Colourism and Misogynoir: Where are we now?

Last week, Black British Twitter was trending, with UK influencers such as Chunkz, Tion Wayne, Nella Rose, Oloni, IvorianDoll, Yung Filly, MR200M, Paigey Cakey and many more being involved in a scandal, in which their old tweets on colourism and misogynoir resurfaced.

Colourism is prejudice against people who have a dark skin tone or the preferential treatment of those who are of the same race but lighter-skinned. Misogynoir is misogyny directed towards black women, where race and gender both play roles in bias.

It all started with an unknown person on twitter screenshotting these offensive tweets and reposting them. These tweets ranged from “I hate Denise, with her default black lips” to “you look like walking darkness” to “white girls with black attitudes looooong” and many more. Black UK Twitter was not impressed with these tweets and many of these influencers were slandered and received backlash.

Some of these influencers such as Yung Filly, a youtuber, have previously taken accountability and apologized for these tweets; tweets which have resurfaced before. There is a saying that Black Twitter never forgets, which means past tweets that may have been previously deleted are never truly gone if the community has seen it. While other influencers like Nella Rose, a youtuber, have not had their offensive tweets resurfaced before so they have issued their apologies and have taken accountability.

2010-2016 was a period where offensive tweets on misogynoir and colourism filled the twitter timeline. During that time, many people, even black men, compared black women to animals and made rape ‘jokes’ about black women. To see such tweets resurface, I was completely mortified and disheartened, as they were directed at people like myself and this was, and is, internalized by black women.

For most people, myself included, the real surprise came from seeing Nella Rose and Oloni being a part of the influencers that made such comments, because these two black women inspire, recognize and uplift black women in their content. The situation for these two black women specifically is different to the other influencers mentioned, since their content opposes their old tweets that were made years ago. This highlights that whilst they should be held accountable for their remarks, they have learnt from the mistakes they made in their offensive tweets.

These women did not have actresses like Lupita Nyong’o, songs like Brown Skin Girl, shows like Black-ish, movies like Queen and Slim, writers like Yomi Adegoke and Reni Eddo-Lodge to help boost their self-esteem and confidence as black women. So, we should also bear this in mind, since it does have an influence on their actions and the reasoning behind their actions.

For the other influencers, I have not personally seen the support or encouragement of black women from them. So, it makes me question if their apologies were genuine or only made because they were caught. They have reinforced what Lupita Nyong’o calls ‘the daughter of racism’ and have hurt plenty of women by their comments. I do also believe that other influencers did not receive the same energy (uproar) that was given to Nella, even when she has proven herself through her Youtube channel over the past years, her sincere apology and the fact that those comments came from a place of internalized hate. She lost around 70,000 followers in a matter of days due to ‘cancel culture’ (withdrawing support for a public figure after they’ve done something objectionable) - which did not happen to other influencers.

Cancel culture is a different topic altogether and needs a separate article. However, I strongly believe that it doesn’t work and in the black community, we cannot afford to cancel one another because there is a minority of us on the big stage compared to our white counterparts. Now, this does not mean that anyone in the community has the right to solicit hate speech, but people who post such speech should be given the chance to learn from their mistakes instead of simply being dismissed altogether. We have ALL internalized colourism as a community and we can only help one another overcome this extension of white supremacy.

AUTHOR: Olamide Taiwo

My name is Olamide Taiwo and I’m 18. I have always loved to write whether it be poetry, reviews, essays etc. Becoming a blogger allows me to write and publish issues that I see and go through. So I hope the readers hold on because this will be a pleasant but bumpy ride😊.

REVIEW: Becoming

Becoming is a 2020 documentary, which was released on May 6th on Netflix and is based on Michelle Obama’s memoir of the same name. It was produced by the Obamas’ own production company, Higher Ground, in collaboration with Netflix and Big Mouth Productions.

I am enthralled by her documentary, which I found to be uplifting, insightful and humorous. It details her university experience, meeting Barack Obama and having to contend with stereotypical views on Black women and how they should behave whilst in the White House.

