The Uncertainty My Blackness Brings Me

Ashlei,
Knoxville, TN

Being a black woman sometimes feels like I will always have unjust obstacles in my life. I will learn to deal with them and not let them anger me the way they probably should. But I wonder if I will ever truly feel like I belong in a space. At the age of 19, I began to worry about how I will one day be treated when I give birth in a hospital. I wonder if my complaints of pain will be ignored because of the color of my skin. I hate that I now fear something as beautiful as childbirth, because of the un-proportionally high maternal mortality rates of black women in this country. I often catch myself not wanting to speak up about things that bother me because I don’t want to be perceived as “the angry black girl.” How many off-hand comments have I let slide because I was afraid of the way my disdain would be perceived? I wonder when I will ever feel like I truly belong in a space.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Sociology 110


What is your 6-Word Story?
Related Posts
Survived racism, the depression and Korea!
Survived racism, the depression and Korea!
Don’t ask me why I’m single
Don’t ask me why I’m single
Just one never happened friendship story
Just one never happened friendship story