My Tribe | Black women who break the status quo in partnership with other Black women, with us all in mind.
When I heard Nella say: “I don’t want to succeed if it means being the only one. That’s not what success looks like to me,” in The Other Black Girl, it reverberated in my soul with the same power as the beat switch in Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares.”
It took me a while to understand why it hit so hard. For a minute, I thought it was attached to my codependent tendencies, but it was more than that. As I leaned into my curiosity, I realized that the quote spoke to my value of Black women aligned with my womanist beliefs.
Womanists champion the rights and experiences of Black women, ensuring our success doesn't overshadow, sideline, or outshine others in our community. Instead, it uplifts everyone around us, crafting a legacy of unity, mutual respect, and shared prosperity. We aim to forge paths where others can walk beside us, not behind us.
Alice Walker introduced the term in her book In Search of Our Mother’s Garden: Womanist Prose (Harcourt Brace, 1983). She said the term womanism was inclusive and illustrative of Black women’s courage, willfulness, audacious behavior, grown-up, in-charge demeanor, and love for other women, themselves, and humanity.
The quote was deeply womanist. I am deeply womanist.
Where I go, so shall my people. Success is not a sweet treat without the opportunity to share it with others. Womanism is a deeply ingrained value for me.
On my journey, this philosophy has been a compass. I've weathered challenges, confronted naysayers, and missed opportunities, but my allegiance to collective success has remained unshakable. Ascending alone can be a lonely summit—after all, what value does a panoramic view hold if savored in isolation?
Our present culture often extols individual achievements, celebrating personal gain more than communal upliftment to allow those in power to maintain mind control over us like Debo had over Smokey.
Black women have played a part in every historical social movement since women’s suffrage, often being relegated to the help and used for their time and talents but never fully considered. Even with this energy, we’ve shown up and fought. We fought and continue to fight because there would be no representation of everyone without us. Our belief in shared success tells us we must enter the fight to ensure everyone wins. We walk in the room seeking justice for all, not seeking to maintain the status quo, the norm.
The heart of womanism challenges the status quo. Breaking barriers isn't a solo sport—it's a relay race. Every stride should pave a path broad enough for our community to journey alongside us. It cautions against the trap of solipsistic success, where the only cheers are one's own.
Womanists know the most fulfilling triumphs are those celebrated together. Much like the diverse ingredients in a pot of gumbo, our narratives, when blended, create a rich tapestry of shared achievements and interconnected legacies. To stand alone at the zenith isn't success—it's merely solitude. Success thrives when our stories intertwine, forging a lineage of collective milestones and shared memories.
In love + light …
Bea