So the topic has been coming up a lot lately and I've been seeing confused faces left and right about it. What is cultural appropriation? It's just hair, right? Just clothes with fancy patterns, its just jewelry. So I am going to do my best at explaining what cultural appropriation is and give my opinion on why and how my people get offended by it.
So first off, cultural appropriation at its most basic definition is when one culture adopts elements from another. America is a melting pot of diverse cultures and people and a lot of time the cultures rub off on one another. Which in a lot of ways can be a good thing. Cultural appropriation, however, is an issue, a very complicated issue, but an issue nonetheless. I think that part of it depends on the context, and keep in mind that this is a subjective issue, a lot of us might not agree. Even still, people are being offended so it needs to be addressed and understood.
I was served lemons...but I made lemonade....not until I saw Jay Z's grandmother speak these word's in Beyoncé's new visual album did I actually understand the concept of this phrase. For me the phrase has always been just something to say, I'd never actually put thought into it or tried to evaluate it. So I am thinking that this phrase lends itself to say that lemons are something negative. Sour. And lemonade is something positive and sweet. It is a simple concept so don't think I'm patting myself on the back or anything for just now getting this. But I get it, I do. We, all of us, are given some type of hardship and it is sort of our responsibility to try and make something good out of it. Out of everything.
I have been dragging my feet for a while now on starting to blog because I am a little OCD. It was starting to look like I would never start and Wednesday was the day I said I would start. It is now Sunday and I am releasing myself from my slight disorder and saying what the hell. I figure I can start off a little bad and develop over time. Feel me?
So here it is, my first blog post. Things may change over time as far as layout, the link, the header etc. but for now here I am! I recently went to New York Fashion Week and got really inspired by the Quann twins (urbanbushbabes.com) - I was thinking to myself...well we sort of share a name, both black, both have big hair, both human, both love fashion so why couldn't I do what they do? So here I am going for it (feedback welcomed btw).
Without further ado (that’s how you spell it, I googled it)... my first blog post is going to be a closet post. Meaning, I am going to talk about a personal outfit. I promise, all of my post won't be full of narcissism.
