It is exhausting being black. It is exhausting being a black woman. It is exhausting being queer, black and a woman. It is exhausting existing in this space that we live in whether it be the United States or abroad. It is truly, extremely, spirit draining exhausting. And the special election in Alabama was just another reminder how much black women do for movements or to fight for the greater good. The only difference this time around was the praised attached to the celebration.
When it comes to creating change, black people(in particular woman and members of the LGBTQA+ community) are either founders or leading the charge in some way. We saw this with the original civil rights movement, Stonewall, Black Lives Matter, the Women’s March and currently with #MeToo. But more often than not, instead of showing praise and appreciation for these people, they are often forgotten or their roles are reduced to a supporting role. An example of this could have been the TIME’s person of the year for 2017. While it is important to recognize the voices of those who pushed #MeToo and made it possible for people to see out about sexual assault, many found it in poor taste that the woman who created the hashtag was not placed on the cover with the other famous faces of the movement.
So why does this happen? Why does society for the most part have the expectation for black women to be the problem solvers and then let them go unrewarded? It is disheartening when this occurs as a black woman myself that there is this expectation that we have to be the saviors all the time whether it be on the world stage or just in the neighborhood.
In America there is a history of black women being broken down to simple nannies for people's children, workers in the field and in the factory, planners for the protest and for businesses of others, and expecting us to still work on ourselves as well. It is an exhausting practice and concept that have been ingrained in us since youth. It makes me wonder if this is the cause of the angry black woman stereotype. So much bottled up rage from years of abuse, it is understandable if we think of it in that lighting.
Society needs to stop this mindset. Society needs to raise up black women and not put them down. They need to praise and protect black women instead of expecting us to do it for you instead. Listen to us when we bring up valid concerns and work out your own problems. When you hate something, speak up and fight it instead of hanging in the back, have black people do it and then take all the credit. The world can no longer do this because eventually black women will stop caring. And if they do this, their support may be gone for good. We can only take so much abuse until we finally break.
