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Black People Are Individuals – Stop Lumping Us Together
At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement last year, people of different races, countries and social identities were showing their support for the black community. Whether it was genuine, or they were just jumping on the bandwagon to not look bad, awareness was spreading about the societal issues that plague the black community due to both direct and institutional racism. This was all great, but the trendy period of addressing anti-black racism exposed some other issues when it comes to how black people are perceived by non-black people. At one point, non-black people started making pretty basic social media posts to prove that they support BLM (i.e., out…
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What to Watch for This Black History Month
The first Black History Month of the decade is upon us. Everyone–black, white, and every shade in between–may have an opinion on these annual 28 days (29 this year – wooh!) dedicated to blackness, but regardless of opinions, Black History Month is hard to ignore if you live in the United States, Canada or the UK. This decade also marks 100 years of African-Americans recognizing Black history; even though Black History Month only became recognized in the United States in the 1970’s, historian Carter G. Woodson first brought up the idea of a Black History Week in 1926. Here is a short list of some new media to consume this…
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I’m black first, a woman second.
Which part of my identity is the most overpowering? Should I be more loyal to my race or my womanhood? I would frequently ask myself this question as a child. I used to imagine a scenario where a line was drawn on the ground—one side representing blackness, the other womanhood—and I would have to choose a side to stay on forever. I can’t explain why I put so much stress on myself over such hypotheticals at age 8. I later dismissed this scenario on the grounds of absurdity and because I realized that it is idiotic to think that you must be more loyal to one part of your identity…
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‘Hidden Figures’ and the Importance of Representation
Remember that stand up routine of Chris Rock’s where he expressed that famous quote, “Why the black man gotta fly to something that the white man can walk to?” Well, if you don’t, here’s the video for your convenience. Hidden Figures is not only a film that captures the real life stories of black mathematicians working at NASA during US segregation, it is about female black mathematicians. I had never heard of the names Katherine Goble, Dorothy Vaughn, or Mary Jackson before entering the theatre to watch this film, and that troubles me. Despite a few inaccuracies, the film did a good job of portraying the double oppression these women faced at…
