I don't know if this subject has already been discussed, but Okay, I saw Jill's black history month commercial on MTV, and I was kind of disapointed. What exactly is she talking about. She kept saying that she was a light skinned black woman, and that because of this she was ostracized or some shit. That was it! Did I miss something?

I am having trouble with that too!. I was on the phone and my friend said that she said this, and I am like what! I know that was a joke. She must have been referring to someone else? Right, please say it ain't so.






put the needle to the groove, i get smoove and i'm force to fuck it up my style carries like a pick up truck........-rebel ins

black history as a whole is made up of a montage of all of our experiences. i was picked on cause i was dark skinned...l.i totally relate to how she felt.

_____________________________________________________________________
NEGROES RULE!!!!!!!!
BLACKER THAN BEFORE


the MINNIE ATLAS project - coming soon

the funk will not be televised
the funk will not be plagiarized
the funk will not be sampled
the weak will all be trampled
the funk will not be duplicated
the funk will not be conjugated
the funk will only be recorded
the weak will not be rewarded
the power of the funk compels u
stay tuned for the future of the funk………..

BLACK MUSIC 4EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!


Dont forget that you umust pit the young back male vs. the old black male. You must use the dark skin slaves vs the light skinned slaves and the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves. You must use the female vs. the male, and the male vs. the female. You must have all your caucasian servants and overseers distrust all blacks, but it is necessary that your black slaves trust and depend on us. They must love, respect and trust only us. - Willie Lynch on How to control your slaves

The Negro revolution is controlled by foxy white liberals, by the Government itself. But the Black Revolution is controlled only by God. -Malcolm X/Speech, 1 Dec. 1963, New York City.

"Sisqo...Unleash The Dragon? Nigga Please...more like Unleash the DRAG Queen" - DivineSheba

I know we have all been thru our fair share of complexion beatdowns, my thing is I never considered her to be a lightskinned person, I thought she was brown, and assumed that others thought the same.

Who I considered to be lightskinned is Vanessa Williams, Halle Berry, the majority of the news anchors on BET, Stress, Kamal, Tamia, Bilal, Sade, Lisa Bonet, Jasmine Guy, Tisha Campbell................................&, on.

i don't consider her lightskinned either, not in the bigger fish bowl of cafe au laits and shit. my best friend is 5 shades lighter than jill...but that doesnt' discount the fact that she obviously was scarred by some ignorant black person relegating her to a skin tone. and since i grew up in the tri state area as well and i know how these women around here get.

She had a choice in this commercial...

The very fact that she did that being that complexion that she is MAY speak volumes about WHY - IF she was ostracized, slighted or otherwise hurt - those things happened.

You could just as easily assume that she was ostracized because her barely in the light category self WANTED to be in that light category, acted accordingly - which often includes a disdain or constant distancing onself of people slight darker. Then she cuaght hell behind the audacity of considering herself light when she really isn't in the eyes of those judging.

My best friend is also very light as are 2 of my sisters (JLo - Mariah complexion while I'm Kelly Price colored).

Coming up, they've checked me when I started on that resenting them for colorism the can't control.

I check them when they start feeling themselves based on complexion/hair superiority.

It takes work to break these chains, ya dig.

>You could just as easily assume
>that she was ostracized because
>her barely in the light
>category self WANTED to be
>in that light category, acted
>accordingly - which often includes
>a disdain or constant distancing
>onself of people slight darker.

you could assume that...you could also assume that she grew up speaking Hebrew and sold LSD-laced popsicles to blind kids...but what on earth would you base those assumptions on?

Thoughtfully yours,

Spirit

http://www.mp3.com/miscellaneousflux - click for instant audio gratification

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- b-boy soul music for the world to
uprock to...

http://www.mp3.com/DrOctave - download my man L.O.S.' song "Life-style"....ah, the sweet music and perfectly polysyllabic flows...mmmmmm...not to mention a message for the kiddies

I could say something remarkably meaningful here that could change your life, but I don't want to be that obvious. Read between the lines and find your own philosophy.

