so, this summer i read some histories of black feminist politics in the sixties. some angela davis. etc. learned quite a bit about the history of the black women's club movement, which was a kind of social uplift aimed at reigning in the sexuality of poor and working black women. the club movement continued through the 1900s but saw a resurgence in the late 60s and 70s in the form of business-oriented, career-oriented professional organizations.
Currently, I'm finishing up a quick read by E. Francis Wright, Dark Continent of Our Bodies: Black Feminism and the politics of Respectability. In it, she takes on the black nationalist movement's hetero/sexism and questions what Higgenbotham examined, the contradictory aspects of a "politics of respectability" -- or what Michael Eric Dyson simply sees as the attack on working class blacks by middle class blacks (e.g., Cosby)
So, reading political blogs, I come across two instances in which black politics and culture blogs proudly proclaim themselves bourgeois! head::desk head::concrete wall The first time I encountered it, there was no explanation. Which tells me that the people using it don't think it needs to be explained, so its common usage.
So, can people point me to reasons for this upsurge in usage? I mean, yes, I know, there's a long history behind the general phenom. But where did the loving embrace of the term "bourgeois" come from?
Take this blog, "Where Bourgeois Meets Ghetto, http://boughettonews.blogspot.com/. This is the "about" blurb:
This is real thought-provoking commentary on pop culture. And you? You're probably bourgeois - and as such it is your job, your mission to help the ghetto among us. I will do my part in showing you what you're up against. That's right. "Helping us see the madness ... to stop it."
Is anyone criticizing this in any depth? Probably not since the taboo against "airing dirty laundry". but still... aiyiyiyi.
http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)