A powerhouse sistah is a strong woman who as a little girl had dreams of becoming a surgeon and an astronaut.
She is a girl who loved books, school and did extra homework beyond what the teacher assigned because she loved being smart and told she was smart.
A powerhouse sistah is a girl who as she got older and was teased for being a nerd, a geek, still tried the hard classes, like algebra in the 7th grade while the other girls grew up too early chasing the boys.
When this powerhouse sistah got into high school, she developed into an attractive young woman, but was held back showing her intelligence in math and science by men intimidated by her brains and beauty.
A powerhouse sistah did not let silly intimidation by men affect her love of math of science, because she dreamed of the stars and the universe.
But what hurt a powerhouse sistah more is other woman who fell in the trap of letting a man define beauty took her down and made up vicious rumors about her, calling her crazy
Why? Because she loved the fact that organisms can be magnetic to by magnetosomes inside them with magnetite? Or that she enjoys debating how Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA?
The powerhouse sistah tries to overcome the hateful, jealous vitriol by studying more, making herself smarter, gaining more knowledge.
Yet, the core of her soul is doubted and disrespected just because she is a powerhouse sistah.
Then she goes to college, hated some more.
Goes to graduate school, gets a Masters and a Ph.D., hated more.
Does post graduate work and is asked why she is not married.
A powerhouse sistah was had it in her mind to be on equal footing with her husband. But in science, a powerhouse sistah is never on equal footing. No, she must work ten times harder and faster to get a quarter of the distance of her male counterparts who are neither powerhouse or sistahs...
To solve her inner turmoil, she stresses. To reduce her stress, she eats. She rationalizes to be massively obese, would justify how people treat her. Since she cannot be visually appealing or intellectually stimulating, she may as well fit that stereotype. Then she is no longer a powerhouse sistah.
More like a safe bet...
You see, when there are powerhouse sistahs in charge, shit gets done. Budget crisis? What budget crisis? Debt ceiling, we are in surplus! And health care woes? Solved.
She can shake and bake, fry it up and boil it down.
A powerhouse sistah knows that weight is carried on her back, from her mother's mother, great grandmother's mother.
So when a powerhouse sistah picks herself off the ground, dusts herself off, and walks in those 6 inch glitter Louboutins...She looks good!
Because see, you cannot keep a powerhouse sistah down for long.
She fights back! For what is right. For justice.
And somedays, are tougher than others. And the desire to give up is easier than the desire to move forward.
But night will turn into daylight...
And that powerhouse sistah is...
To my powerhouse sistahs--I love you!
