Melissa Harris-Perry visits Spelman College

On February 21, 2013, Melissa Harris-Perry visited the campus of Spelman College. During this time, she gave a lecture on the theme of Black women's citizenship. She discussed the concept of how the Interior lives of black women become intercept with the notion of our citizenship  In her lecture, she included the quote "How does it feel to be a problem"  by W.E.B Du Bois. She then elaborated on the idea that Black women have been considered to be a problem in America. 

One of the few times the black woman's citizenship has been on display was during Hurricane Katrina, where survivors wrapped themselves in American flags as a true testament to being American. But as Perry points out in her book Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America, these women were referred to as refugees. Even at the point of being wrapped in Veteran flags during a disaster, Black women are still not considered American citizens. 

The Black woman is still one who is exotic, mysterious and almost inhuman. The hair of African American women has often been considered a problem and a mystery. The interactions of the black woman as a citizen intersects with concepts of gender, politics and race. Perry mentions the notion that Feminism is then an intellectual project to educate the masses. The question then is "What defines citizenship?"

The recent presidential elections have resulted America with A president with hair like "us". The thought of a Black President seemed almost inconceivable 10 years ago and yet President Obama is now serving his second term as President of these United States. The sky truly is the limit to the things that African Americans can contribute to society yet, there has been an increased Lack of imagination among African American children. Perry pointed out that "It is our gift to America that we don't need a role model to believe we can achieve anything,... To believe that we are human".

In a further examining of Sister Citizen, Perry describes the Fictive kinship that blacks share, that we are always tied to one another be it good or bad. The light that is often shed on black women is that of Racial shaming due to Misleading images that force women to live in a world much like a crooked room. The "Crooked Room" is a metaphor used throughout the book that describes the Black Woman attempting to be herself in a world that has already placed harmful labels on who she is and will be. To be a black woman in America and not an angry black woman is to be "The strong black woman"which is essentially the over compensation of a woman trying to live up to more than she should due to negative images of her fellow sisters in the media. Those negative images then lead to a Chronic collective shaming. Black women then feel Shame or guilt for their identity  and black womanhood itself. 

In Closing her lecture, Melissa Harris- Perry states that "There is a politics to how we feel and Citizenship is then an emotional reaction". "The Struggle Continues"...