Are Males better athletes than Female Ones?

Clarissa Shields, 2012 Olympic Gp;d Medalist in Boxing

"...the idea that equality means sameness is precisely the argument/excuse for systems of exploitation and oppression like sexism and racism." 

Dear friends, 

One hot summer day, about 21 years ago, while coaching all three of now grown children at a regional Junior Olympics track & field championship meet, I remember standing next to a middle-aged European American guy who boasted, “I’d like to see one of those girls get down on the line with Carl Lewis”. I looked at him with astonishment, then quickly replied, “Well, actually, YOU can’t beat either Carl Lewis or any of those girls in a race – nor can most men…In fact, my 12 years-old daughter will smoke you in a race, right now.” 

The fellow’s mouth dropped open. Apparently, he was used to getting some sort of silly male “bonding”, when he made such inane remarks.

Look. Someone like Lisa Leslie can beat just about anybody, male or female, pro, amateur, or street - in a game of basketball. Okay? Moreover, please do not make a claim to someone else’s ability, as if it belongs to you. That type of behavior reminds me of a guy who walks down the street with a growling dog on a leash, while maintaining a scowl on his own face, as if he is a mean, bad dude. In other words, he is playing off of the dog’s ferocity, as if that disposition is natural (the mean face) to him. However, in reality, if you see that same cat without the dog, his whole personality is different. Right? That is, when he's by himself without the dog he's just a happy-go- lucky kind of guy.

The argument that men are stronger, or faster, or whatever, than women is silly, since people are not talking insects. That is, we perform to whatever level, in various activities, based upon the interactions/experiences that we as individuals have with other people and things. Otherwise, without such interactions, one would not even be able to speak a language, much less communicate his or her inner feelings, or reveal his or her powers - and weaknessesin either a work or sports venue, for example.

Finally, both fathers and mothers must teach their daughters, at a very young age, that they are equals of ALL people, regardless of societal constructs like “gender” and “race”. However, when I say “equal”, I do not mean “same”. These two concepts are often intermingled, in order to make it appear as if they have some similar qualities. They do not. As a matter of fact, the idea that equality means sameness is precisely the argument/excuse for systems of exploitation and oppression like sexism and racism. After all, having two equal size slices of pie is completely different than two individuals having equal human rights. Peace.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Girls and Young Womem Need Mentoring too

Dear friends,

We constantly hear talk about both African American boys and young men needing mentors. In fact, there have been various degrees of attempts to bring grown men, especially African American ones, into contact with Our male youth.

Yet African American girls, as well as young women, need mentoring too. After all, there are far more females than males, of every ethnic and cultural group, who are interested in contributing to their communities, Our society, and the world. Unfortunately, too often, beginning at an early age, instead of developing a "sense of self", these same young women just mentioned are deliberately distracted by the exploitative and oppressive notion of Male Supremacy/sexism that their real purpose in life should be to get married and start a family.

To be sure, only females can bear children. And the experience of building a family and raising your children to adulthood can be rewarding beyond words. However, although you would never be able to tell by the way that most American families are structured, your children are not your property; rather, they are your legacy. Therefore, with the intention of raising your children, from the very outset, in a way that allows them to become their own parents one day, also makes it possible for the elder parent(s) to continue a meaningful life outside of raising children, so that s/he/they can continue to constantly try to become fully human, by physically, intellectually, and spiritually engaging with his and/or her inner powers, until death. This will also make the aforementioned elder parents the most valuable resource for their adult children, whenever the latter need advice.

But then, of course, within the context of mentoring there is the ever present problem of female self-hatred, the other half of Male Supremacy. That is, just as "racial" self-hatred is the other half of White Supremacy/racism all females are constantly made to internalize their oppression by way of the schools, churches, and mainstream media, to name a few.

What is worse, is the unfortunate reality that this affects the way that older women interact with their younger counterparts, especially with professional women whether in academia or the private sector. On a side note, it also points to how paradoxical Male Supremacy can be, since it rewards psychotics like Bradley Manning and his ilk who claim to be "a woman living inside of a man's body", when none of these very sick, sexist men have even the slightest notion of what it is like to be a little girl who grows up to be a woman in this Male Supremacist world.

In any case, let's now imagine that the same young women and girls mentioned earlier had been mentored by both older women and men for years, not just in their private lives, but in their academic and work lives as well. Additionally, what if the mentors themselves were people who have a genuine interest in seeing all children grow up to be independent but cooperative, thinking yet imaginative, competent, and caring adults?

Do you think that the females of any particular community who have had years of being mentored, and not simply by one individual but many people, would then not only mentor their younger sisters and brothers, but as well teach their charges how to prepare to replace them, while planning for the future for those who have yet to come?

In building genuine communities, as opposed to simply creating more consumers for "the market", at least to me, it is essential that we begin to embrace value judgments that will allow all of Our youth to be able to set goals for the future and for the future of Our communities. One love!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech asking "Ain't I A Woman?"

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"


Dear friends, 

On the link below, said to be 6'2" tall, this incredible African American woman, Sojourner Truth, in only a few hundred spoken words, defined the plight of all women in both a nation and world where Male Supremacy - euphemistically called sexism or patriarchy, rules.

 Liberation! 

 G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp Read full post

First Lady Michelle Obama is of a different breed

"Michelle Obama represents a far more classy and dignified First Lady than this country has ever known. "

Dear friends,

On the link below is a short piece, regarding an incident that occurred in an earlier presidency, in 1929. It is interesting how Michelle Obama represents a far more classy and dignified First Lady than this country has ever known. Moreover, such an incident would never happen in the Obamas' White House. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3031544?uid=3739696&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=47698897053767 Read full post

Believing in "God"

Dear friends,

To me, it’s unfair to claim a special status as a “believer”, while excluding those who have a different interpretation of all existence as “non-believers”. That mean-spirited type of exclusion just mentioned is the basis for all human intolerance.

After all, believing in the ultimate power of both Love and Goodness is not the sole possession of those who identify with the three Abrahamian religions (of the Hebrew deity).

I mean, it (religion) has caused/does cause more killing and suffering, over several millennia, than all other philosophies or world outlooks combined in history.

Besides, if you believe in a world-ruling personality called “God”, then you are talking about a finite entity, because you've assigned a name to that being. In other words, we look at everything geometrically, giving form, shape, and/or substance to all things, in order to distinguish one phenomenon from another – whether we’re talking about physically or intellectually.

Consequently, recognizing something as an omnipresent, omnipotent phenomenon cannot possibly allow one to make a finite configuration. Therefore, at least to me, as opposed to merely worshiping an idol, what people may want to consider is: 1) Using the term “That which is nameless”, instead of “God: or “Allah”, and so forth…and 2) accepting the wisdom and teachings of the great masters of living like Kan Kan Musa, the historical Jesus, Muhammad, and Karl Marx. After all, everyone on “death row now “conveniently” claims to believe in “God”. Right? Peace.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus Read full post