My Irrefutable Resilience in Defining My Reality | AP’s Perspective of the Intersectionality of the American Dream and Black Life

How?! How can you justify your founding principles were meant to cover the remnants of those melanin members of my soul who were placed in this space before me, as myself, as I stand here today? With the manufactured cultural ethos of a country that was cultivated on the backs of those shredded violently from their homes of comfort and peace.

You think you’re tired of hearing about it? I am thoroughly exhausted of being reminded of a misrepresented “Black” history that was fabricated by incoherent writers of history books that were coerced into my educational mind as I endured K-12… I always knew something was off.

Then you dare I demand I be so thankful for the pity of scraps that have been thrown to my predecessors. Ask me what was passed down to me through my lineage.

Blacks have constructed this country with hard working labor, inventions, intellect and all that spans between, yet the question raises, “How can a system dare to protect those it was never built for?” The inexplicable disregard for Blacks and how we are treated inhumane and how it’s continuously interwoven into American mentalities through racial microaggressions, statistical data from various studies that prove racial disparities, systemic biases, & not failing to mention societal and cultural factors - just to name a few.

One can almost ponder - why live in a society that only accepts me as three-fifths in 2024? I mean that accepted my ancestors as three-fifths around 1824... sure, let's go with that.

Let’s be honest - accepting me as an outspoken, educated, 30-year-old, entrepreneurial woman who happens to be Black in America isn’t the most heard of idea. We would like to believe that we live in a society that is the most accepting, transformative, and diabolical culture that we have ever experienced. That is some surface level shit if we really want to keep it a hundred!

Let’s truly examine the nucleus of this “American Dream” ideology. The Declaration of Independence was established to forever protect and respect everyone’s right to conquer their life in how they see fit, thus a government being established.

During this time, the word "everyone” did not really mean… everyone. Let’s start there. We are referring to Europeans, in case you did not know - hey y’all!

With the Europeans invading “newfoundland,” (which I will still never know how you can find something already inhabited, but that is a whole different conversation) the term “everyone” is strictly related to European landowners. Surprise! Then eventually, Congress thought it would be a stupendous idea to include others (I.E. - others without property, women, and slaves (no particular order)).

Through the 19th Amendment, President Woodrow Wilson, passed in 1920 - gave women the right to vote. Did you know although he signed it, he did not one hundred percent agree with it? Kudos to HIM! I exclaim sarcastically as I roll my eyes from the depths of my innermost being

But 1965… Nineteen… Sixty… Five, less than 70 years ago, that without the restraints of significant barriers, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation, violence and other major forms of voter suppression - Blacks were finally able to vote. Damn.

After these barriers were seemingly dismantled, maybe on paper we could begin being seen as less of a burdensome affliction of society and more as an intricate part of humanity that the public could not dare bear the burden of being without?! Just kidding.

Explain to me how the American Dream that was defined in the establishing moments of the United States includes those who were just given the right to vote in 1965… wait for it… wait for it… You can’t can you?

Whereas freedom is one of the most crucial characteristics of the American Dream, and Blacks in 2024 still cannot fully attain the American Dream because of systemic barriers built into societal norms by bigots and erratic misogynistic "superheads" that somehow fearlessly lead society in various capacities.

Aht, nevertheless, the American Dream should have been for everyone covered under the National flag, however with the National flag lifted - it hides a history of oppression, segregation, violence, bias, depression, partiality, and prejudice - just to name a few distinguishing features that assisted and still aid in the construction of the United States of America.

Am I speaking too loudly and correctly for you?

Define it. The American Dream is having attainable goals and ambitions such as growing up with a good family in a good neighborhood, being educated, generating a good credit score, getting a great career, being married, having children, having a 401K, etc. etc. etc. Blah! Blah! Blah!

Is it even more fair to suggest that the American Dream is subject to change due to the ancestry of the person, as well as their generational barriers endured?

The American Dream is more than a white man whose fulfillment and satisfaction is contingent upon his promotion at his local bank and what his wife cooks for him at home. Let’s get deeper. The American Dream is more than a white man who has always had generational wealth.

Without the deconstruction of the amalgamation of barriers and systems that have been constructed to manipulate certain ethnicities and groups of individuals into certain areas, be it mental, physical or geographical, we go nowhere. Furthermore, engaging in thoughtful conversations that lead to actionable change in regard to dismantling institutional hindrances and limitations that restrict all persons from true equity is required. So many instances where politicians and opportunists are taking humanity for granted and leveraging it as a photo op and aesthetic for social media - we require legitimate solutions that don’t immediately have a camera attached to it.

The American Dream. Black Culture. What about Blacks in America who wish to define their own socioeconomic status they desire and to not have a position settled for them?

Honestly? What are the penetrating emotions that are profusely plaguing me in the midnight hour regarding the intersectionality of the American Dream and being Black?! Well… let’s shake some shit up, shall we?

I am going to challenge the status quo and eradicate the disproportionate adversities of being melanin infused whilst taking up space in the United States. What the hell does that mean? I am so glad you asked! While healing my inner being and the generational trauma that has been transferred to me through my lineage, I will not cease in my objective of navigating spaces to cultivate conversations that result in implementable transformation. There is so much more to overcoming discriminatory distress and suffering, though executable modifications through societal evolution and community transformation is essential.

From first hand experience, and the truth is - I am not alone in this - I am drowning with grief & outrage to witness the volume of violations that continuously and aggressively impact the Black community at alarming rates. Health, drugs, domestic violence, crimes, poverty, housing, incarceration and finances is a very short list of the areas in which plague the Black community versus any other population in the country. You have to ask yourself why. I know I do, and while some answers are so intricate and complex - the others are right there.

A society cannot stand to protect someone it was never built for.

So ask me… Ashleigh, what is the American Dream for you?

There is no simplistic manner to answer this question.

I do not care to have the American Dream, because the American Dream never cared to have me, it was never designed for me.

What I can answer, What are my innermost desires and what do I yearn for presently and after me?

In living and surviving and finally, finally on my way to thriving in this Black life, I have found that my irrefutable resilience has aided me in sustaining and becoming the woman who pens this at this very moment.

From my perspective, in order for me to define anything resembling myself - internally or externally, I had to begin to understand where I came from and who I am - and then I could begin cultivating my desires and reality. Now that I am on that lifelong journey of absolute toughness and Black life experiences, not even my version of the American Dream, but my Black Reality is so, I’m transforming into a dynamic powerhouse by any means necessary.

My charge to you: Let’s see the country for what it really is behind the rose-colored glasses, and shall we help others define their reality. Through collaboration and the commitment to truth and excellence, we can actually change the world for the better.

- Signed AP