Black, Lesbian, Womanist

Earlier today, I made a comment that truly shocked my cadre of Black, feminists-somedays, womanist-others, conscious, revolutionary, Afrocentric, natural-hair loving, Audre Lorde reading, Shea butter making, dread lock twisting, lesbian sistas!  

I stated that, “As much as I hate to admit it, there is a good chance that I will end up with a wife resembling, Tamar Braxton. I don’t know exactly what it is that draws me into women like Tamar, but tell Vince, that I am waiting to take his place.”

Now you can imagine the looks that I warranted as the name of reality TV’s most “ratchet” left my mouth. 

After some expressed dissapointment and other commentary, I reflected upon my own statements and decided to take a critical look at my own desire. 

I finally responded, “I truly appreciate, Ratchetness. What I view as ratcheness is a fiery intensity that is not censored. An expression of yourself that is loud and unashamed. The person who is ratchet is unconcerned with the perceptions of others, and embraces their likes and dislikes, often from a position that is not “other”-oriented, but from a position that is self-defined, and if those self-defined values, morals, and self-expression are not in alignment with the standards put forth by others, that is of no concern to the person who is being identified as Ratchet. That is what is most significant about the Ratchet, it does not try to appeal to, appease or concede to the wills or values of others, it is self-righteous!” 

Ratchetness is the ultimate rebellion to the status-quo.  There are characteristics in Tamar that are revolutionary in their own right.There is a time for us all to exercise our Ratchet!”