Black Womanhood

I grew up in South Carolina, a state in which confederate flags were still displayed proudly on front porches and government buildings for most of my life. A proper southern state, my hometown of Charleston was founded in racism and built on the backs of my ancestors. South Carolina is a place where black people are still fighting for justice, as is evident in the murder of Walter Scott by police officer Michael Slager, and the massacre of nine people by white supremacist Dylann Roof, in a church, both of these incidents occurring no more than a fifteen minute drive from my home. Although these are extreme examples, black people in South Carolina still face injustice everyday. As a black woman, I face the struggles of misogyny, coupled with the racism of the south. Throughout the history of the United States and continuing into today, abuse and discrimination has brought marginalized Americans together, as we cope with our circumstances. American people are conditioned to believe that so much progress has been made since the days that Native Americans were run off of their own lands, since women were denied the right to vote, since black people were chained up like animals. Yet, here we are, at a time when many would say that discrimination has ended, and black queer women are being murdered at an alarming rate. Sandra Bland was murdered while in police custody.  The commonalities in the unique experiences of black, American women can be seen as early as the slave days, when black women were raped by white masters and forced to bear their children. Years later, gun violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other traumatic experiences affect black women disproportionately.