As a Black woman, I am very hesitant to join women’s movements or initiatives. In honor of #InternationalWomensDay2022 and #WomensHistoryMonth, I’ll tell you why. Let me tell you a story…(1/?)
Some time ago, I was working on a very sick hospital unit. I watched people on my medical team publicly berate an extremely shy, kind, and knowledgeable Black female pharmacist on OUR team. Yup, we were supposed to be working together. (2/?)
Their behavior was unacceptable and unprofessional. They began to YELL at her for not doing something they wanted in a particular way. That ‘something’ was not life-threatening nor urgent. And they had not been clear about what they wanted ahead of time.(3/?)
They were also all white women…with a couple of women of color with greater race privilege looking on, and saying nothing. And I have seen scenarios like this, throughout my life…A LOT. (4/?)
Even though I was the most junior member of the team, i stepped in and said to the pharmacist: “You are doing a phenomenal job. This unit is so tough.” I winked at her. She knew. I knew. She burst into tears. (5/?)
The white women did not apologize to this Black female pharmacist. Instead, they walked away, muttering how much better the other (white female) pharmacist was. The other pharmacist was no better. They just liked her. (6/?)
Recently, I ran into this pharmacist outside of the hospital. She stopped me and said: “You don’t know how much you helped me that day. I am so thankful for Black women in medicine. You saw me. You uplifted me.” (7/?)
My eyes watered. “I tried,” I said to her. And, I did. I still do. And I always will. As Black women, we are often pushed to the margins, passed over, sometimes belittled. Often, by other women with greater race privilege, who use it to their advantage. (8/?)
I did not report those white women. Because I know, from experience, that they can get away with yelling at people in a way that I never could. And they are protected in ways I never will be. That is their privilege. (9/?)
Those same women who belittled that pharmacist are the first ones to talk about sexism and the need to uplift women, yet also the first to exclude and belittle Black women, disregarding the “uplift all women” ideals they claim to have. (10/?)
So, I am hesitant to join women’s movements because, by default, they center women with race privilege/white women, unless they are actively trying to disrupt that norm. (11/?)
This is just one story, but there are a myriad of other stories, just like it, in which Black women are demeaned, erased. I bet some are experiencing this right now. And it’s not just an interpersonal thing. It’s a societal thing. It’s a systems thing. (12/?)
Case in point: #WomensEqualityDay, where we celebrate when “women got the vote”. Correction: when white women got the vote. Not all women. But we don’t learn that in school. That’s what I mean by erasure. (13/?)
So, if you are going to be pro-woman and celebrate #WomensHistoryMonth #InternationalWomensDay2022 , you should DEFINITELY be anti-racist and anti-racial hierarchy. Because, Black women are women, too, ya know 🙃. (14/14). #upliftallwomen
Shout out to Black women and the people who uplift us, in words and in actions. @TheOpEdProject @CarmenBlackMD @innodim @IjeomaOparaPHD @ChrisElledgeMAE @LFiellin @DrDaniJackson @uche_blackstock @oni_blackstock @DrBrittaniJ @DrAyanaJordan @DrJessIsomMDMPH
@katarinawong @MariaUloko and now im done tagging but y’all know who you are 🙏🏽😉
Okay one more! @noahmichelson 🙌🏽
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