(ThySistas.com) Sistahs I feel I must break down and be honest about what I feel is on the horizon. I won’t sit back and assume that we, as a whole, see the storm that is brewing ahead of us. This is first and foremost a gender concern, and it will bleed into race as we know our challenges exceed merely gender. When President Obama was running for his first term in 2008 I remember my grandmother asking me if I was excited. I understood her excite, but I told her I didn’t know. I was truly unsure how I felt about a black man being President of the United States, and it has nothing to do with qualification. My gut told me he will run, he will win and blood will be shed in the streets. We, on the ground, would have to pay in blood for this breaking of the glass ceiling. A ceiling is above our heads, and if its glass… and breaks we won’t avoid getting cut.
This bad feeling didn’t stop me from voting, but I could not get rid of that feeling. On inauguration day we all, proverbially, clutched our
hearts when we saw President Obama get out of that bullet proof car and walk waving at the people. We quietly prayed Lord please don’t let this man get shot. Relief didn’t wash over is until he was off of that street. It’s a shame we had to feel that kind of terror, but it was truth.
Over the duration of President Obama’s terms, we have watched the deep racial hatred of this country seep to the surface. In my mind it’s no coincidence that overt racism is once again blatantly in our face. The racism deeply rooted in this country was stirred, and rose from the soil as a black man, and his family, took up residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We should have known this would happen… we should have expected such. Breaking the glass ceiling has consequences. We are at this crossroads yet again.
Hillary Clinton is running for President and the idea that she might win is real. There is a chance that come November America will have its first female president. The possibility in that statement alone is groundbreaking, but the reality of it has a price. Misogynistic behavior is about to hit an all-time high, and violence towards women will go up. Some can say Sistahs you are over exaggerating, but think about violence towards black males over the last eight years. Think about the large resurgence of white hate groups. Think about how open, and overt racism has become…. No one can make me believe there is no correlation between this behavior, and the black family in the White House.
I will say this… no matter what titles Hillary Clinton wears she is the wife of a former president, a former first lady, a former senator, and a former secretary of state. No one in their right mind would dare touch her, but that doesn’t apply to the women on the ground that support her. In this campaign her gender and appearance merely as a woman has been attacked …that’s no surprise. This road is not easy for her, and it won’t be easy for us. Does this mean we should back down from progress… absolutely not. However, we should be aware of the sacrifice progress will require of each of us.
This is a crucial time in the fabric of this country, and it’s not necessarily safe. It’s important that we are aware of the climate of our country, and use caution where it is needed. Allowing our self to be oblivious, or blind, to what a Hillary Clinton led White House will mean for us as women is simply unwise. It feels like we, as a people, might have forgotten the cost with President Obama. We should be more vigil this time around.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.