BLACKSTAR MAGAZINE
FALL 2014
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B L A C K S T A R SAMANTHA SCOTT EDITOR IN CHIEF Creative Director Janessa Aneke Managing Editor Jaye George Digital Director Joseph Welcome Business and Operations Manager Briana Keith Account Executive Olubusola Osunsanya Editors Arts & EntertainmenT Shanice Kellman Lifestyle Kimberly Herard News Iman Williams Creative DESIGN Janessa aneke & Samantha Scott Photo editor Mark Igbinadolor photography Olubusola Osunsanya, & Nakiyah Flowers Blackstaremory.com In the CuT editor Charity Gates in the know editor Jasmyn Mackell The EP editors Ethan Ramsammy & Manzi Ngaiza social media manager Tenia Miles Writers Natasha Armstrong Jordie Davies Elayne Elliott Nakiyah Flowers Grace Gardner Charity Gates Mike Green Steffany Herndon Jasmyn Mackell Manzi Ngaiza Ethan Ramsammy Kevin Satterf1eld Iman Williams Contributors Casidy Campbell Sophen Joseph
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FALL 2014: F R E E
8 How to be carefee: a Photo Guide 10 Ferguson: Our Story, Our way 12 The Dangers of Demonizing Janay Rice 13 Black Superiority 15 Carefree black girls 2K14 16 What My Natural Hair Taught me About Self-Love 17 BLACK LIVES MATTER x BEU
6 EDITOR’S LETTER 7 ON THE WEB blackstaremory.com 5
blackstaremory.com OUR DIGITAL HOME
currently... STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
SOLANGE’S WEDDING: A STYLE ANALYSIS
In the Cut editor Charity Gates breaks down the Knowles-Ferguson union from a fashion perspective. 6
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Get to know Troizel Carr (15C)
editor’s letter How do we get free? I’m tired. Well no, not tired. I feel a heaviness - something that can only be described as impending doom. An excess that I’m not quite sure what to do with. I feel nauseous, angry, and wierdly numb as black bodies continue to be violated. It’s not OK. I’m not ok... Black people at Emory are really good/always getting better at loving one another. I thought (and tweeted) this a couple weeks ago when, after dealing with a racist incident on campus, a black student called out the perpatrator publicly via social media. It was a really impactful moment of disruption, highlighted by the way in which other students, especially black ones, provided their support, largely in the form of challenging students who were more invested in the reputation of the perpatrator than dismantling the ideologies that allow these negative racialized experiences to happen in the first place. I think about the ways that we as a community (really, communities) work to support, affirm, value, and challenge one another every day. The importance of spaces like the EBSU and student-led initiatives including The Kitchen Table, blackOUT, and BEU. We see one another; we know that our lives have always and will continue to matter. We work to love one another fiercly. Not only is that love necessary, it is revolutionary. Existing in this way, embracing blackness and one another challenges the frameworks that hold this institution together. Our love is an affront to white supremacy, capitalism, and heteropatriarchy. I don’t know if I answered the question. I’m not even sure that I wrote a letter...but I think this is a start. Thanks, Sammie Scott Sammie Scott Editor-in-Chief
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HOW TO BE (CARE)FREE: A PHOTO GUIDE
By Janessa Aneke Photograpghed By: Olubusola Osunsanya
step one: wake up step two: be 8
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Ferguson:
Our stories Our way
By Elyane Elliot
AUGUST 9, 2014 - Mike Brown was shot in Ferguson, MO by former police officer Darren Wilson, though many witnesses say he had his hands up yelling, “don’t shoot.” And on that day, the news of his death spread across the country in a matter of hours through the use of social media. Here we are today, nearly four months post this incident and still no arrest or indictment been made in relation to the shooting. In the midst of all the angry riots, peaceful protests, and outcry from prominent figures in the black community, there was art. At the height of the protest in the streets of Ferguson images from photographers kept the public up to date on what was happening. With each im-
age, you could see the hurt and distress felt by the protesters as they stood their ground against the National Guard who created a wall, with tanks ready to fire, as if the protesters where the people who had done something wrong. While these images were painful to see, one could not help but to admire the beauty of the strength of the black community captured in that one particular frame. For some, the images were so powerful that it caused them to make their own trip to Ferguson to check out the scene 10
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“‘...DON’T SHOOT’ IS A CALL TO ACTION.” for themselves. Amongst those who traveled to be with citizens and show support were various members of the hiphop community including rappers J. Cole, Young Jeezy, and Nelly. J. Cole’s visit came shortly after he released his song “Be Free” which samples a description of the incident from the young man who was walking with Mike Brown right before he was shot. While major news stations were describing the protesters as angry and violent, J. Cole posted videos to Instagram of his interactions with