"No sound. Except you. No sound. Except you. No sound. Except you. No sound. Except you..." - Thom Yorke

Because I don't get it. I think you're just being unnecessarily sarcastic & obnoxious with that post for reasons I can't imagine.

Fire assumed that Jill was "relegated" to a skin tone THEN scarred by it.

I suggested that maybe she chooses to consider herself light, always has, and possibly presented that choice in such a way that drew negative responses.

I base that "suggestion" on the fact that Jill made a point of tying herself to the lightskinned label (as an adult) when in comparison to many black women in the US, in the media spotlight, she isn't. Surely she must know that. How she perceives herself IS very important to discussing why she made this particular commercial for black history month as well as her experiences as a youth.

does it matter what she assumed, if people took the time to cut her down simply because of what she "thought"/they "thought" she was?

bottom line: people are cruel, specifically regarding looks. i wish that more kids decided to pick on others lines of thinking & thirst for learning instead of the way someone looks.

but hey, we're in america

because if she projected negativity then maybe she GOT negativity back. If she took the time to project negativity why be surprised if people took the time to project it back.

>bottom line: people are cruel, specifically regarding looks.

That is without question. But Jill is not a child, she's a grown woman now.

i liked that

This is my first time on the boards...my response is brief:

The problem is, i nor the people i know who have commented on this, NEVER considered Jill to BE light-skinned. I have seen her in real life and a many times on her videos--she is not whom i would consider to be a light-skinned sister. Hey, but maybe in Philly the "paper bag" rules were/are different.

Couldn't she have ended the commercial by saying she's a "proud BLACK woman."

Poor confused, talented Jill!

I guess my problem with the commercial was that it did not really reflect anything positive about the African American experience. I mean if I were to do a commercial for Black History month, I probably wouldn't be going on an on about how light I think I am or whatever... The direction of the commercial was all wrong. To be honest, I am looking at her differently now... I know we all have unique experiences being African American and such, but come on, she gets on national TV, with the light shining on her during black history month, and she says that she is proud to accept herself as a LIGHT SKINNED black person?! WTF?! Is she really proud? That's all I'm sayin'

Will you explain the format and what exactly she says? I find this very interesting.....

>I guess my problem with the
>commercial was that it did
>not really reflect anything positive
>about the African American experience.

uh learning to overcome any adversity is a positive thang. it's like trying to write the history of africans in america and ignoring the fact that we lost millions phyisically and mentally because of enslavement (you know the way the majority of history books do?)


> I mean if I
>were to do a commercial
>for Black History month, I
>probably wouldn't be going on
>an on about how light
>I think I am or
>whatever.

she said that she received ostracizm from others because of how light "THEY" thought she was. be she light or not, she suffered because of it.

.. The direction of the
>commercial was all wrong.

mtv is waiting for you

>To be honest, I am
>looking at her differently now...

1,000,000 - 1, think they'll take her plaque back?

>I know we all have
>unique experiences being African American
>and such, but come on,
>she gets on national TV,
>with the light shining on
>her during black history month,
>and she says that she
>is proud to accept herself
>as a LIGHT SKINNED black
>person?! WTF?! Is she really
>proud? That's all I'm sayin'
>




oh brother.


(if u think i have an attitude i do. i have a headache and i really think you're reaching.)

I totally agree with your response, I guess you could say that But I guess I'm one of those people that cringes when black folks start talkin' about the color complex issue in front of white folks. I hate to admit that there are some subjects that I feel need to be fully addressed within our community first before somebody goes on tv talking about how proud they are to be light...Anyway...

On the subject of self love, I love myself too, I love everything about myself, whatever... but I'll be damned if you catch me on record saying that I love myself soooo much because I'm light skinned. I mean is this the only thing she could have talked about? I mean I would have liked to hear about her experiences as a black musician, or as a Jehovah's Witness, anything but a focus on the negative/positive attitudes toward skin tone within the black community, I'm sorry, that's just how I feel...

