Future of Black Women and Girls

This post is deeply personal to me. I've gone from being a lifelong "people pleaser" to decentering others' needs and fully centering my own. For as long as I can remember, my role has been to support others, a part of my upbringing that led me to neglect myself for years. It wasn’t until my late 20s that I started focusing on myself. At the time, I didn’t fully realize what I was doing, but I knew that taking time for myself was essential. I remember vividly working a job I despised. I wasn’t in the best mental space and needed to figure out a way to reclaim some peace. I created a sanctuary in my closet—a small space where I’d go after work to write, journal, and just  be . This daily ritual became something I eagerly looked forward to: a time to meditate, reflect, and recover. In hindsight, this was the foundation of my journey toward true independence and self-reliance. I found joy in my solitude, a time to think for myself and reflect on my day. Even though there...

 I want to be clear: this space won't resonate with every Black woman or girl—and that’s okay. This is a space centered on women and girls who aim to build a more fruitful future for Black women and girls. While we’ve made strides, I believe our progress has been slow, not because of a lack of effort, but due to the attempt to bring others along with us. While this has led to some progress, it has also derailed our momentum. By not fully centering ourselves, we haven’t achieved the results we truly desire. I can’t unsee the fact that we’ve tried to bring about change alongside men, but our fight is not the same. In fact, I’d argue that men and women are essentially different. As a society, we’ve been trying to force and normalize coexistence, but honestly, women have been getting the short end of the stick. Women have suffered at the hands of men at every turn. It’s something I’ve observed: society has duped us into believing we can all coexist and be happy, yet the happiness they ...