Malcolm X once said " The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman." Malcolm X said this decades ago but his words are still proven true today. The most recent example is the Spring Valley High School video, which has had a lot of black people furious about the way the teen in the video was treated. The officer went beyond what was needed for a high school situation. The teen took out her phone and was quickly informed that she was not permitted to have it out in class. As a consequence, she was asked to hand it to the teacher but she refused, which escalated to her being asked to leave. The administrator was summoned and tried to reason with the teen, yet she refused again. Then, Officer Fields came; putting her in the choke hold, flipping over her desk--while she was still in it and throwing her across the room like a rag doll. Of course, someone recorded this and the video went viral. The officer is on leave and so far has not lost his job. Ironically, a white male college student named Jared Dotson living in Knox County, Tennessee, was choked by an officer at a house party near the University of Tennessee and reported it and the cop was fired. So an older white man choking a young white man is deemed as excessive force; yet we have to analyze and ponder upon the morality of a grown white man choking, throwing and slamming a black girl? We later found out that her friend, Niya Kenny was arrested for "disturbing school," for being the only one to scream out "This is wrong."Therefore, we are not only victimized but are punished for speaking out against the harm being brought against us. We are expected to suffer in silence. We are also told to leave things in the past as if we are computers that can simply delete memories. Men and women alike rarely take the time to realize the consequences of telling a girl to move on or to forgive her victimizer. Last nights episode of Being Mary Jane did a perfect job at depicting the price of internalizing pain. The character Lisa, was always troubled and had problems with depression and was promiscuous because she was molested by her step-father. After finding out Lisa's mother did nothing and actually stayed with her husband. Lisa, was estranged from her parents for 15 years because of this and was so filled with pain she committed suicide. This is just a t.v. show but I have heard from countless black women that they were raped, abused, or molested and it affected their behaviors later in life, in terms of how they view their bodies and their sense of self worth. Sadly, many of them stayed silent and never reported these incidents. One of the things Mary Jane said is that we should start telling the truth. I will add in we should start taking action. The female black body is so vulnerable and unprotected it will take us as black people to protect it. We need to stop standing by while these transgressions occur, telling them just to "pray to Jesus" or "to leave it in the past". Most of all, we need to stop the blame game. Black men need to stand up against the white and black men who harm black females. Black women need to worry about their daughters and nieces instead of holding on to their husbands and boyfriends that have abused their female family members. It use to be a time that if anything happened to a white female, the men in her community stood up for her because she was put in such high regard. Black women need to be seen as the treasures of our community. Let's start to give a voice to the neglected and seek justice for the unprotected. 10/29/2015 08:54:03 am
Your post really resonates with me. I was thinking about this situation with this young girl and even with a simpler matter that I am dealing with at work. We are not respected. Our feelings & thoughts are made to be irrelevant and irrational. The words Malcolm X spoke are too real and too true. No child should ever be violated like this yet we speak out and still suffer. 11/3/2015 12:42:20 pm
I encourage you to keep writing and posting articles like this. The reality is, that in the midst of all the sudden media coverage of the violence against black male youths (which has been occuring in this country since the Reconstruction era) is that there are so many black women suffering, hurt, abused and discriminated against in many of the ways, if not more that black men are in this country. We have chosen to be quiet about our issues, and if we don't speak out about them like you are, then we can not be healed. For young black women, I think that we have multi-layered struggles to fight against. Ageism does exacts and it often silences young black women. Thank you for your courage to not be silenced and to speak out, to break these system of oppression. Much love and light sis - Amberly E.
Sylvia
11/7/2015 12:50:07 pm
Well said and well done. When I first saw that video it was absolutely horrible! No woman and no student for that matter should ever be treated that way and in the manner he did over something as petty as a cell phone. It was like as if he was externalizing his feelings of aggression towards black women or something on one girl. She's a young fucking girl for Christ's sake! He needs multiple men to show him what's up and if I was in that room I would've started a brawl, for sure. So what if I get suspended. I got expelled from H.S. and being discriminated against so I know how it is. People like him and others with that attitude do not deserve to work in public service!
Afrikkas 13
11/7/2015 02:54:02 pm
First I would like to thank you for giving a voice to the voiceless. Many times our society turns a blind eye towards the abuse suffered by our children, in this case a black little girl who refused. All to often these days adults who are in position over our children fail to be equipped with the necessary etiquette to respond to behavioral issues. Simple de escalation would have probably have been the proper procedure with a positive outcome. Teachers and law enforcement who lack these skills have no business dealing with our children. Send a message by requiring that they all go through proper training with a certificate endorsing expert abilities, so that there is no excuse when it is time to pay the piper for negligent and improper treatment. 1/16/2016 02:21:47 pm
This post is on FIRE! THANK YOU for reminding us where we were and still are. I could go on and on giving examples from our first lady, Michelle Obama to my neighbor to even me however I will not yet I promise to keep the challenge in the forth front and help work towards a resolution. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMy name is Kiara and writing is the way I express myself. Archives
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