Earnest Supplication: Higher Education, Travel, Art, and African History

It is no doubt that living as a Black woman in this world requires you to accept a level of insanity that is hard to process. The sheer invisibility and powerlessness of the Black woman in a world where she is the pinnacle of advancement and progressive change is a bitter pill.

My woman-ness is often undermined in this world. White male supremacy has set a standard that leaves the woman feeling less than human- subservient and underclass, second-best to the man and his ways, underrepresented and considered less.

My voice is the strongest opposition and the most despised. My power and my fragility are the least acceptable and I am in last place.

Even though I scream and beat my chest, I am still unheard. I am still too small, too young, too weak, too smart, and too angry.

My less-than-ness is instilled into the minds of all, including the men who love me, and it is their dismissiveness and belittling that hurts the most.

Ashley Chandrashekhar