I don’t really care about what complexion she is, my problem is with the rationale behind the commercial. And yes, I wouldn’t mind working for MTV, we need more black spin doctors instead of folks trying to continue the promotion of negative stereotypes through booty videos and wack dance party shows.

but i do know that the media is shady and there is a ggod chance also that what she said was taken out of context- meaning that she may have said other things that were possibly more appropriate yet the network CHOSE to focus on her color complex...mtv is all about exploiting the folks...

jade_foxxx
~~~~~~~~~~
the player formerly known as soulpearl

"what is really what when i can't even get comfortable because the supreme court is like- all in my uterus?" ladybug

What you are forgetting is that just because you don't consider her light skin doesn't mean that back then someone else didn't. Perceptions vary by person,correct? Alright then let it be.I'm pretty sure Jill is very proud to be a Black woman if not mistaken she did say that just before the commercial ended. Also, remember the commercial began with the words "self love" in big red letters. So I'm led to believe that someone who was subject to that ridicule would feel less confident about who they are. But by learning to accept the fact that you are light-skinned our short or fat or skinny is the epitome of self love.

I wanna know in the new millinium, why blacks still tripin' of this light_skin, black_skin ish. Does it matter? I mean damn u dont see other races trip of this kinda stuff, as much as we do.

Still havin' this mentality, and even debating the likes of skin flavor, and even hair ain't doin nuthin'for us. The shyt is so minimal...in the grand scheme of things.




(sigh)-C.Brown

and when you do them, you have no control over which parts ultimately get aired...so she may have said more than what was shown...sound bites suck...

d

That's probably true, but why was she talking about it in the first place?

"....Back then????????????????" Jill isn't in her 50's, she is twenty-something. And someone please enlighten me as to how one can be a proud "light-skinned black woman"--her exact words at the end of the commercial. Yes, the taunts from those super ignorant "colored" folks when she was a child were painful; but if she has worked through her stuff PROPERLY, she should have come out, "BLACK AND PROUD" (BY NOW ANYWAY); not "Light-skinned black and proud." WTF is that?

If that was a slip, she better call MTV and reshoot that effery....i know one thing, my niece and nephew will not be watching MTV until MARCH! No black child should have to hear another black person saying that nonsense in 2001....I can't think of one light-skinned black person in this country who would make a foolish statement like that.

It woulda made better sense if she said she was taunted because she was fat.

does that bother you?

and she isn't fat

I mean really...

No it doesn't bother me that she is fat.

But a statement like that is useless, being is also a political stance, every light-skinned person in this country knows this...that's why you don't hear light-skinned people who know better running around saying "i'm sayin' it loud, i'm light and i'm proud." if she wanted to CLEARly convey that she was proud to be black, then that's all she had to say. She can leave the other part of the phrasing to another era where it belongs so it's not subject to misinterpretation. My niece (6yo) who hears alot of garbage from her friends in school about color, thought the statement was saying something else.

To have to explain that "Jill couldn't possibly have meant that" was a waste of my time. Had she edited statement so it was all-encompassing of all of our hues, i and countless others would have seen her as she wants to be seen...as a proud sister.

Instead, we (people i know outside the boards) are all debating whether she has lost her damn mind.

AAAAAHHH!!! Jill Scott is NOT FAT. And she's also one of the most beautiful people I've seen on this earth.
What surprised me when I read this post was that she was ostracized at all. If I'd known her, I would have just puppydogged around.

Alek
_______________________________
"Say some shit that suprise me...
My face don't change."

light skinned back in the days. I know mad pple I knew back when that don't particulary pass for light skinned now. As far as having beef with her about her experiances I think you need to know where she's been before you start holding something agaisnt her.

As far as it being on Black History, black history is about overcoming obsticles and if that was an obstical for her and she overcame it than it's black history.

