This is for young Black Women, 14-20, on their way to high school/college/getting ready to leave college for the work world. I’m not that much older than you but I see so many young BW strugling at a young age. I’m seeing the way society and the BC is already breaking down young BW into a mould.
This goes past class barriers. This is for the young BW in the hood with the single mom, the kids her age standing on the corner selling drugs/sex and committing violent acts. This is for the middle-class BW who hangs out at the mall on the weekends and goes to an integrated yet segregated at the same time suburban high school. And this is for the upper-class BW who is a member of Jack and Jill and who’s looking forward to finally being presented at the sorority cotillion.
TV, Music, the magazines all shout that you aren’t good enough, especially if your skin is too dark and your hair is too kinky. Many of the black boys you’ve been around openly date/admire white girls, latina girls, asian girls and the biracial girls. Many times, instead of being offered a date, a black guy may ask when can he come over. No talk about going out, just can he come over to have sex. Your friends are dealing with the same problems but everyone is blaming the non-black girls (oh, white girls are willing to do anything, she’s a h*/b***h). And some of your friends who are having sex with these black boys are called all kinds of hos and whores and treated like scum while the boys chase after the non-black girls. Then maybe your older sisters come home from college and they haven’t had a date either because most of the black men there have pretty much decided to only date non-black women.
And then there are the names you may be called: redbone, chinky eyed, nappy hair, black crispie. “Why is your hair so short?” “B***h, you ugly with that dark a** skin!” “Don’t nobody want yo black a** anyway?”
It’s like hell isn’t it?
And everyone is talking about how black women can make it better if we are nicer/get a better weave/being willing to be down for whatever.
Well… after going through many of these things, it’s not going to get better. People haven’t told you but many black boys and men can really careless about what happens to black women unless there is something that they can get from that black woman before they are done with you. I mean, how many times has a black boy only been interested in you if he can get sex/get homework help/get an alibi/get closer to your non-black friends/etc? He only sees you as someone that he can use. Unfortunately, the older you get, the worse it becomes.
But, it doesn’t have to become that way for you!
You have your life in front of you and you don’t have to get caught up in the madness. You may have already realized the okey-doke that is going on. This may be a shock for you. Starting Wednesday, I’ll be going through some ways to make sure that you have the best possible life, starting now at your young age.
KM
