Also maybe people have such a problem with the video because this seems to be the ONLY image people think about when it comes to black women. If we weren't reduced to hoochies so frequently that wouldn't be a problem. Women can be both sexy and classy but it needs to be 70/30.
14:49 "People listen to me because I speak like this, and I use the words that I do, and I cite sources or whatever. But the stuff that I'm saying is not different from the stuff that women that you don't like say. They say the same thing. They talk about their lives, their experiences, and their desires, and they say the same thing. But you don't listen to them because you think they're too stupid to know better." THAT PART
The same women who criticize these dancers are the ones who actually take Steve Harvey seriously when he tells black women "why they can't get a man". Maybe spend less time trying to conform to the boxes other try to put you in, and instead enjoy your life.
1.) Black Women are not monolith. 2.) We have the right to express our love of self sexuality without judgement. 3rd.) The hypersexualizing of the black female another demon. 4.) Twerking doesn’t = Oppression.
Its funny u saying this. But when a man. Express his love of self sexuality. He is the called a pervert or wierd if men cant do it. Why do u think its ok for yall to do tf
Dwayne Townsend You must have skipped over the part about black women not being a monolith because you're speaking like she's responsible for whatever shame you received in the past. Go ask the women who made you feel like a pervert or whatever.
Because our bodies are beautiful and we should be able to celebrate it! I’m Caribbean so this isn’t viewed as nasty and degrading. The ppl clutching their pearls here would fall out if they went to the islands.
Carnival and Cropover and all that is still considered nasty and degrading in the Caribbean by plenty of people. Don't forget we're more religious too.
As a black women who comes from privilege stripping my mind of all of the toxic respectability politics I was raised in was difficult and I still sometimes catch myself falling into them but it’s soooo necessary. Because the same way that the Cardi B’s and Caresha’s are looked down upon by some and not respected as a part of our community, people will look at me and say that I’m not real, authentic or black enough. The fact of the matter is there isn’t one way to be a black girl and no black expression/experience is superior to another. We are all valid and deserve to be respected, loved and protected. PERIODT
I don't think an educated opinion means that that opinion is above reproach or critique. This "us" and "them" attitude about black women socio-economically is troubling. It's not Oprah or Lil Kim. It's not Oprah vs Lil Kim. As someone on the other side of the tracks it sometimes smarts when educated and wealthy black women cross those tracks to have fun and party and then go back to their privileged enclaves. When you can be reasonably sure you will never be lumped in with those types of women during the "light of day". It's all just fun because the burden is not being equally distributed here. Because people will give you the space to speak and the benefit of the doubt based on your educational background and your financial history. It's not a personal attack just a perspective I'd like to share about why some of us were not on board with the video in general and yet still respect and value your opinion as a sister. Thanks.
This is important. My mom and her sister are from Southeast DC (THE GHETTO), but my generation of siblings were raised in the diverse suburbs. I know that people will listen to us more because of the "side of the tracks" are mothers worked had to implant us on. We have to understand dialectal discrimination and privilege. I can much more easily argue the cultural significance of AAVE/Ebonics and be taken seriously because I speak in a certain tone and register.
Whew girl. Your content gives me LIFE!!! You speak on topics that I am always thinking about! As a Christian black woman with a doctorate degree I often find myself living in like 3 different worlds all plagued with multiple levels of respectability politics. The topic can be so complex and elitist. I think respectability politics was born out of black folk in the US trying to survive white ppl but it still harms us (black women). BTW I love the hell out of that twerk video!
"respectability politics was born out of black folk in the US trying to survive white ppl"....Whew girl a whole word! If we stopped trying to conform and just be, we would have a lot less arguments and much more time for the unification that so many of our "respectable" people preach about.
@@redaleta idk...there are some spaces where our people do conform but the problem lies in uniformity...they think because this is what they have had to do to survive everybody should have to do it too! Nah...society can not control everyone's way of being and I think we should work on being less judgmental about the ones that don't "fall in line".
@@tiffanyjeanna I can't say that I have experienced that type of "judgement" in real life. What I have experienced is those women who don't fit the respectable stereotype code switch on a dime depending on what is needed to get them through. Online however, is a whole 'nother issue.
This is video was excellent. I definitively think that you have touched on an important subject: privilege and respectability politics and how the two impact on another. Additionally, I relate to being able to navigate in certain spaces that others don't have access too. I also know what it's like to be barred from other spaces. Black Womanhood is very complex. None of our womanhoods are the same.
So you really think twerking is done because they enjoy it, and are not asking for male or female attention? What does shaking your ass in a raunchy way going to do to help that woman? Like it or not people are judged on how they act you may not like it but that is the way of the world
People are okay when black men exploit black women i.e., the rap industry and pimp culture. But if a black woman decides to use her own sexuality for whatever reason, there is a major problem. Black women are becoming more empowered and we have the right to be refined, sexual, or anything in between. I personally feel we should always maintain a level of respect as women but the hypocrisy in the black community is intolerable!
hennie Kru and some people are unbothered by seeing the same thing over and over again, that not about feeling uncomfortable. If someone states it's not my thing and I don't like it, but is questioned why they don't like it? you can't then question their response with your own psychological hypothesis. We are individuals who are free to like and dislike what we want. Throughout the 90s we have seen these kinds of videos but some people like to make excuses and claim they are empowering instead of just owning that they like trashy stereotypical content.
