telling a black girl that she is not
black enough from kindergarten to fifth
grade I attended a predominantly
african-american elementary school I was
a weirdo some would even say an oddball
I didn’t speak in slang I wasn’t up to
dip with the latest rap music believe it
or not Lil Wayne was not on my radar at
the time and I definitely definitely
could not jump double dutch during
recess for my life it was such a sad
sight I would not wish that upon anyone
to see but instead I danced to Beyonce’s
single ladies in the back of cafeteria
I sang show tunes at the top of my lungs
every day and I read a variety of comic
books I’m both a Marvel and DC fan I
love them equally little did I know that
finding enjoyment in these things made
me not black enough to the people around
me I remember walking to my fourth-grade
classroom with one of my favorite books
at the time it had something to do with
magic and kids with superpowers knowing
me when suddenly four of my fellow
classmates were surrounding me making
comments like that books for white
people why are you reading it
you don’t think you’re white do you all
I could think at that time was that the
book intrigued me I thought it was
interesting I had no idea how skin
colour could dictate whether or not I
could find enjoyment in this book that
was the first time I was ever called an
Oreo now I don’t know about you but when
I think of Oreos I think of the classic
cookie the one you dip in milk for no
longer and no less than seven seconds it
has the nice Leon Brown cookies on the
side with the like white cream on the
inside
I didn’t know though that’s what you
could call someone an Oreo over time I
realized what my classmates men they
used the Oreo as a symbol of how they
perceived me black on the outside but
white on the inside I was being bullied
by people that looked like me for not
being black enough I didn’t understand
that then and I still have trouble
understanding that today I was born and
raised in Fort Lauderdale Florida Fort
Lauderdale for those of you that not
familiar with the place is what we call
the salad bowl salad bowl means an
integration of different cultures and
ethnicities in the United States I was
raised in a salad bowl environment I
distinctly remember growing up around
Caucasians african-americans Cubans
Puerto Ricans Jamaicans
Haitians I grew up around all different
types of people my peers and I never
judged each other based off of the skin
the color of our skin we quickly judged
each other based off of the content of
our character it was okay for me to be
Morgan and it was okay for my peers to
be who they were
don’t get me wrong I was always very
aware of who I was I mean clearly I’m
black right there’s no secret there and
being a black woman I always always told
and taught by my family the adversities
that I may face being a black woman in
America however I was never discouraged
to treat people based on other anything
other than who they were and neither
were my peers that I grew up around
however when I was 13 my parents decided
that it would be a great idea to move
from the sunny South Florida to the
beautiful state of Delaware if you’re
confused I’m still confused that’s a
difference I’m that’s a different TEDx
talk that I can’t give right now but I’m
still confused about that long story the
short my salad bowl environment now
became a predominantly black environment
in middle school now it’s you all that
may not sound like a big deal and to me
at the time it didn’t
like a big deal as we obviously
discovered earlier I’m a black woman
however this was the first time that I
was faced with the fact that I was not
black enough for the black community I
remember being in the school cafeteria
at the end seventh grade where I was
told that my necklace was pretty a my
friend asked what did you get it and I
proceeded to tell her that my mother
gave it to me it was a gift from her
during my birthday and it made me feel
less self-conscious before I could even
finish my thought she stopped me and
said self-conscious that’s a big word
why are you talking so proper you sound
like a white girl I was confused because
I mean as far as my knowledge goes
self-conscious is a pretty known word in
English I mean I didn’t know colors came
with words I just was speaking but that
was not good enough for my black friends
at my black school I can remember having
conversations about music with my peers
and them telling me about the new Rick
Ross album or the new Meek Mill album
that came out and because I preferred to
listen to Taylor Swift or turn on Tori
Kelly music videos
I was not black enough I listened to
white girl music and I became known at
the school is the white girl trapped in
the black girl’s body whatever that
means right see I have been labeled I
have been put in a category and told to
act how people with categories act and
that’s just not fair how am i black if
I’m not black to the black community in
fact Who am I this is something I
struggle with and I still struggle with
today labels were initially used as
forms of identification for instance on
a job application I’ll use myself as an
example if an employer comes across my
application there are a few simple facts
they will know about me right off the
bat they’ll know that my name is Mya
Showa that I was born on February 20th
1998 that I’m female African American
and probably that I’m a college student
but they won’t know who I am
based on that limited and for
nation nowadays we are so quick to
categorize one another and put each
other in these stereotypical bubbles
that we don’t even take the time to know
the true authentic person we make quick
judgments based on limited information
we know on about someone and that has
in December of 2016
Daily Mail calm reported of a man in
Cleveland Ohio who saw a woman in the
middle of a blizzard on the side of the
road who cannot move her car as the man
proceeded to go to the side of the road
and help the woman get her safely home
he then noticed himself a Bernie Sanders
supporter that she had a Donald Trump
sticker on the back of her car this man
then instead of helping the woman
proceeded to move his car away from the
woman’s and before he drove off he took
out his cell phone and began to mock the
woman and record it he then posted on
Facebook with the caption and I quote I
was going to help her but she had a
trump sticker on the back of her car
hashtag call your president see this is
what we mean when we say labels divide
people this man instead of even knowing
the woman or getting a chance to even
help a human being a need saw a label
and painted a picture of a woman he did
not even know and it affected how he
treated her it affected how he looked at
her and he’s taking that message and
spreading it around the world as this
went viral and was shared on numerous
news sources and he was praised for his
pettiness instead of being wrong for not
helping another human being a need based
off of a label metaphorically and
literally and labels this is just an
example that labels do divide us and
that’s a problem
white blond hair blue eyes rich black
loud obnoxious ghetto
LGBT extra flamboyant Muslims menaces to
American society terrorist we need to
treat each other based on who we are not
what we are or the labels that society
to decide to place upon us
because we are so much more than that we
are all a part of the human race one
race and we should all be proud of our
differences the day the world and us as
people decide to treat each other based
off of the content of our character is
the day the world will see unity in
order to spread this message Morgan and
I put together a pledge that we’d like
you to join with us and saying today but
first yeah you gotta get on please get
up
please get on up I know you’re tired but
like gotta get up take the hands of the
people on either side of you like so as
such weird German I miss you so hand
sanitizer afterward okay fine I promise
yes it is okay we would like you to say
this we would like you to say this
pledge with that’s what we’re gonna move
out of the way so you can see it ready
ready 1 2 3 I vow to judge others by
content of their character and not the
label Society has taught us I am more
than my race my gender my sexual
orientation or my physicalities no label
shall ever had her eyes me nor any other
human being I am enough and it always
will be enough labels are used for
identification but they do not identify
me no labels means no division no
division means we are one I am you are we are labels