Hello My Name is Blacktina and I’m a Wise Latina Woman!

Sonia Sotomayor - A Wise Latina Woman

HA in your face white supremacy! Hay mi hermana Sonia (translation – Oh my sister Sonia) what you had to endure this past week during your confirmation hearings all because you proudly referenced in a speech the phrase “Wise Latina Woman.” Incredibly they had nothing else on you. You were never on drugs, didn’t have a teenage a pregnancy, was never a stripper, didn’t have 5 baby daddys; you know who’s your Mommy and Papi, no crazy family secrets, NADA, NOTHING, ZILCH!!! You my darling did not fit the typical Bronx Puerto Rican stereotype that this country expects. All they can say was you said “Wise Latina Woman” and the only thing they could do was try to translate that phrase and refer to it as your confession of being a racist, reverse racism, I might add! Oh white supremacy, you’re getting stale. Even for you this is soooo far fetched.

I am obsessed at the condemnation of this comment and why it is being viewed as a negative phrase. Is it because it is that odd that the words “Wise” and “Latina” are mentioned in the same breath? Or is it because when the word “Latina/Latino” is mentioned its hardly met with any positive inference and this time it wasn’t? I kind of believe the later is what really pissed off modern white supremacy. For centuries, I’m not going years, cause you see this has been going on for way to long, if you’re non-white it’s OK to refer to you as anything else as long as it opposes positive references. Look at the evening newscasts, for years whenever there was a crime, the description of blacks and latinos were accurately depicted. If it were a white person, you just heard the word “man or woman”. I always felt the reason for these inconsistencies were whites are the majority race (so they say), therefore it is automatic when referring to the human race the white person is automatically assumed. So when Sonia went off in public and defied how the race should be mentioned in their eyes all hell broke loose. Remember they have ALWAYS had the luxury of defining us the way they want to; anything in opposition is challenged by the word they claim to hate the most, yet they practice it the most and that’s RACISM!

White people love to defend themselves as they oppose affirmative action and statements like the one made by Sonia. They love to say “we” can get past the racism if you do. Bullshit, your Daddy was racist, your Granddaddy was one and guess what it’s ingrained and you are one too. How can we get over it, when YOU’RE still on it! Sonia was not being a racist and I’m not defending her because I’m a blacktina, however, I can understand the importance of imaging yourself in a positive light. Let me briefly try to attempt to explain to white America how Sonia’s comment was not a diss to you but rather an empowerment for my race.

Sonia and like the rest of us minorities (God I hate that term) MUST ALWAYS state our ethnicity as we achieve greatness. When your race is normally associated with all the vileness of society (i.e. higher incarceration rates, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, broken homes, etc.) it then becomes essential to advertise when one of us does achieve something positive. We are a race that is trying to break cycles. We can no longer live mediocre, it’s just tiring. We must move forward, but sometimes the only way to do so is to be inspired. Sonia has inspired so many blacks and latinos by her upbringing and her overcoming of challenges which has led her to place where she stands today. Our babies need this nourishment and it our responsibility as parents biological or not to feed our babies with positive reinforcement. We can’t rely on “You” to do it. History has shown that you won’t and you never will as evident by your recent comments condemning Sonia. Just look at the Pat Buchanon’s, Bill O’Reilly’s and Rush Limbaugh’s, I purposely use them in a plural form because there are so many like them. As long as they exist we as a minority sector in this country MUST never be ashamed of our accomplishments. To quote Marianne Williamson, “Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” Please take this to heart, as we publicized who we are and how great we are, we are giving permission to others to do the same! That’s Powerful!!! Always remember they use to stop us from reading, they can’t stop us no more. Slander is trash and dies down easily, but the sharing of your accomplishments to your people will NEVER deteriorate as easily.

Lastly, the other reason why we MUST always advertise our accomplishments is we need to eliminate the expectations you have of us. For example, just the other day I was passing by an exclusive high rise apartment building in the city. As I looked into the lobby window I saw a black woman cleaning and a white man had stepped off the elevator. I noticed as he stepped off she diligently picked her pep as she was changing a trash bag. He passed by her without any notice in a nonchalant manner. This man was not surprise to see this woman doing this type of work. You can tell by his stride and her actions that they were both accustomed to being in these roles. This is a perfect example of how we have to change how we are viewed; we can only do this by promoting ourselves in a positive light.

