Hey! Don’t Forget About Black Women
By Monet Heath
“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” - Malcolm X
Let me start by saying that I am tired. But then again, my ancestors have been tired for over 400 years so I understand where my anger and pain comes from. 2020 has been a complete mess but the fact that African Americans are still fighting to be treated equally upsets me so much that I can’t put my true feelings into words. Black men and women are being HUNG in 2020! Yet, people still sit and pretend like nothing is going on or in a few weeks these protests will blow over.
In my opinion, that is the worst ideology. People are hoping things go “back to normal” but what they are not realizing is that “normal” is the same treatment that has rooted hatred in this country since our least favorite colonizer popped up in 1492. So if you ask me, the predicament that America is in now was waiting to happen. If my people were the ones forced to build this country, we have every right to destroy it and create something new and humane.
I have silently had an internal struggle during the entire protest that have been going on these past few weeks. As I watch online and see people go out everyday and fight for equality with the risk of being hurt or even killed, I begin to question: Am I doing enough?
As I see people from all walks of life go out and let their voices be heard it has made me validate if I have any say on the topics going on. These are the real heroes in this fight and I wish I was as brave to go out during these trying times. Despite this struggle, I have realized that as long as you have a platform to get your voice across, you can help with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Therefore, I have graciously used the internet to help donate, sign petitions, and repost anything that can help resolve our current problems.
The Black Woman. A tragic story in our country. It is shameful that we are treated the worst despite the desire others have to become us. The worst part about it is that as much as Black women fight for Black men, we are not given the same treatment back. Black women are victims of police brutality just as much as Black men yet are not seen in the media as much. Why is this happening?
During my Principles of Speech class in my fall semester at Howard University, we were assigned to create a persuasive speech about a topic we were passionate about. A student in my class gave a powerful presentation concerning Black women. The student discussed the idea of intersectionality; a theory created by Kimberlé Crenshaw which explains that the convergence of identities causes for people to be overshadowed. Black women who were killed due to police brutality was the leading topic in Crenshaw’s Ted Talk presentation.
When a tragedy occurs such as the cases of police brutality, a Black man is more likely to be reported on instead of a Black woman. This is unfortunate because there have been just as many cases of Black women killed by police and they go unnoticed. Examples of intersectionality are present daily. Sandra Bland’s case is just now getting reopened and only one of the three cops involved in Breonna Taylor’s death has been fired. Nothing else.
We have to do better for Black women. In life, Black women fight the hardest to be valued which should not be the case. It is only fair that we fight to get Breonna Taylor’s murderers in jail just as George Floyds. From this, we can work towards exposing more racist cops as well as ultimately defunding the police. The only way we can truly get justice is if we can arrest as many people who have purposely hurt the Black community as a whole.
As I reflect on the current state of America, I realize that a change has to come. African Americans have struggled since they came to this country and we are done letting racist actions occur to our people . We must fight for all of our people to be treated as human. By doing so, we must fight for all Black lives, but especially Black women's lives because their stories are going unheard. I have come to terms that my purpose in this revolution is to educate my community and ensure that Black women’s lives are being fought for harder.
I wish that everyone who reads this watches the video provided, learn more about intersectionality and continue to use any of your resources to help the Black Lives Matter movement. Whether you are out in the streets protesting, donating, signing petitions or even reposting a post online anything helps. If the media will not properly fight for Black women, I will make sure that I give my all until all Black women who have been killed by police are seen and fought for.