@@2damecuteUK my comment wasnt for people who simply say its not my thing, my comment is about the same person/people she's responding to. the people who say how could a respectable person like her like the video, or think its setting black people back or something. i think those responses are a little over the top, and i dont like when black people get anxious about seeing certain things and think "now we have to do famage control for our entire race" when it doesn't have to be like that. as far as a psychological hypothesis, the people kim are responding to seem to be one's doing that, so i donr really know what angle to respond to that from. that comment could go for people on any side of the discussion. what should be said then, how should these discussions play out? because i dont have a problem with "its not my thing" or saying its been done to death or over saturated cause i can see where those are coming from, but im not expecting that from a duo like the city girls, and when i see a comment like "they would find unambiguous n dark skin black girls for a video like this" stuff like that is why i made my comment. because thats over reading into shit, like you said we've seen videos like this since the 90s n typically its still been ethnically ambiguous or really light skin black girls being portrayed in rap n hip hop, even for vids like this. travis porter - faater, anderson paak bubblin, amine - reel it in, blac youngsta - booty etc. ambiguous/light skin is still the norm, so the attempted colorist breakdown that person tried ro give doesnt really make sense to me, i dont think its all that sound of a critcism. it was just a lot of comments of people seeming to simply be uncomfortable and reading too far into it under the guise of something righteous or people acting like they need to be embarassed for them n us. And i dont like that. there are plenty of examples of black people not in stereotypical situations, and the stereotypical shit is always going to be there because stereotypes come from trends, and amongst that party music is always going to be there, and its always going to be over marketed cause it appeals to the broadest auidiences, is easily digestable and has common appeal, so instead of worrying about what everyone is gonna think or if it feeds into stereotypes, if a person was going to use something like this to reaffirm their perceptions, the response should be to deconstruct those generalizations. because people are going to think that without this video, people thought and think that outside of rap videos. I totally get wanting to see something new, but i dont like people acting like our communities are so vulnerable a couple dozen girls twerking in a music video can set the entirey of black people back several decades. thats ridiculous.
hennie Kru ok, I understand your point now. I wouldn't say I agree with everything you stated in your reply because I don't believe that there is enough positive portrayal of black women to counter the negative. I feel we reinforce the negative by popularising them through these supportive videos and when challenged about it get defensive instead of being honest about what we like. (But that just my opinion) I don't think the word uncomfortable suit people who commented back about her twerk video, because unless they stated 'I feel uncomfortable' or showcases that in a video reply you wouldn't know how someone was feeling so that was my point. I appreciate your reply and I have enjoyed our conversation so thank you 😊 👍🏾
Kim, you give me so much life. I love how well-ranged your opinions are, and I just think your personality and integrity shine so clearly in each video. You are my go-to girl for my political, social, feminist tea darling! Sending you so much love and support!
Thank you for a nuanced discussion regarding the simple facts that respectibility isn't the end all be all that helps us. And that for some of us in higher classes respectibility has furthered our goals but respectibility did not protect us from the same judgments that those without the class standing faced. It's important when we think about our leaders and who we consider to be role models for us and our children. The people we claim to be the face of our community needs to be representative of all the kinds of black folk that exist. And that includes some that still navigate the world in a "respectable way" and those that go against the grain.
i loved the video..... it's basically shows black women having fun. 🤷🏾♀️ the best part was there were zero men! life is about balance. i can read a novel and twerk at the same time.
I’m not into the twerk video because I’m tired of that dance style being over represented as how black women dance. But you have a right to enjoy it, everything I like is not politically correct. I’ve enjoyed my share of Nicki Minaj videos and misogynistic rap videos. I appreciate you breaking it down but no one has a right to tell you what you can like. At least you are open and honest.
White women show there bodies a lot even when there is not much to show. Black women who do not even show their body are treated harshly, talked about badly because of racism. No people should be so dumb to this, but the ones complaining defend infighting with their own skin folk over petty things that contribute to more division between black people. I think Kim makes a lot of sense, so I think she was celebrating black females freedom to express themselves in dance as an art, as fun, as we are happy to look and be ethnically beautiful women. The dances to me are very much similar to Carribean style of dancing. In fact, that is where it comes from really. Anything black women do has to always be negatively criticised by even some of our own black females who tap dance for the enemy's who have no problem throwing us as a people under a bus.
I tell ya, I disagree with you about the twerking video...BUT, I don’t see how anyone can say your opinions aren’t well thought out! I continue to watch your videos for that very reason. Agree with you or not, you come with a well reasoned perspective that demands the same from those who disagree. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for always keeping it real and teaching me new terminology. Thank youuu!! Constantly humble my opinions and remind me to check my respectability politics and policing of my sisters. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I personally don't endorse those type of videos, I feel they do pushing a negative image of black women and feed into old stereotypes. These kinda of MV do have a effect on young girls who feel the pressure to assimilate, but I'm not gonna judge someone who likes it. It's simply not my thing and I just choose to ignore it.
😂😂 The Kim Clapback When an educated "woke" black woman reads and drags you online without actually reading and dragging you but educating you. 😂😂 #BlackGirlMagic
Hi. Killing the Black Body: amzn.to/2S93ljD At the Dark End of the Street: amzn.to/2sDMmY8 Righteous Discontent: amzn.to/2FQVL6w Beyond Respectability: amzn.to/2WdZQr1
Going to college doesnt give ppl a right to look down on others...not u but damn we think bc we are half way accepted in white spaces we are above someone...trust we are all on the same level
PREACH SIS! Be honest about it sis. This is what I call using your platform to inform and calling out the BS!!! Not going to lie when I clicked on ur first video and saw you graduated from Harvard I said I won’t make it past 10 secs b4 I click off. Then I heard u curse and drag relentlessly and I was SOLD! Keep doing what your doing bc me along with others are appreciative love!
I have had to have similar talks with people who view me as "respectable" and assume I'm going to hop on their hate train or not call out their prasing of what they view as my proximity to whiteness or white purity.
Thank you!! I hate that we have to embrace one image to be accepted. As black women we have so much pressure to be a specific “kind” of woman....we are human beings and if people think we need to be seen in one image, then they don’t see black women as people.
