California Feminist Blogs

I was very excited to watch the BET Awards last Sunday. I was excited to watch Queen Latifah host and to celebrate music in general. I really appreciated and felt blessed to hear all the words of wonderful, strong, motivating female empowerment from Latifah, Alicia, Jada and Nicky Minaj. The amount of respect that these women bestowed onto other strong women for being role models and onto female artists for paving the way was exhilarating and actually kinda awesome, if you will. As I was riding the wave of feeling myself, for being a woman and gassing myself up for being a strong single mother and getting through tough times, I was suddenly interrupted by a hot mess ...Chris Brown.

Considering myself a cynic especially when it comes to Big Media (and BET is Big Media all day!) I could see the "subliminal" messages clear as crystal all over the choice to have poor misunderstood Chris Brown pay tribute to poor misunderstood Micheal Jackson (both accused of abuse, both mishandling their images after the fact, both enduring intense scrutiny and judgement.)

Chris Brown was a teenager (!) when he was busted for abusing Rihanna. Let us not take that actuality lightly. A teen-aged brain is not even done developing, this is one of the biggest arguments for abolishing the death penalty in cases of minor youth. As an advocate for at-risk youth, I have compassion and empathy for Chris Brown (himself a survivor of childhood domestic violence) just as myself a survivor of hardcore domestic violence at the hands of a boyfriend I had zero tolerance for his actions when they took place, he deserved legal punishment and public shame; and I celebrated Rihanna when she left his foul ass for putting his hands on her. Rihanna should not give Chris Brown a second chance to be her boyfriend.

Should Chris Brown be shunned for life and forced into a box dubbed "abuser"? I don't think so. The public has forgiven mature adults for graver wrong-doings, shit, Ted Kennedy killed his mistress while driving drunk and plunging into a river, he did not report the crime until a day after, basically sending out a message that her life held less meaning then his public image. The man remained a beloved senator for decades after. WTF?

I do not believe that we should forgive Chris Brown simply because we have forgiven others for their transgressions. I believe that we should forgive people in general and Chris Brown in particular because it is the humane thing to do and it helps our hearts and minds to move forward as well as the people we are hoping who will rehabilitate (and I do not think that every kind of offender can be rehabilitated).

Forgiveness does not equal acceptance. I don't accept his behaviour. I accept his plea for a second chance to be a better person. My acceptance of his plea for a second chance does not beget a third nor does it make me, or any other person who agrees with me, an apologist. Let the kid grow up.

On June 11, 2010 the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ) co-sponsored a reproductive law and policy training in Washington, D.C. Sixty people attended, representing 27 different law schools and 28 different organizations.

The event was a unique opportunity for attendees to tap into NWLC’s and LSRJ’s wealth of knowledge. Mariko Miki from LSRJ provided participants with a background of LSRJ and offered support for students interested in starting or reinvigorating a chapter at their law school. Judy Waxman, Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights at NWLC, and Beth Sousa, Senior Counsel at NWLC, explained how health care reform affects women’s access to health care, particularly abortion. It was inspiring to hear about the benefits women can expect from health reform, and that despite some setbacks, no one has given up on keeping abortion coverage in health insurance benefit plans.

I have had quite a few candid conversations with Rosa Clemente in regard to the juxtoposition of Hip Hop and politics and how women and other oppressed groups of people fit into this picture. I have cringed at her brutal honesty and cynical approach to framing the current revolutionary movement, but ultimately pain is a truth we all need. Rosa Clemente is a true, authentic leader of the Hip Hop political movement whose impact on United States socio-political culture and policy has only just begun.

You must listen to the entire speech in order to get the full message!

Rosa Clemente's Keynote Address @ HHC National Conference 2010 in Detroit!

AN OPEN LETTER, A CALL-TO-ACTION TO OUR HIP-HOP COMMUNITY: PUT US, WOMEN ON THAT LINE-UP & STOP THE DISRESPECT!

A BIG THANK YOU TO MY SISTER IN THE MOVEMENT – ROSA CLEMENTE WHO IS MY INSPIRATION TO WRITE THIS PIECE… I LOVE YOU SISTER!

