A Sense of Doubt blog post #2799 - WORK THAT - Time For a Change - a music mix - MUSICAL MONDAY 2210.17

Toni Morrison with tie

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2799 - WORK THAT - Time For a Change - a music mix - MUSICAL MONDAY 2210.17

I have been working on this mix for some time and finished it this summer, a few months ago, but had not yet posted a blog about it. Also, I published this one on the date shown, and yet I needed more than a full week to finish with all the photos of these amazing women, African-American women.

In fact, so amazing are these women, I cannot choose one for the image up top, so instead I am using a picture of Toni Morrison, partly the inspiration for this post. I am teaching her book Sula this quarter in English 101.

I am also trying to get my students to understand the great feminist adage: "THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL."

I am trying to get students to see the relevance to their lives of all the things that take place in the political arena.

Did the majority of Americans, especially young Americans, realize the extent to which the world and the United States in particular relied on the "bread basket" of Ukraine.

We do this assignment in which a student picks an endangered right (most of them are endangered) that is considered a human right or is a right protected by the US Constitution, or they select a right that should be protected by the Constitution or should be recognized as a human right and isn't.

I often experience push back from students who "don't like to write about politics."

I tell them that the "PERSONAL IS POLITICAL," that those things in their personal life that they care about are affected and often can only be changed in the political arena.

The phrase come from a 1969 essay by Carol Hamisch arguing that issues of sex, child care, gender inequalities, marriage rights, and more are not personal and private issues but ones that are political and can be changed in the political arena.

They could sometimes admit that women were oppressed (but only by “the system”) and said that we should have equal pay for equal work, and some other “rights.” But they belittled us no end for trying to bring our so-called “personal problems” into the public arena—especially “all those body issues” like sex, appearance, and abortion. Our demands that men share the housework and childcare were likewise deemed a personal problem between a woman and her individual man. The opposition claimed if women would just “stand up for themselves” and take more responsibility for their own lives, they wouldn’t need to have an independent movement for women’s liberation. What personal initiative wouldn’t solve, they said, “the revolution” would take care of if we would just shut up and do our part. Heaven forbid that we should point out that men benefit from oppressing women.

A lot has been written about it in the years since. Like this:

The personal is political: the journey of a feminist slogan

All successful slogans are subject to misappropriation: it is a sign of their success. The personal is political – but mind the gap.

Rahila Gupta

13 April 2015

 

Outside of feminist politics, the slogan, if not the exact words, has been co-opted by politicians and public figures as a way of simplifying complex political ideas by using the personal as a metaphor. The slogan was not meant to be used in reverse, i.e. trying to understand the political in terms of the personal as that can subvert the original idea. Margaret Thatcher was a great believer in this form of discourse, ventriloquizing the popular voice, as Stuart Hall describes it. Thatcher particularly liked discussing the national budget in personal terms as Margaret Drabble reminds us, “Many economists …warned her you couldn't run the country as you ran a household budget... It didn't square up with monetarism and privatisation and the reckless deregulation of financial services and the Big Bang”. It is the kind of discourse which influences voters to vote Conservative because they understand the national debt in terms of personal debt and believe that it is a sign of prudent management of finances when the Conservatives say that it is their number one priority to reduce borrowing even if it means drastic cuts to spending. Living within your means, the personal motto that might drive a thrifty person, is no way to run a country.

@openDemocracy https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/personal-is-political-journey-of-feminist-slogan/

https://psyche.co/ideas/the-origin-story-of-a-slogan-the-personal-is-political

And so, as we work on the RIGHTS essay, I realized the time was NOW to share this MIX and the voices of these beautiful women, these beautiful black women, to "WORK THAT," work for the change.

BE THE CHANGE.

I am proud of this mix. It's a good collection. And the photo gallery tells a story of strong, resilient, out-spoken not silent women in our culture.

Work that...

BTW, I got the idea for this mix when Vice President Kamala Harris walked out for her victory speech to Mary J. Blige's "Work That."

