In this lyrical op-ed, writer Brianne James provides a personal take on the victories worth celebrating this Black History Month.
I am agency—I have it laced across my lips. I don’t fear prosecution for expressing my opinion because freedom of speech is my right. I say where, I say when, and I saw how—I have the capacity to say no when I need to because I refuse to let peer pressure dictate my life.
There is an agency in my body, too. I am its master. I can dress it in fashions that enable an unspoken strength. I can exude sex, power, and wealth—I can transform my body into whatever I please. Though there is a risk of judgment, I have the privilege to simply not care. If my time is not invested into myself, it will be devoted to something of my choosing. My labor is not for free—I know the worth of my skills and talents and I get to decide whether or not I want to be my own boss. I am responsible for my money and I am absent of shackles and documents of ownership. I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.
Education
I am education in its pure, unsegregated form.
At a young age, I was taught how to read and write, and now I do it better than most. My words are not kept secret, as I have inspired in ways that continue to reach the masses—people of all shapes and coluors imaginable have access to my craft. I don’t feel the need to hide my literacy or mask the level of my intelligence, because I have received an education that many women overseas cannot. I have worked hard for my grades because I pride myself in finding new ways to challenge the capabilities of my mind.
My education has given me the potential and liberty that I need to be indecisive. I can apply to a prestigious art school, I can learn as many languages as I want, and I can quit my job and embark on the path toward becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or a businesswoman. When I walk outside my front door, there’s a world of opportunity waiting for me. I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.
I am self-care
I bask in the final moments of warmth before I remove my bed’s covers. I wash away my worries with a shower I don’t feel the need to time. My face is a canvas that I paint and groom to show the world that I am prettier than what they’ve tried to make me out to be. And my hair, strong with significance, is worn with cascading curls that land around my forehead to create a makeshift crown.
But my self-care doesn’t end with beauty routines. I have traveled for leisure. I have seen and experienced countries rich in cultures foreign to mine. I have the right to venture as a free citizen and there are no written laws that restrict me from participating in activities open to the rest. I can laugh with my friends wherever I please. I can live wherever I want. I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.
I am a hope that I can actually see. For me, hope is everywhere and something that I can genuinely believe in. Although I have to work twice as hard to get what I want, I still have the power to shape my life into something wonderful. I see hope in successful business owners and I see hope in a former president. I see hope in a soon-to-be black princess and I see hope in the first activist who had the strength to say, “me too.” I see hope in myself because I am a black woman thriving in North America—I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.
Obstacles
As black people, there are obstacles that we have yet to overcome. Many people still categorise and underestimate us because of a pigment that we were born with. However, for the first time in centuries, we have never been as free as we are right now. We have the privilege of continuing the advances that our ancestors started but couldn’t live to see. We have the ability to prove judgement and injustice wrong and that is a victory. From the pigment of our skin down to the culture that binds us—we are an impossible dream brought to reality. You are a walking, living, breathing victory.