First, for the free giveaway, I asked you: “Tell me how you found my site and what, if anything, you’ve taken away from it regarding black women, sexuality, living as a freelance writer, dating in New York or anything else. In short, why do YOU get down with the Funky Brown?” I promised to randomly select five FUNKY BROWN CHICK® readers from the comments section. Drum roll, please … The big winners are: Erica, Clara, Puma73, Ruth and Susie Kline. The latter, Susie, says: “I think it’s important for women of all ages to embrace their sexuality and to realize what a joy it can be. Young, old, single, involved … no one should ignore such an important piece of themselves!” Very well said, and ditto for men’s sexual health. Congrats Erica, Clara, Puma73, Ruth and Susie! You should each receive your free EdenFantasys swag bags shortly.
I read all the comments on the free giveaway post (as I do with every post). Carrie, a black woman from Texas who now lives in England said, said my writings about sex makes the topic a “normal” one that should be discussed. “The world needs to see more of it going on, not just in the black community but all the others that are shy about it!” Mydria wrote, “A lot of the topics you write about are so relevant for me, especially when it comes to my sexuality as a Black woman. You’ve made me feel more comfortable in my own skin.” Courtney said, “[I] like that your blog, while it centralizes black female sexuality, is also multi-cultural and does is not limited to one specific type of sexuality or gender.” I’m very proud that lovely people of all genders, sexes and race/ethnicities get down with the Funky Brown. Matthew — who is a friend and all-around kickass peach-skinned person — wrote: “I think of Funky Brown primarily as a personality (vivacious, positive, energetic, exploratory); then to the physical attributes; a woman; then black (I don’t know or her descent, just color and that color contains many continents); then height, weight, age range; and finally sexuality – straight (to be discussed). What I’ve taken away from this blog is, while cultural differences and their ideology/perspectives may differ – emotions and mannerisms (reactions) are strikingly similar; THAT is what connects us as humans [...]”
On a personal note, I have a personal request from everyone reading these words. Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Deanna Zandt, Lynne d Johnson and I have a proposal on SXSW’s panel picker. Here’s what’s going on … SXSW gives the community a voice in selecting programming for their Interactive festival taking place March 11 – 15, 2011 in Austin, TX. I think that’s a great idea! We’d like to present “People Power: Leveraging Personal Stories to Build Influence,” and we need your votes. Here’s what we’ve come up with:
Stories can build audiences, grow support for campaigns and change mainstream ideas about social issues. They can also alienate various communities, compromise business information confidentiality or damage brands. If social media has shown us anything, it’s that stories still matter. This panel will be a concrete conversation on how successful online personalities have managed their personal and professional lives using social media: telling authentic stories about our experiences, and using those stories to build powerful, engaged communities.
If you think this idea/panel has value, please vote for us! Here’s the link: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/7037. Once you’ve given it a thumbs up, a small bar on the site’s top may alert you to register if you haven’t already. Fret not. It’s painless, and they won’t spam you a bunch of email to punish you for participating. Deadline: Voting ends 11:59 CDT this Friday, August 27. Many thanks for your support!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Well… I will definitely vote for the proposal…great idea!!! :) But, I’m a little ticked off that I didn’t enter the contest… boooowooo! I must have missed the announcement… I crave giveaways! But, anyway congrats to everyone who won! And, for the record Twanna, I heard about funkybrownchick, when you did a spot on NPR. I was hooked then! Cheers
Thanks Miko! And, no worries, giveways pop up every now and then. Definitely participate for the next one! Can’t promise it will be sex toys again, but it will be something.
I found your blog while searching for”interracial” and loves how you write about sex
I am white male in NY. I always loved being with a black woman i think its so sexy black and white skin.I have great pick up lines when approaching a black woman.
Good luck with that.
Voted with pleasure!
THANK YOU
Would love your take on this – I was recently on NPR talking about interracial dating in Boston. A black woman had written into an advice column saying she was convinced she’d never find a man because she’s black. Like a lot of black women, she thinks race is her greatest obstacle to being in a relationship, let alone getting married. What do you think, Funky Brown?
Here’s the link to the blog I wrote about it (which includes a link on the NPR segment): http://bit.ly/cRhB1z
I don’t think black women — whether dating white men, black men, other women or whatever — are as doomed as the mainstream media would have us believe.
Jezebel interviewed me about this topic. Here are my thoughts:
“These stories [about single black women's plight] mention beauty, educational success and other positive attributes in passing. The articles’ emphasis is that we’re single, and that’s presented as a tragic fact [...] The real story is that conventional marriage as an institution is dying [...]“
Love your points, and totally agree! On another note, I keep meeting men, white men especially, who say they’d love to date black women. Just last night, a guy told me every white man he knows wants to date black women. Our chances are just as good as anyone else’s! The question is then, how good is anyone’s chances?
Interesting convo. Let me see if I am able to break this down regarding marriage and the black woman. First, I’m a 70s baby. So I grew up with black marriages, my grandmother, great aunts, my aunts @ so on. From the 40s, 50s, 60s and into the 70s black marriages thrived. Now, comes the 80s and 90s and with women liberation arrived problems. I believe it’s because the black male liberated also. Here’s my take:
1. Black families thrived and women of the 40s and so had more than one child. Many times the families were 7 kids and up. This posed economic hardships. Black males worked in factories etc. to raise those kids.
2.As the economy turned for the worse. Black women began to leave the household and go into the workforce. They went to school became nurses, teachers etc.
3.Black men however, stayed in the workforce, but started not to propose marriage. Nor did many of them go for higher education. So the black woman became educated and started to not to have more than two children.
4.Our relationships began to suffer because of this. Okay, I’m not using references here… just an overview of history (family history)—my personal account.
Now, we’re here in this day and age and we are looking at the institution of marriage and wondering what’s wrong with me? However, marriage (as Ms. Twanna pointed out) is dissolving and has numerous issues. What a great topic, I love this blog. :)
Twanna – how did you manage the transit shutdown last week? I was in Berlin (real transit that works) and was wondering how you were getting around.
And to the topic of your post: I hit your blog regularly because you have smart things to say about every topic, so it adds value to my morning and cheers me to know that you are ignoring the social barriers and talking about issues that you think are important. Keep it up!
THANK YOU! :)
I got around okay. The downtown 6 was a nightmare and I was stuck waiting on the platform for almost an hour. I eventually got out and caught a cab.
And, yeah, I hear Berlin’s transit system ROCKS. I’ve traveled through Germany quite a bit, but mostly in the south (Bavaria). I need to go to Berlin! My friend Sven is from Hamburg. He says Berlin is awful, but I think that may be a rivalry thing.
I’d HIGHLY recommend Berlin. It’s cold, drizzly and a bit lonely, yet still manages to be one of the edgiest cities on the planet. I lived there for more than a year and miss it a little every day.
I think sex will always be a personal thing. Whats good and acceptable to me might not be for you and viceaersa. Sex is not a common topic not is it easy to explain and comment on. Its a very complicated difficult subject to breach.
I’ve dated a lot of black women, so… I can’t say that there’s anything about you being black that comes to mind (aside from the fact that you’re just plain yummy). I think your site is a great resource for articles i might not find elsewhere… always told with a beautiful spin. You’re a talented writer, prolific, and full of life; it all comes across on this site.