Part Three:
Black & Beautiful
Are We Angry Black Women?
By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide
If Bridget Herron is like many African-American women who sometimes feel frustrated, let down, or overwhelmed, then that explains why she thought it was normal for her anger to shift into a rant and then nose dive into a deep depression.
Bridget Herron
More likely to live near an environmental waste site in unsafe and segregated housing and to be assaulted by a significant other while trying to rest daily from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to Bureau of Justice records, the average black woman routinely experiences chronic stress, which sometimes makes her like the legendary 19th century John Henry. The steel-driving railroad man who competed against the steam engine and won—only to drop dead from what would have been diagnosed as a stroke or massive heart attack.
Herron nods in agreement, reflecting on her own experiences. “Being angry is normal,” said Herron, who described herself as a former debutante-honor-roll, church-going African-American female, whose first serious relationship in her early 20s produced a son, then a restraining order, and a trip to a women’s shelter. Then there were suicide attempts. There were trips in and out of mental hospitals, where she checked herself in and out.
“If you’re angry enough, you’ll do something about it,” she said, explaining the stressful, yo-yo type life she lived back then. Time and a second son’s birth, however, did not improve her existence.
“I moved back in with my parents. But my father would not let my ex boyfriend come by to visit. Meanwhile, my ex boyfriend was complaining that I would not let him see his sons.” Court battles ensued. Friction escalated.
To read the rest of this and other stories, subscribe to the New Journal and Guide.