A Rejection of Mule-ing
De n*gger woman is de mule of the world so fur as Ah can see. -Zora
The creativity of a prolific storyteller has the power to keep quotes ringing in your head. I envision Zora Neale Hurston writing this moment between the characters Janie and Nanny, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, with hope that this statement would one day no longer be true.
Until then, Zora continued writing about white people and Black men treating Black women as mules.
I think the statement has only become truer over time, which is, in part, why Black women continue to rigorously write about the current culture. Black women, like myself, often feel a duty to speak to truth to power because…I mean who else is going to do it.
Black trans and cis women vocalize their truth, their abuse, and their jubilation. They tell the world to turn an ear to it all when white folks, non-Black people of color, and Black men alike would like them to remain silent. To remain mules.
Those actors want Black women to die under wraps about the harm they themselves perpetuate. Creativity certainly is a powerful tool for truth telling though.
If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it. -Zora
However, this prompt made me slow down. I didn’t stop thinking about the current culture, not by a longshot. Black women’s tireless work came to the forefront of my mind.
Vanity. Courtney. Tamika. Noname. Oluwatoyin. Marsha. Audre. Zora.
They fight/fought in their own ways to ensure that all Black people are free. Black women know the power of critically observing how people embodying misogynoir and racism protects those in power. Those who demand Black women to be mules.
Picture of author courtesy of Sharod Bines of Retrofit RecordsMy own unfinished business haunts me. I haven’t typically expressed joy in my latest creative pursuits, the current work that must be done.
Everything feels like a chore.
My jaw is clenched too tight to dream.
I softened my gaze at this prompt momentarily. I considered who all are allowed unquestioned access, during the current culture, to embrace a creativity that centers imagining (future or not) and pleasure…they don’t look like me. No one requests that of me.
I asked myself, how might I fight to thrive outside, yet during this present moment in my creations? This remains complicated. While many Black women creatives desire to challenge the current culture with their imagination, they are not easily encouraged to fight in that way.
My fight consists of sustaining what I love during this time. That ardor might be the only thing I have left after the tear gas and gun smoke settles.
I choose to roll my shoulders down. Take a break from technology every now and again.
I vow to choose myself and continuously accept my inherent worth.
This is what the work of creativity also looks like. A challenge developing into a breakthrough and a break. A scream turning into an exhale.
Black women will find peace. They embrace anger and elation on their own terms.
Their creative labor is not for anyone but themselves.
Resources for Black women creatives:
Playlist- Collective Grief and Healing: Nap Ministry
Sister Outsider- Audre Lorde
@professionalblackgirl on Instagram
Hoodrat to Headwrap Podcast- Ericka Hart and Ebony Donnley
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf- Ntozake Shange
Comment your resources for Black women creatives.
A Rejection of Mule-ing was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
