Breathing Room: What it Looks Like to Resource Black Women to Dream
As a queer Black woman, I’m situated at an intersection of identities that demand I dream the world I want to live in into reality. Even as anti-blackness, misogynoir, classism, and a myriad of other oppressions push Black women to the edges of our society, we are also inextricably linked to the communities we come from and chose to be with. We are the backbones, feeders, connectors, nurturers, truth-tellers, curse breakers. Because of this when one of us is resourced, a community becomes resourced. Living in a society that doesn’t expect us to survive, forces us to create frameworks and shift paradigms that create space for us and others to exist within.
Being well-resourced creates both stability and buoyancy that opens up a world of possibility. So much more is possible when you aren’t constantly preoccupied with how you will pay rent, where the next meal is coming from, if you’ll be able to afford a medical procedure, or countless other issues that arise when you’re financially stressed. Being “resourced”, can mean a multitude of things — stable housing, a full fridge, affordable healthcare, access to childcare, etc. — but here, I’m talking about financially resourced because, in a capitalist society, money underscores everything. There is the common phrase that “money doesn’t buy happiness” (this likely was first said by a wealthy white aristocrat) but what it does give you in a capitalist society, is safety, stability, and autonomy.