Dear Hip-Hop Community

I come to you openly as a long-time Hip-Hop DJ, Hip-Hop Poet, Hip-Hop lover, fan and etc… I come to you as someone who appreciates all of you whole-heartedly, for all that you do for Hip-Hop, for all that you do for keeping Hip-Hop going, living and breathing. I come to you for giving so much to Hip-Hop, for providing all of us with such dope Hip-Hop beats, rhythm’s and dance. I come to you for all that we have been through with Hip-Hop. I come to you because I know Hip-Hop is a space for me to be honest, a space for me to challenge others and myself.

But I also come to you as a woman in Hip-Hop, a community organizer, a Hip-Hop feminist and activist who is tired; tired of the industry that can be so cold in leaving women out of the picture all of the time. And sadly, when we are in the picture, we’re often pictured in misogynistic, sexist videos and pictures. I am tired of seeing these images over and over again. I am also tired of not having enough alternatives of these sexist music. And even when there are these so-called “alternative” spaces, it’s just as sexist too. That’s right, I’m not just talking about “mainstream” Hip-Hop, I’m also talking about that “alternative” what has often been labeled “underground Hip-Hop”, “real Hip-Hop” too. However, let me be clear that I also say “industry” because it is not Hip-Hop culture that treats women this way. Sadly, it is our own people in this industry that is doing this to our women, and each other.

So, if these alternative spaces are created to give us other kinds of outlets for other kinds of Hip-Hop we prefer which is supposingly more ethical, more “moral”, more conscious and more “Hip-Hop”; and if these supposed more ethical, more “conscious” Hip-Hop are also just as sexist and misogynistic, then where do we go from here?

I am specifically tired of seeing this 1 year after year show, one that will remain nameless (ahem, few coming up this August), where there is an all-star-line-up and all of them are men with 1 solo female act. This show is widely considered the “real Hip-Hop” deal. I mean really, a huge line-up of about 20 something men and maybe 1 or 2 women on the bill!? And maybe a few other women who some of the artists bring along as a surprise guest but don’t even make it on the flier or even heard or seen unless you were there? Seriously? HIP-HOP, IS THIS WHERE WE’RE AT? I can name tons of female artists, and not just “developing artists”, but dope long-time women veterans who can spit dope game and cut it up on the tablez who need to be in that supposed “all-star-line-up.” They have paid their dues by paving the way, setting their own mark, making their own records, winning battles… do they not deserve to be on that bill?

For nearly 15 years, in the industry, I have witnessed women being treated unfairly and unjustly. Whether it be through watching the way music videos depicted women as only sex objects or whether it was behind the scenes with record labels giving horrible deals and men back stages overstepping boundaries, I’ve witnessed it all. If you know me well enough, you would know that this is not the first time I’ve spoken about this. And this is not the first time that I’m tired of it all. However, I decided to make a “I AM TIRED OF HOW WOMEN ARE BEING TREATED IN HIP-HOP LIST” that I hope all of you can help add and pass on:

So, here is just a few of what I am tired of: (this is a growing list – women and allies, pls feel free to add to this list)

• I am tired of going to a show where a sound engineer would not value my expertise because they didn’t deem me as “expert” enough to know what I am talking about.

• I am tired of being the only woman headline on a bill.

• I am tired of not seeing myself or other women headline on a bill.

• I am tired of feeling uncomfortable and intimidated because I’m the only woman backstage.

• I am tired of seeing music videos of women being objectified.

• I am tired of seeing men groping women backstage.

• I am tired of seeing men grope women on stage.

• I am tired of men calling women a “b*tch” or a “h*e” when they feel threatened by her ability to know what she is doing and doing it good.

• I am tired of women being pigeonholed into stereotyped categories within Hip-Hop.

• I am tired of seeing “female battles” within Hip-Hop when women can compete and win against men.

• I am tired of women being seen as a “rarity” in the field that they tokenize a “female” artist and put any woman on doesn’t matter if she has no skill as long as she looks “good”.

• I am tired of women getting offered only “collabos” on songs but not getting offered deals.

• I am tired of the deals women are offered and how it’s often less than what a male artist would receive.

• I am tired of the “token female DJ night”. Come on now, give a woman a regular night spinning with other men too!

• I am tired of being bumped to either first or last or at a really horrible time slot last minute because someone with more “credibility” (more than likely a male) needed to go on because he has a last minute conflict on his schedule.

