Health + Wellness – The Black 90s

Sister, Sister: Sisterhood & Womanism in the 90s

Womanism: “Also: A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually. Appreciates and prefers women’s culture, women’s emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women’s strength. Sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually. Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female. Not a separatist, except periodically, for health.”[1]

Alice Walker

A close friend told me being a Black woman is like being in a secret club of magic, sisterhood and friendship. Reflecting on Black women’s friendship and sisterhood on television and movies in the 90s, I, similarly see a consistent theme of support, unconditional love and acceptance. These themes can be aligned to how Alice Walker describes a Black feminist in her definition of Womanism. Walker describes Womanism as young girl as “girlish” or “womanish” or a black feminist or feminist of color. I find her description of Womanism as a means to provide a specific exploration into the lives of Black womanhood.

I look specifically to Walker’s second definition because it captures the essence of the 90s Black woman who aims to take on the responsibility to be in charge of herself and to question the world around her. I reference how this can be explored in the hit show Living Single and the hit movie and book Waiting to Exhale. I utilize Walker’s second definition to explore how these women embody the spirit of being a womanist through the ways their characters interact with each other and how they stand alone as independent Black women loving and living in the 90s.

Looking at the lives of Khadijah James, Synclaire James, Regina Hunter and Maxine Shaw, Living Single explores the lives of four independent Black women in New York City. This show captures the “everydayness” of single Black women in New York who validated each other, dealt with love and relationships and enjoying each other’s company.

With each woman having their own characteristics and identities, each woman on the show had an important role in each other’s lives. Khadijah and Regina were childhood friends who supported each other when things got tough. This support and commitment were also fluid in Khadijah and Synclaire’s relationship as cousins who she employed at her own Hip-Hop magazine called “Flava”.

Maxie and Khadijah were college friends from Howard University and Maxie seemed to always be the advocate for strong independent Black women amongst her friends. Their friendship supports Walker’s definition because of the characters emotional flexibility, their commitment to women’s empowerment and their tough bond as friends that were seamlessly interconnected, through the best and worst of times.

Walker does a great job discussing the emotional and spiritual effort that goes into being a Womanist. Walker explains how Womanist appreciates women’s culture, loves women sexually and non-sexually and values a woman’s strength and weaknesses[2]. This is where the women in Terry McMillian’s Waiting to Exhale fit this definition. Savannah Jackson, Bernadine Harris, Robin Stokes and Gloria Matthews experienced tough trials of love, life and men. Through their experiences, the women supported each other through it all. There were words of affirmation and emotional support that showed people like Bernadine who was going through a terrible divorce that her friends were by her side.

I see Walker’s womanism as describing the social interactions, spiritual activism and critical thought that Black women do to uplift all people regardless of sexuality or gender. I understand this definition as a way to look at Black women’s liberation and healing of the self. Specifically, acting “womanish” seems to be a central theme in Waiting to Exhale. The four women were searching for answers to love, family and womanhood which is where I found the connection with Walker’s definition. This can be seen in Robin’s way of how she seemed to date the wrong men, but tried to see the best in them because she had love to give. Walker added the importance that a Womanist was not a separatist, but only in the occasion that Black woman in the 90s needs to repair her health. Gloria symbolizes the friend who represented self-care as a hairstylist and made sure her friends were always taking care of themselves, even if she didn’t want to do the big chop on Bernadine.

Furthermore, the importance of Walker’s definition and the analysis of Black woman’s thoughts and feelings will better aid to the mental and emotional health and well-being where the Black woman can adequately take care of others and themselves in shows like Living Single and Waiting to Exhale. The womanist identity and the importance of Black women’s “everydayness” in the 90s was significant, interesting and relevant to highlighting the ugly and the beautiful of what it means to be a Black woman. These women work on coming into their own and being Black adult women who may not have it all figured out. But with the power of resilience, self-love and love for each other, the magnitude and power of their friendship kept them moving forward. — Adeerya J.

Citations

[1]Walker, A. (2006). Womanist. In L. Phillips, The Womanist Reader (p. 19). New York: Routledge.

[2]ibid.

We Got Next: The 1997 WNBA Inaugural Season

The first 8 WNBA teams: he Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; and the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starzz

In 1996, the NBA Board of Governors gave official approval for the foundation of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)¹. On t
he heels of the United States women’s basketball team sweeping the 1996 Olympic Games, the league adopted “We got next” as its official campaign slogan. For those who are unfamiliar, “We got next” is a phrase originating on streetball courts that translates to, “Hey, when you’re done, it’s our turn.” While there were critics of the slogan, even if it was not as empowering as hoped, it was fitting. After years of playing in the shadows of their male counterparts and having to travel overseas to pursue professional athletics careers, it was finally time for the best American female basketball players to take the court at home.

