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Crabber Tia Clark Questions the Meaning of Fishing, Crab Fishing, and Hunting as a Black Woman — Andscape

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When I first met Tia Clark, she told me she had recently been spearfishing an alligator in the swamps of South Carolina. I saw the Gullah Geechee woman as a role model, a black woman using her passion and physical prowess to attain the goal I used to be pursuing— food sovereignty.For Clark, the owner Accidental crabbing with Tiait’s like a call from the sea. “I don’t feel like I’m choosing it. I feel like it’s what I have to do,” she told Andscape.

Seven years ago, Clark wasn’t fishing, crabbing or hunting. She worked in the food industry and had health problems brought on by inactivity, stress and late nights. “If you had asked me back then if I would kill an alligator, I would have said, ‘You better not come near me if there’s no alligator,’” she said. But after returning to the water, where her family found food and purpose, Clark saw her health improve dramatically. She was happier and stronger, she lost weight, now not had prediabetes and felt spiritually at peace. “Before, I was cut off from my culture and my family, from everything. I was wasting my days and never taking care of myself,” she said.

Clark now teaches people learn how to fish and crab since it’s fun and essential to understanding Gullah Geechee culture and sustainability. The sea is in the blood of the Gullah Geechee people; it’s sacred and has been a major part of their eating regimen since their ancestors were taken from Africa and enslaved here. Due to gentrification and restrictions, the lack of access to fishing and crabbing grounds has affected the eating regimen of the Gullah Geechee people in South Carolina, so it’s vital to remind them to take their place in the seas. It also helps — through the saltwater fishing licenses Clark requires of participants — to take care of the Charleston shoreline ecosystem through her partnership with the city of Charleston.

Clark reminds people who being here may help them connect with their ancestors and community. Hunting, crabbing and fishing may help people come home to themselves, as it did for Clark. “My first memory is hand-feeding crabs and shrimp in the dirt in my grandmother’s garden,” Clark said. “If I close my eyes, I can tell where the table was and I can tell what the sea tasted like on those crabs. All of that was already in me. And now being able to go crabbing brought it all back.”

This is what sets sports like hunting and fishing aside from others, and what makes the exclusion of black people, especially black women, from these sports all the more insidious. Feeding ourselves is a form of self-preservation. If we leave hunting and fishing to others, we leave ourselves and our communities vulnerable. “The Atlantic Ocean is a mass graveyard,” Clark said. “That’s why we as black people need to reconnect with the water because if we don’t feel those emotions ourselves, it’s easier to ignore them.”

There is a misconception that blacks are usually not desirous about outdoor sports or activities such as swimming, hunting and fishing. In South Carolina, where fishing was a path to freedom, a forced occupation and an ancestral right limited by slave restrictions, people have complicated feelings. Slaves built the maritime and fishing industries, wearing special badges that showed they’d “permission” to be at sea or they might be killed, imprisoned or sold. But additionally they called — and still call — the water home.

“There are all these stereotypes that say black people don’t swim, don’t fish, don’t hunt. That keeps us away from those places. And when we are in those places, people look at us suspiciously because they’ve been told we don’t belong here,” Clark said, adding that she is commonly missed, with passersby assuming that white dock employees are more knowledgeable about their business than she is.

Is this the kind of environment that Black people even wish to be in? Or will we, like Clark, wish to construct our own places away from the values ​​that emphasize resource extraction—expensive hunting resorts, the killing of wildlife, and illegal and even illegal hunting safaris? These are usually not just places where Black people are usually not welcome, but places that folks like Clark actively reject.

“We need to get a mass influx of black people back into the water,” Clark said. “We feel confident here, but we need to lower our guard a little bit because the sea is powerful, if you can get in there and connect and block everything. I know it’s not easy for everyone, so I’m trying to take their phones, all the things that connect them to the outside world, and pull them into that world.”

For blacks, hunting and fishing are greater than just sports; they are frequently not sports in any respect, not in the way others perceive them. They are a way of communing with ancestors, a form of community and individual self-defense, and a sacred responsibility. Clark is one of many mentors (including Chief Kimberly Tilsen-Brave Heart, Renville’s Chanceand Amethyst Ganaway) that taught me to respect the life I actually have taken and to make use of it in a way that honors all of us and brings us closer to a sustainable future.

