Don’t people ever get tired of shaming Somali women into accepting struggle love, policing our choices and restricting our autonomy? This is a conversation that needs to be addressed.

Let me preface this post with compassion and empathy because I know that, as Black women, we are not afforded any. I am a recovering Pick Me. All of us experience coming of age in this violent, abusive, sexist and oppressive system called patriarchy.