Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

It’s no easy challenge, and it's an ongoing battle for people of color every day. True enough, we’ve blamed others for our own misfortunes, but the true villain lies within us as a community, especially in today’s America. We as a community of black people have been turned against each other from day 1 and we haven’t fully figured out how to use our odds for the better and work together. To be a black person in America, you must be strong no matter what. Not just physically, but mentally as well. From the side comments, whispers, side eyes, and blank stares, to be a black person is to be strong. Growing up in the “Deep South” as one would call it, it’s hard to truly be a black person without the fear of being hated for unapologetically being black or not being black enough.

As a young black female living in a more rural town and state of mind, I’ve experienced both of these things and I feel as if we as a community have to come together no matter where we are or who we are and stand for each other. When everything boils down to it, every other race, gender, and religion each other to count on but we as black people turn to everyone but each other because of the repeated cycle of distrust and breakage that we have been pitted to each other to create. When you live in the South like we all do and you tend not to see color like me, it’s easy to pick out the people who aren’t genuine and use it for your better judgment. It’s been an issue since slavery, and we haven’t solved it yet.

Growing up in Winnsboro LA, there’s always been the race card and being as involved as I am in the community and achieving the things I achieve, it’s hard not to see things as the race card and seeing people of color being overlooked or looked down upon simply because of the color of their skin when they’re the most deserving. I, myself have been victim of this far too many times in life and from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop soon. But here’s where the community comes into play. There’s a saying that goes, “If you can’t rely on anyone, rely on yourself” and I think that as a black community, it’s been established time after time again that when it all boils down to it, we can truly only rely on ourselves even if we are our own last resort. There’s so much underlying potential in black communities from the kids to businesses and even families that we overlook because of the repeated cycle of distrust and inconsistency fed to us by society when it’s far from the truth. We’re so targeted because of the power that we can hold that we just don’t see yet. Everyone else sees how much potential that black neighborhoods, businesses, and children have every single day. So, every single day they find a new way to tear that image down and paint the usual stereotype of the antagonist in our own stories.

To be black in America is a complex thing, but it’s nonetheless beautiful. The culture is the #1 thing that black people have that no one can take away even if they tried to, it’s in our DNA. We must stand up and take charge of our people and take back our book and rewrite our story. We aren’t vicious, arrogant, ignorant, stupid, and so many other hurtful things that society portrays us to be because we are beautiful, loving, kind, and so passionate. There’s a purpose in every one of us but we can’t let our purpose be limited by the potential given to us by someone who doesn’t have half the skills or talent that we do. We are black, and to be black is a beautiful thing. If you have any topic in mind you would like for me to write about, please email me at [email protected]