Hunting can grow to be a technique to bring a community together. After catching an alligator, Clark called her friends over to fry it in buttermilk and spices, then drizzled it with hot sauce. She gave sausage and alligator meat to those in the community who could use it, and she made a big pot of alligator, shrimp, and okra gumbo for her family and friends. In this manner, hunting and fishing became greater than solitary sports, but cultural legacies passed down through generations of families, elders, and friends.

Clark was one of the mentors who helped me prepare for my first duck hunt, during which I cried like a baby. Instead of specializing in teaching me to see it as a competition, Clark told me to acknowledge the sacred. “I’m telling you right now, your whole body is going to shake.” She told me the story of her alligator hunt. “The boat was a long way from the alligator, and the closer we got, the more the alligator doubled and doubled. I stabbed it with the harpoon and fired a .45, and when I touched my chest, my whole body went into convulsions and I was in a primal state. I couldn’t stop.”

Tia Clark with the alligator she hunted.

Aunt Clark

I felt breathless listening to Clark, pondering the seriousness of the journey I used to be about to embark on. It wasn’t just a sport. It was a duty and a responsibility. We had learned to view food as something frivolous, something that got here in plastic and paper. But something you possibly can catch. Fear and sadness were natural. Trophy hunting wasn’t.

Clark sees part of her mission in educating black youth and black women. “That’s where I put all my extra energy because they’re going to take it into the future. That’s their legacy. And if we don’t teach them, they’re going to be in robot mode, going to the grocery store, buying fake food, eating fake food, feeding their family that.”

For us, it’s greater than just a sport. It’s healing. It’s stewardship. It’s community. Black people have at all times belonged to the sea, and black women fishermen like Clark are helping us reclaim our space here, a place that’s home. As an African American and Caribbean woman, a descendant of slaves and migrants, I consider that the swirling center of the Atlantic Ocean is my home, my origins, my birthplace. And Clark echoed those feelings. “I felt so strange… The hairs on my arm would start to stand up as I approached the sea, especially near where my family would crab and fish,” she said.

“I asked my advisor, ‘What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me?’ And then this black man told me it was an ancestral connection. Something we don’t know about that causes us to react when we get near that water,” Clark said. It’s a response she’s seen in others when she shows people learn how to crab. “People are afraid to get in the water. They don’t want to feel the feelings it can bring up. They don’t want to revisit that trauma.” But it’s not only trauma, it’s our history. The sea holds great pain, but in addition great love. Here, in these waters, with Clark as a mentor, black people are usually not just playing sports. They can connect with our ancestors, honor our past, and move toward the horizon of our food future.

Nylah Iqbal Muhammad is a James Beard Award-nominated author whose work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Vogue, and New York Magazine. Her work explores culture, politics, food, and their intersections, with a deal with North American indigenous, African diaspora, and South Asian foodways.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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Beyoncé’s Mom Tina Knowles Responds to Dolly Parton After CMA Skip Was Called ‘Fake’

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Tina Knowles is denying speculation that she responded to legendary country artist Dolly Parton in defense of her daughter.

Just two days after Parton attempted to deny rumors that the Country Music Awards had stripped Beyoncé of her nominations for Cowboy Carter , an Instagram comment that appeared to come from Knowles’ verified account went viral in response to Parton’s post.

But not so fast! Mama Tina now claims: “It’s a fake, not from me!”

Beyonce's mom responds to Dolly Parton
Tina Knowles is criticizing a post by which she claims to have responded to Dolly Parton for omitting Beyonce on “Cowboy Carter.” (Photo: @mstinaknowles; @beyonce/Instagram; @Dollyparton/Instagram.)

The “fake” comment was concerning the “Here You Come Again” singer and was originally shared by The Neighborhood Talk, who later deleted their post.

The comment read: “Oh Ms. Dolly, we love you, but Bey has spent her ENTIRE life working hard since she was 9! She has country roots too. She has mastered her craft and broken records in EVERY genre. So to say she hasn’t ‘spent her life’ in country music is to diminish all the work she has put in.”

It continued: “Bey doesn’t have to stick to one lane to earn respect – her talent and work ethic speak for themselves! She puts in the work, and no one else is asked to ‘spend their life’ in one place to be appreciated! #been country.”

