To my beautiful sisters!

I've been wanting to say this for a long time. As a Black woman, I feel that I need to speak up for us. We've been getting a bad rap for too many years by everyone. I hate the stereotypes that we are mean, head shaking, finger snapping and angry women. It seems like too many people are way to happy to spew this stereoptype on TV, news and radio and I'm tired of Black men using these stereotypes as excuse for dating out of their race. If you date out of your race, then say it's your choice. But you shouldn't use stereotypes or genaralizations to explain your choice.

First of all, people have to remember that most of us are not angry. But for too many years, we've had to carry the load of raising our children and carrying the household on our own.  Sometimes, our resourcefulness and even our frustrations with feeling invisible can be seen as over aggressive.

But check this out, according statistics 45% of Black women have never been married and this is compared to only 20% of White women. Now this doesn't mean that Black women do not have the opportunity to get married. It's just that today more Black men are involved in interracial relationships (or choosing to never marry at all) while most Black women choose not date interracially.  In addition, more Black women are becoming highly educated then Black men, and because of this, we have chosen to stay single because we haven't found someone on our level when it comes to our faith, education and careers ambition.

Then I think of Michelle Obama. She is everything that I wanted to be. She's beautiful, educated, smart and a mom with a successful career. But I was also sad to see that because of her success and business like demeanor, she was intially described by the news media at the "angry Black women". If it was anyone else, she would have appeared ambitious, strong and supportive. However, in order for her husband to win the election, she had to change her demeanor and set aside her ambitions so that she did not have to be continually subjected to the "angry" Black women stereotype. How sad!

Now I'm not going into the social ills of race relations. My little blog isn't going to change the world. But I just know that some of my closest friends (my sisters) in this world are Black women. They are married and but most are single. They are some of the most beautiful, sensitive and self-sacrificing women I know. They work, go to school and raise their children (sometimes by themselves). These are the women I have worked, laughed and cried with. These are women who encourage me go through school while watching my children. These are women who let me cry to them, invited me to their churches and into their homes and lives.

These wonderful Black women are educated, beautiful spiritual, sensitve and wise.

We deserve to be described as such.