Page 4 - Kill Your Strong Black Woman

Strong Black Women | Introduction

PERSONAL STORY

I believed in the Strong Black Woman
archetype wholeheartedly. I believed that
there was nothing I could not do on my own

without any support, nothing I could not
endure or achieve simply because of the
supernatural power that is a strong black

woman. I can tell you that my SBW almost
killed me. She was burning out my adrenal
glands, weakening my immune system and

creating discord in my nervous system. It
wasn’t until I became a mother that I
recognized all of the harmful effects of this

cherished role. Motherhood and the
postpartum that followed served as a major
trigger for me to examine the ways that my

SBW was literally trying to kill me. My
hypervigilance, need to be self-sacrificing and
to remain free from expressing emotion

during the most isolating time of my life were
crippling me.

I was a single mother with a reluctant baby’s
father and an ambivalent family. Had it not

been for my super team of birth workers, my
personal practice of kundalini yoga and
meditation along with the courage to ask for
help that ultimately guided me to a healthy

space. Notice I did not say I returned to
where I had been prior to the trauma of birth

and motherhood. I actually became softer.

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