The Power Of Our Sisters: Melissa Harris-Perry

On Friday, 6 July 2012, the Essence Festival in New Orleans Louisiana presented a magnificent forum in the Ernest Morial Convention Center. The theme of todays presentation was, The Power Of Our Family and Love. The most influential speaker of the day was Melissa Harris-Perry. Dr Perry grew up in New Orleans and is a Tulane University professor, as well as a host of one of the forums on MSNBC. The focus of todays presention by Dr Perry was the unfortunate, sterotypical labels attached to Black women of America. These labels define black women in three categories; (1) the hypersexual Jezebel, (2) the Mamie, that is constantly focused on someone elses needs, and (3) the "Angry Black Woman". First Lady Michelle Obama has been criticized for her attire, her public comments and her decision -- after a career as a lawyer and businesswoman -- to focus on being "mom in chief" to the couple's two daughters, rather than being honored for her unique beauty and straight-forward approach to being a wife and mother. As a wife and mother of a 10-year old daughter, Harris-Perry defines the perceived role of black women being, "in a crooked room and trying to find the straight up-and-down." In her studies, she defines this attitude as being the typical "mamie-role". That perception has been accepted widely in the US, so much so, that many young women model this behavior and never fulfill their true potential in life. "When we think of ourselves as citizens, we actually begin to stand up straight," she added. "No matter what negative stereotypes exist, we have the right to stand in the fullness of who we are in the middle of the American story ... and to say, 'The violence against who we are stops here.'" The author of several books and academic articles, including the recently released "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America," Harris-Perry was among a slate of featured speakers during the annual "empowerment seminars." Dr.Harris-Perry encouraged black women to look to Michelle Obama's example in their efforts to correct the "crooked images" that society has cast upon them. In her official portrait,Michelle Obama stands garbed in a black sleeveless dress and a double strand of pearls, her weight resting on her right hip as she stands at a table in front of a portrait of Thomas Jefferson. "If there is any one American president with whom African-American women are still working something out, it is Thomas Jefferson," Harris Perry said, noting that evidence has shown that the nation's third president fathered children with Sally Hemings, a slave at his Monticello plantation. Obama's decision to have her portrait cast to include Jefferson's likeness "is making a claim on history, about a willingness and a right to stand in any space that is ours as Americans". In a nod to honoring black women on their own terms, Harris Perry also paid tribute to Hemings, who, she said, "did the most extraordinary thing that any enslaved woman could ever do: she got freedom for every single one of her children."

Paul Mooney was also on the bill during the performance on 7/6/2012 at the "W" Hotel, in New Orleans. This event was concurrent to the 2012 Essence Festival Celebration.

Dick Gregory: Essence Festival 2012

We had the pleasure of attending a performance of satirecle wit and artistic excellence in the form of Dick Gregory, on the evening of 7/6/2012. This event was held at the "W" Hotel in New Orleans, La.