I love this video. This video really showcases that you have done your homework. Im trying to be this enlightened cause you are showing me just how much I need to catch up and learn
hennie Kru some people are unbothered by seeing the same thing over and over again, that not about feeling uncomfortable or being a prude. If some states it's not my thing and I don't like it, but is questioned why they don't like it? you can't then question their response with your own psychological hypothesis because your telling someone else how they feel instead of understanding their point of view. We are individuals who are free to like and dislike what we want. Throughout the 90s we have seen these kinds of videos but some people like to make excuses and claim they are empowering instead of just owning that they like trashy stereotypical content. Own what you like!
Thank you. Your platform is invaluable and gives voice to thoughts I’ve had but don’t know how to articulate. I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on class and relationships in the black community.
I know my comments get some upset but I like to live in *reality* and say what *really* happens in this world. I teach young black juniors/seniors girls and I can PROMISE ladies in these comments praising this shit would *NOT* want their daughters doing this mess for a damn check. Get real ladies...the reason why you wouldn’t be ‘cool’ with YOUR daughters, nieces, etc. doing that mess is because on some level you are AWARE this kind of imagery does nothing to push us forward in this white dominated world. Now you don’t have to like that reality but you DO have to deal with it. As soon as twerking isn’t relegated to black women, as is so much of the negative tropes associated with blackness, then we can all twerk and be free. But while we still live in America and the world is still under white control black people have to stop talking what we’d like and start dealing with what is and go from there. Now if anyone in these comments would twerk themselves or be *proud* to watch a young girl they KNOW twerking like that video then it’ll be all good. But as long as women pretend to be so pro-women about our bodies but won’t do it themselves or wouldn’t want *their* girls doing it then stop fronting off and deal with the fact that on some level you are aware that this isn’t actually helpful to our cause, it doesn’t actually push anything forward, and your inaction to do the same as these women only proves that fundamental point. As an educator of these young black girls I will NOT set those girls up for delusion when the real world has no time or care for them in the first place. This is the world they live in and people need to get real. But okay black women keep telling yourselves your *changing* things twerking...see how far that gets you...twerk at work, twerk while trying to get a high paying job, twerk and try to be Michelle or Oprah. All those women listed achieved because of their actual talents not because they can make their ass jiggle. I have yet to see a black woman doing that become an astronaut or high ranking official but sure I guess anything is possible just not *probable* 🤷🏽♀️
I don't have kids, but I am 100% sure that my nieces will one day grow up to make their own decisions. They will do things I wouldn't do because I do not own them. If they are not hurting themselves or anyone else, I'm cool. I'm more worried about them being shitty than being in a twerk video to be perfectly honest.
For Harriet...I appreciate your reply. But as I stated the facts are the facts and as long as you, nor I, nor the majority of these women ‘praising’ this as liberation wouldn’t readily do it, it’s all just talk. Either you’re fine with men doing it or not, either you’d do it or you wouldn’t. But to sit back and applaud these women and at the same time recognize you wouldn’t be caught out here doing it for obvious reasons, makes it all just rhetoric. I’m all for twerking the day it actually becomes something relevant. But as long as it’s just another way for a rich white exec to make money off OUR bodies like we are chattel in 2019 I can’t condone or support it. I want someone to tell me they’d be happy seeing their kids or nieces do this and would be clapping and then we can talk. But people praising THEM when YOU wouldn’t be doing it is just cognitive hola-hoop and I’m not able to play that game because it doesn’t get us anywhere that’s relevant to our progression. The day it does please make a video so I can salute that progress.
I am so living for this video!!! When the video came out I went through the comments as was disgusted with how much hate black women had for each other. I felt like "damn, the whole world comes for us and now we're coming for each other" Although I am not a fan of rap nowadays, I was so happy that Cardi was showing homage to where she came from because the athleticism of the girls in the strip club is AMAZING and gets overlooked due to the nudity or how men express their opinion of it. SOOOO many women of other ethnicities are making coin on twerk classes when its a part of black culture that's specific to black women (I was mad at the Justin Beiber video 'Sorry' that had not ONE black woman representing a dance style that originated with black culture, but that's another rant) and to me it feels like black women are constantly being pushed out of hobbies, activities, means of self-expression that we start and fight to have seen as a normal part of everyday life (natural hair in professional environments for instance). I also liked that the video showed and represented dancehall (history) and they used black women of all shades in the video. It was women throwing an F-U to rap video stereotypes in my opinion, celebrating the effort they had put into learning their dance routines and moves and acknowledging their way of pushing sales and making money in their own way. I asked a few women in the comments who I could see were black and dark-skinned (as a fellow dark-skinned black woman) what they hated about it and I got hostility back. I was taken back how many women were happy to bash, condemn, express their opinion of other women with such disdain couldn't take someone respectfully asking why they had such an issue with it. Conversational debate ZERO. I just needed to know WHY CANT BLACK WOMEN DO IT ALL? For me we always have, and now more than ever we are striving to have it all and are able to show the world how we are not the stereotypes. Thank you for this video. It's nice to hear another black woman who can be viewed as conservative and respectable able to support other black women who don't walk the same path.
It bothered me because it feeds into the negative stereotypes about black women and I am quite tired of seeing visual representations of that BS all of the time. And to be honest, it just looks cheap as hell.
+Ebony Love. I feel ya. It looks cheap, because it is cheap, and "We" as community are cheap: highest HIV rate, lowest marriage, and highest out-of-wedlock rate = bw will not demand minimal male investment to ensure our well-being let alone that of the next generation. And I don't care what the words are, nobody is going to listen to the words with all of that ass bouncing around. The real world gives everything context and I can't even be mad anymore because this video shows the truth about what WE are as a collective. Cheap. 200 years from now people will analyze this art, and from it they will understand the poor state of our communities, and the miserable state of our family structure just like we can go back and look at paintings and literature and understand the gender and family dynamics back in the day. It does suck getting lumped in with all this, but that's why I have 2 passports.