• I am tired of how male artists are typically offered more money then women artists and then how others use an excuse like “because he is more known”, but ideally a woman would be “more known” had female artists were given the same equal treatments of publicity, marketing and deals. DUH!

• I’m tired of women getting pushed off a bill or a track when someone with more “credibility” (more than likely a male) comes along.

• I am tired of not feeling safe enough to talk about my own gender identity, my sexual orientation and being free to be who I truly am.

• I am tired of seeing how Asian women, Black Women, Latina Women, Queer Women, and women of color as a whole are treated and perceived in Hip-Hop because of their race, class and gender.

• I am tired that people think it’s just mainstream Hip-Hop, when “underground” Hip-Hop disrespect women and LGBTQ folks too.

• I am tired that this music industry is also a size/ist and lookism industry that as a woman I have to have a certain sex appeal and size to get offers, deals and etc..

• I am tired when none of our supposed male allies within Hip-Hop don’t check other men on their privileges.

• I am tired of men not recognizing that they are the only ones on the line-up and not sayin or doing anything about it.

• I am tired of not feeling safe enough to check anyone.

• I’m tired of the women who are buying into the patriarchal thinking and get competitive with other women and enjoy being the “only female”.

• I am tired of being one of those women who once bought into the patriarchal thinking and being competitive with other women for that 1 gig or spot in the bill.

• I am tired of people not knowing that there are dope women Hip-Hop artists and Hip-Hop activists all over the world.

• I am tired of being scared right now, as we speak, writing this open letter, knowing that at any show I could be and more than likely will be threatened and/or attacked if I call out anyone on this article.

I am tired of being the token female artist in a Hip-Hop male lineup. This music industry has led me to behave in such a way where I would buy into the “only female-in-the-click” syndrome. While I respect the crews I have been part of in my past, it is today, and now more than ever that I recognize how important it is that we make room for more women to be included. This music industry makes no room for more women to enter the doors, that it creates a dynamic for women to compete against each other, for that 1 gig, that 1 offer, that 1 deal, that 1 spotlight. Because it only comes so often, because the chance is only once in a lifetime, us women, jump for it… because it is our only opportunity. We’re all jumping for the scraps they are offering us… and I am tired of falling for it.

I am so tired of hearing other women complaining and still it is the same. This is the not the first letter or article that has been written. Other women have been writing this for years. This is nothing new. I’ve just been lucky that within these past 15 years, I’ve been able to create my own alternatives to help keep my own sanity amongst a music industry that can make anyone lose their mind. I’ve been able to join female crews and build my own network of friends who would support me and other women. I’ve been able to find folks who have helped me out over the years during the most challenging times by providing me outlets and spaces to speak my peace and express my art. These spaces were safe that gave me a place to be real with myself, to know that I can be whoever I am. I am thankful for these spaces within Hip-Hop. I am thankful for these Hip-Hop folks that help make these spaces happen. These Hip-Hop folks are women, male allies and other allies in our communities.

However, there comes a time, where we need to stand up to the spaces and the people that don’t make help create these spaces either. There comes a time to stand up to the people that create elitist spaces, not making room for others to speak, share and be part of it. Especially, when these spaces claim to be Hip-Hop and make no room for women to be part of it. There comes a time where we as women have a right to claim these spaces, because women have been part of Hip-Hop since day one.

But like I am in other times that I speak up against something I am not right with, I am in fear of the repercussions. I am in fear of being attacked. I am fear of the literal physical attack that can happen when speaking out. I am also in fear that people will think that I am trying to be about me. Because it’s not about me. This isn’t about me trying to get a gig. Sorry, that’s not on my agenda. I’m not someone bitter that I didn’t get an opportunity to get my shine on. This is about my sisters, this is about us having a voice, about us having talent too. This is about the shine for all of us. This is for all my sisters out there who are practicing everyday. This is for the movement that Barbara, Eve, Lady Pink, Mercedes Ladies, Lady B, Sweet Tee, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Sista Souljah, Wanda Dee, Jazzy Joyce, Roxanne Shante, Pebblee Poo, started long before me, so that we can be put on too. This for all of them who are still doing it today. And this is about women today, who are doing their thing. I have witnessed Queen Godis, Mystic, Medusa, Anomolies, Abeer, Maria Isa, Eternia, Jean Grae, Bahamadia, Miki Vale, Apani B Fly, Bless Roxwell, Sara Kana, DJ Killa Jewel, Tyra from Saigon, DJ Shortee, DJ Chela, Pam the Funktress to the La Femme Deadly Venoms… and this list goes on and on and on and on and on. Too many to name. And I’m sad that I can’t list them all. Because we are out there and we exist. And it is for this reason that I must speak. I have learned from Audre Lorde – “your silence will not save you.”

