How Long Have We Been Telling Y’all to Listen to Black Women?

By Deiona Monroe

WWe’ve been making sense and making it happen for quite some time, and yet still gotta bring dynamite to get the door crack. Before the word history was even given its definition, Black women have been putting the world on their backs and cleaning up the messes that most couldn’t even imagine. We’ve been fighting battles of being ignored for our skin and gender--can you imagine being put in a room in which you have to defend both?

Black women have dealt with SO much, yet, time and time again, we outdo ourselves. We have adapted the notion of being a Black woman means you can handle any dirt thrown at you, so people serve you with the filthiest things they can find notion so heavily, I don’t believe there’s any milestone we can’t surpass.

And this milestone is named Kamala C. Harris.

This is the name of the:

First Black

First Asian

First Woman…

To be elected as the vice president of the United States. And with as white-washed as American politics have been and some try to continue for it to be, my Lord it feels good to see the color palette change. It was getting VERY tiring--and even more annoying--to see just one tone dictate over an endlessly colorful nation.

This Oakland, CA borden history maker made it her mission to infiltrate the system and reach heights that women of color have never seen before. And from California attorney general to congresswoman to V.P., she’s definitely changed the game in the government.

I can’t lie, though, I didn’t know how to feel about her.

The first person to look like me was the ballot at the V.P. elect in the most significant presidential elections in my LIFETIME--and probably in most of history--and I...wasn’t too excited about her. Of course, I acknowledged the importance of her name being on a voting machine, but her prior actions as a politician made me wonder what kind of influence would she pour into the government. Could I truly be excited, or would some of her controversial actions be reflected in her decisions as a VP? I mean, there is NOTHING that compares to the orange stain we had--and thank God I can say had--but I didn’t want to see us set up for a new disaster.

There are a few things Harris did that made me raise my eyebrows:

1. Inconsistency with her comments and actions in regards to the death penalty. 2. Attempted cover up of cocaine being stolen from a crime lab. 3. Made truancy a misdemeanor, meaning parents who failed to send their children to school would be punished.

Here’s why I had a problem:

1. I believe the death penalty is inhumane, violates the 8th and 14th amendments, and this is too significant of an issue to be going back and forth about.

2. It’s very shady that she hid information illegally to cover her ass--who knows how many times she might’ve done that. This is why nearly 1,000 drug-related cases were thrown out.

3. Who does this…

Amongst a few other things, I wasn’t too sure she was for the people, like she presented herself to be. I wasn’t sure if I could look at her and actually see me--if you know what I mean. The news shows the true hell a person who is Black AND a woman goes through just living her regular life--like sleeping in her own bed. But, can you imagine what she, the Black woman, is dealing with in politics? Yes, there are a few things that had me giving Kamala the skepticalsquinched eyes, but:

She’s human, everyone makes mistakes. Did I mention SHE’S A BLACK WOMAN IN AMERICAN POLITICS?!?!?

The fact that she was able to reach the levels she has is beyond astonishing. The amount of work and care she had to put in to obtain her position as attorney general--I can’t even fathom it. Black women, statiscally, have to usually do a million times the work for the same acknowledgement.. so Kamala was doing a billion times.

And the amount of work she most likely had to dedicate to her career says even more about this country then it does about her.

All these years later and we still hearing “the first_____.”

I’m proud to be able to witness history being made...but these things should’ve, at least, been happening before my lifetime. Yes, I’m barely 30, so I’m not talking about that long ago--I’m trying to be realistic. Expecting history to be made is a lot to ask for from this country--trust me, I know. But it still hurts and is going to be a narrative I hope I can help change.

I want this country to get used to seeing Black and Brown faces as the leaders, not just the silenced talent in the background. A society that doesn’t tell a Black woman to give her blood for the same thing a white man barely has to blink for. A collection of history to be just a tad bit more colorful.

And with Comma-Luh, we’re getting that much closer.