I
cherish every March when the triumphs and
contributions of women get a spotlight during
Women’s History Month. The brilliance of women
of color, particularly women of African
descent, desperately struggles to reach its
full luminosity under the bourgeoning systems
of oppression. A designated month of
positivity cannot obscure the disturbing
statistics that increasingly engulf Black
women.
We
are the backbone of the labor force. We are
the nurturers of the children. We are the
caretakers of our communities. The heavy load
that Black women have shouldered for
generations is taking its toll as the
political climate becomes more anti-Black,
anti-women and anti-trans.
There
are many reports that track the well-being of
Black girls and women including the recently
released “Women’s Incarceration: The Whole
Pie” by the Prison Policy Initiative. They
chart a trajectory of unhealthy futures for
Black girls and women.
Ø Black
mothers (regardless of their class status) and
their babies have the highest mortality rates
of any other racial and ethnic background.
Ø Black
women participate in the workforce at much
higher rates than most other women yet earn
less than all other racial or gender groups.
Ø Black
women experience higher unemployment and
poverty rates than the U.S. average for other
women.
Ø Black women are subjected to
high levels of racism, sexism, and
discrimination at levels not experienced by
Black men or White women.
Ø Black
women and girls make up only 7 percent of the
U.S. population and come up missing or
murdered more than any other race or
ethnicity.
Ø Black women are two and a half
times more likely to be murdered by men than
their white counterparts.
Ø One
out of five Black women will report being
raped during their lifetimes - a higher rate
than among women overall; many more will never
report their sexual assaults.
Ø Black girls account for 32
percent of all girls in juvenile facilities
despite making up just 14 percent of girls
under 18 years nationwide.
Ø Black
women are imprisoned at nearly twice the rate
of white women.
Given
this reality, it should come as no surprise
that our mental health is taking a hit.
Suicide rates among Black women and girls have
climbed for the last two decades. The
stereotype of the strong, resilient Black
woman who can survive anything is literally
killing us.
This
is a situation that calls for serious
rethinking and regrouping of our current
conditions on both personal and
socio-political levels. Black women must
rethink our lifestyles and relationships so
that we are (re)aligned physically,
emotionally and spiritually.
Our
intergenerational sisterhood has kept us from
drowning in the tumultuous waters of racial
capitalism where we are devalued as humans.
But we need more support, a different kind of
support system. We call on our
forward-thinking brothers and other allies to
join us in a strategy that affirms healthy men
and women who are responsible for raising
healthy children and creating healthy and
sustainable communities.
Together,
we must demand from our government what our
tax dollars are supposed to fund and I’m not
even talking about reparations yet. The safety
net, the housing incentives, the entrepreneur
programs and more are designed to keep people
from sinking into the abyss of poverty and
psychological meltdowns.
Together,
our community must draw from our talents and
skills to create a world that respects and
protects us as a people. This means embracing
the important, personal transformative work so
that we understand the harmful manifestations
of internalized oppression. If we let it, the
violence that is escalating in mainstream
society will find its way into our homes, our
relationships, our parenting.
Black
Lives Matter is not just a slogan directed at
the white supremacist world order. It is a
daily reminder for all of us of African
descent to resist the infectious virus of
self-loathing and self-destruction spawned and
perpetuated by our oppressors.
There
is an African proverb that says, “When there
is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot
hurt you.” We must remember the work to be
done is not sequential with an endpoint, it is
overlapping and ongoing. Together.