Personally I think that someone hit the nail on the head when they said they didn't like white pple hearing our dirty laudry. I think that we have kept them in the dark on too many issues so far, let them know what they and their forefathers have submitted us to.

if it's still a problem I believe that those that have those problem are going by the western idealism of thought (read: white) by trying to push their idea of what's right and wrong or which bag to put it in on others


Carry On


I want to cook you a soup that warms your soul - Sade

Buy Angieee's book because her cats need the money they have been surviving off of church donated "slightly" damaged dog food. So buy the book. - L_O_Quent

I havent seen the commercial but if its like you say it is
thats terrible its 2001 and black people still on that
slave ish light skin dark skin house nigger field nigger
enough already if Jill Scott said that garbage
she needs to wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>I havent seen the commercial but
>if its like you say
>it is
>thats terrible its 2001 and black
>people still on that
>slave ish light skin dark skin
>house nigger field nigger
>enough already if Jill Scott said
>that garbage
>she needs to wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Exactly, that's the whole point! All that music and shit don't mean anyhting when you still mentally enslaved!!!

okay...let's varify first that we're all speakin on the same ad...the one where she's recitin frum her journal book on the sofa...relatin herself to food & whatnot???...among a macrocosm of other isms???

in any event...where jill considers or has been consider'd as light skinned...i am very much the same tone as jill scott & consider myself to be dark skinned & have been rebuked w/taunts of "yellow" & "butter pecan" & "lite brites"...but u know what: i'm dark skinned...that is how i associated myself thru my familial relations & in my own estimation...if i were to be comparin myself to others in that "light" i WOULD be admittedly rather dark-er...but i don't

whole thing comes down to how U view U...that is jill's poetry...she may have been speakin of herself & no one...u & everyone...u will NOT be able to dictate what subjects someone should & should not "do" poetically...where someone should or not go versewise...tho u will try

this is america...land of nappy headed blk folk...the way we were when we were brought here...yet we still get discriminated against for donnin "nappyheaded" styles...america...land of wide blkasses...the way we were when we were brought here...yet we still get projects onto self perception to contort & realign to fit a mode un-us...& it's not all "them-ism"...it's a whole lotta WE...in explorin what's right & wrong oftimes a primary check of self {which may involve ur entire race or be in the singular} is necessary...BLK PPL HAVE GOT BONES...we got sum naaaaassssssty shit in our collective closets...{we call em hope chests tho...HOPIN we can get away w/this everpresent image that we are just an oppressed group of disposed despots who possess no flaw}...& sometimes what some would consider a dead horse for some...it's a philly {no pun intended} seasons away frum bein put out to pasture...furthermore aknowledgin that "issues" exist or takin esteem in whatever it is about u that may seperate u frum others...does not exacerbate or further the divide on a damned thing...what all we could speak on collectively new millenium {sp} STILL precedes us

& i wonder...if jill were speakin on sum "blker the berry sweeter the juice...i'm so blk i make midnight blush" isht...would we really be havin this type of discussion on what she did/did not say???

jill is a poet...ur opinions really don't matter...it doesn't matter a damn if u've bought her records...U may have rather'd jill recite sumthin on whatever...but U weren't asked to contribute UR voice...were u???




asighn4jane just ain't VALID n e more

"naw i ain't frum the d..." © jaydee

"i live in oz...i live in this chair...& i wouldn't be here if u let me have the goddammed muthafuckin paper route!!!"...harold perrineau "oz"

I haven't seen the Jill Scott commercial, but there's a new trend taking place where no one wants to be called BLACK any longer. Their decision, however, is justified if we truthfully analyze it, but it really serves no purpose within the context of America's professed belief and continuous practice of WHITE SUPREMACY.

What's taken shape in America is the REDEFINITION OF RACE...White people, as we know, are becoming a minority so there's a need now for the WHITE POWER BROKERS to modify the Black-White dichotomy and replace it with a multiracial stratisfication. We are beginning to hear the call for a multiracial racial identity by folks like Tiger Woods and Rebecca Walker. Instead of challenging WHITE SUPREMACY and this whole notion of race, many of us are being bamboozled into "accommodating" WHITE SUPREMACY in its new form called DIVERSITY and MULTIRACIALISM.

