We Are Still Here: Declarations of Love and Sovereignty in Black Life Under Siege

Abstract

Since our brutal arrival on America's shores through the transatlantic slave trade, Black people have understood and experienced constant and continual oppression, in the US context and around the globe. The recent deaths of unarmed Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland at the hands of the police are flashpoints and exemplars of such hatred—and the call of Black lives matter a resistant declaration of love, an act of sovereignty in a time of siege. In this article, I explore how, in Black history and contemporary times of escalating violence against our bodies, minds, and spirits worldwide, Blacks in diaspora and on the continent are still here. Utilizing three stories of Black women's powerful declarations of love and sovereignty (that is how Black women's lives matter) moves us toward a place where all lives matter. For those in educational studies who seek to center our work in spaces that embody and produce diversity, equity, and justice, recognizing and truly hearing these declarations of love and sovereignty, that is how Black women's lives matter, moves us toward a place where all lives matter.