I’ve seen “Paris is Burning” referenced a lot in modern media, but this was my first time having the pleasure of watching it. The first time was with the show “Pose.” The opening line about how you need to be strong if you’re going to be a black gay male stuck out to me. You’re already at a disadvantage in the world if you’re black. But to be black and gay you have to be prepared for all the hate that will come your way. Not to mention, a majority of black people are homophobic, so you won’t get much support from your people. It may not even seem like a problem for feminists, but it is. We can’t fight for our causes unless we also fight for LGBTQ rights. As minorities, it’s important to stick together.

I think black feminism is important. In the spirit of BLM marches and fighting for black voices to be heard, women are often left out. or discredited. Black women are the face of the BLM movement, but the men don’t view us as their equals. Black women are more sexualized from a young age, yet it’s so normalized that no one bats an eye. And Hollywood never portrays us in a positive light. Hollywood continuously pushes out black struggle films with bi-racial or light-skinned women as our “representation”. So little black girls growing up don’t have people who look like them on their screens. Not to discredit those with mixed-race or fair skin, but it’s a different experience. An experience that they will never face. We don’t have any cool storylines, and we never get the guy at the end. We’re there to fill the quota. We’re there to give the fair-skinned main character or white character advice now and then. No one ever wants to know our story. On Tik Tok, I’ve seen black women uniting to try and create something that’s just for us and only us. It’s like what Malcolm X said: “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman.” No one looks out for black women, so we have to look out for ourselves. Our hair, our safety, our bodies, and our rights are constantly up for debate, and while we’ve come so far in cinematic history, our stories are never told. I think feminist movements would be good for us. At first, I was worried because many view us as angry and aggressive, and people view feminists that way. So imagine how they would view us. But it’s necessary. Our issues need to be talked about.