Skip to main content

Why Are They Calling the Mayor, "Teedy"?

PSA for my non-black friends in the New Orleans area.

There is something about the mayor of New Orleans that you will never truly understand. You won't understand because it is a cultural thing. You may have seen your black friends call her "Teedy." There is a reason for that. You may have difficulty understanding her or her persona. You may not be able to follow or understand the significance in her body language, her facial expressions, or the cadence in which she makes certain statements. The press conference where she addresses Fletcher Mackel clearly demonstrates all of the above and is a clear representation of the first step in the Black family disciplinary action model. See, in Black families (in this area), your aunt is affectionately called your aunt tee(pronounced ant tee) or your Teedy, and she holds all the disciplinary rights as your parents in the case that you require discipline. The second step in the model varies from family to family but usually ends with tears or clenched fists, tight lips, mumbling incoherent curse words, and pacing back and forth, with no intent to do any of the things mumbled. Anyway...
Teedy's style may be unfamiliar to you but it garners respect among many of the city's majority population. And although we laugh and make memes and jokes, we understand her stance and take the issues seriously. However, history shows that the black community has survived the struggles brought upon us through the celebration of our culture and finding humor in almost all circumstances. It's a survival mechanism. So do not take our laughter and our posts as discontent for the mayor, it is only an expression of who we are as a colorful, culturally rich, and resilient people.
My point is that you MAY never fully understand the mayor or her public persona if you didn't grow up with a Teedy or with a Black mother. This is a clear example of why seeing color is important. It is important because we have cultural differences that may be deemed as negative if not understood.
That's it.
-Keneitra

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Misinterpretation of Love

Of Course, I was daydreaming.... I was sitting in my bed last night reading when the thought of the misinterpretation of love kept invading my thoughts. So I opened Facebook and decided to write a post on my thoughts. When I reached the 3rd paragraph, I realized this was too much for a FB post. So my daydreaming thoughts have brought me back to blogging for a minute.  When my daydream manifested into words... Many of us get so caught up in that fuzzy feeling that we get when we are around that certain person. You know the feeling. When you start smiling when they walk in the room. Their touch sends chills through your body. You want nothing more than to be in their presence. You know the feeling, right?  Many of us call it "love". You throw the word around, back and forth because it makes both of you feel something when you say it and hear it back. But before I go any further, I have to say, Chile, that is NOT love, that's hormones. All those ooey gooey fee
1 comment
Read more

Empty Prayers

Empty Prayers As I was reading information on databases for my disease surveillance class, the phrase “fearfully and wonderfully made” came to mind. I mentally stepped away from the logistics of how data is stored, processed, and displayed and began to think about how we were created. Then I began to think about all the different things that I’ve heard believers say. “God is my healer.” “I’m going to pray and fast for healing.” And so on and so on. And many of these believers have faith that God will heal them, so they wait and pray. Unfortunately, many of them find themselves still waiting. Not because God isn’t faithful. Not because He isn’t able to do all things. The reason is because he gave us the power to heal ourselves yet we fail to understand. So we just wait. He said to delight yourself in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart. Delighting yourself in Him will provide order to your steps. But just believing in Him is not enough. We must understand His purpose
7 comments
Read more