My experience being a young Black woman has been rather hard, if I could describe it in a few words.
My name is Davaria. I’m a sophomore at Ferris State and here’s a little look into my life.
Since the beginning of time, Black women have gone unprotected, underrepresented, mocked, made fun of and everything in between, especially darker-skinned women.
We are the blueprint for culture itself. Hairstyles, language, slang, clothing and simply the way we carry ourselves.
It seems to me that we can never actually be ourselves without being shamed for it.
What I mean by this is that other races of women can exhibit certain behaviors and be praised for it.
When Black women exhibit those same behaviors, we are often told we are “ghetto” and undesirable.
There are many examples of this. If a Latina woman curses at someone, she is often seen as attractive and as someone standing up for herself.
If a white woman cries at her job, she may gain sympathy from it and maybe even a week off.
Their voices and concerns are always at the forefront of society’s mind. This is not to discredit those races, but simply to give perspective.
Black women do not have the luxury to just be human.
We are expected to always be strong and to take disrespect and name-calling without saying anything.
If we speak on an issue, no one cares.
If we are harmed in the workplace, no one cares because Black women are one of the most unprotected groups in the United States.
When we are in these spaces and jobs, we just have to keep our heads up, smile and tough it out.
We have to make sure we are always doing things right. In fact, we have to be the best possible because we also don’t get recognized for our work or accomplishments.
We don’t get picked first for that promotion, no matter how qualified we may be.
But who created those popular slang terms like “period,” “sis” and “boo?” Black women.
Who created many of those creative hairstyles? Black women.
Who set the standard for fashion and body figure? Black women.
Yet we are still underpaid, overlooked and told we are undesirable.
Black women also have some of the lowest marriage rates.
We have a target on our back because every day we step into the world, someone is looking for a reason to get us fired or dismiss our voices and we are expected to just deal with it.
A great example of this can be seen in the movie Hidden Figures.
The main character, Katherine Johnson, is a Black woman who works for NASA. She is the smartest employee there.
She works in an all-white environment and has to walk half a mile just to use the bathroom because no “colored” bathrooms are available for her at work.
She is paid little compared to the other employees and nobody wants to talk to her or drink from the same coffee pot.
But she works relentlessly to answer questions that seem impossible to solve and can solve equations without a book. She was the only one able to calculate flight projections for Project Mercury and other missions.
This movie came out in 2016 and although we don’t have to use separate bathrooms anymore, things have not drastically changed in the modern workplace.
So next time you see a Black woman in the workplace, be a little kinder now that you know what she may be going through behind closed doors.
Shedding light on what goes unspoken about will hopefully enforce change and community.