Why Black women are saying no

[sheshe2]

Link to tweet

Even with the swell of support surrounding gymnast Simone Biles’ decision to step back from the Olympics to protect her mental health, there was a nagging narrative that the star athlete — who won nationals with broken toes, won world competitions with a kidney stone and endured years of sexual abuse while representing an organization that protected her abuser — wasn’t strong enough. It echoed a longstanding and problematic stereotype: Black women must be strong. Black women must be resilient. Black women must prioritize others over themselves.


The stereotype of the “strong Black woman” creates an unrealistic idea that Black women need less support than others, said Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the

University of Michigan. And this stereotype has harsh consequences.
A 2019 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 67.1 percent of Black adults with any mental illness do not receive any sort of treatment.

“[Black women] tend to have greater rates of depression, and it’s not something that they talk about because again, that stereotype makes it seem like there’s nothing wrong,” Anderson said.

Black women have long endured toxic work settings fueled by racism and misogyny.A 2018 study by Leah Hollis of Morgan State University found that 68 percent of Black women experienced workplace bullying. This rate was even higher for Black women whose identities intersected with marginalized religious and sexual identities. And this discrimination led to adverse career effects, like being demoted or threatened with termination.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/why-black-women-are-saying-no

Sort of like the slaves 'singin'.

Frederick Douglass’s Narrative: Myth of the Happy Slave

In 1845 the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and Written by Himself was published. In it, Douglass criticizes directly—often with withering irony—those who defend slavery and those who prefer a romanticized version of it. Pitilessly, he offers the reader a first-hand account of the pain, humiliation, and brutality of the South's "peculiar institution.”

One myth that Southern slave owners and proponents perpetuated was that of the slave happily singing from dawn to dusk as he or she worked in the fields, prepared meals in the kitchen, or maintained the upkeep of the plantation. In his Narrative—particularly chapters 1 and 2— Douglass quickly distinguishes the myth from the reality. He uses incidents of cruelty that he witnessed along with songs of the slaves themselves—spirituals—to emphasize this distinction.

In this lesson, students analyze Douglass's first-hand account to see how he successfully contrasts myths with the reality of life under slavery.

https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/frederick-douglasss-narrative-myth-happy-slave

[Kath2]

1. I thank them.

[Mary in S. Carolina]

2. I love black women

Black women saved democracy and handed Democrats the presidency. Thank you!!!

[LakeArenal]

3. Also a black woman worked to elect two Democrats in GA.

Thanks you Stacey Abrams.

[sheshe2]

4. Yes, Stacey!

Don't forget Doug Jones

Why black women voters showed up for Doug Jones

NBC News exit polls show 96 percent of black voters supported Jones, with 98 percent of black women and 93 percent of black men backing him.

For the first time in 25 years, Alabama elected a Democrat to the Senate and many say African-American women are to thank for that.

Democrat Doug Jones' win over Republican Roy Moore was a stunning upset in a contentious and closely watched election for the deep-red state. Even more surprising for some was the high voter turnout of African-Americans. NBC News exit polls show 96 percent of black voters supported Jones, with 98 percent of black women and 93 percent of black men backing him.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/why-black-women-showed-vote-doug-jones-n829411

[marble falls]

5. Ir's amazing how desparate the argument is when anyone claims that slavery needs to be ...

... re-examined because of some illusionary "happy" slave narrative. The only word that matters is "slave". Just like the freed slaves fighting for the Confederacy crap, stuff that was being spread a few years back.

When the Germans had Jewish prisoner orchestras playing in the Camps, it was not Germans and Jews meeting in the arts. Slave crews singing in work crews in the 1800s was not like the music of non slaves.

Just a great post.

[sheshe2]

6. Thank you for your response, marble falls.

They sang to make it through one more day and then to face the next. A form of communication and community. They talked to each other with the words of their songs.

Similar to the Jewish prisoners with their music. The notes spoke volumes.

[Hekate]

7. KnR