A New Black Woman

For Black women to make up 44% of all illiterate women is very disturbing. Constantly we see negative images of Black women in the media and are fed stereotypes of what Black women should be like. Loud, "ghetto", "hood", and "that B---h" (if you would), have all been names given to Black women, by Black women. And to think most of the women who say these things are barely able to make it on their own. Also these women have fallen victim to a cycle that started long before them. How did we come to this point?

     Traditionally, the Black woman is seen as a strong person who holds her family together and takes care of those around her. She is viewed as the one who will be there for her family and children no matter what. Although being a caretaker, the Black woman must sometimes learn to take care of her own needs first. A woman cannot help her family if she does not help herself. To many Black women, their children come first. Although there is nothing wrong with that, our society has begun to create a new breed of the Black woman that considers children before she is really old enough to have this concern. She is the teenage mother.
     The media also capitalizes on this epidemic by creating shows such as "16 and pregnant" as if this is a declaration of womanhood, or a badge of honor. In 2004 Fantasia Barrino released the song "Baby Mama" where she promotes the lifestyle of being an unmarried mother struggling to make ends meet. For many it seems that this is the life that is easiest because, after all, a woman's main purpose is to bear children isn't it?
     It is time for the Black woman to step beyond the veil of simply bearing and raising children. She must learn to be literate in order to ensure that her children are able to make it in this world when she is no longer here. Women must not continue to embody the "sex role stereotyping" (Dowdy 5) that is mentioned in the book. Women can be more than mothers and caretakers. While that is still a role that must be fulfilled, we must want more for ourselves that to become someone's "baby mama."That is the amazing thing about women. We can serve in more than one capacity. By rising above the 44% of us who are incapable of being considered literate, we can pull them up with us.
     In order to move beyond the 44% we must not continue to focus on negative images of Black women portrayed in the media. We must begin to make our own definition for the Black woman that includes her as a first class citizen of the free world. We must look at media images such as Clair Huxtable who was a mother as well as a lawyer. She was able to balance a household while working everyday. Even the enslaved women were able to rise early to learn basic skills before completing a full day's work. Black women today must prioritize and learn that it is only through education that they will be able to help others. Once we, as Black women realize our that we are more than a statistic, we will try more to protect ourselves against circumstances such as teenage pregnancy that hinder our growth and literacy.

-Sequoia Boone