Black History Month Struggles & Black Women Shine: Winners & Losers

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Black History Month was sooo close to losing this first full week of February.

The racist ridiculousness was something serious. But as the ancestors said before us, still we rise.

Check out the losers for the week below, then hit the next page to find out who helped save what was left of Black History month!

Losers

People who don’t know what racism is

Clearly, racism needs to get more airtime in school classrooms because it seems people still don’t understand the full weight of the phenomenon.

The topic received a lot of attention this week starting with Liam Neeson who revealed that he once went looking to kill a “Black bastard” after his friend said she was raped by a Black man.

Neeson explained himself on Good Morning America and how he regretted his feelings at the time. However, he never once said that his actions and sentiments were racist. As a matter of fact, he went on to say “I’m not racist, this was nearly 40 years ago.”

Sorry Liam, that was racist. Find out why here.

The non-acknowledgement of racism didn’t stop here, however.

The next day, Neeson’s co-star in the movie Widows Michelle Rodriguez had the audacity to defend Neeson by saying:

“Dude, have you watched Widows? His tongue was so far down Viola Davis’ throat. You can’t call him a racist ever. Racists don’t make out with the race that they hate, especially in the way he does with his tongue—so deep down her throat. I don’t care how good of an actor you are. It’s all bullsh**. Ignore it. He’s not a racist.”

Father help us.

I guess Michelle missed that unit on Black fetishization in her 5th grade history class.

And guess what Michelle? It’s all tied to the one big family of…

R A C I S M.

And finally, you’d think after think pieces, Twitter rants and Facebook arguments, people would understand that blackface is bad and also has ties to racism, right?

Naw.

According to a recent YouGov poll, only 58 percent of Americans believe blackface is bad.

Meanwhile, Gucci is making blackface sweaters and current Democrat leaders, like Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, are being pinned for their blackface past.

*Sigh*

Either A LOT of teaching needs to be done or people just don’t care.

Either way, racism is clearly still alive.

Winners

Black women giving cover star greatness

So first off, Cicely Tyson was like THIS on the cover of Time magazine…

Then Chloe x Halle repped for the young generation and was like, oh yea, we can do that too…

Cardi B wanted in on some of the #BlackGirlMagic as well, even though her race politics in the past have been messy, to say the least.

But we gon’ let Cardi have this one…

Cause YES…

These aren’t just women who know how to put on face and a nice dress either. The ladies embodied what Black History Month is about with empowering words for generations to come.

At 94 years old, Cicely Tyson said she doesn’t plan on retiring…like at all. In her interview with Time, she said:

“The reason why I have been in this universe as long as I have been is because he’s not ready for me. When I’ve completed my job, he’ll take me away. I know several people who have retired and then six months later, they’re gone…We have to honor this blessed gift that we have. That’s what keeps you going. Keeps your mind fluid—your heart, your whole being. You can’t just stop, because that will be the end of you.”

Well!

Meanwhile, Chloe x Halle celebrated what it is to be Black women in Essence, with Chloe saying:

“We’re not afraid to speak our minds—and we owe that to all of the beautiful Black women who came before us and are killing it right now. We wouldn’t change our skin color for anything. We love being Black women and are so proud to say that.”

Alright, alright!

Finally, Cardi B represented for the multifaceted women of the Bronx in her talk with Harper’s Bazaar. Though it’s clear Cardi still has some investment in her ex Offset, she made it clear that she’s still in control.

When asked if anyone influenced her break-up with Offset, the blockbuster M.C. simply said: