“It can be hard to stand up straight in a crooked room”

In the Harris- Perry document of Crooked Room, the black woman is discussed, and the trials and tribulations that have come with that title. Although I can not identify with that title, I did think that the quote from chapter one of the book was relatable and relevant to all. 

To stand up in a crooked room is to be your own person in a world that constantly tries to shape you into the person society wishes for you to be, whatever that may mean to you. For each individual, our perceptions of what others want for us and what we want for ourselves are vastly different, it is the difference between our ought self and our actual self. The crooked room, in this sense, is a metaphor for perhaps the “crooked” world that surrounds us. To stand up in the crooked room in the book is confusing, and everyone seems to think that they are correct the way they are standing, which also seems true to the world we live in. 

Melissa Harris-Perry discusses image in this passage. Specifically, she talks about the image of the black woman, however, I think the message can be applied to all. Stated on page 32 is, “sometimes black women can conquer negative myths, sometimes they are defeated, and sometimes they choose not to fight”. Referring back to the original quote, it can be difficult to stand up for yourself in the crookedness that is negative perceptions, stereotypes and myths that others place on you. 

In order to figure out which way is up in this world, it seems as though the only answer would clearly be not succumbing to the degrading and societal molds our communities and our histories try to force us into. Melissa Harris- Perry continues on to say “whatever the outcome, we can better understand sisters as citizens when we appreciate the crooked room in which they struggle to stand upright”.  

In a discussion on NBC television network, the concept of the crooked room is analyzed in a segment entitled “Sister Citizen’: The history, future, and paperback.” The woman speaking exemplified powerful black women in our society such as Michelle Obama, as well as notable public figures like Beyonce. She explained how “…because these women help us to understand how modern black women find their true north in a room still made crooked by shaming stereotypes”. It is important to understand that the culture of America is changing, and in order to continue to progress it is going to take the understanding of concepts such as the Crooked Room.

‘Sister Citizen’: The history, future, and paperback. (2013, April 28). Retrieved September 29, 2017, from http://www.nbcnews.com/video/mhp/51693367