By Gwen McKinney
We step into our current space with resolve and optimism. First, drawing from the brilliant writer Audre Lorde who urged “radical self-care – an act of political warfare and self-preservation.”
We come from ancestors who cleared the middle passages and endured an onslaught of assault with courage because that’s all they knew. They survived so we could thrive!
Ours was never a relationship of compliance or reverence with the patriarchy. They were not our fathers or husbands. They were our enslavers. And our resistance to patriarchy remains rooted in rejection of bondage.
Trust Black women is more than a cliché. Let this mantra be a mirror, a badge of honor to confront cliques and divisions among us.
Let us create brave spaces in alliance with Black institutions including our media, businesses and civic organizations.
Let us dialogue with our men and our youth. Be vessels of love.
And finally, turn our ears to our beating heart of resistance, resilience and activism. We all have a voice in our democracy.
Mary Ann Shadd. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Anna Julia Cooper. Callie House. Charlotta Bass. Dorothy Cotton.
Study and celebrate these women. Perhaps not immediately recognized, they have stories of noble pathfinders. Like legions of us, they affirm our greatness throughout this American journey.
Then and now, we claim ownership of our bodies, voices and choices. We build on our truths by redefining democracy beyond the potent act of casting a ballot. For Black women, our narrative is also rooted in voting for ourselves.
Gwen McKinney, a Washington, DC based communications strategist, is the creator and campaign director of Unerased| Black Women Speak.
