The Weight We Weren’t Meant to Carry: A Reflection on Black Womanhood, Work, and Worth

Recently, I was reading a book that opened my eyes to a sobering truth: in America, laws were intentionally crafted to keep Black women from having the same domestic opportunities as white women. Under the umbrella of Jim Crow, subcategories like Forced Labor , Black Codes , and Vagrancy Statutes were used to limit our ability to rest, stay home, and be supported by our partners the way white women often were. Today, I want to talk about how the residue of those laws still clings to us and how we see it show up in our workplaces, relationships, motherhood, and the very way we view ourselves. The Workplace and the “Strong Black Woman” Lie I work in a role where I’m surrounded by kind and brilliant people. And yet, like so many Black women in corporate America, I often feel the burden of being seen as strong, tireless, and unshakeable whether I want to be or not. I’ve watched others freely express frustration about their workload, management, or unclear processes without fear of be...