Do Not Mistake a Blackout for a Lack of Black American Talent

Is “Woke” Just the Newest Word for an Old Fear? A History. – WE Survive Abuse

One unfortunate reality of anti-Black American racism specifically is periods of blackouts. Take heart with these affirmations. Keep creating your own. Keep creating in general.

1. I will not confuse rejection with lack of ability.

2. I come from people who created even when doors were closed to them.

3. My history is not an embarrassment I must make smaller for someone else’s comfort.

4. I can know where I come from without asking permission to remember.

5. My gifts remain mine whether institutions recognize them today or twenty years from now.

6. I will study the pattern instead of blaming myself for the door.

7. I refuse to teach Black children that visibility determines their value.

8. I honor the people who kept our stories when keeping them required courage.

9. I will create, document, archive and remember.

10. I do not need to abandon Black history to prove that I belong in the future.

11. I can remain awake without living afraid. Awareness is part of my inheritance too.

12. I will not make myself historically invisible to become culturally acceptable.

13. What my ancestors survived is worthy of truthful remembrance.

14. I am allowed to ask what changed when doors that were opening begin to close.

15. I will keep building when recognition rises, and I will keep building when recognition falls.