Keynote on Black Masculinity, April 11th, University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Details TBA.

February 25th, 2011

Medgar Evers College

2:30 P.M  Brooklyn, NYC

Sponsored by: The Black Women’s Blue Print

Terern In VirginaThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Rihanna and Chris Brown are working together creatively, and also rumored to be back together. Click here for more on this.

For those already familiar with the current situation:

First, Let me say this: she is a grown woman. She can make her own choices. Perhaps before we step up to condemn her choice, we might pause to consider the undertones of this discourse that denies Rihanna her right to forgive or engage Chris after his transgressions. It seems to have a strikingly similar undertone to the idea that as a woman, she is not intelligent enough to make up her own mind. And we all know where that logic has led us to, don’t we?

Second, if there is one thing that I learned in my time teaching batterer’s intervention courses, it is that many women do not not always want their male partner to leave, so much as they want the abuse to stop. That is in of itself a tough pill to swallow, especially to those who purport to believe that an act of physical violence in a partnership commands departure and is irredeemable.

However in the real world, a lot of heterosexual women in this country are abused by their male partners and not leaving for a variety of nuanced and complicated reasons, perhaps most obvious among them a legal system and community that will not protect or support them.

So while it’s easy for many to say,  ”If he hits me I’ll leave” the conditions that intimate partner violence creates are often a lot more complicated. It would seem our overly simplistic and condemning attitudes towards this phenomena may truly reflect how little we understand about the psychological and emotional nature of physical violence and the complexities of how humans conceptualize love.

We may also want to step back and consider how our judgmental attitudes of victim’s choices (“Why you didn’t leave? It’s your fault!”  “You went back? How could you be so stupid?!” )  contributes to increased feelings of shame for many women and men who don’t feel they are able to leave, or are afraid to do so, a  shame that isolates them further from the community at large.

Third: Should America forgive Chris brown? That question seems to have popped up everywhere. My response to that is:

A. “Will that create safety for Rihanna?“ Yeah probably not, so why is that seemingly every one’s top priority?

B. Forgiveness is for the person who is doing the forgiving. It’s to help them release that pain from their heart. Not for the person who is being forgiven to be able to trollop along unhampered by his past choices.

That being said, I don’t believe that we should be rushing to ask a culture where violence against women is so endemic to quickly forgive what Chris brown did. When you hurt someone, you don’t get to dictate the timeline upon which their healing happens.

However, I do believe owning what we have often projected onto Chris (our collective frustration with violence against women) could become a useful channel for us to direct our energies, even as I am clear that Chris made his choices and people being upset with him is just a burden he is going to have to bear.

Fourth: Dear Racism, please recognize the ways in which you subconsciously influence the vast majority to dramatically over enforce and penalize men of color for their transgressions. And when you do that, could you avoid using the “Black hetero men are an endangered species who can do no wrong because Racism is so bad and hetero black men don’t oppress nobody because they are the holy kings of “dick land” theory”?

And could you also, while you are it, maybe come up with some transformative justice models? Models that potentially facilitate community understanding, education, instead of pointless punitive justice?

I know that’s like, all antithetical to who you are an stuff, but If you could do that before lunch that would be so wonderful and you would totally suck a whole lot less. Thanks so much.

Fifth: One of themes that seem to run rampant in the twitter and media discourse is the feeling that Chris has not been accountable to his violence.

Despite serving his sentence, there is a deep sense of rage at what many perceived as his half-witted apology and subsequent reckless behavior. This, in my opinion reflects a broader issue of our culture and our understanding of what constitutes “accountability”.

It also invokes the age old patriarchal question, “Can men change?”

For the former, one has to wonder, if he gave a more “heartfelt” apology would he be excused? Was a more convincing performance all that was necessary? Would that have soothed the rage? What does accountability for Chris really look like? And who should be sufficed here? The general public, or the woman who was a victim of his violence?

