NEXT UP! 2 110 IMarch for Black Girls and the Black Women Who Marched Before Me Thandiwe Abdullah (2004–), Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Youth Vanguard Being a girl is something I was born with, yet through all of the setbacks I’ve had, consciousness of the strength of women is not a new concept for me. I grew up in an activist household. I grew up believing in the power of strong Black women. […] I’m pretty sure that my gender has always been tied to my Blackness. One of my first memories of being a girl and feeling the effects of anti-Blackness was when I was talking to a friend at my school. We were talking about my younger sister, when this boy told me that she would become more well-known than me because she was slim and light-skinned. “Watch that girl,” he said, “all the guys are gonna go after her.” He meant it as a compliment, I think, but somehow I started to feel jealous. I think it’s because deep down I knew that he was right. Light-skinned Black girls were more acceptable, beautiful, seen, and heard. But, I refused to let this fact change the relationships between me and my family. When I began doing movement work it was hard. I fell quickly into the angry-Black-girl mold created for me by society. I called out teachers at school and never let anyone slide when using the “N-word pass.” I was lit up, and for some reason it seemed like all everyone around me wanted to do was shut me up. Activism was a part of who I was and it still is. I couldn’t ignore it. So to be completely honest I wasn’t very popular in middle school. It wasn’t cool to be a revolutionary. […] When I march for sisterhood, I march for girls who’ve felt like me. I march for all my POC sisters and folks who have felt erased. I march for those who feel too light, too dark, Before reading Read the title of the text. Who do you think the black girls and the black women the author is referring to might be? a setback – bakslag consciousness – meðvitund a concept – hugmynd a household – hér: heimili gender – kyn tied to – tengt við slim – grannur to refuse – neita a mold (or mould)– hér: væntingar um hvernig þú átt að vera to call out – hér: gera athugasemd við to be lit up – hér: verða áhugasamur POC – people of colour (hugtak sem notað í Bandaríkjunum) erased – gert ósýnilegt
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