Most of America have heard about the sexual assault case of Dr. Ford going against Judge Kavanaugh. It is a case many of us heard before a woman accusing a man of the most horrendous crime besides murder, rape! Most Americans have been conditioned to rape culture and what I mean, is that since we were small we have been conditioned to hearing she wanted t or look what she wearing. There have been movies that support rape culture and music that have contributed as well.
I have noticed being a survivor of violence is not the same when your a woman of color. We often get overlooked and definitely unheard. Years ago there was a similar case when a judge named Clarence Thomas sexually harassed his secretary Anita Hill. Below is an excerpt from facebook by one of my friends Azali Mizan from Brooklyn.
Anita Hill is a quiet force of nature that we slept on in more ways than one. ~Anita Hill was made to sit by herself at a table before white men in her government's Senate who had already chosen their yes-man in black face, Clarence Thomas for SCOTUS. Twelve of her family members were in attendance including her mother a farmer, who was almost 80yrs old and lawyers yet she was made to sit there alone. I thought mostly about this little thing today when I saw Christine Blasey Ford flanked by her lawyers-a woman to her right and a man to her left who would grab the mic in her defense when necessary. They also made for sure she was not testifying all day or for 3 days the way Hill was. Hill left her table at 7:40pm the first day. No one was there for her in any substantial way. I saw Blasey Ford ask for coffee and she got a cup. ~Anita Hill was suffering in pain from abdominal tumors at her hearing, something she had previously been hospitalized 5 days for. The room was huge and allowed for more people than was necessary for the hearing. The room Christine Blasey Ford had her hearing in was smaller no circus of people allowed. Anita's voice was strong, steady, truthful and matter of fact. With support that included several social media based fund raisers in her name that she has not yet even needed to access, with letters of support from dozens of agencies, groups and organizations that were admitted into the hearings official records, Blasey Ford's voice still shook and there was banter, chuckles and she received thanks and at times praise and was called brave. ~Anita Hill like Christine Blasey Ford got death threats but Ms. Hill alone got nothing but criticism, hate, death threats and dis-ease for it all. This I remember clearly, that in October 1991, this was when I first began hearing black men say that "black women tear good black man down." Even tho Clarence is no friend to Black men. Clarence got his post and his white wife who reportedly called Ms. Hill over a decade later to demand that she apologize to her husband long after everyone went on with their lives. I remember Essence magazine later featured Ms. Hill on its cover. They of course, made her over... The response to the cover, problematic. Few spoke of the actual article within. ~Ms. Anita Hill looks gorgeous today. She is by all means appearing as though she is doing well for her experiences with this toxic part of humanity. I am still feeling a way about her and her life story and these little things discussed here as the beat goes on and the bigger things, more readily obvious things are being discussed; you know, the wicked work hard and not even smart work that is maintaining the system that denies the meek from inheriting the earth as the "good book" they claim to believe in tells them they should. ~I am well aware, that these two women's struggles are being discussed the same yet I see clear how they differ. Clear to me is that the life of one is valued more than the other tho they fight a similar fight. ~Women. We are incredible. I send these two women and all victims of all kinds of oppression, light. ~Women. Shout out to the men who are somehow able to bypass the programming and show women respect, love and protection this lifetime. More of you need be made by the women who bare pain to make you and the men whose raw material assisted. Imagine where humanity would now be if this was the culture if this was the custom the globe over-the protection of women and children. ~azali mizan
Many of us watched the case as he sat there calmly and explained is side of the story. The case was long and I noticed she had nobody there to sit next to her. She was all alone fighting a man that not only demeaned her but before the world. Now we have this case of Dr. Ford and sort of the same situation but the facts are different. Some of us are skeptical because we can't help but to remember the Emitt Till case where a white woman accused a 14 year old boy of whistling at her which cost him his life. Not only did the woman lie on the 14 year old child but he was lynched due to her lying stating he offended her in a grocery store.
I happen to believe that something transpired between the two but I wasn't there so I can't state the facts. What I can state is the behavior of this man at his job interview practically yelling at a woman asking him a question about how much alcohol he consumed and Kavanauh snapping back at her asking her the question. Not only was his tone disrespectful but who goes to an interview and throws a question back at the interviewer with a nasty tone? A man that believes he is privileged and has the right to be disrespectful to any woman that challenges him will act like this.
Story after story we hear of white woman fabricating the truth and very rarely will you hear a woman of colors voice. Last year I started my documentary "Tenacidad" as I was doing a residency here in Rochester, New York at the time I was really scared to share my story about how my oldest daughter came into this world. I finally got the courage to speak publicly at my photo exhibit that I was raped at gunpoint by two men in Brooklyn, N.Y. I felt free but then had backlash from family members who felt I wanted attention. I was feeling really bad and fell into a deep depression where I just stopped filming and changed the name. My purpose for speaking out was to heal and stop feeling guilty for a traumatic experience that happened at 15 years old. I was yearning to heal and never wanted any of my children to feel shame about what happened to me. I guess when you have boys they have a protective spirit and don't want to imagine their mother being hurt and their friends knowing a secret that should not be spoken about. I noticed that at the time I was speaking up that at the University of Rochester they were protesting about sexual harassment from a professor. I was never interviewed from the press about the film it was like my voice about rape was never heard. Instead white women on a Rochester campus who were sexually harassed became the focus. What got me is how does harassment over shadow the act nevertheless not only the act in my case but the child I conceived. Questioning my own validity I once again sunk back into a depression that I came out to be heard and nobody heard me. Kind of reminded me of my rape I want to speak up but why nobody cares what happened to a little Black girl that was 15. That is why I so amped on healing my spirit on a continual basis, I have noticed when I swam at the YMCA I felt free and in some way it healed my brokenness. I am still battling PTSD moments in my life and have been prescribed anxiety medication that makes me sick. Stopped taking it because I don't like the way it makes me feel. I would much more prefer if they prescribed me some marijuana so I can feel better and worst scenario eat something and go to sleep.
Cruelty is contagious when a president mocks a survivor at a rally and then another senator Graham making cruel comments is disgusting. I just wish that Amerikkka would be fair and give the same amount of press to woman of color as they do white woman, allow our voices to be heard...