Does the World Have a Problem With Seeing Confident Black Women Succeed?
I first asked this question on my TikTok page (yes I know I can’t believe it either but you’ll be pleased to know that I’m not dancing for likes yet…). The question of whether the world, particularly the UK, has a problem with seeing confident Black women succeed is not a new one but it does feel increasingly urgent. In the UK, as in many parts of the western world, confidence is often praised in theory but policed in practice, especially when it is embodied by Black women. What is celebrated as leadership, assertiveness, passion and ambition in others is too often reframed as arrogance, aggression or being difficult when it comes from a Black woman who knows her worth and is unafraid to express it.
In British workplaces, confident Black women frequently report being labelled intimidating for speaking with confidence & passion or sometimes called uncooperative for setting boundaries that would be considered reasonable if expressed by their peers. These experiences are not isolated, they are rooted in long standing stereotypes that frame Black women as loud and angry whilst still having to be strong and excellent at their jobs. These stereotypes still shape professional dynamics and everyday interactions and subsequently cause a quiet but persistent pressure to shrink, soften or second guess oneself in order to be accepted in professional spaces.
This discomfort with confident Black women and seeing them succeed and shine a spotlight on their success is not limited to the UK. Across the globe, from boardrooms to classrooms to online spaces, Black women are often expected to perform competence without confidence, excellence without visibility. This is why the work that I do is so important for my personal branding clients - I work with them to build and harness that confidence authentically and consistently. Confidence disrupts expectations and challenges systems that are more comfortable with Black women being resilient in silence rather than powerful in public. When a Black woman is confident, she refuses to apologise for taking up space and that refusal can make others uncomfortable.
In the UK, conversations around diversity and inclusion continue albeit without the robust enthusiasm that occurred in the summer of 2020, but they must go beyond representation and address perception. It is not enough to invite Black women into spaces if those spaces still punish them for showing up fully as themselves. Real progress means questioning why confidence is welcomed from some and scrutinised in others and those questions lead to difficult almost violent conversations as the comments on the video that inspired this piece illustrate.
@ronke_lawal Does The UK Have a Problem with Seeing Confident Black Women Succeed? #fyp #blackbritish #blackwomen #blackbritishwomen #UK ♬ original sound - Ronke Lawal
Globally, confident Black women continue to lead movements, build businesses, shape culture and influence change, often in spite of the resistance they face. Of course, their confidence is not the problem, the real problem lies in a world that has been conditioned to see Black women through limiting lenses. Challenging those lenses requires honesty, reflection and a willingness to unlearn bias.
Seeing confident Black women clearly means allowing them the same range of expression, ambition and authority afforded to others. It means understanding that confidence is not a threat but a signal of self belief, experience and leadership. But as with all things Black women don’t have to wait for the wider world to see and honour us, we must honour ourselves and each other.