Renowned hip-hop-generation author and activist Sistah Souljah is a woman of many words whose knowledge covers everything from politics to culture and business. Her wisdom transcends sexism, racism and educational boundaries as she transforms the next generation through her skills as a recording artist and film producer.
On Feb. 12, she presented a lecture, “A Sista’s Point of View,” at Dillard Auditorium. She took her audience on a journey through the African experience, on to the American experience, and made it as one. She is the author of two national best sellers, “The Coldest Winter Ever” and “No Disrespect.” Her appearance was hosted by the Student Government Association.
Sitting at the feet of such a well-respected individual with such a wealth of knowledge seemed to inspire the crowd of about 250 gathered to hear Sistah Souljah. She spoke with both humbleness and authority.
She began her lecture by talking about her first read, the story of Harriet Tubman. Her platform was using the words Tubman used when she walked in the stillness of the night to free her fellow slaves: “Death or Freedom.” She began to articulate the importance of black people identifying with themselves beyond the American stereotype: that the European physical image is true beauty.
“We as black people have become light on the African and heavy on the American,” Sistah Souljah said. Her ideas and thoughts covered every area of the black experience one could think of: sexism, ownership, education, pride, destruction. Sistah Souljah herself is a clear representation of ‘the hood’ girl. From the projects of the Bronx, New York, to Rutgers University to Cornell University, she has lived the journey of “the struggle.”
Her lecture became multidimensional as it related to the need for black people to enlighten themselves and take advantage of every opportunity given them. But not only for themselves; also for their people. Unfortunately, the black female perspective is intricately intertwined with disrespect, anger and ignorance, she said.
Sistah Souljah posed the question: “How did African American women go from being queens of civilization – creators of math and poetry – to being regarded as [expletive] and whores?”
“The media fools black women into self-hatred through music videos and reality television shows,” she said. “Their self-worth becomes defined by degrading rap lyrics rather than by their intellect.
“A man doesn’t claim what he doesn’t respect or isn’t proud of,” she said. God created man in the image of Himself, so in the African culture, she said, “a man selects a woman that is a reflection of him.”
Sistah Souljah explained that the African culture bleeds respect, love, loyalty, and womanhood and manhood. The family unit is the cornerstone of its tradition, she said. The major difference between the African mind and the American mind is that the African mind thinks “I” is “We”; and the American mind thinks “I” is “I.”
“How can you be a success and your parents are failures, your sisters and brothers are failures?” Souljah asked. Her query fulfills the notion that a team is only as strong as its weakest link.
“American society is cursed with a competitive spirit, which has created deterioration in the black community. The lack of positive black male role models has caused black men to conduct themselves as animals instead of as the kings they are.”
Sistah Souljah charged every black male in the room to immerse himself in three African principals: to understand the universal law to set boundaries and limitations; to become the master of your lower self through discipline; and to claim the seeds you plant in the earth.
Prayer has become a fad instead of necessity, Sistah Souljah observed. She defined prayer as a moment in which all thoughts are silenced and one becomes focused.
“American men have become too ‘masculine’ to pray,” she said.Become the master of your fate, she advised. “Understand that in everything you do, you represent every black person in the world. Everyone is connected.”
Sistah Souljah also gave her version of the blueprint of love, wealth and knowledge. “Everything I do is in the interest of black people,” she said.
Her challenge to everyone in the audience was to become an activist: someone who dedicates his or her life to solving problems.
She closed by sharing a true story that epitomizes how some black men treat black women.
A friend of her husband’s came over for dinner one evening. He sat, ate and conversed with her family for three and half hours and then proceeded to leave. He said he had his girlfriend waiting in the car.
“No self-respecting man would do this to a woman,” Sistah Souljah said.
She concluded her lecture by advocating love, peace and respect — so much so that her final words to her audience were: “Get your [expletive] out of the car!”