Dear Little Black Girl

(As seen on the TCS Network)

Dear little Black girl,

From the day you walked into the gates of pre-school, your Blackness was being policed, even though you didn’t understand how or why. And how could you? You are so young. However, I can’t promise that it will get easier. The people who are causing you harm right now will grow up and continue to do so - but just in different ways.

Those boys who are constantly speaking over you in class will become men who will take pleasure in gaslighting you. When you try to create boundaries with them, they may call you “rude” or “aggressive”. You are neither of those things.

When grown women in your middle school, people you thought you could trust, start obsessing over the size of your waist or bust - I know if felt uncomfortable. These people will become women who will take it upon themselves to police your body and your clothing whilst telling you the ways in which you can conform to be more ‘acceptable’. You then may feel like you have to diminish yourself, physically and mentally, in order to be left alone.

This is white supremacy. And unfortunately, it’s very hard to escape. These people want you to feel less than so that white supremacy can continue to function and benefit them. And it gets lonely, again, I can’t promise that it’s going to get easier.

However, there are people who are around you now and people who will be around you in the future that love and support you. There are people who will allow you to exist as yourself.

The only thing I want to ask from you is to ‘be’. Those who benefit from white supremacy will continue to exercise their power over you. As you get older, you will be triggered by people who gaslit you. The way you feel about your body will constantly change. And this is all okay. Continue to be a you - a quirky, queer Black girl.

Because your body belongs to you. Your voice belongs to you. You don’t just deserve to survive, you deserve to live.