From Indifferent Black Teenager to Angry Black Young Woman

For years I would ignore the issues of racism, stereotypical thinking, and misogynist views. It’s not that I didn’t realize things were unfair or wrong. I just didn’t feel like dealing with those problems on a daily basis. It was almost like I wanted to pretend it didn’t exist because I didn’t want to deal with the emotional recoil that comes from facing these problems head on. I was able to ignore the evils within the nation I lived in that basically let me know I did not belong here. I would ignore the hate crimes committed against people that looked like me. I ignored the failure to punish people who killed people with the same color skin as me. My people.

Lately I’ve been having a hard time ignoring the dormant angry person inside of me. The recent string of murders of Black individuals at the hands of a corrupt system that we’re supposed to believe would protect us has awakened a fury within me that makes me want to take a more active role on fighting the war against my people.

My current state of mind is to educate myself by reading powerful books by activists and intellectuals dedicated to using their own knowledge to dismantle the systems that are designed to oppress us. I hope that by studying their works and researching the ways in which society is set up for us to acceptably treated as less than human I will be able to join the war and use my own words and platforms to sometimes lead the charge into these battles we are facing.

I can no longer ignore the battle that is raging on right outside my door when I have three beautiful children that I have to protect from the evils of this world. I must suit up. I must brandish my weapon and train myself to be equipped to not just lead the charges into battle but also to defeat the enemy. It is time that we fight back. It is time that we no longer remain complacent or silent about the ill treatment we receive. We are kings and queens. We deserve more. And we will no longer settle for less.

This. Means. War.