The Naked Truth/Jamala Rogers
From Fantasy to Reality: Celebrate the Women
Women’s History Month is when the triumphs and contributions of women get a momentary spotlight. The brilliance of women, particularly women of color, desperately struggles to reach its full luminosity under the systems of oppression. Too often Black women are lifted up as Super Sheroes — impervious to pain and suffering. Able to level all challenges, and with our cape waving in the wind, we ascend to the pedestal for our just adoration. The reality is that the heavy load that Black women have shouldered for generations is taking its toll as the political climate becomes more anti-Black, anti-women and anti-trans.
Black women are the backbone of the labor force. We are the nurturers of the children. We are the glue for our families. We are the caretakers of our communities. We have been the impetus for movements for societal changes over generations. That’s a lot.
There have been many reports that track the well-being of Black girls and women. They chart a disturbing trajectory of unhealthy futures for Black girls and women.
- Black mothers (regardless of their class status) and their babies have the highest mortality rates of any other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
- Black women participate in the workforce at much higher rates than most other women yet earn less than all other racial or gender groups.
- Black women experience higher unemployment and poverty rates than the U.S. average for other women.
- Black women are subjected to high levels of racism, sexism, and discrimination at levels not experienced by Black men or White women.
- Black women and girls make up only 7 percent of the U.S. population and come up missing or murdered more than any other race or ethnicity.
- Black women were two and a half times more likely to be murdered by men than their white counterparts.
- One out of five Black women will report being raped during their lifetimes — a higher rate than among women overall; many more will never report their sexual assaults.
- Black girls account for 32 percent of all girls in juvenile facilities despite making up just 14 percent of girls under 18 years nationwide.
- Black women are imprisoned at nearly twice the rate of white women.
Given this reality, it should come as no surprise that our mental health is taking a hit. Suicide rates among Black women and girls have climbed for the last two decades. The stereotype of the strong, resilient Black woman who can survive anything is literally killing us.
Black female voices of authority challenging the white, male status quo continue to get muffled, from women like commentator Joy Reid to St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner. The attacks are very public and most times humiliating. They are meant to be cautionary lessons to all those watching: this is what happens when you assert your Black feminism.
Our intergenerational sisterhood has kept us from drowning in the tumultuous waters of racial capitalism where we are devalued as humans. But we need more support, a different kind of support system. We call on our forward-thinking men and other allies to join us in a strategy that affirms the healthy men and women who are responsible for creating healthy and sustainable communities. We must collectively turn our focus to the trump oligarchy who is slashing and burning programs that are essential to this affirmation.
Our communities must draw from our talents and skills to create a world that respects and protects people, not portfolios. Right now, that means saving this democracy that trump and his rich clowns are destroying brick by brick, agency by agency, budget line item by line item. We cannot be passive bystanders, immobilized by the horrifying destruction of the current administration. We must organize a formidable fightback against the forces of reaction. And women will lead the way.