So, the other day, I was at work, minding my own business and one of my Caucasian coworkers came up to me and said, “hey, did you know that up until about six months ago, you couldn’t work here if you had hair like yours — dreads, hahaha”. Now, first of all, I’m not sure what was so comical about the topic of  “dreads” being banned within the workplace. But when my coworker uttered his statement to me and laughed, it kind of really offended me. I think it bothered me so much because it’s still completely absurd to me how a certain hairstyle can be dubbed “unprofessional” or “unkept”, to the point that it’s legally able for employers to discriminate against…. in 2020! As a current “loc goddess”, yes, that’s what I am, I think this needs to be done away with, immediately!! I say this for two reasons, with the first being, hair CANNOT be illegal; in no way, shape, or form does it make sense for hair to be deemed illegal. I mean… we literally all grow it. On the other hand, locs aren’t unprofessional, nor unkept, solely because they’re locs. Now, don’t get me wrong, some free-form locs, which are beautiful to me, can sometimes come across as looking “unkept” or “unprofessional”, I guess, but not all locs are. For instance, I keep up with my locs on a monthly basis. I’ve always gotten compliments on how I wear my hair and the many different elegant styles that I’m able to put them in sometimes, from curls, buns, colored locs to coily locs; not once have I ever heard somebody refer to my locs as “unkept” or “unprofessional” looking — not even by any Caucaisan people! 

TW// I’m a democrat (idk if this is even a real TW, but just in case, you can’t say I didn’t warn you, lol)

Okay, I’m going to speak completely from my heart for this post. I want to talk about the current 2020 presidential election. I want to say that I’m so excited, as president-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris were elected as the two leaders of our free world. In regards to Harris, I’m EXTREMELY excited that she’s made history for us minority women. I mean… OUR NEXT VICE PRESIDENT IS A WOMAN, TAKE THAT PATRIARCHY! LOL! Us women are really uplifting and empowering one another to get into these spaces that women either have never dominated, or ever even been present in. So, kudos to Kamala Harris!

About a few weeks ago, I came across an informative Twitter post. This Twitter post was informing the general public on incarcerated firefighters in California and how these same firefighters are paid little to nothing AND are not allowed to acquire firefighter jobs upon release. My first thought was, “how can this make any sense? And why are we still promoting slavery of people in the name of incarceration?”. So, I’m going to start by being completely honest… I’m a HUGE advocate for prison reform. This is for two reasons: although incarcerated people are deemed criminals, they still deserve basic humans right and the way in which incarceration completely ruins people’s lives, it’s not morally right… at all and no matter what.

Honestly, incarcerated people deserve their basic rights. To me, it doesn’t really matter who a person is or what they have done, everyone deserves basic decency, such as being paid/compensated a sufficient enough amount to sustain themselves. In one article, (link listed below) by a non-profit news source “High Country News”, author Maanvi Singh writes, “in exchange for extremely dangerous work, prisoners earn time off their sentences and are paid between $2 and $5 a day, plus $1 per hour when they are on a fire. Because incarcerated firefighters are paid so little, the program saves the state of California $90 million to $100 million a year”. What I took away from this data is that my argument was further supported. Let’s put this into context. The average minimum wage for firefighters in California is $21/hour, but prisoner firefighters can only receive, at most, $5 a day… Now, I know incarcerated people are housed, fed and not having to worry about bills, but how in the world is this fair? These prisoners literally risk their lives for $5 a day? Then, on top of that, they save the state of California $90 to $100 BILLION dollars a year, through their labor, it’s not morally right, any way you look at it. I don’t even want to go down a rabbit hole with the taking off time from their sentences. I’ll just leave it at that’s not right.

Second, incarcerated firefighters aren’t allowed to apply or acquire firefighter jobs once they have completed their sentences. Of all things, I find this the most absurd. I say this because these incarcerated firefighters literally took on the role of non-incarcerated firefighters. Also, with how prison completely ruins a person’s record; I think the least society can do is allow them to pursue a career after they have served their time. I feel incarceration completely disables people from allowing them to move on and better their lives. Instead, prison only sets its victims up to fail again. #PRISONREFORM!

I’m so tired of hearing news in the media about a murdered African American that’s passed and their families receiving financial “compensation” for their loved ones death. I recently learned about advancements in two major cases: the Emmett Till case and the Breonna Taylor case. First, I learned that senators are fighting to get Emmett Till and his mother the highest civilian honor. Then, I heard about the family of Breonna Taylor being granted a $12 million settlement. (Links to articles are below).

As a Black American, I have to acknowledge that the family was “compensated” in some kind of way for their trouble and grief; and/or in the case of Emmett Till’s family, they now have someone fighting for them, but is it really making things right? I say no. I feel like the message being sent with these money compensations is that “Black bodies are dispensable”. I feel like the country is saying, it’s okay for Black bodies to be sacrificed, as long as their remaining loved ones receive some kind of financial “reimbursement”. I also feel it sends another message to society; and that’s that African Americans only really care about money in the long run. Many bystanders have their eyes glued to the victims’ families and may feel these cases have been “won”, but who really wins when your loved one is taken from this world and all the world has to offer up is money..? Not prosecuting the violent offenders and the police officers responsible for the death of both Emmett and Breonna speaks volumes and let’s the Black community know that we are dispensable; especially when it comes to having to save others or us.

As a result of this and as a Black American, I feel that this country believes Black bodies are dispensable. I feel that no matter how much I go against the stereotypes and try to really make a difference, I will always be seen as dispensable. What will it take to change this?