Women…… I know that we are powerful, strong and unique beings. We are the givers of life, we nurture, we can multi task and do some amazing things. We are often up against these men in the workforce and are expected to have this super woman/super mom mentality of working, taking care of the kids, running our side hustle business, taking care of the household while in 6 inch heel, slaying in a face full of makeup with a body like Lori Harvey. Oh and do all that with no complaining and somehow make time for ourselves in midst of caring and tending to everyone else’s needs.

I’ve learned that we don’t have to look like others and be all those things, we want to keep our sanity. I thought that with being a woman, we would just be in support of each other because we go through most of the same struggles and know what it is like. Well that wasn’t the case this week.

This week, some women tried to destroy a black owned, woman owned business because of a Target commercial where The Honey Pot owner, Beatrice Dixion stated in the commercial that “The reason why it’s so important for Honey Pot to do well, is so the next black girl that comes up with a great idea, she could have a better opportunity. That means a lot to me.” People saw that as being racist and immediately swarmed to write bad reviews about the company and try to destroy it. You can read about it here if you don’t know what I’m talking about: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/honeypot-company-target-ad-racist-reviews

After seeing all the commotion on social media and reading into this, I was immediately angered by this. It baffles me that people are still ignorant, discriminatory and feel so entitled to everything. I was so hype when I saw the commercial. I have already been using the brand and love it. I was just so proud that to see representation of myself on tv and empowering other little girls that they can one day have their products in Target.

I don’t know where I heard that her brand and products are just for women of color. I heard that other little black girls can have something to aspire towards and it shouldn’t be a damn issue empowering our youth. It just blows my mind how people twisted the words in the commercial. There is more than enough racism today and it is only getting worse. It is just appalling that we as African Americans are still not seen as equal, still not seen as a decent human beings, still not seen beyond our melanated skin. Why are we still such a threat to others?

I love how we banned together with some of our allies and used the power of social media to rally behind The Honey Pot. We were leaving 5 star reviews, clearing the shelves in Target, tell others to pull up and support. We were telling those negative Nancys to have several seats and take their hatred somewhere else. What I learned this week about being a black woman is that when we get together, powerful things happen. We helped The Honey Pot double her sales and put more coins in her pocket.

What I learned about being a black woman is that we still disrespected and still not seen past our skin color. I thought womanhood was supposed to be this club where no matter what race, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference that we understood each other. We know the struggles of not being paid as much as our male counterparts, the woes of motherhood, dealing with having to look a certain way and so much more. This week that vision of womanhood was shattered for me. We really don’t see each other as equals, it is still about skin color and it is sad.

Just being we say we are pro-black does not mean we are racist, just because we champion for our own, does not mean we are discriminated against others, just because we want to have something that is inclusive to us because we often not included in most places, does not give others the right to feel like they should be entitled. I wish people would stop being so closed minded and ignorant and open up and see these things.

Just in a few days I learned so much about the power of being a black woman and I am so proud to be one.