Kamala Harris walks out to Mary J. Blige’s “Work That” for her first speech as Vice President-elect. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/b8dOMC7Hud

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 8, 2020

I think this one of my best mixes.

Thanks for tuning in.

Enjoy.




WORK THAT MIX - TIME FOR A CHANGE






TRACK LIST

[1] Mary J. Blige - Work That

[2] Bob Marley & The Wailers - Redemption Song

[3] Sade - Soldier of Love - Official - 2010

[4] H.E.R. - Damage (Official Video)

[5] Janelle Monáe - Q.U.E.E.N. feat. Erykah Badu [Official Video]

[6] Megan Thee Stallion: Anxiety (Live) - SNL

[7] TLC - Kick Your Game live (1996)

[8] Lizzo - Truth Hurts (Official Video)

[9] Ruthie Foster - Phenomenal Woman

[10] Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer: her very best performance!

[11] Lizzo - Humanize

[12] Sade - Cherish the Day (Live 2011)

[13] Bonnie Raitt & Ruthie Foster "Angel From Montgomery"

[14] Janelle Monáe & Kelly Clarkson - Unbreakable [Official Visualizer]

[15] H.E.R. - I Can't Breathe (Audio)

[16] Erykah Badu - Didn't Cha Know (Official Video)

[17] Ruthie Foster - Brand New Day (Live at The Paramount)

[18] Pharrell Williams - Entrepreneur (Official Video) ft. JAY-Z

[19] Janelle Monae - Suite II Overture

[20] RuthieFoster - "Heal Yourself" from the film Road To Austin

[21] Mary J. Blige - Everything (Official Music Video)

[22] Janelle Monáe - Tightrope [feat. Big Boi] (Video)

[23] Erykah Badu - Back In The Day (Puff) live

[24] Sade - Paradise (Live 2011)

[25] En Vogue - Free Your Mind (Official Music Video) [HD]

[26] Tanerélle Stephens - Boys Like You

[27] Curtis Mayfield- Move on Up (Extended Version)

[28] Janelle Monáe - Electric Lady [Official Video]

[29] H.E.R. - I'm Not OK (Official Video)

[30] Megan Thee Stallion - Ungrateful (feat. Key Glock) [Official Video]

[31] Mary J. Blige - I'm Goin' Down

[32] Erykah Badu - On & On (Remix Edit)

[33] Tanerélle Stephens - Continuum

[34] TLC Live Honolulu Hawaii 8/6/22 - "Creep"

[35] Megan Thee Stallion - Her [Official Video]

[36] Mary J. Blige - Just Fine (Official Music Video)

[37] Janelle Monáe - PrimeTime ft. Miguel [Official Video]

[38] Arrested Development ‎– People Everyday - 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of

[39] Sade - No Ordinary Love - Official - 1992

[40] Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Live at Kennedy Center Honors)

PHOTO GALLERY

Mary J Blige

H.E.R.

https://www.instagram.com/hermusicofficial/?hl=en

Sade

https://www.thefader.com/2015/01/16/sade-lovers-rock-cover-story-interview

Janelle Monáe

https://www.instagram.com/janellemonae/

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/-everything-janelle-monae-confirms-nonbinary-new-interview-rcna25379

Janelle Monáe Confirms She's Pansexual: 'I Consider Myself to Be a Free-Ass Motherfucker'

After years of speculation, the singer is speaking out about her sexuality for the first time.

Megan Thee Stallion

https://www.thecut.com/article/megan-thee-stallion-traumazine-profile.html

https://www.instagram.com/theestallion/

TLC

LIZZO

https://dcist.com/story/22/09/28/lizzo-played-james-madisons-flute/

ERYKAH BADU

https://www.okayplayer.com/music/the-church-of-erykah-badu-bric-2022-celebrate-brooklyn-festival-review.html

Tanerélle Stephens

RUTHIE FOSTER

ARETHA FRANKLIN

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2210.17 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2663 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.