Thank You Thursday: Bloggers Who Tell it Like It Is

Thank you to Shark-Fu, Miriam, and all the bloggers who have responded to the recent discussion of the feminist blogosphere and “digital colonialism.” It’s critical that we stay conscious as feminist blogs carve out a major space in public debate, personal actualization, and political analysis. We must continually ask ourselves: Where is the power? Where is the potential for transformation? How can we make our voices heard?
I think these friends have some deep answers:

How precious it is to be made invisible by authors who are challenging a system they say is making women of color invisible.
Shit.
A bitch might not be all about the ego, but my ass sure as shit isn’t some little blog that the big bad feminist blogs found and made a land claim on. I am the shit (wink)…and, as of this upcoming Sunday, I will have lived 36 years and all of them as a black woman…I know very well how the tools of oppression and colonization work and find the attempted tutorial on that shit insulting as hell.
Now let me get to the root of the problem…and that is the theory that my contributing to Feministing and Shakesville was a sell out move and that I’m just too damned stupid or Auntie Tomish to realize that my black ass is being played.
I reject the hell out of that. Mostly because my black ass has a very strong working understanding of what oppression, colonization and domination looks, feels, tastes and acts like.
Breaking News – I am a woman of color. I live that shit.
-Shark-Fu

Read the whole post at Angry Black Bitch.

You want to talk about tokenism?
Let’s talk about tokenism. Let’s talk about how it happens everywhere and everyday. Let’s talk about how it’s the flip-side of oppression. Let’s talk about how it makes me question every award I receive, every job I get, every person who emails me, every opportunity I’ve ever had.
Let’s talk about how often I make a joke out of my own presence to call attention to the hidden thought in the room before someone else does. Let’s talk about how it makes me feel like I can only talk about a certain set of issues, that I have to be the one and only representative of an entire community. Let’s talk about how I don’t need to be publically reminded of something I think about every day.
-Miriam

Read the whole post at Radical Doula.
Also check out Feministe, Astarte’s Circus, Tiny Cat Pants, Taking Steps, and Womanist Musings.