Happy (Black) Women's History Month!!!

It's amazing. Year after year, the realization that March is (Black) Women's History Month comes about half way through it. Basura. Let's make up for lost time...

The year is 2000-Shine, the year that nothing but dreams will come into fruition, luhvs. So, that being said, there is no better time than now, during this month, in this year, to honor and salute the black women of history who dreamed big, worked hard, broke down barriers &, against all odds, paved the road to that place where dreams do come true for those of us who believe we can achieve, those of us who are fervently following in their footsteps. Because of these women, we too can break through the roof.

Sojourner Truth (1797 - November 26, 1883)

Ms. Truth was born a slave in NY. After NY abolished slavery in 1927, Ms. Truth joined the Northampton Association of Education & Industry in MA, a group founded by abolitionists that also supported women's rights. In 1851, she left Northampton & attended the Ohio Women's Rights Convention where she delivered her famous speech Ain't I a Woman.

Her activism led her to assist the Union Army in recruiting troops during the Civil War, & after the war to secure land grants from the feds for freed slaves. Her efforts afforded her meetings w/ President Lincoln & Gen. Grant. She even attempted to vote in the presidential election of 1872.

Throughout her life, Ms. Truth spoke about abolition, women's rights, prison reform & religious freedom. Ms. Sojourner Truth, u are through.the.roof.

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993)

Ms. Anderson was one of the most heralded contraltos of the 20th century who ultimately became an integral figure in black artists' struggle to break racial barriers.

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused permission for Ms. Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall, D.C's premier venue. But ironically, as a result of their race-incited refusal, she rose to international fame. President Franklin D. Roosevelt & his wife, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, even invited Anderson to perform for them & the King & Queen of England in the White House - she was that good. As if that statement wasn't significant enough, shortly thereafter she performed at what came to be a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of 75,000 + people and a radio audience of millions, easily.

Continuing to break barriers for black artists in the US, on January 7, 1955, Ms. Anderson became the 1st black person ever to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. Ms. Marian Anderson, u are through the roof.

Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005)

Mrs. Chisholm was the 1st Black woman to be voted to Congress. In 1972 she made history again by becoming the 1st woman to be considered for a major-party presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

Mrs. Chisholm dedicated her life to education & politics, & wrote several books. Her greatest legacy, however, can be seen today. Our President is BLACK! Mrs. Shirley Chisholm, U...r through the roof.

Maya Angelou (Born April 4, 1928)

Ms. Angelou is a POET. Her works - truly amazing, ringing w/ inspiration. So much so that her poems, in their boundless relevance, can be heard at just about any significant engagement. She is best known for her 6 autobiographies that have been used, quite notably, in many teacher education programs to train educators how to talk about race. Her savvy ability to deliver insight into identity, romance, kinship & racism in packages of eloquent wordplay has won her nominations for both the National Book Award & the Pulitzer Prize. She has served on two Presidential Committees, & has been awarded 30+ honorary degrees from American Universities.

When Ms. Angelou speaks, people listen. A phenomenal woman she is & she's still rising. Ms. Angelou, ur words touch our souls, u are through the roof.

Oprah Winfrey (Born January 29, 1954)

Ms. Winfrey! Or Oprah...or "Mogul" - any of those names alone, in any language, pretty much addresses the same person. But in giving our much due respect, we'll address her as Ms. Winfrey! The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk-show in TV-land history, is internationally syndicated, & has earned her too many Emmys to count.

Errrrrrbody knows & respects this woman; her influence will be timeless. As a dedicated philanthropist, Ms. Winfrey uses that influence & wealth to improve the circumstances of as many disadvantaged people, from all over the world, as she can.

Don't know about u all, but LeiLeiRachelle wants to be just like Oprah when we grow up - she is SO through the roof.