Sonia’s actions were based on the above scenarios whether she knew it or not. We come from a race of hardships coupled with ingenuity. When we reference our race to our accomplishment we are essentially sending signals, actions reminiscent of our enslaved ancestors who sent signals to protect and warn. Our modern day signals do protect and warn but also encourage, inspire, uplift, inform, defy propaganda, enlighten, etc. all those variables that are constantly denied to us.

So white America you want us to stop shouting from the rooftops and call it reverse discrimination. Well Chico, you go ahead and keep doing what you do! We on the other hand will never STOP! We have bigger fish to fry and for once your majority will NOT CONTROL this minority!

Peace Out,
Blacktina
A Wise Latina Woman

Why Do People Like to Play God?

The belief of a Jehovah Witness is that only one God, Jehovah him/her self is the only person, or thing than can be idolized. Being a Catholic and trust me not a practicing one, there are other beliefs of this religion (JW) that I don’t agree with. However, their dedication to idolize one true God is one that I wholeheartedly support, especially when dealing with those who think their on par with the almighty. This article is not about religion though it started out that way but about those who obtain power and become obsessed with the likes of the “yesses” (pronounced Yes-ses. Plural for yes, I made it up

The “yesses” are those who would do anything for a person they perceive as having some sort of power. In corporate America the “god” like personas are the executives, VPs, managing partners, etc. These individuals with these titles are regarded as the second coming of Christ. The sad thing is they know it and will capitalize on it as much as they can. The even sadder part is the individuals that cater to them while giving up their integrity and soul. Being in corporate America for 22+ years I somewhat think I’ve seen it all. I say somewhat because I’m sure there’s more to come. What’s sparking me to write this article is a particular instance that proved these “top notch” people are not God and if you’re a “yesses” you should watch who you obsessively cater to.

Recently the managing partner of my firm, which is the equivalent of a CEO, abruptly resigned and took employment at a competitor firm. Oh and here’s the killer he also took his clients and anywhere between 5-10 junior and senior associates. In the legal world this is a serious blow. The business model in a law firm is quite simplistic. You have clients, they pay; the firm stays afloat. If you lose clients, Houston there’s a problem and right now my firm is in Houston mode. The ironic part of this whole situation is the faces of those who feel betrayed, not because he left but because they kissed his ass so much. They’re in shocked that he left them and didn’t even say good-bye.

This man was like God to these yesses. When he came into the office everyone got quiet. People said hello to him and he wouldn’t respond and guess what that was OK; he’s Mr. Big Shot he doesn’t have to speak. Whenever he called someone they came running. If he so happened to pay a compliment the yesses ran with it. If he were upset the yesses were ready to give up their first born to make him happy. I recall a time in which I had to tell someone who was getting on my case about him to calm down. This person was literally having a breakdown and citing that the situation was the worst thing that could have happened in the world. I reminded her that Hurricane Katrina was a tragedy; not having access to his Outlook mailbox doesn’t constitute a world disaster, jeez.

The problem the yesses now face with treating this man like God is that they treated everyone else like shit including those second in command. I’m sure by now you can guess what happened. The second in command is now in command and these yesses are going crazy trying to rectify themselves. In my opinion it’s too late. This guy knows bullshit when it’s in front of him. There’s no way these yesses are going to get past him. Memory can be an asset but to some it’s a hell of a liability. See, you should never idolize or praise blind allegiance to any “man”. Everyone is human and in the words of Jamie Foxx’s character Wanda, “they put their underwear on one leg at a time just like me”. The only aspect of life that should be worshipped is God. I’m not trying to get religious but it is true that “he” would never leave you. The yesses are experiencing what they should of known all along “man” has choices; meaning he can get up and go without any loyalty to you. God on the other hand doesn’t operate that way and to treat someone with the same loyalty you would to the Lord is just sickening.

I’m not sure if these yesses are programmed this way or if there are self-esteem issues and frankly I don’t care. The only part that affects me is I do believe others expect me to behave in the same manner and I can’t. This is when I become a Jehovah Witness. I can’t for the life of me kiss somebody’s ass. If I have work to do I’ll do it, even with a smile. But I can’t tolerate someone who can’t even convey simple day-to-day pleasantries, who barks orders and who can see you in public and act as if they’ve never seen you before. See with that type of bullshit I can’t kiss nobody’s ass. Sorry it’s just not for me.

