Bonjour tout le monde!
As many of you may already know, as well as blogging about natural black hair, I also find it important to raise topics that are very potent and poignant within the black community. Today is Black Empowerment.
The first thing that came up when I searched the term 'Black Empowerment' was a quote which said, 'Black girls/women are my first priority because we are everyone's LAST priority'. To me this was a very powerful quote. Black girls/women are everyone's LAST priority. Now this isn't exclusive to black women only. It's fair to say that the entire black community feels the same. There isn't a single black person who feels accepted for who they are, the colour of their skin or their deep-rooted ancestry.
It's hard to embrace the colour of your skin when in some parts of America, that's the very reason people are being shot down. It's difficult to love the natural kinks and coils of your hair when you are constantly being asked, 'why is your hair so short?' or 'you're hair is so cool! Can I touch it?' as if you're a show pony. It is impossible to celebrate and remember our extensive and deep-rooted heritage during Black History Month when we're being told 'slavery is over get over it' or 'Black History Month is so racist, what about White History Month?'
These are the things we as black people have to experience day in and day out purely because we are black. Racism has become so normalized that we are being constantly reminded that we are different without people even realizing what they are saying or doing. If you're Jamaican then you don't know your dad. I'm Jamaican and I've always had my dad in my life. Black people are underachievers, they're not capable of academic success. In my school, of the top 20 academic performers, 15 were black including myself. Black girls wear weave because they want to copy and have European hair. I can tell you that my friends and I wear weave to change up our hairstyles. We are so lucky at how versatile our hair is. If you want straight hair you can either wear weave or straighten your own. Curly well you can simply wet your hair and watch the curls come through. Plaits you can either do yourself or add extensions. We have such a world of options, most of which white people cannot fathom, that we are so lucky to be black. Oppression is all around us and for decades black people have succumb to this and allowed themselves to be forsaken the same rights as white people. It's time for change.
Black Empowerment is a revolt. An uprising. A protest. It comes straight from the black community saying, 'I can have whatever the white man has. I can do whatever the white man does. I can achieve whatever the white man can achieve and in fact I am entitled to the very same rights as the white man'. Black people have been oppressed for so long that we've become conditioned to think that we are the lesser race. To think that success is way beyond our means. This is merely a mindset. In reality we are the same if not better than the white man. Why? Because we've experienced struggle. We know the true meaning of hardship. For many young people in this current generation, you may be the first generation to go to University. The number of young black people going to University is on the up and up every year. This enables them to become lawyers, bankers, accountants and doctors AND have the same opportunities as the white man. However this is not an easy task. I believe that this generation is the generation to begin bringing about this change. Things will not change overnight nor will it be a result of one persons' voice or determination. We must work together to achieve. Motivate each other and support each other as we are the ones who can live and embody Black Empowerment in today's world. Our ancestors laid the foundations for change, now its time for us to bring about this change.
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