Here's Why I Love Being Black.. For The Last Time

Image By Eye For Ebony

Every once in awhile I find myself participating in a conversation with fellow Americans that starts off inquisitive and somehow ends up with an insulting tone that suggests I tone down my blackness. While I perceive my actions to be a mere celebration of proudly embracing the hue of my skin, unabashedly vocalizing my dissatisfaction with the systematic oppression that people of color still are subject to, or simply screaming to the world that I couldn't care any less about the unrealistic "standard of American beauty" - it all comes off to most white people as doing too much!

Here's a newsflash, sis: I don't mind "doing too much" because our society doesn't do enough! We're living in a time where (semi) competent adults can't make the distinction between anti-police and anti-police brutality! We live in a country filled with people who have been conditioned to not feel delighted when they see black people empowering each other knowing our history of being torn down, but to reject it - because somehow they feel left out. Seriously? 

"Don't you believe ALL lives matter?"  is not a question you should ever direct to a grieving crowd of caring and passionate Americans who are demanding answers. That is a question you ask your government that allows Police Officers who continuously kill unarmed people of color to almost never face trials and convictions. 

My personal favorite is the response to anyone black exalting the blackness of someone else! For instance, say I post a picture of black man and state that his melanin makes me melt; some people have the nerve to say, "If a white person praised another white person that way, you'd call them racist!". Chile, listen!  Pop culture, politics, and our country's history itself normalizes & prefers whites over blacks every day, in almost every industry. And you're wrong, dear! We don't call every company, magazine ad, or social media post racist, we simply say it's America. So excuse us if we take it upon ourselves to normalize the appreciation of our own people without sending you an invitation.

I wouldn't call this a rant post. I'm simply addressing an ongoing topic that many of you can't comprehend. We don't owe you an explanation of why we celebrate our culture. It's not my problem that my passion threatens your fragility (it's yours)! This is me briefly explaining the very deeply-rooted love I have for myself and other black people, for the very last time. 

And I'll happily leave you with the words of a Queen I've grown to admire: 

"Whatever you're feeling, take it to the altar! Because I'm not the one that's responsible for your feelings."

 -Jully Black

Canadian Singer & Songwriter, Co-founder of 'Empowered In My Skin' Women's Empowerment Summit