Letter to the Editor: "We will continue"

"This election was not a mandate against Democrats; it was a mandate against Black women."

Dear Panther Editors:

Yesterday, I cried.

My spirit wept.

I questioned Spirit and the power or relevancy of prayer. 

The election results hit me, a Black woman with a daughter, sisters, nieces, hard. I felt intensely the rejection of Kamala as a rejection of me and all of those who look like me. It hurt me so deeply. I felt wounded that people, even Blacks and White women who always claim to be our allies, would rather have a under qualified White man, who is a racist, a felon, a rapist, a grifter, a liar, a wanna-be dictator, than a qualified former district attorney, a lawyer, a prosecutor with historic wins, an HBCU graduate, an AKA, a brilliant Black woman who is compassionate, who supported women’s reproductive rights, tax breaks for the middle class, and affordable healthcare.

These people celebrated her loss, not even realizing they are celebrating the massive losses they are about to experience. Black people’s rejection of Harris—who looks like them—is a rejection of their mothers, their sisters, their aunts, their daughters, their grandmothers, and themselves. It is a prime example of internalized oppression, of self-hatred. They don’t think anyone who looks like them is capable, is brilliant, is amazing because they don’t believe they themselves are.

This is also the consequence of not knowing the true history of ALL the contributions of Black people, even those White people have stolen and claimed as their own. This election was not a mandate against Democrats; it was a mandate against Black women.

Black women have always upheld the family and the community while saving the world, even from itself. They do it without respect, acknowledgement, or appreciation; they do so for their families and communities and succeeding generations. We will continue to do so. After four years of Trump, the world will be begging for Kamala Harris. And perhaps then we will WIN!

That is my prayer.

Dr. Georgene Bess Montgomery is an Associate Professor and Chair of Clark Atlanta University's Department of English and Modern Languages.