I am a powerful & angry Black woman who is ready. And I am not alone.

Y’all have done it now.

Last night, like every Wednesday night, I met with the Black women in medicine that I am blessed to coach in our freedom community, MPOWERED. However, this night I was keenly aware of recognize the healing they needed and I needed the healing that only comes in a space specifically for supporting and protecting Black women.

But this week, the healing was so palpable because the pain this country had unleashed in one night was so extraordinary.

We pour so much of our energy into whatever we do, and in doing so, always elevate it to an unmatched level- but often to our detriment. We pour into the schools we teach in, the healthcare settings we work in, the teams we lead, the communities we serve and the families we care for. We consciously, or subconsciously, hold out hope that this energy will be returned to us

Since Tuesday night, I now realize that the 91% of us who poured into this country and voted to save our country, even when we are not centered, were met with a hard slap in the face that hasn’t stopped throbbing.

There was a violence that was wrapped into the decision-the vote- that half of the country made. An attack to our existence- where half of those who live in this country do not mind continuing to see us Black women suffer, as well as the many others who are oppressed because of their race, income, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or country of birth.

While we knew it in our hearts, there is something unique about hearing this country loud and clear as they told us with their vote that not only do we not matter, but that the upholding of white supremacy and oppression of all else matters so much more.

That whiteness that was created 500 years ago by Europeans but perfected in this country to support their greed and terrorism to subjugate Black bodies. That’s the fabric of this country that we have tried for hundreds of years to dismantle but it’s hard to break that first stitch.

Yet, if there is one thing that we as Black women know- it is power. Not the kind that relies on the subjugation of others, but the kind that is born from organizing and lifting ourselves and others. This is what we have learned from our ancestors and this is what we have continued to use to withstand this relentless attack on who we are as a people.

So, yes we have been awake. And yes, we have been active. Now we are angry. A different kind of it. The kind that no longer can be filtered. The kind you fear, so you try to call it a deficit, when it is indeed our superpower.

So yes, y’all have done it now.

Please remind yourself of our track record. Black women have never backed down-

and we sure ain’t gonna start now.

-Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo, MD, MPH

CEO, Melanin, Medicine & Motherhood

Founder, MPOWERED Freedom Community for Black women in medicine & academia