LIFE: According to Avi

A look on life through the eyes of yours truly.

[w3nk-originals]

When a Black Man Vents... I Wanna Cry... (Rant #1)

There’s balance in my Facebook feed and life. I love the complexity of my life. Without this, I probably may see the world one way and might be totally ignorant of something else…

… like Black men venting for the wrong reasons. Recently, I’ve been exposed to this gem:

Ah, yes. Demonizing a single mother.

At my current age (mid 30s), it’s not all that uncommon to finding and maybe dating a single mother. But what about the single mothers who husbands/boyfriends died before their time? What about domestic abuse cases, where the mother now wants to re-entering the dating world? Imagine dating someone who decided to not let you know that she has a child yet, and you’re friends on Facebook and this popped up?

And then the hole gets deeper.

Okay… how about this one?

Okay… so now, having education is a problem and you accused a whole gender in a race as problematic. Nice. So, let’s go after the “smarter” women. You know, the “non-Basic” ones… oh, wait… let’s not…

How about this one? Do we fear Black women who may not want a child in their future/immediate future? Or those who may want to maybe share the roles of a happy couple?

Here’s my problem with this way of thinking when it comes to having a relationship with a Black woman: you’re trapping yourselves into a basic way of thinking.

Sure, there are women people in general that you probably might want to stay away from if you’re trying to keep your stress levels low. But when you have this type of thinking nurturing, then what you’re doing is simplifying Black woman and encouraging the same racist tropes that the rest of society loves to put on them.

But my favorite one… when one’s masculinity is in question. Like for an example… the “simp test” - (a man who submits to his woman, aka pus*ywhipped.)

As you can see, there’s huge differences between these two “types”. One is practically independent and wants you to take on the role of the traditional housewife verses a woman who’s hypersexalized, but will make sure that home is taken care of first.

Can you imagine if the pictures were reverse and the hypersexual one were the one that pays all her bills and having the business while the conservative one is the one who takes on the traditional housewife?

In other words, they want this:

Basically, anything that threatens masculinity is problematic for men in general, and especially a problem with Black men.

If you’re taking care of another man’s child, it’s a problem. If you let a woman have her own business, that’s a problem. If you do anything that shows that you’re a pus*y in front of your boys, it's emasculating the man and turning him into a woman… as if only one gender should be the bread winner.

Now, I have nothing against “traditional values”… when the couple is in agreement with them. If the woman wants and agrees to be submissive to become the traditional housewife, then more power to them. At least they were presented with a choice.

But if they don’t, would you turn them away? If the woman has a child from another man and that situation went sour for other reasons (not “man just f*ck and left”) doesn’t she deserves a chance at real love?

The other problem is that these are the same Black men who want to vent about the lack of support from Black women when they are faced with acceptance in society.

I will never understand why successful Black women are troubling to Black men like this. When your masculinity is more important than the overall happiness of women in general, you’re probably not someone to be taken seriously. 

When a Black man vents about a Black women problems, it makes me wonder…

… are they even “men” at all?

[rauchbros]

Richie Pecorella, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the love of his life, Karen Juday, would be remembered after she died in the World Trade Center attacks, passed away yesterday— February 10th, 2016.

Thanks for letting us into your life Richie, and allowing us to help share your story.

[coralinepolecat]

Awww

[coralinepolecat]

I love being black! XD

[swirllife]

TBT

A Black Nurse, a German Soldier and an Unlikely WWII Romance

Elinor Powell Albert was a nurse who tended to German P.O.W.’s at a camp in Arizona during World War II. She met her husband, Frederick Albert, while he was a prisoner in the camp.

The nurse and the soldier may never have met – and eventually married – had it not been for the American government’s mistreatment of black women during World War II.

Elinor Elizabeth Powell was an African-American military nurse. Frederick Albert was a German prisoner of war. Their paths crossed in Arizona in 1944. It was a time when the Army was resisting enlisting black nurses and the relatively small number allowed entry tended to be assigned to the least desirable duties.

“They decided they were going to use African-Americans but in very small numbers and in segregated locations,” said Charissa Threat, a history professor at Northeastern University who teaches race and gender studies.

Ms. Powell was born in 1921 in Milton, Mass., and in, 1944, after completing basic training at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., she was sent, as some other black nurses were, to tend to German prisoners of war in Florence, Ariz.

“I know the story of how they met,” said Chris Albert, 59, the youngest son of Elinor and Frederick Albert. “It was in the officers’ mess hall, and my father was working in the kitchen. He kind of boldly made his way straight for my mother and said: ‘You should know my name. I’m the man who’s going to marry you.’”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/a-black-nurse-a-german-soldier-and-an-unlikely-wwii-romance/?smid=fb-share&_r=0

http://www.SwirlLife.tumblr.com

[coralinepolecat]

Awwwww

[weloveshortvideos]

[coralinepolecat]

Fucking lol!

[coralinepolecat]

When meeting the Shy guy.

[coralinepolecat]

[coralinepolecat]

It's true....

[coralinepolecat]

My boyfriend is apparently a life guru.....

[coralinepolecat]

The worst thing is not being alone, the worst thing is being around people who make you feel all alone.

Robin Williams

[pocketaimee]

Hell-aciously busy with work, but I really wanted to draw this comic.

[mc-squidward-deactivated2016101]

this should have more notes

[mayakern]

just a little body talk comic.

i have so many more opinions about this topic than can fit in a tiny, nine panel comic.

[criic]

Preach

[coralinepolecat]

PREACH IT!

[huffpost]

'Clarissa Explains It All' — Even White Supremacy

Clarissa Darling of ’90s sitcom "Clarissa Explains It All," has given us the 411 on everything from pimples to training bras to annoying little brothers. Now she’s taking on a somewhat more complex concept: white supremacy.

The Facebook page “Clarissa Explains WS,” created in December, breaks down the concept of white supremacy using Clarissa from ’90s TV show “Clarissa Explains It All" in memes. In light of the recent deaths of multiple unarmed black men includingMichael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Akai Gurley at the hands of police, and the bombing of an NAACP headquarters in Colorado on Jan. 6, the topic is more important than ever. Read on and see more of Clarissa explaining white supremacy here. 

[coralinepolecat]

It's been so long since I ventured to Lynnhaven Mall since they stared to renovations. It turned out to be better than I thought.

[coralinepolecat]

I forgot how much I loved homemade chocolate milk. Hmm good old Hershey.

[coralinepolecat]

I look at these faces, these ghost of the past, and wonder what it would be like if I were in their place. These men... Whom society had once deemed unfit and unworthy, actually paved the way for the U.S airforce. Think of the bravery and resilience that took to live each day. The most amazing thing is that some of theme came from a home based genocide trap. Tuskegee, Alabama is also tied to what was called the "40 Year Experiment". Between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all. The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis—which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death. “As I see it,” one of the doctors involved explained, “we have no further interest in these patients until they die.” Using Human Beings as Laboratory Animals The true nature of the experiment had to be kept from the subjects to ensure their cooperation. The sharecroppers' grossly disadvantaged lot in life made them easy to manipulate. Pleased at the prospect of free medical care—almost none of them had ever seen a doctor before—these unsophisticated and trusting men became the pawns in what James Jones, author of the excellent history on the subject, Bad Blood, identified as “the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history.” The study was meant to discover how syphilis affected blacks as opposed to whites—the theory being that whites experienced more neurological complications from syphilis, whereas blacks were more susceptible to cardiovascular damage. How this knowledge would have changed clinical treatment of syphilis is uncertain. Although the PHS touted the study as one of great scientific merit, from the outset its actual benefits were hazy. It took almost forty years before someone involved in the study took a hard and honest look at the end results, reporting that “nothing learned will prevent, find, or cure a single case of infectious syphilis or bring us closer to our basic mission of controlling venereal disease in the United States.” When the experiment was brought to the attention of the media in 1972, news anchor Harry Reasoner described it as an experiment that “used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone.” **Read more: Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtuskegee1.html#ixzz3Mn5bZsTs I then look at today... And see the atrocities of injustice that still plague blacks (and Hispanics) to this day. The point is quite clear, our lives did not matter then, why should it matter now? Like those airmen, we have to remain resilient as we are practically forced to work twice as hard to gain half as much just to appear equal. Even in the face of those who claim that we are unworthy destined-to-fail lessers whose lives are expendable; we must strive day to day to prove them wrong and pave the way for generations to come.

[coralinepolecat]

Steak 'n Shake at General Booth! Whaaaaaat! Total mouthgasm!