As black and female, sometimes our voices, opinions, thoughts and visions are drowned with the voices of the majority, treated as below minority, subdued under the ‘culture’ of ‘a woman must not speak in public’ or the ‘minority is irrelevant’.
As black and female, sometimes (or most times as in other countries), we are passively terrorised and continuously trampled upon because ‘we have no say in how things are done’.
This month is a reminder that WE MATTER. This month is a reminder that society needs to step up and treat us, black men and women as equals and not subservient. As prominent and not subdued. As impactful and irrelevant.
WE ARE IMPORTANT. Our power? It lies in the beauty of our colour, in the perfection of our skin tones and of course, the purposeful strides in our walk. Our wisdom? It is entwined with the delicate and intentional curls in the Afro of our hair, in the way we speak, accented or not. The stones, sticks and words of the biased world are truly no match in comparison to the strength which we carry, delicately placed beneath our skin.
I remember at an interview, I was told by an equally BLACK WOMAN, that if I was ever going to succeed in my career path, I needed to work three times as hard (and more) as the average person because I as BLACK, FEMALE AND AFRICAN. But today I choose to rephrase it: “I WILL Succeed in my chosen field BECAUSE I am BLACK, FEMALE AND AFRICAN”.
I was once told that if I was to look at the chances realistically, there was still going to be some level of discrimination against me succeeding as a lawyer because ‘whether I liked it or not, I was BLACK AND NIGERIAN, and that was the reality of things’. That may be their reality and not mine because I choose to ignore this bias and instead see my diversity as valuable, as unforgettable and impactful!
This series would introduce various articles, stories and creative pieces written purely written by black writers! So stay tuned and keep following!
-Anjola 💚
