Black women are not yours at all. Black women are saving themselves.
Fundamentally, being deemed a hero isn’t always a good thing. It can leave Black women susceptible to grave (gendered and sexualized) harms at the hands of the state. Not only that, the assumption that Black women are somehow insulated from pain, distress, and anxiety overlooks the ways they are frequently on the receiving end of daily intimidation and abuse from police officers. Over time, these dangerous stereotypes have contributed to reduced sympathy for Black people, called the “racial empathy gap,” which assumes that Black people are able to withstand more pain than other racial groups. All of these conditions make the “superhero” nomenclature layered with unspoken burdens.
This logic surfaced amid the litany of tweets praising Okoumou for what seemed like not-of-Earth physical agility and a fearlessness that set her apart from other people. Writer and activist Preston Mitchum wrote, “When Black women tell us 'we are not superheroes,' I wish we (Black men especially) would understand why it isn’t a compliment. I promise we can compliment Black women outside of the terrible dynamic that they exist without feelings, humanity, and people needing genuine support.”
