I AM Black History

I AM Black American

(written 1/12/2026)

I have run into some people who don't know that Black Americans are more than slavery and Civil Rights. We are more than our struggle.

I was able to gather that from when I watched Roots, at 9 years-old, by myself, voluntarily. I saw our traditions prior to colonization and how they endured during. I saw our strengths and our ways of coping. And being a 90s baby, I saw how we overcame.

And maybe I saw this because I was always meant to be a mental health clinician (LMFT) as I was always fascinated by psychology, sociology, and anthropology. It wasn't until my Black Psychology class at my HBCU that I was like YES I need to do something in this field (still took me until grad school that I specifically need to study African American studies).

After all, in 9th grade I did an oral presentation (at my majority White school) on the 1940s Doll Test by Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clark and the 2006 recreated test by Kiri Davis that had similar results.

In 10th grade in my school newspaper, I wrote about the psychological effects of slavery (didn't even discover Dr. Joy DeGruy's Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome until after I graduated from grad school).

In 10th grade, I also themed my Sweet 16 as Black is Beautiful.

And as a way of continuing to challenge our associations with the color black, I wore a Black Wedding Dress.

I was a senior in high school when Barack Obama became the first Black President of the United States of America. I was at my HBCU when he won his second term.

I was able to gather early our impact. That history is our past, present, and future. That I AM Black History. Even if I'm not well known.

Me being Black American, my husband being Guyanese American, celebrating Juneteenth and Kwanzaa with my Black daughter and taking her to an Afrocentric playgroup is all Black History.

Documenting our representation is Black History.

My daughter's 2nd birthday was themed after Princess and the Frog's Princess Tiana

Me buying Black is Black History.