Globally, black people have a propensity to always want to include everyone even when it’s at our own detriment. The most perpetually dehumanized people in every caste system is also the most inclusive & yet excluded from the spaces of the same people we warmingly welcome in ours

Some may argue that it’s because we know what it feels like to be excluded which may be true to some extent, but I also think that internalized racism plays a big part. It’s shown in the way we jubilate when non-black folks eat our foods, dance to our music or speak our languages

It’s also the simple fact that nobody operates like this but us. We’ve been psychologically beaten into hating and devaluing ourselves to the point that we feel that the inclusion of others complements us. It’s like a recess to our psyches & we need to deconstruct this.

And I’m not suggesting that we should be separatists. I’m saying that we have to de-colonize the ways we’ve allowed ourselves to re-affirm the racist global idea about our inherent ‘inferiority’ compared to others, in multiple ways. A lot of introspection needs to occur.

Untangling our minds from the webs of internalized racism will allow us to find more purpose in our existence without the need to constantly seek outside validation, as well as the need to appeal to the white gaze. And It starts with honest conversations among & within ourselves.