What is it about the black woman that has become so shameful? When did she become the epitome of what we do not want the future to be? There are many with answers, but it turns out there is no one more knowledgeable than the black man, especially the ones who are reasoning why they are not with a black woman. From being too abrasive, too lazy, having too many kids and then not giving a “brotha” a chance, black women are viewed as being hard and drama.

As the U.S. census says, black women are the “undesirables” of the American society. Is she undesirable because she chooses to stand by her man, sacrifice for her children, work hard and refuse to wait to be told what her options are? Or is it because she wants her man to know that despite what the world says and does, he is worthy. She wants her children to know what it means to have every opportunity available to them, even if it means bloodying her hands. She works hard because it is in her, that natural tendency to persevere.

The truth is, the black woman does it all. And even after doing it all, she still does not see the value in herself. The black man is blamed for not valuing her and turning his attentions, mostly once he has made a great living for himself to white women or women whom he has been told by society is the cream of the crop after they have been propelled to success by the black woman.

The strength and inner beauty that encompasses black women is what invokes the fear of others. When they show their passion, they are called ghetto. When they show their love, they are called desperate. When they show their intelligence, they are called confrontational. When they show any of these in combination with each other or any of their other strengths, they are called a threat.

For while they fill every place, from the boardroom, the classroom and now the White House, the very characteristics they are faulted with are the very attributes that built this country.

It was the black woman who raised and fed white children of privilege and came home and instilled in their sons and daughters a sense of pride. She works hard to be given half the opportunities as the next minority woman. The history of the black woman in America has conjured up this ghastly image of someone who is unapproachable and who wears a ghastly cloak of ignorance she should be ashamed of and she has not failed to act the part.

Today, as we face corporations and organizations being lead by black women, people need to see past the caricatures of the mammy with the apron, pickaninnies and large, slow bodies to see the beautiful, agile and brilliant women who have and do pave the roads that support not only her family, but a nation.