But I am a Woman

I remember being in LA waiting at a bus stop (I had given up my car to be environmentally conscious) to teach kindergarten in Compton and the police slowing down to ask if I was a prostitute.

I remember sitting with my boyfriend at a downtown coffee shop and the police making a u-turn to come back and ask my white boyfriend: “Is she bothering you?”

I remember going on a date in college and a man assuming certain things at the end of the date because, “you are Black.”

I remember waiting alone in a bar in Las Vegas and a security guard coming up to me and saying, “You can’t work (solicit men to pay you for sex) here.”

I remember thinking in all these cases, “but I am a woman.”

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I shared these experiences, because there is a lack of intersection in the #metoo discussion. There is a lack of amplification of Black woman and Black girl stories because of institutional racism and I know it is because generally we (Black Women) are taught there are problems bigger than this, that we matter the least, but I want Black women who know I am a feminist to understand I see us and your stories matter too. I see us and know that you all can’t share, so I will shared this for you.

Featured Image:  Renee Stout, Wild World