Black Women, Move with Audacity!

by: Chelsea Glover-Jordan, LCSW-C, LICSW

What gives people what seems like a random sense of entitlement? If you’ve never experienced it, you may not be able to put words to it. In fact, having experienced it myself, I think it can be best described as a feeling, or maybe even an internal movement. Have you ever encountered someone who is doing the same exact thing you want to do, conquering platforms and garnering the attention of the masses? You may wonder to yourself, what the heck possessed them to be so courageous and audacious to step up in this space with this particular energy? Have you ever just scrolled on social media and seen someone emulate the exact same content you aspire to post? I’m not sure where I heard this quote from but one of the most profound self-proclaimed proverbs that I’ve heard is “there are people out here less qualified than you doing exactly what you want to do”. Once I heard that, something just clicked for me and suddenly, posting that content, requesting to be in certain spaces, and commanding attention for what I have to offer in my niche, became my right. I became audacious enough to just do the thing.

I know you have so many drafts in your phone, so many unwritten ideas in your head, and so many dreams you aspire to fulfill, so what’s stopping you? What’s stopping you from approaching the precipice of what could be your breakthrough, your right? Discipline is best personified when it meets consistency. When I say consistency, I don’t mean doing the same things or even doing the same things each and every day. What I mean is showing up for your goal on a regular basis. Keeping in mind that “regular basis” is subjective and its cadence depends on a culmination of the heights you want to reach, your capacity, and access to resources.

I’ve said time and time again that Black women are the unsung heroes of this country. We are the most educated, the most formidable, yet the least acknowledged and nurtured. We’ve heard the narrative of the “Strong Black Woman”, but do we really know what the essence of that is? Do we (we, being mainstream society), hold the appropriate space that fully gives credit to the Black woman’s contribution and sacrifice since the beginning of time?

The Strong Black woman (SBW) schema refers to the U.S. cultural gender role expectation of Black women as resilient despite adversity, selfless, and serving as caretakers and providers. (Thomas, Zharia; Banks, Jasmine; Eaton, Asia A.; Ward, L. Monique (2022). "25 years of psychology research on the “strong black woman”.) This definition is a pointed indication of sacrifice. It heavily suggests that the Black woman be “all” to everyone in spite of her desires, internal struggles, and needs. I’m sure whoever coined it meant SBW to have a positive connotation but over time, time which encapsulates strife, systemic oppression, and cultural barriers, the SBW if broken down into reality and not into ideals, no longer is a badge of honor. It has become a hindrance, one that gives little to no permission for the Black woman to combat internalized oppression while taking up space in rooms she deserves to be in, rooms society tries to shut her out of.

Black women need to stop playing small, second guessing themselves while immersed in fear and self doubt. There is a call for a mass exodus from the SBW archetype. The world needs our gifts, our visions, and our culture. It needs to saturate the masses like no time ever before. It’s time to be audacious like our counterparts and stand proudly in rooms simply because we belong and not because of tokenism. Let’s redefine strong in that we no longer need to bear the brunt of our households, our communities, our families, but of ourselves, our identities and our unadulterated dreams. “Strong” should no longer emulate being everything to everyone but all the things to ourselves. 

What history has taught us is that success is not always guaranteed but failure and falling short of our expectations will surely happen if there is not even a try. And even in the midst of perceived failure, there are still lessons to be learned, ones that speak to leveled up endeavors and second chances.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, audacity refers to “Boldness or daring, especially with confident disregard for limitations or conventional boundaries. It’s the kind of boldness that fuels leadership, creativity, advocacy, and self-trust — not disrespect, but empowered confidence”. We have seen firsthand what happens when Black women move with audacity. Simone Biles won endless Olympic gold medals with audacity, Whitney Houston broke down musical barriers and stereotypes with audacity, Viola Davis defied all odds in spite of a traumatic upbringing because of audacity, and without audacity, there would be no Issa Rae whom we all come to know and love despite her self-proclaimed “awkward Black girl” persona.

Many things can begin to align for your greater good sis, when you begin to move forward with audacity. Here are a few considerations to look forward to if you simply change your gait to parallel exactly who you are: 

The subconscious sense of internalized oppression begins to dissipate. Your conscious mind begins to bring forth what you know to be true, while dispelling narratives that no longer or never did align with the truest version of yourself. Audacity helps you walk into full potential even if it feels scary or like the unknown. It does not mute, it does not cut corners, and more importantly, it makes no excuses for the “what could be’s”. It turns internalized oppression to intrinsic motivation, no longer needing validation from the mainstream. 

Black women moving in audacity builds agency while giving permission. It takes the guesswork out of stepping into rooms and situations that we are in fact entitled to. It continues to strengthen the intrinsic motivation that compels us to dare to be great, defy odds, and soar beyond glass ceilings. It gives us permission to go after things we wouldn’t normally go after because of fear or any other debilitating counterproductive thoughts/feelings of ourselves. 

Inherently, Black women moving with audacity will build boundaries while dispelling people pleasing tendencies. By not having to ask permission to be in certain rooms and taking advantage of certain opportunities, we will be indirectly showing people that we personify a certain caliber about ourselves. It’s that no nonsense type of attitude. Moving in audacity will show others that your standard of simply existing is aligned with your sense of worth and efficacy. Because audacity is rooted in intention and regulated power, it’s like essentially teaching people how to treat you and how you accept them living in your space if you move in it with purpose. 

At this point in history, we know nothing is going to be handed to us. If we want something, we need to respectfully [or sometimes not so respectfully] go after it. Black women have been oppressed, muted, and taken advantage of enough. The call to action is simply what Nike said, Black women, “Just Do It”!