I am Black. I am a Black millennial. I am a Black millennial woman. I am all of these things living in a country, in a world that strategically takes shot at these elements of who I am figuratively and literally every single day of my life. There are many who see me as a threat and that’s cool of whatever (Cardi B voice)Â but you better believe that I am cut from a cloth that let’s me take each lickin’ and keep on ticking’ boo boo!
Since I was knee high to a grasshopper I have been bursting at the seams with pride of my culture. I love being Black and have never desired to be anything else. I still remember a collection of Black history and African history books my great-grandmother would make me read as a child. I grew up knowing that I came from a place where Black people were kings, queens, entrepreneurs, explorers, etc. I also grew up learning of the atrocities committed against my people in this country and how we climbed an ongoing uphill battle.
She made me study these books. She encouraged me to learn OUR history! I had to give oral and written reports. I was the little kid in school telling other kids about how Marcus Garvey was the father of Pan-Africanism or explaining where Eric B. & Rakim truly got the inspiration to wear the gold jewelry. She made sure that I knew my shit!
We are intelligent, driven, supportive, beautiful, funny, talented, creative and so much more. What’s crazy to me is that some of us don’t see it. Due to the misdirection and misunderstanding of what constitutes cultural pride, Black Americans often cry a song that tells a story of us not having a culture. I find this to be incredibly incorrect and only serves us as an extreme disservice to the truth of our well documented abilities of resiliency. We do have our own culture and it is this very culture that has provided me with the foundation to be unapologetically Black!
Yes, we may not be able to pinpoint exactly where our ancestors came from in Africa but we have held onto things that we carry with us until even today. Our past and the influence of our ancestors is reflected in everything that we do. How we prepare our foods and the spices we have woven together to remix traditional dishes are the very flavors that keeps Auntie Rhonda and Cousin Hakeem fighting over grandma’s infamous dishes. The way that we speak and communicate with flair. The rhythms of the beats that gets everyone up to dance at family functions or moving in unison when ever “Southern Girl” by The Maze featuring Frankie Beverly comes on is a sign that we all share these unspoken cultural commonalities that we often fail to see.
There is something so beautiful about being Black. Understand that showing our pride should never require us to dim our light to allow others to shine. All that stands to prove that we have tapped into the soul lessons floating amongst us left behind from our ancestors. I am unapologetically Black because within my efforts to always understand my culture and learn more about my roots I am more than capable of respecting other cultures as well. Learning about other ethnic groups, their customs, and cultures is what has helped me cherish aspects of my culture that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Often my friends and family call me a rebel or “Little Assata” because of how I view the world and exude my Blackness. I find it funny because while for years via the reports of mainstream media she was described as angry and militant, but in reality she and everything she stood for was the very opposite. At a previous job I had pictures of the Black Panther Party posted on my desk. I read books such as “Nigger” by Dick Gregory in the lunchroom. As a Black woman my passion is often mistaken for anger and my cultural pride misunderstood for hate for others that differ from me.
I chuckle when I have heard people tell a person of color, “But I don’t see skin color!” I laugh because I counter that thought by asking this; why must my color be ignored for you to interact with me? What is it about my melanin infused skin that makes you so uncomfortable that you have to erase it from your third eye’s scope? I want you to see my color, please! Take every drop of this melanin in and let’s discuss it. We can acknowledge our differences and there still be appreciation shown for them.
I have had to explain why the inhumane and hellish acts of slavery still effect me as a millennial today which boggles my mind but I do not cower from the opportunity to educate the uneducated. Yes, I understand that there are people in this world who do not identify with why an institution that has strategically contributed to the negative experiences forced upon people of color, specifically Black people in this country, when they themselves are currently benefitting from the system’s design. I remember not too long ago where I was reminded that while I wear my cultural pride on my sleeve there are people who are blind to it and underestimate how aware I am that it is my life’s mission to impact it in a positive manner.
I attended an educational event where I would be sitting on a panel at my former high school where seniors had to present their final projects to be cleared for graduation. Before we began, we had to attend an orientation where the administration explained the details of the event and how we would go about our roles of judging. A fellow classmate who works at the school and whom I graduated with mentioned to the crowd that I was an alumna.
Once we had a break in the orientation the middle aged white woman next to me turns and says “So tell me your story” and settles into her seat for what she thought would be a stereotypical story of poverty and childhood struggles.
After I shared that I had a very loving childhood being reared by a family that were all successful within their individual rights, that I went on to study abroad during undergrad, and earned a master’s degree she had a look of shock splattered across her face. I know that I am not the only one who has for a lack of better words, been tried by someone who’s privilege allows them to bombard me with ignorant assumptions of what my story should be based upon the color of my skin and/or where I come from. Now am I not one of those elitist educated “woke” Black girls by any means. I am aware that as a people we have a lot of work to do and there are serious issues that we need to take care of within our community. Even with that being in mind, I do not let that overshadow the fact that we have come a very long way and we are breaking through doors that were sealed shut with no intention to ever let us in. Not only do we want a seat at the table, we are prepared to chop the tree to then cut the wood to build our own table if need be.
We are beautiful! We are superseding the expectations of our ancestors. You will find that in most religious doctrines it calls for the next generation to do better than the one before them and we are doing just that! More degrees. More knowledge. More financial growth. More strong families being formed every single day. Black girl magic ain’t new. Black boy joy been around. The world is just now tapping into these special aspects of who we are!
It’s Sunday and I know many of you will need a boost of energy to get you through the door to deal with corporate America tomorrow. Let this be it. Let this blog post remind you who you are and what you come from. Greatness and flavor is woven into our DNA and don’t you ever forget it!
– TheMonaLita đź’‹
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