Confessions of a libra

I know what you are | Credit: Here

22.05.25

Whitewashed is the term people use to erase black brilliance. I grew up as the suburban black girl archetype. Not in a superficial way in the; eloquent, stylish but not flashy, hobbies and music not within the stereotypes of ‘blackness’. Articulate as I was even then, I would not have been able to express myself the way I can now about why being called whitewashed just gets on my fucking tits.

I’m sorry that your ideas of blackness are so limited that basic intelligence and social masking is considered ‘white’. Except I’m not sorry, I’m royally pissed off. People watch one movie with a black family and decide that they understand blackness. Black people have always been intellectual as they have been artistic. I come from a family of intellectuals. Just because someone’s forefathers decided to actively erase aspects of history doesn’t mean squat. If you go out of your way to learn about black history around the world, you’ll learn something.

I liked Radiohead and Evanescence as a teenager. Sue me. I resisted listening to Beyonce for literal years, because I detested the assumption that I would listen to an artist’s music just because they are black. Or that I should care how many white artists were on my playlist. Surely as I write this it seems ridiculous to you too, no?

The other issue I have is specifically with how people view Africans. It’s your small minded ideas about who African people are at the core, that leads to some of your racism and xenophobia. Where I come from, education is very much valued. I have seen the same sentiments in many other Africans from different nations. We are notoriously studious. Many Africans are at the very LEAST bilingual. Your African co-worker is likely able to roast you in 4 languages with poetic ease. Just because a country has a lower GDP (likely because of all the stolen minerals) doesn’t equate to a lack of depth or complexity in its people. To think so, is to be at the height of supremacy and I cannot stand for it.

My blackness is the reason I can so effortlessly blend intellect with art. When black people talk about rhythm it’s not always about music. Everything on this planet has a vibration and we as people are very attuned to the frequencies of the planet. As with Indigenous cultures around the world. Even if you gave me 100 textbooks I would read them and not just regurgitate them but translate the very language of them. I can see beauty in data. It’s as easy as breathing.

I have a respect for nature and the environment that stems from my blackness. It allows me to assess environments not just with my eyes but with my soul. With my heart, with my cycles and knowings. When you read my stories I try and describe sensations more than physicality. Because I am always feeling into things as much as I am thinking them.

So to every black girl and black boy that’s ever been misunderstood, know that I see you. You do not have to explain your blackness. You do not have to package it for someone else to understand. Least of all someone who belongs to a different group. There are things more important than gatekeeping. Being able to see and feel people within your soul’s vibration. Being able to go where you are loved and cherished. Listen to as much Katy Perry as your heart desires. There’s no amount of cosplaying being hood that will make racists understand you. Cling onto your dreams not stereotypes.