#BlackSpacesMatter

[konglish-in-seoul]

Footage courtesy of @ricci_sergienko Police escalation against demonstration while Dijon is still on the street. No Justice, No Peace. #blacklivesmatter #blm #흑인의목숨은소중하다 #흑인의생명은소중하다 #흑인의생명도소중하다코리아 #숨막혀 #흑인 #georgefloyd #조지플로이드 #조지_플로이드 #숨을못쉬겠어요 #justiceforgeorgefloyd #BreonnaTaylor #blacklivesmatterkorea #jacobblake #elijahmcclain #fuck2020 #blackrepresentationmatters #blackspacesmatter #dijonkizzee #nogoodcopsinaracistsystem #systemicracism https://www.instagram.com/p/CElac9CnouP/?igshid=1h610eui8m1pt

[babybabylowtension]

#BlackSpacesMatter @hbcandtheden 🖤 #tribefestdc (at HBC Theater and The Den)

[authentic-poetry-blog]

Lets Talk #2: Who's invited to the Cookout?

If you are on social media, specifically Twitter, you would know the saying, "You're invited to the cookout." This saying is an open invitation to someone outside the black/brown race to join us in our cookout experience. The cookout has been a tradition in the black community since Jesus Christ(Okay, maybe not then, but you get the idea.)

The cookout is a non-holiday gathering. You know how black cookouts are: showing up at 12pm, but not eating until 3pm, Uncle Pookie on the grill with his sandals, Auntie playing Luther Vandross talking about her glory days, the OGs of the family drunk playing spades, flag football/basketball for the guys, the ladies talking about hair or their children. (If you do not know any of these references, you must not belong at the cookout, or haven't been invited.)The cookout is the ultimate carefree Black experience. The cookout is the safe haven for the black community. The one place where we are free to exist in all of our blackness around our family and friends. 

"The Cookout" is a black-owned space of joy, love, peace, and whatever drama we choose. 

I saw three tweets a few days ago: one, inviting a white girl and guy to the cookout for hitting a racist; two, Abraham Lincoln taking a knee with various black figures; and three, Eminem's rap cypher from the Hip-Hop Awards. I also saw tweets inviting Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys general manager, for taking a knee during the anthem. I saw a tweet uninviting P!NK to the cookout for having hope in Trump. I saw tweet inviting a white girl wearing a "Immigrants make America great" shirt to the cookout.

Let me say this as simple as possible, NONE OF THEM ARE INVITED TO THE COOKOUT. A shirt, taking a knee, a rap, a "woke" tweet, hitting a racist, BREATHING does not get you an invite to our stress-free, racial-free gathering.

Let's be clear, white people should not be given a free invitation into our experience as if they earned. They already feel entitled enough because they are white. Are we ever given free invitation into their gala's? or their family dinners? Are we treated as family when we are around them? Are we comfortable in their white spaces?

The cookout is a time where we can be comfortable around our own kind without having to look the part or fall into respectability politics.

What Twitter has done is open up a sacred Black space to outsiders who are not appreciative of the space. I say sacred because at our cookouts we are most vulnerable. We exist and live freely. And whenever we do so and white gets in the mix, disaster comes or violence. Simple acts of morality is nothing spectacular. All it shows is that you are human. Lets start with the first video I linked about the girl and guy hitting a racist. Though I condone the actions of a white person attacking a racist, it still does not mean they can identify with the black struggle in anyway. They did a great thing that many black people wish we had the privilege to do with out repercussions. However, its not enough for me to open my cookout to them.

Okay now lets get into this image below:

Do you notice anyone thats out of place in this image? Of course you do! Why the hell is Abraham Lincoln in this image, as if he ended slavery and racism? Lets be clear, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery, it was an executive order freeing slaves. This image is a visual of "You're invited to the cookout." I THINK THE F*CK NOT! 

Twitter has created a "woke" space for anyone to be "deep" and ignorant. And if you believe support this image, you are one of those people. Let me give you a few facts about Lincoln. 1. He owned slaves; two, he did not believe blacks and whites should share the same rights; three, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves. So, if you say  "Lincoln can come to the cookout," I will respond, "I THINK THE F*CK NOT!" Lincoln is no different than many white politicians. He didn't do anything worth opening our black spaces to him. 

Lastly, Does Eminem get an invite to the cookout?

I love Eminem. I think he is a great lyricist and artist. I love his music and the way he can express his life experiences. This year he performed in a cypher for the BET Hip-Hop Awards. I am here for everything he said. I do not disagree with anything. But, the visual and the people are my concern. First, I understand that some of the black men behind him are his friends, however, this image portrays a white savior. In the video, you see Eminem rapping about Trump and his bigotry, while in the background there is a group of black men in all black. A white savior refers to a white person who acts to help non-white people, with the help in some contexts perceived to be self-serving. Some examples of white savior complexes are Freedom Writers(2007), The Soloist(2009), and The Blindside (2009). A white savior belittles the oppressed and demonstrates that they cannot save themselves. Its like "Captain-save-a-hoe" instead its "Captain Save-A-Nigger."   

I understand that Eminem is a "conscious" artist. He utilized his platform and privilege to speak on the fault in Trump and his presidency. However, when I see POC worship him as if, he did a miraculous thing, I am confused. I can consider Eminem as an ally, but I am unsure if I would invite him to the cookout. Hear me out, yes, he used his privileged for the oppressed, and yes he is conscious about the racial and presidential tension that exists, but is that something out of the ordinary? In other words, did he do something that we, black people, have not been doing or saying? We invented putting the fist in the air for black power. We been calling Trump out on his racist, sexist, inconsiderate, kamikaze ways. We already say everything, that white allies just now have the courage to say.

The "cookout" is for us. Its our safe-haven. Its our black ritual. When we invite people who do not appreciate it or understand the value of it, we are gentrifying our experience for public acceptance of not being considered exclusive or anti-white. I am not anti-white, but I am pro-black. That means I am for black exclusive spaces. I am for black exclusivity. The issue comes when the white race take black exclusivity as a means of segregation. No, I am not promoting Jim Crow behaviors, but I am promoting the right to have black spaces without the interference of whiteness. 

[konglish-in-seoul]

Amazing exhibition. Go go go now. Really outs a whole new depth on his photos ❤️ the cars, the crowns... It all makes sense.... #art #artspace #lottemuseumofart #jeanmichelbasquiat #basquiat #blackartists #BlackLivesMatterKorea #blackspacesmatter #jamsil #southkorea #korea #seoul (at Lotte World Tower Mall) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGwGEtXHMSv/?igshid=16wwm1tfq0efz

[konglish-in-seoul]

It is what it is. The system works as designed... Abolish and rebuild. #noroomforracism #nojusticenopeace #nogoodcopsinaracistsystem #BLACKLIVESMATTERKOREA #blackfacts #blackwomenmatter #blackspacesmatter #blacklivesmatterkorea #blacklivesmatter #blm #whitesilenceisviolence https://www.instagram.com/p/CGC9QvbHncp/?igshid=4lhc2bo803t7

[konglish-in-seoul]

Just checking to see if you are actually for this argument or just pro police brutality. #blacklivesmatter #blm #흑인의목숨은소중하다 #흑인의생명은소중하다 #흑인의생명도소중하다코리아 #숨막혀 #흑인 #georgefloyd #조지플로이드 #조지_플로이드 #숨을못쉬겠어요 #justiceforgeorgefloyd #BreonnaTaylor #blacklivesmatterkorea #jacobblake #elijahmcclain #fuck2020 #blackrepresentationmatters #blackspacesmatter #burnitdown #crookedcops #selfdefenseforwomen #endqualifiedimmunity https://www.instagram.com/p/CEktysnnz47/?igshid=1ae8jsc7kexui

[konglish-in-seoul]

#blacklivesmatter #blm #흑인의목숨은소중하다 #흑인의생명은소중하다 #흑인의생명도소중하다코리아 #숨막혀 #흑인 #georgefloyd #조지플로이드 #조지_플로이드 #숨을못쉬겠어요 #justiceforgeorgefloyd #BreonnaTaylor #blacklivesmatterkorea #jacobblake #elijahmcclain #fuck2020 #blackrepresentationmatters #blackspacesmatter https://www.instagram.com/p/CEd7ItvnnN3/?igshid=bhgg335urhrm

[konglish-in-seoul]

Footage courtesy of @ricci_sergienko Police escalation against demonstration while Dijon is still on the street. No Justice, No Peace. #blacklivesmatter #blm #흑인의목숨은소중하다 #흑인의생명은소중하다 #흑인의생명도소중하다코리아 #숨막혀 #흑인 #georgefloyd #조지플로이드 #조지_플로이드 #숨을못쉬겠어요 #justiceforgeorgefloyd #BreonnaTaylor #blacklivesmatterkorea #jacobblake #elijahmcclain #fuck2020 #blackrepresentationmatters #blackspacesmatter #dijonkizzee #nogoodcopsinaracistsystem #systemicracism https://www.instagram.com/p/CElaO39nR0x/?igshid=1wch7oqcxot76