Ebony Love thank you. I don’t get why so many BW are co-signing to this garbage, but then again I do get it. We as a collective have very little self-esteem, even those with advanced degrees. Look at Married to Medicine
It's 2019. If the sexualized images are all people are seeing to the point that they are tired of it, it's because you are choosing to only see that. We have had a black renaissance when it comes to film, tv, (Hollywood) and the various different images of black women. From Olivia Pope, to Michelle Obama, to Maxine Waters, to Issa Rae, to Tariji, etc. If people are only seeing the sexual images it's because they are limiting what they watch or limiting what they choose to acknowledge. I see and appreciate various images of black women in all my Netflix shows, my social media, on TV, magazines, and in the movies.
Twerking is a beautiful thing that should be left in the boudoire/bedroom or in a strip joint. It should be a thing between a man and a woman, or if you are gay woman on woman, man to man or if you are bi...whoever wherever and so on. It is a private thing that has no business in mainstream society. Or are we all that broke down that we accept this as normal and good...and god forbid something that daughters and girls should aspire to. I understand that all things can't be hidden in the luxury of our bedrooms but to put it on a pedestal is entirely another thing gone wrong. Just my educated, respectable, prudish moral opinion, I guess.
Do people not know where twerking comes from? Have you never seen African people dancing? Just about everything we do as a people, comes from Africa. America taught us that it’s nasty and to want to move your body when a drum beat comes on, is somehow “devilish”.
kim, sis who r we beating up!! You Are Popular. Girl, everything you say is so very relevant. 48laws. haters necessary. Thank you for doing the work. wait Queen u started dropping books(knowledge) to smack em good, personally my jaw dropped, wanting a high five but noones around!!! OKAY!!!!
As you said, I think you both have the best intentions for black women. I get that you're coming at it from different angles. I appreciate both feminism and femininity. It's too bad that there is this disagreement amongst you. Will still look forward to when they are put aside, and there is a collaboration in the future.
@@ForHarriet619 thank you! I too am fairly new and hooked and have wondered about the origins of the channel title. You are my friend in my head. An eloquent read! Yup!
As a 46 yr old woman from FL if that matters feel like The twerk video was empowering. No men and women having a good time is ok with me. I'm classy based when it matters and ratchet when I want to be. It's about balance.
I can't believe you have to explain this...our society is doomed if we have to split hairs about a rap video. I was angry reading the title of this video and avoided watching for hours
Watch my mostly uncensored thoughts on Kamala Harris! Patreon.com/ForHarriet
CARDI B IS NOT BLACK!!
Also maybe people have such a problem with the video because this seems to be the ONLY image people think about when it comes to black women. If we weren't reduced to hoochies so frequently that wouldn't be a problem. Women can be both sexy and classy but it needs to be 70/30.
14:49 "People listen to me because I speak like this, and I use the words that I do, and I cite sources or whatever. But the stuff that I'm saying is not different from the stuff that women that you don't like say. They say the same thing. They talk about their lives, their experiences, and their desires, and they say the same thing. But you don't listen to them because you think they're too stupid to know better." THAT PART
This was a WORD!!!
The same women who criticize these dancers are the ones who actually take Steve Harvey seriously when he tells black women "why they can't get a man". Maybe spend less time trying to conform to the boxes other try to put you in, and instead enjoy your life.
Oh hey law do you know were liffy is also can i try your sword out
I learned so much in just 10 minutes.
King of Reads hey king 💕
My fave black RUclipsr watching my other fave youtuber wow what a feeling
Guuuuuuuurrrrrrrllllllll!!!
Well damn Kim, she probably wishes you would have just cursed her out because this read was worth all the popcorn I just ate watching this video.
😂
i wonder who she is?
You are really pumping out this content and I’m loving it!
Those women are athletes, that's why!!
For real. It's mindboggling the way some of them move. Not my musical preference but credit where credit is due. Those ladies have skills!
1.) Black Women are not monolith. 2.) We have the right to express our love of self sexuality without judgement. 3rd.) The hypersexualizing of the black female another demon. 4.) Twerking doesn’t = Oppression.
THANK YOOOOOOOOU~~~~
Its funny u saying this. But when a man. Express his love of self sexuality. He is the called a pervert or wierd if men cant do it. Why do u think its ok for yall to do tf
Dwayne Townsend
You must have skipped over the part about black women not being a monolith because you're speaking like she's responsible for whatever shame you received in the past.
Go ask the women who made you feel like a pervert or whatever.
@@Tabrinaistocool I wasn't talking About me I was speaking About in general sense
Because our bodies are beautiful and we should be able to celebrate it! I’m Caribbean so this isn’t viewed as nasty and degrading. The ppl clutching their pearls here would fall out if they went to the islands.
Carnival and Cropover and all that is still considered nasty and degrading in the Caribbean by plenty of people. Don't forget we're more religious too.
Not in my Haitian household.
Collectives people, collectives 🤦🏾♀️
agreed FemmeK, speaking in generalizations is usually a bad idea.
Yu can celebrate yur body in my inbox then if that's how yu feel.
