What My Mind Is Turning Over

The Newsweek article that Kim directed me to earlier this week about black women supporting R. Kelly. Though there were some things I agreed with, this, in particular, bothered me:

Sex crimes may be viewed as less important in a community defined by race and the issues surrounding it. Sexism isn't discussed much in the black community...

Then, tonight, Mrs. O suggested I break my no BET rule and watch Hip Hop vs. America II. I only caught the second half, and, on one hand, I was perturbed (isn't that an ugly word :-P) by MC Lyte's determination to portray black women's life as a constant battle with "THE CHOICE" a.k.a. "Which is more important, race or gender?" I've noted before that I believe that thinking creates a false dichotomy.

But, OTOH, I think some important points were made (and can I just say I really liked Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell and how San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris explained her support for Senator Obama?).

So I'm going to write a post about these two things--I rushed to the computer to do so tonight, but I think I'll let it marinate.