Being a middle school teacher, I have a tendency to tease my male students. A lot of times, there may be some discrepancy that I need for them to “get together”. At many points, it would be one of my female students that was there to get them together. After the fact, I will always announce to the class that “it always takes a female to make sure the males have their lives together”. The boys would admonish my words. The females would always give me acknowledgment for the compliment. And that, my good people, is the dynamics of the world seen through a classroom.
More often than not, it is the female that actually steps above and beyond to make things happen for their families, communities, and society. Think about where Black peoplewould be without the work of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, or Maria W. Stewart. We can take it to Madame CJ Walker or even to Angela Davis and Assata Shakur. Hell, we can even take it further with Ava Duvernay with what she did with Selma. It needs to be recognized that Black women are the societal glue for the Black experience.
Black Women As Heroes in Our Age
Black women are, and have been, showing the world what they should be doing. Serena Williams already had to mention how she refused to play in Charleston back in 2000 due to the Confederate flag. People need to realize that certain issues are actually old. We are talking about 2000. That’s 15 years ago. Yet, it was a Black woman representing for us.
It is 2015 and we have a new hero: Bree Newsome.
What occurred with Bree Newsome taking down the Confederate flag was nothing short of heroism. Instead of giving the same old rigmarole, she did something about the flag that many of us wanted gone for decades. She climbed at the top of the pole and took the flag down. Many of us rejoiced at what she had done. We realized that she stuck HER neck out to do what millions wanted done.
Again: it took a black woman.
Yet, there are plenty of us that have something negative to say. In a forum that I am a part of on Facebook, one of my art colleagues drew an astounding picture of the incident. However, some of the males wanted to make misogynistic and despairing remarks while questioning her dedication to the cause. If they would have did some research, they would have known that Bree Newsome is a filmmaker, artist, activist, and many other titles that even she hasn’t mentioned. However, here we are again: men finding a way to turn a situation into something misogynistic.
And you know what? It is getting old.
Fellas, it is time to listen up: Black people are having a rough go at it. Between people either wanting us dead or placing responsibility on us for other people’s issues (racism being one of them), it would be smart to actually SUPPORT the women that are going to bat for us. If you see a woman taking the lead to do something YOU did not do, then you should be cheering her on. This is not the moment of questioning their agendas or talking down on her for being a female. This is the time of action.
How can any man talk down on somebody while they sit in front of a computer while these females are risking their lives/livelihood for our Blackness?
Black Women Are Our Heroes Epilogue
If you came from a Black woman, then you should support Black women. If a Black woman does what you DIDN’T do, then applause is in order. There is no time for questioning, negative commentary, and mental meandering on the situation. The least that men could do is actually give proper respect to those that had the courage/gall to do what you WOULDN’T. Or, you can always try and be quiet.