Being A Woman Of Colour
About Malika Lugogo
Malika Lugogo is a college student. She is a strong woman who doesn’t stand for any sort of discrimination against someone for their identity. She is 17 and a woman of color.
When do you remember first becoming aware of race?
“Ever since I can remember my parents have put a lot of effort into making me aware of my culture and ethnicity. I was constantly exposed to other black people and my parents told stories about their childhood in Kenya and what it was like growing up there and how different it was when they got to America. As a result I started to associate a large part of my identity to the fact I was black.”
When do you first remember being “targeted” for it?
“ The first time I remember being targeted for being black was in Kindergarden when my teacher made me stand in front of the class along with the only other black kid and talk about how our ancestors were enslaved, the teacher would also do a lot of other passive aggressive things like accuse me of stealing pencils and unfortunately at the time I was too young to realize that she was acting that way because I was black.”
Have you always felt the same about being a woman of color or has it changed over time?
“As a child I was told to embrace my blackness and that it made me beautiful. I was constantly surrounded by other people of Kenyan and African descent and as a result I grew to see my race through a pair of rose colored glasses, not realizing the stigma that surrounded people of color and how it would affect me. As I got older I became more aware of what being a black woman in America really meant, I was often associated with harsh stereotypes of being, “from the hood,” or “ratchet.” I faced many microaggressions, such as people accusing me of being dirty because of my skin, or being followed around in grocery stores in case I stole anything. Eventually I realized there were specific things I couldn’t do as a black woman in America.”
On the news a lot of the time there are stories about women getting discriminated against and stories about racism, how does this make you feel?
“I have to have higher awareness when doing specific things in fear I may be targeted, such as having to rehearse how I should act incase i’m ever stopped by a police officer. I also try to speak a certain way in front of specific people and avoid using AAVE (African American Vernacular English) in fear they may look down upon me. With the amount of hate crimes and police killings of innocent black people constantly on the rise it strikes fear in the black community, it a sort of fear mongering that has people in the community wondering whose next, similar to the effect lynchings had on people in America in the late 19th and early 20th century.”
Do you have any advice for a younger woman? Or a younger person of color?
“ Find comfort in your own skin, women rarely garner the respect they deserve and that's without taking into consideration what other forms of oppression may come into play (examples. Race, sexuality, ability, etc). You have to learn to work ten times harder than everyone else, just to get half the respect, but it's important that you’re comfortable with yourself and that you don’t let others mistreat you.”
Have you or do you ever feel “empowered by it?
“As a black woman I love my culture and everything that comes along with it. I loved the food, songs, and the people who shared my culture with me. I always feel the most empowered when hanging around other black people or when I’m told to talk about my culture. I’m also really into music and love listening to Jazz because of how much black people played a huge role in the creation of Jazz and shaping what Jazz music means today, from the likes of Buddy Bolden, louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald.”
“As a black woman I love my culture and everything that comes along with it.”
- Malika Lugogo
How important would you say that your race is to you?
“My race is very important to me, being a black woman in America has forced me to be exposed to very uncomfortable situations. There were times where I’ve been threatened with violence for being black or I’ve been followed in stores. My race has played a big impact in how I choose to live my life and the decisions I’ve chosen to make. In the end though, I’ve learned to embrace my race and everything that comes along with it, the good, bad, and everything in between.”
Have you ever felt like other people see being a woman of color differently than you see it? Can you give an example?
“Black women are usually either associated with negative stereotypes or fetishized in the media and those around them. As a result rather than acknowledging all the prejudice and discrimination they face, they’re painted as the villains. A personal example would be a classmate telling me how she wished she was black because black women are so beautiful because they have fuller lips, curly hair, and lots of curves, without acknowledging the actual problems many black women go through. It's also a problem with social media, how celebrities will get lip fillers, BBL’s (Brazilian butt lifts), and fake tanners, adopting stereotypically black features despite how harshly black people are stereotyped and scrutinized. They’re constantly stealing balck culture and rebranding it as their own and making it appear more palatable, whether it be art, music, or looks.”
Do you think being a woman of color changes your perspective on the world? Can you give an example....?
“As a black woman there were many stereotypes I was subjugated to, people would naturally assume I was more mature from a very young age, or wouldn’t take me seriously. The intersectionality between my race and gender left me in a place where despite being a woman I couldn’t relate to the experiences of white woman who would complain about things like, The wage gap and how for every dollar a man makes they only make eighty five cents, however, for every dollar a white woman makes a black woman only makes sixty five cents. On the flip side, by associating my identity purely on the fact I’m a person of color and not acknowledging the deep rooted misogyny that can also plague men of color it also discredits the things I’ve gone through as a woman. As a result I’ve learned I can’t separate any parts of my identity.”
