Struggling To Be Me

<p>As a black woman in the United States of America with a career in STEM and Ministry my life began with two strikes from birth. People made choices for and about me based on how they saw me through their presupposition. No matter how much I changed my appearance worked on my vernacular educated myself and assimilated into a patriarchal world it was still a struggle to be seen heard respected and trusted.  </p><p>Today women in leadership like myself continue to experience gender discrimination by men and women especially as black brown and indigenous women advance their careers in academia institutions politics and corporations.  It's the verbal and non-verbal communication that tells women  this isn't your place.</p>