Before the post was deemed fake, it sparked some debate on the topic. Some people supported what they saw as Knowles’ retort, including one one who said, “This just goes to show that white women will always be white women. No matter who they are.”

Another person compared the CMAs’ treatment of the “Irreplaceable” singer to the way in which they treat white hip-hop artist Post Malone, who also appeared in “Cowboy Carter” and who coincidentally receive 4 nominations after releasing his first country album this yr.

“If Post Malone could make the jump from hip-hop to country, then Beyoncé should be able to do the exact same thing! It’s not even about whether you think her album is good or not, it’s unfair to be written off because you’re Beyoncé.”

Tina Knowles says Dolly Parton’s retort is allegedly false. @theneighborhoodtalk/Instagram

Others respectfully sided with Parton. One person said, “Mom… Ms. Dolly is right. It was a special album. And an album that doesn’t deserve an award just because it’s Beyonce.”

Another wrote: “Dolly Parton was polite and tried to be honest about how it went down. I don’t think she meant any harm or had much love for Beyonce from a public perspective. I think Ms. Tina could have handled it differently, but I understand she’s a mama bear too. It’s just a trophy at the end of the day.”

Beyoncé released her first country album, “Cowboy Carter,” in March, years after having an experience on the 2016 CMAs where she “didn’t feel welcome.” The Houston-born artist performed her first country song, “Daddy Lessons,” alongside The Chicks, formerly referred to as The Dixie Chicks. Despite receiving much praise for her performance, she was also met with boos from the audience and racist tweets from onlookers.

So when the awards show didn’t include her in any of the categories nominated this yr, the Beyhive immediately called it a foul. But Parton doesn’t imagine the omission was “intentional.”

In response to Parton’s allegations he said Variety September 17: “Well, you never know. There are so many great country artists that I think probably in the country music community, they probably thought, well, we can’t leave out some of these guys who dedicate their whole lives to this.”

She later added, “So I don’t think it was a matter of cutting myself off, of intentionally doing it. I think it was just more of what the country charts were doing and country artists who were doing it all the time, rather than just a special album.”

Overall, Parton showed great love for Beyoncé and gave her permission for the project. She even appears twice on the album, and a song is called after her.

“But it was a great album,” she said. She could be very, very pleased with it, and I believe everyone in country music welcomed it with open arms and thought it was good.”


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Fans warn Shedeur Sanders to beware of Kardashian curse after Colorado star spotted with Kendall Jenner

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Deion and Shedeur Sanders call out constant disrespect from their doubters.

Shedeur Sanders has been generating quite a bit of buzz recently and is claimed to be a highly anticipated prospect in next 12 months’s NFL Draft.

But being the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback and son of former NFL player and current Colorado coach Deion Sanders also brings with it a potentially unwanted highlight. Shedeur’s clip goes viral after the 22-year-old was spotted embracing Kendall Jenner.

Deion Sanders' son Shedeur defends his father's coaching skills after criticism from former athletes.
Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur speaks out in defense of his father’s coaching skills after being criticized by former athletes. (Photo: @deionsanders/Instagram)

The content creator posted the clip and wrote, “Shedeur Sanders met up with Kendall Jenner, who was recently in Boulder.” Jenner was in Boulder — the house of the University of Colorado — because she was traveling to different cities to promote her brand of liqueur 818 Tequila.

Since the video only shows Jenner’s upper body and Shedeur’s back, who happened to be wearing a hoodie, it’s unclear if she was serving drinks during their meeting, but it surely appeared he was waiting in line to greet her. After a couple of people in front of him moved out of the way in which, he went over to hug Jenner and said, “How are you?” before the video ended.

Many fans warned Shedeur against getting close to Jenner.

One person said, “Nothing good happens when a BLACK athlete dates a Kardashian/Jenner,” and one other said, “Oh no. I’m scolding, I’m scolding!”

A 3rd person wrote: “Stay away from our quarterback. Kardashian/Jenner can’t remember the last athlete who had a successful relationship with one of these girls.”

Of all five Kardashian-Jenner girls, Khloé and Kendall have mostly dated NBA players. Khloé, who’s best known for her marriage and divorce from NBA player Lamar Odom, dated Minnesota Timberwolves player Rashad McCants from 2008 to 2009. He was then traded to the Sacramento Kings, where he played just one season and was never drafted by one other team.