As a black women who comes from privilege stripping my mind of all of the toxic respectability politics I was raised in was difficult and I still sometimes catch myself falling into them but it’s soooo necessary. Because the same way that the Cardi B’s and Caresha’s are looked down upon by some and not respected as a part of our community, people will look at me and say that I’m not real, authentic or black enough. The fact of the matter is there isn’t one way to be a black girl and no black expression/experience is superior to another. We are all valid and deserve to be respected, loved and protected. PERIODT
🙌🙌🙌
I don't think an educated opinion means that that opinion is above reproach or critique. This "us" and "them" attitude about black women socio-economically is troubling. It's not Oprah or Lil Kim. It's not Oprah vs Lil Kim. As someone on the other side of the tracks it sometimes smarts when educated and wealthy black women cross those tracks to have fun and party and then go back to their privileged enclaves. When you can be reasonably sure you will never be lumped in with those types of women during the "light of day". It's all just fun because the burden is not being equally distributed here. Because people will give you the space to speak and the benefit of the doubt based on your educational background and your financial history. It's not a personal attack just a perspective I'd like to share about why some of us were not on board with the video in general and yet still respect and value your opinion as a sister.
Thanks.
Your comment is food for thought.
I agree 1000%
This is important. My mom and her sister are from Southeast DC (THE GHETTO), but my generation of siblings were raised in the diverse suburbs. I know that people will listen to us more because of the "side of the tracks" are mothers worked had to implant us on. We have to understand dialectal discrimination and privilege. I can much more easily argue the cultural significance of AAVE/Ebonics and be taken seriously because I speak in a certain tone and register.
Whew girl. Your content gives me LIFE!!! You speak on topics that I am always thinking about! As a Christian black woman with a doctorate degree I often find myself living in like 3 different worlds all plagued with multiple levels of respectability politics. The topic can be so complex and elitist. I think respectability politics was born out of black folk in the US trying to survive white ppl but it still harms us (black women). BTW I love the hell out of that twerk video!
"respectability politics was born out of black folk in the US trying to survive white ppl"....Whew girl a whole word! If we stopped trying to conform and just be, we would have a lot less arguments and much more time for the unification that so many of our "respectable" people preach about.
@@tiffanyjeanna not so much as conforming, but trying to survive and hopefully give thier kids better.
@@redaleta idk...there are some spaces where our people do conform but the problem lies in uniformity...they think because this is what they have had to do to survive everybody should have to do it too! Nah...society can not control everyone's way of being and I think we should work on being less judgmental about the ones that don't "fall in line".
@@tiffanyjeanna I can't say that I have experienced that type of "judgement" in real life. What I have experienced is those women who don't fit the respectable stereotype code switch on a dime depending on what is needed to get them through.
Online however, is a whole 'nother issue.
This is video was excellent. I definitively think that you have touched on an important subject: privilege and respectability politics and how the two impact on another. Additionally, I relate to being able to navigate in certain spaces that others don't have access too. I also know what it's like to be barred from other spaces. Black Womanhood is very complex. None of our womanhoods are the same.
Black Butterfly “None of our womanhood are the same” Girl!!!! 👏have a crisp $5 for the collection plate!
I enjoyed the twerk video!!! That video doesn’t set us back what sets us back is not respecting and supporting others for who they are..
Thank you
@Lotus jumping spider exactly
Morgan Monroe youre wrong
So you really think twerking is done because they enjoy it, and are not asking for male or female attention? What does shaking your ass in a raunchy way going to do to help that woman? Like it or not people are judged on how they act you may not like it but that is the way of the world
Yassss sis. Say it louder for the “respectable” women in the back
People are okay when black men exploit black women i.e., the rap industry and pimp culture. But if a black woman decides to use her own sexuality for whatever reason, there is a major problem. Black women are becoming more empowered and we have the right to be refined, sexual, or anything in between. I personally feel we should always maintain a level of respect as women but the hypocrisy in the black community is intolerable!
Yayyyy! Yay for clapping back appropriately! I’m a firm believer in that.
Honestly just sounds like some people found the video uncomfortable and tried to make it deeper than them just simply being uncomfortable.
I 100% agree.
hennie Kru and some people are unbothered by seeing the same thing over and over again, that not about feeling uncomfortable.
If someone states it's not my thing and I don't like it, but is questioned why they don't like it?
you can't then question their response with your own psychological hypothesis.
We are individuals who are free to like and dislike what we want.
Throughout the 90s we have seen these kinds of videos but some people like to make excuses and claim they are empowering instead of just owning that they like trashy stereotypical content.
@@2damecuteUK my comment wasnt for people who simply say its not my thing, my comment is about the same person/people she's responding to. the people who say how could a respectable person like her like the video, or think its setting black people back or something. i think those responses are a little over the top, and i dont like when black people get anxious about seeing certain things and think "now we have to do famage control for our entire race" when it doesn't have to be like that.
as far as a psychological hypothesis, the people kim are responding to seem to be one's doing that, so i donr really know what angle to respond to that from. that comment could go for people on any side of the discussion. what should be said then, how should these discussions play out?
because i dont have a problem with "its not my thing" or saying its been done to death or over saturated cause i can see where those are coming from, but im not expecting that from a duo like the city girls, and when i see a comment like "they would find unambiguous n dark skin black girls for a video like this" stuff like that is why i made my comment. because thats over reading into shit, like you said we've seen videos like this since the 90s n typically its still been ethnically ambiguous or really light skin black girls being portrayed in rap n hip hop, even for vids like this. travis porter - faater, anderson paak bubblin, amine - reel it in, blac youngsta - booty etc. ambiguous/light skin is still the norm, so the attempted colorist breakdown that person tried ro give doesnt really make sense to me, i dont think its all that sound of a critcism. it was just a lot of comments of people seeming to simply be uncomfortable and reading too far into it under the guise of something righteous or people acting like they need to be embarassed for them n us.
And i dont like that. there are plenty of examples of black people not in stereotypical situations, and the stereotypical shit is always going to be there because stereotypes come from trends, and amongst that party music is always going to be there, and its always going to be over marketed cause it appeals to the broadest auidiences, is easily digestable and has common appeal, so instead of worrying about what everyone is gonna think or if it feeds into stereotypes, if a person was going to use something like this to reaffirm their perceptions, the response should be to deconstruct those generalizations. because people are going to think that without this video, people thought and think that outside of rap videos. I totally get wanting to see something new, but i dont like people acting like our communities are so vulnerable a couple dozen girls twerking in a music video can set the entirey of black people back several decades. thats ridiculous.
hennie Kru ok, I understand your point now. I wouldn't say I agree with everything you stated in your reply because I don't believe that there is enough positive portrayal of black women to counter the negative.
