Alicia Garza-big facts

As I read Alicia Garza’s interview i had to keep in mind my own privilege in the fact that i am not apart of the LGBTQ community and how some of the things that wouldn’t affect me would intrinsically effect her life. It helps me reflect on my some of the privilege that I do have, and brings up a point in class i made to my group, I am one of the top 25% of black women. When I say that I am a part of the top 25% of black women i mean that in the terms that while unlike the top 1% I’m not super rich or famous ,but I am going to a really good college for very little money and will be able to achieve a financial stability and social standing that a majority of the females black community in American (and the world) do not have access to. I realize that this privilege was gained not only with hard work but with a good bit of luck as-well, while my family wasn’t rich I was never homeless or hungry, while my school wasn’t the best if I did the right things I knew it could get me to a good college, and while my family wasn’t always cohesive their was always someone to support me. That being said while reading this Garza interview one thing stuck out to me the most because it was almost a word by word description of a portion of my life. On page 150 when she talks about her mother it reminds me of my grandmother to a degree I am uncomfortable with, by the way she works like a dog, how she handles all of the housework, and how she is supposed to take care of everyone without taking care of herself. It’s not just the men in the family but everyone who takes advantage of her self sacrificing to make it easier fir them and I felt those ideals of a wife’s role forced on me, and with this book I have come to the realization of the prevalence of this type of role for women in the black community and my deep disgust about this.

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