blackmattersus.com
First of all, I can’t help but ask: what does it mean to be a Black woman in America?
Raqiyah Mays
Being a Black woman in America means a lot of things. There are positive things like: #blackgirlsmagic, #blackgirlsrock, #Blackwomen, #wemovetheworld. Our stories are slowly but surely starting to matter to Hollywood. But it’s also difficult being a Black woman in America right now. Seeing our brothers killed, seeing our police not being held accountable for their crimes. Seeing Black women being killed, and left out of these conversations. Whether it’s on panels or the country is in mourning over another act of police brutality, people keep forgetting that it doesn’t just happen to men. It happens to Black women as well. We’re being raped, we’re dying, we’re getting locked in jail cells. That’s happening to us too. So it’s a very interesting time for Black women, but there are a lot of issues that are being overlooked.
blackmattersus.com
You are a woman of a dozen of professions. What is your favorite occupation? What work are you most proud of?
Raqiyah Mays
Writing. I have to write. I write everything, whether it’s just writing in my journal or working on something creatively or writing in my head, I’m a writer. I guess after that would be my activism. You know, it fuels me and helps me deal with some of the anger that I may feel, at feeling powerless to what’s happening to my people: to police brutality. To being unable to help my son or prevent him from being killed. My activism helps me to soothe the angry feeling and turn the anger in me to something positive by action. By doing what I can to make a change to one in need. I just feel a purpose in it, and just like writing, it’s something that I have to do in any way or form. Even after that I feel like it’s never enough. Sometimes I’m like “what am I doing?” But I’m doing what I can.
blackmattersus.com
Great words! And you are a very good writer! Your book “The Man Curse” attracts attention of public. What is it about? Does it have something to do with you or is it just pure imagination?
Raqiyah Mays
“The Man Curse” is my debut fiction novel. And it is about a young woman, Nina Butler, and she comes from a family of women who say that they are cursed to never marry. And she’s been told this all her life so literally that’s her life. She’s consciously and subconsciously working to break this man curse. Even deeper, it’s about generational cycles that run through families. It’s about how sometimes what our elders tell us about ourselves or who we are supposed to become isn’t necessarily who we are or what we’re supposed to become. It’s about the healing processes that she goes through to break these thoughts.
blackmattersus.com
What dreams did you have growing up? Did they come true?
Raqiyah Mays
I always wanted to be a writer. I dreamed about a lot of things: I wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to be a gymnast, I wanted to be an actress. At one point, I even wanted to be Miss America! I’m lucky to have had a family, specifically my mother, who helped me work to realize all of those types of dreams and gave me the exposure to those types of dreams. But the one dream that was always there was being a writer. Aside being a radio personality, I think that dream came in high school but even before that, when I was in elementary school I always thought of being a writer. I wanted to write a book. I was always the kid writing. And my third grade teacher kept telling me and my mum when I wrote a little book, that I would be really great if I kept writing and writing. I can remember writing as early as 3rd grade when I wrote this little book. I don’t have it anymore but I wish I still had it. I was writing stories about little Black girls doing things in little places.
blackmattersus.com
How do you manage your time to be able to do all the things you do and still be efficient?
Raqiyah Mays
Yeah. It could be tough. I think what’s really helped me is really relishing my weekends because aside television I have a couple of other jobs, my job that pays my bills right now which is my full time job with Amnesty International. And I come home and I do “The Man Curse” things, talk to my interns, plan a plot, send out emails and set up press, and my writing which is sometimes difficult. And then on the weekends I relish taking some downtime, sitting time with family, hanging out with my son, having a weekend out with my sisters. That’s what my Saturdays look like. The self-care part is really very important to me.
blackmattersus.com
Do you wish there was something you could spend more time on?
Raqiyah Mays
Yeah I do. My writing. With this job that I have it has been difficult. At Amnesty I’m a team leader so it requires me to train and manage people to go into the community and talk about what they’re doing to change American policies on police brutality and mass incarceration, helping Syrian refugees and stopping violence against women. So I train public speakers. And it’s a great job, I enjoy it, I’m good at it but at the end of the day I’m just drained and very tired. So I wish I could find more time to write because I’m ready to work on my second book and in my head I have the outline.
blackmattersus.com
Talking about your job at Amnesty International, can you compare the life of a person of color in the USA and abroad? What issues are the most pressing in our country?
Raqiyah Mays
I can’t speak for Blacks in another country because I’m not in another country. For Blacks in America it’s a scary time, it’s a sad time and a changing, transitional time and for us it’s about figuring out a way to acknowledge that anger, sealing that anger, and telling people to use that anger and turn it into something positive. So that it can help fight our feelings of hopelessness because that’s where that anger comes from.
blackmattersus.com
Do you have any ideas on how we can fix current issues with police brutality?
Raqiyah Mays
On top of the list, to stop police brutality, is policy change. These policies have to change to hold police accountable for crimes against unarmed people, not only Black people, though it happens to us more than anyone else, but it’s happening to other people as well. And police have to be held accountable particularly when this country is in violation of international human rights law when there’s constant use of force against unarmed citizens. There’s a complete violation, complete disregard and the policies have to change. I was so hurt when I saw what happened in Dallas, it was sad. And what I’m afraid will happen is: people will feel this is the only way they can find relief from unjustified killings. So they take things into their own hands and have to protect themselves because the system is holding police officers on another level. It’s not OK to kill somebody when they’re licensed to carry and when they’re pulling out their badge and their ID to prove that. It is wrong. Policies have to change and I do believe that when more police are held accountable for these crimes and are convicted and go to jail, when that starts happening and people see it, that there’s justice in the system that is on the side of the people and not just on the side of the blue, then maybe we’ll start to see some change. But until then I’m nervous and I’m scared that we’re going to have more situations like Dallas.
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