Conversations with Black Women: What are you hoping for?

Culture

Dec 5

In October, just before the election, I asked a few black women at the #jackielaceymustgo protest in Los Angeles,

“What do you hope comes after the election?”

Some women were comfortable sharing their thoughts with me and I asked to take a portrait of them masking their features.

I have one simple reason for doing this; I felt it needed to be done. Throughout the past year I have seen Black Women’s voices get silenced over and over again. As a journalist and fellow Black Woman, I wanted to be an outlet that does their best to listen. Every article or field piece does not have to be grandiose. Sometime simplicity is all that is needed. I wasn’t sure I would get any responses but any response is a worthy response.

In a year where Black Women have been pushed aside in calls to action, I think it is important that everyone listens, especially when Black Women continuously show up to the table for others in need. Professors have said that this year alone, Black Lives Matter, has been the biggest Civil Rights movement, possibly surpassing the movements of the 60’s and 70’s. Knowing that and knowing that Black Lives Matter has been created and lead by powerful Black Women, we should be speaking to Black Women more.

The opinions I gathered are important. There was and still is a lot at stake with the local and presidential elections. I am thankful for the few that talked to me in the moment.

Here are those responses.

I hope that we become free or freer than we are.

I’m just hopping that, first of all [ I’m just hopping] a lot of citizens come out to vote period. Which ever way they decide to vote. There’s a lot of people that died just for us to have the ability to go and, you know, cast our vote. So number 1, I hope we have great voter turn out. Number 2, I absolutely hope that he that is in office is voted out because that’s just embarrassing on a nation wide scale, on a world wide scale. That that guy [has] been in there for these four years. Jackie Lacey, I mean she could ignore us every Wednesday, out here, but yeah,I think she’s going to get the message loud and clear that she’s no good for us. She’s no good. She’s not doing her job. She needs to go find something else to do. I’m positive.I’m optimistic. That she’s going to be out of here. That whoever should take her place, we’re absolutely going to have out eyes’s on them to make sure they do their job. And I just hope that we, the current fighters and liberators, do justice to our ancestors and all of what they have done before us to keep this thing moving forward for our people because we’re worth it.

My hope for this election is that the people need more time. We have two paths here. We have a slow burn to fascism, or [we can begin] ripping the bandaid off quick. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you which one’s which. There’s so many more things than the presidential[election] to vote for, there are so many little things that will have a huge impact. Measure J, HUGE. Voting No on Prop.22, GIGANTIC. Really do you research. You have more power than you think.The people need more time and I think voting will buy us a little more time to get really organized.