I've taken AP English Lang, lost 20 pounds in 3 months, dealt with a broken heart, and read Great Expectations in 3 days, yet the hardest thing I've ever faced, is being a black woman. You see, Malcolm X had it right when he said, "Racism is like a Cadillac, a new brand comes out every year." I've encountered boys that have called me ratchet, before they called my name, had birthday parties where I wasn't invited because, "Having only one black person at my party? That's weird", and had trouble finding my foundation shade because all these shades comes in ivory, porcelain, and "tan". Nice try Publix. I'm tired of mocha being more of an eggshell color, mahogany got mixed up and looks like vanilla, and this "tan" shade is looking more of a dark white. The same ones that think that racism isn't a problem, are the same ones perpetuating it. You see, people like to focus on my ratchet weave, my sassy attitude, and the thickness of my thighs, and act as if labeling me by stereotypes, should automatically come with the amount of melanin in my skin. Behind this weave, is a female waiting to break free of the institutionalized shackles, that prevent me from progressing. A female waiting to be seen as more than just affirmative action. A female that has ideas bigger than my eyebrows. We put laws in place, set amendments forth, and think representation is putting an interracial couple in a Cheerios commercial. I'm tired of these failed attempts, pitiful tries, and half-ass efforts, to "unite" us together. Change does not happen, until our thinking does. People like to think racism ended when Martin Luther King dropped the mic in '63, and dropped his life in '68. Yet employees like to play hide-and-seek with me when I walk the aisles of Sephora. I've had more people touch my hair, than touch my soul. If i'm the token black girl in your joke, then show me to the nearest change jar, because I am a dime that is not to be messed with. But, I'll let my difficulties stay in AP Lang, and leave my struggles to Great Expectations, and get this angry black woman to leave the stage. (D.K.D)