I feel we reinforce the negative by popularising them through these supportive videos and when challenged about it get defensive instead of being honest about what we like. (But that just my opinion)
I don't think the word uncomfortable suit people who commented back about her twerk video, because unless they stated 'I feel uncomfortable' or showcases that in a video reply you wouldn't know how someone was feeling so that was my point.
I appreciate your reply and I have enjoyed our conversation so thank you 😊 👍🏾
@@2damecuteUK you're welcome!
Can you post a list of books that all Black women should read?
Kim, you give me so much life. I love how well-ranged your opinions are, and I just think your personality and integrity shine so clearly in each video. You are my go-to girl for my political, social, feminist tea darling! Sending you so much love and support!
Thank you for a nuanced discussion regarding the simple facts that respectibility isn't the end all be all that helps us. And that for some of us in higher classes respectibility has furthered our goals but respectibility did not protect us from the same judgments that those without the class standing faced. It's important when we think about our leaders and who we consider to be role models for us and our children. The people we claim to be the face of our community needs to be representative of all the kinds of black folk that exist. And that includes some that still navigate the world in a "respectable way" and those that go against the grain.
Being respectable is AGAINST the grain. Being disrespectful is WITH the grain and with what is popular. Are you even paying attention?🙃
i loved the video..... it's basically shows black women having fun. 🤷🏾♀️ the best part was there were zero men! life is about balance. i can read a novel and twerk at the same time.
I wondered if anyone else caught that it was joyful. So many brown shades! They were having so much fun.
I’m not into the twerk video because I’m tired of that dance style being over represented as how black women dance. But you have a right to enjoy it, everything I like is not politically correct. I’ve enjoyed my share of Nicki Minaj videos and misogynistic rap videos. I appreciate you breaking it down but no one has a right to tell you what you can like. At least you are open and honest.
Amen, respectability is very situational and can't be expected to be performed by everybody at all times
White women show there bodies a lot even when there is not much to show. Black women who do not even show their body are treated harshly, talked about badly because of racism. No people should be so dumb to this, but the ones complaining defend infighting with their own skin folk over petty things that contribute to more division between black people. I think Kim makes a lot of sense, so I think she was celebrating black females freedom to express themselves in dance as an art, as fun, as we are happy to look and be ethnically beautiful women. The dances to me are very much similar to Carribean style of dancing. In fact, that is where it comes from really. Anything black women do has to always be negatively criticised by even some of our own black females who tap dance for the enemy's who have no problem throwing us as a people under a bus.
🖤🖤🖤
Let’s be clear, all black dances root back to Africa, whether it’s in the US, Latin America or the Caribbean.
@@sweetestmelanin8881 Yes they really do!
White women who do this are usually seen as trailer park trash to the white community though like iggy azalea.
I am so, so glad this channel and platform exists! Thank you for sharing what you say! :D
I tell ya, I disagree with you about the twerking video...BUT, I don’t see how anyone can say your opinions aren’t well thought out! I continue to watch your videos for that very reason. Agree with you or not, you come with a well reasoned perspective that demands the same from those who disagree. Keep up the good work.
I really wish the policing of Black women would stop, policing hair, behavior, relationships, life decisions, I mean damn, can people live?
I LOVE you for saying Lipstick Alley lol, I thought no one really knew about it
Girl you said ALL THAT!!!!!! I so love your Channel .. I signed up for a word a day to expand my vocabulary. Now let me order these books😂😂
Thank you for always keeping it real and teaching me new terminology. Thank youuu!! Constantly humble my opinions and remind me to check my respectability politics and policing of my sisters. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I personally don't endorse those type of videos, I feel they do pushing a negative image of black women and feed into old stereotypes. These kinda of MV do have a effect on young girls who feel the pressure to assimilate, but I'm not gonna judge someone who likes it.
It's simply not my thing and I just choose to ignore it.
😂😂 The Kim Clapback
When an educated "woke" black woman reads and drags you online without actually reading and dragging you but educating you. 😂😂 #BlackGirlMagic
Girl!!!!! Read!!!!! Yessss!!!!! #Share
You better read them down Kim! Can you also put your recommended texts in the comments?
Hi.
Killing the Black Body: amzn.to/2S93ljD
At the Dark End of the Street: amzn.to/2sDMmY8
Righteous Discontent: amzn.to/2FQVL6w
Beyond Respectability: amzn.to/2WdZQr1
For Harriet thank you so much!!!
You and Jouelzy are my favourite 😍😍😍
"Black women were not twerking during Jim Crowe" ...girl I-💀
Going to college doesnt give ppl a right to look down on others...not u but damn we think bc we are half way accepted in white spaces we are above someone...trust we are all on the same level
tc g GOSH THANK YOU FOR THIS COMMENT, took the words right out of my mouth
PREACH SIS! Be honest about it sis. This is what I call using your platform to inform and calling out the BS!!! Not going to lie when I clicked on ur first video and saw you graduated from Harvard I said I won’t make it past 10 secs b4 I click off. Then I heard u curse and drag relentlessly and I was SOLD! Keep doing what your doing bc me along with others are appreciative love!
I have had to have similar talks with people who view me as "respectable" and assume I'm going to hop on their hate train or not call out their prasing of what they view as my proximity to whiteness or white purity.
Thank you!! I hate that we have to embrace one image to be accepted. As black women we have so much pressure to be a specific “kind” of woman....we are human beings and if people think we need to be seen in one image, then they don’t see black women as people.
