I’m a strong woman or at least I’d love you to all to think I am.

I’m Canadian, but my mother’s side is Irish, you know the hard headed booze-hound? Yup, I’m part of this… On my father’s side, I’m also Icelandic, a short Viking type kinda woman, with blond hair and blue eyes.

At the moment I date a black man, of Haitian descent to be exact, if that’s important to you, it’s not to me. I love the way he says in French, “Je suis antiallais” (I’m from the Caribbean) when  people bug him about “where he’s from”, as if he wasn’t born here like all of them.

That being said, I’d like to share the following with you:

One subject that comes often in our conversations is racism, because let’s face it, 2015, in the USA, was a turning point regarding racism Not that it wasn’t there before, but because now the whole planet is more aware of what is going on in a supposedly “free and open” country.

Black and unarmed men, being murdered (straight talk no chaser – this is murder, not “police work” or self-defence) by white police officers.

This is USA data, Canada is very different (although we’ll talk about mandatory identification for black men in TO in another post).

Why is it different? Well here are a few key points:

  • Canadian police officers are college educated
  • Canadian police officers earned, on average, 25k a year more than their US counterparts.
  • There was never slavery in Canada, racism there was and still are, but slavery was shut down VERY quickly. Slaves escaping the US found a home here. Thank God.

Now, I’d like to go back to the conversations my man and I have, quite often, he’ll talk about his “reality”. He’ll  put a  lot of emphasis on his culture vs mine (by the way, he is educated and highly successful I’m specifying only because I know a lot of people will assume black = no job or no education) and he will often send me videos of inequality in white vs blacks.

I didn’t believe in racial profiling before because it wasn’t my reality (in before I mean as little as 6 years ago), actually, I didn’t believe in racial profiling before I dated a black man a few years back and we started getting pulled over for no reasons and I had my first full search at the airport.

Now I do get it, really deeply do.

But now, I’d like to stress the fact that racism is thinking a race is superior or inferior to another. It’s not a “black or white” story only. It can be black versus Arabs or Asians too… Even Italiens from Sicily against Italiens from any other part of the country.

But today we’ll actually talk about racism and sexism.

Did you know that in both the US and Canada, black men had the right to vote 40 or 50 years BEFORE women did. Women of ALL colours here, I’m not talking about only white vs black women.

All the women, in the US and Canada, could only vote 40 to 50 years AFTER the black men did, black men who were supposed to be the ultimate pariah.

Who’s the ultimate pariah according to this data?

  • In 2016, pay “equality” is still not an applied concept on the North American market place. For the SAME JOB, black men still make more money than women, of any colors, do. We make 0,60$ when men do 1$
  • In 2016, 99% of global sex trade still involves women. This is “modern” SLAVERY to you, women slavery, WOMEN of any race, age and color raped daily and used to fulfil men’s desires, men of any race and colors.

So let’s be honest here for once, in 2016, the HARDEST skin to live in, anywhere in the world, is to be a BLACK WOMAN. Period.

And sisters (not said in a black way, cause I’m not, but in a woman’s sisterly way) I SALUTE YOU!

What you do and go through NO ONE will ever understand.

You are literally the strongest of all of us! Keep that in mind, also keep your chin up and don’t EVER let anyone put you down!

I used to donate the Shield of Athena, a battered women’s shelter,  I’ve since changed my focus and I am not donating to La maison d’Haïti I specifically donate to help the young mothers of the black community, because I am a big supporter of women who came from nothing and worked their way to the top  and I invite you all to do the same!

This is were putting yourself in the shoes of someone else will pay.