Gwyndolyn D Parker

Imperfect Butterflies Still Fly Gwyndolyn D Parker

Black women's ability to navigate life while striving to move forward is a daily undertaking in the 21st century. Our hopes and dreams have us trying to reach higher and higher as our dreams become bigger and bigger with the vast possibilities of the good life, the allusive American Dream. For the African American woman, the past, present, and future get all mixed up in the traumatic reality that America's unresolved history is a major stumbling block in the ability to move forward. The thing that was so close, can suddenly seem so far from sight. The safety net, so many women have access to, has managed to allude the the majority of black women, as they see more hurdles in their way then the straight path to the life they seek. This book looks at some of the situations of black women in the 21st century through stories, observations and poetry, which brings an understanding that it is indeed in their DNA to fly in the face of all that life can and does throw at them. It also is a testament to choosing to rise to a higher self in the most difficult of times and circumstances. The butterfly is a symbol of rebirth, renewal, and new beginnings. The saying, "It is the darkest before the dawn", is one way of looking at the life of a black woman, whose dream has yet to materialize, and her imperfect wings have not yet learned to fly. Because for every successful black woman there are millions waiting for their imperfect wings to learn to fly and fly they will.