Thursday, August 13, 2020

Denise Oliver Velez's Daily Kos Story "Don't You Dare Question Kamala's Blackness" As An Example Of "Putting On The Black"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents an excerpt of an August 13, 2020 daily kos story entitled "Don't you dare question Kamala's blackness". That story was written by Denise Oliver Velez, a very active African American member of that Democratic political blog. 

The content of this post is presented for cultural, linguistic, and political purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Denise Oliver Velez for her writing, activism, and role modeling.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE

In addition to strongly agreeing with what Velez wrote in her August 13, 2020 daily kos story "Don't you dare question Kamala's blackness", I was struck by a the way that she penned her righteous rant about people (including some Black people) daring to question whether Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for Vice President 2020, is Black or is Black enough. In that story Velez uses some African American Vernacular English grammar (such as "There be folks") and some African American Vernacular English terms and saying (such as "I’m about to go all Brooklyn on some folks on the internet—take off my earrings and throw down." and "The Black Trump supporter who was just on Fox spewing this crap clearly needs some edumacating."). 

Anyone who reads daily kos stories/posts knows that Denise Oliver Velez can write in standard American English if she cares to. I believe that her use of African American Vernacular English in that post was purposefully done to convey a particular tone or tones and vibe which is one way of online communication that I refer to as "putting on the Black".

"Puttin on the Black" is a term that I coined for the conscious use of Black vernacular by Black people in spoken and written contexts. 

Although "puttin on the Black" can be done by other Black people and also by non-Black people*, in this pancocojams series, the term "putting on the Black" refers to African Americans using African American Vernacular English in their oral or written communications.

My definition of "puttin on the Black" is "to purposely use Black vernacular to signal to others (including other Black people who may be present) that you are Black, and/or to show off your Blackness", and/or to convey a particular tone or flavor to your writing, comment, or conversation.

"Puttin on the Black" is a communication style that can be positive, negative, or neutral.  Depending on each usage, "puttin on the Black" can be funny, or serious, or matter of fact. 


Other than the examples that I cited in this Editor's Note's first paragraph, I don't highlight the specific examples of African American Vernacular English that Denise Oliver Velez uses in her "Don't You Dare Question Kamala's Blackness" story. It's the general tone of the story more than the number of AAVE words and grammar that she uses which help create that tone that I'm calling attention to. 

In Denise Oliver Velez's story that is showcased in this post, the use of African American Vernacular English enhances what Velez wrote and conveys that she beyond angry and she is so through with those people who are questioning Kamala Harris' blackness and those people who are raising birtherism tropes as they are raised to attempt to weaken support for the Biden-Harris presidential/vice presidential campaign. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/08/putting-on-black-african-americans.html?showComment=1597355659796#c6616716699450060803  for  this pancocojams post:"Putting On The Black" - African Americans Purposely Using African American Vernacular English Online.

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EXCERPT FROM DAILY KOS POST: DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION KAMALA'S BLACKNESS
by Denise Oliver Velez, August 13, 2020

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/13/1968878/-Don-t-you-dare-question-Kamala-s-blackness

"I’m about to go all Brooklyn on some folks on the internet—take off my earrings and throw down. Verbally of course. Y’all wanna play games to score dubious political points, and dare to question who vice presidential candidate and Sen. Kamala Harris is, or isn’t, regarding her identity as a Black woman who is also of South Asian Tamil heritage, and who was born in Oakland, California?
I’m not having it.
There be folks who are now going full birther (Obama redux) about her citizenship. Spare me the b.s. Last time I looked Oakland, California was still a part of the U.S. It ain’t even an island state like Hawaii.

Yeah, her daddy was Black from Jamaica—that island in the Caribbean that was slavery central during the triangle trade. That place that racist Brits are trying to deport Black Brits back to. (See Windrush.) Home to Marcus Garvey. Y’all fixin’ to unBlack Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.)?  Or are you gonna whitenize the Caribbean that gave us Black power activist Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), and Shirley Chisholm? Oh yeah, lest I forget, you hoteps better stop quoting Malcolm X too while you’re at it. His mama was from Grenada, and he had (gasp) ... freckles. 
Let’s talk about those freckles, or skin color, or hair texture. Black folks come in all colors, from ecru to ebony. We have been Negros, and colored, and Afro-African Americans and just plain old Black, as identifiers. The African American label didn’t manage to point to an African continental ethnic group, simply because the enslavement trade and practice managed to erase our specific continental ethnic heritages so most of us just embrace “Africa,” which is not a country.  
Many of us are engaged in searches to find those roots—see the popularity of programs like those by Dr. Henry Louis Gates with ancestry DNA testing. When those family trees are unveiled, it’s really interesting what shows up. Heck, I’ve got ancestors from Norway, and I’m still Black.
The latest bit of bullsh-t* being lobbed at Kamala Harris is that she had “slave-owning ancestors.” 
Do tell.
[...]
Why having slave masters in the family is a surprise is beyond me. Sally Hemings, anyone? Anyone with even a modicum of knowledge of how things worked out for enslaved Black women knows the history of rape and concubinage that went hand in hand with being some white man’s chattel.

The Black Trump supporter who was just on Fox spewing this crap clearly needs some edumacating.


Completely disingenuous statement from someone who was not going to support ANY pick by Biden. ‘She is descended from slave owners’ So are many, many African Americans because slavemasters RAPED their slaves. [...]
To reiterate: Kamala Devi Harris is a Black woman. She is also of South Asian ancestry. She is an American citizen.
Most important in all of this: She will be the next vice president of the United States if we push all the diversionary and deflecting crap into the garbage where it belongs and get out the vote.
Let’s get busy."
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in that story/post.
This daily kos story/post includes an ABC News video that was posted online when Senator Kamala Harris was campaigning for president of the United States.  That video is entitled "Senator Kamala Harris' childhood friends share their memories"...

Like other daily kos posts, this story includes a large number of comments from daily kos members.
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2 comments:

  1. I wound up here kinda by accident and had to grin - your analysis is right on tee.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Denise Oliver-Velez, thanks for your comment.

      And thanks for all you do.

      Ase! Keep on keepin on.

      Delete