And this is where the Strong Black Woman trope comes in. It's a stereotype designed to keep black women proud to be struggling and unhappy, with or without a man. It's not so much that Black women need to suffer without a man, they must suffer for everyone who isn't, they have to prop up their whole family. My mother was of that generation but after she passed, I hope I've broken that curse to some degree. I'm single without kids. I take care ONLY of the handful of people that I want to, and I do not adopt other people's problems and issues.

It's important that black women break the cycle of being everybody's mules and carrying society's woes, too.