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Ok so....I wasn't going to comment on the Oprah in Switzerland story but after talking with a younger colleague I had to write.  We got into a full blown discussion about it and she just missed the point. Since I now know that sometimes you have to pull up your big girl panties and walk away, I decided to do just that.  Here is an excerpt of how the discussion went...we will call her X...

X:    Hey there, what's going on?

Me:  I'm well. What's good?

X:    Nothin' much...did you hear the story about Oprah Winfrey?

Me:  Yes, I did. (I have found that you can learn a lot about people if you just shut up and listen).

X:    Girl that was crazy wasn't it?

Me:  .................................PAUSE..........................awkward silence........breathing....3, 2, 1.

X:    I mean what is wrong with those people? How in the world did they not know that was Oprah?

Me:  (me talking in my head AHA!!! I knew it was going to go there) I'm not sure. What do you     think? (Yes....I was still on PAUSE).

X:    Everyone knows Oprah...really what is wrong with them? And even Oprah said she had on all of her "Oprah regalia" and they should have known it was her.

Me:  So, you take issue with the fact that they didn't notice Oprah?

X:    Yes, I mean really.....OPRAH!! 

Me:   I see.

X:    Oprah has the money and she should be able to spend it however she likes even if it’s on a $35,000 pocket book.

Me:  True

X:    I mean Oprah is Oprah....everyone knows her and they should have given her the bag.

Me:  (I could hold out no longer)   So you're telling me the real issue here is that the salesperson in the store did not notice Oprah and you are ticked off?

X:     And your not?

Me:   Ummm...no I’m not. Not about that.

X:    Why not?

Me:  The issue is not that they didn't notice Oprah.

X:     How do you figure that?

Me:  The issue is that they did not think that Black Woman could afford to buy from their store. It had nothing to do with the fact that the Black Woman was Oprah.

I could go on for hours but I'm going to end the dialogue between me and X there.  I can tell you I could not bring her around and decided to walk away.  Why are we so blind? Black woman are still looked upon as second class citizens despite all that we do:  look up Patricia Bath, Mae Jemison, Minnie Joycelyn Elders, Edith Irby Jones, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis.  We are intelligent, unique, loving, exceptional, diverse, charismatic, and stinkin’ AWESOME!  We hold down the house, are the back bone to our men, run businesses, shoot we even help to run the WHITE HOUSE. Read the archive blog:  Who cares? 

Hold your head up Black Woman…you matter despite their perception. If only we could get this through to more of the new generation of Black Woman. 

 

High five a Black Woman today and tell them they are awesome!!

 
Lovin’ you is easy,

 

J