However you see it, Africanized people gonna catch hell.

but when i essentially say "call urself what u like...they'll still say "nigger"...i get accused of not bein progressive...of bowin to "the man's" dictated view of "US"...& that is not it...there is goin to be no formalized inclusion of blks in america...not how some of us view it...i always take the approach of carvin one's own little hole in the apple pie & feedin off the fruit...instead of hopin for a slice bein offer'd & gettin just the crust...but i'm digressin

white america always was able to subsist on there bein blk folk...now w/their numbers dwindlin...or let's say bein "racially opposed by other minorities" they may not be able to EXIST w/there bein more "qualified" blks thru race mixin {i.e. the offspring of blks & mexicans...blks & puerto ricans...blks & fillippinos...blks & costa ricans...blks & any other spanish speakin minority}

u were on point my man






asighn4jane just ain't VALID n e more

"naw i ain't frum the d..." © jaydee

"u're beautiful...but u've got to die someday" © "roll 'em pete"

Come on, give the SISTA a break!

I have always considered myself to be "brown" skinned, yet, other people have referred to me as being "light-skinned" anyway. Why? I can't really tell you that, but I do know that people who are insecure about their OWN skin tone are usually the ones who make a big deal over what complexion other Afrian Americans are.

If Jill considers herself to be light in complexion, maybe it's because people actually did think she was a lighter sista as she was growing up. Things that people say to you as a child can have a big effect on how some people continue to view themselves. Being lighter in complexion compared to some of her peers was probably the reason she was considered to be "light-skinned" whether she really is or not.

The bottom line is, it sounds like she grew up around some ignorant people who taunted her about being light-skinned the same way some children are taunted for being 'dark'. If that's the case, I agree with her 100% for saying she's proud of who she is whether she's considered to be lighter or darker than other African Americans. I think the only people who would be offended by what she said are people who are a little insecure about their own complexion. Maybe I'm wrong, but.........

I don't care what complexion Ms. Scott is, I don't care about the discussion of skin tone at all, I'm just confused as to how her statements fit into a commercial for black history month. Of course black folks come in a large range of complexions and so forth, that's great. I don't care about that, my thing is that in a world where people of color are told they are inferior because of the presence of melanin in their skin, it seems like it wouldn't be smart to put out an ad in which the love of the black experience, and the love of black beauty should be the focus, not one that ends with a statement that leads others to question the speaker's true understanding of the ignorance in the words spoken by those that teased and taunted her. I'm not saying that light skinned folks shouldn't love themselves, because I happen to be what some consider light, and I love myself a bunch. But when I have heard people make stupid comments about my skin tone, or my boyfriends make shitty references to their preference in certain skin tones, I don't think, "I sure love myself because I'm light!" I think "you suck." and "how can we stop this stupid discussion and keep our people from being divided by stupid boundaries devised to divide us?" I just wonder if the folks that wrote the commercial feel the same way?

Anyone who has heard Jill sing, recite poetry, or just talk in normal conversation should know her stance on love and blackness. People's definition of "lightness" vary, and though I agree that Jill is more caramel than mother of pearl, some ignorant folks might've thought other-wise. What she said in that commercial was directed at THEM. You may think I'm not "black enough", not "urban" enough, not "street" enough, but if I'm light-skinned, I'm a PROUD light skinned. If I'm suburban, I'm a proud suburban. Feel me? C'mon ya'll this woman oozes out positiveness, don't forget that.


..."but I've learned to love myself unconditionally, because I am I queen" -India.Arie

You summed that up beautifully.

Thanks!

I still think you're reading too much into what she was saying.


We don't know if she was asked behind the camera to speak on this topic or not. All I know is I'm not going to stress myself over whether or not Jill Scott is wrong for saying she's proud of who she is, regardless.

I seriously doubt you would be pressed about this matter had it been another sista saying she's proud of being 'dark-skinned.'

