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Clearly Comparing Blackface to Drag is Both Racist & Homophobic

It has come to my attention that a few of you claim to need someone to explain the very basic principle of how the comparison between blackface and drag is simultaneously racist AND homophobic. Do I believe that you are actually convinced that this trumpian-era style of rhetoric is ok? No. Do I think you aim to put two (what you perceive to be) minority groups against one another in an Oppression Olympics? Yes. Nonetheless, I am going to humor you with a very calm, structural, evidence-based explanation of how the comparison between drag shows and blackface is clearly nothing more than an excuse to be both racist and homophobic at the same time.  1) Blackface, alone and with no other assistance, is already a racist concept.  Clearly, it promotes untrue stereotypes, inaccurate representations of AAVE, offensive wardrobes, and dangerous rhetoric that holds in place two centuries worth of oppression and systemic barriers.  Black people are teachers, preachers, lawyers, doctors, fire
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Dear Dana - A Letter to the Caledonia Record in Response to Editor's Divisive Commentary

My dearest Dana, Please allow me to begin with a personal introduction, composed (mostly) of the facts you won’t be able to two-finger tap into Google. My name is Jacqueline and I am a voting, tax paying, St. Johnsbury resident. Shockingly: I am actually one who, on occasion, will pay the meager fee to read your paper. Unfortunately, this is how I recently came across a purposefully divisive and inflammatory article about Drag Story Hour at the Athenaeum.  Among other responsibilities, I have the title of Writer. I maintain a personal blog that sees as much website traffic in thirty days as Caledonian Record garners all year. What’s my point? I’m glad you asked, Senior Editor. As a writer, I understand that I (we) have a responsibility -  especially as a REPORTER - to provide the facts without bias. However, shockingly, even with so many years of hyperlocal experience: you have yet to figure that out.  Instead of reporting the date, time, and title of the event, you decided to highligh
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Beneath the Surface - A Black Paper on Vermont’s Most Diverse City

As a note, this letter was read before the Burlington, Vermont City Council on August 14, 2023 in opposition to an unnecessary and unjustified audit on the Former Director of Race, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging, Tyeastia Green.  Beneath the Surface - A Black Paper on Vermont’s Most Diverse City  Please allow me to begin by congratulating the City’s marketing team for a job well done. For many years this City has had a reputation for being one of America’s most diverse and welcoming communities.  We All Belong campaigns. All Are Welcome Here signs. BIPOC this and BIPOC that. The list goes on.  You have impeccably curated the image of America’s liberal utopia, which in essence, is exactly the role of the marketing team.  Job well done. However, what is happening beneath the surface? Beneath the surface  you have multiple police chiefs who create social media accounts to target residents. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/burlington-police-jan-wright-twitter.html ) Beneath the
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My Last Plea as a Black Vermonter - A Very Open Letter

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I write this note feeling simultaneously heavy-hearted and freed. September 16, 2023 would have been five years that I have lived in this state.   Five years since I left my life in Mississippi thinking NO PLACE could be more racist (tuh). Five years of serving on multiple civic boards that claim they want equity, but build walls in the face of progression. Five years of being called racial slurs with no one to protect me from it and no one to check their white supremacist friends. Five years of confederate flags, don’t tread on me flags, and strategically placed Donald Dump paraphernalia. Five years of watching MANY of my friends and their very young Black children suffer from the same mental anguish I have experienced while existing as a Black person in Vermont. September 16, 2023 should be a time for celebration. Instead, it is a time for reflection as I leave the state to pursue equity work in a place that actually wants it. You may note that within this introduction I have not ref
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