A Short Reflection on What Blackness May Be

 

by Anjali Benjamin-Webb

In the wake of #altonsterling and #philandocastile, we must all be aware of, call out, and work to reverse the narrowing of black and brown senses. Upon being asked to define himself, Fanon responds: “I am one who waits; I investigate my surroundings, I interpret everything in terms of what I discover, I become sensitive.” It is this progression that offers alternate ways of being, extending beyond structures built to disadvantage those who do not claim whiteness as their own—ways of being that disassociate us from systems that actively work to silence our beautiful brown bodies as if they did not already speak for themselves.

 

Anjali Benjamin-Webb is a second year student at Wellesley College, but the world has been her classroom for a very long time.
Image: Sasitif by Anjali Benjamin-Webb