Why to Not Silence Your Voice as a Black Female

The event was going better than I thought. This was finally our time. A young black woman living in Middletown, Pennsylvania created an anti-hatred, racist, sexist (all the above) demonstration and no one was stopping it even with the school media attention and interview. Until... in the distance we see two white boys walking up to the demonstration site. A huge flag supporting the 45th president, boots, geared up and ready to fight and hold on to their rights against women, people of color, and the true America that I love. One which is full of every nationality, sexuality, and walk of life co-existing and gathering to find their life's purposes. This was 2016. You might have thought that this was a sit-in from the 1960s and these boys were coming to take down the "disruptors." This itself showed me how important that safe space for expression of more progressive folks actually is for black people and for black women in particular. Why can't black women have an outlet? This is why I resonate so much with the Black Lives Matter movement that has finally put all black people on a pedestal four years strong and still kicking. That is powerful.

Any black women that come across this piece I am talking to you in particular. All social spaces have been particularly catered to silence your voice and to make you smaller. Just face the facts, listen to the rules and do not stray from them ever is the basis of how we grow up. If you do that then the white majority will accept you. This was me not too far away from my current situation. I was trained for politeness, do not step on any toes, be quiet, listen only, keep in your opinions and bottle them up. The traditional southern way.

I would always get the comment, "You are not like all the other black people." This is when I started to withdraw and then decided to express my identity more and gain knowledge from leaders in larger social movements. A life of silence leads to a life of internal chaos. True pain and sorrow happens when you allow others, especially a man, to stomp over your views, expressions, and truths. I am still trying to teach myself to be sure in my actions and statements. It truly makes me sick to my stomach a lot while dealing with men that think that your space and being is one that can be shaped on command by their words and actions. The key to not silencing yourself is to love yourself and your life, find your happiness, make it your duty to laugh every day, make it your duty to find your calm space, lift up yourself and other black women indefinitely. Find your outlet and let it shout, READ (very critical) and not just the science fiction books, try news articles, be a "forever learner." Learn a skill that is defined as "masculine" (this is just a word), gaining as many skills as possible to make yourself as equipped to solve your own problems with no outside intervention fosters more safety and confidence, and be ready to struggle and be assertive.

I would love to hear how other women and black people, in particular, express their voices in their everyday environments. I would encourage others to read this piece, and continue to write and express their lives because it is critical to have your words in history and as modern-day masters. Keep on fighting and winning against patriarchy and black injustice! Conservatism has tried to hold us back for far too long and we are beyond overdue for our dignity and humanity.