Educated Hood Chicks
  • Home
  • Living Single Vodcast
  • Dear EHC...

Post a Pic? Nah, I'm Good... about #Ferguson

11/26/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
The decision from the Grand Jury regarding the murder of Michael Brown garnered many reactions. Protests erupted in many cities because, you see, This isn't a Ferguson probem. It's an American problem. 

In areas where people didn't feel that physical protest was their specialty, many took to electronic expressions of outrage and action. Many posted pictures of their loved ones with the hashtag #OurBoysMatter, #OurSonsMatter and #BlackLivesMatter. Along with the hashtag, many of the pictures included a story about how great that loved one is. Its a great campaign on all platforms, you should check it out. 


I'm no longer going to create a PR Campaign for my child as if I have to beg people to recognize his humanity in a nation where their ancestors were stolen and brought here. There is no story I can tell you about my son that will create a force field around him. 

You are going to have to get used to my son and other people's sons becoming more comfortable in their space.  You are going to have to brace yourselves as children that look like mine excel in all areas. His greatness will not be gained with your permission. He will take it. 

And he will be angry when injustice happens. because Anger is a logical response when your people are shot in the streets. Anger fuels action and my child and children like mine will fight as they see fit until justice hapens. 

and YOU.WILL.DEAL




 


0 Comments

Looking at Feminism with Colored Glasses

11/29/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I have never called myself a feminist. It just doesn't seem to be appropriate for a girl like me... You know, being Black and all. 

Here's the thing about "Feminism:" the concept as used in homogeneous circles isn't intended for women of color. Apparently Feminism looks, I suppose, Like Hillary Clinton, not Michelle Obama... I'm not sure what the difference is (They both hold/held the position of FLOTUS, both lawyers, both given the opportunity to raise young children in the White House)... But reaction to them are extremely different. Which is weird, considering the inspiration of Feminists, according to most documentaries about modern day documentaries, is the leadership of Black women during the Civil Rights Movement era of the 1960s. As volunteers, they saw the strength of these women  and took that empowerment home. 

However with every "Wave" of feminism (whatever that means), it seems like there is a group that isn't included in the agenda. Consistently this is women of color. As if our issues (Achievement/Economic Gap, Racism, etc) Isn't important in the grand scheme of feminism. Like many rights groups, we are told to hold on to our issues until all other issues have subsided. 

Unfortunately, in trying to expand the issues, mainstream feminists try to quiet the voices of Women of Color. This is an issue of Privilege. These women feel that it is our place to follow them and not forge our own path. Just like history should be inclusive, so though issues of equality. Women of all walks should be at the table instead of the current belief that our only purpose at the table is to serve them. Except instead of food, we are supposed to serve them with our ideas, strategies and (wo)man power. 

Thankfully, Social Media has diversified what feminism should look like. There is to much power in the voice of Black/Brown woman to just settle for the theory that Feminism looks like Gloria Steinem, Amanda Marcote, and Michelle Cottle.  

There are some amazing voices out there. You just have to look for them...  Start with the website Hood Feminism then move outward. You're welcome

MBrooks


0 Comments

Tips to Dating a "Girl Like Me..."

3/17/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Please note that this post is mostly full of snark. I'm playing... kinda sorta. 
Except for the stuff that's true. Just saying...
I have been consistently told that I'm a "different" type of chick... That's fine... Except I don't really know what that means. I don't even think the guys that tell me that know either. Because lemme tell you... *sigh*

Whatever it means, I realize that I have to work with the perception that my #geekstatus puts me in a different group. If this is in fact true, that this other category actually exists, apparently there needs to be some guidelines to how to date a girl like me.  Well, not all girls like me, because apparently I'm "different," but you know what I mean...
Yes, I... That one chick, has the unmitigated gall to be proactive and give you information on alternatives to approaching me. Because as of right now, what I've been getting is full of fail and apparently y'all need assistance... 

1. Please stop telling me how "different" I am... I'm not really that different

Saying how different I am isn't convincing me that you are really interested. It kinda sounds like I am some sort of experiment. Instead of someone you want to date. And please don't explain this difference by comparing me with the other women on your list. It doesn't help. Erase what's in your head, Its not true... I'm just a girl that like to read and do stuff. No, really... 

2. During the initial conversations, can you please not tell me how I need to calm down, or how I need to be "tamed?"  

OK, so if in the first conversation you tell me how its cool that I'm "feisty" and the next time you tell me I'm "too feisty," you sound crazy. Telling me that you are just the guy to make me "obey (yes, that happened)" is hilarious. Only because of the opinion that I am as the most hard-headed woman ever. And stop calling me a "Filly". That's just dumb...

