2008 Woodie Awards
Giving thanks to influential women of color
By: Latreecia Wade
Issue date: 3/9/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial
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I must admit, I'm a dreamer. My zodiac sign is Sagittarius and everything I have read about them says they dream big. March is Women's History Month and since February was Black History Month it is only fitting that I share with you some of the black women who have influenced me.
With all of the negative images of black females being portrayed on TV, movies and music videos, young black girls are becoming less open to being seen as a person rather than a sexual object. This topic is explored in the controversial book "Confessions of a Video Vixen" by Karrine Steffans. In her memoir, Steffans said she quickly made a transition from being a video siren to a high-class prostitute for several black male celebrities, including P. Diddy and Shaquille O'Neal. Steffans said her life was riddled with physical abuse and rape. She turned to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism. When images of educated, positive black females are consistently brought before the public, our little girls can see another way of getting ahead without using their bodies.
I'm aspiring to be a Harlem Renaissance woman, an intellectual circle of black female artists, poets, musicians and authors after World War I. These women endured the class system, sexism and racism in order to deter the negative connotations of blacks of that time. Modern-day black females still face those same obstacles. And I am no exception.
It warms my heart to see beautiful, intelligent black women like Oprah Winfrey live a legendary life as a woman of color. Ethnic little girls from all over the world idolize her. When I was a kid, there weren't many black females that I could look to and say "That's what I want to be when I grow up - her." Black women have long been the backbone of their race and they should be revered.
Zora Neale Hurston, author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which was recently made into a movie with Halle Berry as the lead character, was a pioneer of literary fiction in her day. As a Columbia University graduate, Hurston combined anthropology with literature and her utopian-like views were not a favorite among black people. She was said to have presented an unreal depiction of life during slavery because racial tensions were not the primary focus of her books.
Although I am not an author of fiction, I enjoy and appreciate her vision. Hurston saw a world that could be and not one that was. In this respect, I view myself in the same light. I still feel there is hope for an all accepting diverse society. And like Hurston, I don't pride myself on the negative thoughts of those of the same or different race. Hurston was given every reason to fail simply because she was a female and a minority.
I often think of black women like Hurston and journalist Alice Dunbar-Nelson as innovators. They stood for equality. Dunbar-Nelson, who was black, white and Native-American, started her own literary magazine, The Dunbar Speaker and Entertainer, in 1920 after losing her job as a high school teacher. The magazine focused on the issues of the era and catered to a black audience. Her appearance is what worked most to her advantage because she could pass for white, but always identified herself as a woman of color.
As a black journalist, it is my duty and privilege to remember the legacy of these women. It is only because of their bravery that I am able to express my views for others to read.
This month, I take the time to say, 'thank you my sisters,' may your strength continue to hold my head up when my spirit is down. Let me hold onto my vision - no matter what my eyes may see. Keep my ears ever-listening to the voice within me and not to the naysayers who condemn me publicly. I wish to attain my goals as ferociously and relentlessly as you did. It is because they dreamed that intellectual black women like me are a reality.
Latreecia Wade, a senior journalism major, is a staff writer for The Journal.
With all of the negative images of black females being portrayed on TV, movies and music videos, young black girls are becoming less open to being seen as a person rather than a sexual object. This topic is explored in the controversial book "Confessions of a Video Vixen" by Karrine Steffans. In her memoir, Steffans said she quickly made a transition from being a video siren to a high-class prostitute for several black male celebrities, including P. Diddy and Shaquille O'Neal. Steffans said her life was riddled with physical abuse and rape. She turned to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism. When images of educated, positive black females are consistently brought before the public, our little girls can see another way of getting ahead without using their bodies.
I'm aspiring to be a Harlem Renaissance woman, an intellectual circle of black female artists, poets, musicians and authors after World War I. These women endured the class system, sexism and racism in order to deter the negative connotations of blacks of that time. Modern-day black females still face those same obstacles. And I am no exception.
It warms my heart to see beautiful, intelligent black women like Oprah Winfrey live a legendary life as a woman of color. Ethnic little girls from all over the world idolize her. When I was a kid, there weren't many black females that I could look to and say "That's what I want to be when I grow up - her." Black women have long been the backbone of their race and they should be revered.
Zora Neale Hurston, author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which was recently made into a movie with Halle Berry as the lead character, was a pioneer of literary fiction in her day. As a Columbia University graduate, Hurston combined anthropology with literature and her utopian-like views were not a favorite among black people. She was said to have presented an unreal depiction of life during slavery because racial tensions were not the primary focus of her books.
Although I am not an author of fiction, I enjoy and appreciate her vision. Hurston saw a world that could be and not one that was. In this respect, I view myself in the same light. I still feel there is hope for an all accepting diverse society. And like Hurston, I don't pride myself on the negative thoughts of those of the same or different race. Hurston was given every reason to fail simply because she was a female and a minority.
I often think of black women like Hurston and journalist Alice Dunbar-Nelson as innovators. They stood for equality. Dunbar-Nelson, who was black, white and Native-American, started her own literary magazine, The Dunbar Speaker and Entertainer, in 1920 after losing her job as a high school teacher. The magazine focused on the issues of the era and catered to a black audience. Her appearance is what worked most to her advantage because she could pass for white, but always identified herself as a woman of color.
As a black journalist, it is my duty and privilege to remember the legacy of these women. It is only because of their bravery that I am able to express my views for others to read.
This month, I take the time to say, 'thank you my sisters,' may your strength continue to hold my head up when my spirit is down. Let me hold onto my vision - no matter what my eyes may see. Keep my ears ever-listening to the voice within me and not to the naysayers who condemn me publicly. I wish to attain my goals as ferociously and relentlessly as you did. It is because they dreamed that intellectual black women like me are a reality.
Latreecia Wade, a senior journalism major, is a staff writer for The Journal.