With the departure of this individual I am a little saddened for the state of my firm; after-all it does affect my primary income. However, the look on the faces of the yesses is just priceless. F*ck the Master card commercials this took the cake (LOL). Personally I hope a lot of lessons are learned though I doubt they will be. I for one am happy that I am true to the human species. We are equal and I will treat you as you treat me. As the saying in the bible goes, “do onto to others as they do onto you”. I don’t know about the rest of you but if you are a yesses I hope you read your bible and take heave. Man is ONLY Man and nothing more!

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

These very words that are mentioned in wedding ceremonies hold so true when confronting antics within corporate America or at least that’s the wish of many of our so-called colleagues.

After 22 years in corporate America you would think by now I would be use to the “watch what you say”, “don’t say it”, “watch your tone” or the best of them all “just be quiet.” I for one have always had a problem with all these particular responses to issues. According to most of my Caucasian colleagues I get the impression that these responses refer to hostility, aggressiveness and lack of teamwork, which is always a red flag. However, I wonder why can’t they just be viewed a valued opinions, which is what most of their responses are viewed as??

Recently and once again I don’t why I’m amazed but I came across a situation where I felt it necessary to defend myself. As many of you know I’m currently employed within the technology sector. And as I said many of times the celebrity of technology positions are not what they use to be. Here’s the scenario, the company that employs me was upgrading its fax software. A massive email was sent out via the technology group, plus a training schedule and updates. It turned out the upgrade did not apply that morning but later on during the afternoon. A confirmation email had been sent to all users from the vendor stating the upgrade has taken change and their fax numbers have been ported over. Now, remember the communication that had been previously sent. Once the vendor sent out their communication I started to receive a flurry of emails asking me what is going on? Is this spam mail? What’s happening to the current program, etc. etc.? The most famous of these emails came from Human Resources with my boss cc’d informing me that I need better communication skills. She was what I would deemed, hostile (oops that’s one for me ☺). Basically her email stated “what is all of this and how come no one was communicated?” She also went on to give me some suggestions so I can avoid future mishaps as this.

I was pisst. I can’t even try to dress that up, but I did compose myself. I responded to her hostile email with the following:

1) Attachments of the emails previously sent
2) The training schedule
3) Updates

I also went on tell her that maybe she should send some communication stating, it’s the users personal responsibility to pay attention to emails from the technology group. Obviously all the users including her did not! She did not immediately respond directly to me, but contacted my boss who was also cc’d on the emails.

Here’s what happened next. For the sake of keeping this as true as possible, I’m going to write this as in screenplay format ☺

Scene 1 – Blacktina is confronted by her boss.

Crazy White Boss: Blacktina OMG what are you doing?
Blacktina: What are you talking about?
Crazy White Boss: The email you sent to HR. That wasn’t necessary.
Blacktina: Why not? I’m being told I didn’t communicate in which I did and they needed to know that communication had been sent.
Crazy White Boss: Blacktina it doesn’t matter if communication had been sent or not. It matters that we get on the ball with it now.

Scene 2 – While Blacktina holds her breath and thanks God for the mute button.

Blacktina: First of all we’re on the ball with this and have always been. Secondly if the communication doesn’t matter then why am I being called on it?
Crazy White Boss: You know HR they always have something to say.
Blacktina: Yes I know. The problem is they’ll have something to say on my review. And I do have the right to defend myself when I’m being told I didn’t do my job.
Crazy White Boss: Yes Blacktina, but it’s not a big deal.
Blacktina: If so then why are you calling me?
Crazy White Boss: I have to go, just be careful on what you send out.

Again I don’t know why I’m amazed. I’m basically suppose to accept an accusation and never ever defend myself and when I do I’m reprimanded. I’ve now been reprimanded for two things that I have done nothing wrong. Maybe someone can explain to me what should I have done?

There are so many layers of variances that people of color have to deal with in corporate America. Many think racism is as simple as black and white but as we all know it’s not that simple. I often hear and read comments how Blacks need to get over what happened 200+ years ago, especially when we talk about reparations. I say, why don’t YOU get over it. See simple crap like what I just experienced is indeed racism. And you may say No it’s not. But check this out if a white person would of responded the way I did, there’s no doubt that they would have been commended, perhaps their suggestion would have been taken into consideration. When I do it or any other person of color it’s perceived as hostile, petty and unnecessary. Some may think I may be sensitive but when I think about it I was called to the carpet twice in less than an hour for no error on my part. Sensitive is the least of my worries. I have to learn so I’m told how to work around these situations. For an educated degreed woman this is one puzzle I am not sure how to solve, nor do I think I want to. If anybody has any suggestions, kindly let me know. Other than that for all the peeps of color hang in there. In the words of MJ “You are not alone.”

