[An AIM Chat]

Yvette Voice Over (YVO): As quiet as it’s kept…in the whispers of my mind…

I hear the discussions of poverty and peasants, Juicy Couture and True Religions, African Chiefs and Queen Mothers, Mac and L’Oreal, mass destruction and the end of mankind and birth; I ponder profound thoughts, materialistic assets, and minuscule details. At times my thoughts escape, and form in the corners of my mouth, and my voice is heard. It’s time to hear me speak. For when I speak, I am alive. It is my responsibility to speak things unheard into existence. They have died being ignored.

My current contemplation consists of possibilities that provoke discussions. What I am aiming to resolve at this moment is a subtopic of male sexuality, a subtopic of homophobia, a piece of male ego, and a mental breakdown of the male psyche. I want to discuss and explore the possibility of the raping and sodomizing of adult male slaves, the purpose, and long term effects.

(Opens with Yvette sitting down in her kitchen at the bar, facing her laptop screen typing a thought)

BRITTANY YVETTE MINIX: What do you consider rape?

ULYSSES W. BURLEY III (UB): sex without consent from persons old enough to make reasonable decisions.

TERENCE R. FREDERICK(T): rape is sex with an unwilling participant or a participant who isn't in any condition to consent

YVETTE: Some think rape is purely a sexual act while others believe rape is motivated not by lust but by the urge to control and dominate, what do you feel motivates men to rape?

T: I think different men are probably motivated by different things (i.e. either or both of those reasons)

UB: sure ill go with that. I’d rank power and domination before sexual satisfaction

YVETTE: why would you say domination first?

UB: maybe for a lack there of in other areas of life. Especially black men

YVETTE: that's different I wouldn't automatically associate a black man as the predator in a rape situation. My first thought is a white male for some reason

UB: in reference to seeking power. By in large black men don’t hold power over white men. So to be able to dominate another person, i.e. rape, could be seeking that power that they don’t otherwise have. I think white men mite be more prone to commit rape for sexual satisfaction more so than for power or... it could be a compounding issue. They have power over everything and to have power over another person adds to the already existing power. There are a lot of angles to consider I guess

YVETTE: yeah not just a dichotomous subject…

(All of sudden Yvette pushes a button, and her D drive slides open. She places the album “Some People Have Real Problems” in it, and listens to Sia’s heart sing because music helps open her mind and releases her philosophies)

YVETTE: who is usually the victim?

T: I'm not quite sure...I guess, in the most general case, women are the victims...on the contrary, in jail, white men are probably the victims

YVETTE: why do you think the victims are usually female?

T: I think women are victims more often because some males see themselves as superior to women ...I think some males, however, do it to feel a sense of power that is otherwise missing in their lives

YVETTE: have you ever contemplated how many adult male slaves were raped? Or even that as a possibility?

UB: no I can’t say that I have. Raped of freedom, but that's about it.

T: Naw...wasn't on the top of my "Things to Ponder On" list. I honestly don't know...I can only tell you that I don't doubt male slaves

were raped white men sometimes have weird turn-ons

YVETTE: Now that you're thinking about it, how often do you think it occurred?

T: now that I think about it, I could see there having been a relatively large number of male slaves being raped, not for homosexual pleasure, but as objects to humiliate them

UB: well id like to think that the physical prowess of the slave wouldn’t allow for such activity...but slavery in itself was rape. And if

u can get a slave to labor manually, I suppose he can be raped. I honestly can’t confidently say how often but definitely not as often as the women I would think. Very rarely...as a black hetero man that is what I’d like to believe.

YVETTE: even as a black woman that's what I would like to believe, but a thought in my mind suggests that for reasons of

domination and breaking a male slave, in the pursuit of stripping him of everything, I think it could've been practiced

UB: that actually makes great sense. Society just doesn’t allow us to take that angle in thought...but it makes sense now that u bring it

up

YVETTE: could've been that some white men were on the "DL"? If it's frowned upon now I can only imagine. If not for that

possibility what do you think a slave owner got out of these acts?

UB: I think u exposed it already. Empowerment, but more importantly breaking down a slave. If we are going to consider this I think

that is the best explanation, and yes, I never considered it because homosexuality has always been taboo. Especially then

T: well I didn't think about it like that, but as far as the rapes for pleasure I referred to earlier, I figure most of those men were on the

DL...homosexuality wasn't accepted in the bible belt (i.e. slavery belt)

YVETTE: As a result, do you think things like homophobia or DL brothers transpired? The Black community is a strong advocate

against homosexuality

T: no...I don't think homophobia resulted from that. I think homophobia is a natural result of man's extreme behavior

UB: possibly. I'd say that the psyche should have faded since then but we still have colorism issues within our race and those were instilled by the Willie Lynch days...so it is quite possible. I think it jus feeds into the emasculation of the black male. And even today we continue to emasculate ourselves. Not just with homosexuality...but look at how many movies there are where black men have put on dresses.

YVETTE: mmmm...

UB: Madea, Big Mama's House, Too Wong Foo, White Chicks. And we laugh at it. It’s a form of emasculation.

YVETTE: very insightful. I definitely thought about the actors portraying those roles as a means to get paid and some screen time but

they are definitely being emasculated

UB: sure. I can only think of one movie that was featured around a white man posing as a woman and that is Mrs. Doubtfire. There

could be others and my bias is taking in affect

YVETTE: if black males were raped, can you think of any long term effects that would still be plaguing black men today?

T: I don't think it would have lasting effects unless those men, in turn, began raping other men

UB: well I mean like I said, we were taught to believe that the lighter your skin the better you were...around the same time, and that stigma still exists so...sure it can definitely play a role on the level of homosexuality in our community, the absence of male roles in the lives of little boys doesn't help the situation, there is just so much to consider. Look at jail house rapes where black men make up the majority of the prison system. Raping each other. Is it for dominance? Sexual satisfaction? Pure homosexuality. A lot of those men have wives to come home too...never had a homosexual episode. What are the factors? I'm not sure....

YVETTE: well I partly believe jail house rape is a result of domination, but also lack of a female presence, but I'm not the authority

on the subject...sex…rape…being enslaved… all powerful mechanisms

YVO: Slavery expert Kevin Bales of Free the Slaves (FreeTheSlaves.net) says there are approximately 27 million slaves worldwide.

To date, however, there has been no comprehensive report on how many male slaves have been traumatized by rape.

(Yvette thinks)

YVO: Through a dialogue I breathe life into your lungs, and I hear you cry. For life is a new thing for you, go out and live it.

Seek the unexplored, discover the unknown, and discuss the uncomfortable because in the whispers of my mind and the corners of my lips I am here, I am ALIVE.

(Yvette logs off and pulls away from the computer screen)

[End]