The Black
Woman Think Tank.
21 August ·
Edited
CASE STUDY.
When Sisterhood Ain’t Sisterly; JEALOUSY, LIES
and FOOLISHNESS in the Facebook BWE Community.
.............................................................................
As I have mentioned several times before, The
Black Woman Think Tank. uses everyday realities as teaching materials, from
which to glean insight and advantages in Life. We routinely analyze current
events, political and social upheavals, personal experiences and everyday
occurrences. In the spirit of that endeavor, I have given my group permission
to study everything and everyone, and I have even offered my own experiences,
and my own journey, as subject matter to deconstruct and critique, so that my
members and I can learn more knowledge about the world us.
I am going to share with my readers, what I
have personally learned, from the CASE STUDY, that is Breukelen Bleu and the
Black Woman Empowerment Movement. What I say here, is my best and most honest
account of what I have learned about people, Black Women and Life, thus far in
my own journey. This should not be seen as strange, as I have shared other
personal accounts of my journey in other threads.
My page, is NOT a BWE platform in the
traditional sense. While many of my beliefs, stances and suggestions align with
traditional BWE thought, my message has a distinct purpose and agenda and any
member of group can attest to the stark differences they encounter as they
engage me personally, and the membership of my Think Tank. I have indeed, been
influenced by BWE writings, bloggers and followers and have credited many of
them for their impact on my perspectives and ideas. But while I will always
honor those who have touched my understanding with their messages and concepts,
I will always credit my teachings in Dark Goddess for the giving me the
greatest understanding about life, which allows me to share with others, my
Wisdom and Knowledge. Despite how much my ideals overlap with BWE philosophy,
the principles upon which I built this space, are born out of DARK WISDOM and
my teachings in Dark Goddess are the foundations on which I deliver my message.
Those women have traveled my Dark Goddess journey with me know exactly what I
am talking about.
I have been VERY open about my path to The
Black Woman Think Tank., and have left no room for conjecture or theory about
who and what I am. At the launch of my fan page, I posted the following piece,
which described, in GREAT DETAIL, exactly what led me to create the Think Tank.
The BWE bloggers who first started to address
the issues that BW face almost a decade ago, each also had their own journey,
which influenced the particular focus of their platforms. And while I am familiar with many of
the founding members of BWE, I have not read each their blogs, cover to cover,
nor am I aware of their entire timeline and history in the movement. I have,
though, over the years, read articles on a case by case basis, usually after I
had written something on a page, thread or post, and someone else posted a link
to said article that said something similar to what I had written. Over the
years, I became familiar with the various names, philosophies, viewpoints and
agendas of the bloggers out there, white at the same time, my OWN ideas,
perspectives and Wisdom grew. But it was my Dark Goddess teachings – the many
hours I spent in classes, tele courses, book studies and ritual…along with the
money I invested, the time I spent and the challenges I faced, as I embraced a
new way of thinking…that pushed forward my personal evolution.
I do not subscribe to any one philosophy or
ideal, and I give myself permission to incorporate any line of thinking that I
choose, that serves the agenda of my group and those women who are looking for
what I have to offer. My work embraces Feminist thought - but is not beholden
to it. I support IRR dating/marriage, but its not the only focus. I touch on
politics and social justice, but its not where my message stops. My overall
theme is to get black women to come FACE TO FACE with their own demons, just as
I did in my Dark Goddess journey, by questioning their MORAL and ETHICAL
beliefs about themselves, Men and Life, in general.
Unfortunately, little did I know, that by
doing so, I would begin the see the TRUTH about the BWE Movement and come to
recognize the reason why black women REALLY stay losing up in this bitch; a
reason that has little do with black men, white supremacy or ‘the system’.
During my 9 months as the founder and facilitator of The Black Woman Think
Tank., I have experienced more angst, negativity, jealousy, confusion and
outright HATRED from women WITHIN the BWE movement, than I ever have from the
women that used to give me such flack on other peoples’ FB threads. I have been
amazed at the speed in which women who once supported me, admired me, and
sought comradery with me, TURNED on me, and became the most vicious, nasty,
chics I have every come across. Within weeks of starting my own thing, women
who’s platforms I had supported, suddenly seemed to have a change of heart,
about the value and worth of what I had so say. And I have watched as many of
these same women have fallen off, one by one, some even going as far as to
black and ban me without notice or provocation.