members of the community showing an alternative view to the biased new reports. Other artists, like The Game, also used their talents to raise awareness and encourage change following the shooting of Mike Brown. “Don’t Shoot” x The Game features some of hip-hop’s most wellknown and respected artists like 2Chainz, Ricky Rozay, Swiss Beats, and Yo Gotti amongst many others. The song not only addresses the events occurring in Ferguson, but also the wrongful deaths of other young black men including Trayvon Mar-
Protest Signs in Ferguson, Missouri
tin. “Don’t Shoot” is a call to action that encourages members of the black community “to take a stand and save our future/like we all got shot” because after all, any one of us could be Mike Brown. And here on Emory’s campus, minority students seemed to understand that loud and clear. Bambika’s performance at Best in Show was one of the most moving uses of art that brought awareness to Mike Brown’s murder here on campus. Bambika’s step sampled T.I.’s song “New National Anthem” which has powerful lyrics
that address the state of African Americans in this country. The Mike Brown segment of the show opened with the portion of the song that says “home of the brave and free/free just to murder me,” transitioned to a series of “No Justice, No Peace” chants, and ended with a powerful “Hand’s Up, Don’t Shoot” that left the crowd cheering in support. This was followed by Emory’s Day of Unity sponsored by several of the offices on campus, including the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services, where students were
encourage to wear ribbons in solidarity. The art produced from Ferguson, especially from black artists, is not important just because of the unity it created within the black community. It is about us taking back our own lives and telling our own stories from our own point of view. It is about redirecting our rage in a way that is healthy. And most importantly, it is about documenting our experiences so that they won’t get washed away in America’s history.
Aurielle Lucier,, poet, and activist responsible for organizing protests in Atlanta
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The dangers of Demonizing janay rice We must support vicitms of Intimate Partner Violence. Steffany Herndon * Trigger Warning: This article includes explicit details of physical violence.
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ay Rice, running back for the Baltimore Ravens, was terminated in September and indefinitely suspended from the NFL (though recently reinstated) after the release of a video recording of Rice assaulting his then-fiancé Janay Palmer. The video shows her slapping him across the face and, upon their entrance into the elevator, Rice hits her in the face and proceeds to punch her. After his second hit, Palmer slams into the right side of the elevator and is unconscious on the floor. Once they reach their floor, Rice drags her out by her upper body while carrying her shoes. Before the release of the video, Rice was previously suspended from two games; punishment that received much criticism for being too lenient. Advocates of domestic violence awareness everywhere were voicing their opinions, stating that they felt that Rice should not only be charged for the assault of his wife but should do time in jail for his crime. What caused new waves of uproar however, was the address Janay Palmer released to the public through her Instagram account. Until this point, she was silent on the situation playing out in the media but Palmer used social media to respond to reporters; her
response stated that she and her husband simply made a “mistake”. She continued by expressing the hurt that she felt the media placed her and her family through, and saying that “the media took away the career her husband worked his a** off for” and that she planned to “show the world what true love is”. The public took Palmer’s statement and ran with it. News reporters shifted their attention from Ray Rice to Janay Palmer and relinquished their offensive and negative thoughts on her. They exploited her message and took what was a vulnerable moment for Janay and turned it into an opportunity to bash her relationship with her husband. Instead of showing support for her wellbeing or letting her voice her perspective on the incident, the media had a field day in tearing her love for her husband apart. What could have been a teachable moment for young adults in similar relationships ended up being a media frenzy that resulted in making a mockery of a young woman’s marriage.
of the video sends a reminder to the public that many women in abusive relationships choose to stay with their men and work things out instead of finding the nearest exit. These women usually believe that with love, counseling and hard work, they can save their relationships. The victims of abusive relationships are typically the last people to observe the real problems they face; their loved ones and peers often see these signs first. What many people forget is that noticing and acknowledging the signs of abuse are the first steps in leaving the abuse behind.
