One of the students featured in our 7th Edition of FIELDS (our open-access student research journal) is Laura Pusey from the school of Human and Health Sciences, whose article analysed the mantle of 'the strong black woman'. We asked Laura for a short comment and summary of her work:

Often mistakenly perceived as difficult and sassy diva’s; African-Caribbean women have long found themselves emulating the socially contrived stereotype of the ‘Strong Black Woman’. Interestingly academia around African-Carribean people is decidedly scarce in the UK thus prompting the journal article titled ‘Living with the mantle of the Strong Black Woman’.

In a time when African-Caribbean people are emerging from an oppression that stems from enslavement and colonialism, attention is drawn toward the collectively self imposed restrictions that prompt questions of origin and necessity. The article therefore delves into the reasons for the construct, it’s strength and the protective purpose it serves with regard to the mechanisms of survival offered, employed and passed down through the generations.

-Being of African-Caribbean heritage, author Laura D Pusey has personally experienced the stereotype and whilst she credits it for her very existence she also recognises that there are perhaps, important social and mindset changes that are necessary for the continued growth of the happier and more fulfilled African-Caribbean woman.

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