Whatever, though. If that's the way you feel, I'm not mad at cha.

PEACE

Because darker skinned blacks never owned a position of priviledge within or outside of the total "black" group based on that fact. Light skinned people did & continue too, though to a lesser extent, depending on who you talk too. Though there are studies that have linked complexion to economic success within the black community. There are exceptions to every rule yes, so lets not go there.

We like to pretend these days that certain realities don't exist when we all know they did & continue to do so. Ignoring colorism won't make it go away.

They don't tell your mama is so light jokes for a reason. Nor do they tell your mama's hair is so long or your mama nose is so keen or your mama's lips are so thin jokes either. Why? It wouldn't be funny...those attributes have not & are simply not hated on.

Jill's statements may have been taken out of context, I don't know. But given that she considers herself "lightskinned" - which is funny and speaks volumes - ANY type of understanding of why colorism works in a color caste society might have prevented her from making that statement being that she considers herself lightskinned and understands all of the baggage that comes with that title (like their is baggage that comes with the darkskinned title). TTHAT understanding would have assisted her in understanding & whatever jealousy (based on real & perceived anti-darkskinned sentiment) caused whichever "blacker" looking people to scapegoat her if indeed that is what happened.

The black community would be more unified if:

1) darker skinned people stopped assuming that every lighterskinned person believes themselves to be better than. And stops internalizing the idea that lighter is better than and being jealous of not having that asset.

2) if lighter skinned people admitted that there are priviledges associated with that fact in a racist society and took that into consideration when trying to deal positively with their peers who happen to be darker. And if many of them stopped internalizing the idea that ligheter is better and expect & encourage jealousy for having that asset.

Let me be very clear.

Lightness of skin has long been tied to priviledge in a color caste system where whiteness is on top.

Hatred out of jealousy towards lightness only reinforces the superior (white to light) inferior (brown to dark) dynamic.

To be hated on because everyone (speaking very generally of course) wants to be you or like you is VERY different from being hated on because no one wants to be you or like you. These are 2 totally different social dynamics.

Side not, in a book called the Color Complex (if I remember correctly) it stated that 40% of black parents seeking to adopted specifically requested light skinned children. The amount requesting darkskinned children were negligible. Regardless of what these parents look like, it says something about us that in a community with a rainbow of hues that almost half of those who COULD pick the complexion of their child choose light.

>I don't care what complexion Ms.
>Scott is, I don't care
>about the discussion of skin
>tone at all, I'm just
>confused as to how her
>statements fit into a commercial
>for black history month.

she's blk...& an american...how could they not???


Of
>course black folks come in
>a large range of complexions
>and so forth, that's great.
>I don't care about that,
>my thing is that in
>a world where people of
>color are told they are
>inferior because of the presence
>of melanin in their skin,

see...u've just made the point...u as opposed to the world...let's make an example i really can relate to...i have large breasts...there are women who are willin to die to get saline sacs thrust thru tiny little holes in hopes that they affect as natural appearance as mine...that does not mean i never had adjustment issues as a child or as an adult...& just because there are ppl who would "kill" to have breasts like mine it doesn't qualify me as havin a superiority complex if i were to encompass all that makes me beautiful & were to focus on my breasts...like i stated before...were jill the color of a blk grape we really wouldn't be havin this discussion

>it seems like it wouldn't
>be smart to put out
>an ad in which the
>love of the black experience,
>and the love of black
>beauty should be the focus,
>not one that ends with
>a statement that leads others
>to question the speaker's true
>understanding of the ignorance in
>the words spoken by those
>that teased and taunted her.

perhaps jill herself doesn't know...she was speakin of her truth...her understandin...what u are speakin to is sometime of reverse censorship..."are u sure that that's what u want to say???"...when u write poetry u can only speak 'the truth'...if it comes out the wrong way it's still right...sure she could've revise martin's speech on washington...but why???

