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Evelyn C. Fortson

African American Author of Women's Fiction

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Black women are beautiful, our features are now desirous. Women are paying to have lips and derriere

pumped-up and out. No longer do we have to suck in our lips or try to hide our hips and back side. So, now we flaunt and shake what our Momma gave us, but have we gone too far? Do we have to be sexy at the supermarket, our kid’s school or at church? Yes, I said it, at church.

Let me stop right here. I am not being judgmental we can dress whatever way we want to. I am trying to point out a bigger picture. Most of our ancestor were brought to this country against their will. They were enslaved people that held on to their dignity even when they were treated like animals. On the auction block black women were stripped of their clothing and examined to see if they would be good workers and breeders. Any man at the auction could look at their nakedness. The auctioneer would describe them as good breeders, field hands or house n_______.


African Americans have not been slaves for over a hundred and fifty years, but some of us are still enslaved. We are buying what the dominant culture is selling. Social Media, Reality TV, Celebrity, Music Videos…depict black women as sexual objects. Female Artist although talented are placed on the auction block and stripped of their clothing in order to sell records, get a part in a movie, acquire followers, and become relevant. If you want to sell an image in order to make money that is your right, but do not forget that you are also contributing to the objectifying of black women and girls.


We say, “I am not who you say I am,” but we keeping dressing the part, playing the part, and living the part. If mothers and grandmothers are still walking around with their butt cheeks hanging out what are the children (both boys and girls) taking away from that example?

I know that we are more than what I see on TV or videos, but I am a 62-year-old woman who can process what I am seeing and either accept or reject it. Our young children are being raised on these over sexualized images. Their view of black women is skewed by the distorted images that they see. The distortion is further magnified if the black women in their lives looks like what they see on TV. We need to be mindful of how we show ourselves to our children and the world.


When the world sees us for who we really are they will see us as: strong, vulnerable, nurturing, loving, kind, generous etc. We are multifaceted strong, and beautiful like a diamond, and as soft as any other woman in the human race.


These are my abbreviated thoughts on the subject. I would love to hear yours!





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Writer's pictureEvelyn Fortson

I heard my mother say this phrase, “Just keep on living,” when I was a young adult. She would say it when something unexpected happened, she would say it when she was tired and had pain in her body. Now I find myself saying it in these unprecedented times that we are living in. Global pandemic, Black Lives Matter, Recall Election and going to more funerals than celebrations.


"Just Keep On Living," and you are going to see things that you could not imagine both good and bad. I could not imagine a Black President, but it happened and now I can see that it could happen again. The Black Lives Matter movement felt different this time and I can imagine real changes happening. This pandemic is real, I did not believe that we would still be in it, but we are. So, I tell myself to, “Just Keep On Living,” and this too will be something that I can tell my great-grandchildren about.


When you find yourself weary, tired, and ready to give in to that feeling that nothing will ever be the way it once was; hang in there just a little longer change is coming. “Just Keep On Living,” and you will see a brighter day. This pandemic will not last forever, things will return to some sort of normality.


Some of us will emerge from this pandemic broken and struggling to “Just Keep On Living,” because you have loss so much. But I hope that you do find a reason to keep on living, because if you do; one day the pain that you are feeling today will not hurt so much. Life will be worth living and there will be better days ahead.


Yes, we will be forever changed by this pandemic and all that came with it, but I hope that we are stronger, more understanding and kinder for having lived through it.


If you are struggling do not be ashamed to reach out for help, and if you see someone struggling be kind offer help.


“Just Keep on Living,” and all the seasons of life will come to pass. A time to live, a time to die…a time to break down, and a time to build up…a time to weep and a time to laugh…a time to mourn and a time to dance.


“Just Keep On Living,” and one day we will dance again.




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Writer's pictureEvelyn Fortson


When I was a little girl, a thought would randomly enter my consciousness and fill my entire being. My body would tingle with an emotion beyond joy. My lips would curl up into a smile, and I would know with certainty that I was going to be rich!


I can barely remember the feeling because I have not felt it in so long, that it would be easy to think that I imagined it or dreamed it. But I know I did not. My soul knows I did not. A residue of that experience has been imprinted on my spirit and I know that I know that it was real.


As an adult I have often wondered if the thought was a promise from God, and

somehow, I missed it. Did I not believe in it enough, or did I make the wrong choices?


Then sometimes I think that I am rich. Maybe the promise was never a monetary one, maybe the promise was the knowledge that God is real, and that life is a beautiful gift.


Maybe I am rich because I did not live this life alone. My mother, father, brothers, sisters, son, grandbabies, husband…were the riches that God promised me. Every person that I met and had a relationship with or the stranger that I engaged in conversation while waiting at the auto repair shop were the treasure.


Yes, I am rich because I have people that I love, and I have people that love me.






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