So, come on, male promoters – you know who you are. I highly suggest to all the men within Hip-Hop to read male privilege check-list and etc. I suggest if you don’t know, you google it and educate yourself. I also suggest our male allies in Hip-Hop to stand up with us. It is not enough that you acknowledge that this goes on within Hip-Hop. If you know it does, then let a promoter know they should even out the line-up. Refer other women artists. Invite female artists on your showset to get some shine. BUT don’t tokenize us either! Also, check your male friends backstage who mistreat women. Invite us to your practice sessions, but don’t make us feel uncomfortable by making us look like rare creatures or putting us up on some pedastal or treating us like trophies or prized possessions. Don’t intimidate us by your male chauvinisms, machoisms and egotisms. But don’t think we’re gentle and demure either. Don’t victimize us or romanticize some notion that you’re going to save us. Because at the end of the day, we been always fighting our own battles. With or Without you, we have done it, made it, claimed it and taken it. We’re strong, we got a mind of our own and we got skillz. We don’t fit into any label or category because we are all shapes and sizes. We are like Hip-Hop, fluid in what what say, think, do, feel, wear, and etc… We are anything and everything we imagine ourselves to be, so don’t package us into what you envision us to be. We have our own visions and dreams.

As far as for us, women, I don’t think I really need to tell you much. You already know what we are coming into because you feel it and you are experiencing it. However, I will just say for the sake of saying – We, women, we need to just continue to come together. I say continue, because we are a movement been happening. We have been coming together long before my crew Anomolies and long before Mercedes Ladies. We have been standing together, rising up together, teaching each other, learning from one another and we need to continue to do so because we are standing at a time where we are at the crossroads. The world is going chaotic and the earth is speaking to us to stay united. And if we women hold up half the sky, we’re going to have to continue keeping it balanced by staying at peace amongst each other, loving one another and being in unity with one another. We need to acknowledge our differences, value them, and talk about our intersections. We need to talk about the things that are complexed and come out with our own plan of actions. We need to support those who are speaking out for us, voicing themselves at the risk of losing everything. We need to help each other in our crafts to progress, we need to create spaces for more women, transgender and non-conforming genders to be included, we need to check each other in our perpetuation of patriarchal-thinkings and check the men that do it to us.

So, as I close this open letter…. I close it with saying in the words of my friend’s Dead Prez’s words “It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop…”, because we all know that this is all bigger than Hip-Hop. And I’m not just talking about the genre of music, for we all know that sexism exists everywhere. However, I am saying that this is bigger than Hip-Hop, because this is not just about women being in the picture. It’s about respect. And like Hip-Hop, being about gaining respect, we too, be it a woman Hip-Hop head or not, that’s all we want too. Respect.

with love, peace and respect
DJ Kuttin Kandi

p.s. also a big shout out to DJ MarkLuv for your allyship in writing this piece as well!

For many years now, decades really, the issue of "illegal immigration" has been weighing down on the shoulders of many families and individuals in the United States and Mexico. I have perhaps a difficult opinion at best. Meaning, that I have seen both sides of this coin up close. I have friends who are "illegal immigrants" and I have friends who have lost jobs to "illegal immigrants."

My best friends husband, we will call him Mark, lost his job to an "illegal immigrant" willing to take half the salary of what Mark was getting paid as a construction foreman. In fact, Mark worked alongside many "illegal immigrants" who were paid a pittance in comparison to their legal counterparts. Mark had a great appreciation for the hard work that his "illegal" co-workers would put out for such low pay and expressed concern that they were being exploited. However, Mark became conflicted when his own job was taken away because his boss wanted to capitalize on the smaller payout that an "illegal immigrant" was willing to work for. Mark now believes that perhaps "illegal immigrants" do have some agency in their situation.