>I'm not saying that light
>skinned folks shouldn't love themselves,
>because I happen to be
>what some consider light, and
>I love myself a bunch.
>But when I have heard
>people make stupid comments about
>my skin tone, or my
>boyfriends make shitty references to
>their preference in certain skin
>tones, I don't think, "I
>sure love myself because I'm
>light!" I think "you suck."
>and "how can we stop
>this stupid discussion and keep
>our people from being divided
>by stupid boundaries devised to
>divide us?"

but what if u thought like jill did???...would u not have been "correct"???...& just because u felt victimized doesn't mean u found urself able to embrace what was U...if anythin jill's on target: u have to RECLAIM URSELF frum all that serves to beat u down...i don't care about bein able to be in the big house & quadroon balls...high yellow & mixed ppl still have the right to esteem frum head to toe...insides & outsides...& they have a right to express that even if the rest of the world hasn't turned the page or read the footnotes


I just wonder
>if the folks that wrote
>the commercial feel the same
>way?

i'd say kudos to them ESPECIALLY if they did not...& i am also glad that there's been this dialogue open'd up about it

The hell with all this light-skinned, dark-skinned stuff.

I thought y'all were gonna talk about the commercial where she sings 'lift every voice and sing'.

Talk about leaving your zone...

Stick to the neo soul.

Yuck.


---

MikeLove Super DJ

Why are you people so enthralled with the term?
Does it have to do with witchcraft?
How many kitties have you sacrificed at the altar in the name of the goddess?
Does your family know that you prance naked in the woods at night?
Exactly when did you receive the "calling"?
Where you scared?
Whats your favorite tootsie roll? (Im just wondering)
Are you still reading these questions?
What'd you think when you saw the subject line?
Did you know that black is synonymous with evil and inferior at the same time?
Did you believe that last statement?
Do you pick up on sarcasm easily?

Pullin yo card and yellin "Gin, muthafucka!!!",

mil.

and not darkskinned

Perhaps you can't understand and therefore shouldn't dismiss so lightly & sarcastically the relevance of these issues since you don't deal with the ramifications of being either.

blk was never bad
even when white wanted it
blk was never bad
but when blk wanted blk despite white influence
it BECAME bad

& in pointin out the negative connotations in things bein blk...does that automatically institute the antonym of all things bein white as positive???

this really isn't a case for reverse psychology

the latinos are next

Must be all the white words I be usin.

oh yeah, hi! :)
Ryan



"'One must return to the past in order to move foward with his or her future'".


"'Conformity and Individuality are two varying and difficult extremes...Baby, strive to be an individual. Ill respect you more and KNOW that my raising you is not in vain'".
--Mama Canty

apparently she has two...the synapses i took frum it was she was taunted by other blk ppl growin up because her complexion & her hair...it'd hurt her...she is beyond it

blk history month is not just a time to show white ppl how they have infringed upon blk ppl...it is also a time to see how we may have infringed upon ourselves...when u drainin the pasta...sumtimes a few noodles are goin to slip thru

~~**Black History Month**~~

If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence you have won even before you have started. -Marcus Garvey

If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die. -Maya Angelou

I believe in prayer. It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven. -Josephine Baker

While bodily slavery is dead, commercial slavery is far from dead. -Booker T. Washington

Your friends are suppose to bring you peace. -Beyond_Levels

http://msmind.diaryland.com/

i haven't seen the commercial either...

so i can't really comment,

but i have a question...

are people disappointed with what jill said?
or because it's her that said it and we expect more out
of jill(because we like her music and seems to be a positive
enlightened sista?)

:)

Yo I can't say that I've seen the commercial, but I can see how Jill could've been considered to be light-skinned. Maybe it's my location but if Jill was in Dallas she would be called "yellow," when I think of "brown" I would think of Erykah. At any rate, I can understand how one can be teased for not being "black" enough. I am still not totally accepted by certain members of the black community because my hair ain't quite nappy enough to be down. And I'm too dark for the light cats, but thats neither here nor there. This color(yellow,red,brown,black,blueblack) shit has been systematically put into our heads to divide and conquer. And there's no denying that it starts in elementary schools everywhere when kids tease each other according to complexion. Point is, we catch hell from all sides(including our own), but we can't let that shit divide us. Revolution can't occur until there is an evolution of our mindframes.

