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moodyzpoint · 8 years ago

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Understanding the purpose of my existence as a Black woman.

When I first heard that we were going to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, I was excited to actually learn about my history as an African American. Both of my grandmothers died before I was old enough to remember things so I did not have many elders to ask about the history of my family since it is very small and separated in general. For years, I have always struggled learning about the history of my ancestors because many of the people around me were Caribbean or straight from Africa and I never believed I could fully identify with them. Growing up all I knew was that my family was African American and has older generations mixed with Black and Puerto Rican. I always wanted to learn more and see how my family actually arrived here in the U.S., which I will find out one day in the future. For now, I have gotten a general overview of the Black experience through the Africana classes that I have been taken for the past three years. Being an Africana minor has allowed me to learn and understand some of the history about my ancestors, but I still felt have not gotten the full context of being an African American in the U.S. Finding out that my Africana house would be traveling to the museum for free was very exciting because I would have others to share the experience with. Many of the issues we learned throughout the year correlated with the museum, especially this semester since we discussed issues Black women are facing and how they have gone against the norms of society.

Before we were assigned this assignment, I had it in my mind to find what kind of Black women leaders made it into the museum. I am not sure if it is just second nature, but with anything I view I like to look around for any Black women involved whether it is a television show or educational program. For me, I am more comfortable in an atmosphere if there is one or more Black women in the vicinity. My mother taught me this mindset because she is very pro-Black for anything that supports Black people and getting them to be the best they can be especially young Black women. I get inspired when I see or hear about a Black woman doing something amazing in a field or area that is not commonly structured for them; this includes higher education, media, and others I am sure you can name yourself. Many times programs try to use a token Black woman in order to show “diversity” when in reality there is just one or no Black women involved in the program. I love to see Black women shining in whatever they choose to do with their lives. With this being said, finding women in the museum that inspired or resonated with me was not very difficult to do.

For me it is natural to want to see what amazing accomplishments Black women in the past have done to allow me to be a Black woman in higher education. Being able to go to this museum and learn about highly achieved Black women is an honor for me as an African American woman because gaining knowledge about them allows me to better understand myself. I was ecstatic to learn more about women that were not taught in my Africana classes and found it amazing that so many enslaved women were recognized for their resistance during a time when reading and writing was prohibited for Blacks. It was amazing to read about the accomplishments these enslaved women were able to achieve even when it seemed like the whole world was against them. The picture and sculptures of different powerful women gave a powerful feeling to see that these women had similar skin tones and facial structures to Black women today. I remember hearing Black women debating about how a women looked like them. There were even moments where I thought maybe some of the women could be one of my ancestors. I am not sure if maybe I just wanted more of a connection with them or for once felt like I knew more about the history of my background.

One of the main lessons I learned about the Black women shown throughout the museum was resistance is the key to escaping oppression. Most of the women I was inspired by or had strong interest in were those who took a stand against the oppression against them. These oppressions included slavery, sexual assault, and other inhumane activities. Resistance was shown throughout the history of time from African women demanding their rights from enslavement to one suing the government and others using their hairstyles to go against the Eurocentric norms that dominated culture. The ideas of resistance reminded me of the “Hard Labour: Women, Childbirth and Resistance in British Caribbean Slave Societies” by Barbara Bush-Slimani journal entry we read about how enslaved women resisted during slavery. According to the article, “active struggle against the system was an enduring and ever present feature of the slave life,” (Bush-Slimani, 2) this means that being resistent was an everyday activity for enslaved peoples. When I saw the shackles used for men, women and children I thought about how terrible it must have been as a woman to helplessly see your newborn or small child being forced to be shackled in small shackles. Viewing those really small shackles used for a child had me thinking about how strong Black women were forced to be in order to watch their children be raised as caged animals. It also made me wonder what would a one-year-old child be able to do to a grown white man that made them dangerous enough to be in shackles. As the article discussed some women would choose to have abortions because they did not want to bring a child into the harsh conditions they faced as slaves and after seeing the tiny shackles I can understand their logic for not wanting to increase the slave population. I also thought about how difficult it must have been to be separated from your newborn child because they were being sold off to someone else. These women had to be strong enough for themselves and their entire family. Black women were really the backbone to slavery because they endured the most difficult decisions for controlling the slave population.

Another form of resistance that stuck out to me in the museum was actually demanding for your rights as a human being. Two women I found inspiring to this form of resistance were Belinda and Elizabeth Freeman because as enslaved women they fought against the system to get their freedom. Belinda fought during 1783 as she shared her story about being kidnapped into slavery and creating a petition for reparations. She became one the earliest recorded examples of reparations, which is important today because many African Americans including myself believe we should be given reparations for the tortures our ancestors faced during slavery. Elizabeth Freeman was another inspiring enslaved women because she actually sued for her rights stated by the Massachusetts Constitution after she overheard a discussion from her slave owner who was a Massachusetts attorney. I thought this was brilliant because it proved how nosiness and knowing your rights can actually be helpful because she received freedom and helped end slavery in Massachusetts. In my classes you do not hear about women like this who fought for their own freedom even if they were uneducated. If more stories like this were told maybe more Black women today will be more inspired to use their voices to make changes in our time where fighting for beliefs are the key to making changes.

One of the most contemporary resistance forms were those relating to the bodies of African American women throughout history because they are still affecting women today. These forms include abortion, sexuality, hairstyles, and other body politics of being a Black woman. During slavery, Black women were often raped and sexually assaulted by their owner or other white men who objectified them. Like the article by Evelynn M. Hammonds mentioned, Black women were seen as the “lowest position on the scale of human development” compared to white ones who were “what woman is [was]; not-white is what she had better not be” (Hammonds, 95). This meant white men were able to rape and assault Black women because their bodies were seen as non-human, hypersexual and belonging to the white man, which allowed him to do what his heart desired. These acts included young Black girls who were raped by older white men who controlled their bodies from young ages. These ideologies continued to affect Black women through the Civil Rights Era as Black women would be captured and raped by white men to scare the women’s husbands and show white supremacy over Black female bodies. Recy Taylor tried to get justice after being raped by six white men but the court dismissed the case. Even though she tried to get justice, her husband did not respect her body as a woman and “settled” for $600 from the men. This was a common case for Black women and explains why they are silenced when talking about their sexuality. For women like Angela Davis being a Black woman was something you should not be silent about. Her afro alone was a sign of resistance because during that time Black women were expected to straighten their hair to the Eurocentric style. Other leaders like Angela Davis created movements that expressed how Black women are beautiful and needed empowerment against oppression. I thought the “Black Power” section of the museum was a great portrayal of how Black women have changed the standards of beauty by expressing their own ideologies of their bodies like the Natural Hair Movement.

I must say that this is one of the best museums I have been to so far because of the artifacts and in depth facts about Black history. I enjoyed learning about the strengths and strategies Black women used to resist all the oppression against them. Learning about women doing whatever they could to keep their families stable and receive freedom made me see why I am privileged. The history of body politics made me realize that these ideologies are contemporary to what Black women are facing everyday from our society. By the end of my trip I realized I must visit again and that Black women were important to the establishment of African Americans as citizens in the U.S. because of their resistance to oppression.

#blackwomen #blackgirlmagic #resistance #nmaahc

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