Black History Month isn’t just about highlighting the rich history of our community in the United States of America. The month is also dedicated to embracing our culture and the fact that some things Black people relate to in a unique, niche way.
Social media has flooded with memes like “Black people for no reason” or “Black people when they ...” providing simple yet hilarious scenarios that remind us just how connected we are.
Suggested Reading
All of us have had to plop on the floor in between auntie’s legs to get our hair braided. All of us have a unique language in how we tell stories or switch of tone when we talk to white people. These experiences, whether they draw upsetting or joyful memories, are what makes our community so precious.
Scroll down this list and see the many experiences Black people had and continue to share over generations.
Snapping Peas
For the southern folk, we definitely got sat on a chair and handed a bowl of green beans to snap to help along the cooking process.
Cleaning Collards
If you weren’t cooking the collards yourself, you can bet that whoever was would snatch you from what you were doing to cut these stems and wash these leaves.
Floor Seating for Braids
You don’t know pain until you’ve grown stiff after sitting on the ground in between someone’s legs, getting your hair braided and having your head tossed from side to side for God knows how long. (Then they’d have the nerve to squeeze their thighs together to lock you in place so you wouldn’t move, or was that just my trauma?)
Bath Time with Cousins
Some of our best memories with family is when we were just little toddlers splashing around in the bathtub. Why separate us from our cousins when our mothers and aunties could kill two birds with one stone?
Black Units of Measure
One of the most hilarious social media trends was discussing our “units of measure” - which is basically how we preface a given quantity of something.
“She brought all 50lemn of them kids.”
“They fit damn near everything in that truck.”
“I haven’t seen you in a month fulla Sundays!”
These are just a few examples.
Hair Meltdowns
A niche experience for Black women, whether natural hair or processed. There is nothing more humbling than waking up in the morning thinking your flexi rod set or braid out was going to be cute and being forced to choose between a puff or slick back bun as an alternative... and with only minutes to get ready.
Storytelling Phrases
Black people can’t just tell a story. They have to insert a sound bite to continue things on and keep you captivated. Whether it’s starting the tale off with, “Aight, so boom,” or interjecting “bah bah bah” for your typical “so on and so forth,” we have a unique way of keeping one engaged.
Unwanted Shopping Company
Unfortunately, part of the Black experience in America is being seen as suspicious or up to no good just based off our skin color. One experience many of us share is being followed around by a store employee who more than likely assumes we were trying to steal from their store.
Enjoying The Natural AC
Mannnn there’s nothing like those hot summer days when sitting out on the porch or on the grass to feel the breeze had to suffice when the AC wasn’t pushing anything. Porch conversations made for the best laughs and THEE best tea.
Repurposed Tupperware
In any Black household, there is 100 percent a chance you will go toward the variety butter cookie container on the counter all to open it and find sewing supplies. Don’t even get me started on the repurposed butter containers for leftovers, Lord.
Speaking Without Speaking
Black people know how to talk without having to say NOTHING. Whether it’s your friend trying to tell you somebody y’all talked about just walked in the room or your mother shooting you a threatening glance when you’re acting up, you know what the look is when you get the look.
Filtering Search Results
If you want to look for clothing, makeup and hell, even cooking recipes, you will more than likely have to add the words “Black people” or “Black-something” to your search bar to get what you’re really looking for. Pinterest girlies, you know what I mean.
Code-Switching
Black people in corporate, stand up! We have learned that sometimes, the phone call, meeting and “Good morning” greeting have to be in a cadence and tone easy for a white person to digest. Our AAVE won’t cut it in the office or other professional settings for the fear of being stereotyped... or because sometimes white folks genuinely don’t know what we’re saying.
A Heavenly Evening Sun Glow
Black people in the evening sun is unmatched. If you thought you looked good when you got ready in the morning, just wait until that orange-toned sunset beam rests on your brown skin. That glow is different.
Subconsciously Taking Black Inventory
You ever walk into a place with tons of white folks and your eyes dart around to see if any Black folks are in there? Yea, yea me too. I don’t know if it’s for safety reasons or just to have a smidge more comfort but even when we we’re not looking for each other, subconsciously we wonder how many chocolate chips are in the spot.
Straight From 
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