George Floyd’s tragic death has changed the tides for the Black Lives Matter movement; Black men and the BLM movement have finally gotten recognition and support. But the same cannot be said about Black women. Despite the hindrances Black people have overcome, Black women do not receive respect for the work they have done in their communities and cannot express their grievances.
Intersectionality, Kimberle Crenshaw states, is a metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality create obstacles that often are not understood within conventional ways of thinking about anti-racism, feminism, or any other social justice advocacy structures. As Black women, our problems as both Black people and as women are not separate. It is important to think about the convergence of race stereotypes and gender stereotypes and how it affects everyone in our society and world.
Black women have been instrumental to society, but their potential and contributions have yet to be realized. According to Sonia Thompson, CEO of Thompson Medic Group, Black women are the most educated demographic but still earn less than others. Furthermore, Black women have helped and created movements that paved the way for great change in America. Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and Anna Julia Cooper amplified women’s voices in the suffrage movement, the women in Black Panther set up schools’ lunch systems, and Black mothers created the BLM movement. Black women have been behind every protest, movement, and change in American–and even world–history.
Black women make history, yet our stories and our problems are ignored. Along with Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Toyin Salau have also inspired the movement. Unfortunately, justice for their deaths are largely ignored. Participating in the BLM movement, I signed petitions for Ahmend Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, and I noticed that both men reached and even surpassed the number of signatures they needed for the petition. Taylor, on the other hand, still needed to meet her goal. Moreover, both men’s aggressors have been arrested and charged, and even though it has been over 100 days, Taylor’s aggressors have yet to be arrested. Salau stood as a strong and prominent Black activist during the BLM movement. She was tragically assaulted (expressing her grievances online) and killed, and she has yet to receive justice. Being Black and female, we feel the most pain, but our pain is not noticed.
The problems that Black women face are also present at Yale. Black women do so much for this campus but are always ignored even by their male counterparts. We run the Afro-American Cultural Center—from Dean Nelson, to assistant director Sofia Lackiram, to Peer Liaisons and Student Assistants. We are board members and participants in most of the clubs associated in the House. For example, most of the members for Black Students for Disarmament at Yale are women. We do so much for the House, its members, and the problems that they face, but we are chastised, especially by Black men, when we voice our concerns. When we express our grievances, Black men are quick to attack us and feel the need to defend themselves. We’re willing to help, but we need that support to be reciprocated.
As a Black woman, my achievements, my problems, and my voice are all ignored. In light of these events, some of my high school classmates have apologized to my twin brother about not standing up for him when he needed that support. While I appreciate that they apologized, I could not help but notice that they only apologized to my brother. Even though we are twins, went to the same school, had the same classmates, and were subject to our colleagues’ racist behaviors, he received the apology—I didn’t. When I told my father about it, he responded: “Maybe it’s because the news is only depicting Black men at risk.” But the issue of police brutality does not only concern Black men. Like Breonna Taylor, Toyin Salua, and the women who sparked the BLM movement, we as Black women, are experiencing this issue as well. Until Black women win, we won’t win.
The last thing I want now is someone’s apology; instead, what I need is their support.
Kelsey Tamakloe’22