For the latter, it is clear to me that men can make different choices. But I do believe we need to ask; will this culture support him in making different choices? Is the culture invested in looking at the psychological roots of what leads men like Chris to make violent choices everyday… and change it? Perhaps not.

And as long as that is the case, using Chris as a projection board for our collective rage at the continued horrific rates of violence against women is not serving us any purpose. Sure it may be ego gratifying, but I feel like a more pressing endeavor could be to look to the many young women and men who have so easily “forgiven” him.

Could this easy “breezy” apologetic attitude be reflective of the reality that we now have a culture where dating violence is normalized? How else do we explain a twitter hash tag #HeCANBeatMe? Not to mention penetrative sex being called every violent word possible (which the remix with Rihanna & Chris portrays perfectly) from “cut”, “hit” “beat it up” “Kill it” and “smash.”  Pop songs about love sound more and more like war every day. And that should be frightening to us all.

I feel within this there is an opportunity to engage each other and find out just what exactly is happening in our sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and cousins relationships (and our own).   I feel there is an opportunity in this mess, to continue to have conversations with our families and communities about violence in relationships, and to query with even more depth how we can create accountability.   It has also given us a chance to recognize a phenomena that, in actuality is much more common than we would like to believe.

-Yolo Akili

Follow Yolo on twitter: @YoloAkili

*Shout out to my bestie Moya Bailey, for one of many conversations that led to this post!

LINKS: (Disclaimer: None of the following links or organizations are affiliated with YoloAkili.com or this article. They are simply provided for resources.)

Incite! Women of Color Justice

AVP (Anti-Violence Project)

Domestic Violence Resource Center

National Domestic Violence Hotline

Men Stopping Violence

The Line

Thursday, Feb 9 from 12:30 to 2:30pm at Baruch College, New York New York.

Today is the birthday of the Emmy award winning Filmmaker, activist and author  Marlon Riggs!

Happy birthday Marlon!

It’s not a surprise to me that Marlon was an Aquarius. In so many ways, he embodied the Aquarian ideal.   He was a forward thinker, pushing the boundaries of the discourse on skin color, desire, and race. He also was a true “water bearer”, offering us opportunities to engage our emotional selves through his exploration of Black Gay loneliness, frustration and rage..

Words cannot express how grateful I am for Marlon’s pioneering work. He has never ceased to be an inspiration and a model to which I look to.

To celebrate his birthday today  I decided to collect a number of   clips, links, interviews, and reels from his work to share with you.  Please share them. Remember Marlon! Remember our legacy! Remember our stories!!

For a full bio of Marlon, Click HERE:

Tongues Untied:

“How to Snap! Like A Diva” From Tongues Untied

Ethnic Notions:

Color Adjustment:

Affirmations:

Black is Black Ain’t

I went into the Christian ministry at 12 years old.  I found one of my sermons that I gave when I was 14-15 years old where I talk about a particular Bible verse that has every letter in the Bible except J.  I used that as a springboard to talk about how we can have everything in our lives except J from Jesus.  Of course, for Z, I talked about Zodiac and how evil they were. When people would ask me, “What sign are you?,” I would answer, “The sign of the cross.”

(Really I just didn’t want to fess up to the fact that I didn’t know what sign I was as I was born on Nov. 22, between Scorpio and Sagittarius. At times I felt I was both and neither.  It was easier to lean on the cross, so to speak.)

As I moved through my Christian minister phase into more the realm of Black cultural nationalism and atheism in my early 20s, my deep antagonism toward astrology remained, however. It was odd because I was far more open to tarot and numerology as those seemed to make sense to me and stimulated my intuition.

But astrology?  I would disparage it as complete nonsense. However, I also knew better.  As I made my journey out of being a minister, I researched a lot about Christianity and its origins. I knew about the astrological origins of Christmas, Easter and other holidays.  Yet I was still bitter about feeling “duped” by Christianity and perhaps I had some residual hard feelings toward astrology. It didn’t help that I still didn’t know what sign I was.  That all changed when I went to see my first astrologer.

