Rebecca Rant: Yasss Nicki!

So I just had to give Nicki Minaj total kudos for calling out the black appropriator master Miley Cyrus at the VMAs. Miley was talking smack about Nicki expressing her frustrations about her color and body being a factor in an award /award nomination snub. Miley did what a lot of privileged girls do and talked out of her ignorance about black women and black bodies. She assumed Nicki was "making it about race" and refused to acknowledge the politics in the industry when dealing with black women and our bodies, which is the first strike for Hannah Montana. Strike two for Ms. Montana is when she was called out for is by Ms. Minaj, she used some bogus excuse about being in the industry and knowing how they manipulate us. Like super stale face for you, Ronnie. Don't say something then try to retract your statement like it wasn't already blasted into the entertainment atmosphere. There is a paper trail long enough to reach the road to el dorado on your criticizing Nicki, so save yourself the time, Miley and just apologize. However not only does Cyrus (haha I ran out of roles she's played to refer to her by) give that sad excuse in front of millions of viewers, but she does it while wearing a blonde dreadlocks ponytail. Um yea, strike three Miley! How dare you criticize Nicki for "making something about race" when you're still so insensitive to it?

Now most were just flabbergasted at the whole incident and thought it humorous. But there is a big norm that we must diminish: demonizing black women who retaliate, respond or straight clap back at those who antagonize us. What Nicki did was out of hurt and anger, but she's been pinned as a bully and irrational individual by many news outlets. There was a tweet that foretold this happening and I actually posted it on Facebook. Here it is:



 

 

All I thought when I saw this was "yes". That's exactly what's going to happen because black women are always demonized for being upset. White women are "hurt" "having a bad day" or "in a bad mood". As soon as black women lash out though, we're made to be "aggressors" "obnoxious" "irrational" "bullies" "mean" and the list goes on. It's a cruel reality we must deal with. It's a narrative we must rewrite. However there are still outlets with the power of influence that chose to push this idiocy:

Salon, a media site posted the first title of the incident between Nicki and Miley on the left that made the Trini beauty out to be a belligerent animal. I'm assuming the second title came from the backlash of the first title because black folks will get you when you come for ours on the internet. I love how Ryan made it clear that switching up the title was not an apology or a form of empathy.

The fact that the initial response Salon had was to refer to Nicki as "savage" shows where our country is still at with black women and expressions of anger or hurt. It's pathetic that they were able to make a decent second title and had to in the first place.

Point is for all this: stop making angry black women out to be less than human when women of other races experience the same thing and don't get the backlash we do. Us Weekly referring to it as an "outburst" and other media sites berating Minaj for calling out Miley reinforces this horrible idea. We must switch the narrative to exactly what it is: black women have feelings too.

The black experience in America had been slowly exposed to the ugly truth of what it is to be Black in this country. We are becoming conscious of the systemic hate and politics of our very existence. It is displeasing to privileged America when we, especially entertainers, speak out on some of the absurdities we experience, as Nicki did. So white supremacists feel they can belittle our consciousness and make us out to be "playing the race card". So it's clap back season, as we black folks are just not taking the semantics anymore; so when we call out white folks, they go into defense mode and make us out for being in the wrong.

White folks, this is played out.

We are as human as you. Nicki Minaj did not appreciate Miley minimalizing her frustrations and felt suited to call her out. Which is fair and fine. And pretty awesome. Go Nicki! And Miley please do yourself a favor and stop appropriating it will ruin you as it did Iggy.