GWA MAGAZINE
PG 1
BLACKLIVESMATTER
JUST ONE SUBJECT BLACKLIVESMATTER Jesse Williams Speech BET awards 2016 There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven't done. There's no tax they haven't levied against us. And we've paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. 'You're free,' they keep telling us. 'But she would have been alive if she hadn't acted so — free.' "Now, freedom is always coming in the hereafter. But you know what, though? The hereafter is a hustle. We want it now.""We've been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we're done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind, while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil — black gold. Ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit,"
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
CHAPTER 1
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ROYALTWINZZ
PROLOGUE: A WOMAN’S INTUITION By NaeTheMobWife Photographs by NaeTheMobWife What its like being a black female and how it feels: Being black is awesome and scary at the same time. Simple as that. People tell me that i'm more asian than black so i don't have to worry about the risks which is complete nonsense. I do have to worry about the risks of being black and a female in a country where people still give us these weird looks. My grandma and grandfather didn't accept my mother until we were born because she was a darker shade. The fact that my dad took the risk of marrying a black woman knowing that his family didn't like that idea very much says so much. I was picked on all throughout middle school just because of my skin color. Now i did have friends who stuck up for me and helped me make it through and i'm really grateful for them. Now there are things that i love about being black like out rhythm, melanin, food, creativity, music, etc. Ya know im surrounded by different types of music and foods 24/7 and I just prefer black music and food at times. All in all, i'm proud to be a black female and i would not change it..
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CHAPTER 2
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MUVASLAYS
CONFIDENCE By NaeTheMobWife Photographs by NaeTheMobWife Is this good enough? | For the record, I want to set this straight off bat. I have strong opinions. I am not angry. I want to mention this because I want it to be known that yes I am angry, but I’m not angry for unjustifiable reasons. Black women, who have dared to stand up for what they believe in are automatically dubbed the “angry black girl”. I’m stereotyped as “a loud angry black woman” because I speak my mind; because I speak on what’s right and what’s wrong; because I protest the lack of justice; because I proudly scream how much I love my black woman, men and children all over the world; because I loudly make aware that I love myself and my popping melanin skin. As a black woman, I’m a walking statistic. I’m expected to be poor or to have come from a poor neighborhood. I’m expected to have several children, by several different men. I’m expected to lack in education. I’m expected to be loud, aggressive and eventually fail in everything that I do. I’m placed in a box by the government and white supremacy upon birth. It kills them to see that their evilness and bigot ways are not stopping my career, ambitions and dreams. That it’s not stopping my “loud ghetto rants”, which are actually my loud warrior cries for my people. Be aware. Be alert. Be educated. Know what is going on. Don’t let the ignorance of others or of the media cloud your senses. Listen to our people. Listen to the hurt and the cries…but more than that; listen to their strength, their knowledge and their bravery. GWA 3 |
CHAPTER 3
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OMGISISBLUU
ACCEPTANCE By NaeTheMobWife Photographs by NaeTheMobWife
To be accepted as a black woman, is a rarity. I don’t depend on others accepting me. I make others accept me. My mother taught me at a young age that it’s going to be hard to come across people who genuinely accept you for you. I live by those words. I never want to hang around someone I have to walk on egg shells for. Even in certain environments such as school and work...you work with them you don’t need to be friends. Acceptance is a state of mind. You have to live for you do things you want to do... Accepting yourself flaws and all is what really matters. Nothing else. At the end of the day you need to be happy from within for others to accept you.
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CHAPTER 4
INTERGENERAT IONAL By NaeTheMobWife Photographs by NaeTheMobwife
Mother dearest let me inherit the Earth. Teach me how to make him beg. Let me make up for the years he made you wait. Did he bend your reflection? Did he make you forget your own name? Did he convince you he was a god? Did you get on your knees daily? Do his eyes close like doors? Are you a slave to the back of his hand? Am I talking about your husband or your father?
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CHAPTER 5
REGRET By NaeTheMobWife Photographs by NaeTheMobWife
Baptize me. Now that reconciliation is possible, if we're gonna heal, let it be glorious. One thousand girls raise their arms. Do you remember being born? Are you thankful? Are the hips that cracked, the deep velvet of your mother, and her mother, and her mother? There is a curse that will be broken
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CHAPTER 6
REDEMPTION By NaeTheMobWife Photographs by NaeTheMobWife
This is the last chapter of the magazine and I just wanted to say for this to be my fourth issue it's been a great time working with different, beautiful females if they had experience modeling or didn't, they were still welcomed in my life with smiles. This means a lot to me, making a magazine that creates imagery, characteristics and shows dedication and I just want to say thank you to all that participated this issue was meant to be about joining together, about love getting along and creativity I mean that's why we're here right? or maybe we want communication and that's what makes it even funnier. I thank everyone for being there for me and just supporting me on making this issue I tried to make it unique I didn't wish to be out going with sparkles and spanners I hope you enjoyed this issue because I did Love, Nae
My grandma said, nothing real can be threatened. True love brought salvation back into me. With every tear came redemption and my torturer became my remedy. So we're gonna heal, we're gonna start again. You've brought the orchestra, synchronized swimmers, you are the magician. Pull me back together again the way you cut me in half. Make the woman in doubt disappear. Pull the sorrow from between my legs like silk. Knot after knot after knot. The audience applauds but we can't hear them
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GWA Bitch I'm Back By Popular Demand
The Audience Applauds But We can't hear them