When asked to define the “black woman” I think first to define “black” then to define “woman” then to analyze the interaction of the two roles.

Black in its rawest terms is considered any individual of original African decent. However, the perception of what “African means” can also use clarification. Provided the recent knowledge acquired from archaeology and genetics we now understand that all humans are decedents from Africa. Current culture stratifies our human genome by culture. People that identify with what is culturally identified as African decent. Through exploration of progenies, we can see that not all people generally understood to be black, have strictly African roots. So, seeing that people of African decent are also generally known to be more melanin proficient and share many other prototypical expressions, the layman’s term “black” is used to generalize the people group for general recognition and identification. Black people represents a long standing and well noted amount of history of strength and valor, great advancement of technology, and most of all triumph. Blacks expanded globally, overcome centuries of adversity and manipulation, and developed into a largely connected global community. The centuries of colonial and post colonial corruption has left much of the Black Community to reclaim their identity, resources, and respect. As Fredrick Douglas has explained, Blacks have to undergo a process of double consciousness. First understanding their identification to the popular culture ( American, European, etc) , then the struggle to maintain the identity of the African rooted self. This social disconnection of self has been reinforced by an absence of Black history and positive images in much popular rhetoric. For some, they have accepted this social constructed imbalance and settle for meager social “advances”. So in some westernized nations, black people represent a large cultural identity crisis.

A woman in many cultures represents the role of the care giver. She is nurturing, respective, and kind. Women are the bearers of life and can represent growth. They guide their young and provide a wealth of wisdom. Women represent sacrifice and honor. Women for a long time have remained with more home bodied roles such as cooking and cleaning and caring for her young. They have also represented more generic roles of beauty, poise, and hospitality. Women over time have fought for their social equality. They pressed for their right to vote, hold office, equal pay, among other social injustices. They have created global movements across the world, represented humanity, and a right for respect. The modern day woman has also taken on some more “masculine roles” in athleticism and business. Women are over competing and out performing in the economy and scholastic en devours.

A black woman is a unique combination of all these characteristically and traits. Black women have shown to be very strong willed, honorable, and courageous through out time. They have lead movements for freedom, held high office government positions, invented life changing products, and fought for the equality of their black culture and their fellow females. Black women represent what you can consider a triple consciousness. Not only are they affected by the non conformity of the dominant culture, they are oppressed by the social constructs of being black, and further more a women. Black women represent adaptability like no other. they too have an identity crisis struggle where in many western cultures they are forced to fill male roles or have been raised without their presence. Nevertheless,they are beautiful, understanding, and compassionate.. .direct stems of wisdom, discernment and grace. Black women are amazing.