Many people place blame on victims of domestic violence, claiming that should get help and decide amongst themselves that the abuse they receive is wrong. But if these people felt safe and empowered to leave, wouldn’t they? It is also the responsibility of those around the victim to stand up and voice their thoughts in a constructive way, letting them know that there is a way out of their situation and that they have places to turn to for help. Waiting until the victim approaches you or asks for help could be The reaction of Mrs. Rice after the release too late.
IF YOU NOTICE THAT YOUR FRIEND OR LOVED ONE EXHIBITS THESE SIGNS, THEY MAY BE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: • • • • • •
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Is unusually isolated Has frequent “accidents” or “injuries” Goes along with whatever their partner says or does Is anxious to please their partner Is restricted from hanging out without their partner being present Has major personality changes.
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SUPE RIORITY: How Solange Taught the World That Blackness Inaugurates Art by Iman Williams
*This article was originally published to BLACKSTAREMORY.COM on November 18, 2014. blackstaremory.com 13
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hen Solange [Knowles’/Ferguson’s] official wedding photos were released, Black people were reminded of something we already knew: we are the shit. The photos, which were released on Sunday, November 16, 2014, taught me more in a single moment than I learned in an entire semester at Emory University. The moment these photos were released I was reminded of the fact that Blackness, Black women in particular, inaugurate art. That is to say that while Blackness has been rejected from the world of art, Solange’s wedding photos indicate that the rejection of Blackness is irrelevant because Blackness is in and of itself art. Grace Gardner, a friend of mine, said of Solange’s photos, “art lies within Blackness and within that art and Blackness is a superiority that a society that thrives off of white supremacy has feared.” Black superiority is something that is understood and unspoken and the fear of Black superiority is so ubiquitous that it foregrounds the denial of our right to be in and conveyed through images the way Blackness was conveyed in Solange’s wedding photograph. The lesson that everyone needs to learn is that art and Blackness are mutually constitutive. Black women inaugurated and continue to inaugurate art in such a way that foregrounds and enables the emergence of all other art forms. That is to say, the Black feminine constitutes the history of art. Black women are at the center of the universe and everyone and everything’s existence depends on ours. The propensity of Black women to create and the subversion that is weaved into the fabric of what is produced by Black women is something that Solange illustrates in her wedding pictures. Our very existence is subversion and art is at the very center of that subversion. Solange’s official wedding photos serve as the embodiment of Blackness and the embodiment of subversion or resistance because she, along with the other Black women in the photo, rejects the idea that Black women do not belong in spaces that are traditionally reserved for white people. The space that she is in is empty and it gives you no choice but to look at the Black women in the picture. Through art, Solange reminds us that Blackness reconfigures the very notion of existence as well as the notion of potentiality, and possibility, which non-Blacks deliberately attempt to coopt and vitiate. While Blackness often represents an ab-
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sence or a void, whiteness, which is often posited as the antithesis of Blackness, often represents purity among other things. We are told that there is nothing pure about Blackness and so in wearing white, every Black woman in that photograph is rejecting the idea that there is nothing pure, innocent, evangelical or worth protecting about Blackness. In fact, what the picture is demonstrating is that Blackness is evangelical and that it is, in fact, something worth protecting.
in my blackness. I want to remind people that pursuing happiness is something that everyone should do. I want to do more than survive. I want to live. I want to sleep for at least 8 hours a day. I want to get an A on this exam that I am currently not studying for. All I’m saying is there are a lot of things I want for myself/my life and its up to me to figure out how to get/do/be those things.