What happened when you met your first astrologer?

Besides discovering that I was, in fact, a Scorpio and why, I had a jarring time. He was able to discover some amazing things in my chart (that I think was a moment of genuine inspiration that didn’t come to him even that often) that I had no idea how he could know without knowing me.

I was confused, intrigued and angry about this man’s ability to scry my deepest secrets looking at squiggly lines in a wheel.  I was indeed a Scorpio, so I naturally had to discover his “trick” for myself.

I spent 10 years seeking to unlock his trick, including doing charts, before I decided to actually “believe” in astrology.  It was the first moment toward genuine faith in anything in my adult life.  But it wasn’t so much about embracing faith wholesale as much as my inability to let something go that I just knew couldn’t make sense. As time went on and my study of astrology was complemented with my work as a Kabbalist, I came to a renewed appreciation for the Divine other than how I had known it as a young man.

Throughout my spiritual transformations as an adult has been my fascination with Islam. I can definitely say that my “kinship” to Islam was fueled by my studies of some of the Medieval and Arabic thinkers who wrote on astrology and other esoteric topics.  I am also a lover of Sufi thought and poetry.  I was drawn to the esoteric traditions of Islam and Kabbalah because they provide a philosophical and spiritual framework for how to use astrology, beyond modern psychology or sociology. There are, of course, some devout Muslims who frown on astrology as much as I did as a Christian; however, I understand that the beauty of astrology is to teach that “the sky will bow to your beauty if you do,” as Sufi poet Rumi writes. I remember this wisdom as I bow down in prayer, aligning myself in time with the Sun’s motions throughout the day, knowing that that I am also bowing down to my beauty in the name of Allah.

I could spend a lot of time on this question, so I’ll focus on one aspect instead of the plentitude that my chart has. I was born with the Sun conjoined Neptune in my chart.  This takes extra significance if you accept that Neptune rules my Ascendant sign, Pisces.  (But I no longer accept the outer planets as rulers of signs, but I did for a long time.)  With Neptune as the planet of illusion, reclusivity, imagination, empathy, spirituality, and delusion conjoined the planet symbolizing my identity, ego and sense of Self (the Sun), I feel that this aspect taps into some of the best and worst dimensions of my life.

It is even more powerful that my Sun and Neptune are in the 9^th house of philosophy, long distance travel and, ahem, religion.  You only have to look at my answer to your first question to see that this aspect resonates powerfully in explaining my life.  I have wrestled with the temptation to get too caught in a reclusive spiritual life as well losing perspective on my identity or to get lost in imaginary worlds.

For instance, I used to pretend that I had a time machine like Dr. Who as a teenager (yeah, a little too old for that, but I did it) with my 7-9 year old nephew. It was fun, because I did a lot of research on a particular time period to make it as imaginatively detailed for our adventure together.  (I think I still have a good grasp of history from all of that.) I have never lost my penchant toward fantasy, but I stay alert to losing myself in fantasy or just anything that puts me out of this world.  In fact, I sometimes veer too hard to a lack of appreciation for the softer focus of spirituality at times because I become too vigilant against losing sight of the “real” world. I think this partly fuels my natural penchant toward skepticism, actually.

This particular insight I derive from the chart for the first indentured Africans to arrive in the New world at Jamestown, VA on Aug. 30, 1619 at a rectified time of 10 am. (The rectification I had done years ago based on the actual date and then confirmed by the research of an astrologer named Marc Penfield in an anthology of astrological essays, Astrology Looks at History, edited by Noel Tyl. )  I particularly look at the T-square between Mars in Scorpio (in a Scorpio rising chart) with Moon conjoined to Pluto, both in Taurus in the 7^th house with Venus in Leo in the 10^th house. This configuration definitely testifies to the abduction and pillaging of African people over the long term. But these planets also have incredible strength and resilience, especially Mars and the Moon.  Their relationship to Venus in Leo at the highest point of the chart bear witness that we shall overcome, providing encouragement, creative expression and justice for those seeking redress.  We came as servants, but we shall rise as savants.

