I am Black, I am Woman

After having watched For Colored Girls, I was both shamed and proud to call myself a Black woman. You see these woman portrayed such resilience in the face of adversity and undue strength that one could only shake their head in amazement at what a human, a woman, a Black woman would endure for love, life and family. You see I have yet to even scratch the tip of my strength as a Black woman and feel that somehow I have failed my calling and my destiny. Over time and through history the Black woman has had to call upon her inner strength to pull her through tragic adversity; in times of slavery she had to endure being raped, having her children stripped from her and watch her man be emasculated, lynched, burned tortured all because of the color of her skin. As a Black woman we have two strikes against us; we are both Black and female. How dare we venture outside the role of sexual satisfaction and maternal gratification to pursue careers, desires of fantasies! In more troubled homes Black women endure child rape and molestation, drug abuse, mental and physical abuse and we have been raised to keep society out of our lives because we are already viewed as inferior, why give them more to judge us with? We have supported our men when no one else would, whether it was in the office or in the trap, the 'burbs or the projects. Black women have survived on their strength to be ride or die women regardless of adversity. And yet for all the negative, we are descendants of kings and queens, a noble people. We are some of the most talented and gifted that this world has to offer. The essence of a Black woman is one that is shrouded in mystery and awe. From color of our skin, to the texture of our hair, to the uniqueness of our features, a Black woman is a force to be reckoned with. Whether high or low, up or down, a Black woman will rise and triumph and look beautiful doing it. Yes I am proud to be a Black woman and my strength is only beginning, don't underestimate me, I am Black and I am a woman!!