I have no clue what 90% of this e-mail is about! Aside from the bad grammar, I suspect there is a generational context here which I am not part of.
But, I did detect a shot at Sen. Linda Higgins that is absolutely unwarranted! Sen. Higgins works hard to represent her constituents of all races and backgrounds and is re-elected with substantial majorities! That she did not grow up in her district is irrelevant! She chose to live in her district and has obviously developed a lot of support from people living there including folks who grew up in the district as well as people who moved in from elsewhere! I did not count, but a quick scan of the Politics in Minnesota handbook clearly reveals that it is pretty common for legislators to represent districts they were not born in or grew up in! Those of us who have had the privilege of working with Sen. Higgins know that she is dedicated to insuring that her North Side constituents and issues are well represented in St. Paul. Jim Bernstein Fulton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 9:56 AM Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected] Subject: [Mpls] b girl culture --political genesises... I read that the earlier a young person becomes polical that is an indicator that they will be active as adults.... Thank you to the Women's Press for breaking down the fundamentals of B Girl culture. Although your article was academic take on B Girls, or Third World Divas how bell hooks defines urban working class young women, and the variations of feminism of the streets - purple/lavender and feminist/womanist, how Alice Walker defines the rejection of the patriarchal labels and celebration of friendships between the sexes that personifies that females are equal. Young women getting they props from they young male counterparts. After an invigorating game of foursquare last night in my alley over Nordeast; it felt like it was in the late 70s and early 80s over North when we didn't care of racial differences, when my father and other brothas acknowledged each others existence and were not afraid, much like Prince's song "Uptown." We only cared when the lines were locked in 1989, the summer of "Do the Right Thing" and when Jackie Cherryhomes thought she had the right to run against Van White who was the first Black Alderman of the 5th Ward. I worked on her campaign when I was 16; I was in Upward Bound (out of General College TRIO), and introduced to college and politics and I now wonder why none of the kids I grew up are even representing the Northside, the indigenous leadership, after returned from NYC. I still wonder why Linda Higgins, a white woman who moved to the Northside because that is all she could afford, doesn't understand it is opportunistic, not respectful of the community and alienating the tipping point suppressing democracy, and why security is called, and I am afraid to go to the capital, if there isn't empathy for their population and an understanding of the manifestations and dynamics of poverty, if the leadership cared their support staff would be aware poverty makes one emotional and when and each time I call, I hear the "crack of the whip" Bob Marley's "Slave Driver" and their support staff is instructed to call security instead of understanding anger because during the affluent 90s the Northside had "Murderapolis" the widening of an academic achievement gap, after Dr. Green left for NYC and dinosaurs in the legislature. I know where they placed my Broadway Bridge, and what they replaced it with. The natives are restless which is why we are playing foursquare in our adulthood to get back to who we are, and the Mill City is a working class town full of B Girls and Punk Rock manifestations. If I have my face hanging at Capital security and I was one of the success stories from the Northside, those who represent the Northside aren't from there, and it is easy to exterminate a community that isn't your childhood home. Athletic juice is an essential element a being a B Girl in addition to having dangerous knowledge of wax. Battling, grabbing the legs of the swimmer ahead of you. Makes you stronger MC. I was reintroduced to a little blonde girl, Rachel we swam under the direction of Coach Jesse Thomas at Jerry Gambles Boys & Girls Club. Rachel and I were just as ghetto last night when we were when we kicked the guys butts in our youth and we were both B Girls. We are also just as punk rock. Lines were redrawn which began in 1973, I was born during the week Patty Hearst learned about class struggles, the year when Spike Moss replaced Syl Jones at The Way, less than decade after Loving versus Virginia that gave folks like my parents ability to marry interracially, and this legitimized bi cultural identification, challenging the one drop rule. The paternalism, much like Patty Hearst working out daddy issues of white educated women, was used to exploit a community that embraced poor white folks, organizers that didn't learn that the point of grassroots organizer is to plant mustard seeds, not mutate into poverty pimps and this combination descended into the downward spiral , like painfully shows how to kill foursquare tournaments. The baggy hoodie is protection from the backlash of teen pregnancy and a means to delay the cult of domesticity. B Girls are just the hip hop flava that is also echoed in punk rock variations, but what all share the rejection of labels and the status of "Little Sis" much like the virgin/hunter goddesses or the High Priestess in Tarot. Embracing the concept of girl, as a term of endearment is also a medium to maintain innocence against the backlash of co modification and a means to express rage against cultural norms that reward submissive behavior and that leads to what Immortal Technique waxes when he is dissing the chickenheads that B Girls would crack on in unison with her brothas. The honor of being a B Girl, Riot Girls, and my girl Ani DiFranco are examples of an attempt to carve a feminist sphere in cultures inundated with patriarchal dogma that trickles down. B Girls find themselves fighting labels born from the manifestations of racism, imperialism, colonialism and Catholic and the rejection of patriarchy protecting and props of being the untouchable Little Sis. Exploring B Girl reality is like Rachel and I playing foursquare is lot like the 70s, high gas prices a President I can't even look at and voice feels like nails on a chalkboard like Nixon. We have to make something out of nothing just like Punk Rock. I believe Nellie Stone was one of the first B Girls in spirit. AMY Daughter of Ochosi Citizen of the World Northeast Minneapolis Resident If we do not change direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed. Chinese proverb The World is My Country, and my religion is to do good. Thomas Paine I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. James Baldwin Notes of a Native Son Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. Kahil Gibran If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow But in modern war you will die like a dog for no good reason. Ernest Hemingway Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. Anais Nin Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. Martin Luther King, Jr The true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. Che Guevara The man who has no imagination has no wings. Muhammad Ali REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 267.4.1 - Release Date: 6/2/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 267.4.1 - Release Date: 6/2/2005 REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
