Moriah
“Being a Black woman, for me, means constantly checking on myself to make sure I’m being myself and not just performing my gender and my race as the roles I understand them to be. By that I mean, asking myself is this belief, this action, this habit, in line with who I am or with what I perceive Blackness and womanhood to be. ”
Moriah is insightful, inviting, and genuine; she leads with an optimistic foot forward, embracing the growth and change that comes with each new season. Her self-awareness is one of her greatest strengths, allowing her to constantly reflect on her thoughts, beliefs, and actions. In doing so, she is able to determine if society’s expectations of her are dictating her decision making, or if she is living in her genuine truth. Meet Moriah. This is her story.
K: Please introduce yourself!
M: My name is Moriah Lynn, I am a Sociology PhD student, I have two master’s degrees and I am very into fashion and photography.
K: Describe yourself in your own words
M: If I had to describe myself in this season of my life, I’d say I am more of a verb than an adjective right now. I am healing, I am freeing, I am celebrating, I am learning, I am being…Sounds weird, but it is strangely accurate.
K: What is your favorite thing about yourself?
M: My favorite physical thing about myself are my legs and my favorite non-physical thing is my openness and intellectualism.
K: What is one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?
M: If I could give my younger self a piece of advice it would be to hold onto the parts of myself that I loved even though others did not and I’d let her know that life was not going to turn out how I wanted, but it was still going to be strangely wonderful. Then I’d just sit and listen to her for a while because she always needed someone to talk to.
K: What does being a woman mean to you?
M: Being a Black woman, for me, means constantly checking on myself to make sure I’m being myself and not just performing my gender and my race as the roles I understand them to be. By that I mean, asking myself is this belief, this action, this habit, in line with who I am or with what I perceive Blackness and womanhood to be. It also means creating intentional spaces for myself – spaces for just me, spaces with other Black women, spaces with other women, spaces with safe people – where I can reset, recharge and be at ease. I also think because there’s such a performative element to gender/race that being a Black woman means being irreverent and subverting all those ideas and rules as I see fit. I don’t mean to suggest that everything I do is in opposition to something else, BUT that I am learning to be more intentional about what behaviors and beliefs I practice and challenging the origins of them (is it me or the patriarchy?).
K: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say to her if she were here now?
M: I have a lot of women that inspire me and push me and keep me going – namely, my beautiful circle of friends, my mama and all the wonderful Black feminist scholars that have come before me.