On the other hand, I worked with an intern a few years back, an "illegal immigrant" brought to the states as a small child by her parents, we will call her Jill. Jill has been here since she was a toddler. She has no memories of her birth country and has never been there. Her parents were deported when she was a teenager and now she is having trouble getting into a college and getting a job. Even though Jill is not quite sure if she will qualify she has risked her freedom and has taken chances of deportation to openly participate in pushing for The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (also know as: The "DREAM Act"). According to DREAM Act Portal: "The DREAM Act is a bipartisan legislation ‒ pioneered by Sen. Orin Hatch [R-UT] and Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] ‒ that can solve this hemorrhaging injustice in our society. Under the rigorous provisions of the DREAM Act, qualifying undocumented youth would be eligible for a 6 year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service."

Are you "illegal" when you are crossing a man-made border from which alien colonizers created in your native land to justify committing genocide on your people for hundreds of years? I just find that hard to swallow.

But the truth is that presently when people work "illegally" they are taking away jobs from other people, people who support the DREAM Act and agree that "illegal immigrants" are being exploited, people who need to support their children just as much as the "illegal" worker.

BUT... While we are bogged down debating these two realities. Are we not overlooking the fact that these are merely symptoms of a much larger problem, the inability for Mexico to sustain a healthy citizenry and the fatal role that the United States has played in this fact? And, when Mexican citizens are fighting for the right to be citizens of the United States, they are not fighting for the right to have a Mexican government free from corruption, for the people, by the people in Mexico (and if they are, that is never made clear).

The first time I answered the question, “Nice to meet you. What do you do?” with the complete, whole truth I found it hard to breathe. I waited to see the faces change, the hand pull away. That was because, until that moment, when I first met people, I never revealed my full job description. To my relief, no one attacked me, judged me, or even looked at me strangely. I didn’t lie, but I definitely had perfected a watered down, vague answer, a safe answer, to that dreaded question. However this time, taking a deep breath, I declared proudly, “I work in women’s reproductive healthcare. I am a business manager for offices that provide reproductive health care and we specialize in abortion care.” Huge sigh of relief.

Why I couldn’t just say this from the beginning was something that I had reflected on constantly since my job had transformed into a career. I was certainly not embarrassed about what I had chosen to do every day for a living. In fact, in direct contrast, I was (and am) proud to put my values in action working in a field about which I care deeply and for a cause I believe in, heart and soul. However, my beliefs regarding women’s healthcare did not form based on the field I work in, but rather from where I grew up.

It's been too long since I've posted and for that I sincerely apologize. I recently graduated with my BA (badass) degree in English and Women's Studies and have been hxc looking for jobs. My frustration with the search thus far can be summed up with the song "T.G.I.F." by Le Tigre.

Speaking of Le Tigre, this post is about badass music-womyn and was inspired by a band one of my friends (Ryan Lescure of Moonbeams) shared with me + a conversation another friend and I had about all-girl bands. The conversations were about a reemergence of the riot grrrl aesthetic (this time a little more washed out) & the band was Brilliant Colors from San Francisco.


Brilliant Colors is a sugar-coated garage band with a new LP, Introducing, out on Slumberland records (which also reissued Chin-Chin's Sounds of the Westway back in April). Their sound is poppy but gritty, melodic but atonal, and pretty C-86 evocative with a modern spin. Pitchfork put it best when they described the Bay Area band's LP as a balance between "punk toughness and twee tenderness" (album review here). Check out the video below for "English Cities."



Another grrrl-band I took a liking to is less popular but >/= the radness of Brilliant Colors. With the name La La Vasquez (you know, like the MTV correspondent) they clearly have a sense of humor as well. The UK band incorporates surf rock guitar riffs and chant-style vocals, AND they have a blog, The Dairy Queen, featuring TONS of feminist art and grrrl bands (going on the blog roll NOW). Plus they all kinda look like me...


