I never intended to write about race, but the land of my birth could not have been born, nurtured, or thrived without race. Race is in the sinews, bone and marrow of this country. Race courses through its veins and arteries. It seeps into and overtakes its culture and its institutions. America would not be America without race.
Over my professional life, I chose quote "unracialized" professions: Speech Pathology and Counselor Education. I steered clear of race as a dissertation topic, but somehow, race was always there, seeping in. Maybe it was bringing children into this race conscious world that opened my eyes, made me realize that education and class does not supersede race in this society. Professor Henry Gates, Jr. would probably testify to that.
The seventy-fifth birthday is referred to as a “milestone birthday.” My “diamond jubilee” was marred, however, by several events. First, we were deep into the COVID 19 pandemic; a time of physical isolation, protecting oneself and others possibly from the virus. Not a time for a celebration of family and friends. Instead it was a time of uncertainty and fear.
Then, twenty-three days after my birthday, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by a policeman. It altered American society and provoked a racial reckoning in this nation and across the globe.
These events initiated my life review which brought me to writing a memoir and this series of radio essays.
At this era of my life, if I write, it must be about race. I cannot pretend, I cannot resist, I cannot look away. While racism has not made me “tragically colored”, racism has shaped my identity, experiences, and life lessons.
As I reflect upon my life, I know that race courses through every vein and artery of America. It started her heartbeat, and nurtured her growth, it lives within every cell of her body. Her cultural mind is flooded with the images of blackness that she has created. Without out the racial classifications of whiteness and blackness, the United States as we know it would not exist.
When will America have the courage to confront and challenge its racial DNA? Raised as a “colored girl,” I have no choice but to fill pages with my American truth.
"In my life, I have found myself as a colored, a negro, a Black, an African American, and a person of color. This is my reflection as a colored girl." This phrase opens each essay in the series “Reflections of a Colored Girl” from Martha R. Bireda, Ph.D. being aired on WGCU FM. Dr. Bireda is a writer, lecturer, and living history performer with over 30 years' experience as a lecturer, consultant and trainer for issues related to race, class, and gender, working with educators, law enforcement, and business, and civic leaders. She also is director of the Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Charlotte County, in Punta Gorda, Florida. Bireda was born in Southwest Florida in 1945 but spent the first 10 years of her life in a small town in Western Virginia. Her family then moved back to Punta Gorda, where they have deep roots. This is one essay in her series. Read more essays here.