Florence Griffith-Joyner (Dec. 21, 1959 – Sept. 21, 1998)
& Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Born March 3, 1962)

To this day, Ms. Flo-Jo remains the World Record holder in both the 100m & 200m races. She posted her 10.49s 100m time in the quarter finals of the 1988 Olympic trials, and her 21.34s 200m time in the 200m finals at the real thing in Seoul, South Korea.

Ms. Jackie-Joyner Kersee, "the world's greatest female athlete," won consecutive heptathlon championships at the 1988 (World Record) & 1992 Olympic Games. She set an Olympic record in the long jump in the 1998 Olympics in Seoul as well.

For those of us who were young'ns during their reign, their successes burned in our psyches a grand expectiation for our Olympic Track & Field teams - we break records, we win golds! Not only did these ladies make running & jumping look easy, inspiring the athletes of our generation, but they set a precedent for all US athletes of any sport. Ms. Flo-Jo, Ms. Kersee... u both r truly through the roof.

Mae Jemison (Born October 17, 1956)

Ms. Mae Jemison is a woman of many interests & aspirations. Git it! On September 12, 1992, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor, Ms. Mae Jemison, M.D. became the first African American woman to travel into space. Before becoming an astronaut, Ms. Jemison served as a Peace Corp doc from 1983-1985.

Since retiring from NASA, Ms. Jemison has founded numerous foundations & companies. Most notably, she formed the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence in honor of her mother to engage youth in solving current global problems - she is a sincere advocate for getting minority youth interested in science, & she also founded BioSentient Corp to specialize in developing portable devices allowing mobile monitoring of the involuntary nervous system.

If these accomplishments weren't enough, Ms. Jemison has also become a Professor-at-Large at Cornell University & was a professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College from 1995 to 2002.

Ms. Jemison carved out a place for young black women in hard science, proving that we can do it all. For that, Ms. Jemison, u are THROUGH.THE.ROOF.

~

Our history is rich. Our history is fabulous. Our foresisters made it so we don't have to dream no more. But we'll keep dreaming anyway, & these incredible women prove that we do not do so in vain. So dream, luhvs, for dreaming will take us through each & every one of our rooves ;-) Happy (Black) Women's History Month!

Sky's the Limit...

Biggie (RIP BIG) made some hits... my favorite probably isn't even heralded as one of his BEST, but it's my favorite b/c it speaks to me & I believe in it... "Sky's the Limit" (no surprise there though, I embeded the music video on my first post on this site last year - it's part of my mantra).

I still remember the first time I heard it, laying on my bed in my old room. Life After Death had been a bday gift from by big bro, & it actually may've been the last album I ever received. Fitting. But after poppin' off the plastic wrapping, & as I let the music ride, song after song, all of a sudden... "Good evening ladies & gentlemen," beat dropped, my head bopped. That was the only song I played, from both discs, for as long as I can remember (mad other hella dope tracks on the album, though, but u already knew that).

My mom & dad grinded & made it... they let my siblings & me want for nothing - but that didn't mean we knew it. My parents made sure we understood the value of hard work, integrity, responsibility, and accountability; they prepared us for challenges; they prepared us for life. U know how it goes, "b/c ur black, u can't get by being just as good, u have to be better." Fine, b/c I don't want to be average anyway. So instead of staring up at that glass ceiling, I dreamed of breaking through the roof. Like Biggie said, "Sky's the Limit." Why shouldn't I let myself soar, reaching for the stars...? & if I should happen to land on a cloud from time to time when things get rough, I'll fluff around in it for a little bit (u ever look out the window of a plane, while passing through the clouds & wonder what it'd be like to touch one? Yeah, I do), for w/ every passing cloud there's an experience there waiting to happen from which only growth can occur. After that I'll shoot for the stars again, & to the limit. Who said I couldn't.

Repeat oldie... but a goodie. Keep dreamin luhvs. Once ur through the roof, "Sky's the Limit."

Revolutionary RacheRox in FULL EFFECT

It's been a minute luhvs.

