Last night during "A Conversation for Colored Girls" with Rayla we discussed intersectionality and the home.
The message: We are the SAME.
That part I knew.
BUT SOME of your family's F'd up "isms" - are SINGULAR.
THAT PART I learned.
So often as survivors, we NORMALIZE the trauma. We dismiss it as regular because the story is heard all too often.
On a deeper level, we don't DARE to believe we are unique in our suffering, so we seek out the similar and adopt it's name. We are lead to believe our pain isn't special and so we tally mark internal scars and regard them no more significant than the passing of a day.
SOME of your pain - is YOURS, and YOURS ALONE.
I doesn't LOOK, FEEL, TASTE, or SOUND like anyone else's and it definitely, most CERTAINLY is NOT normal. But if it's all you know ... normalcy is what you would suppose.
For example - I thought being body shamed was my birthright. I thought it was a cultural norm. Untrue.
As Rayla mentioned last night - TRANSPARENCY; this is why these conversations are so vital. To pull back the veil and reveal the wound, knowing exposure and acceptance is the first step towards healing.
I learned so much last night thanks to the powerful ladies in the room.
Please continue to support this discourse on the business of being a WOMAN in this world -
our stories are important.
Click HERE to connect with Raie Crawford and "A Conversation for Colored Girls"