families into different brackets of class but hit a glass ceilin.
Us.
Who can’t really take it anymore but have no otha option ta make due.
Us.
Who are the pawns who take da hits for dat 0.01% of America to avoid checkmate.
Us.
Who are deemed lazy cuz our society is constructed to keep the rich rich and the poor disallusioned.
Us.
Yes Us.
I’m talkin bout Us.
The Workin Poor.
The labor force of America!
Of Life!
Of Liberty!
Of The Pursuit of Happiness!
Do you know what dat means?
You!
Yea You!
I’m talkin ta you!
…but you ain’t listening, cuz dats just too much damn work…

Privilege (2/10/14)

I wonder how often those with privilege talk about (their) privilege. Probably not nearly enough as they should.

I don’t have many conversations about being a college student yet here I am, in college, with the privilege of being able to get a higher education. No one sits around and reminds me of my privilege every time I’m in a classroom. I think I’ve heard a statistic or a statement along the lines of “you are privileged to be in the seat you’re in” exactly 3 times in the course of 4 years. How come that is?

Yet, when I go to a meeting or a discussion or a presentation discussing underprivileged and underrepresented identities, privilege ALWAYS comes up. As a Black person I know about and can, in detail, explain white privilege to anyone who asks. As a Queer person I know about and can, in detail, explain heterosexual privilege to anyone who asks. As a person of Transgender Experience I know about and can, in detail, explain cisgender privilege to anyone who asks. Also as a Man of Transgender Experience who has had past experience being socially perceived and treated as a woman, I know about and can explain, in detail, male privilege to anyone who asks.

However, I honestly can say that there are NOT a large amount of people with privilege who can articulate what their privilege is to them or in a social context. Of course one can Google “Privilege” and get “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people” from Merriam Webster (as I conveniently just did since as a college student I have the access to the internet and a device to access that internet) yet there is a need to be an actual understanding  in the mind of a privileged person of what it is and what it means to have privilege. There is a luxury in being able to take for granted the social and systematic benefits one gets from their privilege. What is that about?

I remember praising the phrase “No Education, No Life.” No T, No Shade to the Baltimore Algebra Project and their work for that work is important for in-school child development, self esteem and academic success. But it took me a minute to really think about what the message “No Education, No Life” displays for our youth and anyone else who is not in a privileged position to get a formal education. Who says that those migrant workers who couldn’t afford to go to school don’t have a life? Who says those low income graduating seniors who couldn’t afford to go to college don’t have a life?

It’s a privilege to be able to project your story as a world wide narrative. It’s a privilege to be able to say “I did this, why can’t you?” It’s a privilege to be a college student disdaining those without a formal education.

Uncle Ben in Spiderman was right in saying, “With Great Power comes Great Responsibility.” So I raise the challenge to all of us with privilege, in which we all have some form of privilege, to actually become aware of those advantages and benefits obtained through our privilege held. Do not leave it up to those who are underprivileged and oppressed to teach you about privilege (even though most of the underprivileged and oppressed know ALL about privilege). Learn more about your privilege and use that privilege to help do something for someone who isn’t as privileged as you are.

Obviously, in light of Black History Month, I challenge white folk to acknowledge your privilege as a white person. I challenge you to take the time, and continue to take the time if you already have started this process, of noticing what white privilege brings you. And not just for this month, I challenge you to do this constantly and consistently. Please don’t beat yourself up over white privilege. White guilt is valid in feeling but not valid in practice. To blame yourself for having white privilege is NOT actually helping to solve your strife or the strife of people of color. Instead, reflect and really see what white privilege is about and do something about the negative repercussions it has on yourself as a white person developmentally and others as people of color socially/systematically.

I will be doing the same for those privileges I have, ie. my college education and the fact that education means a lot to me. What can I do as an educated person to actually help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to an education if they so choose (and if my work is successful they will be able to choose) to take the opportunity? Many questions, many answers.

Time to get to work.

With Love & Affirmation,
Myke

Claiming Bodies (1/30/14)

What we do, as a society (and maybe I might start say “what I see” instead of saying “we” because I mean I don’t know everyone’s life so how I can speak for everyone. I’ll be reflecting on this), is claim bodies. Bodies become claimed by people, communities, media, somehow claimed. What is a female body really? What is a male body really? What is a trans body really? What is a cis body really? What is a Black body really? What is an Native American Indian body really? What is a white body really? Of course, by claiming bodies, community and commonality and safety and in-groups and comfort and groundwork and support and so on is created. I understand that all too well. Yet what is happening when we talk about these bodies? How are we talking about these bodies?

Today in my Queer Comedy class we talked about Wanda Sykes skit on “The Detachable Vaginae” (to which she referred the vagina as “pussy”) and was exclusively talking about cisgender women. The skit itself was a satire on patriachy and the violence directed towards women based on their hyper-sexualization throughout society. And when we talked about the skit, everyone spoke on cisgender women. Being the person that I am, I had to openly acknowledge in class that cisgender women are not the solitary holders of vaginas but that some men (who do or do not identify with their transgender experience) have vaginas as well. Of course, not all men of transgender experience would acknowledge that themselves (many of which I know and have had conversations with) and understandably so. In a societal rule of patriachy where vaginas are targets of violence why would someone who is under the veil and category of male/man want to place themselves in danger. The discussion made me think, “How come? How come some of these men do not claim their bodies or certain aspects of their bodies? (To which the above statement very much may be an answer) How come when speaking on vaginas that the conversation wraps around women? How does focusing the conversation of vaginas and associating vaginas with women affect transgender women who do not have vaginas? What makes us claim bodies in the way that we do?” And so many more questions…

Now that I think about this more, I’m gonna post this as a blog post in my Queer Comedy course. Whoever’s interested in knowing the results of this conversation, I’ll let you know.