In the WNBA’s opening year, Sheryl Swoopes was the first player signed, Tina Thompson was the first ever draft pick, and Cynthia Cooper was the first league MVP. However, perhaps more important than these accolades, young black girls (like me) who dedicated their evenings and weekends to hooping had new possibilities, new role models. By all means, I still wanted to break ankles like Allen Iverson, but I could see myself in Tina Thompson; I could be Tina Thompson (I bought her basketball shoes in 7^th grade to prove it). Young boys had been able to dream of playing professional basketball for 50 years, and young girls could finally do the same.

Arguably the most widely recognized WNBA player, Lisa Leslie was among those who played in the 1997 opening season; she led the league in rebounds per game that year, and is the all-time leading rebounder.² Speaking on her influence, Michael Cooper, Leslie’s former coach, wrote, “After Lisa, young girls wanted to be centers. A lot of ladies didn’t want to play center at the time because they wanted to be guards like Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. Lisa was down in the trenches, and that’s not considered a glamorous game.”³ Standing at 6’5”, Leslie was a forced to be reckoned with. On July 30, 2002, she became the first of only five women to dunk in the history of the WNBA—all of whom are black.⁴ It would be four years before another WNBA player would accomplish the feat. Doing the seemingly impossible, Leslie embodied the WNBA’s new slogan “We got game.” She helped carve a space that she would eventually use to reach new heights—a space where young girls could dream of touching the rim. —Mara Johnson

http://www.wnba.com/about_us/historyof_wnba.html
http://www.wnba.com/stats/alltime-leaders/#?stattype=rebounds&sort=reb&permode=tot&dir=1
Cooper, Michael. “There’s Only One Lisa Leslie.” The Players’ Tribune. The Players’ Tribune, 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
http://www.wnba.com/history_triple-doubles-dunks-and-20-20-games/

Pass the Blunt

“WHAT?!! Pass the Blunt?”….Soooo why do you smoke cause I don’t…don’t get it?

-June 17, 1999 at 6:25pm-
Now what I am about to say may cause some people to form a certain view about me and maybe not respect my opinion…but please note that this is only my opinion! I just do not get the concept of smoking weed. I have heard others say that it’s for enjoyment purposes only…and I have heard other weed heads say, that it’s a need. I personally think that it is a mechanism that can be used to keep the “have nots” to stay in their lower economic class and not to progress.

Through my educational endeavors, I have discovered that “others” view African Americans, as well as Hispanics, as inferior by falling victim to certain “unseen mechanisms”. I feel that weed is a part of these forces and are placed in individuals hands to keep them grounded. Now come on, what drug has the same damaging effects that weed has? I mean it can stop you from climbing the economic ladder. “Weed heads” usually use the concept that “it’s just like any other substance like alcohol and cigarettes”…but those are ALL legal.

My brothers and sistahs are so quick to speak about smoking “dro” or “ching chong” in music videos and in the street, but they will turn around and wonder why they are not getting hired. Others use the drug as a sedative for when they get stressed or find themselves under extreme amounts of pressure, but to these individuals I ask…are there any other “legal” avenues of expression and or relief that can be utilized that would not cause you to loose your livelihood?

This is only my opinion for I welcome yours.

-My thoughts today in 2015!-
As I look back to where I was 6 years ago mentally, I must say that I am amazed at what I wrote. Though I shared some of the same sentiments that I expressed above, I will say that acquired age, academic pursuits and experience has elevated my thinking on the topic. I have dated someone who was indeed a weed head, they lived to be high. That experience caused me to write the previous piece, thus causing me to feel like people only did the drug for recreation purposes, but love made me take an alternative view on the topic. After an argument, my partner disclosed that, the only reason they smoke was more than for recreational purposes; but for relief of from chronic headaches. Living in the days of unconventional modes of medicine, weed is now seen as an oasis in the storm: an avenue of relief for pain. It’s easy for people to judge accused weedheads and thugs based upon a “rough” exterior. But what if they had an illness that only weed could cure. The 1990s brought the use of weed to the forefront, the present has brought weed into the avenue of conventional medicine. Weed may not be so bad after all, but it damn sure is still not for me!!