Author Archives: Tami

About Tami

Tami Winfrey Harris writes about race, feminism, politics and pop culture at the blog What Tami Said. Her work has also appeared online at The Guardian’s Comment is Free, Ms. Magazine blog, Newsweek, Change.org, Huffington Post and Racialicious. She is a graduate of the Iowa State University Greenlee School of Journalism. She is mom to two awesome stepkids and spends her spare time researching her family history and cultivating a righteous 'fro.

What we believe: Race is still an issue

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Tami

We are thrilled to have acquired many new readers over the past year. To acclimate new folks to the LIE community, we thought it would be helpful to re-publish a few posts that communicate this blog’s core values. The following … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 9 Comments

What we believe: Respect this house

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Tami

We are thrilled to have acquired many new readers over the past year. To acclimate new folks to the LIE community, we thought it would be helpful to re-publish a few posts that communicate this blog’s core values. The following … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

July 7: What Tami Said and Shakesville host My Planned Parenthood blog carnival

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Tami

Originally published at What Tami Said We are at war. American women are fighting to retain the right to govern our bodies, to own our sexuality and to have access to good and affordable reproductive health care. It is no … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Forcing boys to perform masculinity

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Tami

written by Love Isn’t Enough guest contributor Renee; originally published on Womanist Musings I love to paint my nails. Right now they are an awesome lime green. Every time I pull out my nail polish, Mayhem stares at my hands … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Putting the white in multiculturalism

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Tami

written by Love Isn’t Enough co-editor Tami; originally published at What Tami Said In her latest Salon column, Joan Walsh takes on the recent study that reportedly shows white Americans believe that anti-white bias is on the rise and that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 19 Comments

“Rio” a carnival on race

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Tami

written by guest contributor Renee; originally published at Womanist Musings So yesterday, the family and I decided to watch the movie Rio. Rio is the story of a blue macaw from Minnesota, who travels to Rio with his owner, when … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Toys, childhood and the fear of pink

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Tami

written by guest contributor Sparky; originally published at Womanist Musings I am thinking back to my childhood and the toys I played with and the clothes I wore. See, there is a rumbling drama-llama about boys with pink toe-nails or … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Hip Mama: For Uncommon Parents

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Tami

written by Tami; crossposted from Ms. Magazine blogs Crack open issue number 47 of Hip Mama—The Body Issue—and here’s what you get: a  photograph of a pregnant woman in the desert, posed like a warrior, belly full and exposed; a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Beyonce: Run the world (Lies)

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Tami

Tweet

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Shocker (NOT): My son got called an “African bitch” at school

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Tami

Originally published at Los Angelista Is Los Angeles the most racist city on the planet? If you want to know the answer to that, just ask my sons. They’ve had enough racist experiences that I’m sure they can give you … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Not a pretty girl

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Tami

written by Love Isn’t Enough co-editor Tami; originally published at What Tami Said Damn. @kellyhogaboom sends me the best links. When I wrote about some random woman at my high school graduation shaming me for the size of my thighs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Raising children to be submissive members of the lower caste

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Tami

written by Tami; originally published at What Tami Said The arbitrary nature of grown people’s wrath gave colored children practice for life in the caste system, which is why parents, forced to train their children in the ways of subservience, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 30 Comments

Teasing a black child about her hair is abuse

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Tami

written by Renee; originally posted at Womanist Musings All black women have a story to tell about their hair and how it has impacted their vision of what beauty is. I know that for quite sometime as a child, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 15 Comments

The “Mi Pobre Hijo” Syndrome

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Tami

written by Latina Fatale; originally posted at Latina Fatale (via Adios Barbie) As feminists we often hear about patriarchy, sexism, and how women have been oppressed by men. We talk less about how women also perpetuate patriarchy by reinforcing sexism … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 19 Comments

How many more times must my 7-year-old be called the “n word”

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Tami

written by Love Isn’t Enough guest contributor Liz Dwyer; originally posted at Los Angelista’s Guide to the Pursuit of Happiness It’s Saint Patrick’s Day, which means I rocked it like this… However, despite my admittedly hardcore Irish pride, my mind … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 32 Comments

Share a story: Opening our worlds to the gift

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Tami

originally published at Rub-a-Dub-Tub Long-time followers of Scrub-a-Dub-Tub know that Mitali Perkins had me with “mirrors and windows.” For those of you who weren’t around then, first, let me welcome you! We’re glad you’re here and hope you jump into … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

It does still matter if you’re black (or white)

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Tami

written by guest contributor Jennifer; originally published at Mixed Race America Despite what Michael Jackson may have sung about once-upon-a-time, I believe it DOES matter if you’re black or white. Meaning, it matters, still, whether you identify as African American … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Talking about race with kids: Raising your child in Africa doesn’t make it any easier

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Tami

written by Love Isn’t Enough guest contributor Mark Jordahl; originally published at Wild Thoughts from Uganda “White people over there! Black people over there!” My wife and I stared at each other in horror as our then-three-year-old son stood on his … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments

White dad, black son and raising kids in a colorblind world

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Tami

From Colorlines: “Whose baby is that?” “Is that your child?” Shortly after my adopted newborn son arrived, whenever we were out in public, we drew frequent stares and questions from strangers. Though we live in a racially diverse neighborhood, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Using Popular Culture to Address Violence and Bullying With Youth of Color

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Tami

written by Love Isn’t Enough columnist Bianca Laureano; originally published by RH Reality Check I saw this video Tuesday evening when a friend posted it on her tumblr page. There was a trigger warning regarding suicide, violence, and bullying. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment