Because At The End Of The Day...

The face looking back at me in the mirror is that of a black woman's face...

I've been on the fence about writing "Pro Black" anything out of the concern that I would offend some of those I know, but then it hit me! If those I know never shied from showing their support for Bush or even Trump, then why should I shy from showing my support for my own race? Understand, the "Black Movement" isn't about downing other races in the process to uplift our own, it's about acknowledging where we as a race came from AS we uplift our own. Some people can't understand that, but then again, if  you're not black why would you?

I am a black woman.

There are so many out there trying to be what I am. What I, for a long time, was embarrassed about. I didn't want to be my color for along time growing up and I'm glad my mom put a stop to that; I'm glad she taught me to love the skin I'm in because it's beautiful. Unless you are a minority, you will never understand what it's like to go out in public and have people look at you as if you don't belong in the same room as them. You will never understand watching as TV and society acts like your race is beneath them, describing us as everything negative under the sun and then some. Most people do not realize that we are more than what they see, than what they will ever be exposed to.

I am an educated black woman.

Do you realize that there are sooooo many of us out there? Educated black individuals striving to be the best that we can be. There are a lot of us out there leading by example because to get to where we are wasn't easy. I'm not saying that another person of a different race had it any better, but historically, it wasn't easy for us; black people. I can't help it that society glamorizes everything that is wrong with Black America, but I can help what I take from that negative image.

Why is it okay for other races to imitate us but we can't be ourselves?

I love the fact that we are in a time that a lot of black people are celebrating our race because I feel that today's youth need it. They need to know that their race is a positive in the world and not a negative; their skin, their hair, their heritage. That it's okay to be proud of who we are. I have children growing up during this time and it is so detached from the Civil Rights Movement that a lot of our youth cannot appreciate where it all began; what was lost and what was gained, all for people who weren't even in existence at the time. No, we can't keep living in the past BUT if other races are allowed to do so, why can't we? We are not slaves, apes, coons, niggers, or any other derogatory word that people still call us. We are human beings, we bring to the table of the world just like other races do; we have our social imperfections just other races do. So why haven't we ever been treated equally?

My race doesn't define me, it is who I am.

I say this to say that from now on I'm not biting my tongue or stopping my pen. What comes up will come out and if there are people that can't accept that, then you can't accept me. My brown skin, my kinky hair, my unique name, my heritage, and all else that makes me me...