Iman: Do you care if [your definition of greatness] is accepted? Grace: You said Black women are worth Grace: Do I care if it’s accepted or not? I protecting. I feel like with the absence of want it to be accepted because if we accept men from the photo it seems like they’re my definition of greatness that means we saying, “We are protecting ourselves, we are opening our minds and expanding our have always been protecting ourselves, and understanding of greatness and in doing so we will continue protecting ourselves. We we are making room for others and their are superior beings who may love men but definitions of greatness and whatever else don’t need men.” that they feel they’re not able to define. We are unrestricting the restricted thoughts Iman: *and if you don’t know now you and actions of people. We are removing know nigga* societal restrictions that prevent us from being – from existing – as we see fit for ourselves.
“Black women are at the center of the universe and everyone and everything’s existence depends on ours.”
Iman: What has Solange or this photo in particular taught you about greatness? Grace: Her photos taught me that my definition of greatness is valid and it is my job to ignore those who tell me it is not. That I am free to dream and live and thrive in the ways in which I say are fit for me and Solange consistently demonstrates through who I hope and want to be. What does it her existence and through her art that it is tell you? possible to escape this world and still be Iman: I think it reiterates something that in it. My friends and I have been trying to Sammie [Scott] has said that I thought and figure out how to escape Emory University, still think is the most profound thing in an institution of violence, and still be in it. the world. Solange reminds us that it’s possible and that is enough. To know that this shit is Grace: And what is that? possible is enough. Iman: She said, “I’m living in reality adjacent” and Solange, in these photos, Grace: Solange is doing everything that I illustrates that she too is living in a reality want to do. adjacent. Iman: You should write that. This article can be a form of escape so we can write it Grace: And that’s okay. however we want. What did you write in Iman: I’d say that’s necessary. your twitter rant? Grace: I want to watch and analyze films, listen to great music, think and write about life, make beautiful clothing and read about black revolutionaries. I want to not feel restricted by societies expectations of me. I want to redefine freedom and explore its different realms. I want to study things that are relevant to my life- past, present and future- and not what’s listed on a stupid syllabus. Man, I want to eat fresh fruit. I want my definition of greatness to be acknowledged and accepted. I want to revel
e e r f e r Ca Black Girls 2K14 Grace Bol
A New Perspective
by Jordie Davies
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remember early summer 2014 when I was casually perusing Twitter and I came across the hashtag #CarefreeBlackGirls2014. I was a bit puzzled. My Twitter feed, which is usually filled with hashtags of activism and protest, was now promoting…being carefree? I scoffed and kept scrolling. What kind of idea was this? Does this mean that black girls should be letting people off the hook? Excusing racism? Not me, I declared to myself. I care. Life as a black woman can be difficult for a number of reasons, from dealing with white male beauty standards to being “onlys” in spaces dominated by white men and women. We deal with rigid stereotypes about ourselves that have nothing to do with who we are as unique individu-
als. We’re expected to be sassy, strong, motherly, ghetto, and all of the above. Additionally, black women must deal with the double whammy of race and gender that consistently place us in a group that receives less from society. As summer wore on I thought a bit more about the hashtag. I saw the phrase a few more times, this time with the ethereal Denise Huxtable character attached to the idea. Denise was a character on The Cosby Show we all admired. She was free, a bit silly, and young at heart. When Denise wanted something or believed in a cause, however, she fully dedicated herself to the idea. Whether she was wearing a crazy outfit or going on an adventure to Africa, Denise did not let what other people
(including her parents) stop her from doing what she wanted to do. Maybe this is what the #CarefreeBlackGirls2014 conversations means. Of course, we should all be committed to ending both racism and sexism, especially as it affects our lives and the lives of people we love. But in the name of self-care, we should not allow what is wrong with the world steal our own joy. We can fight and we can advocate, and we can also be free, open to others, and happy. Let us do what we enjoy, no matter what everyone else tells us we should be doing or what we cannot possibly do. Let us continue to break boundaries, set goals, and break records. Let us be carefree.
