Black women save the world.
The following blog post is written by Khalif Boyd, WHSBAA Co-Chair of Recruitment & Retention
Growing up as a multi-racial Black man, Black women have been consistent pillars in my life. From my late grandmother, Ollie Boyd, to the trailblazing visionaries at WHS known as the DRC+, I’ve been consistently loved, seen, and uplifted by Black women. I have recognized my own self-worth during my highs and lows by leaning on the support and encouragement provided by Black women. For me, it was no surprise to me to see Black women like Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and other amazing super sheroes do what Black women have always done, save the world. While Black women are not a monolith, but humor me- monolithically speaking, Black women have this unmatched ability to carry the burdens of others, fight oppression, support their community, and eloquently dominate a room, all while fighting the double edged sword that pierces them daily- anti-Blackness and anti-female sentiments.
I was fortunate enough to see Black Girl Magic at a microcosm level during high school. Picture me – a scared 5’7” string bean boy with a giant afro quickly walking through the hallways of a predominantly Asian school (7th grade to 12th grade). Since I didn’t want much attention, one would normally find me strapping on my Jumpsoles and working on my game on the furthest basketball court away from where most students hung out. It wasn’t long until I was given a flier by a Black girl, one of like 10 in the entire school, to a club meeting and stepped into this agora that would later reveal itself to be “Club Noire”. These Black women, who were led by the illustrious Mama Logan, took it upon themselves to make sure I didn’t get completely lost in the soy sauce. They educated me about Black history, beyond what I learned in my history class, and taught me what was out of pocket…starting off with the cardinal rule, not allowing girls to play with my afro like they had a front row seat to a petting zoo. These young, regal, and ratchet beautiful queens took me to my first step show at CSULB, braided my hair for all school dances, and took me to get my first proper haircut- a fade and lineup, and later they gifted me with my first wave cap.
Fast forward to now, given the recurrent events in the world and non-confronted trauma from high school, reuniting with them feels like a special homecoming. There’s an energy to Black women, specifically the queens in my life, where they hold space, honor, and affirm people, dismantling the inequities and focusing on rebuilding and laying down the groundwork to make up for the deficiencies in leadership within our communities. While still necessary, this is a continued shame because in general, I’ve watched them endure, adapt to forced assimilation, and learn about so many different areas where they had to pick up the slack for others, and yet not get due credit.
Black women have been at the forefront of change for so long, like the Civil Rights movement, however, because of respectability politics, men or white people who helped facilitate equality were uplifted in the spotlight, while Black women were in the background. Being organizers and making sure people were clothed, safe, and healthy- just as they did in the Black Panther Party with the free breakfast and medical programs. Whenever I log into a zoom call with WHSBAA, I always think about how bad @$$ these women move with beautiful ease…to watch them teach their students, run an executive role at a fortune 500, direct strategies at one of the top entertainment companies, conduct interviews and presentations all while taking care of their families and everyone else around them! They’re navigating around societal expectations, embedded with racism and sexism, and managing to create a strong informed legacy that their families and future generations can be proud of....Like…how, Sway?!
I’ll end it with this…for some reason, I’m thinking about episode 5 of “Lovecraft Country” where a white woman named Christina Braithwhite, asks Ruby Baptiste, a Black woman, “who are you really uninterrupted?” aka “an unmitigated freedom” because before a Black woman is even born, the chips are already stacked against her. Humor me for a bit, what if those chips are knocked down, what do you get? I can start that off with saying…in the midst of trudging through the America's societal labyrinth, we have an extremely educated forever First Lady, and currently in the White House the first Black-South Asian VP in history. America is beginning to see the power of Black women but I can’t help but think, yo, our tender and intelligent women need rest and space to recover because the statistic for the ailments that show up in their CT scans, in heart diseases, chronic illnesses, maternal death rate, and the list goes on is unacceptable. We must continue to be better allies inside and outside the home and conquer white supremacy because that’s where misogyny comes from.
Thank you to the Black women in my life. You are so loved.
“somebody/ anybody
sing a black girl's song
bring her out
to know herself
to know you
but sing her rhythms
carin/ struggle/ hard times
sing her song of life
she's been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn't know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty
she's half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the song of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
let her be born
& handled warmly.”
- Ntozake Shange
