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Many of us learned caution before we learned how to name racism. As a Black woman, I notice that confidence is quickly taken as aggression, frustration as drama, and self-protection as rudeness. I became skilled at reading rooms before entering them. I adjusted my voice, my clothes, my hair and sometimes even my ambitions, not because I wanted to disappear, but because visibility often came with judgements. Judgements from white people and their racially prejudiced views of conforming to Eurocentric norms. So, there is a kind of pressure that comes through such comments about Blackness.
And for most Black women like me, this happens in the very space where we should feel safe and protected. Like in classrooms, during job interviews, on public transport, and social spaces where we are simply overlooked for just being Black women. These are spaces where racism and sexism often overlap, making the experiences harder to separate and easier for others to dismiss. What makes it more painful is the unspoken expectation that Black women should remain composed while being policed. We are expected to explain calmly why a joke was harmful, why a question was intrusive, or why our own bodies being constantly policed, changes the way we move through the world.
Sometimes we chose not to explain at all. Silence is not acceptance; it is just exhaustion. Thus, refusing to be defined by gendered racism does not mean pretending it does not affect me. It means recognising how deeply it tries to shape my choices. It means noticing when I'm shrinking myself before anyone has even asked me to. It means allowing myself to feel anger, sadness, and/or uncertainty without turning these feelings into shame. And this is the kind of critical consciousness and empowerment that we need as Black women; to be aware that we deserve to be seen without being reduced, heard without being corrected, and respected without having to soften ourselves. |
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Published on 07.08.2026 at 12:57 
