Black Women are Human Too
I’m Black. I’m also Human
In society today the toughest job to be is a black woman as we are currently on a daily fight to end societal injustices that we’ve taken for so long. As the fight continues we face battles against hatred from the world, within our families, in the workplace, and within our relationships.
In all the progress of time we've made as black women to stick together and be on the same side empowering each other, there are still those who haven’t grown into the movement for the betterment of themselves.
As we know domestic violence is no laughing matter; rapper Megan Thee Stallion has recently been through a traumatic ordeal of being shot in the foot by rapper boyfriend Tory Lanez having dealt with being in a toxic relationship. As many celebrities have shown their love and support, influencer and former Basketball Wives star Draya Michelle has received some backlash for going on the Wine&Weed podcast and joking about it.
Draya’s comments were encouraging of treatment that so many women today are fearful of daily either currently dealing with abuse and domestic violence or recovering from it. She went on to say she wants a man to scare her into acting right in a relationship and it can only be assumed that she is ignorantly speaking from lack of experience because no woman in their right mind would wish for such toxicity in their life.
Currently, Draya makes her fortune as an Instagram influencer while also having her own small business running a swimsuit line MintSwim. She has modeled for many fashion brands including SavagexFenty owned by mogul Rihanna.
As the world knows and still remembers the domestic violence Rihanna faced in 2009 with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, the mogul found no humor in Draya’s comments following Megan Thee Stallion’s ordeal and ended the partnership with Draya then sending a heartfelt note to the rapper showing her love and support for the trauma she is currently facing.
Shortly after being released from the Fenty brand, Draya took to social media to post a message saying she’s “fighting through the tough days”. Fans took this to mean she had lost her Fenty partnership as they continue to show disapproval. While Draya Michelle is the most noticeable for her comments, it is still disgraceful to see a couple of other celebrities make humor of the ordeal including Chrissy Teigen and 50 Cent who have since deleted their comments on social media and issued apologies for their insensitive remarks.
For black women, it is a trend to be mistreated and desensitize as the most disrespected in relationships including abuse and infidelity. Black women are rapidly the butt of the joke then turned into a meme. Although black women are strong, they are not bulletproof. Black women don’t receive medals for surviving, they just have scars; physically and emotionally.
Photo Credit:
https://www.distractify.com/p/what-did-draya-michele-say
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/memes-of-megan-thee-stallion-shooting.html
https://pagesix.com/2020/07/15/megan-thee-stallion-says-she-was-shot-prior-to-tory-lanez-arrest/
Report: Josephine Coiscou
Megan Thee Stallion: Why Are Black Women Unprotected?
While people have shown concern for the rapper, others have taken the opportunity to make jokes about the incident. Within the last couple of months, the topic of how Black women are marginalized in society has become more prevalent.
Following the news of rapper Megan Thee Stallion getting shot, rumors and memes have been swirling around social media about what exactly happened. While people have shown concern for the rapper, others have taken the opportunity to make jokes about the incident. Within the last couple of months, the topic of how Black women are marginalized in society has become more prevalent.
Days removed from the shooting, Megan tweeted, “Black women are so unprotected & we hold so many things in to protect the feelings of others [without] considering our own. It might be funny to y’all on the internet and just another messy topic for you to talk about, but this is my real life and I’m real life hurt and traumatized.”
The lack of empathy and equity for Black women has been at an all time high; Megan’s situation is just a small piece of the puzzle. With Black women dying due to racial discrimination in the health care system and Breonna Taylor’s murderers still free, the question is: why do people still find it acceptable to disregard the trauma of Black women?
What happened to Megan wasn’t funny, just as what happened to George Floyd. When there were Tiktok videos that surfaced of people mimicking Floyd’s death, people were quick to take action and speak up about the wrongdoing. However, some of these same people are making light of Megan’s situation. Is this because Megan’s shooting wasn’t connected to racism?
Megan was right; Black women aren’t protected. Now that it is public knowledge that Taylor was alive six minutes after she was shot several times, and the police did not try to save her, you have to question why there hasn’t been any progress made toward justice.
In order to progress as a people, we have to start acknowledging all truths, even the truths that we may have negatively participated in.
Photo credits:
Megan Thee Stallion- Essence.com
Breonna Taylor- cbc.ca
Report: Brionna Taylor
Black Girl in a White World
Black Girl in a White World
For years now black women have had to begin adapting to the white culture being young in school and in the workplace. In the black culture, we’re used to having our own jokes and ways of speaking with certain slangs. Typically this is considered unprofessional or “ghetto” to white people.
This causes a black woman to have two different sides of her personality. She develops a persona that is acceptable or tolerable to her white peers in her place of employment. Typically in a corporate setting where black people, in general, make up a small percentage. Some black people have learned to adapt to their white surroundings at a young age and make it part of who they are to give off the “oreo” impression meaning white on the inside, black on the outside. This is how some black people climb the corporate ladder.
For those that don’t believe in conforming to the racially appropriate norms that have been created for them out of expectation this causes a negative effect on a black woman’s mental state. It creates an irritation that leads to some depression, anger, or stress because they feel they are discouraged from speaking their mind without being accused of being aggressive or hostile.
White women have a top tier ranking over black women. Society and the labor market have always had a negative view of black women which has given them a disadvantage in the workforce including negative results in employment practices.
Black women have become mentally defeated in being themselves. This has also lead to more black women becoming entrepreneurs and embracing their own identity of being black without being a threat. Many black women have chosen the path of owning their own business. For the women who don’t choose this path in life, it is important to know how to dominate your personality respectfully in the workplace. Act with authority and demand the proper treatment as you would anywhere else.
Black women must take their power by force, by any means necessary. To respect a black woman is to respect any other human being. The level of respect and fair treatment should not depend on how black a woman is. The black woman will be accepted.
Report: Josephine Coiscou
At the rise of Covid-19 many of us first questioned the timeline of fashion week and would we see the regular calendar continue - the question weighed over many of us for months! It was refreshing to see design houses and designers across the globe take advantage of the uncertainty and plow into production mode - thus my interest in Jerri Reid New York - The Black Designer based in Brooklyn New York wow’d instagram with his latest collection paying homage to the Black Is King film which debuted earlier this year in July. I was taken aback at quick of a turn round the young designer produced and released his well crafted designs reflecting some of the films most memorable moments.