Part One:  Black And Beautiful - Are We Angry Black Women?

By Rosaland Tyler

New Journal and Guide Associate Editor

 

    Are “sistahs” angrier than other women?
    Statistics do not offer a clear yes or no. Rather the numbers show that black women are 22 times more likely than other women to be punched, insulted or manipulated, but less likely to call the police. Meanwhile, black women, who are 35 percent more likely to experience violence in intimate relationships, according to Bureau of Justice statistics, also are 57 percent more likely to suffer a stroke or to die from stress-related disorders.
    So African-American women, who the statistics show are often real-life victims, are also born survivors. Three times more likely to own a company, black women are also 43 times more likely to head a household alone, and more likely to graduate from high school or college, according to census data.
   “I don’t know that we’re angrier than anybody else,” said Dr. LaFrancis Rodgers, a sociologist and the president and CEO of International Black Women’s Conference, which will host its 23rd annual conference: “What Do We Tell Our Daughters.” It will be held at Portsmouth’s Renaissance Conference Center, Sept. 21-23.
    The theme for this year’s conference: “What Do We Tell Our Daughters,” evolved at last year’s annual meeting in Toronto on the last day. That conversation on self-esteem for girls didn’t last long enough, Rodgers said. “So we said why not use it as a theme at this year’s conference in Norfolk and Portsmouth?”...THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY TO READ MORE ON IT, SUBSCRIBE TODAY, CALL US AT 543-6531 AND LET THE NEW JOURNAL AND GUIDE BE YOUR guide FOR NATIONAL AND LOCAL NEWS.