Black/African American

I am neither black nor white.

I’m biracial.

I’m Haitian American.

I am a 20-year-old IT Professional that has 4 years of qualifiable industry experience, and I still think I’m not good enough and I often believe my successes aren’t my own. My childhood emotional abuse has left me with a heightened since of self-doubt and imposterism. Whether it is within my professional aspirations, physical appearance, or sociocultural relationships, I always have this lingering thought of “I don’t belong here” or “you’re not attractive enough to talk to ‘insert name here’”.

I don’t consider being Black to be a major part of my personality but somehow, it’s the first thing that people notice about me. I don’t walk around campus constantly thinking about the fact that I’m Black but every once in a while (meaning very often), something happens that brings it to the forefront. Here is a list of the most common things that remind me that I’m Black:

It has been 4 years since I decided to leave my predominantly black neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri and come to Iowa State’s campus. It was a huge adjustment, but I’ve come to realize that a lot of other black womxn have had similar experiences on campus. Here’s a list of a few things that I think other black womxn will relate to:  

Being a student of color at a predominantly white institution (PWI), acts of oppression, microaggressions, feelings of being unwanted at the university, and many other obstructions serve as motivation for students of color to become leaders in the community to be a part of changing the culture and atmosphere at Iowa State.