Peace Yall

Chino


"Free your mind and your ass will follow, the kingdom of heaven lies within" ~George Clinton

a voice of reason!

When did she say that she wasn't considered black enough?

does anythin that u've stated invalidate jill's experience{s}???

& it really isn't how u or anyone would categorize jill's complexion...it is really bogglin my mind to the nths of degrees how jill relates to her past & present day we have a thread that seeks to deter any attempts she may have w/self-reconciliation w/any insecurities she may have had by disqualifyin her statements cuz we don't think her "light" enuff to bitch about it




asighn4jane just ain't VALID n e more

para dia della valentine

~festivus~

it's fat lady 3 rings
sugar on stick blue spun high
pink
it's crowds house of mirrors
elephant ears filled w/powdery sweet
yellow color'd sun tastin lemon
it's clowns strong men
hot fried flesh & onions greasy
blue spun high
it's circus maximus ferris wheel
birthin exhibit
it's lovin u
it's carnival
it's sometimes a fair
it's lovin u baby
it's lovin
u

the question was describe the first time you were teased about being black or uncomfortable ?

I've seen Common's version and he discusses a time he went to a store and a little white child followed him saying B-L-A-C-K.

Now if you take that into perspective and realize that Philly is a segregated city ,so Jill's first brush with feeling uncomfortable about her blackness was with her own people.Trust me , the first time someone called a deragotory name was a black person and it was "blacky" . (And if you know me you are probably scratching your head wondering how the hell someone called me blacky, they were much lighter than me)

Yes Philly is that segregated , especially in the 70's when she would have experienced this incident. So her first experince wasn't with a white person but with a black person.



Just my little theory.

Ok, here's the crazy part... for what it's worth, the majority of the cats on this site are enlightened brothers and sisters, yet when this topic popped up, it amazed me how ignorant brothers and sisters can lower themselves... Jill Scott is a beautiful sister, very talented, and should be recognized as such (as I am sure she is). My beef? Why can't heads realize that as a black person (be it lightskinned, darkskinned, so called caramel) we all have our problems. The biggest point of mental deconstruction was putting us against us. I am lightskinned, and would say it anywhere, anytime, anyplace,that I am proud to be lightskinned, why shouldn't I? For the last ten years I have listened to ignorant Negroes (not brothers and sisters, Negroes) such as Bobby Brown, Magic Johnson (on the Arsenio Hall show to be exact) point out how at one point it was all about lightskinned brothers and sisters and now it's all about the chocolate... how stupid. I listened as heads made ignorant comments like "the blacker the berry" like we are goddamn fruit. This only breeds stupidity. Black people are beautiful and should be proud no matter what their skin color is.
Ok, maybe they edited the commercial and perhaps there could have been some better things to talk about (like a possible revolution-boy we just don't know what to do with our camera time do we?) but I would rather hear the truth, from her point of view, then hear about how great Martin,"I cheat on my wife every chance I get, plus I work for JFK"Luther King Jr was. I mean, I appreciate what the brother did, but he was really on some sell out bs... anyway... We as a people (since Magic didn't have a damn clue) that television, has never captured the true climate of our culture, so it was never about lightskinned brothers, or darkskinned brothers, want proof? We, regardless of the color of our skin, have always been getting married, having sex, having kids, whatever... we have only let TV dictate, then reconstruct our opinions about ourselves far too many times, want proof... we are doing it now with Jill... Peace and blessings, hang in there sister!



>I don't know if this subject
>has already been discussed, but
>Okay, I saw Jill's black
>history month commercial on MTV,
>and I was kind of
>disapointed. What exactly is
>she talking about. She
>kept saying that she was
>a light skinned black woman,
>and that because of this
>she was ostracized or some
>shit. That was it!
>Did I miss something?