Loving Yourself As A Black Woman Analysis

Happiness is something that all people, no matter what race, gender, or social class, strive for. Based on lifestyle or perspective each person has their independent idea of what happiness is, but everyone shares an end goal to live their definition of a happy life. Many people, though, struggle in finding their way to this goal. They face hardships and challenges that test their happiness every day. Happiness, though somewhat indirectly, does take learning and training to discover and maintain.

It was as if I was stuck in a shallow hole, in which I could easily climb out of, but I was too embarrassed to so. This was indicative of my entire middle school experience, swallowed by my insecurities and unable to recover. I spent 3 years, as the sole black girl, anxious and unsure. I often muzzled myself in fear of appearing more unlike my friends than I already was. Despite Mr. Fletcher’s slight apprehension towards me following my heated outburst, I began to stop regretting what I said, because, well, I was right. I was capable of more than he allowed me to show in that project. During a time when I never even considered the value of my voice, Mr. Fletcher gave me a chance to speak. It was in his social studies class l learned for first time my words meant something, he changed my life. Whenever something absolutely ridiculous came out of Mr. Fletcher’s mouth I was no longer afraid to retort. Now, when I see an injustice, when I’m underestimated, I say something, and people

Growing up as an african american male it was hard to identify my character throughout my educational career. At a very young age my dad alway wanted me to succeed in life, but in the back of my mind I always thought “ Am I really cut out to becoming successful”. I grew up in a culturally diverse suburban area. Growing up in the suburban area I made unbreakable bonds that will forever exist.

Everyone defines happiness differently, but everyone needs happiness. The book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse talks about how Siddhartha finds happiness through many ways. He leaves home and his friend, Govinda, to find enlightenment. He starves himself, he learns love, he even thinks of suicide… Fortunately, he meets a ferryman, who becomes his best friend, also his “teacher”, and helps him find the ultimate way to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha abandons his relationships, money, and education which bring him happiness, and in the twenty first century, these still bring happiness as the essential steps to take.

I identify myself as a seventeen year old African American female. I was raised in Washington D.C. in a 5 family member household. I went to an elementary school with Latino and African American students. My mother is from Sierra Leone in West Africa and my father is from Washington D.C. Growing up i was taught to be proud of my heritage and my dark skin tone. My parents taught me that black is beautiful .Contrary in television ads and TV shows they only portray caucasian females as beautiful and smart and African American females as lower class , unintelligent and urban ghetto. While growing up I’ve learned that black features like having a big nose or big lips were seen as unappealing and badlooking but recently there have been trends

During the mid-1990s my community was bursting with Black individualism. I could find it down the road at Melba’s old record shop playing the music of my generation. Sister Doreen Christian book store taught me the morals and traditions I would carry on to adulthood. The musty old smell of Black Owned Bookstore that housed the stories of my ancestors enlightened me. Growing up around this Black individualism with molded a pro Black young mind.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, well known author and psychologists once said, “Happiness is not out there for us to find. The reason that it’s not out there is that it’s inside us.” The reason I believe she said this is because so many people are out there looking for happiness in a place they won’t find it because little do they know, happiness lies within in them. This means that your own level of happiness depends solely on who you are. But what is happiness? According to Lyubomirsky, happiness is, “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” One may wonder though, just how is happiness determined? Lyubomirsky conducted a study to

The life of African American Woman in America is not an easy one, for years the Black Woman has had to face adversity. We were brought into this world not with one minority but with two minorities put against us, the first is the fact that we are a woman and the second is that are African American. Because of that for years we have been subject to not only sexism but racism. The Black Feminist Theory revolves around the exact injustices of African-American women, “A black woman is oppressed by patriarchy, black feminists observe, not just because she’s a woman but because she’s a black woman, a category that has been defined historically in America as less valuable than the category of white woman. (Tyson,123)” The life of an African

Moving from place to place was allowing me insight on practices of cultures –including my own- and how they are essential in their own setting (Schultz, Lavenda, 2012 p. 23). Whereas, I was picking up culture practices, which appeared natural in that specific setting since, I was currently living and going to school and trying to gain acceptance. Living in a predominately white community all my life delayed me in knowing what it truly meant to be a Black woman in society today. I was just someone who moved continuously and wanted to fit in and be “natural” like everyone else. Growing up in each state trying to be acknowledging beyond my skin color didn’t go well with everyone. Bullying began and racist remarks arose. I didn’t know it was racism at the time, however it was racism and still exist today. As Winant believes “despite its contingency, race has become an enduring, deeply sediment "means of knowing and organizing the social world” (Harrison, 1998). In the states I lived, my white peers didn’t see me as an educated black woman. They didn’t see me trying to make a difference in the world. They didn’t see me because my race is likely to disappear just like any other forms of human inequality and differences within this society (Harrison, 1998). As Black’s continue to fight in order to make Black Lives Matter, Winant argues, “ that even policies and

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

Many live attempting to decipher the riddle of life. What is life? What is the purpose? What makes? Even though we only seek happiness why can’t we ever seem to achieve it? When we do reach happiness why can’t we seem to grasp it and hold it for more than the few short hours that pass like seconds? The question we must answer first is “What makes happiness, true?”

People tend to feel the most happiness in their daily lives rather than happiness over all. For instance, if someone opens the door for you, does something outrageous, tells a funny story or simply reacts kindly to you, you can experience happiness. Laughing at someones joke can cause you to feel happy even for just a moment. Another definition of happiness in our daily lives is self appreciation such as, getting that new raise, getting an A on a test or even getting into the college you want. These examples all cause happiness in different but still rather large ways. We seem to think that happiness is so difficult to come by, we focus so hard on what happiness is that we don't even realize the simple things in life that are truly making a difference. We can become significantly happy without even noticing. Although happiness seems like it’s hard to find it’s not all that difficult. What’s hard to come by is the feeling of genuine happiness ; genuine happiness is what people truly look for.

What is happiness? The essay, “Three Simple Things,” the author gave us the definition of happiness from Dictionary.com as "an active or passive state of pleasure or satisfaction." In his own special way, the author writes about how friends, families, and his belief in God are the things that make him happy the most. Sure people may feel their happiness is being healthy and alive. There are many things that could make me happy, but the three that make me happy the most is spending time with my three girls, being with families, and fishing.

Happiness can come in many forms, but it is hard to find true, real happiness. George Sand, a French novelist once said, “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” In order to find this kind of happiness, you have to be with others, because you can not love or be loved when you are alone. Happiness is meant to be shared, being with others can make ordinary things better, and others can bring you to ease about questions you have and choices you must make that cause you to become lost. Knowing these three things can either help you work towards becoming happy, or increase your current happiness with your life.

We began this course with the question “What is happiness? and Can we all achieve authentic Happiness? In our life we are taught many things, but we are not taught how to achieve our own happiness. Over the last five weeks we truly learned what happiness is and I believe we all can achieve authentic happiness in our life. In Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman uses happiness and well being as the terms to describe the goals of Positive Psychology. The desired outcome of Positive Psychology is happiness and well being. We learned from this course how to embrace both our positive feelings and activities to achieve authentic Happiness.