Celebrating Black Love

Source: Black Love Poster

Today's post is going to be a little more lightheaded than yesterday's post.

I am a hopeless romantic. I love all things mushy and lovey dovey. I am a strong proponent of positivity and I think all love is beautiful. However, as a proud Black woman, I think Black Love is the best love. Sadly, there are many people that do not share the same sentiment, including other Black people, and consequently, Black love is under constant scrutiny and attack. So, I do whatever I can to show other people that Black Love is alive and well. Luckily, there are people that share the same mission. One of them is Leila Noelliste. In addition to having an awesome natural hair blog, Black Girl Long Hair, she also has a Tumblr, Black Love Poster that showcases pictures of Black women and the people that love them. Readers, if you are one half of a couple that contains a Black woman, I urge you to send pictures to this site and tell all of your friends about it. We need to show people that Black Love is alive and well.

Check out Black Love Poster HERE and check out BGLH, HERE.

4 Subjects That Cannot Be Discussed With Black People

I'm starting of this week with a little controversy. 


Last week, I posted the following Facebook status, " [I have] come to the conclusion that there are some topics that are damn near impossible to civilly discuss with most Black people....". I posted that status after I had a discussion with a few people on a blogging site. At the beginning of the discussion, everyone was being civil and the progression of the discussion was great. Sadly, as the day progressed, more people read the article and people started to act a bit ignant. Yes, ignant. This discussion, and others, showed me that there is always room for improvement in the Black community. There are so many unnecessary taboos in our community that need to be abandoned. Anyway, I'm going to step off of my virtual soap box and let you read 4 Subjects That Cannot Be Discussed With Black People.


Gender/Sexuality
I have been in various discussions with people about these subjects and their sub-subjects and I think I can count on one hand how many have ended without a shouting match. If I'm discussing LGBT issues or topics, I usually get a Bible verse thrown at me or someone spits out the word "abomination". I don't get it. Why are people so obsessed with somebody else's sex life? It's one thing to disagree but some people border on obsession and it makes me question their motives and reasons. 
Same with gender issues. The minute the words "feminism" and/or "womanism" is uttered in many Black circles, people are sent into a tizzy. Stereotypes are thrown and misconceptions are taken as truth. People, not all feminists and womanists are hairy man hating bra burners. More on that later this week.


Religion
I steer clear of this subject at all costs. Readers, especially my brothers and sisters, Black =/= Christian. Black people adhere to a variety of faiths and belief systems and no, I'm not referring to Baptist, Methodist, and other Christian denominations. There are Black Muslims, Black Jews, Black Buddhists and even Black Atheists and Agnostics. I understand that your beliefs may preach they are going to hell and that's fine but you don't have to beat them over the head with that belief. It is perfectly okay for someone to have different beliefs. Please, hop off. Thanks.


Beauty
This is especially true among Black women. There's make-up vs. bare. Light skin vs. Dark. Long Hair vs. Short Hair. And the biggest one? Permed vs. Weave vs. Natural. It's so crazy. Bring any of these subjects up and earrings might get taken off.  Our community has been conditioned to like and strive for one look and it's caused a heap of conflict. There have been movies made, books written and shade thrown. More in this later as well.


Relationships
Love is a complicated concept and the discussions that surround it are just as complicated. Black Love is constantly under attack and Black people do a lot of the attacking. Ladies, how many times have you heard a girlfriend utter "niggas aint shit" or "all the Black men are dead, married, in jail or gay"?  It seems like the media is doing all it can to destroy Black Love with the constant barrage of reports about how unmarriageable Black women are and how we're going to die alone in a house full of cats. Sadly, I see a lot of fellas play into it and develop a sense of entitlement. As a result you have men making comments similar to those of Slim Thug. I have an idea. Stop all of the gender bashing, promote love and stop believing the propaganda.


What do you think? Disagree? Have anything to add to this list? Leave a comment.