I have been
surprised, caught off guard and even perplexed, by the sudden level of vitriol
and nastiness I have encountered, by women who once sought me out as for
personal counsel, bonding and friendship – women who CLAIM to be all about he
“empowerment’ and Sisterhood of Black Women. And as the months have rolled by,
I encountered more and more foolishness the likes which I will detail, here…
BWE Foolishness Roll Call:
1. Passive aggressive accusations of THIEVERY
and STEALING from other BWE FB pages.
2. Accusations of ‘stealing’ of overall
platform messages and personal delivery styles.
3. Gossip and rumors about my intentions.
4. Accusations of pilfering of memes,
information and stats from others peoples pages.
5. Back alley (negative) discussions about
what may or may be taking place within my group.
6. Folk laying claim as “The Force’ behind my
Think Tank – and expecting to wield power within it, because of it.
7. Less creative/talented/savvy
personas, attempting to use me and FEED off of my creative impetus, to launch
their own projects and brands.
8. Admonishments for making ‘alliances’ with
personas/brands with sordid pasts or tainted histories within the movement.
9. Attempts to discredit my name, my
ideas, my platform or my agenda.
10. Nice/nastiness from those who dislike me
and what I’ve done, but are not Woman enough to address me personally, opting
instead to do so on other peoples pages, platforms and threads.
11. Negative commentary about my
being a PAID host of a PRIVATE venture dedicated to the healing and growth of
black women.
12. Speculation about my real
identity and the trustworthiness of my message.
13. Accusations of my not ‘honoring’
or ‘crediting’ the founders of the BWE movement in my writings or opinions.
14. Anger at my unwillingness to get caught up
in the pre-exiting politics and nasty feelings between older BWE bloggers.
15. Lots of private in boxed
discussions about me, my group and my audacity to emerge on the scene without
expressed permission of those who were already there.
16. Negative commentary about the
rates I charge for membership to my group.
17. Assumptions that I charge for
what others do for free.
18. Questioning of my personal and
professional credentials.
19. Suspicions about my absence from
past BWE groups, pages or blogs.
20. “Neutral’ commentary about my not
having been properly ‘vetted’ by existing BWE figure heads.
Initially, this cattiness and pushback took me
aback, as I was unprepared for the amount of UNSISTERLY-LIKE behavior that
revealed itself, the MOMENT I started to do my own thing on Facebook. The thing
that got me the most, was that NONE of these things happened when I was writing
page long commentary on OTHER PEOPLES pages, threads and post. It was only
after I started my OWN platform, coupled with my audacity of having the balls
to CHARGE for my Wisdom, that I began hearing about all these personal,
professional and character flaws I supposedly had.
On a personal level, I have avoided any deep
feelings of resentment or angst about my treatment by those whose entire
purpose online is SUPPOSED to be Sisterly Love.
But what gets me about all of this, is that it
has really shown me WHY black women STAY LOSING IN GENERAL. I can see, that
while Becky’an’Em band together, and create not only social and philosophical
movements, but also POLITICAL and ECONOMIC ones, Black Women cant get 3 steps
past GO!, because of our unwillingness to treat the next BW with respect and
work IN TANDEM to achieve common goals. In the end, the harsh truth that I have
had to face, that is that the greatest obstacle to the development and
ascension of Black Women- is BLACK WOMEN. And it only reinforces my original
premise, that the ONLY way some BW will WIN! will be to set themselves apart
(even from other seemingly like minded Sistas) and fend for self.
Listen - for all those who read this page,
follow my posts and navigate my presence in Facebook, just know that I don’t
care about any of the politics of the BWE, and I dont give a shit about any of
the pre-existing rivalries and controversies between different factions in the
movement. The principles upon which my message is built precludes me from
caring about any of that mess. Black Womens' inability to show respect and
admiration for any woman who can be perceived as a threat is crazy and is
little more than another sad example of why WE STAY LOSING. I dont get
personally caught up in any of this foolishness because i dont care about any
of it. This shit is part and parcel of why BW stay losing in the first place,
and I simply use it as a case study for what NOT to do in my own life.
But for the record, I have been VERY
supportive of other women who write about Black Womens issues and have
acknowledged them MANY TIMES in my writings - much more than most are willing
to openly acknowledge me. All one has to do is scroll through my fan page and
see it all in black and white. Whats more interesting thing than my supposed
unwillingness to honor other bloggers and writers, is the fact that i have
given credit to those women who have directly influenced me in my journey- even
when I didn't have to. I have continued to support and share the works of those
Sistas who I am currently not on the best terms with, and have not hesitated to
post, share or promote those women whose works have merit, even if our personal
FB relationship is strained. And even when some have benefitted from MY
commentary in the past, having NEVER given ME any credit or acknowledgement;
even when they took MY shit, and put in on memes and on posts on their sites
and pages, WITHOUT my permission and WITHOUT my consent, i have never shitted
on them or called them out or accused them publically of any wrong doing.
