blackness as an identity isn’t homologous but is a unified experience at its core. “black” is a western concept created with a white-supremacist-capitalist mentality, and so long as we continue to exist in a white-supremacist society that perpetuates (and benefits from) this construct, it disadvantages and oppresses anyone that falls under this construct. however, our unification is this suffering but not always in the same way as there is an existing hierarchy of privilege that falls under the identity “black”, thus manifolds of experiences. 

Dear Phylicia,

Romantic involvement distracts you and can blind you to what’s really in front of you. And what really is in front of you? You are. You don’t even know yourself yet. You think you know and you want to assert that you do, now that you’re a certain age, but you don’t. What’s in front of you is a whole world of experiences beyond your imagination. Put yourself, and your growth and development, first. There are long-term repercussions to what you’re doing now. Everything you do, every thought you have, every word you say creates a memory that you will hold in your body. It’s imprinted on you and affects you in subtle ways—ways you are not always aware of. With that in mind, be very conscious and selective.

With high hopes for you,
Phylicia