I love this video. This video really showcases that you have done your homework. Im trying to be this enlightened cause you are showing me just how much I need to catch up and learn
qotd: i am NEVER going to co-sign thinly veiled disdain for poor people and sex workers
Beautiful sista you are
hennie Kru some people are unbothered by seeing the same thing over and over again, that not about feeling uncomfortable or being a prude.
If some states it's not my thing and I don't like it, but is questioned why they don't like it?
you can't then question their response with your own psychological hypothesis because your telling someone else how they feel instead of understanding their point of view.
We are individuals who are free to like and dislike what we want.
Throughout the 90s we have seen these kinds of videos but some people like to make excuses and claim they are empowering instead of just owning that they like trashy stereotypical content. Own what you like!
Love your perspective, Kim!
Thank you. Your platform is invaluable and gives voice to thoughts I’ve had but don’t know how to articulate. I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on class and relationships in the black community.
You're an incredible asset to this community please keep up with these videos.
its our culture who cares what they think
I know my comments get some upset but I like to live in *reality* and say what *really* happens in this world.
I teach young black juniors/seniors girls and I can PROMISE ladies in these comments praising this shit would *NOT* want their daughters doing this mess for a damn check.
Get real ladies...the reason why you wouldn’t be ‘cool’ with YOUR daughters, nieces, etc. doing that mess is because on some level you are AWARE this kind of imagery does nothing to push us forward in this white dominated world.
Now you don’t have to like that reality but you DO have to deal with it. As soon as twerking isn’t relegated to black women, as is so much of the negative tropes associated with blackness, then we can all twerk and be free.
But while we still live in America and the world is still under white control black people have to stop talking what we’d like and start dealing with what is and go from there.
Now if anyone in these comments would twerk themselves or be *proud* to watch a young girl they KNOW twerking like that video then it’ll be all good.
But as long as women pretend to be so pro-women about our bodies but won’t do it themselves or wouldn’t want *their* girls doing it then stop fronting off and deal with the fact that on some level you are aware that this isn’t actually helpful to our cause, it doesn’t actually push anything forward, and your inaction to do the same as these women only proves that fundamental point.
As an educator of these young black girls I will NOT set those girls up for delusion when the real world has no time or care for them in the first place.
This is the world they live in and people need to get real. But okay black women keep telling yourselves your *changing* things twerking...see how far that gets you...twerk at work, twerk while trying to get a high paying job, twerk and try to be Michelle or Oprah.
All those women listed achieved because of their actual talents not because they can make their ass jiggle. I have yet to see a black woman doing that become an astronaut or high ranking official but sure I guess anything is possible just not *probable* 🤷🏽♀️
I don't have kids, but I am 100% sure that my nieces will one day grow up to make their own decisions. They will do things I wouldn't do because I do not own them. If they are not hurting themselves or anyone else, I'm cool. I'm more worried about them being shitty than being in a twerk video to be perfectly honest.
For Harriet...I appreciate your reply.
But as I stated the facts are the facts and as long as you, nor I, nor the majority of these women ‘praising’ this as liberation wouldn’t readily do it, it’s all just talk.
Either you’re fine with men doing it or not, either you’d do it or you wouldn’t. But to sit back and applaud these women and at the same time recognize you wouldn’t be caught out here doing it for obvious reasons, makes it all just rhetoric.
I’m all for twerking the day it actually becomes something relevant. But as long as it’s just another way for a rich white exec to make money off OUR bodies like we are chattel in 2019 I can’t condone or support it.
I want someone to tell me they’d be happy seeing their kids or nieces do this and would be clapping and then we can talk.
But people praising THEM when YOU wouldn’t be doing it is just cognitive hola-hoop and I’m not able to play that game because it doesn’t get us anywhere that’s relevant to our progression. The day it does please make a video so I can salute that progress.
Whew girl!!!! you snatched some wigs with this one! I love it!
I love love love watching your videos when I get home from work. It's like a shot of clarity. Thank you.
Ayee thx for the book reccomendationssss!!!! Wonderful, necessary video!
I am so living for this video!!! When the video came out I went through the comments as was disgusted with how much hate black women had for each other. I felt like "damn, the whole world comes for us and now we're coming for each other"
Although I am not a fan of rap nowadays, I was so happy that Cardi was showing homage to where she came from because the athleticism of the girls in the strip club is AMAZING and gets overlooked due to the nudity or how men express their opinion of it. SOOOO many women of other ethnicities are making coin on twerk classes when its a part of black culture that's specific to black women (I was mad at the Justin Beiber video 'Sorry' that had not ONE black woman representing a dance style that originated with black culture, but that's another rant) and to me it feels like black women are constantly being pushed out of hobbies, activities, means of self-expression that we start and fight to have seen as a normal part of everyday life (natural hair in professional environments for instance). I also liked that the video showed and represented dancehall (history) and they used black women of all shades in the video. It was women throwing an F-U to rap video stereotypes in my opinion, celebrating the effort they had put into learning their dance routines and moves and acknowledging their way of pushing sales and making money in their own way.
I asked a few women in the comments who I could see were black and dark-skinned (as a fellow dark-skinned black woman) what they hated about it and I got hostility back. I was taken back how many women were happy to bash, condemn, express their opinion of other women with such disdain couldn't take someone respectfully asking why they had such an issue with it. Conversational debate ZERO.
I just needed to know WHY CANT BLACK WOMEN DO IT ALL? For me we always have, and now more than ever we are striving to have it all and are able to show the world how we are not the stereotypes.
Thank you for this video. It's nice to hear another black woman who can be viewed as conservative and respectable able to support other black women who don't walk the same path.
It bothered me because it feeds into the negative stereotypes about black women and I am quite tired of seeing visual representations of that BS all of the time. And to be honest, it just looks cheap as hell.
