Isn’t it always so amazing the things we experience each day, each moment? Today would have been the 123rd birthday of acclaimed author Zora Neale Hurston and of all her wonderful words, I was struck most by this quote from How It Feels To Be Colored Me:
“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
With all the talk of our “post-racial” society the tragedy is truly that too many things are happening to individuals daily based on nothing more than the color of their skin – both “positive” and negative. It is certainly true that not EVERY thing is racial but it is also true that the things that are racial should not be overlooked.
For instance their is jubilant news that SNL has hired it’s first African American female comedienne in 7 years. That’s great but in a post racial society should/would it be news? Is the ascension into one’s passions and attaining one’s dreams so rare for People of Color (POC) and specifically Women of Color (WOC)? Is it generally seen as a supernatural event for POC/WOC to reach this level?
I don’t have the answers and I’ll leave it here for now but in the meantime I salute every person who has the Courage, Hope and Love to truly live in their own skin!
Learn More. Love More.