Life as a Black Woman

When Justice won’t speak for us

If she wasn’t so arrogant if she would have just put her cigarette out, why was she in that alley? Why did she come out of the house? Why didn’t she just take her medication? Police are killing black women, and the underwhelming response is shocking. Should I really be surprised that instead of asking why these unarmed women were murdered, we create excuses for their deaths? Sandra Bland. Rekia Boyd. Shelley Frey. Kendra James. The list of names goes on and on, but I wonder, do you know them? Do you recognize their names? Do you know what happened to them? Is justice speaking for them?

Life as a Black woman has always been a balancing act. You are first black and then a woman, separated into two. You have to be down for the causes that are associated with being black and deal with the issues of being a woman. What it means to be a black woman has been misconstrued throughout history. We have been overly sexualized because of our shape; everything from our hair to our attitude has been stereotyped. These stereotypes cause black women to be ignored even as they suffer right in the faces of their communities.

For example, the Daniel Holtzclaw case of the police officer who sexually targeted poorer black women in Oklahoma City. He proceeded to rape 13 underprivileged black women and tell them that no one would care. They were told that no one would believe them. He was right; no one will care if we keep forgetting black women from the conversation.

What can I say to someone who looks at my name on a piece of paper and automatically assumes I’m uneducated? What can I say to someone who believes that all black women are aggressive, uncouth, loud, overtly sexualized, or too high strung? We have been dealing with these stereotypes for years, and it only seems to get worse.

The moment these stereotypes threaten our existence on earth, there’s an issue. The moment that people would instead make excuses for our killers, there’s an issue. So I ask when will justice speak for us? When will the system work in our favor? Will black women continue to die in silence?

If you don’t say her name, then you’re failing the Black Lives Matter movement. The Black Lives Matter movement includes both black men AND black women. You can’t fight for the freedom of Black men and pretend Black women don’t have issues as well. When you talk to your sons, talk to your daughter because Aiyanna Jones was someone’s daughter. If you don’t have a daughter, speak to your niece because Sandra Bland was someone’s niece too.

Black women are standing on the front lines, they are being arrested while protesting for their black brothers, and it must be reciprocated. It is necessary to remember that we are not exempt from being attacked by the police or anyone for that matter. The problem is that we are being left out of the conversation. We have become an afterthought, forced to create our own hashtags to remain at the forefront. It is not possible to effectively change what is happening to black people in this country if we don’t stand together. We must remember that though black girls are full of melanin and magic, we are real too. Our fight is real also. Our struggle is real. Our pain is real. Our lives are being lost, and the silence is stifling our ability to save others.

As Black women, we are pushed to fight the injustices against black men. However, we forget a key factor…ourselves and our daughters. I’ve seen too many posts about protecting our sons, while we as women leave our daughters out of the conversation. How can you see black women/girls falling victim to the same treatment, and still not include yourself in the discussion? So while saying his name, make sure you say her name too. You must prepare your daughter in the same way you prepare your son. She must not only be taught to fight for her brothers, but also to fight for sisters.

Black women don’t get as much media attention when it comes to the mistreatment they face at the hands of society.

We must continue to keep justice for black women in the forefront or risk losing the lifeline of this movement.