I Love Black Women, Everyday
February 14, 2013Photo credit: Eugene Kim/Flickr
I love black women. With a sentiment like that, I don’t have time to hate Valentine’s Day. For me, Valentine’s Day is not just about celebrating romantic relationships, but also a day to celebrate the multi-faceted relationships with the numerous people in our lives, particularly my friendships with the amazing black women in my life. My black feminist identity makes it a day to love and honor the black women who nurture and care for me year-round. And even though a single day is not enough to show all of these beautiful women how much I care, I feel it necessary to use this day to politicize and celebrate our love and accountability to one another.
In a society that aims to suppress our visibility and definitions of self, it is essential for black women to create safe spaces where we can affirm, cope, and resist a white and male dominated world (hooks 1992; Wingfield 2008). Our friendships create emotional support that encourages growth and validates our right to exist, while lending credibility to our experiences. We are able to affirm our own power by having the ability to share our experiences in our own words.