By Resmaa Menakem — 2021
If you have an African American body, welcome. I wrote this blog post—and the body practice at the end—especially for you. (Everyone else, welcome as well—but please skip the body practice.)
Read on www.psychologytoday.com
CLEAR ALL
The Strong Black Women Syndrome demands that Black women never buckle, never feel vulnerable and, most important, never, ever put their own needs above anyone else’s—not their children’s, not their community’s, not the people for whom they work—no matter how detrimental it is to their...
There is a belief among some African-Americans that to defeat racism, they have to work harder, be smarter, be better.
Characterized throughout American history as symbols of crisis, trauma, and grief, these women consistently reject those narratives through world-making of their own.
The first thing you want is to know that you belong here, that you are a part of this planet, just like the earth and the water, the sun and the wind, and the trees.
Racism. The belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance, manifest and implied.
There is this thing that happens, all too often, when a Black woman is being introduced in a professional setting. Her accomplishments tend to be diminished. The introducer might laugh awkwardly, rushing through whatever impoverished remarks they have prepared.
Until the marches, “pussy” was treated like a four-letter dirty word. What followed, as women responded to the crass reference to them as a body part, became an enantiodromia—a derogatory and shameful word became transformed into its opposite.
One woman has made it her mission to connect Black-owned brands with today's top costume designers.