Meet My New Friend Chilly Willy

Yesterday I had the opportunity to volunteer my time and serve beverages at a local Soup Kitchen. This was my first endeavor of ever serving at a Soup Kitchen. I participated with a few of my colleagues as we ventured to the Urban Ministry and served Iced Tea and Lemonade. For a person with hypocritical views of homelessness and drug addiction I must say that I was deeply humbled and enlightened as to who they are and who I am.

Growing up in the South Bronx I came across all facets of life except the filthy rich. We had our middle class poor, who owned homes and whose children attended Catholic school. We also had the destitute poor and those who were in the middle. My family fell in the middle. We didn’t own a home or shopped at Macy’s. Being in the middle made me envy and at the same time aspire to be like the middle class poor. My feelings for the destitute were not as congenial.

I’ve always looked down on addicts and bums (that is what we called them in the 70s). The term homeless found its way sometime in the 80s. The philosophy that was instilled in me regarding these individuals was, they are able bodies and choose to destroy their lives. They deserve no pity from me and I wouldn’t give a dime to help them. They were the true ills of society and in particular they condemned my race. As I got older and explored my history and innate racism that has been perpetrated I was able to see that the issue with these individuals is not as clear as laziness but perhaps as a result of post traumatic slavery coupled with oppression. Although I was able to make this correlation and sincerely believe it, I still within my inner self despised these types of people. I would defend them to no end to anybody outside of my race but deep down I had such a resentment towards them. I knew I was being hypocritical but as long as nobody knew what did I really care.

As I walked through the Urban Ministry feelings of Oh Lord what did I get myself into erupted. Here I’m trying to do the civil thing and volunteer, help those less fortunate, blah, blah, blah, but yet feelings of superiority were within me. The Director not sure if she sensed any of my feelings was kind enough to give us a tour of the facility. The tour somewhat relaxed my mind but more importantly expanded my perceived thoughts on the homeless. After the tour we were instructed that it was time to start serving the beverages. I decided in my South Bronx girl attitude not to punk out and get out there and start serving. As I started to serve each individual I thought it best to make eye contact and to address each individual as Sir or Madam (that’s just the manners in me:)). While serving I had the most enjoyable conversation with alot of these people. One of the most entertaining conversations was from a man named Larry who told us about the antics of his friend Chilly Willy. Larry was content with who he was. Something alot of us cannot say about ourselves. Most of these people were the kindest you’ll ever meet. They were appreciative and more importantly I realized they were HUMAN! I was happy to serve them. I thought I would be making them happy but instead they made me happy. I laughed, sympathized, looked at some of them directly in their eyes and that’s when it happened. I had a revelation of “Who did I think I was to judge these people?” Looking directly into their soul was an unspoken connection that I will always treasure.

I thank the Urban Ministry for making me realize these outcasts that we look down on are humans, despite their circumstances. I doubt they woke up one morning and said I want to be a drug addict, I want to be homeless. True, some may have irresponsibly ventured into this lifestyle, but I have no doubt that they ever thought it would mount to this. We preach addiction is a disease yet we treat it as a cankerous sore. Yesterday I realized these people deserve a kind word, a kind look; an understanding that they may have fell victim to prey.

Prior to yesterday I thought I had permission being from the South Bronx to address these types of circumstances in any manner I thought fitting. These people who I thought were less than me are actually better than me. They’re real with their situation no matter how unfortunate it may be. I thank them for allowing me into their world for the short 2 hours that it was and not judge me! How about that!?!?!

No longer do I view addiction and homelessness as being the pariah of all social ills. I’m sure it has its place, however, I would never forget that the pundits of these ills are humans that deserve respect and kindness. As India Arie said “it doesn’t cost to smile”. After yesterday I hope to smile a little more and try to make others smile as I continue to volunteer my service.

King and Obama – Photoshop of the Day

Barack Obama and Martin Luther King