WE WERE TOLD WE WEREN’T GOOD ENOUGH. WEREN’T SMART ENOUGH. WEREN’T PRETTY ENOUGH. WE WERE TOLD WE WERE WORTHLESS. PROPERTY. CATTLE. SOMETHING TO BE USED, PIMPED, AND THEN DISREGARDED.

African American women control over $400 billion in buying power,

which is over 60% of the total African American buying power of $649 billion.” The Selig Center for Economic Growth.

AS A GROUP, IF YOU TOOK BLACK WOMEN OUT OF THE EQUATION OF WORLD HISTORY,

THERE WOULD BE NO WORLD.

WE HAVE INTRINSIC WORTH. WE HAVE AN INHERIT VALUE BEYOND THE BRAWN OR OUR BODIES. BEYOND THE FERTILITY OF OUR WOMBS. WE ARE MORE THAN SOME-BODY’S MOTHER, MORE THAN SOMEBODY’S WIFE. WE ARE MORE THAN SOMEBODY’S WORKHORSE, SCAPE-GOAT, OR CASH COW.

WHAT IF WE LIVED EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES LIKE WE MATTERED…TO OURSELVES? WHAT IF WE EMANCIPATED OUR-SELVES—EMOTIONALLY, MENTALLY, AND FINANCIALLY? WHAT IF WE SET OUR OWN SELVES FREESO YOU NEVER HAVE TO SLAVE AGAIN.

BUT NOW IT’S TIME TO STOP. STOP EARNING IT, PROVING IT, AND MAKING IT. STOP MAKING OTHER PEOPLE RICH INSTEAD OF OURSELVES. STOP SACRIFICING OURSELVES TO GET LOVE, BE LIKED, OR BELONG.

HOLLA IF YOU HEAR ME.

HOLLA.IT’S A NEW DAY.

LIVE our worth out-loud. BREAK the rules that have kept us in bondage. KICK the door off it’s hinges.

IT’S TIME TO DEFY WHAT OTHERS SAY IS POSSIBLE. HOLLA, BECAUSE NOW I KNOW YOU HEAR ME. WELCOME TO DEFY IMPOSSIBLE.

YOU FEEL THAT? THAT’S OUR WORTH IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.

IT’S OUR TIME.TIME TO:

It’s a new time. We are worth so much more than we have EVER been taught to believe. Consider this:

But we are livid. Livid that we have to acquiesce to get a paycheck. We are furious that we have had to compromise our sense of self to make it in this world.

We are the catalyst to world change.

Hear me: We are bigger than our bruises. By healing ourselves, we not only make history, we defy it.

WE BELIEVED THEM.

with Dr. Venus Opal Reese