3. I'm a Sweetheart, but not a Punk. I'm a Geek, but not a Square

I am the most caring, giving and supportive person ever. That makes me a good person, not a pushover.  Oh, and my Geek Status does not make it so I don't like fun. I will do most things at least once (except maybe skydiving... because you may only have one chance at that...) 

4. Yes I understand that you may want to do more things than talk, But please pay attention when I'm talking

The more you pay attention the better I am receptive to you. That's all I got for that one.

5. Yeah...  Can you look up when you talk with me? 
     
I understand that I have certain, um, features, that may take up your attention. However, most of you are grown enough to understand how to pretend to look in someones face, right? So Let's do that. If you behave like a gentleman in the beginning you can go a long way. Trust me on this... 

See? Simple. I didn't even talk about how your "game" could use some (OK, a lot) of work. I didn't even talk about the crazy one-liners that would drive any woman to knitting her own kittens and staying home. Just be yourself. I bet you're pretty cool when you aren't pretending to be someone out of a 70s flick. Try that. I be a Girl like me would love it.  

Thank you for your time. I'll be over here with knitting needles and Red Vines...


Monika
0 Comments

Why I Hate to Love My Friends... No Seriously...

3/11/2013

0 Comments

 
 “She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.” 
                                                                                                      ~ Toni Morrison, Beloved                          

Friends are ridiculously troublesome... They pull you places you don't want to go, they know ALL of your business and they tell you everything you don't want to know about yourself. Sometimes they like to do things and MAKE you do things with them. They make it really hard to like them... but I do

 Pushy, just plain pushy... All of them.. Well, at least the ones worth while. 

I didn't really have more than 2 friends at one time most of my life until I arrived to the Bay Area... Totally my fault. I'm terribly hard on my friends.  I can be known as difficult, harsh and closed off to  everyone. The friends that survived are more amazing than can ever be imagined. I'm still only 1/2 as good as they are if I am at all.  I barely even call... and they still love me... God Bless them because I have cut folks off for less. Seriously, Ask around...

Having friends can totally be a pain. By definition, they tell you what you need, not want to hear. Like "let it go, he's not worth it..." or "No,its not them, its you honey. It's better you hear it from me (totally has happened to me)." I sit there and listen to them tell me why I'm wrong or why I overreacted (which I tend to do) ... And I sit there... And I Sit there... while I slowly plot ways to excommunicate them from my life for telling me what I needed to hear.  I hate them for that. Seriously... at least for a while...

But the one thing about friends, they support you no matter what, They tell you "he's not worth it, because you're worth more..."   Even though they will point out what YOU did... the sentence sounds like " Here's where you're wrong... But if you want us to roll up over there, We're good with that too. Let me get my keys" And even though you KNOW you overreacted they promise they won't tell anyone and they back you no matter what. They even back my crazy Ideas, like having a group of women speak their mind on some blog folks felt inappropriate (ahem... like this one), or to have a podcast that is now 2 years old. Or to start a network that helps underrepresented groups understand Autism... These friends of mine... They just say stuff like "That's totally a good idea! Let's do it..." AND .... They tolerate all of the Ratchet that is me... ALL OF IT, DO YOU HEAR ME!!!!

See, Just tricky with their support... and their help... and their being nice and awesome... and stuff... 

I spent this past weekend with the greatest people in the world to me. All of them have taught me (hopefully) to be a better friend than I used to be. They didn't even have to yell at me (well, not a lot... and even when they did want to, they just shook their heads instead). They showed me by example how its done. 

Bunch of Tricky folks... The whole lot of them .... Dag gone them and their goodness.


I hate that I love them to death.. But Lawd knows I do... 




0 Comments

On Lent and letting go ... 

2/18/2013

1 Comment

 
Lent  [lent]   
 
(in the Christian religion) an annual season of fasting and penitence
 in preparation for Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting 40 
weekdays to Easter, observed by Roman Catholic, Anglican, and certain 
other churches.

Picture
 Lent for Christians Began on Wednesday, February 13, 2013.  It's  a period of Fasting and Repentance between Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.  We give up things as a sacrifice. 


 This year I have given up:  Television after 8 pm, Candy, Soda and  Cursing.While Christians give up visible items, I have realized that there is more to this Lent thing than I previously thought... 


The timing of Lent this year is so crazy to me. My Son's birthday was Monday. My Son is 13 now and I have to "let go" of the fact that he is still my little boy. He is going to be doing more things without my help than with it. It is difficult trying to get that through my own head. Being "The Boy's Mother" has been my title for so long, I forget how to not be that. We probably held his last party this past Saturday. He didn't need me once. 