Speaking to Charlotte’s Observer in 2017, McCants said his relationship with Khloé made people query his commitment to the NBA. “Without that in-game situation, I’m a $60-70 million player,” McCants said. “Easily.”

Later in 2009, after only one month of dating, Khloe married Los Angeles Lakers star Odom. The two documented their wedding on the truth show Khloe and Lamar, but their relationship began to crumble, and Odom’s secret struggles with substance abuse began to come to light in 2013. Later that 12 months, Odom was arrested for driving under the influence. From 2011 to 2014, he played for the Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, after which the LA Clippers before becoming a free agent. He then went to the EuroLeague, where he played in two games before injuring his back.

Then in April 2014 he signed with the Knicks before the team waived it in July of the identical 12 months.

Then there’s Khloé’s infamous relationship with Cleveland Cavaliers player Tristan Thompson. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star had two children with Thompson, but their relationship was severely strained by Thompson’s repeated infidelities. Nevertheless, Thompson’s 13-year NBA profession didn’t end there, and he’s currently on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster.

As for her younger sister Kendall, she briefly dated Brooklyn Nets player Ben Simmons from 2018 to 2019. Simmons was named Rookie of the Year in 2018 and an All-Star in 2019. However, the next seasons became difficult for Simmons after his Philadelphia 76ers team lost to the Atlanta Hawks within the Eastern Conference semifinals in an especially close seven-game series in 2021. He apparently felt that blamed for the Game 7 loss, Simmons never played for the 76ers again before being traded to Brooklyn. He ultimately missed the whole 2021-22 season, even after arriving in Brooklyn mid-season. Since then, battling knee and back injuries — which resulted in each knee and back surgeries — Simmons has played in only 57 games over the past three seasons.

Following this relationship, Kendall dated Phoenix Suns player Devin Booker for 2 years from 2020 to 2022.

It is currently unclear what her relationship status is, but it surely looks like she is likely to be rekindling her relationship with Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny in 2023. They were spotted together in Paris, holding hands in June of this 12 months.

Shedeur’s relationship status is uncertain, because it appears he and actress Storm Reid have quietly split after making their red carpet debut last 12 months.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Kamala Harris’ Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour Turns Into ‘Scandal’ Cast Reunion

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Gladiators reunite within the name of democracy.

The solid of Shonda Rhimes’ hit series Scandal will reunite to affix Vice President Kamala Harris and her partner Tim Walz in Michigan for his or her Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour. Actors Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Guillermo Díaz, Bellamy Young, Katie Lowes, Dan Bucatinsky, Scott Foley, Portia de Rossi, George Newbern, Jeff Perry and Cornelius Smith Jr. will join Harris-Walz for the campaign launch in Madison Heights.

According to The Hollywood ReporterThe solid’s appearance on the political tour is an element of the Democratic presidential candidate’s technique to win the 2024 election. According to the Harris-Walz campaign, the tour’s mission is to “highlight the stark contrast between Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, who will restore Roe v. Wade protections when Congress passes legislation to that effect, and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, who will enact their dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to contraceptives, force states to report women’s miscarriages and abortions, and threaten access to in vitro fertilization.”

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The Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour, which kicks off September 3 in Florida, plans to go to key states across the country to debate the stakes of reproductive rights with Democratic and Republican communities. During the last presidential debate, attention focused on abortion rights and in vitro fertilization (IVF), as Harris pledged to revive nationwide reproductive rights, while Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump refused to commit to vetoing a nationwide abortion ban if he wins the election.

In August, “Scandal” stars Washington and Goldwyn, known for his or her iconic roles as Olivia Pope and fictional President Fitzgerald Grant, thrilled fans by reuniting to co-host the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Over the years, Washington has develop into known for her political advocacy. As a Democratic supporter, the actress has not only partnered with nonprofits to debate abortion rights, but additionally launched her own nonprofit, Influence Change, which “recruits other artists to promote civic engagement.”

“Democracies work best when everyone votes. As a public figure, it’s important to me to remind people of their political power and share any information I have that helps them step into their power,” she said, as previously reported by theGrio. “Artists, musicians, athletes, actors and creators have a unique opportunity to encourage voters. The combined reach of our networks can be used to inspire participation and ensure that more people take their rightful place as active participants in our democracy. I’m not speaking out because I’m an artist; I’m speaking out because I’m an American.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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