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Weakness denies one their “blackness.” And maintaining that connection and identity of the community is critical, perhaps even necessary. I struggled with this from a young age. Am I black enough? Are these interests good enough? Am I denying who I truly am by “pretending” that my concerns were in any way similar to the girls around me? For what would I be if not a Strong Black Woman? A weak everywoman, a regular human being. These are not the things that will get one through the unique challenges of the world while black and female. It was strength over everything else, even when strength seemed out of grasp.

I know it’s not the most feminist idea to be a woman in a tower wanting to be rescued, but for a woman of color in this country, we’ve never been afforded that fairy tale because of how the black family was ripped apart [during slavery],” Washington said. “I really saw the value of having a story that empowers the African American man to do something chivalrous for the African American woman, because that hasn’t been an idea that has held women back in the culture — it’s something we’ve never been allowed to dream about.