Black People -- Choose Uppityness!!!!

I am not a big fan of gossip blogs or gossip bloggers but I ran across this video over at "What About Our Daughters" (which isn't a gossip blog). It's Nancy Graces' interview of Mary Balfour the mother of William Balfour who is Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia's estranged husband (whew, that was a mouth full -- that's why I hate gossip but I digress). Mary Balfour is decrying the innocence of her jail bird son and singing his praises because he got a GED in prison and by the way he was sent to prison when he was only 16 for car theft and attempted murder. She blithely explains when asked about his alibi that he was with one of the two girlfriends he has outside of his marriage.
So basically, this woman is a low-rent ghetto bunny, her values are askew and she needs serious life skill training.

Racial Masking..... Not Moi? Maybe Moi Afterall.....

I've just completed Shelby Steele's new book A Bound Man - Why We Are Excited About Barack Obama and Why He Can't Win. He talks in great length about how we present ourselves to white america always through a mask. He says: "Whites have trouble reading blacks because we are always showing them only what we want them to see, always pushing them this way and that. We always have two narratives: what we tell each other and what we tell whites." This one sentence has caused me some trepidation and I initially scoffed that this isn't true of me as I'm all about transparency and authenticity but if I am honest with myself I would have to admit that I would more freely share "dirty laundry" if you will with other black people rather than whites. So I'm bummed that I haven't risen above Mr. Steele's contention. But after some 2 or 3 hours of soul searching I can't come up with another example so I won't judge myself too harshly.

It was a quick read and much more substantive than this little snippet -- it's just that one sentence gave me pause.

As If I Have Time To Maintain A Second Blog...

I just started this blog because I was annoyed. I will not use this as a forum to express my disdain for the state of black america -- I'll leave that to my first alter ego Conservative Black Woman. Here I think I will celebrate women who have the audacity to be uppity, meaning that they have the audacity to think outside of the "black" box. I will celebrate those who tell the truth even if it means that they are called ugly names. So check back in a bit-- I've got research to do.

I Am An Uppity Negress

After months of being called a self hating, white acting B**tch I have decided that I am embracing my uppityness. So, hello blogosphere The Uppity Negress has been birthed.