H2Omeloncholy: Ummm...brella

VOGUE copyright Conde Nast

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The following ain't a blog post. It can't be. To do so seems to miss the point. The tone has been set, not for extensive tomes, but simplest gestures of minimal effort.

Ay, my gentlesoulfolk, I speak of the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show. And this surprises me more than any other - being no patron, in the least, of the NFL, and benevolently neutral on Rihanna. But sum'in was clear as revelatory last night.

My personal bent of black feminism is to witness black womanhood as not the 'backbone' of our respective communities but more of the sternum. I long to see us leave the Democratic Party to save its own donkey ass or leave the additional emotional labor assumed of our existence to those who insidiously extract it. That, to me, is the real revolution - when self-care is our central domain and we fly thru life as the TSA instructs: "Putting our own mask on first before tending to others".

You may notice there is no photo here. You can locate the imagery yo'self. It is intentionally underwhelming anyway. Rihanna had no costume changes and limited choreography to accommodate her pregnancy. Perhaps. Her dancers did all the work. Cloaked in the shade of what is blank. She was likely wearing a nursing bra beneath her Scarlet A...nsemble. To be a black woman is to walk thru society with that damning letter. Our act of 'adultery' is in the audacity of our existence; our mere being breaks the 'sacred' union of patriarchy and white supremacy.

Rihanna did not give 100 percent. Her range was 80-85. According to cell phone experts, that lesser amount is the sweet spot for charging a healthy battery. Rihanna was cheeky in her 'check' of otherwise acclaimed performances that have recently grappled with the presentation of social justice issues on NFL 'turf'. How to do so satisfactorily? How does an engaged agent-of-change express their own ambivalence RE: their presence possibly capitulating to further capitalist oppression?

Rihanna's answer: You don't break a damn sweat. You show up - right where and how you are. You let your belly-full-of-baby hang; you don't bother with special guests or even one sequin to titillate the camera angle nor 'expectant' audience at home. When you know you have nuttin' to prove? Ya don't. Rihanna is suggesting sum'in profound that we are each now challenged to ponder: the new 'resistance' may just be to underwhelm, honorably hanging back your best. For no one else but you. Her entire posture seemed to put the average, suspected NFL viewer on notice. Rihanna had been here before. This was the same women who returned home to Barbados with the sole purpose of bidding British monarchy farewell. (Then)Prince Charles bowed out as the ~~new~~ affirmed republic officially declared her 'national hero', complete with title, "Right Excellent". Hence, the most astonishing feat of 'black excellence' may indeed be inhabiting the self-possession to stand on the most hyped world stage. To yawn. And then go home, to breastfeed.

a clever as compassionate critique

on the implausibility

of POSTness

Til our next 'post', feast upon produce in season...

CV

Monday, February 13, 2023

Ummm...brella

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