What would it be like to “walk a mile” in a Black woman’s shoes?
Well, I can tell you that it’s certainly more than the scent of shea butter and coconut oil, or even the golden glow of brown skin in the sun. To walk in our shoes is to balance the ability to build communities from the ground up, to protest headfirst for victims of police brutality and institutionalized racism. And most days, it’s mustering the love and patience for members of our community who have yet to understand how to wholly love us back.
Essentially, it’s being your own homeplace. Your own safe haven from the outside world. And although this may sound odd, it’s truly a necessary defense to guard our minds, bodies, and spirits against rampant racist and patriarchal structures that aim to grind us down.
But that’s the beauty in our resilience and the quiet comfort in our collective countenance. When one defense falls, as a collective, we as Black women will always be there to pick up the pieces for one another. From sight, to sound, to scent, we are our mothers’, daughters’, and sisters’ home—a homeplace for one and all.
If you are in need of community, find us at the body: a home for love, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that caters to Black women who are healing from sexual assault trauma. When you’re ready to begin or continue your healing journey, we’ll be there with you to walk that mile together.