Fast Fanny depends on how it’s done. I’ve seen both types.
+Ebony Love. I feel ya. It looks cheap, because it is cheap, and "We" as community are cheap: highest HIV rate, lowest marriage, and highest out-of-wedlock rate = bw will not demand minimal male investment to ensure our well-being let alone that of the next generation. And I don't care what the words are, nobody is going to listen to the words with all of that ass bouncing around. The real world gives everything context and I can't even be mad anymore because this video shows the truth about what WE are as a collective. Cheap. 200 years from now people will analyze this art, and from it they will understand the poor state of our communities, and the miserable state of our family structure just like we can go back and look at paintings and literature and understand the gender and family dynamics back in the day. It does suck getting lumped in with all this, but that's why I have 2 passports.
Ebony Love thank you. I don’t get why so many BW are co-signing to this garbage, but then again I do get it. We as a collective have very little self-esteem, even those with advanced degrees. Look at Married to Medicine
It's 2019. If the sexualized images are all people are seeing to the point that they are tired of it, it's because you are choosing to only see that. We have had a black renaissance when it comes to film, tv, (Hollywood) and the various different images of black women. From Olivia Pope, to Michelle Obama, to Maxine Waters, to Issa Rae, to Tariji, etc. If people are only seeing the sexual images it's because they are limiting what they watch or limiting what they choose to acknowledge. I see and appreciate various images of black women in all my Netflix shows, my social media, on TV, magazines, and in the movies.
orangecat999 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Twerking is a beautiful thing that should be left in the boudoire/bedroom or in a strip joint. It should be a thing between a man and a woman, or if you are gay woman on woman, man to man or if you are bi...whoever wherever and so on. It is a private thing that has no business in mainstream society. Or are we all that broke down that we accept this as normal and good...and god forbid something that daughters and girls should aspire to. I understand that all things can't be hidden in the luxury of our bedrooms but to put it on a pedestal is entirely another thing gone wrong. Just my educated, respectable, prudish moral opinion, I guess.
I love your videos, love you Kim, all the way from New Zealand.
Could you list those books you mentioned please 🙏🏾!!
I luv the video.there is nothin wrong with it at all.i luv the outfits.makeup.hair.nails.and they can really work it out. They're great.
Love hearing your 2 cents as usual. Thanx for the ongoing content
SNAPPED!
This is honestly a classy a subtle clap back . Very articulate and intelligent.
Do people not know where twerking comes from? Have you never seen African people dancing? Just about everything we do as a people, comes from Africa. America taught us that it’s nasty and to want to move your body when a drum beat comes on, is somehow “devilish”.
Hello the devil was the angle of music
Love your channel! Love this. You nailed it 🙌🏾
You are not failing me!!!
kim, sis who r we beating up!! You Are Popular. Girl, everything you say is so very relevant. 48laws. haters necessary. Thank you for doing the work. wait Queen u started dropping books(knowledge) to smack em good, personally my jaw dropped, wanting a high five but noones around!!! OKAY!!!!
The way most African Americans and especially African American women put the blame on anybody else except themselves for their own bs is fascinating!
Lovely, tried to donate on that paypal link and it said it wasn't accepting! Will donate on patreon instead but just fyi
Loved this video! We have to allow black women to be full human beings - period.
BARS ++
I love this video response!
As you said, I think you both have the best intentions for black women. I get that you're coming at it from different angles. I appreciate both feminism and femininity. It's too bad that there is this disagreement amongst you. Will still look forward to when they are put aside, and there is a collaboration in the future.
Another GREAT video!
This is an amazing read!
Hey sis. I’m a fairly new subscriber, can you tell me the reason behind the channel name?
Hey! It's named after Harriet Tubman.
@@ForHarriet619 thank you! I too am fairly new and hooked and have wondered about the origins of the channel title. You are my friend in my head. An eloquent read! Yup!
Love you. Can you please start a recommended book list?
Is this a wash and go?? Your hair is beautiful!!!
Whhhhhhhhhew KIM BABY YOU JUST SNATCHED MY EDGES! Baby is reading!
I love everything about this video. You're amazing.
I love your perspective!
This video is everything. Thank you!
Yaaaas i kno u talkin bout chrissie.
I’m not sure how to sign up for patreon but for you I’ll learn!
Definitely feel like you said a lot of this on the last video -Were they listening? Shoutout to the content. Love your work. ✊🏾
THIS VIDEO IS EVERYTHING AND ACCURATELY DESCRIBED HOW I FEEL. BRAVO 🎉🎉🎉
Haters watch your videos tho! Either way they helping you make money. 😂👍🏾
Ooooooh. She preachin!
Love the recent vids 💜
That’s amazing! Congrats on getting into Harvard.
It really is a disdain for poor black women.
This was so on point.
I'm subscribing because of this video
Mating dances have always been a thing. Its in the jeans. I mean genes...autocorrect ;)
"..... I speak like this..."
????? What do you mean????
I mean go to any one of my videos and find a comment where someone says I speak like a white person.
Don’t listen to those ppl, you sound fine to me.
For Harriet I know this line too well!
@@ForHarriet619 you speak like any educated human speaks.
As a 46 yr old woman from FL if that matters feel like The twerk video was empowering. No men and women having a good time is ok with me. I'm classy based when it matters and ratchet when I want to be. It's about balance.
Classy in public. Ratchet as you wunna be *in private* . A lady in the streets- a freak in the sheets. What's wrong with that? Seriously?
Clocked 30 yesterday
Bravo! I feel you!
Well said. Love it.
I just want to know who the person was that said something on twitter.
I can't believe you have to explain this...our society is doomed if we have to split hairs about a rap video. I was angry reading the title of this video and avoided watching for hours