Come visit Interrupting Privilege at the Northwest African American Museum! Click here to learn more about the exhibit

When Am I Going to Be Good Enough

Listen as a young Black woman describes an experience in which she and her friends were unjustly targeted during a school event. She recalls how she was sitting with her friends during a basketball game and were approached by a woman who worked in the arena and asked to move seats despite the fact that they had paid for tickets and there were plenty of other seats open. The situation escalated to the point where the woman called the police on her and her friends to try to get them to move. Luckily the police recognized the triviality of the woman’s complaints and didn’t try to make them move. Yet, the incident was a stark reminder of the racism that prevails in this country, and how living while Black can constantly been seen as a threat.

Times don’t change. You never know how people view you, and situations can turn bad [snaps fingers] like that when we’re simply existing. I’m just here and it’s a threat.