Being a Black woman is hard. And becoming a successful Black woman? That’s an entirely different battle.
I know this is a touchy conversation, but it’s one we need to have. Because for too long, our struggles, our sacrifices, and our silent battles have been pushed under the rug like they don’t exist. And I don’t believe in brushing things under the rug.
Welcome back to Ugly Chats, where real talk meets real life.
The other day, I was talking about the importance of documenting your life. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized—Black women documenting our lives is long overdue. We need to be having these conversations, not just about success but about the journey to get there.
The trials. The setbacks. The fears. The reality of what it takes to stand tall in a world that has knowingly or unknowing trained us to believe we have to work extra hard at every thing we do in life.
As you read my story it may become clear why becoming that woman is vital in today’s time. How I viewed things as a child 50 years ago has nothing to do with the opportunities I (and so many other women, especially black women can create for ourselves.
Now, we can create and open doors through merely not having a dream but creating our own dream. I know this may be hard for most to read and understand, but I can no longer write in my blog space freely until, I am free to express why I am so passionate about becoming that woman I was born to be. My crafts and everything I do is wrapped up into that.
I was born in 1971—a 70s baby. I come from a time when dreams, hobbies, and visions weren’t always up for discussion. It wasn’t about passion or that dream I had to become the next Michael Jackson star it was about survival. I watched my mother, my aunties, my grandmother—all strong Black women—work hard, day in and day out. College, careers, stability was drilled in our fore-fronts, that’s what they instilled in us. They wanted better for us. And whether we followed their advice or not, the message was always the same: You have to work hard.