And then there's Valentine's Day...

I don't really "do" Valentine's Day. Usually because there generally has never been a valid reason to celebrate it. I don't do relationships well at all and the folks I get to "know" generally don't garner the appreciation I deserve. And I know I deserve it because that's what they tell me (for what that's worth). I am using this time to "let go" of the notions that I can control that. There is nothing I can do or my friends can suggest for me to just "get" a Valentine or Sweetheart.  So that means I am going to "Let Go" of the advice I will ultimately be getting to "Get a Man..." I have to start believing that it can't mathematically be true that I am always the issue and then let the chips fall where they may. The perceptions people have that may involve me have can't be altered by me. It is what it is. 

So I am realizing that Lent is more than giving up things... Even though in my head "The Monikarchy is real,"  I have to understand that I can't fight God's battles. Its not my plan so I can't dictate the ending of the plan. I have to understand that I can't force my will to be the will of others. That's not how it works. I can only play in my lane and hope for the uninterrupted outcome. I'm an oldest child, though, so I need y'all to be patient with me... 

Good luck to you on your journey through this Lenten Season. Hopefully, your Letting Go process will be successful and productive. 



1 Comment

Black History Month... A Great Time to Read

2/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
OK... So I've been on this "Do Something" kick. I even wrote about it on the Now In Session Page.  I figure that since the media and "Black Leaders" claim to be writing our agenda (the details I was not informed of), we may as well set up a personal agenda to make our families and communities safer. 

This blogging thing is a great way to keep myself accountable for the things I say I want to do. Maybe it was that dag gone Kid President's call for me to Be Awesome (I love that kid) or the fact that every holiday or occasion turns Twitter into the Barlett's book of quotations, where everyone quotes from this guy or that woman depending on the day. These quote blitzes always leave me wondering what site these Twitter Folks got it from because the tweeets before and after generally are filled with ratchet and Melancholy...

So today, I declared that I would tweet a book recommendation everyday. It kind of got some steam. That's pretty cool, right? It doesn't take much to get people to follow your ideas, it just takes 140 characters: 

OK here's a "formal" announcement: please join me for #BHM2013ReadThis by suggestingbooks that help us read more. No genre is excluded!

— Ms. Brooks™ (@TheREAL_MBrooks) February 1, 2013
And That's all it took... So I am now asking it of you. Go to Twitter and recommend a book a day for February with the hashtag #BHM2013ReadThis.  You can also recommend a movie (#BHM2013WatchThis), A song (#BHM2013HearThis),  A Factoid (#BHM2013KnowThis) or a Website/Blog (#BHM2013SearchThis)

Now why would I do this? Why would I bother? Because gathering information is vital to the growth of all people. Information distribution across the masses is worthwhile and vital to the growth of a people. It's how imagination and ideas are born

So there it is. Part of my 2013 Action Items. What are you going to do to make 2013 better?
0 Comments

The Black Woman: Pretty Awesome in ALL Forms 

1/11/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
There is something about the Black Woman... All of us... that makes people stop in their tracks... 


Whether we are "Housewives" or "Dignified" (mind you, those two types of people are interchangeable) or The Bitter, Essence buying, Terry McMillan reading, Man Hater I was described as a couple months ago (Don't ask..), There is something... folks don't even know what.. they love us.. and have no idea why. 

We are awesome in everything we do. Whether we are the Admin you can't get past, or the First Lady, or one in a group that dares to call themselves Educated Hood Chicks. We are ALL valuable in EVERY way.

I  have always believed those "How to be a better Black woman" books were a little much. I' m a Black woman... But not the one that considered "refined" like all those books say.  I really don't fit the criteria of the women that are usually discussed by "Conscious" folks about how I should be like Michelle Obama and NOT NeNe Leakes... AT ALL. 

I laugh inappropriately at jokes and watch reality shows.  My Spotify playlists would make "Revolutionaries" cringe.  If it wasn't for college, folks wouldn't listen to me at all.  Even the way I got through college is not "ideal." I got to college through luck and got through it by Grace. 

And here lies the problem with only defending the "Michelle's" of Black America... It creates a perception that the less refined shouldn't be defended at all. When Evelyn from VH1s "Basketball Wives" had a domestic dispute with Chad Johnson, a majority of the response was "Well... YOU'VE seen her, she is Ghetto, I'm not saying she deserved it, but I'm just saying..."

The better treatment of the "refined" isn't new.  In March of 1955 in Montgomery, AL, teenager Claudette Colvin was arrested for not moving to the back of the bus.  Black organizations at the time didn't believe she would be a viable "Icon" because 1) she was a teenager and 2) she didn't have "The right look."  Rosa Parks did... 

