I’m Rooting for Everybody That’s Black

“Sue me, I’m rooting for everybody that’s Black” is a part of the chorus in a song entitled “Sue Me” by Wale.

I’ve always loved that line in the song because of the power that lied within it.

Race has always been a topic within the United States and all over the world.

So often we hear, “why does everything have to be about race?”, when this country was ultimately founded on it.

The need to exhibit superiority over any person, yet alone, an entire race is honestly insane.

I will never understand how so much hate can exist within a person to motivate the acts of slavery and segregation the way that it did.

And unfortunately, even in 2023, there are still many, although less, acts of hate, segregation, and even “new” forms of slavery.

We still have many Black Americans becoming the FIRST at something.

We still have rural areas that are stuck in segregation mindsets and are still referenced as “sundown towns”.

We even have politicians who have implemented or tried to implement barriers that prevent Black Americans from voting and progressing in the world.

I’m rooting for everybody that’s Black is impactful, because, in a world where everyone wants to utilize cultural appropriation while also fearing Black Americans yet never wanting us to succeed in certain spaces, it’s important that we root for each other.

There is an unspoken presumption that Black Americans, especially Black Women, exude a remarkable amount of strength.

But with that same assumed strength, we are considered dangerous, guilty, and feared by those who do not look like us.

We are discriminated against in the workplace. We are discriminated against in healthcare. We are discriminated against while shopping. We are discriminated against in the school system.

Everywhere we turn, our race is a factor but when we aim to bring attention to those same things, the question is asked, “why is everything about race?”

The answer is simple, everything is about race because this country has made that way.

So, when you see a person, specifically a BLACK person, excited about Black Love, Black Hair, Black Girl Magic, Black Excellence, and so on, it is because in those spaces, WE ARE ROOTING FOR EVERYBODY THAT’S BLACK.

And, although many may not understand what that’s like or why it’s done, it’s still very important that it’s shown.

It’s important that we DO NOT silence ourselves to make anyone who has always played a role of superiority, comfortable.

I will continue to use my platform, my influence, and my impact, to make people uncomfortable.

I will NOT dim my light, I will NOT silence my voice, and I will NOT make myself small so that someone else can feel big.

“Sue Me, I’m rooting for everybody that’s Black”, and if you are a person of color, you should be too.

It’s time for us to step-up in the ways Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Al Sharpton, Shirley Chisholm, Jackie Robinson, Zora Neale Hurston, Booker T. Washington, Muhammad Ali, Ruby Bridges, Langston Hughes, Mae Jemison, and John Lewis did.

We owe it to this next generation to continue to close the gap.

As I see it, we’re at a state of moving backwards and not forward because there is a loss of Black voices.

Our history is being fought on and deleted from textbooks and course work.

Racial profiling is still a very large and underserved topic.

What are you doing to help ensure we do not become extinct? How are you using your voice? How are you utilizing your impact? How are you targeting your influence?

There are literally prisons that are being built and forecasted according to third grade test scores. It’s called the School to Prison pipeline.

It’s scary to think that the demise of those in underserved communities are targeted at such an early age.

It’s beyond time for us to use our power for good. Remember, your voice matters.

How will you make an impact while rooting for everybody Black?

Our color has been used as a weapon against us for centuries, it’s time to use our color as a weapon of liberation (quote is paraphrased and edited for context from Stokely Carmichael, 1966).