As I am now revisiting Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins--in the last few breaths of summer at which point I have nothing new to read, my mind turns towards an analysis of my self and of me within the context of the kind of wonderful critical discussion that Dr. Hill Collins carries out in this book concerning all aspects of life for Afro-American women and how Black feminist scholarship applies to this. I am a gay, Afro-American male, a progressive, radical thinker, a nonconformist, and a person who is dedicated to the struggle to end all forms of oppression and hegemony. As such, I am perhaps the most uncomplimentary person to the white male power structure, along the lines of such powerful and beautiful figures as Audre Lorde and June Jordan, my forbears. The task then becomes, how to overcome the oppressions with which we are burdened--how to combat and eradicate the negative imagery that is imposed upon all of us who are colored at birth, and those of us who choose not to comply with the rules and standards of a racist, sexist society.

At birth, I was refused because the color of my skin and my classification as an Afro-American. Automatically, I was pushed into that place among the Western/ Euro hierarchy where, as Jimmy Baldwin puts it, I was "blacker than sin, black as night, etc, etc." Later, as I developed into a personality and developed passions, interests,desires, I was once again, in a most brutal fashion, told that I was wrong-- and the game of surviving the brute force with which the power structure with which we daily exist became that which honed my skills of survival, of existence. This is the nature of playing the game of politics, and the personal is political--especially for those who do not fit into the ideal constructed by the white/male power structure.I can only imagine how other individuals have dealt with these realities in their own lives. The entire cycle of life that we each go through is a process of finding trying to find out who we are, to carve out identities, and to have those identities validated-- that is the human struggle and that is the ultimate thing that people strive for. To find validation. While I am still searching for many things, I think one thing that has saved me and that perhaps sets me apart from most is that I have my validation. I have always had it-- it is one thing that I do not need to search for. Now, in the nature of hierarchies, white people have their validation--which is called white privilege-- which leaves the rest trying to scramble to make up for that apparent "lack." This is the nature of oppression and of hierarchal structures. Everyone should be validated, and everyone should recieve the validation they need to go through life. As most don't, this is where the real stick of things come through in regards to humanity. This is the result of oppression and hegemony. However,I am of the belief that everyone CAN be validated and should be. I don't believe it is necessary to want or covet what others have, or to devalue one(s) self or one's community in the wake of some kind of ideal that is placed before you or that is spoonfed to entire societies. Everyone should have a knowledge of themselves, a sense of themself, and enough of that spark to muster through to achieve a sense of security and sufficiency in life. I am very glad that, despite being open and aware of three types of oppression--as an Afro-American male who likes men, and who also exist as a radical, progressive thinker, that, perhaps the reason for my development in this fashion, that I have known who I am and therefore don't require anyone else's validation. Not of my humanity. That was and has been instilled in me, from whatever force-- my forbears, my ancestors, whomever-- but it has been with me, and therefore I have been able to totally reject and refuse the dehumanization that is sent my way by the forces of oppression and hegemony. I feel in sync with myself, as to who I am. There are things I want, there are things I desire, there are things that I aim for and want to achieve. But I know who I am, and that is all there really is to do. Know who you are.