Owning My (Black) Womanhood Is a Revolutionary Act

[sheshe2]

Posted by Tamika Franklin

SNIP/ I started at the end, link to the beginnig below.

Fast forward to 2013, and little has changed since emancipation. There are still conservative Christians who manipulate scripture, but now they do it to promote laws that will deny every woman ownership of her own womanhood. These anti-choice evangelicals deny science when they personify embryos and contradict the Bible when they disregard the needs of the women who carry them. Dr. Obery Hendricks, Biblical Scholar and Professor of Biblical Interpretation explains:

“One of the most vexing things is how many conservatives are more concerned with the unborn than the already born. The book of Exodus makes it very clear that an unborn child, or a fetus, is not on the same level as a human being. The punishment the Bible dictates for killing a woman is death (eye for an eye) but if you kill a fetus you just pay a fine.”

History demonstrates that white evangelicals are not the only group that has tried to regulate Black women and their bodies. While Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and activists in the Civil Rights Movement supported Planned Parenthood, Marcus Garvey tried to shut down neighborhood Planned Parenthoods in an attempt to force Black women to breed revolutionaries for the Black Power Movement. The Black Panther Party was equally oppressive toward Black women until Elaine Brown’s tenure as the head of the Party. Brown revolutionized the Black Panther Party’s views about Black women, shifting the Party’s rhetoric away from calling abortion “genocide” to championing reproductive justice — education, fair-paying jobs, and quality health care, including safe and legal abortion rights for Black women.

Elaine Brown is an example of the type of woman we need in leadership positions. If we support candidates who believe healthcare is a right and fire legislators who don’t; if we worship in spaces that empower us instead of binding us with sexist theology; if we support women’s groups who are battling in red states; and if we remain vigilant like Shirley Chisholm, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King and other champions who refused to be silenced as they fought for our reproductive rights, we will not only win the battle, but we can ensure that there will never be another “War on Women.”

http://thisweekinblackness.com/2013/08/30/owning-my-black-womanhood-is-a-revolutionary-act/

[JustAnotherGen]

1. rec

[freshwest]

2. Honest talk about things people don't want to know. Thanks for posting.

[sheshe2]

6. Hi fresh~

You are welcome.

[Cha]

3. It would be more understandable if gops cared about babies

after they were born. As it is.. they're just heartless hypocrites.

“One of the most vexing things is how many conservatives are more concerned with the unborn than the already born. The book of Exodus makes it very clear that an unborn child, or a fetus, is not on the same level as a human being. The punishment the Bible dictates for killing a woman is death (eye for an eye) but if you kill a fetus you just pay a fine.”

Never knew about this quote, she. Thank you for the article from Tamika Franklin.

[sheshe2]

8. I know Cha, fetus first.

Babies and children, meh.

[Cerridwen]

4. Kick. n/t

[sheshe2]

26. Thanks Cerridwen~

[Hekate]

5. Kick

[Hekate]

7. Now reading the beginning at the link. Zowie!!

The quote that has been attributed to Margaret Sanger was made by W.E.B. DuBois... put into historical context... continuing reading. Excellent article -- thanks for bringing it, She.

[sheshe2]

10. Hi Hekate~

I know, and thanks.

[noiretextatique]

11. it was W.E.B. DuBois, not Garvey

DuBois and other black intellectuals of the time believed in the notion of a "talented tenth." It is a very classist notion, but they believed it nevertheless.

[Hekate]

13. Ack. I typed too fast and will correct my post

[noiretextatique]

9. some of the comments from males are telling

one guy is claiming that garvey had nothing to do with the modern black power movement...WRONG. another is lecturing the author about "dehumanizing the unborn," whatever the hell that means.

[sheshe2]

12. Thanks noire.

I never read the comments, will take a look. Though from what you said.... anyway will read.

[noiretextatique]

14. welcome, sheshe...honestly, they are just proving her point

especially that fool talking about "dehumanizing the unborn"...talk about your non-sequiturs

[Hekate]

15. Some are very good indeed

Sisterhood, sisters! Never forget that we are all in this together.

[Supersedeas]

22. all in

[LiberalAndProud]

16. Do you agree that Margaret Sanger was a racist?

I tend to think not, but I'm open to argument. At some point in my educational career many years ago I remember a class discussion regarding women's choice to terminate pregnancy. A woman who used birth control regularly and responsibly was more likely to be 'approved' for termination than a woman who took no contraceptive precautions, or was haphazard or careless in its application. This wasn't a discussion poised in terms of race, but in terms of women's issues. It seems to me that if we carry these value judgments to their logical conclusion, the least prepared women are those most likely to become mothers.

At any rate, I heartily recommend a click on your link. It is an excellent essay.

[noiretextatique]

17. she was a product of her time

many people held racist views during that time. it doesn't diminish her accomplishments to acknowledge the reality that she lived in at the time. and at that time, being a racist was the norm for many white americans.

[sheshe2]

18. Not to diminish what she accomplished,

but there are some interesting facts on Wiki. See the header "Race". I would have to study further for more information.

Thank you LAP,for your comments and your recommendations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger

[Supersedeas]

19. if you have to ask that questions, you already know the answer

[LiberalAndProud]

20. No, I truly don't.

Today I have had to confront issues of race in unexpected places. It is deeply troubling to me. The excerpt quoted in the essay didn't strike me as racist. I suspect that you are more familiar with Sanger's work than I am, much to my chagrin.

[Supersedeas]

21. Well, Sanger has been dead since 1966

So, the issues that confront you and us burbulate in contexts which resonate in disparate and dissimilar ways than those that might confront folks of Sanger's era...but her biography speaks for itself.

[Hekate]

23. Her autobiography is superb and was life-changing for me when I read it as a college student c. 1969

She went to jail for violating "obscenity laws" for daring to educate women about their own reproductive systems. She had more courage than most of us will ever have to display.

Time moves on, and her work is not a textbook for today, but at the time it was groundbreaking and shook the foundations of society.

[Supersedeas]

24. Yep, she was one of a kind

[struggle4progress]

25. I don't think "Planned Parenthood" existed in the US prior to Garvey's final move to the UK in 1935,

though surely its precursors did

[Supersedeas]

28. Have you seen the "Tubman" utube video

Puts sexism in a entirely different perspective.

Consider this:
http://thegrio.com/2013/08/30/the-reality-of-black-male-privilege/

[struggle4progress]

30. Perhaps you misunderstood my previous post: it was intended as a technical correction

[Supersedeas]

31. I did...my bad

[Trillo]

27. This belongs in religion formum. NT

[sheshe2]

29. Why is that?

It is about women and their right to chose.

[Trillo]

32. Because of the religious content.

There's no indication of such religious content in the title. First paragraph:

Fast forward to 2013, and little has changed since emancipation. There are still conservative Christians who manipulate scripture, but now they do it to promote laws that will deny every woman ownership of her own womanhood. These anti-choice evangelicals deny science when they personify embryos and contradict the Bible when they disregard the needs of the women who carry them. Dr. Obery Hendricks, Biblical Scholar and Professor of Biblical Interpretation explains:

[Mc Mike]

33. Rec pro-choice, pro-Womens' rights, pro Civil rights leaders.

like Ericka Huggins or Angela Davis. Un-rec Elaine Brown as a CIA connected fraud. Like Lenora Fulani.