Firstly, she’s not real.
But she’s by no means an accident.
Close your eyes and picture an angry Black woman.
Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong
It only took an instant to visualize her, right?
it’s possible for you to probably hear her Black English.
She probably strikes you as intimidating.
She’s overly sensitive and mannish.
She’s easy to piss off and difficult to calm down.
She’s aggressive and irrational, too loud and too much.
She’s alsonot real.
She’s imaginary, but she’s by no means an accident.
The angry Black woman character goes way back.
It shows up in work meetings even though I purposefully smile and measure my tone when offering feedback.
It shows up in personal relationships when I attempt to address the emotional harm I’m experiencing.
It cuts into my sense of worth and wellbeing.
How could thisnotfeed my chronic sense of uncertainty and unease?
Instead of showing your anger, you stifle it and it burrows inward and hurts.
Mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, andhigher stressare often the results of stifled anger.
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The fact is that, asSolangesays, we have a lot to be angry about.
None of this is because we’re undeserving, untalented, or unfocused.
Of course, we are angry.
That’s what the Angry Black Woman stereotype was designed to do, and why it still exists.
It’s so pervasive that even emotions that aren’t anger (e.g.
That’s what the ABW stereotype was designed to do, and it’s why it still exists.
Now close your eyes and picture anactualangry Black woman not the trope.
Can you see her without the pre-conceived cartoonish distortion?
This woman may be crying in pain.
She may be your boss, and her “anger” is actually just honesty about your performance.
She may have every right to be mad, far madder than she looks or is expressing.
She may also be feeling scared, alone, and powerless.
Or exasperated, impatient, and overwhelmed.
Or brave, energized, and in joyful self-possession.
A realangry Black woman is multidimensional, not flat, not easily summarized by a trope.
She’s a richly layered, sophisticated, intelligent human being, not a caricature.
She’s entitled to feel and display the full scope of human emotions.
And she’s entitled to your respect while she does it.
So let me offer an alternative vision of Black female anger.
There’s a world in which we recognize Black female anger as beautiful.
Beautiful as a response to racism,misogynoir, and injustice everywhere.
There’s a world in which Black female anger is a tonic we can all drink.
That world exists on the other side of the demonizing, inaccurate stereotypes; we can create it.
