All Hail The Queen - Queen Latifah that is!

April 18, 2018 | Sandra Pierce


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Those who came early to hip hop will instantly recognize ‘All Hail The Queen’ -- the 1989 debut album by hip hop artist Queen Latifah.

Well today I could not help but be reminded of what became her signature song on that album, the feminist anthem “Ladies First”….

“The ladies will kick it, the rhyme that is wicked
Those that don't know how to be pros get evicted
A woman can bear you, break you, take you
Now it's time to rhyme, can you relate to
A sister dope enough to make you holler and scream”
 

Today I say “All Hail Nikki Haley” – she is definitely a ‘dope sister’ who ‘will kick it’ The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations hit back after Larry Kudlow, the President’s chief economic advisor, said she “got ahead of the curve” when it came to announcing sanctions on Russia following the Syrian gas attack. He suggested that she was suffering from “momentary confusion”.

“With all due respect, I don’t get confused', she replied.

Many socio-linguistic studies have shown that women tend to speak in ways that will save face for others and muting statements that could be seen as putting others down. I’m sure you have heard hundreds of such exchanges in the workplace every day. Women are also likely to downplay their certainty, while men are likely to minimize their doubts.

Studies have shown that these habits with regard to appearing humble or confident result from the different socialization of boys and girls,and by the time we reach adulthood both men and women find these behaviours reinforced by the positive responses they get from friends and colleagues who share the same norms.

Bestselling author and professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, Deborah Tannen, has written extensively about women like Nikki Haley – who could easily be labeled  ‘bossy’. She says that women are in a double bind: if they talk in ways that are expected of women they are viewed as lacking confidence or even competence. But if they talk in ways expected of someone in authority, they are seen as too aggressive.

But definitely today Ambassador Haley showed that things "they- are- a- changing”. I used to think women of today were finding their voice – but I now believe that we’ve always had a voice – it’s just that we weren’t being heard. Ambassador Haley, by speaking up, being firm and not mincing any words, is an example to us all that this is the way to make everyone, not just men, sit up and take notice.

It has been reported that a Mr. Kudlow had called Haley to apologize later that day.