I have a real knack for helping others, I’ve trained myself to listen to people when they articulate their concerns and voice their fears. I think this is important because I've been a care worker for 10 years and taken on many roles during that time, I love taking care of people. In the past I’ve fed and cared for sick and disabled patients. I’ve cared for people's homes while raising and educating the children in them. I come from a family of care workers, my mother and aunt who raised me were both household workers and they taught me to be a kind and loving person.
Every human being wants to be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness; no one likes to be treated as if they are nothing. I’ve been insulted, spit on and told to go back to where I came from. Once, a patient told me that she doesn’t eat collard greens because only black people ate that kind of food. She shoved the food back at me and I was astonished.
I forgave her for it because she was in early stages of dementia, but it was a painful experience nonetheless.
I am very persistent, having determination is the only way to bring people together. I am bringing more people into activism because we have a common goal and demanding change collectively can help household workers to receive fair treatment, respect and dignity.
Our struggle is global, not local so it's important to bring awareness to our situation. What I know is that black women have always been household workers.
Whether that’s in the public or for their families, we are the backbone of society.
There needs to be changes in the laws. We need fair treatment, and equal pay for everyone as household workers, paid time off and basic protections. We play such an important role in everyone's lives, it's time to be recognized as an integral part of society and the labor force. I want people to see it, for the public to respect us and really appreciate what we are doing. In order for all of us to live much easier and less strenuous lives, people need to see the problems we face today and work to create changes for the future. One cannot go back and change the past, but we can start today and change tomorrow.