With Feminism Comes Anger...

A Quick Thought on Being an Angry Black Woman

I used to push away that stereotype but each time I hear or remember it, I ask myself, "as a black woman, are these issues not worth being angry about?"

In my upcoming collection, there is a poem about the stereotype: "angry black women"... As much as I will like to speak against the stereotype, I think that it is true but in a positive way. Of course I am black, I am a woman, and hell yeah, I am pissed at the sexism and racism that occurs in our societies. I am more pissed at sexism because I feel that there is a little bit of progress already done concerning racism but not too much for sexism. The progress being that people actually admit it and discuss it more often.

Most times when I have conversations with people who have sexist mentalities, I get angry because they see the problem and they fail to admit it. Most importantly, I get angry because they find every reason to justify the maltreatment or injustice and inequality of women. I get angry when people use religion to justify sexism. I get angry because when you turn the situation or the problem around and put the males in the position of the victim, the shit doesn't add up and then it becomes a joke. For example, talking about rape... I get angry because money has become the way to dissolve and dismiss sexual assaults charges against criminals who should get punished for their acts. As if the money will undo the harm or prevent its recurrence. I get angry because many people say that why don't we "let things be" or "Why stair up the pot?" or "It has always been done this way..." as if the human beings that created culture, the laws and norms have suddenly lost power over it. We create sexism and disenchant ourselves from and pretend that it is not in our power to fix.
​
I used to push away that stereotype but each time I hear or remember it, I ask myself, "as a black woman, are these issues not worth being angry about?"