Dear “Woke” Black People,
It is inevitable when a current event issue comes across my social media feed or a “fun” internet challenge, there will be several “woke” members of the Black community that will let us know that we are not allowed to think about anything but one issue. And how dare we become distracted doing a mannequin challenge, singing about “beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes”, laughing as James Wright eats a Patti Pie or get “caught up” in companies misrepresenting or ill representing African Americans.

While I know this may be difficult for some in the “woke” community to understand, it is possible for Black people to do two sometimes even three things at once. It is also possible for Black people to be concerned about two, three and sometimes even four issues all at the same time.  I know. It is shocking and groundbreaking.

The following is just a short list of several things that I am able to do simultaneously:

• Walk and chew gum
• Drive and sing Lemonade songs and do all the moves to Formation flawlessly
• Like my baby heir with baby hair and Afros and like my negro’s nose with Jackson Five nostrils
• Listen to Biggie and Tupac
• Whistle and juggle
• Cook and watch YouTube videos
• Love children and still be pro-choice
• Walk and think
• Fight for liberation and enjoy Real Housewives of Atlanta
• Twerk on a video and still not want to sleep with you
• Go to college and raise a child
• Be bougie and ghetto
• Hold United accountable for abusing customers and care about affordable healthcare
• Be Solange on the red carpet and Solange in the elevator

• Be Black and fight for LGBTQ rights
• Wear a miniskirt and still not be asking to be raped
• Speak with eloquence and string cuss words together like a melodic soliloquy
• Care about world issues and still watch the New Edition Movie
• Care about police brutality and homicides in my neighborhood
• Have a perm, weave or braids and still believe Black women should be allowed to wear their hair any way they want
• Fight for liberation and take time to be concerned about my personal well-being
• Be pro-Black and have White friends
• Care about Shea Moisture leaving behind their base customers and justice for Black people
• Reject Pepsi co-opting the Black struggle and protest against injustice
• Resist 45 and watch Love and Hip Hop Atlanta
• Be petty and throw shade
• Bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan

The list is practically endless of what many people that fight for liberation can do at the same time.

Please do not paint us into a box of what the fight for justice must look like and what we must be concerned about. I never did well coloring in lines. When you make those comments, you reduce us to a people that do not possess the ability and aptitude to use our God given mental prowess and common sense. Black people have some of the most brilliant minds in the world. We have invented things that have changed the course of the modern-day existence for all people. From the stoplight and peanut butter to super-soaker water guns and blood transfusions, Black people are capable of using our mental mechanisms magnificently to transform the world. And we can do it all while walking and chewing gum.

Article Images: Giphy