One of my favorites from this list is Trash Kit (blog here) on Upset the Rhythm, the same label that's issued records by High Places and Xiu Xiu. They are more punk than the previous bands, in sound and presentation (although they are probably best categorized as no-wave, post-punk). And Rachel Agg's guitar playing is off the chain, inspired by African fingerstyle patterns. Trash Kit's instrumentation is rich with chaotic punctuation and their lyrics are sincere and inspirational. Oh yeah and Ros Murray used to be in Electrelane. Check out their video for "Cadets" below.

Trash Kit - Cadets from Upset The Rhythm on Vimeo.

Another kick-ass grrrl band that you may have seen on the flier at the beginning of this post is Malatang Machine. Self-described as a noisy punk band, this Paris-based trio's sound is even less polished or poppy than the previous bands but is deliciously abrasive. See for yourself in the video below.

What did I do to deserve this reemergence in conscious grrrl-bands sticking it to the man? Like the riot grrrl bands of the 90s, these chicas are tough and in-your-face...and oftentimes ferociously feminine. I'll leave you with a video from southern California locals and bubblegum scuzz grrrl-band pioneers, Dum Dum Girls. This is "Bhang Bhang" from Dum Dum Girls' first full-length album, I Will Be.

I am a mother and when I see Oscar Grant get shot, that is my son! When I see this young girl get punched in the face by that grown man, that is my daughter! And I will not let police brutalize, abuse and kill our sons and daughters without a fight.

So, you’re in love.  I understand.  And s/he’s amazing, I know, we’ve most of us been there.  You share an indescribable connection of the heart and soul, a connection you’d soon like to develop into heart, body, and soul.  Yes, most of us have been there, too.  First, though, you have the “talk,” and then s/he tells you those three little words… I have HPV.

Unfortunately, more and more of us are, or will be, similarly situated yet again. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States.  According to the CDC, 80% of American women will be infected with HPV by age 50.  There are over 100 types of HPV, thusly named because some types can cause warts (a.k.a. papillomas) on different areas of the body, including the sexy parts.  Speaking of which, according to the CDC, at least 50% of sexually active people will be infected with genital HPV, over 6 million new cases per year.  Over 30 types of HPV can be transmitted through some kind of sexual contact (including all your best moves, original recipe to extra spicy).  Two types of HPV cause 90% of genital warts cases, and another two cause 75% of cervical cancer cases.

There are likely to be just as many reasons HPV is so prolific as there are terrifying statistics I just threw at you.  For example, there is no test for men, no treatment which eliminates it, and most infections go undetected because there are often no symptoms.  Vaccines are only (so far) FDA-approved for young people (under 26), and most effective when given prior to any sexual contact.  The virus is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, meaning condoms are effective, but not as effective as with other viruses (i.e., HIV).  A person’s body can usually fight the infection, mostly within a year or two; however, the persistent virus can cause cancer.  With that in mind, let’s get back to your intractable situation.

When a friend of mine got married a few years ago, we joked that she and her new husband should take every opportunity available to consummate their new marriage.  Our goal?  For her not to have to be deployed to Iraq.  As a member of the armed forces, we knew that if she got pregnant, she wouldn’t have to go and wouldn’t be placed in harm’s way.  What we didn’t consider was what getting pregnant would have cost her in advancing her military career.

Getting pregnant in the military is a difficult situation for our servicewomen for a multitude of reasons.  First, her pregnancy could get her court-marshaled and possibly discharged, depending on her commander’s policy, as evidenced by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo’s policy in northern Iraq.  At the very least, she risks her ability to move up the ranks in a military system that is already difficult for women to ascend.  One of the options not currently available to a servicewoman is the ability to safely terminate her pregnancy while she is on a military base, either within the US borders, where abortions are legal, or in other countries, where access to abortion may be restricted by that country’s laws.  Because of restrictions in U.S. law, servicewomen are unable to go to military hospitals and have an abortion performed safely, even if it’s with their own money.  Until recently, these women even had difficulty with getting consistent access to emergency contraception, which had not been previously considered a medication important enough to be carried at all military facilities.  In essence, the very citizens protecting our freedoms against those who oppose the freedoms enjoyed by Americans, are unable to exercise a right they risk their lives to protect.

While there is currently new legislation being proposed that would allow for privately-funded abortions at military facilities, this situation is a reminder that access to abortion is only part of a larger framework of reproductive justice.