Member-only story
To Be A Woman and Black
To exist in this world being woman and Black is a masterful paradox. The dichotomy of womanhood and Blackness is unparalleled throughout humanity. To be woman and Black is to be the gravitational force that births inertia. We are that which keeps the Earth rotating. We are the world’s North Star. We are that which keeps families, communities, and society moving forward. We are the worlds muse. Yet, we are never recognized as such. We are never valued as such, and we are certainly never loved as such. We are invisible, like gravity. Our essence silently yet consistently doing what is necessary, our gazes fixed on duty and responsibility while the world continues on without notice or mention. Who then, applauds the tree for growing? Who praises the sun for rising each morning? Who gives accolades to the moon for illuminating the darkness? Many lament about the rain but seldom acknowledge how it dutifully waters the Earth, until it does no longer.
Are you a woman first or do you prioritize your Blackness? Why does society force us to choose parts of who we are, making segments of us out to be our entire being? All while expelling us for all that we are, while none of who we are is our own selection. We are strangers to fairness, and who is recognition? The ambiguity of Black womanhood is often cumbersome. We bear the weight of the world on our backs. The world and its’ weight is an afterthought to our…