Sorry we haven't been around for ages, but LeiLei & I are becoming (higher) educated & it's mad work! No excuses tho, we miss this. I'm back b/c there have been an abundance of through the roof moments, both fabulous & bad, thrown on the balance throughout the past year, and recently one of those moments tipped the scale for me personally.

As a young African American woman, it is integral that I carry myself with poise, class, sophistication, a desire to strengthen my black community, and the responsibility to uphold the integrity of my black community that I luhv as well.

While we accept that responsibility with open arms, we hope that we don't have to flash our badge too often. But during what would have otherwise been an average medical school lecture in my Growth & Development course, "Lecture 9: Youth Violvence" became just the tipping point my revolutionary alter ego has been waiting for. That being said, and w/out further adieu, here's what happened:

5 minutes into lecture, Dr. Guest Lecturer asked the class to shout out predictors of violence. "Low SES!" "Child abuse!" "TV!"..."Race!" [All Eyes On Doc] "Race, race...ok, any more?" There were more suggestions, but after that there implication right there, nothing else mattered. The lecture slides the Doc swept through contained a series of case studies comparing "violent youth" to "normally developed youth," & low & behold, allllll (every.last.one) of the pics of "violent youth" (& a pregnant teen) were of black people; allllll of the pics of the "normally developed youth" were of white & Asian people. WHAAAT!? But wait, if you think it ended there...nope! At the end of the lecture during Q&A, one of my black classmates raised her hand politely and asked ever so diplomatically, "so earlier in the lecture someone said that race was a predictor for violence, could you please talk about that a little?" She gave him such an easy out, but this man came up with the following: "Well, it's complicated because in the U.S. race & socioeconomic status are intertwined...race is um...an easier indicator of [violence]. It's controversial; we know low ses is a strong predictor of violence and race is also predictor...it's important to remember that for young black men in particular it's the leading cause of death." Because they're being killed by other black people? All I know is that the professor was dead wrong. You are probably wondering why I didn't "ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT" @ the suggestion of race being a predictor in the first place, huh? Well, this was the lecture I decided to skip to finish a PBL assignment in peace. Looking back now, tho, God was looking out for my behind b/c I probably would have ended up being his live case & point w/ the fury that boiled my blood through my roof after listening to the posted recording of the lecture - I've been upset for days, luhvs.

It should be common sense to educators in higher academia, but apparently it's time for the students to make a statement: it is our (the students) expectation that lecturers be cognizant of the fact that classrooms these days are quite diverse, and that 1) any representation of a racial, ethnic, or other group of people be represented fairly, and 2) that he/she be careful not to make any false claims, explicit nor implied, related to those groups. Race is absolutely not a predictor of violence - there is literature.

No group of students should ever be made to feel uncomfortable about their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or the like in a medical school lecture. More importantly, a lecture's content should never cause students to feel concerned to the point of feeling they need to stand up for the integrity of their respective group, and look up empirical evidence to support them "just in case." While people are entitled to their thoughts and opinions, some have no place in our lectures - we are, after all, being trained to be tactful professionals and leaders.

How is Revolutionary RacheRox handling the situation? Well, I'm keepin her in my pocket & starting with a poised approach; I shared my concerns with the course director & I am currently waiting on his reply. So far, in response to my fellow classmates disgruntled emails, all he has said is that he appreciates & understands the comments, and that he will forward them on to the lecturer. Well, heh, in MY email, I told him that we appreciate him fowarding the comments to the lecturer, BUT, we gon need to coordinate a platform to address the matter directly with him & the entire class in order to correct any mis-education that may have occured that day (but ever so tactfully, yet matter-of-factly, trust). Anxiously awaiting his reply... Unless this professor, our course director, and our administation get started on rectifying this matter ASAP, Revolutionary mini-me will NOT sleep.

RevRacheRox - empowered by luhv always. Sometimes so much it sends her through the roof ;-)