How do you see Race intersecting with astrology? Do you think that a person raised in black culture will express , say a Capricorn sun sign differently than a white person raised in suburban white culture? Do you think culture and race impact energy?

I think all astrology is a cultural astronomy, or a way for a culture to comment on itself and its individuals using celestial events. So the dictates of a culture will correlate to the dictates of the astrology that it has.

For example, Indian astrology focuses on different significators in a chart than the West does.  It focuses on the moon and the moon’s zodiac, so it can be said to focus less on one’s ego (the Sun), but more so on one’s heritage, soul and connections (as associated with the moon.)

In the case of African people in America, we’re dealing with several different legacies of astrology. We’re dealing with the question of astrology from the African continuum, from ancient Egypt to the Dogon of West Africa to Benjamin Banneker to you, me and other contemporary Black astrologers.  We’re also looking more at the relevance of astrology as markers of transformation and initiation, which was something that has been very important in many traditional African cultures.

This is one of the reasons why I focus so much on breaking down particular planetary cycles, like the Jupiter and Saturn returns.  They provide critical clues on avenues and times for transformation, especially young Black men and women who don’t have traditional guidance structures in place by disruptions to their families.

For instance, I got interested in Jupiter returns when I realized that both Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo were murdered at 23 years old, at their Jupiter returns. It prompted me to start looking at what happens at that time that had an astrologer been present in their lives could have saved their lives.  Perhaps nothing could have, but maybe it can help someone else.

On the level of whether a particular sun sign will be different by culture or location is true, but an extremely limited truth.  I think a rural Black person born while the sun in Capricorn may be very different from a Black person born in an urban center at the same time. The same questions arise when we start talking about class and gender too.

It doesn’t mean much to know that you come from “a whole race of Kings and Queens” and not know why you’re not living up to your own potential. So I know it would be immensely helpful!  If you don’t know yourself, then any other “self” you know will only be half true.

Today my “Astrology & African Americans” series continues with an interview with Debra Renee Jeter, a good friend of mine. Debra is an amazing artist and astrologer based in Atlanta who has written letters to NASA demanding they seriously consider astrology in their space program! She also has much to share on how astrology can impact relationships, mothering and much more! Enjoy!

When did you first feel yourself drawn to in astrology? What happened?

I was living in Detroit, early 80′s. I was 22 or 23. I was creating graphic art for this man, who was an imam. I was sitting in his office when he was on the phone. He was talking to Khadaffi in Libya. When he got off of the phone he asked me if I wanted to go to Libya! He explained that it was an invitation by Khadaffi to bring a group of 30 African Americans to visit his country and see for ourselves what his country was about and not fall victim to press propaganda. Well, I went. It was free and it was for 3 weeks. It was phenomenal and came as a gift after I had experienced some loss and confusion.  I met a man on this journey who was a numerologist and Astrologer. He sat me down and told me so much. His name was Marvel Denson, a Sagittarius. He changed my life and put me on the lifelong path of personal study and learning.

Wow. What was it like to first learn about numerology and astrology? Were you afraid? Skeptical?

Oh, no not afraid… curious and open, and recognizing the magic of the universe. It felt good to understand the rhythm of the heavens and to realize that there is an order and tide to the experience we call life.

Has astrology and knowing your own specific chart helped you in your own life?

Yes, constantly. I see the seasons of my life with patience and understanding, knowing that some things are unavoidable. I recognize my talents and gifts. I see how I am drawn to certain people, events and places.

I also realize how I must experience certain things and it gives me strength to know that this is the life my soul has chosen. I can foresee a path or future and prepare for it. It gives me a wisdom to be my authentic self…

As an African American woman did you experience backlash for your interest in astrology from your family or your friends?

Well, I think I am blessed because my family is pretty cool. My friends are also. They are tolerant and curious. They love me and know that I will do my own thing.   They often call me for advice, insight and readings, which I readily share with them. Californians are more open to astrology than Georgians, for sure. But for me its not so important. The same tolerance that my family gave to me, I try to give to others.

