Sometimes we like to joke about our strict, resolute, no-nonsense African mothers, aunts or grandmothers.
Those are certainly strong positive images to have of women in our lives, but the problem arises when certain sectors of society refuse to believe any other narrative about black women.
On one side of the problem, that imagery sticks and the women themselves begin to believe it and feel under pressure to live up to such expectations, groaning under the weight of such burdens.
From the archetype of the asexual and fierce caretaker to the myth of extreme sexuality, down to the matriarch, black women's lives are constantly depicted through an inaccurate and narrow lens.
On the other side, black women are also constantly portrayed as adversarial, confrontational, loud and erratic, facing the double discrimination of race and then gender.
So maybe being a strong black woman isnโt all itโs cut out to be.
Maybe she shouldnโt have to be a superwoman.
Maybe she shouldnโt have to put on armour in anticipation of what life might throw at her when she steps out.
Maybe all she wants to beโฆ is a Black Woman.