Our stories are narratives that must be told.
Intra-racial discontent affects the African American community, and girls.
Ok, I’m supposed to talk about my personal experiences with intra-racial discord; those experiences that necessitate these courageous conversations. But, as I look around, I cannot help but see how far beyond me this problem is. The simple fact is, this issue is not new. However, how we deal with it is. Admittedly, I have had negative experiences due to my dark brown skin color and kinky hair texture. Nevertheless, I assert that because of the positive people in my village and my support network, I was able to power through the negativity and persevere. Because of this network of women that loved me and treated me as if I was worthy of…anything, I was able to navigate this labyrinth called life. As I look around, I weep for our girls because the village is burning and society has thrown away all of the water buckets. When I was a child, yes, it was clear from the images on television that only light skin and straight hair was considered beautiful to popular culture. However, I was fortunate enough to have dark skinned women with kinky hair in my life that carried themselves in such a way that no one would dare say they weren’t. These were my teachers, my church family and sometimes the women within my biological family. These women were the mélange of my village.
Is there Civil War among Black girls?
The aforementioned issue has manifested itself in a civil war among black girls; a place where name-calling, ridicule, deceit and physical aggression often play themselves out in our schools. Often the behavioral response is a mimicking of the negative portrayals of black women that I see way more than I would like in popular culture. These images often leave me with a sense of emptiness and fear for future generations of girls that look like me and leave me to wonder how do we fix it?
Start by taking the time to be a part of a young girl's villiage
Carolyn
Strong will present a webinar entitled “Black Girl Blues:
Insights/Strategies for Addressing Intra-Racial Bullying” on August 16
at 11:30 am or 2:00 pm (ET).
No comments:
Post a Comment