It appears that many others were also highly interested in Michelle Obama’s life, since there were massive queues for her book signing, shown in one scene in the documentary. I am particularly impressed with how Michelle spoke to her fans. She never failed to thank people for coming to see her and in one poignant moment, complimented a young Black woman who came dressed up in an elegant suit to see her idol.

In between interviews, we see glimpses of Michelle’s life in the form of photographs — such as her playing outside with her brother, Craig, as a child, her wedding day and her sitting eating dinner with her family. She cites that her dinner table was the place where she belongs. It was where her family had open conversations about anything and where she learnt how to be visible.

She notes that the wider world was different and not as kind. As a family- orientated person, she desired to go to Princeton, in order to follow in her brother’s footsteps. Her councillor at school said it was too big for her. She proved her wrong.

This was not the only instance in which Michelle was judged. Whilst at Princeton, one of her roommates moved out because her mum felt that sharing a room with a Black person put her life in danger. Michelle was unsurprisingly shocked, but always used her admirable work ethic to reach the highest heights. She recalls how she sat at the most important tables in the world, from castles to the G20 Summit to the kitchen table at the White House, where her daughters’ friends would come by often to eat fried chicken and biscuits.

Michelle believes that God placed her and Barack in the White House for a reason, which was to use their platform to empower those from minority backgrounds to strive for their dreams. Even though she is no longer First Lady, it is a role that will always be a part of who she is and how she conducts herself.

She continually seeks to empower young girls. In one scene, she speaks to a group of minority ethnic students. One girl, Elizabeth Cervantes, questions why she was able to become the first in her family to graduate high school and go to college. Michelle reminds her that it was because despite having to look after her brother and work to provide for her family as a result of her dad’s accident, she did not stop pursuing her dreams.

Hearing about all of Michelle’s phenomenal achievements — being a straight A student, Princeton and Harvard graduate and a lawyer in her 20s, to name a few — I was floored when I discovered that she felt that her life had no purpose when she began working as a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP. She saw herself as a box-checker, doing things in a chronological order, failing to understand exactly why.

When she became a mentor to Barack in 1989 at the law firm that they were both practicing at, she found the answer. Michelle made me laugh as she detailed the first conversation she had with Barack. His voice apparently came out of the phone “with a heat” that intrigued Michelle. It did not match his ‘geeky’ image, but his voice oozed with so much charm that he eventually won her over, despite thinking that the relationship would be “tacky,” since he was her mentee.

He challenged her in so many ways. She realised that she had to discover herself to prevent herself from being an “appendage” to his dreams. She left Law and shortly afterwards gave birth to her daughters, Malia and Sasha, in 1998 and 2001, respectively.

Being an aspirational person, she was afraid of how motherhood would affect all that she had worked on thus far. She opens up about going to marital counselling with Barack, where she learnt that her happiness was not dependent on Barack making her happy.

The Obamas’ 2008 campaign was a rollercoaster. Michelle was repeatedly portrayed as an ‘angry Black woman’ and ‘Mrs Grievance’ because of her fears about the world not being ready for the first Black President. She knew that race would evidently be a large part of news about her due to her skin colour and because of how vocal and proud she was about her heritage.

Her speeches became more scripted as a result. However, something that was anything but scripted is her sharp tongue. She insisted that her daughters learn basic chores in the White House like making their own beds. When they quipped that her bed was made for her, she retorted: “I am First Lady and I have a degree.”

Michelle still continues with her activism work. She implores people from the Black community to vote so that her and her husband’s work in the White House was not in vain.

She is a role model that we all need: she is true to who she is, unapologetically honest and at the forefront of empowering women.

Please check out the documentary trailer HERE

AUTHOR: Danielle Desouza

I am a 21 year old Politics and Communication Masters student at LSE, makeshift musician and aspiring political broadcaster. I am a staunch supporter of both gender and racial equality, being female and Indian. I want to edge closer to this goal daily by bringing to light injustices, through all forms of journalism.

