Author: A'Janay Nicholson

In class on Thursday, we discussed how Black women in high positions are often given the stereotype that we are mean. This stood out to me because as we are reading the novel Household Workers Unite, we see how Black women who are more “obedient” are basically being taking advantage of. They have to work holidays, can never miss a day, and are not given the respect that they deserve. Black women have to work twice as hard to compete with a Black man and three times harder just to compete with a white woman. If a Black woman acts shy or timid when trying to make it to the top then its more than likely that people will walk over her. But, when a Black woman is all about her business and doesn’t take crap from anyone she’s seen as a “bitch” or “mean”. It’s not hard to see why people are intimidated by Black women, we’re just amazing, but this stereotype that is constantly placed on us is tired and very old.

In class, we have been discussing how Black women have been over looked and often forgotten about. Last semester I took a class called Afrofuturism, and the issue about Black women not being seen in Afrofuturism was brought up. One definition of Afrofuturism that always stood out to me was “It tends to mix the mystic and limitless nature of the African diaspora who have both reached back to their roots and embraced the technology and culture of the future.” One common issue that I came across was the fact that a lot of Black women were not seen in Afrofuturism. Then I got to thinking about how this could be seen as people not wanting to see Black women as the future or not wanting them to be apart of the future. The only time Black women were seen in Afrofuturism was went they were being over sexualized.  I decided to speak upon this because connecting the two shows how Black women are always at the of the chain when it comes to getting respect. Also this is me using what I learned in one class and bringing it to another.

With me majoring in the STEM field I decided to talk about Black Women in medicine in the black freedom struggle, and how its still a issue we are facing today. First, I just want to remind you all of the discriminatory health practices that African American women had to go through from slavery through the post- Civil rights era. Although there have been some improvements made to protect the health of Black Women, there is still light that needs to be shined on for the present day epidemiology of sexual and reproductive health inequalities amount Black women. Its not new news that healthcare is influenced by racism. When you think about the institutional racism you have to add in how poverty, living segregation, and unemployment makes Black women more open to the inequalities of health outcomes. In the black freedom struggle it was hard for Black women to get jobs that paid them enough for everyday things. So when it came to healthcare they took what they could afford and majority of the time it wasn’t the best. Looking at this through a historical lens you can see how back in the black freedom struggle there wasn’t many culturally appropriate programs or treatments that was affordable, or offered. Lastly, the final point I want to touch on is how one health issue may apply to a white woman, may not also be a issue that a black woman is facing.