Recently I saw the TV adaptation of The Women of Brewster Place, for the first time. Now I've read pieces of the novel before but viewing these black women on stage, treat each other they way they do is appalling. The longer I watched the movie, the more the women upset me, I began to realize that each and everyone of these women I have met before. I have met the nosey, busy black woman, I've met the black woman that is a lesbian, I've met the Black woman that has been so hurt by life's struggles she's nearly given up. And the young Black woman that still believes that we can change the world together by doing, something, anything, she is me.
Black women are the most misrecognized people in American society and yet we still fall privy to contentions among one another. The judgements and expectations we place on ourselves and each other are completely unreal. We are constantly competing with one another, stepping on one another but for what I ask? Instead of trying to help our fellow sisters out we are constantly judging based on nothing more than appearances. In reality if we spoke to these women we'd realize we have more in common than we think.
We all know the hair struggle we go through with our own hair and yet we are calling each other out because their edges may be a bit thick, or the naps are looking too wild. In all honestly this was the way our hair was supposed to be before we were taught it was ugly and unacceptable. Hair is just one example, the list goes on to wardrobe, gadgets, prestige, money and men. We all go through similar shared experiences and if we are not using our words to pull our sistahs up then we need not speak.
That is all.