But one sided loyalty has many faces. A fact
that is not lost on me, now.
So, as I close out, just know that my thoughts
are my own, and any similarity to better known writers is simply the organic
results of the flow of any ideas, reaching out amongst people over time. I had
been writing heavily on these topics before I even knew about many of the
veteran BWE bloggers, which is why I was so glad when I found so many like minded
women on FB, who I later learned had been influenced by said writers. My path
and my journey are mine, and I claim them without qualification and without
quantification.
Any association the Black Woman Think Tank.
has with other writers/bloggers is done on a case by case, article by article
basis. I don't agree with everything a blogger may say on every issue, and
there have been times when I co-signed what they have said on one day, and then
used what they said to start dialogue about how I DISAGREE on a different
topic, the next. I am not locked into ANYTHING and I made this clear in my
explanation of Dark Wisdom thread.
NONE of this shit is personal for me -
although I am finding that is *IS* personal for many of the others in this
game. All this political stuff that goes on is simply more foolishness that
keeps black women losing, and I REFUSE to honor any of it by participating in
it – and this will be the LAST time I address it. My allegiance is to NO ONE.
My alliances are where *I* say they are, for as long as *I* say, for the
reasons *I* say. Thats DARK WISDOM and it could give a shit about any of that
fake morality that others pretend to adhere to.
I do what I want. And I dont need permission
from nay a chic, OLD SCHOOL or newbie, to do it. And THAT is what separates
"empowerment' from SOVEREIGNTY. I am my Own Woman.
But If i did care, i would be very disheartened
by what I have seen from my fellow black women since starting my platform. I
would mourn the fact, that in the end, Sistas aint much different than the BM
they complain about or the WW they are jealous of. And I want my readers to
see, that this catty and passive aggressive, egotistical and silly shit, is WHY
our collective doesn’t ever really progress, and why, year after year, movement
after movement, we are STILL at Basic Empowerment 101. I am thankful for my
Dark Wisdom, because if I had any of my personal worth tied to being a part of
this cause, Id have folded up hurt and jaded, a long time ago.
That said, I will continue to write, share my
thoughts and expand my platform AS I SEE FIT. Those who benefit from it- great.
Those who dont;
Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.
I dont have any time for these High School
Mean Girls antics I see taking place in this 'movement'. It is BENEATH me, and
I will deal with it, accordingly. I just shake my head at most of this passive
aggressive, paranoid, accusatory and suspicious political posturing, amongst a
group of women who for the most part, STAY LOSING and in whom many seem to have
undiagnosed psychological and emotional issues. All this shit is just
so...pedestrian...to me. I got other shit to do.
But to my readers, learn from MY experience.
Use ME as Case Study. Look and see how in the end, Black Womens’ Sisterhood
aint Sisterly, at all.
Don’t be fooled.
One sided loyalty has MANY faces. And
sometimes it will look just like you.
-Breukelen
Bleu ©2014.
Christelyn Karazin disses Faith Dow
·
Unbelievable the
cattiness and jealousy I'm witnessing against BW ThinkTank because (I suspect)
she refuses to agree to cliquish, bully-in-the-yard behaviors. I know for a
fact some bloggers have suffered because they've refused to break ties with me
despite poison in their ears about how much I'm "anti-BWE." Anybody
with a grain of sense can look at my BODY OF WORK and know that is an utter
lie. Some of you ladies really need to EVALUATE what is REALLY going on, and
the TRUE AGENDA of persons who are COMMITTED to be divisive. Are those
individuals thriving? Are they happily coupled? Are the regularly employed or
running a thriving business or living hand to mouth? Do they own shit? No?
Folks talk about vetting, ya'll need to look at the lives of the folks causing
continued ire and stirring up trouble every three months. Bleu is talented,
thoughtful, and puts her business on the street to HELP others. She doesn't try
to make folks feel inferior so she can feel superior. Some of you all need to
check yourselves. Question anyone who demands you be a mindless sycophant when
they've got absolute SHIT going for them. Now you gossips can go tell THAT.
