Black Girl Tragic
Crystal Senter, Brown, M.S., CCSP
As a black woman with more than 25 years working in nonprofit/ higher ed, I have met MANY “Bonnie’s” along the way.
And while I don’t know their personal stories, I saw firsthand how they struggled to be seen. Their stature and language often shifting depending on who is in the room. Even their relationships with other black women being strained because they are viewing each other as competition.
I saw how they volunteered first for unpaid initiatives, always.
I saw how they were “appointed” to positions they didn’t really qualify for because of the color of their skin and then they were not supported and often even demoted/fired because they couldn’t produce like their non-black counterparts. They work so hard! And often times at the expense of their family/ community connections and even their mental/ physical health.
But I learned a long time ago that hard work does not equal “success”. Should we always do our BEST at work? Absolutely. But we should never trade our mental or physical health in order to climb the ranks at our institutions.
And when we ARE mistreated, even slightly, it is up to us to speak up, loudly. And if the person does not listen, find another person.
My reason for speaking up is that there are so many younger black women coming up behind us and we owe it to them not to pave a path of contentment of mistreatment. We don’t have to suffer for our “dream” positions. And it may be time for us to reconsider what the “dream” really is.
Let’s Get Sentered: in caring for our WHOLE SELVES every day, everywhere, all the time.
