It is no secret the trials that women of color face in America. Our everyday walk in life is a journey composed of many obstacles that have been established to keep us at a standstill. Therefore, any sudden movement from our side creates “chaos” in an environment. Even if movements made are in a professional manner; you are still labeled as rude or angry or what is known as “The Angry Black Woman”.
Some people would like to admit that the words from colored women are not always ignorant or filled with gossip, which is often televised in unrealistic reality shows.
In reality, many women of color have intriguing, intelligent and life changing things to say. Therefore, our various forms of expression is necessary for the continuous building of our society. Therefore, our voice and thoughts matter.
Women of color are filled with wisdom, knowledge and a level of boldness that is equipped to challenge, grow and create an impact. That is often misinterpreted and misunderstood from other races. Hence why people may associate your challenging of a topic as coming solely from an emotional stance and not merely from a logical view.
This is where the controversy with the labeling of an “angry black woman” arises.
When a woman from another race vocalizes her views, she is not coined as the angry white woman or the angry
Asian woman. There is no bitterness or anger label associated with those women.
However, when it comes to us, it is another story.
I have heard things such as, “you must not be getting any”, “who hurt you”, “yea you are just bitter and mad about life” when I challenged ideas or spoke my mind in a constructive manner. Many of you may have heard the same or worse. I want to remind my beautiful melanin sisters that nothing is wrong with you.
Constructive criticism should not be a life sentence to women of color. Our character should not be on the line because we deliberately chose to put ourselves on the line in order to be heard. Unfortunately, it happens often. Our reputation, our morals and many times our jobs are at stake the moment we exhale words. That is why unity is very important amongst us because support is derived from unity.
The issue with the term, “the angry black woman”, is that there is a negative connotation associated with the term due to one exercising their right of freedom of speech. We are often singled out and ostracized due to our words associated with our melanin.
We have the right to be angry of any subject and how we express that anger is often overlooked. We are always observed and labeled rather than being observed and listened to.
In light of everything going on in this world, it is important for us as women of color to continue to exercise our voice in a constructive manner. The world needs to hear us more than ever. We must not be ashamed or bothered by an inaccurate label that has been created to single us out and shy us away from taking grasp of a platform that we are entitled to.
Many of us may not be able to trace the origin of “the angry black woman” stamp but we are all aware that it is there. We often have to defend ourselves due to numerous misconceptions of being a woman of color.
We cannot eradicate the label and it’s harshness towards us but we can surely continue to speak up on issues, ideas, and solutions. Anyone who may have an issue with that is an issue themselves.
That is why we HAVE to continue to utilize our voice through our writings, the arts, music, education, employment, volunteering and so much more.
I cannot say that the label of “an angry black woman” will go away but I can say that underneath the falseness it is really an empowering movement that blinded eyes and ignorant ears cannot make out. Is it annoying to be categorized with a lie, yes! Does it make us angry, of course! But do we know the truth behind the false label, yes! So should we continue to vocalize who we are and what we stand for, of course!!
The struggle of being a woman of color does not have an end date. It will forever be a challenging journey that is endured. But we must not allow a label that does not fully entail our purpose to have power over who we truly are. So we must have power over what society categorize us as and redefine a false definition.
So continue to be the passionate and outspoken melanin beauty that you are and anyone who is uncomfortable with that will be okay.
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