You said that Californian’s are more tolerant than Georgians. Have you experienced prejudice when you mention you are an astrologer in Georgia?

Well, I don’t tell everyone that I study the metaphysical arts. My friends know, my family and their friends but that’s it. The Georgians are just more judgemental and church minded. They generally seem to see it as a circus act, but more and more are becoming interested and ask good questions. Georgians are changing.

Have you ever read a romantic interest’s chart, and been able to use that to help you in a relationship? How about with your kids in terms of determining their needs?

Yes! Hell yeah, man!!! That’s the stuff when you wanna figure out a new person or a person so close to you as your own child. And this is where I find it to be the most invaluable. It is the perfect tool to see compatibility and how to get along with anyone. I always check the chart and the numbers (numerology) always. Perhaps not right away, but I always check to see what I’m dealing with and how we could compliment each other.

For instance, my son has a strong chart. {His} Pluto, Sun, and rising  sign are all in Scorpio.  I nurtured him constantly, knowing how to talk to him, how to lead him, how to encourage him. I must say though… a major part of that was more natural…

I did not think of his chart, I felt his heart and how he spoke to me and I responded to that. We have a natural bond that I wanted to rely on more than stars. But that’s in our charts as well.

“Roots” By Jeter

I believe their is a legacy of African American astrologers that is poorly documented. What do you think of this? Have you heard of historical black figures being astrologers?

I wonder about the astro-lovers of the past but it doesn’t bother me that there is not a lot of information. I wish I knew more, but I think for me my vision is set in the present and in the future. I cannot impact the past, but I can impact the present and tomorrow. I look forward to a day when society pays more respect to the potential of understanding the stars.  I’ve even written NASA several times telling them how foolish they are to study the stars and not take the lessons of the first stargazers into account.

You wrote NASA? What did you say to them exactly? And do you feel space research should at least understand astrology?

Yes! it was after the challenger accident. It occurred on a very bad day, squares and crosses, mercury retrograde. I had to tell them how understanding the stars as their forebearers did would expand and benefit their wisdom, and help them to make better decisions.   The Astrology of the day clearly told them it was going to be a very bad day. I told them that they would benefit from having astrologers visit and share insights. They sent a form letter back. I’ve sent other letters, saying the same thing. I believe in the space program. I love it. But their leadership is still stuck in 20th century paradigm.

Did you have elders in your community that were people of color who practiced astrology?

Not really, no. Most folks I knew only read their horoscope, if that.  Very few have actually taken the time to study and observe the stars.  I always appreciate meeting other astrologers, but for whatever reason, they did not become part of my close friend set. But I have a couple of friends who know a lot and we talk about the zodiac,  and I enjoy that.

A large part of my interest is looking into how race, gender and ability impact the expression of one’s zodiac energy. For instance, the different ways a heterosexual scorpio male may express himself versus a heterosexual  scorpio woman. Have you experienced any differences in the zodiac expression based on culture, gender, race, etc?

Of course… some signs more than others. and some cultures more than others. There are some signs that are ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’  and it’s interesting to watch people play out their lives when a man is born under a ‘fem’ sign or a woman born with ‘male’ energy. As a teacher, I watch my students and can tell which boys are gay… but so many of them run from it. They sag their pants and grab their package’s in front of each other. And then they dog out the gay boys who are aware of their nature.  Funny, the gay boys rarely sag their pants, they know what it means!

How do you feel that astrology can help people who are suffering in their lives? What are ways in which you have been able to help other people as an astrologer?

At one time I did a lot of readings and I helped many. I think of my sister, Michelle. She’s a Leo with Venus in Virgo. I helped her understand her demanding, critical nature toward her relationship and gave her some insight in how to handle it without driving her husband and herself crazy. I often remind her of her destiny when she occasionally worries about money. I wouldn’t stay with this enigmatic art if it did not provide some balm, some insight.

