Almost 40 and being a black woman in America
Tonight, I posed a question to my wife...
One that had been running through my head all day.
”Baby, how do you feel about being a Black woman in America right now?”
Her response?
”Defeated”
My heart broke as I listened to this beautiful, intelligent, impactful and necessary Black woman pour out her heart...
The injustices...
The disunity...
The systems that are set to keep Black people from excelling....
Now, add the Black woman to the mix...
The most talked about....
The most overlooked...
The most unprotected human being on the planet...
Even animals get better treatment than the black woman...
All heartbreaking
All detrimental
All true...
For ages
the Black woman has been a source of power...
She took care of house for the white man
Making sure it was spotless...
Satisfying him physically with food that would make you slap your mama...
Sometimes having to endure his sexual hunger
after him being enticed by the thickness of her hips...
Using her own breast milk to feed his white children...
The Black woman has always been strong and courageous.
Beaten and bruised to get her freedom
Teaching her children to go after their heart‘s desires...
Refusing to settle...
Desperate for more...
The Black woman has always been feared
Her rage so mighty
Her voice so loud
Raising the hairs on the arms of the ones who don’t get her...
Unsettling her oppressors
Pushing them to brainstorm ways to shut her down...
Which they can’t
They may try
But they never will...
Even after the wrongful death of Breonna Taylor
And the justice that wasn’t served
The Black Woman Can’t Be Stopped!
Tonight,
we may all feel “defeated”
our feelings are valid
this shit is fowl
the stench of injustice is sickening...
No matter had disheartening this season is
our backbones won’t let us fold...
Don‘t get it twisted...
We are holding this broken country together...
Just like our ancestors...
With our smarts
Our gifts
Our style
Our creativity
Our sex appeal
Our money
Our ability to bounce back in the times of adversity...
Yes, all that we possess is and will continue to change this world.
The ancestors are here. Black women.
We.
Us.
Modern day “Harriet Tubmans”.
”Defeated” is a feeling.
Thank goodness that shit can change.
Until next time,
PEACE
A. Eaddy McKeithan
