Don’t Call It a Favor The nerve—the absolute gall—to act like you're doing us a favor by ending discrimination. By “allowing” Black people, especial
Don’t Call It a Favor
The nerve—the absolute gall—to act like you’re doing us a favor by ending discrimination.
By “allowing” Black people, especially Black women, to access jobs, homes, healthcare, and dignity.
As if justice is charity.
As if equity is generosity.
As if inclusion is some handout.
This is not inclusion.
This is repair.
This is correction.
This is late.
Because let’s tell the truth:
We were never guests here.
Black women built this country.
Not in theory. Not in metaphor.
Brick by brick. Breath by stolen breath. Womb by violated womb.
And now, to be treated like a burden when we ask to be housed?
To be seen as a risk when we apply to be hired?
To be called “too angry,” “too much,” or “too demanding” for wanting what we already paid for in blood?
That’s not a misunderstanding.
That’s abuse.
This country’s relationship with Black people—especially Black women—is the longest-running example of gaslighting on a national scale.
You benefit from us.
You use our culture, our labor, our ideas, our healing, our style, our survival.
And then dare to treat our presence like it’s asking too much.
Sound familiar?
Because this is exactly how abuse works.
Minimize the harm.
Flip the script.
Make the one carrying the weight feel like the problem.
Call her “bitter,” “difficult,” “hard to place.”
When really? She’s tired of being the one who built the house—and still being locked out of every room.
This is why conversations about labor, race, and gender must include a lens of abuse.
Because until we name how this country operates like an abuser,
we’ll keep missing why abuse of women, of Black people, —continues.
We’ll keep asking the wrong questions.
Instead of asking:
Who benefits from keeping her in survival mode?
To every Black woman reading this:
You are not the problem.
You are not a burden.
You are not asking for too much.
You are asking for what is already yours.
Affirmations to Inspire Unshakable Self-Belief
I do not need to shrink to be seen. I was born to take up space.
I trust my voice, my vision, and my value—even when others try to silence it.
I am not hard to place. I am divinely positioned.
There is nothing wrong with me for noticing what is wrong. That’s called wisdom.
I do not exist to prove I’m worthy. I am worthy. Full stop.
My power is not too much—it’s just too real for those who thrive on control.
I am allowed to speak truth without apology. My truth is a gift, not a disruption.
Every time I stand in my dignity, I remind others what freedom looks like.
I was never the problem. I was the light in a room built to keep me dim.
I believe in my future because I survived my past.
I was not built to beg—I was built to build.
Even when they try to overlook me, the ground still remembers my footsteps.
The truth (is always going to) sound like ‘hate” to those who hate the truth. (Proverbs 9:7-8)