What contributions do you want to make to the field of astrology?

I just enjoy sharing with my family and friends. And as a teacher, I teach my students! I give them basic info about the signs, encourage them to study for themselves. I show them how to look up their charts, and how to figure out their family and friends. They appreciate it and ask a lot of questions. In this way I am helping to enlighten the dark…

What would you say is the summary of the bigger lesson you have learned from studying astrology?

One of my bigger lessons has been very personal,  being a good mother. I do feel that being a stargazer has separated me from many in the way that I see the world.  To a degree, I see the world through a lens that others do not use. I enjoy my time with my family and friends, but sometimes I  feel a bit of separation.  (Laughs) But then I do have Cancer rising!

Do you think it would help black people in particular, to seriously study astrology or seek astrological consult? How exactly do you think it could help us as a people see our circumstance?

Yes, I think knowledge of astrology can be helpful to anyone, particularly African Americans. Not only to understand the messages of forecasts but somehow having an understanding of the lessons of the moon’s cycles, the retrograde of venus and mercury and how they provide a clearing and testing of the metal… just knowing about that is like being able to look inside the great clock and see how it’s made. It’s like peeking into the “mind of god” and life is never the same…

2011 was quite a creative year for me.  I had the opportunity to release my third video from my poetry album,  and create and help to promote some pretty amazing work.  For all of who you are new to my work,  consider this a great summary and introduction.  For those who are not new, consider this a recap! Enjoy!

1. “Are We The Kind of Boys We Want?”

This video, which is the third video poem from my studio album “Purple Galaxy”, enjoyed a great amount of success, debate and controversy! I was so honored to collobarate with so many amazing activists and beautiful black men to create this! Enjoy!

2. “The Immediate Need for Emotional Justice”

My first ever guest post on the amazing Crunk Feminist Blog clearly articulates what I understand to be a need for emotional intelligence, education and celebration within activist communities. It was an honor to be considered worthy of the Crunk Feminists! Read It HERE:

An excerpt:

“Oppression is trauma. Every form of inequity has a traumatic impact on the psychology, emotionality and spirituality of the oppressed. The impact of oppressive trauma creates cultural and individual wounding. This wounding produces what many have called a “pain body”, a psychic energy that is not tangible but can be sensed, that becomes an impediment to the individual and collective’s ability to transform and negotiate their conditions.

Emotional justice is about working with this wounding. It is about inviting us into our feelings and our bodies, and finding ways to transform our collective and individual pains into power.”

3. “I Made the Wrong Choice: A Personal Essay on Accountability & Forgiveness”

Telling our stories is truly one method of transforming our pain. In this essay I shared one of my most difficult personal and professional challenges this year.

“Hear me: Create your own path. Conjure your own rainbows.
Don’t accept the continuum of colors canvassed before you as the only prisms of light possible. There are more.

The “wrong” choice, does not have to be your choice. And if you are in that choice now, if you have sojourned a path that you know will soon forsake you, I encourage you to do what I am trying to do everyday:
Forgive yourself. Transmute your rage. Transform your apathy.Channel it into any medium that makes a healing possible.”

Read the Rest HERE:

4. “A Queer Chicana FEMME kind of Revolution” An Interview with S.O.N.G Co-Executive Director Paulina Hernandez

Paulina’s interview is still one of the most visited interviews on the site. It’s undoubtedly because she shares some brilliant insight into spirituality, activism and more. Equally notable is the interview with the brilliant poet Franklin Abbott, “Radical Male Feminism, Radical Faeries, And Radical Love”.

An Excerpt: “{ To me} Queerness is NOT a new or an western thing: many of us come from communities where gender & sexuality was acknowledged to be more expansive than male / female & gay / straight, and if anything, it’s been western colonization that has institutionalized homophobia, transphobia and sexism into our belief systems.” – Paulina Hernandez

Read the Interview with Paulina Here.


Read the Interview with Franklin Abbott Here.