The Audacity to be BlackPosted in Articles, Autobiography, Latino Studies, Media Archive, United States on 2016-01-19 21:35Z by Steven |
The Chicago Maroon: The independent student newspaper of The University of Chicago since 1892.
2016-01-18
The word African American masks the political strife and oppression that comes with the word Black.
“Black is hurt.
Black is pain.
Black is strong.
Black is Love
Worked hard and long
Black is deserving
Black is unnerving
Because it is so Goddamn powerful
No matter what side of Blackness you represent
Remember
Always
Black is beautiful.”—excerpted from B(lack)NESS & LATINI(dad)
I remember the first time I was teased for being Black. I was trying to fit in with the kids—all Mexican—so I wore my hair gelled down, but no amount of mousse or gel could hide my nappy curls. It was my turn to get roasted. They threw out the word Mayate (a slur for Black people) and laughed at how much product my hair required. I wasn’t “really” Mexican like they were. My father was Black and my mother Mexican, so I was something caught in between. “Mayate.” The word rang in my ears. For some reason, it hurt just like n***er did, but more than that, it threw me into a state of alienation. This word was flung at me from a language that shouldn’t be foreign to me, but is.
So where did I fit in? African American didn’t feel right. My mestizo family migrated to the U.S. in the 20th century and my mother didn’t meet my father until the 1990s. I’d never felt American. So what was I then? My mom told me: “You’re Black. There’s no need to be ashamed of it, it just is what it is.”…
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