Beyonce, Trump, and The War on Black Unity

I don't know if I can think of a woman, black woman more specifically, who is more polarizing in 2017 than Beyonce'. She announced today that she was pregnant with twins. And like clockwork, people on the far right and others on the far left took to social media to stand (either up or down) for Beyonce and her announcement.

She's been called a distraction, a queen, and a lot of things in between. I joked on social media before about putting in an application for the BeyHive when she dropped Lemonade. I'm not a hater, nor am I a stan. I sit right in the middle. I enjoy listening to and dancing to her music. I enjoy watching her perform. I'd never pay to see her live. And while I think that she's arguably the greatest performer in my children's generation, I have the benefit of having lived long enough to know other great performers.

It's the first day of February. It's officially Black History Month. For some of us, it's a time to celebrate our accomplishments. For others, it's a reminder to continue to rep blackness 365. She announced her pregnancy today on the internet and set it on fire. Some are thankful that she chose today. Others are annoyed. Me? Meh....she's an entertainment icon darling who's having twins with her husband. I can't say that I'm happy for her.....mainly because I don't know her lol. I also won't say that I could care less. I mean....if she likes it, I love it lol. It's that kind of thing.

Meanwhile DJT met with a group of black people (religious, political, and other) today to kick off Black History Month in classic Trump fashion. He has to show the world....at least those who are begrudgingly watching...that he's supporting The Blacks. He's not as polarizing as Beyonce. His actions are hella confusing though. He talks about protecting American citizens while ripping their comforts, rights, privileges, and protections right from under them....or at least trying to. I don't know that I've ever watched a politician gas light so many people at the same time. I don't have the kind of disgust and hate that I know a lot of people have for DJT. It's mostly because I expect him to do pretty much everything that he's doing and then some. I'm not surprised by him. I'm not shocked. It's weird to watch, but he doesn't invoke feelings of anger in me. I haven't figured out why. You know how you KNOW somebody is a liar so you sit and listen to them and when they lie you say "Here go this motherfucker lying again" and roll your eyes and tune them out? That's how I feel about Trump...all while acknowledging exactly how dangerous he is and can be.

So the innanets is a buzzin. Black people took to their keyboards and started ripping the people who don't align with their thoughts about Beyonce, Trump, and distractions new booty holes. I might need some help because I PROMISE YOU I can't find it in me to be angry at people for being "sleep" or "less woke". Does it bother me? Yes. Do I get angry? Naw.

I was telling someone this past weekend that Sandra Bland is the reason The Black Money Matters Project exists. Facebook is the reason I have knocked respectability politics off my to-be-list. Social media is the reason I'm inspired to love my blackness more than ever. The innanets is the reason I strive so hard to stay tapped into my humanity. What would I be without those things? Sleep...as yall so eloquently put it. I know that people unearth their connectedness to Self and Source at intervals that incense others. I get it. We need all the soldiers we can get. We need US to be aware so that we can continue to dismantle and unravel this experience in white supremacy. I KNOW THIS.

What bothers me so much is that we inadvertently create a war on black unity because we are not all woke. We "other" one another based on personal politics and lose our compassion for where people are in their process. I guess because I'm only under two years out from what people would have called a coon, I can still see very clearly how challenging it can be to create a brand new paradigm for self and how it's not easy to abandon what you always thought to be "reality". If somebody is causing harm to our people, I can understand the desire to ostracize them. If somebody doesn't quite understand why black-on-black crime is a thing that REALLY ain't a thing, completely dismissing them ain't helpful. I FULLY understand not engaging. Those conversations MAKE ME TIRED because people don't really want to HEAR why it's not a thing. They just want to defend why they think it is. And that's not a conversation that I'm interested in having. IF someone wants to talk about it, I can. But if they just want to be right about why they think they are right, they can go be right over there.

Like I said, maybe I'm approaching this all wrong. Maybe I should be more angry than I am. I mean, I was before. The thing is, anger didn't get me here. Education did. The desire to learn did. Compassion did. Hell, even frustration ushered me along. When I proclaim that Black Lives Matter and say that I love black people, I mean 97% of us. That means that I don't have to like you to include you in the family. As long as you're not a threat or are trying to cause me harm, we're good. And for the record, ignorance IS dangerous and CAN be a threat. I know this. But I still choose to lean on love rather than dismissal. I will just love you from all the way over here.

So while we're (like clockwork) arguing over Beyonce and trying to keep an eye on Trump, our own house is in shambles and this shit is hard. Yall taught me how to love yall. And yall taught me why it's important that I do. And I don't have to LIKE you to LOVE you, but I do have to respect you...even while you're still growing (or not). Don't we all deserve that? If respect is only reserved for the people who think like us, how are we different from the people we claim we hate?