The Return of the Coffee or Lunch Phenomenon

I want to take a moment to touch on a phenomenon I had hoped a pandemic and physical distancing put an end to. The phenomenon in question?

The phenomenon of white people asking me out to lunch or coffee to "pick my brain" about anti-racism instead of paying me my consultant rate for my time.

C'mon, white people. Seriously. I feel like we've talked about this at least 20 times. You've been to my website. You often contact me through my website. Yet, you still want to offer me food or drink instead of monetary compensation for my time and energy. Asking people of color, Black people, to provide you with their trauma experiences for a cup of coffee or a sandwich is white supremacy, classism, power, and positionality at play. I am not a pet. I cannot be placated or bribed to cater to your needs with an offer of food and drink. If you want to enlist my consulting services and "pick my brain," my rate is $150 an hour.

Pay Black people for their time and energy with cash, not a damn latte. Pay people of color for sharing their experiences with you with money they can use to take care of themselves and their families and communities, not a chicken sandwich.

Y'all don't even realize how transparent your belief in our value is, do you?

On Grocery Lists, Karens, Chets, and Apple Crumbles

I have had to check a whole lot of white people this week. Like, a whole lot. That's not a bragging point or badge of honor.

It's a declaration that I and other Black folx and people of color shouldn't be able to get to the end of our work weeks with the ability to build a damn list of white people we've had to check.

Some of y'all white folx need to start checking other white folx because I shouldn't have to mistake my checked white supremacists' list with my grocery list. Damn near bought a bunch of Karens and Chets instead of cardamom for my apple crumble.

And I refuse to let y'all mess up my apple crumble.

Scared

Two days ago, I was told that the white people with power and positionality at work are scared of me. I was then told that I make them uncomfortable because I talk about racism, oppression, white supremacy, and dismantling hatred and oppression in the workplace and our communities without baby gloves.

...I just wanted to share that. Don't really have too much to add to that. I mean, that speaks for itself, doesn't it? I knew they felt this way. I've known since day one. I know that most white people think this way about me. But having a white person with more power and positionality than you tell you this out loud in a meeting with a nervous chuckle because even they are scared of you and hope you don't call them out really hits you a particular kind of way. I sat with it for a couple of days, talked with my therapist about it, and I'm doing OK. It's out of my control. It is what it is. White people gonna white people. And Pharoah's gonna keep being Pharoah. Que sera.

Happy Thursday.

On Rosa Parks, Blackface, Vaccinations, and Using Hate to Act Like You're Bein' Hated On

So let's take a minute and circle back around to Newberg, Oregon.

For those who haven't been following, I posted something about the Newberg School District deciding to ban Black Lives Matter and Pride flags and posters from school grounds a few weeks ago. This banning, of course, led to a backlash from the community, a backlash that the Newberg School Board could give two craps about as they have recently doubled down on their stance. Oh, this is also paired with racist sentiments that have permeated Newberg for years because it's in Oregon - a state founded as a white utopia - so of course, it's a racist city. Recent developments in Newberg include a student being caught participating in a "slave trade" Snapchat group where white kids "buy and sell" their Black classmates and a county commissioner saying that vaccine mandates were akin to Jim Crow (yes, you read that right).

Fun times.

Well, this past Friday, a Newberg elementary school employee showed up in Blackface, saying they were Rosa Parks and taking a stand against vaccine mandates. Yes, again, you read that right. Blackface. Rosa Parks.

Every now and then some white person comes up with a new one that I haven't heard before. Using Blackface and claiming to be Rosa Parks? That's new. Shout out to Newberg, Oregon, for getting this week's Eternal Side-Eye award! It's only Monday but y'all nailed it!

Courtesy of the Newberg Graphic:

"A staff member at Mabel Rush Elementary School in Newberg showed up to work in Blackface on Friday, calling herself Rosa Parks and doing so in protest of a vaccine mandate for all school district staff.

A fellow staff member at the school who provided initial information on the incident said Lauren Pefferle “a special education assistant who the school district said it would not name due to it being a personnel matter“ darkened her face with iodine.

The concerned staff member, who requested anonymity for this story, said Pefferle explained her reasoning: that she intended to look like Rosa Parks and have her actions serve as a protest of a vaccine mandate. Pefferle was soon removed from school grounds and placed on administrative leave, according to a district statement."

You can read more about this hot mess here.