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About “I like your hair”, said a Morehouse freshman as I walked past him while searching for my friends at a party. “Well hello there, Angela Davis”, said my dad one too many times when I was at home this past summer. “We like the natural look better”, said my mom when I straightened my hair for a school dance. “Let this girl with the magnificent afro and her friend in for free”, said the bouncer at the local club in my hometown. The day I cut my relaxed hair off two and a half years ago was the day that my journey of truly loving myself began. Growing up, I was an incredibly quiet and timid girl. I spent the first few years of my life with my index finger in my mouth, only deciding that I would remove it after my dentist told me it was messing up my teeth and that she would give me a prize when I stopped sucking it. With my finger no longer being the thing that prevented me from speaking, I found a replacement: my older brothers and cousins. As they did most of the talking in my house, I quietly stepped into the background and watched as everyone around me lived. By the time I made it to middle school, I had no voice whatsoever. I was just the really nice girl who smiled a lot, did what was asked of me, and somehow won all of my teachers over and got them to fall in love with me. By the time I got to high school I felt alone and empty. I went through the motions of what was expected of me. Monday through Friday I was in school from 8am to 3pm. From 3:45pm to 6:30pm Monday through Thursday 16
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self-love I was at track practice. I spent my evenings scrolling through my Tumblr dashboard until I could no longer procrastinate and forced myself to do homework. I spent my weekends working a part-time job at Domino’s Pizza, doing chores at home, and going to church every Sunday morning. In eleventh grade, I finally did something for myself. After watching Chris Rock’s documentary, “Good Hair”, and going six months without getting a relaxer, I decided to cut my relaxed ends off. In cutting my hair, I immersed myself in YouTube tutorials, watching every two-strand twist and flat twist video I could find. I did research on which hair products other natural women swore by and consistently asked my mom to restock on coconut oil and shea butter. Although spending forty-five minutes twisting my hair at midnight was not ideal when I had school the next day, doing my hair became a necessary act. Taking care of my natural hair was the first step in taking care of myself. In learning that that my hair could be manipulated to produce many different hairstyles, I began tending to it in ways that I had never been able to tend to myself. I was sad, but my hair did not have to be. Every braid and every twist was placed in my hair intentionally because I knew that they would help me appear to be someone greater and someone glorious – someone who I desperately wanted and needed to be – once they unbraiding and untwisting them. Spending hours in the mirror while attempting bantu knots only to wake
up and discover that they did not look the way I wanted or expected them to, forced me to accept my hair and myself as I am. It was a reminder that life is not perfect. Some days will be bad hair days and that is okay. You just have to get up and roll with the punches. My natural hair helped me find beauty in something that I had never appreciated before. My tightly coiled hair is just as wondrous as straight hair. The time and energy I put into practicing the styles I learned from the numerous tutorial videos on YouTube reminds me that I am capable of doing things that seem difficult and that there is no room for fear or doubt in my mind. In receiving compliments from others frequently, my hair serves as the confidence booster that I often need. My natural hair allows me to take pride in being able to pick out and rock an Afro that is reminiscent of revolutionary figures such as Angela Davis. It forces me to look in the mirror and say, “I’m not really up for going to class today, but you did not stay up until 2am doing your hair just to sit in your room all day. Get up and go show people.” My natural hair forced me to challenge my understanding and definition of love. If I could love my hair, then I could also love myself. Today, my identity and hair are intertwined. One does not and cannot exist without the other. I am my natural hair and my natural hair is me. In learning to love my hair I learned to love myself.
- Grace Gardner
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BL ACK LIVES MATTER blackstaremory.com 17
On Thursday November 6, Black at Emory University (BEU) asked the community to come out and have their picture taken for the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. Why? According Casidy Campbell (16C), “the purpose is to evoke emotion about how black bodies are viewed as disposable and how black life is devalued in this country. It’s a call to action, not just physically, but also to establish the realization of blackness as important to our liberation.”
Photos by Sophen joseph & Mark Igbinadolor
18 BLACK LIVES MATTER x BEU
“Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” - Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. blackstaremory.com 19
blackstaremory.com I @blackstaremory I blackstar.emory@gmail.com