The Love of Schenectady’s Black Women
Centering the stories that matter to Black women in Schenectady and the rest of the 518
Growing up in Schenectady, New York as a Black girl meant counting down the days till you got old enough to leave, because leaving meant breathing for once.
Leaving meant being in a new environment where I could reinvent myself and step into the woman I never had room to be.
In Schenectady, I was just another Black girl that was never valued. Being a Black girl meant constantly having to be on guard and still be the butt of everyone’s jokes.
Growing up in this community as a young Black girl was complex. I understood racism, but there were always these microaggressions I dealt with and never had the language to name it.
The white people I grew up with said they didn’t see color. For the most part, the race wasn’t spoken about in-depth.
I remember calling this one boy in high school a racist. I never had a way to describe the kind of racism he was perpetuating but I knew it was racism. No one took me seriously though and it was due to the lack of knowledge I had. I struggle to provide “proof” to pinpoint his bigoted behavior. Looking back on it, even if I did have the language I still wouldn’t have been taken seriously. The one thing I know is, if I knew what I know now, nobody would’ve been able to make me feel like it was all in my head.
I remember always feeling unheard and disregarded. Speaking with other Black women in Schenectady, I noticed that we all had very similar experiences. While learning about structural racism, patriarchy, misogyny, and misogynoir in undergrad, I started making connections to my own experience growing up in Schenectady.
These connections lead me to understand how social structures and constructs impact people on an interpersonal level.
My focus on Black women in Schenectady comes from wishing I had an affirming and loving space with other young Black women in Schenectady where we learned, studied, and discussed the intersecting oppressions we experienced.
Much of the social organizing that is happening in the capital region is from the labor of Black women. I want to highlight and showcase that labor. I want my work to tap into the minds and souls of Black women and girls in Schenectady in the hopes that it can unify us and inspire us to continue to make transformative changes in the city and the rest of the capital region.
Many Black women in Schenectady I’ve already spoken with stressed the issue of colorism, wealth inequality, misogyny, desirability politics, and how it all affected their inner self-esteem as a Black girl in Schenectady.
It also impacted their ability to be in certain spaces and feel respected and/or cared for. I’ve spent time with women on the phone telling me their experiences of feeling unsafe and unprotected even among other Black people in the community. I hope my work can showcase these stories and help give a platform for Black women in Schenectady
I want to use the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism's engagement program to dive in deep to dissect the experiences and issues that Black women in Schenectady face.
I hope that through my work I can help Black women in Schenectady find solutions to the problems plaguing our community. The work I am doing through this program is meant to impact & serve the Black girls and women in Schenectady, New York, and the rest of the capital region.
