Vanessa Louis, 19

Vanessa Louis, 19

Growing up with racial stereotypes imposed on me, it was hard to navigate life the way I wanted to. l suppressed my feelings and things I like to fit in a society that wanted me to fit in a box. For a long time, I did fit in that box. I made sure in class I didn't show my anger when they had ignorant takes in fear of being the "angry black girl". When I wanted to wear my big hoop earrings, I substituted for a stud to fit in with the other girls in class. I didn't wear my natural hair out because to others it was "too messy." I was assimilating because I thought that was what I needed to do, to get far in life and to be considered normal. But why did I have to suppress myself, my blackness, and my voice to become like others? When I asked myself this question, I realized that a life where I was scared to be me was a life that I could not live. If I am angry, I will voice my opinions. If I want to wear big hoops, I will because that is what I like. If I want to wear my natural hair, I will because it's my hair. Stereotypes to this day still plague my life, and it still sometimes hinders how I enter certain spaces and how I view myself. But regardless of what society says, I try to be true to myself and my blackness.