Young Black Women and the Issues We Face: Part 1 of 3

I decided to do a post on a host of issues facing young black women. It became too long, so I am doing this in separate posts. Look for Part 2 and 3 in the very near future.

PART 1
Moving from the realm of young girl, to young woman, to mature woman is not easy. I personally believe this is compounded by race if you are categorized by society (never mind whatever you choose to identify as) as a black woman. There is no rule book, no guidance being given. This should be coming from older black women but uh…yea…I don’t see much of that happening. It could very well be the case that these women have not figured out the answers either. I want to talk about the position young black women occupy in society. We have things that are considered valuable and things that are wrongfully trashed. Our youth is always a plus; people are forever worshipping youth and trying with their entire might to hang on to it. We have our physical strength, our contemporary knowledge, or degrees; we have A LOT going for us. What we don’t have going for us are our high rates of Sexually transmitted disease infections,our assaulted images in the media and constantly being compared as a negative to the implied white female positive, and for some of us, our way of thinking regarding our race and gender.

Our youth is a major asset ladies. Whether you like it or not, this works for us in ways we may not be aware. Therefore, I believe it serves us well to preserve it as much as we possibly can. I choose to preserve my youth by taking care of myself health wise. I am a very nutritious eater (at least most people I know always say so), it is a part of my daily routine to engage in some form of exercise or physical activity, my hair in its natural state is always on point, but you had better believe that even in it’s relaxed state, I was doing it too. Skin care has never been a major problem for me, but I do have a skin care regimen that I use to help maintain the pretty (for inquiring minds, the skincare line I use is called Rx For Brown skin. I use this line because it is specially formulated for people with various brown complexions and effectively addresses the issues that come with naturally sunkissed skin. Check out their website for more information: http://www.rxforbrownskin.com/ ).

We are quite an educated bunch! I am proud of how far I have come in terms of academically excelling in my studies, and choosing to continue this in the future. I am also increasingly aware of education NOT being the great “equalizer” some people believe it to be, so I try to cultivate myself in other areas as well. This I do through seeking organizations that advocate issues close to me, or that link to what I hope to be doing in the future. For instance, I have a great respect for women’s issues, and politics. Therefore, I seek out organizations that cater to both. I enjoy learning about different cultures and will be living abroad in the coming years; I would in tern subscribe to a newsletter or other network that keeps me up to date on the happenings of that country. There are several sources on the web that can assist you with this or practically anything that really interests you. Take advantage of it!