Nahjae Somerville
Professor Bell
Writing for the Social Sciences
October 5th,2023
The Tribulation filled life of a African American Women: Emonee Robinson’s Story

I was granted the pleasure of interviewing Emonee Robinson who, like me, identifies as an African American Women. An African American is a person who resides in the United States. and is a part of a particular race of people with dark,brown, or tan skin that have ancestral origins from Africa. Emonee Robinson was born into a family where both of her parents were African American, she is the youngest out of the 5 children her parents have. Her home life was relatively healthy, she grew up in a single parent home so her mother was constantly busy with work and being the sole provider for the family. Even with this, she was able to live a stress free life because her mom made sure to alleviate this from her and her siblings. She was even able to be the 2nd child to attend college.
The definition of “African American” or “Black” was a topic I explored with Emonee,
I asked her what makes someone a “Black” person. This has been an ongoing debate within the African American community, many people say that “if you are mixed you cannot be considered black”, “if you are dominican you can not be considered black”, which on some levels is supported by the definition but these people also have African ancestry in them. To Emonee Being a part of the African American community entails:The black people who look like her, these people don’t have a sense of belonging to any nationality, no community inside or outside america. To dig deeper into this definition I pushed further, asking her to explain what someone who looks like her meant, she explains that the skin color and environment of which that person grew up in determines if they fit within her definition of this community.
The definition of a community is extremely important in terms of deciding if a community is marginalized, some may believe that the “Black” community consists of those who are mixed and have african american descendants. If those who are “mixed” do not experience the same things as someone who is considered to be the textbook definition of “Black”, they may believe that they are not oppressed. When I asked Emonee if she thinks that her community is marginalized she states “The black community is marginalized because we have to try harder to get an equal chance at many general opportunities, something a white man would be granted without much effort someone that’s black would have to fight for.” Not only are the opportunities limited, she believes that “Black” people face prejudice, due to false misconceptions and generalizations about them which equates to their ignorance.
I found it extremely important to ask her what the negative aspect of being an African American, despite her growing up a lot more fortunate than most African Americans. No matter how fortunate your home life may be, it is possible for her to face oppression. With that being said she herself says the negative aspect is the disadvantages she is automatically going to face regardless of how hardworking someone may be. “Our best, even if it’s better than our white counterparts, will never be good enough for some people.” This really stuck with me because I believe the LGBTQIA+ community faces the same problems. I identify as a bisexual, although I prefer women I do date men from time to time. When I came out to my mom, she accepted me but many others who I came out to would always compare my homosexual relationship to that of the heterosexual relationship. They would often pick apart what I may do with a woman and say “well what is the point of that when you can do it with a man?” It felt like no matter what I said or did with my partner it was not enough to be accepted as a normal relationship. This relates to the African American Community being marganilized because both the LGBTQ and black community have to continuously fight to prove that we are enough. We have to continuously prove to those around us that equity is deserved on both ends.
This interview was really informative to me because as someone who is both black and lesbian I am a part of two marginalized communities of which i faced discrimination on both ends, Emonee is black and was granted opportunities that many others in that community havent been. Even though this may be true this does not change that we are a marginalized community.