like u didn't know....

On a politically non correct rant today.

so recently i have been asked the "where are u from" question more than usual. makes me think especially when people ask me about the origin of my name- too many syllables and vowels confuse people. we were four Dominicans, two of white skin complexion, two black ones, and people screamed "R U Brazilians?"
and that's just it. what does it matter where i am from if you cant tell? if you cannot tell whether i am Ethiopian or puerto rican WTF does it matter? are u trying to place me in some non existant heirarchy that will allow u to address me? a good friend of mine wrote an awesome paper in graduate school about the topic. its like people cannot move from the conversation unless they have placed you in their internal 'social category system'. Happens to me all the time. Hi Lauren, my name is Soraya (not my name but u get the point). L: Oh wow, what a beautiful name, where is it from? Where are you from? S: New York, you? L: I am from NY also but where are you really from?

Listen, I was born in HARLEM, NY, meaning I AM FROM NY. WTF do you mean where are u from? It's like my brown skin, extremely dominican name- which my mother made up- and raspy voice, wild crazy curly hair cannot possibly be from NY. Apparently, NY does not breed that. Do u c me asking white people where they are from? "Hey there Bob, where are u from?" How come Bob gets away with saying Virginia and I gotta bring out the flippin flow chart?? Well Lauren, if you'd like to get into specifics, my ancestry originates in Africa, Spain, Portugal, the Arabian peninsuala, England, Haiti, Tainos from the Island of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, and a lot more untraced blood I havent discovered. But I was born in NY, raised in NY, and live the NY lifestyle...so I am a BLACKTINA from NY! U?

Now people, dont get me wrong, I AM DOMINICAN. I am not denying my ethnicity. But this is the problem with lables. You can't be anything else when you're labled the way you are in this country. You are stuck in a category n tasered if you wander away. That's why I get into fights with black people all the time. They looooove to ask me what I am, as everyone in the USA loves to do and when ask for specific becuase I am human and answer 'Black', they DONT BELIEVE ME. One guy actually told me, "you are too pretty to be black." Now, clearly he don't know his history and CLEARLY he hangs out with ugly people because I've seen some GORGEOUS black people (mmm chocolate men....)

But I dont blame them entirely for their ignorance (READ A BOOK PEOPLE!). I blame the system. We all have our perception of what certain groups of people look like. Those are called stereotypes and generalizations. But here is a secret....even though some stereotypes are rooted in some variation of the truth, THEY ARE STILL STEREOTYPES and generalizations.

So let me claim my African Ancestry and acknowledge that I am a HUMAN from here, where you are from. Jeeeeebles! And the next time you are having a conversation with someone you just met, wait until the end of the conversation to ask that question because it could lead to an interesting conversation after the fact that you already had a conversation. And the next time you are asked that question, remember me and try avoiding answering it for as long as possible. Report back to me on how the convo went, it should be flippin awesome!

And as for that picture......OH THAT PICTURE....it was on page 12 of the New York Post ( A WIDELY READ NEWSPAPER IN NY) on 2/18, 2009. Yes people 2009! Not 1945. Wat a disgrace. If you think racism is over and a done deal because a half black man is our leader you got ONE BIG surprise coming your way. I anticipate the worst of racism comin out. Just wait n c. Take some action for our children.

Call the NY post 212. 930.8000 select option 2 and tell them you have a response to the cartoon.


Hasta entonces,
Eta' q' ta'qui'