Snapchat: d_desouza

Power and Media Imbalance: Tara Reade’s Story

Tara Reade was an unknown name until a few weeks ago. Now, we know her to be a survivor of sexual assault at the hands of presidential candidate Joe Biden. Initially, her claims did not achieve mainstream media coverage, but as more evidence comes to light, it brings criticism and manipulation with it. At GlobalGirl Media, we are choosing to share her story and show how the biased system of power has influenced media coverage.

Reade’s experience is not too dissimilar to other women who have stepped forward. Sadly, a system which works for survivors of sexual assault does not appear to exist, which drives public survivors to turn to journalists and make their voices heard. This is not the first time Reade has attempted to step forward. Her continuous attempts have been dissuaded by smears and slanders.

Today, thanks to political podcaster Katie Halper, Reade’s full story came to light. An event which occurred in 1993 has been upheld by other individuals who have confirmed the authenticity of her story. However, her public platform has been a catalyst for criticism from supporters of Biden.

Reade’s experience occurred when she was a staff assistant to Biden from 1992-93. She found herself alone with a man she admired. In the interview, Reade describes the painful penetration of his fingers. She explains how he was disgusted at her fear and stated, “I heard you liked me.” His tone of voice suggestion she had wanted this.

He told her she was “nothing” and her initial reluctance to admit this was because she believed it. She believed that he was right and that is how she was treated. She believed she had no platform, and this was the reason why women do not come forward. Trauma, fright and replaying memories left her vulnerable and unable to speak of this memory without reliving it again.

Prior to the exposing interview, Reade turned to the Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund for help in January 2020, but they declined. The non-profit Time’s Up – founded in 2018 to help women who have been sexually assaulted – has consistently been criticised for their hypocrisy. This time, they raised concerns that a story about a potential presidential candidate could affect their non-profit status.

An establishment solely founded to provide legal defence for sexual violence victims in the workplace – raising $22 million as of October 2018 – was politically biased. Reade was turned away by the system set up to help her.

With this year being the first presidential election following the re-emergence of the #MeToo movement, the presidential candidates should be held accountable when it comes to claims such as Reade’s. Both of the men in these powerful positions have been accused of sexual assault.

There are of course, the grey areas to consider. Although no one was witness to the assault, her brother, former neighbour and former colleague have come forward to support the alleged incident. Her former neighbour Lynda LaCasse said, “I have to support her just because that’s what happened.” She recalled Reade crying and confiding in LaCasse.

A tape of a woman calling into CNN’s ‘Larry King Live’ show emerged from 1993. The show was devoted to sex abuse victims who could ask for advice. Although Reade’s mother died in 2016, she claims that the women was her mother, claiming her daughter left a job after problems with a “prominent senator” occurred.

When individuals come forward to support a victim, why does it take decades of allegations against powerful men before they are brought to justice? The system is built on the repression of women’s voices, when it comes to sexual misconduct. We saw this when Reade was relieved of her duties after complaining in 1993. We understand why she lacked the courage to come forward. We emphasise with her vulnerability.

When it comes to power, we have to acknowledge the bias in the system.

Abusers like Biden should be held accountable, since half a dozen women have come forward accusing Biden of being inappropriate. Although he pledged to be more mindful, in an interview last year, Reade stated, “it’s not him. It’s the people around him who keep covering for him.” The Democratic Party claims to hold itself to higher standard on race and gender inclusivity. They have acknowledged and denied the allegations. However, Biden’s silence on this issue has been concerning.

Women like Tara Reade may be doubted and smeared, but these women will be the ones who shine a light on these men. Wherever there is a misbalance of power, there will be an abuse of power.

AUTHOR: Dila Yalman

Dila is an Intern at GlobalGirl Media UK. She is an aspiring journalist and currently studies Economics at the University of Edinburgh.

Dila writes and edits for her university's Economics Magazine, as well as for a start-up fashion magazine. She also regularly writes pieces ranging from academic critiques to political reports for her blog. Most of her writing reflects what she has personally encountered and tells the story of real people.

Dila is seeking to assert her journalistic voice while providing a voice for those who do not have one and this is what she aims to gain from her experience at GGM UK.