                      "Her skin texture was the kind that people associate with the 
                       middle class," says Colvin. "She fit that profile."


In a realistic world, you can't defend Michelle Obama as a Black woman without defending Condelezza Rice or NeNe Leeks or what ever YouTube video star that has no time for any of it. But in this new Social Network world in which we live in would rather us put the "refined" on a pedestal and spit on the "Ghetto" or "Hood" folks. 

We are All Black Women and we are all awesome. We may not always be the awesome you want, but we all have the power to shape the world. 


But what do I know... 








2 Comments

Written response to "Think like a Critic: a Review of Steve Harvey's Movie"

5/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Hey Y'all.... I'm Back!  How have you been? Good? 

So what happens when you let Jamese from Educated Hood Chicks on your Podcast...A great debate on why Steve Harvey is out to ruin our people... Wait, I need to start from the beginning... 

So I have a Podcast called Now In Session with Monika and Bruce. We're pretty good. We talk about Politics and Leadership and History.. Pretty Much any nerdy thing you can think of said by the girl you hung out with to raise the GPA of your crew... 

So It was decided that we should review the movie "Think Like a Man."  Jamese doesn't like Harvey, and I dislike him even more. Well, that's an understatement... If he lost everything and was relegated to a job consisting of painting himself silver and standing completely still for money at Landmarks, I would appreciate it. I don't know if my Podcast partner, Bruce likes him or not. I do know he loves my reaction to him...Sucka...

Here's the thing: If "Think Like a Man, Act Like a Lady" were a book of fiction, if women weren't believing that his opinions should be taken into more consideration than their own common sense I probably would have LOVED the movie. I LOVE Romantic Comedies even stupid ones (and aren't they all stupid really?). The problem is that not only are the men shown as if they don't have any issues at all. The women are shown as manipulators and the men are shown to be jackasses strictly for defensive purposes only...Seriously?  I simply can't with this... 
It is my belief that Steve Harvey is one of many that insert their patriarchy with a joke and hopefully women will go back to how "women ought to be." I don't claim to be a feminist. I'm just a chick that likes to point out crazy upon occasion. But the "Steve Harvey" technique in Playing the game seems to be like dumbing yourself down at the job so your Co-workers don't feel threatened.  But hey, That could also be why I don't have a man, so there's also that...


Right before the podcast, It was announced that 20 year Bay Area Radio Personality, Kevin Brown is going to be replaced by the Steve Harvey Show, TODAY. That doesn't help. Its like there is a full court press on the guy, It is killing me. Besides the fact that the Bay Area will no longer have a live Community Voice (crucial in engagement), but that Harvey can spread his virus... I mean wisdom to the Bay is crazy.  As I said on the Podcast: You still think he's harmless?
0 Comments

Allow me to re-introduce myself...

2/8/2012

0 Comments

 
So apparently, this is the point where I guess tell folks  about myself.  I'm Monika... 

I'm the tall one, the dorky one, the highly awkward one, the one that LOVES Hip Hop (Not as much as Andrea. But I can hold my own), and I watch politics like some folks watch Love and Basketball (I Live tweet the Debates. Even the unimportant ones).
I have known these ladies collectively forever... Well joyfully it seems that way.  I am not sure what the other ladies think of me..Most of the time I drive them crazy. I am not sure why they still invite me places, unless its because its cheaper and easier to invite me than for them to move or something..  

We all have our "thing" that makes us awesome. Check out the personalities of each of us and you will figure out how the puzzle pieces of our personas fit in. Or, you may wonder "How the heck did that combination happen... That's possible too.

Why did we do this? Well, besides the fact that someone said,  "Hey, we should have a website..." We're not really sure. but trust me you will want to know what we have to say. If you think we are beneficial to each other, wait until the rest of you listen to us...

So to make a long story short... if you keep coming back to us blame Ava. She started it...
0 Comments

Hello!!! *Waving*

2/6/2012

0 Comments

 
Hi Everyone.!

Yeah, It's another web page... 

I'm Taking Over, SON.....(Insert B-Girl Stance Here)
0 Comments
<<Previous

     

    The Resident Geekstress & History buff.  This Blog could be about anything at any given time.  Thanks for hanging out with me!

    Picture
    Take that, Take that...
    Here's where you can find me

    Archives

    November 2014
    November 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    May 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    #2013 Action Items
    Advice
    Bay Area
    Black Women
    Christianity
    Dating
    Feminism
    Friendship
    Lent 2013
    Random Awesome
    Steve Harvey

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.